American schools consistently provide Euro-centric and non-representative literature for Black and Brown youth. This systemically predisposes children to be disinterested in the characters and figures they read about, to feel that their protagonists are different from themselves, and to feel that Whiteness is central to education. It is no wonder that our youth struggle to be inspired by such a sy
stem. Barbers, Books and Bridges recognizes that Black and Brown literature exists across genres, contains inspiring stories of dreams, struggles, and the specific cultural experiences that can only be told by those from within the community. We are therefore committed to get these important books in the hands of as many young people as possible and recapture the imaginations of our youth. In our first year of operations, we will work with you, our community, to provide this deeper connection in the following ways:
1. Donating books to cultural hubs. Inspired by similar projects on the East coast, we started by putting books in barber shops located in Oakland. We look forward to reaching thousands of youth with more creative projects, more empowering literature, and greater community involvement.
2. Providing an inspiring and educational television program on youth literature. We have been fortunate to learn that our early work captivated a local producer for the station OurTV, which reaches a large audience in the East Bay. We know that visual/audio media is a necessary element in education projects and look forward to promoting great books via this medium.
3. Getting more relevant books into our schools. We aspire to work with schools and teachers to create culturally relevant and diverse reading lists for their students. We believe that the over-emphasis on Whiteness is a completely unnecessary and solvable problem. With your help, we will work to raise awareness and urgency, so that every classroom speaks to its student body and represents a diversity of experiences.
