By Amy Paradysz
Samara Cole Doyon of Portland noticed that children would comment that her daughter Nadia, now 6, had a “brown face” and that parents would act apologetic.
“She was standing out as a child with brown skin,” says Doyon, who is a second-generation Haitian American on her father’s side. “I trained myself to speak up to celebrate those moments and say that we love her brown skin and everything that it means to us—connections with our community and our loved ones and all the joy and strength that comes with that.”
A lifelong writer, Doyon expressed these feelings through a poem called “Magnificent Homespun Brown,” about the vibrance of the various shades of brown, from sandcastles to autumn leaves to cocoa. The poem was brought to life visually by illustrator Kaylani Juanita, in a children’s book released by Tilbury House Publishers in January 2020.
“Magnificent Homespun Brown” is one of nine children’s books featured in the Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival, hosted by Indigo Arts Alliance, a Portland-based arts center that amplifies the intellectual leadership of black and brown people.
“For 2020, we wanted to produce a children’s book festival centered on books that tell the stories of black children and are created by black authors and illustrators,” says Executive Director Marcia Minter. “Our original plan was to launch this festival locally, in person. But, what has happened that we think has been wonderful is that the world wide web is exactly that; now we have a book festival that is gaining attention nationally.”
New video content is released at BeautifulBlackbird.com each Friday, through Aug. 31, including authors reading their picture books, as well as interviews, a craft and a dance named after the signature title “Beautiful Blackbird,” by Maine-based illustrator, Ashley Bryan.
The nine featured books include 2020 Caldecott Honor Book “Going Down Home with Daddy,” written by Kelly Starling Lyons and illustrated by Daniel Minter, co-founder of Indigo Arts Alliance.
Picture book “Little Bird’s Flock” was created by The Telling Room’s Publishing Workshop and illustrated by Ashley Halsey.
Other picture books include: “Auntie Luce’s Talking Paintings,” by Francie Latour and illustrated by Ken Daley; “Overground Railroad,” by Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrated by James E. Ransome; “Sing a Song,” by Kelly Starling Lyons and illustrated by Keith Mallett; and “Wherever I Go,” by Mary Wagley Copp and illustrated by Munir D. Mohammed.
The one featured book that skews a little older than the picture book read-along crowd is “When Stars Are Scattered,” a graphic novel about growing up in refugee camp, as told by Somali refugee Omar Mohamed to the Newbery Honor-winning creator of “Roller Girl,” Victoria Jamieson.
As part of the festival, children served by Portland Public Housing and Portland Parks and Recreation will receive 1,500 copies of featured books. The festival website includes links to “Buy” (via Print: A Bookstore) or “Borrow” (via Portland Public Library).
“It is everybody’s job to become urgently intentional about rooting out white supremacy,” Doyon says. “Making books like these—books that honor and celebrate the beauty and humanity of blackness, specifically, and of brown skin, specifically—available to our communities, our families and our children, is just one aspect of this long neglected civic duty.”
Learn more about the Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival.
Learn more about Indigo Arts Alliance.
