After two picture books (including one listed among the New York Times’s top 10 illustrated books of 2015) were criticized on “ racial insensitivity” grounds for depictions of smiling and compliant slaves, one book was pulled from the shelves, and the author of the other apologized and said she would donate her writing fee to charity. Inno’s first book, A is for Activist, started a movement in social justice book publishing for children. After it came Counting on Community, then My Night in the Planetarium and The Wedding Portrait. M is for Movement is the fifth title written and illustrated by Innosanto Nagara. The rule of thumb for conservation educators and teachers is that up to grade 4, we teach children the GOOD only. The wise mentors teach to love all critters, the earth, and treat all living beings (including humans) with respect. In this vulnerable age, we do not brainwash them with terminology they do not understand or tell them what is the right opinion to have on an issue (whether it's an opinion we support or disagree with). We raise them to be their purest, kindest, and most wise selves. Children will naturally be empathetic, compassionate, respectful, and kind hearted with proper mentorship and without the need of ideological suggestions at such a young age. But he also thinks that if you are writing about people who have historically been harmed by dominant groups, your responsibilities to them as an author are great, and require a special level of care and consideration.

A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara | Goodreads A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara | Goodreads

Inno in front of his Shifting Perspectives mural at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photo by Tommy Lau A is for Activist offers an opportunity for parents to explore their values with their children. At this time in history we need books for children that use words like justice, ally, freedom, and advocate.” —Rona Renner, RN, parent educator, and host of Childhood Matters radio showNCAC is joined by over 400 signatories, including nearly 80 organizations, over 50 bookstores and 17 publishers and over 250 individual stakeholders, comprising authors, teachers and librarians. Thus, far too many students who emerge from these incubators, whether they are conscious of it or not, suffer not only from mental sluggishness, but from a kind of psychic immiseration.They compensate by trying to persuade themselves that they are useful and enlightened citizens when, for the most part, they are merely antisocial drones.The gene pool is not being chlorinated, as Wendy Northcutt suggests in her 2009 Darwin Awards romp; on the contrary, it is being increasingly contaminated. Like Darraj and others, Nagara, was inspired to write his first children’s book upon realizing the book he wanted for his kid didn’t exist. In his case it was an introduction to the activist community and what it means to be an activist, in words a child can understand.

A is for Activist: Black Lives Matter Week of Action at Schools A is for Activist: Black Lives Matter Week of Action at Schools

Policies already exist in most districts to allow individual concerned parents to influence what their own children read. This year, time and again, we have seen those policies ignored and repeatedly violated as books are removed without proper review based on the personal opinions of particular groups of people. We have also seen increasing reports of threats to the livelihood and safety of librarians, teachers, school administrators and school board officials who do not accede to the demands of these would-be censors. No individual or group has the right to impose their beliefs on others. School officials, as government actors, have a First Amendment responsibility to ensure that no particular viewpoint or belief is allowed to dictate what all students can learn and read. en het maakt me niet uit dat June nog maar 5 weken oud is en hier inhoudelijk de facto niets van kan hebben meegekregen) Het is vragen om oneindig veel problemen: dit is het eerste boek dat mijn vriendin aan mijn kind (en mij) voorlas. Mijn dochter is al gepredestineerd om groenlinks te gaan stemmen, en dit boek maakt die kansen er niet kleiner op. Als dit geen social justice warrior / university college / liberal arts / feminist / gutmensch wordt, dan weet ik het ook niet meer. Aan ons zal het niet gelegen hebben. Children’s book author and illustrator Innosanto Nagara’s books encourage children to grow up with confidence in themselves, and to be proactive citizens who are passionate about causes from environmental issues to LGBTQ rights and civil rights. Born and raised in Indonesia, Inno moved to the US in 1988. After studying zoology and philosophy at UC Davis, Inno moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, working as a graphic designer for a range of social change organizations before founding the Design Action Collective, a worker-owned cooperative design studio. Inno lives in Oakland in a cohousing community with nine adults and eight kids.

A happy and well educated child is the optimum goal for early education.That such an aim is conspicuous by its absence and remains differentially elusive should not deter us from the struggle to achieve it as best we can.In the long run, happiness comes with work, integrity, self-respect, and mental discipline.These are qualities that the institutional monolith cannot foster. No one’s advocating for ‘never do this’,” said Innosanto Nagara, author of the hit alphabet book A is for Activist. “I’m not an absolutist about it. I do believe in creative freedom.” En este libro, las imágenes enseñan tan fuertemente como lo hacen las palabras. A de Activistaes un testimonio de un pueblo de todos los colores, unidos por la consciencia y la compasión. Es un retrato hermoso de niños que se celebran sus derechos humanos en una voz de pura alegría, recordando los que vinieron antes de ellos – César, Malcolm, Las Zapatistas. Es un libro sencillo y precioso que se presenta un alfabeto de coraje con la esperanza que se convierta en la lengua de una verdadera democracia.” … Read More > Cherríe Moraga Cherríe Moraga A is for Activistis an ABC board book written and illustrated for the next generation of progressives: families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and everything else that activists believe in and fight for.

A is for activist : Nagara, Innosanto : Free Download, Borrow A is for activist : Nagara, Innosanto : Free Download, Borrow

This is an amazing book: the safe course would be a simple message of civic engagement, maybe a little dicey flirting with citizenly disobedience. Instead, this rattles through environmental justice, civil rights, LGBT equality, pretty much everything anyone has ever considered worth fighting for. Beautiful illustrations, rogue cats, a message of fire and light.”

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Adventures in Public Schoolingmanages to hide the reality of mediocrity and indoctrination that characterizes the public school system under a veneer of lighthearted ebullience. I love the different topics that are touched upon: co-ops, grassroots, equal rights, LGBTQ, and peace marches. I feel like it could be a great way to introduce a child to these topics which could then lead into a deeper discussion if it piques their curiosity. My son is still too young to understand any of it, but he sees that I enjoy reading it to him and that makes him excited. It truly is a refreshing read! It's fun to read words that resonate and can be spoken passionately. I wish this beautiful and inspiring book was around when my daughter was young, but fortunately there were plenty of cool children around today who will devour what Inno is serving up!"—Dan Zanes, maker of 21st century all-ages music and Grammy Award winning album Catch that Train! Tomas Moniz(writer/editor rad dad zine, a zine on radical parenting): A is for Activist is a welcome addition to the family of kids books that speak to the possibilities of change, of proactive parenting, of creating community, of celebrating the powerful everyday people we have in our lives and in our collective histories. This book is rad! The alliteration and rhymes have the rhythm and fun of standard ABC books, burrowing into little ears and prompting memorization and spontaneous recitation.””