The New Springtime With Visiting Scholar Michelle H. Martin And Say Goodbye To That Famous White Tailed Bunny

What better way to complete last year’s amazing children’s literature scholar, Dr. Michael Heyman's theme, with this Spring’s visiting Scholar Dr. Michelle H. Martin. It appears that rabbit hole is working its magic once again, and the library is the place to be between the end of winter and the first week of Spring—saying out with the old and in with the new. 

(Scroll down to find the details to this not so curious event!)

Last week, the SDSU Love Library held a special event in honor of a missing and recently found Alice mural. The unveiling of the mural took place on Tuesday in the plaza of the Love Library. There were the most festive treats before the audience was moved by the speeches of Dr. Gale Etschmaier, Ed.D. (Dean of the SDSU Library)—who gave the audience context of how the mural project came about and what connection the library had to it; Dr. Carole Scott, Ph.D (faculty emeritus and former Dean of Undergraduate Studies), who read from Lewis Carroll’s text in an energetic and beautiful tone; and Seth Mallios, Ph.D (Anthropology), who gave a moving speech about the project’s significance within SDSU’s own history. After the decorative treats were consumed, the NCSCL followed the library faculty, SDSU faculty, our generous donors, and other SDSU students to Hardy Tower where we found the hidden rabbit hole, and, my was it a sight to see.

And of course, if you were with us last year, you know the visiting scholar covered the topic of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the brilliance that resides inside nonsense literature. This seamless transition to this year’s visiting scholar is one we could not have planned better ourselves. After a year filled with that little white rabbit that has stolen our hearts away, we are ready to move forward into a new topic that is quite present in our society today.

Dr. Martin’s research interest cover topics in children's and young adult literature, as well as African American children's picture books, art in picture books, and sexual development in children's literature. Her numerous publications include: “Let Freedom Ring: Land, liberty, literacy and lore in Mildred Taylor” appearing in Oxford Handbook of Children's Literature, “African American” appearing in Keywords for Children's Literature, “'He's so sweet': Bon-bon buddy, literary child of Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes” appearing in Children's Literature Association Quarterly 35.3, “Pioneers of the Genre: Arna Bontemps, Langston Hughes, and the 'roots' of African American children's literature” appearing in Embracing, Evaluating and Examining African American Children's and Young Adult Literature, and her book out of Routledge Press titled Brown gold: Milestones of African-American children's picture books.

Dr. Martin will be giving an amazing and unforgettable lecture that is a must-see to bring in this new Spring season. With the way politics are taking place currently in our society and the amount of hope that we must continue to hold for our children and generations to come, we encourage all to come witness this inspiring scholar.

TALK INFORMATION:

LYNCHING 101: YOUNG ADULT PRIMERS ON THE MURDER OF EMMETT TILL

THE NCSCL 2016 VISITING SCHOLAR'S LECTURE

EVENT DETAILS:

WHO: MICHELLE H. MARTIN

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

DATE: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23RD

TIME: 5:00-6:30 PM

PLACE: LOVE LIBRARY-LEON WILLIAMS ROOM (430 & 431)

Images from last week's Alice mural unveiling:

Civil Rights and Children's Education

During the last few months of 2014, media stations broadcasted coverage of protests and riots taking place all over the country. The stirrings of social and political upheaval that overtook the United States resulted from the shooting of Michael Brown (18 years old) in Ferguson, Missouri by a police officer (28 years old). Officer Wilson claimed he acted in self-defense and was not indicted by a grand jury, prompting people to come out in anger over what was seen as an “unjust” verdict.

The image of Michael Brown became the icon that resulted in civil unrest and national protests, with #blacklivesmatter trending on social media, bringing back the fervor of the Civil Rights Movement of the 70’s.

Another civil rights battle that’s been fought silently in the background for many years is the right of equal opportunity education for children of all races. In 2014, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division conducted investigations which revealed that “African-American students represent only 15 percent of public school students, but they make of 35 percent of students suspended once, 44 percent of those suspended more than once and 36 percent of those expelled.”

Although the New York Times stated in the same article that these statistics did not necessarily point a finger towards discrimination of minority students, research that shows black students do not engage in misbehavior more frequently than white students definitely alludes to that conclusion.

Further research has revealed “two kinds of discrimination: cases in which African-American students are treated more harshly and disciplined more frequently than white students who engage in similar misbehavior; and cases where policies — like mandatory suspension, expulsion or ticketing — are administered in a race-neutral manner but have a disproportionate and unjustified effect on students of a particular race.”

These disproportionate effects and discriminatory treatments undoubtedly highlight the civil inequality in children’s rights to education. Perhaps this is the root of the issue regarding the stereotype of the troubled, young black man that became the center of such controversy in the recent cases of Michael Brown and Tamir E. Rice.

Looking at the treatment these kids receive in school and how to correct it can be the first step towards creating social change. It is in this context that we should be looking at Dr. Katharine Capshaw’s book, Civil Rights Childhood: Picturing Liberation in African American Photobooks. In it, she explores the function of children’s photographic books and the image of the black child in social justice campaigns for school integration and the civil rights movement.

In an interview about the book she said, “When you think about children in civil rights you think about the martyred child photograph. But I learned through working on this project that there were many different approaches to representing childhood during the Civil Rights Movement.” While the cases of Michael Brown and Tamir Rice should not be forgotten, we should also not be waiting for events like these to provoke change in the system. We should be looking to the children who are succeeding in school and using them as an example to provoke social change.

Dr. Capshaw previewed her book at San Diego State University last April in a lecture for the NCSCL entitled, "Freedom (and Fury) Now: Civil Rights Photographic Picture Books for Children." During her visit, she sat down to talk with the editors of The Unjournal of Children’s Literature, which included SDSU alumni and former graduate assistants for the NCSCL, Alya Hameed and Kelsey Wadman. If you have not had a chance to read the interview, here is you chance!

Reminder: Dr. Kate Capshaw to speak on April 23

Don't forget that Professor Katharine Capshaw of UConn is joining us at SDSU to speak this Wednesday!

Her lecture, titled "Freedom (and Fury) Now: Civil Rights Photographic Picture Books for Children" will be held on April 23, 2014 at 5 pm in the Leon Williams room of Love Library.

Free and open to the public.

Check out all the details here!

Professor Kate Capshaw to Speak at SDSU on April 23rd!

The National Center for the Study of Children's Literature (with a special thanks to SDSU's Instructionally Related Activities Grant) is thrilled to announce a visit from Dr. Katharine Capshaw!

Prof. Capshaw will give a talk this April titled "Freedom (and Fury) Now: Civil Rights Photographic Picture Books for Children."

Room: Leon Williams Room, Malcolm A. Love Library, SDSU
Date: Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014

Time: 5:00pm-6:30pm

Open to the Public, Students, and Faculty!

Professor Capshaw writes:

My presentation will explore the photographic picture book, Today (1965), published by the Child Development Group of Mississippi (CDGM), one of the first "Head Start" programs in the United States and the children's organization most committed to civil rights ideals in the mid-1960s. While the CDGM existed only for two years (1965-1967), it emerged at a turning point in the civil rights campaign in Mississippi; born from the Freedom Summer literacy campaign of 1964, initiated after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 but before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the CDGM aimed to train a new generation of children in the values of the movement. The presentation will then connect Today with the children's photographic books of the Black Arts Movement, including Poems by Kali (1970) and June Jordan's Dry Victories (1972), texts which imagine the child as an icon of black nationhood and express anger at civil rights failures.

Bio:

Katharine Capshaw is Associate Professor of English at UConn and Editor of Children's Literature Association Quarterly. Her forthcoming book, Civil Rights Childhood: Photo Books and Liberation (Minnesota 2014), examines texts from the 1940s to the present day. Children's Literature of the Harlem Renaissance (Indiana 2004), Smith's first monograph, won the Children's Literature Association's best scholarly book award.