Traci has been an editor for over 20 years and has shepherded many successful books for children, including the New York Times-bestselling The ABCs of Black History. She believes the truth is powerful.
It’s our last day! It’s a wintry, rainy morning in NY and everyone’s gearing up to say their goodbyes. Awards have been announced, and we’re at our last day of workshops. Let’s work.
Traci starts with an introduction of her work. She has been involved in the creation of so many works of literature as both an editor and a writer. She made the transition around 2021.
We are living through heavy times, says Traci. Let’s start with a little light.
She plays this video, where the cutest kid on the planet gives us a pep talk:
Here's our agenda:
-Talk about history, oppression, and writing truth
-Listen to black women
What is social justice?
Social justice is all power to the people: a movement/practice toward people where everyone as fair access to people
(see more at the Learning for Justice/Southern Poverty Law Center)
Audre’s voice echoed in our room as Traci played audio from 1983 from Ms. Lorde and she spoke on the intersection of oppression and the overlap and ties between people of marginalized communities.
‘Within the lesbian community I am black and within the black community I am lesbian’
‘There is no hierarchy of oppression’
We want the world to be more equitable and just. A natural question is, 'Can’t I just write about kindness?’ Kindness is good but it is not enough
From the @littlejusticeleaders IG account:
Teaching ‘kindness’ without talking about power: kindness is great but if we don’t talk about fairness, history, and power, we’re only telling half the story.
Writing about these topics is hard. It feels hard. Traci has been on panels of primarily white authors who write about Black figures. More often than not, they leave out the racism because it’s ‘too heavy’ for children. It’s not easy for them to deal with. But, the majority of children have to deal with this in their lives, regardless.
Leaving out the reality of racism leads people to think it doesn’t exist today. This is why Traci talks about race, men, government…power. You have to address these things to change things.
Silence is more dangerous than truth. The truth feels dangerous, but silence is more dangerous.
In Traci’s book Nina: A Story of Nina Simone, Traci includes the fact that Nina's friends (Lorraine Hansberry and James Baldwin) ask her to join the movement. Nina says she’s too famous and tired to join the movement. She wasn’t immediately on board. Traci intentionally illustrates that Nina Simone wasn’t always this full person we all knew.
”Complicate your narrative to feel more human and to feel more true.”
Two questions that Traci asks when approaching research:
Who benefits from this version of the story?
And
Who/What is missing?
Aka…
Where does the power lie? Write against it.
One of the most insidious parts of white supremecist culture is the need to comfort.
Children’s book writers naturally want comfort for kids and themselves. This is why the people in the panel mentioned above wrote the way they wrote.
Hold space for multiple points of view. Who benefits? Who’s missing? Have multiple points of view. Everything deserves visiting and revisiting.
Let’s talk non-fiction, specifically. Per the Robert F Sibert Informational, non-fiction is....
-well researched, documentable information
-information text/books
*informational books are defined as those written and illustrated to present, organize and interpret documentable, factual material.
i.e. you have to interpret and have a point of view. Otherwise, you’re a journalist.
Fact
-documentable, verifiable, objective? The who what where when
Truth
-critical, requires context/prior knowledge and curiosity, poetic-meaning underneath, the why
Example: Segregation Consider this statement:
"Black and white people were not allowed to sit together"
What’s not truthful here? The group discussed what was wrong with this statements and how it could be improved. They landed here: the power is removed from this statement.
"There were laws that said black and white people could not sit together"
Still not there
"White people passed laws to separate themselves"
Still not, but on the right track
"White people separated themselves from black people"
This is the most apt of these four
Research
-Primary sources are ideal: find something written BY the person you’re writing about. They’re unfiltered, unadulterated.
-The library is your friend
-Think critically: ask the two questions we noted above over and over again
-Be open to where your research takes you
Research sites:
jstor.org if you sign up you can read online 100 articles a month for free. Paid, you can download unlimited archive. Has museum pieces, textiles etc
archive.org crowdsourced archive (be careful with copyright)
Thewayback machine (old blogs[?]) where things exist that don’t exist anymore
Can't make it to the In-Person Winter Conference in New York City, join us online at the Virtual Winter Conference featuring inspirational talks, industry panels and deep-dive Creative Labs, taking place in February of 2026. Videos of all sessions are available to watch for approximately 30 days after the event.
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