In the Interest of Transparency

In my second post I mentioned my aversion to being labeled "middle class," and how it was a complicated topic that I would return to at a later date. Well, I think that is today.

I have been writing and thinking and talking and listening and reading a lot about social class these past few weeks. It is a touchy, tricky subject. In some ways, I was hesitant to dissect it further in the context of this blog, but I think it is important. Not only is it important that my background and identity be transparent in this process, so that my own biases and missteps can be brought to the foreground, but the topic of class is virtually non-existent in children's books. When it is addressed, like so much else we aim at kids, it is in a formulaic, or, worse, romanticized way.

My upbringing was in a middle class family. My parents both went to college, as did all four of their parents. Even though in much of their adult lives my parents shunned the "comforts" they had been raised with, there is no way to rescind that privilege.

My story is much the same. I was raised in a home that my grandparents owned, and always had access to a car, new clothes, and abundant "educational opportunities." In more recent years I have lived in houses with up to 14 roommates, an old ambulance, and various basements and sheds. I have been on social assistance and fallen into the governmental bracket of "impoverished" for most of my adult life. But, regardless of these scenarios, I remain "middle class."

One of the things I have come to realize lately about class is that it isn't something you can "undo" just because you are unemployed, or living your life in a different wealth bracket than the one you were raised in. Class is about access. Like so many other aspects of "privilege," when you have it, it can take some effort to see how it benefits you, and hinders those without it.

I have been reading an incredible new book by Leticia Nieto and her co-authors called Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment, which talks about the intricate dynamics of oppression and privilege. ( I highly recommend this amazing book, which I hope to be using in the future in more depth to look at how it can be applied to children's literature.) It is an incredible book to be reading to start to identify what these pieces of our identity that include race, class, culture, religion, gender, and ability are and how they affect our interactions with the world and each other.

Some of the questions that come up for me about class in the context of children's literature, is asking the question of who is telling these stories? And what are the assumptions that are being made about who is reading the book, and what the "social norm" the reader is expected to identify with, or strive for?

One of the hardest things that I have been confronting lately about my own desire to write books is "Does the world really need one more book written by a white, middle class, person in a hetero relationship?" I have been filled with a lot of doubt and questions about my desire to write, what perspective I can authentically write from, and if those perspectives are actually useful to the world of radical literature I want to create? I hope that the answer is "YES!" It just might look different than I thought it would. I might look like me collaborating with folks, or writing about confronting the issues of race, class, gender, etc, from the perspective that I am viewing it from, including how I am trying to be a better ally to groups of folks targeted by oppression.

The truth is, I am not sure where this all will lead. I still want to write, and illustrate books for kids that show so many perspectives that I think are currently missing in the world of children's literature. But I think the way that is going to unfold is going to be of narrower focus, from my own focus, than I once would have envisioned. And I think that is good.

Without diverging too much from the topic at hand, I also want to note how much I think this comes into play with the topic of "multicultural" books for kids, and just who is writing these books. This is another topic that I plan to get in depth with in the future. I think that in the interest of bringing diverse images and stories to children, we often are speaking from experiences, and telling stories that are not our own, and end up tokenizing the very group of people we hoped to support.

Is there a way to address diversity without tokenizing? I think there is. And I know there are lots of people doing it. And I need to explore this question so much more.

OK... I feel like I could write for hours about my unpeeling of this onion. But I'll end it here for now.
Next post, back to the list....
I have found some beautiful, incredible children's books that I am excited to share with you.
Thanks for reading this.
See you soon.