The June 2020 Lee Wind Video Newsletter

For me, being an ally to the Black community right now means 7 things...



This video was recorded around 5:30pm Pacific on Friday June 12, 2020. Just hours later, Rayshard Brooks was murdered by a police officer in Atlanta. Enough! BLACK LIVES MATTER.


While there's no need for a transcript this time, there are a bunch of links to share:

There's lots of media coverage of the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, but not every article helps us know who they were as people. Look for those.

One story that didn't get as much attention was the police murder of Tony McDade. This was largely because Tony was Trans. You can read more about Tony in this Advocate article: https://www.advocate.com/crime/2020/5/29/black-trans-man-tony-mcdade-killed-police-florida

Watch Trevor Noah speak about our society's broken contract with Black people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4amCfVbA_c&feature=youtu.be The quote I cite is from 11:09.

Watch Kimberly Latrice Jones spell out the injustice done to Black Americans so eloquently here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBGUPgBApio/ The quote I cite is from 3:28.

Watch Jacqueline Woodson speak about being Anti-Racist (and some of the microaggressions she's faced) in the Kid Lit Rally 4 Black Lives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fElXu_MdRrs&feature=youtu.be The quote I cite is from 24:48.

Watch this conversation with President Obama: Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence: https://youtu.be/q_qB6SsErpA. The President Obama quote I cite is from 1:09:07.

Learn more about the diversity pride flag with the added brown and black stripes to recognize, celebrate, and advocate for LGBTQ people of color here: https://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/06/08/philly-pride-flag-black-brown/

Check out this "Anguish and Action" page at Obama.org with "resources to create a more just and equitable world": https://www.obama.org/anguish-and-action/

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Stay safe,
Lee

Jacqueline Woodson: An Exclusive SCBWI Team Blog Pre-Conference Interview!

Jacqueline Woodson has written seven picture books, six middle grade titles, and ten Young Adult novels. Four of her books have significant GLBTQ content, and are included on this blog's lists. She has won major awards in every genre, including the Newbery Honor (THREE TIMES!!!), the Caldecott Honor, the Coretta Scott King Award & Honor, was a National Book Award Finalist & Honoree, and on and on...



She is wise, and amazing, and I had the privilege of seeing her speak at the 2009 SCBWI Golden Gate Conference. Among the many pearls of wisdom she shared was the idea of being "emotionally autobiographical" when you write for kids. She also said, to some vigorous head-nodding from a rapt audience, including me:

"the great thing as a writer, you get to go back and fix things you jacked up as a kid."

I was inspired, and I learned so much.

Jacqueline is another incredible reason to attend the upcoming SCBWI 2010 Winter Conference in New York City. (Early registration ends January 4, 2010...) She will be giving the Saturday Luncheon Keynote on January 30, 2010, “Locking the Door Upon Ourselves: The Importance of Writing In Today’s World.”

In the run-up and excitement of the upcoming SCBWI Conference, Jacqueline was kind enough to answer a few questions to get us rolling...

Lee: Hi Jacqueline!

There are so many ways to tell a story – I often say that in a room full of writers, we could all write the same “story” – like “The Ugly Duckling,” but each version would be vastly different.

How much is experimentation part of your process?

Jacqueline: I just start writing and hope no one interrupts me. I guess that's the experiment -- to see if I can write for an hour without something 'urgent' needing to be taking care of.


Lee: When you set out to write Peace, Locomotion did you know it was going to take the form of letters, or did that evolve?

Jacqueline: Nope. What I DID know is that it WASN'T going to be poetry. The novel in verse [Locomotion] was because Lonnie was just discovering his writer's voice in school. In Peace, Locomotion, his 'voice' has been silenced by a lame teacher so it wouldn't make sense to have it written in poems. The whole 'show don't tell' rule.


Lee: Getting all choked up is an emotional peak moment in life, and in reading the best writing. Your books have made me tear up more than once: Feathers, After Tupac & D Foster, and on multiple readings Our Gracie Aunt, and Show Way. Do you find yourself going back on revisions to make something more emotionally powerful, or less? How do you know when you’ve hit it just right?

Jacqueline: I know it's right when *I* get choked up reading it. My editor never intervenes in that way. She's amazing.


Lee: Do you have a piece of advice for writers and illustrators who are planning on attending the conference?

Jacqueline: This is my first time coming to SCBWI in NYC so I'm as much of a neophyte as the next person.


Lee: Do you want to assign any homework – any books (of yours or others?) we should read ahead of time to get the MOST out of your keynote presentation?

Jacqueline: Probably just my website -- I don't sell books on it but it has a lot of info about my books and who I am so that people don't confuse me with Angela Johnson or Rita Williams Garcia - both amazing, amazing writers but I'm not them. If one person hands me a copy of Jumped or The First Part Last to sign, I'm going to be so, so cranky.


Lee: (laughing.) Okay, Bonus Holiday Question: Eggnog or Hot Chocolate?

Jacqueline: Hot Chocolate. Not to, in the words of my daughter's teacher "yuck anyone's yum" but I really, really, really don't like eggnog.

I can't wait to see Jacqueline Woodson at the 2010 SCWBI Winter Conference... and I hope you seize the opportunity to see her, too!

Namaste,
Lee

After Tupac and D Foster

By Jacqueline Woodson

The narrator and her best friend, Neeka, are 11, living protected lives in Queens. D is a foster kid, with a tough and mysterious past, and for two years the three girls bond in a friendship glued by the music and rap lyrics of Tupac Shakur.

At the end of the two years, D's mother surfaces and takes her away, and that's the same summer that Tupac is shot and killed. (Hence the title...)

As far as what's GLBTQ in this book, there's an older brother who is gay and flamboyant. He's in jail, and the story includes a family visit to him.

And congratulations to Jacqueline - "After Tupac and D Foster" was just named a 2009 Newbery Honor Book! (They choose 4 honor books and 1 winner - so they thought it was one of the 5 best books for children/teens published in 2008!)

Add your review of "After Tupac and D Foster" in comments.

Thanks to my loyal blog reader Wendy for the recommendation!

Lee

Behind You

by Jacqueline Woodson

After he's killed, 15-year-old Jeremiah watches over those he left behind - his white girlfriend Ellie, his friends (including queer boy Carlton), and his parents as they all try to figure out how to move on with their lives.

It's the sequel to Jacqueline's book "If You Come Softly," a modern-day interracial Romeo and Juliet.

Add your review of this book in "comments!"

From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun

By Jacqueline Woodson

Melanin is the stuff that determines the pigment of your skin.

And in this novel, Melanin is a 13 year old boy with dark skin who lives with his Mother in Brooklyn, New York.

Then his Mother brings home a woman, her lover. A white woman.

Melanin hates her. And he's freaked out that his mother's a "dyke."

It's the start of the summer that changes him, and his life, forever.

Add your review of this book in "comments!"

House You Pass On The Way, The

By Jacqueline Woodson

Evangeline is 13, and everyone calls her 'Staggerlee.' She's an outsider, and not just because her mother is white. She kissed a girl back in 6th grade, and since the post-kiss rejection, has kept it a secret.

Her female cousin Trout visits for the summer and with this new friend, Staggerlee tries to figure it all out.

On her website, Jacqueline shares that one of the reasons she wrote "The House You Pass On The Way" was:

"I wanted to write about friendship and I wanted to write about what it means to love someone—how painful and confusing that can be."

How wonderful to have a book that deals with racism and homophobia, and a young Teenage girl trying to work out who she is - like we all have to if we are going to grow up.

Add your review of this book in "comments!"