If the World Were 100 People...

If the World were 100 PEOPLE:

Gender

• 50 would be female
• 50 would be male
   

Age

• 26 would be 0-14
• 66 would be 15-64
• 8 would be 65 and older
   

Geography

• 60 would be from Asia
• 15 would be from Africa
• 11 would be from Europe
• 9 would be from Latin America & the Caribbean
• 5 would be from North America
   

Religion

• 33 would be Christian
• 22 would be Muslim
• 14 would be Hindu
• 7 would be Buddhist
• 12 would believe in other religions
• 12 would not be religious or identify themselves
• as being aligned with a particular faith
   

First Language

• 12 would speak Chinese
• 5 would speak Spanish
• 5 would speak English
• 3 would speak Arabic
• 3 would speak Hindi
• 3 would speak Bengali
• 3 would speak Portuguese
• 2 would speak Russian
• 2 would speak Japanese
• 62 would speak other languages
   

Overall Literacy83 would be able to read and write
17 would not
 

Literacy by Gender

• 88% of males would be able to read and write
• 12% of males would not be able to read and write
• 79% of females would be able to read and write
• 21% of females would not be able to read and write
   

Education

• 76% of eligible males would have a primary school education
• 72% of eligible females would have a primary school education 
• 66% of eligible males would have a secondary school education
• 63% of eligible females would have a secondary school education
• 7 would have a college degree

Urban/Rural

• 51 would be urban dwellers
• 49 would be rural dwellers
   

Drinking Water

• 87 would have access to safe drinking water
• 13 would use unimproved water
   

Food

• 15 would be undernourished

Infectious Disease

• <1% would have HIV/AIDS
• <1%would have tuberculosis
   

Poverty

• 48 would live on less than $2 USD per day
• 1 out of 2 children would live in poverty
   

Electricity

• 78 would have electricity
• 22 would not
   

Technology

• 75 would be cell phone users
• 30 would be active internet users
• 22 would own or share a computer
   

Sanitation

• 65 would have improved sanitation
• 16 would have no toilets
• 19 would have unimproved toilets

SOURCE: 100 People: A World Portrait

OUR AMERICA: And how are the children?

IMAGE SOURCE: MARI NOSAL BLOG ON ACCEPTANCE AND TOLERANCE OF SPECIAL NEEDS INDIVIDUALS

IMAGE SOURCE: DOODLE 4 GOOGLE WINNER: SARA HARRISON

There's a Maasai greeting: "And how are the children?" So simple, and rightfully centered on our children because if they are well....well then... 

I remember a lesson from a high school literature class: How can we mistreat the very people who's primary function is to care for our children... whom, by many measures, represent and reflect the best of what we do in life? We're talking women... teachers... the list goes on. Back in the day, women weren't even educated but were responsible for our children's education. And how this model was justified during the American slavery era... raising & nursing the master's children... is beyond our comprehension...but many things are.

Of all our creative projects, the space I enjoy the most is the kid lit space. As a newbie writer, I've spent a lot of time researching kid lit resources and looking for the spaces where a conscious effort to elevate all stories was mission critical. According to the Cooperative Children's Book Center, this was the state of children's literature in 2015:

IMAGE SOURCE: DAVID HUYCK IN CONSULTATION WITH SARAH PARK DAHLEN AND MOLLY BETH GRIFFIN

Seriously, animals/trucks have the same level of representation as Blacks, Asians, Pacific Islanders, Latinxs and Native Americans combined? If we examine the cultural markers of those animals and trucks... bet they reflect that 73.3% number for Whites... And when we start looking at who is telling the stories of that marginalized 15% - 25%, more often than not, it's not the marginalized. 

In general, we cringe when we hear about any corporate attempt at "diversification." All that aside, we were struck by the honesty of a particular blog post by a woman who's primary function was to increase "diversity" in the children's book division of her publishing house (I cannot find the article but if you happen across it, please, please share with us @MultiPATRIOT). She admitted that she was not equipped to do her job alone....and that nobody was because no single person could possibly know how to identify and elevate all the different voices that needed to be elevated. She was determined to find creators with lived experiences that could create authentic stories. Another amazing women we discovered on twitter was Debbie Reese, publisher of American Indians in Children's Literature. Ms. Reese tweeted:

“Instead of writing a Native character or Native content into your story so you can “help” or “honor” Native ppl, buy bks by Native writers.”

— Debbie Reese

Why kid lit? We think this quote shared by Voices of Youth sums it up: 

“At the beginning of creating my path in life, I lost myself trying to make “me” acceptable to others.”

— Imen Al-Nighaoui

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Kit Lit Resources: 

Associations & Advocates:

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By Affiliation:

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Kid Lit Awards:

Please see Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature (DAWCL) administered by Lisa R. Bartle for more awards.

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Kid Lit Articles: Diversity, Inclusion & How-to's

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Comics & Kid Lit

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Guides for Parents and Teachers:

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Kit Lit Publishers:

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It's not about "tackling" race/ethnicity because, like my hair, my race does not need to be tamed or tackled. It's about sharing our full selves and creating a world where our children can feel to do the same. We are always adding to these resources so please feel free to share your discoveries @MultiPATRIOT.

Thank you for reading. 

~ Onjena Yo

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Kid Lit Twitter Directory:

People/Organizations: 

• Colours of Us: @coloursofus

• Ebony Elizabeth: @Ebonyteach

• Josh Funk: @joshfunkbooks

• kidlitart: @kidlitart

• kidlitchat: @kidlitchat

• Lee & Low Books: @LEEandLOW

• Multicultural Children's Book Day: @MCChildsBookDay

• Lin Oliver: @linoliver

• Pragmatic Mom: @pragmaticmom

• Debbie Ridpath Ohi: @inkyelbows

• Deb Reese: @debreese

• John Schumacher: @MrSchuReads

• Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators: @scbwi

• We Need Diverse Books: @diversebooks

• Gene Luen Yang: @geneluenyang

KidLit Chats/Hashtags: 

• #kidlitchat: Every Tuesday 9 PM EST/ 6 PM PST

• #kidlitart: Every Thursday 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST

• #NCTEchat: Every third Sunday of each month at 8 PM EST / 5 PM PST

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Twitter: #KidLit

Twitter: #ReadingWithoutWalls

Twitter: #SummerReading

Twitter: #ReadYourWorld

Twitter: #WeNeedDiverseBooks

Twitter: #NCTEChat