Phew, what a week. As we all entered a new year, we were reminded straight away of the reality that racism, injustice, and anti-Semitism are not things that a new year just washes away. Instead, these are parts of our society that are very much alive and well, and on Wednesday of this week marched into the capitol and violated and endangered our nation. As a person of color, this week was particularly difficult. Seeing the confederate flag, the nazi symbols, and the assortment of other hate symbols among the raging mob was emotionally difficult and scary. The other even more difficult part of handling my own emotions was handling how to talk to my child about what had transpired....
When our own words fail us we often turn to those whose art lends truth, wisdom and power to our pain. This poem by Langston Hughes is one of those pieces that we found ourselves coming back to in the wake of the recent events on the capitol. We wanted to share it in it's entirety here in case you felt the need for it as well. Let America Be America Again by: Langston Hughes "Let America be America again.Let it be the dream it used to be.Let it be the pioneer on the plainSeeking a home where he himself is free. (America never was America to me.) Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—Let it be that...
We first found Kate through our founder Alexandria, and we were thrilled to have her on board for issue one. Kate did our cover and one of our favorite segments in the magazine called "I see you, You see me" she also just did our beautiful holiday village scene which was a newsletter gift. Kate has been such a pleasure to collaborate with. She is incredibly talented and has such a talent for transforming our vision and words into beautiful illustrations that brought every page she created to vibrant life. Below you can read a little more about Kate, how she came to illustration, and what she'd like to see more of in the world: Without further ado...here is Kate! ...
Here at Ditto Kids, we are big believers in the power of stories. Stories hold power to take us to places we've never been, to show us lives and paths we've never walked. Stories also can bring comfort and cheer and show us that we belong. That is why we firmly believe that stories can transform how we think, how we learn, and how we see the world around us. So in that vein, we're rounded up some of our favorite seasonal stories because often, seeing others celebrating can teach us so much about how we celebrate. What we celebrate and how we can all work together to create a world we can all celebrate. We broke our favorite stories...
In a difficult season for many we know that BIPOC-Owned businesses have borne the brunt of the financial fall out from COVID-19. So today we rounded up a few of our favorite BIPOC-owned bookshops to complement our seasonal book roundup. If you have one in your town go support them and if not most of them also ship!
1. Brave + Kind
2. Semicolon
3. Cafe con Libros
4. Shelves Bookstore
5. Elizabeths Bookshop and Writing Center
6. Harambee Books
7. Mahogany Books
