Hmmm. Fun with Dick and Jane were the sort of books I had in school. Luckily, home was different. I read everything that wasn't forbidden. LOL Still, 95% of those books were not relatable.
My wife made a point of breaking that cycle, once we started home-schooling. Of course, our kids still devoured the popular books, so I can say they're well-rounded.
Thank you for sharing. Your noting with the citation that "white supremacy is not a shark, it is the water" remains one of the most profound statements I have read/heard. Thank you.
I enjoyed this blog. Brought back many happy memories of my childhood in Barbados. I am told I was reading from age three, which of course, I do not remember! However, I do recall voraciously devouring Reader's Digest, and Reader's Digest Condensed Books, as well as Popular Science and Popular Mechanics while living with my grandparents. Granddad was an auto mechanic! I was introduced to the world of C.S. Lewis when I went to the Smale Preparatory School at the age of eight. There was an entire wall of books in my classroom, and we were encouraged to read as much as possible. Like Sharon, I was reading Enid Blyton, etc. as a child. In secondary school at Queen's College, I was introduced to V.S. Naipaul, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare etc. in English Literature. I fell in love with the genre of science fiction as was honoured to meet Dr. Isaac Asimov when he visited Barbados. I still love speculative fiction! Regarding Caribbean writers, I am truly happy to see much more attention being paid to regional writers and creatives in general. We still have a long way to go, but at least my future grandchildren will have the blessing of seeing and reading about people that look like them!
I recently revisited some of my childhood favorites and I frankly have no idea how I didn't end up as an elitist racist monster. Children listen but perhaps most closely to better voices. That's my hope anyway.
White Supremacy, Black Erasure and my Childhood Reading List
Hmmm. Fun with Dick and Jane were the sort of books I had in school. Luckily, home was different. I read everything that wasn't forbidden. LOL Still, 95% of those books were not relatable.
My wife made a point of breaking that cycle, once we started home-schooling. Of course, our kids still devoured the popular books, so I can say they're well-rounded.
Thank you for sharing. Your noting with the citation that "white supremacy is not a shark, it is the water" remains one of the most profound statements I have read/heard. Thank you.
I enjoyed this blog. Brought back many happy memories of my childhood in Barbados. I am told I was reading from age three, which of course, I do not remember! However, I do recall voraciously devouring Reader's Digest, and Reader's Digest Condensed Books, as well as Popular Science and Popular Mechanics while living with my grandparents. Granddad was an auto mechanic! I was introduced to the world of C.S. Lewis when I went to the Smale Preparatory School at the age of eight. There was an entire wall of books in my classroom, and we were encouraged to read as much as possible. Like Sharon, I was reading Enid Blyton, etc. as a child. In secondary school at Queen's College, I was introduced to V.S. Naipaul, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare etc. in English Literature. I fell in love with the genre of science fiction as was honoured to meet Dr. Isaac Asimov when he visited Barbados. I still love speculative fiction! Regarding Caribbean writers, I am truly happy to see much more attention being paid to regional writers and creatives in general. We still have a long way to go, but at least my future grandchildren will have the blessing of seeing and reading about people that look like them!
I recently revisited some of my childhood favorites and I frankly have no idea how I didn't end up as an elitist racist monster. Children listen but perhaps most closely to better voices. That's my hope anyway.