Teaching for Change on NPR’s All Things Considered

Did you hear? Teaching for Change was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered on Friday, January 22, 2016.

Teaching for Change associate director Allyson Criner Brown was interviewed by NPR’s Eyder Peralta, along with scholar Ebony Elizabeth Thomas and children’s book author Matt de la Peña in a four-minute segment on the recall of A Birthday Cake for George Washington. Listen or read the transcript here.

 

In contrast to the excellent All Things Considered segment, much of the mainstream press has perpetuated two misrepresentations of the book recall. Please correct them if they surface in local media or conversations.

1. Scholastic denies that the grassroots protest led to the book recall. Their press releases, which have been quoted almost verbatim by most mainstream media, say that Scholastic recalled the book due to their own “high standards.”  Those are the same “high standards” Scholastic had when they actively defended the book with a series of statements in the face of early critiques. It was not until four days after the launch of the grassroots protest that the book was recalled. The continued struggle for quality children’s books will build on the strength of this successful campaign and the countless decades of organizing and advocacy that preceded it.