hands ON!
Yesterday was my workshop at the Studio Museum in Harlem—it was expertly-organized with lots of employees in red Target t-shirts on hand to make sure everything flowed smoothly. But what impressed me most were the parents who showed up in force, determined to expose their children to books and art. In some ways it seems like a no-brainer: we’re stuck in an endless heat wave; you’ve got little ones who need to be kept cool AND entertained….so why not come out to the local air-conditioned museum? When I was a child, museums were sacred spaces—I remember lots of shadows and shushing. Not exactly a kid-friendly experience. But today’s museums are going out of their way to open up art spaces to children and families—and even singles! DJs, cocktails, face-painting, clowns with balloons…it’s a new day.
The question is, what do we do to bring in those parents who still don’t think the museum’s a great place to spend a Sunday afternoon? This topic came up again and again at the Harlem Book Fair, but in a way, most of us were preaching to the choir. Parents who aren’t book-lovers aren’t likely to attend a panel at the Schomburg, nor are they likely to tune in to Book TV on the weekend. So how do we reach those folks? I think the internet might be one solution…and “each one, teach one”—invite a neighbor or congregant at your church to come with you to a literary event, or ask them to join your book club! Set a play date and have your kids READ! before and after they play video games…I want us to be careful about blaming poor literacy rates on the internet. Technology is a TOOL, and you can use any tool to serve the needs of your family and community…we authors are doing all we can to connect with readers online: we blog, we make book trailers, we tweet (I don’t!), we do school visits using Skype, and we join/host reading challenges. The internet is not the enemy! And rejecting the internet only widens the digital divide. We have to cultivate a culture that prioritizes literacy without excluding other expressive practices.
I was pretty disappointed that “industry insiders” chose not to attend our panel at the HBF. I hope they’ll watch the video on C-Span’s website, but I’m guessing most will simply continue doing what they’ve been doing: paying lip service to diversity, but doing nothing concrete to make change happen. We’ve got another great event coming up in October—save the 8th and 9th for this conference at NYU: A is for Anansi. I’ll be moderating the panel on Saturday morning; stay tuned for the complete list of program participants…
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