Data from UW–Madison’s Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), which is housed in the School of Education, was referenced in a recent article in The Atlantic about former New England Patriots football player Martellus Bennett’s new career as a children’s book author, and his activism for more Black characters in children’s publishing and entertainment.
Surveying the children’s-entertainment landscape, the article explains, Bennett “sees stories in which Black characters either don’t exist or exist merely to satisfy some goal of representation.”
Citing CCBC data, the article notes that Black authors are rarer still: According to this data, “less than 5 percent of children’s books published in 2019 were written by Black authors.”
“Black people are treated as second-class citizens in reality and fantasy,” said Bennett. “I want to build worlds where kids and families of color can come and know that they own it, they belong there, and it’s a magical place.”
Learn more about Bennett’s work by reading the full article at theatlantic.com, here.