day's end

Today's the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which sounds sort of ridiculous since we all know that battle's been going on for CENTURIES. But it can't hurt to draw attention to this issue, and 2011 *is* the International Year for People of African descent. I like this essay posted on the FEDCan blog:

Very few people feel comfortable talking directly about discrimination, unless in very abstract terms. I expect that most Canadians would agree with the statement: "Racists are bad, and I'm definitely not racist." In fact, lots of people choose to wear Racism: Stop It! buttons on March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. A large part of the problem is Canadians' self-understanding of our identity; we are nice people. So how could we allow bad things like racism to exist here?

That's a huge hurdle to overcome—Canadians thinking they're too nice to be racist.  I'm excited about my upcoming trip to Toronto in April, and look forward to introducing Canadian children to my books.  Jill at Rhapsody in Books recently posted a really nice review of Bird; it's so gratifying to know my first book still resonates with readers.

Lastly, you won't want to miss Doret's fabulous guest post at Kidlit Celebrates Women's History—she's got lots of great recommendations if you're looking for books about the important contributions made by women of color.