troublemaker

I met Ruben Brosbe a few years ago and knew right away that he was an educator committed to social justice. He’s written a fantastic profile of me, “The Troublemaker: Zetta Elliott & the Future of Children’s Literature,” for Brooklyn Magazine and in it, Ruben pulls no punches! Here’s a glimpse:

Some people might consider Elliott impatient. Zetta has suggested (as did a publishing industry professional who spoke to me off the record) that she would have more success with publishing her work if she learned to play nice and put more trust in white editors and publishers.

“I’m really not interested in having a conversation with someone who’s not going to tell the truth,” Elliott says. “Everyone wants reconciliation without the truth.”

This is where the ‘activist’ title once again feels appropriate. The publishers and others admonishing Elliott to slow down bring to mind the white moderates Dr. King complained of in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” or at the very least contemporary white liberals who support the motives of #BlackLivesMatter while tsk-tsking their sense of urgency.

Ruben keeps a special basket of my books in his classroom and I can’t WAIT to share The Ghosts in the Castle with his fourth-grade students up in Harlem. It’s not quite done yet, but I’m close!