EVANSTON (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Krenice Ramsey wanted to share her love of books with her niece. Soon, she noticed a trend: Hardly any books on the shelves had covers that looked like her.
”I was really disheartened, walking into the big box bookstores and not being able to find books that had little Black girls on the cover,” Ramsey said.
She decided to help change the way children saw themselves represented in stories through giving. Ramsey started by donating 50 books featuring Black characters to local organizations in Chicago. Her husband, Derrick, encouraged her and believed it could grow into something that could ultimately make a difference in their community.
The couple soon founded Young, Black and Lit, a nonprofit organization committed to increasing access to children’s books that center on Black stories by providing free books to youth from kindergarten through 8th grade.
“Our mission at Black, Young and Lit is to increase access to children’s books that affirm, center and reflect the experiences of Black children,” Krenice said.
Since its inception, Young, Black & Lit has distributed more than 54,000 free children’s books featuring Black characters, while providing schools and youth-serving organizations with more than 1,500 free books each month.
On Wednesday, the organization celebrated its five-year anniversary with the launch of the “Give Big, Get LIT: Bridging the Gap Between Literacy and Storytelling” campaign, which will donate 25,000 books to students across the country.
The couple chose to launch the campaign at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Literary & Fine Arts School — Evanston’s first desegregated school.
“King Arts has a rich history and deep roots in the Evanston community as being the first school to desegregate in 1967,” said Rebecca Calloway, Principal, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Literary & Fine Arts School.
Ramsey said Evanston is where Young, Black & Lit was born and she couldn't be happier to begin the launch of their new campaign at King Arts.
Along with the 25,000 book giveaway, the organization is also launching the Young, Black & Lit Future Author Contest, encouraging youth writers of color, from kindergarten to 8th grade, to find their story within, write it out with a family member, and then enter for a chance to see it come to life in book form.
Ten winners, two from Chicago, Atlanta, New York City, Houston, and Washington, D.C., will be selected to become published authors in an anthology of short stories. For more information on the Young, Black & Lit campaign and contest, visit Young, Black and Lit’s website.
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