Honoring Black History Month: Interview with Kanika Mobley
As part of our celebration of Black History Month, we want to share the meaningful work Program Manager Kanika Mobley does to bring more books with Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) characters to young readers.
Within her role as a Program Manager at LT, Kanika oversees 17 schools in their implementation of reading intervention programming. In her out of work time, Kanika runs her own initiative and online bookstore: Stories of a Colorful World. Read below for a Black History Month booklist created by Stories of a Colorful World, as well as to find out more about the mission of the online bookstore and the important work she does at the intersection between literacy, representation, and cultural competency.
1. Can you tell us about Stories of a Colorful World? What is the mission and vision?
Stories of a Colorful World is an online children’s bookstore that I founded with my best friend, Vanessa Mitchell, who I met in college. Research from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center shows that most children’s books–77%–show white or animal characters, and so this disparity is stark. Stories of a Colorful World provides curated books showing BIPOC characters. We are committed to supporting parents who want to raise bold and brilliant children through these books. We also amplify BIPOC authors by having every single book feature a BIPOC main character and be written by a BIPOC author. It’s important to show a BIPOC main character (instead of a secondary character) because it is so crucial for children to see themselves represented as they grow and learn about self-love and the opportunities they have.
2. What inspired/pushed you to start Stories of a Colorful World?
I was inspired by my role as a classroom teacher back then, because I wanted to have books that represented the communities I served. When reading books that showed characters who looked like them, my students got excited and wanted to keep reading. They felt seen in those books. As a parent that also became important to me: to have books for my son that reflected his identity.
Kanika Mobley at a community event with an array of books by BIPOC authors featuring BIPOC characters
3. Why is it important for young readers to see characters in books who look like them and who they can relate to?
The biggest part of the importance is that young readers will be able to see the possibilities that surround them because the characters in the books are doing it too. When a young reader sees a character be brave and pursue their dreams, they get a sense of their place in the world. When we don’t see ourselves in books, we don’t see our place in the world. And as Vanessa and I were going through the books out there, a lot of books were about oppression and trauma; not the fullness of the Black experience. There were not that many books about Black characters who were just doing ordinary things–pursuing their careers, playing in nature, having joyful experiences. That is why it is vital for young readers to see themselves reflected in the books they read.
4. As we celebrate and honor the month of February as Black History Month, how do you see your work with Stories of a Colorful World connecting to the larger world of stories about Black history and contemporary life?
As mentioned, as we curate books and booklists, the one thing we want to be mindful of is more of a broadness around experiences. Around Black History Month, we see books about oppression and slavery, and those books matter of course, but the overall collection of books out there does not show the joy of Black lives and the beautiful culture. We want to talk about the entire Black experience and culture and so since there are more eyes/awareness during this month, we want to amplify the fullness of Black experience.
(From left to right) Vanessa Mitchell and Kanika Mobley, the co-founders of Stories of a Colorful World
Thank you to Kanika and Vanessa for the critical work you do to support young readers and honor Black lived experiences, both during school time and out of school time.
Check out 20 Books to Kickoff Black History Month–a curated booklist by Stories of a Colorful World for some book ideas for young readers in your life.
