Honoring Black Excellence in Early Childhood
In celebration of Black History Month, we recognize and honor the impact of Black early childhood educators, authors and caregivers.
Inspring the Future
Black leaders in the early childhood field are on the front lines of racial justice. See how they are using their background and perspective to advance equity in early childhood.
“What the brain does in these early years is astounding. When providers and families are able to provide responsive relationships, a child’s brain can take in so much. It’s motivating.”
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“We know these first three years are critical. We need to ask ourselves, ‘What are we doing to create opportunities for success?'”
Eme shares her insight
“Disrupt deficit narratives and find every opportunity to showcase the genius and joy every child who enters your learning environment naturally possesses.”
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Pioneer Spotlight:PavingtheWayImpactingLivesFramingtheField
Black leaders were key in forming some of our nation’s largest early childhood initiatives and programs to date. Black History Month is an important time to reflect and recognize these historical figures and their contributions to the field.
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Black Joy Collection
Sharing stories is a great way to help young children learn more about themselves and the world around them. We’ve identified a few books to read during Black History Month that celebrate Black joy and serve as a starting point for what will be a lifetime of conversations about positive self-identity.
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The ABCs of Black History
This book takes a bold journey through the alphabet of Black history and culture. In addition to rhyming text, the book includes back matter with information on the events, places, and people mentioned.
Love Will See You Through
The niece of Martin Luther King Jr. reveals six timeless and universal principles that encompass the civil rights leader’s greatest legacy, reinforcing the truth that “the universe honors love.”
The Colors of Us
Seven-year-old Lena and her mother observe the variations in the color of their friends’ skin, viewed in terms of foods and things found in nature.
Whether they were putting pen to paper, soaring through the air or speaking up for the rights of others, the women profiled in these pages were all taking a stand against a world that didn’t always accept them.
When Mama Braids My Hair
The tradition of African hair braiding is more than just a Sunday routine. Come join Nikki on an adventure as she is transformed into an Egyptian queen, a Nigerian goddess, a Zulu warrior, and a Maasai girl.
Hair Love
A little girl’s daddy steps in to help her arrange her curly, coiling, wild hair into styles that allow her to be her natural, beautiful self.
Young, Gifted, and Black
This book uses positive yet simple affirmations to encourage the next generation. Highlighting the talent of Black leaders and changemakers from around the world, young dreamers will develop confidence, self-assurance, and self-belief.
Skin Again
Celebrating all that makes us unique and different, this book offers new ways to talk about race and identity. Race matters, but only so much–what’s most important is who we are on the inside. Looking beyond skin, going straight to the heart, we find in each other the treasures stored down deep. Learning to cherish those treasures, to be all we imagine ourselves to be, makes us free.
Black is a Rainbow Color
From the wheels on a bicycle to the robe on Thurgood Marshall’s back, Black surrounds our lives. It is a color to simply describe some of our favorite things, but it also evokes a deeper sentiment about the incredible people who helped change the world and a community that continues to grow and survive.
Your Life Matters
Written by national speaker Chris Singleton, who lost his own mother in the 2015 Charleston church shooting, Your Life Matters teaches kids to stand tall in the face of racial adversity and fight for the life they dream of. Each page depicts a famous hero from Black history mentoring a child of today and encouraging them to use their mind, heart, voice, and hands in that fight.
Celebrating Black Fatherhood
Clinton Boyd, Jr., PhD
Clinton is the Executive Director of Fathers, Families, & Healthy Communities, a Researcher at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, and a former ZERO TO THREE Fellow.
Whenever I think about Black fatherhood on a personal front, I immediately reflect on the countless Black men in my family who are committed, exceptional, loving, and perfectly imperfect fathers. Ever since I could remember, the Black men in my family have challenged conventional wisdom about Black fathers: that persistently stereotype us as absent, irresponsible, and “deadbeat” dads. Rather than prove the stereotype accurate, I have observed the Black men in my family debunk these myths about Black fatherhood. When I became a young father at the tender age of 15, the Black men in my family served as good examples of great fathers to pattern myself after.
Informed by my experiences as a Black father, my professional work seeks to rewrite the narrative on Black fatherhood through rigorous research and grassroots organizing.
As the U.S. population becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, I am heartened by the courage displayed by advocates to push for culturally responsive teaching to become a mainstay in the early childhood field. In a pluralistic society, the educational system must validate and affirm students’ cultures and ensure that the strengths of each child’s culture are reflected throughout the learning environment and within the school curriculum.
Culturally responsive teaching is especially important for Black children, as not-so-subtle efforts are underway to rewrite our country’s true, if sometimes unpleasant, history by suppressing discussions about race, racial inequality, and racial pride in America’s public school classrooms. As our nation enters the next frontier of racial justice advocacy, we must resist present-day efforts to whitewash our public education system and strive to create anti-racist early childhood environments.
Daddy Matters
ZERO TO THREE teamed up with YouTube star La Guardia Cross to create a four-part web series that explores why dads matter and what matters to dads.
These videos can also serve as powerful tools for fathers those who work with fathers to show them they are not alone, and to open up important discussions on a range of issues around fatherhood. We’ve also created discussion guide for each episode withquestions to serve as conversation-starters resources related to the topics covered.
watch the full daddy matters series
Related Resources: Professionals
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Preventing Expulsion from Preschool and Child Care
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Exploring Implicit Bias
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EMBRACE Perinatal Care for Black Families: Reclaiming Health, Wellness, and Self-Determination for Black Birthing
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Related Resources: Parenting
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Parenting for Social Justice
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Q & A: Colorblindness
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Racism and Violence: Using Your Power as a Parent to Support Children Aged Two to Five
Read more about the guidelines for talking about racism and equality with children aged two to five in age-appropriate ways.
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Related Resources: Policy and Advocacy
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Open Letter
Bold Action is Needed to Address the Urgent Needs of Infants
Chief Policy Officer, Miriam Calderon, reflects on data highlighted in the State of Babies Yearbook: 2023.
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Report
Social Determinants of Health for Infants and Toddlers
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Infant-Toddler Advocates Essential in the Fight to Declare Racism a Public Health Crisis
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More than half of babies being born today are children of color.
We envision a society that has the knowledge and will to support all infants and toddlers in reaching their full potential, regardless of race or national origin.
more on racial equity in early childhood
