Children need to see themselves in books. Enter Young, Black & Lit.

Five years ago, Krenice Ramsey was looking for a gift for her young niece Kalaya. But even in a major bookstore in a Chicago suburb, she couldn’t find a children’s offering starring young black girls.

After falling short, she spent more time searching, found a few books online and donated them to a community center in Evanston. At the time, she was dating her current husband, Derrick Ramsey, and he suggested she give books, this time about boys, to a barbershop in Evanston.

“People responded, and the more we talked about it,” Ms. Ramsey says, “the more we realized this could possibly be a much bigger idea, so we let it grow from there.”

In 2018, the two co-founded Young, Black & Lit, a nonprofit whose mission is to bring new fiction and nonfiction books about Black people to schools and youth organizations across the United States. Since its founding, the group has distributed more than 75,000 books.

“We want black children to think about the great things they can be in life,” Mr. Ramsey said. “When you don’t have as much positive black representation in the media, books can be a simple way to provide a perspective on life and opportunities, and seeing that is important.”

Krenice Ramsey was a self-proclaimed book nerd who grew up in Evanston, Illinois.

“I always had a book in my hand,” said Ms. Ramsey, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights office in Chicago. “I loved to read anything and everything, and I continue to love books.”

Five years ago, she was looking for a gift – a book, of course – for her young niece Kalaya. But even in a major bookstore in a Chicago suburb, she couldn’t find a children’s offering starring young black girls. “I really struggled to find books that were culturally relevant and had characters that looked and spoke like her and had similar experiences to her,” she says.

After falling short, she spent more time searching, found a few books online and donated them to a community center in Evanston. At the time, she was dating her current husband, Derrick Ramsey, and he suggested she give books, this time about boys, to a barbershop in Evanston.

“People responded, and the more we talked about it,” Ms. Ramsey says, “the more we realized this could possibly be a much bigger idea, so we let it grow from there.”

In 2018, the two co-founded Young, Black & Lit, a nonprofit whose mission is to bring new fiction and nonfiction books about Black people to schools and youth organizations across the United States. Since its founding, the group has distributed more than 75,000 books.

“We want black children to think about the great things they can be in life,” said Mr. Ramsey, who works in financial services. “When you don’t have as much positive black representation in the media, books can be a simple way to provide a perspective on life and opportunities, and seeing that is important.”

Given the current climate, he says, which includes “efforts to ban books that tell Black stories and diminish Black history,” the couple’s efforts to increase access for young people are “even more important.”

“Books are a luxury”

As the couple’s relationship evolved, so did Young, Black & Lit, which initially began in Ms. Ramsey’s Chicago apartment. The two have since married, become parents to a toddler and moved back to Ms. Ramsey’s hometown of Evanston, where the organization has an office.

In 2018, the two distributed about 50 books per month, aimed at children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Today, Young, Black & Lit gives away 3,000 books every month nationwide – many to groups that help low-income children. The effort is funded through grants, partnerships and individual donations. Books have gone to libraries, church camps, Boy Scouts and Boy Scouts, doctor’s offices and back-to-school fairs.

‘I grew up reading books, and in our house we have dozens of books, but in low ones
In income communities, books are a luxury,” explains Mr. Ramsey, who is from Detroit and was a big fan of the “Goosebumps” series as a child.

For older high school students, Ms. Ramsey says, books cover some complicated topics: about historical black figures, about grief and empowerment, and about real-life experiences, such as visiting grandparents or playing with a snail in the backyard.

“Our stories are not monolithic,” she says. “They also expand the mind and give you language to express what you are experiencing.”

One of the organization’s first partners was Evanston’s Oakton Elementary School, which has a population that overall includes about 43% black, 26% Hispanic and 24% white students. Each child in kindergarten through second grade was given two to three books per month to take home and keep.

“It was a year before the pandemic, and it was transformative,” said Michael Allen, former principal of Oakton Elementary. “This allowed children to build their home library.

“I saw improved self-esteem among black students,” says Dr. Allen, who adds that the books are equally valuable to all students. “The books helped defy stereotypes and helped children develop an appreciation for other cultures. If students don’t have an authentic view of other cultures, if they go out into the world and have only stereotypes, it puts them at a disadvantage.”

Carrie Swan teaches fourth grade and Louise Rizio teaches fifth grade at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Literary and Fine Arts School in Evanston. Each year, teachers receive books from Young, Black & Lit for their classroom libraries.

“When I first started teaching 14 years ago, it was difficult to find children’s books with a child of color as the main character,” Ms. Rizio says. “I didn’t think of this metaphor, but it really sums it up: everyone should be able to pick up a book and have a door to another culture, or a mirror that reflects their own.”

“It builds empathy in children when they read about different children having different experiences,” Ms Swan adds. “It can make them think differently when they interact with other people, and that’s a powerful thing that books can do.”

It is a gift to receive any free book, Ms. Rizio says, “so it is a treasure to receive these books that celebrate diversity.”

A milestone year

To celebrate its fifth anniversary this year, Young, Black & Lit is placing 200 books in every elementary and middle school in Evanston, and is also piloting the Direct to Home Lit Year Program. Up to 200 Evanston preschoolers through third graders who sign up will receive 15 age-appropriate books for free, mailed to their homes.

The organization also delivers books to every Reach Out and Read site in Illinois. The national program allows doctors (usually pediatricians) to give each child a book during their check-up appointment.

“They are absolutely beautiful books, and the kids love them,” says Brooke Turnock, a pediatrician at a community health center on Chicago’s West Side. “I have kids who come in and ask me for a book, no sucker!” Dr. Turnock has been practicing medicine for 18 years and runs Reach Out and Read at her clinic.

“The concept of seeing yourself in a story can help the child develop a love of reading, which is key to neurological and literacy development,” she says. “In the areas we serve, which are mainly low-income, many parents want their children to be highly educated, but they don’t know where to start or don’t have the money to buy books.”

In the future, Mr. Ramsey says, Young, Black & Lit would like to be able to place books in the home of every child who wants to understand the black experience, and build home libraries for every child across the country.

“For me and for both of us, this doesn’t feel like work,” Mr. Ramsey said. “We know we have a positive impact on a person or community. It is a labor of love.”