Tweet that reads Leo Xander @STALLEON Stop taking social media so serious. Nothing here is real. Look at this chicken V - it is bigger than the car
I think about this tweet every time I feel something online start to curl its annoying little grip into my head
Fascinating article about colour-blind casting in latest TV adaptation of Lord of the Flies by @darrenchetty.bsky.social, co-author with @ksandsoconnor.bsky.social of @engmediacentre.bsky.social published Beyond the Secret Garden www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
1/3 Thanks to Brixton Library for a fabulous tribute to The Brixton Bard, Alex Wheatle, last week.
See lambeth_libraries and our insta accounts for the full celebration!
Highlights included:
🌟readings of Alex’s work by Nathanael Lessore, Ken Wilson Max, Ramzee, @emilydrabs.bsky.social …
#KidLitUK
.. @darrenchetty.bsky.social , @mariesadulak.bsky.social , Sandra Agard, Nadifa Mohamed.
🌟the opening of the new Alex Wheatle Reading Room
🌟the launch of a new Black Interest Core Collection
Both at Brixton Library.
Officially cutting the ribbon to the Reading Room, Alex’s daughter said:
Brilliant piece for Media Studies looking at radical @channel4.bsky.social anti-racist programming in the 80s. A time when @engmediacentre.bsky.social collaborated with the channel on our publication Powerful Texts @darrenchetty.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
The Reading Crisis Episode 2 @mostlybooktalk.bsky.social
Takeaways for me included:
@darrenchetty.bsky.social reflecting on the use of phonics when he was a primary teacher: “a lot of emphasis went on the capacity to decode, but not to make meaning.”
#KidLitUK
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...
A brilliant event last week facilitated by @darrenchetty.bsky.social
ILEA* archival materials from Celia Burgess-Macey & EMC inspired reflections on a legacy of anti-racist work in education and provoked conversations on where we go now.
(*Inner London Education Authority)
#KidLitUK
Black Poets/BtSG column in @booksforkeeps.bsky.social
Inspired by a new poetry collection @darrenchetty.bsky.social & @ksandsoconnor.bsky.social look back at previous anthology iterations&publication challenges faced-incl. the diminishing of dialect:
#KidLitUK
booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/beyo...
Yesterday evening with @theclpe.bsky.social we hosted 'Exploring the archive (ILEA & EMC): the past, present + future of antiracist education + children's literature', organised by @darrenchetty.bsky.social. A packed house for an after-school event - so much commitment to anti-racist pedagogy
Eddie Parris, Wales's first black player
Born 125 years ago today in Pwllmeyric near Chepstow
Eddie Parris
The first person of colour to play for Cymru. He played against Ireland in Belfast in 1931 in a 4-0 defeat
@footymuseumcymru.bsky.social @darrenchetty.bsky.social
2/2
AFTERNOON
For those of you in London, come along to @theclpe.bsky.social / @engmediacentre.bsky.social for a conversation about anti-racist education with Kandace Chimbiri, @darrenchetty.bsky.social and
Celia Burgess-Macey.
Free reg: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-past-p...
#KidLitUK
Looking forward to this community conversation!
“Crucially, Amir’s moment of self-actualisation is not straightforwardly assimilationist” @darrenchetty.bsky.social on Sita Brahmachari’s Phoenix Brothers in @writersmosaic.bsky.social
Refs “its many layers and what it suggests about literature and education”
writersmosaic.org.uk/reviews/phoe...
It’s out! The latest Books for Keeps. Looks dreamy😍- esp excited about diving into pieces by Farrah Serroukh @theclpe.bsky.social @charliehacking.bsky.social @bexlibrarian.bsky.social and those fab BtSG columnists @ksandsoconnor.bsky.social & @darrenchetty.bsky.social
Also front cover🍩🍩🍩!
#KidLitUK
Image of an event flyer. Text reads: “THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS € ANTIRACIST EDUCATION Wednesday, Jan 28th | 5-6:30pm GMT EMC & CLPE, Webber Street, London, SE1 8QW, FREE. All welcome, registration essential. Join us for a facilitated community discussion exploring the antiracist archives (ILEA & EMC) - bringing educators & creators together. A chance to browse archival items relating to antiracism, education, and children's literature and participate in a community conversation about lessons from the past and plans for the future!” Against a background of 2 shades of blue. 3 red framed circles down the right side with head & shoulder photos of the contributors. 4 book cover images along the bottom: Teaching & Racism; Dragon’s Teeth; The Story of Britain’s Black Nurses; The Story of the Windrush.
1/2 The Past, Present and Future of Children’s Books & Antiracist Education.
⭐️Jan 28th⭐️
5-6.30pm
See you there!
@darrenchetty.bsky.social
@engmediacentre.bsky.social
@theclpe.bsky.social
Registering essential- see link in post below:
Read more about the exhibition in this BfK article by @ksandsoconnor.bsky.social & @darrenchetty.bsky.social
booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/beyo...
A visual asset which is the cover for the instagram reel. Purple background. Along top, text reads: Whose History? in white font with big yellow question mark. Yellow inner panel with wavy edges. In this, text box reads: WHOSE histories are we told? HOW are our histories told? WHO gets to narrate our past? Bottom of asset, text reads: An IBBY Conference
For a longer account of the day, with take out quotes, see our Insta reel on the grid!
Karen Sands O Connor stands, hands on hips. Right is Darren Chetty holding a mic and speaking.
Panel shows Sandra Agard facing audience, speaking in to mic. Catherine Johnson and JT Williams are both laughing. All are seated behind a table with black cloth.
Michael Rosen is sat behind a table. He speaks in to mic, reading from an open book. Right hand is raised.
… @candygourlay.bsky.social & @balirai.bsky.social
@darrenchetty.bsky.social & @ksandsoconnor.bsky.social
Sandra Agard with @catwrote.bsky.social & JT Williams.
@michaelrosenyes.bsky.social who sang us out with join-in choruses 🙂
Look out for the blog up and coming on the IBBY site.
Farrah stands side on, left arm raised. Right hand holds mic.
Chris Haughton stands, mic in left hand. Right hand raised, pointing to a slide. This shows an inside double page spread of his book The History of Information.: top title reads Social Change. We see a line of people in silhouette marching, holding placards.
Panel. Left is Gita Ralleigh, laughing. Middle is Candy Gourlay who is speaking; expressive hands. Right is Bali Rai drinking a glass of water.
The most recent @ibbyuk.bsky.social conference centred on what histories children are traditionally told and how these can be resisted, expanded, interrupted.
A superb lineup of speakers including:
Farrah @theclpe.bsky.social
@chrishaughton.bsky.social
@gitaralleigh.bsky.social
with …
#KidLitUK
ah, lovely pic!
I've listened to the BBC pocdcast 'Anatomy of a Cancellation' in full. At the outset it promises high concept - The Rashomon Effect. Yet numerous vital perspectives are absent. And then there's the title itself. It's as if the film was called 'Rashomon; Suicide of a Samurai'.
A paperback copy of beyond the secret garden by Darren chetty and Karen sands-o'connor
Very excited to finally get my hands on #beyondthesecretarden - will be digging in this weekend
I did get a sense of a talented writer and teacher but one who appears more open to listening to children from minoritised backgrounds than to adults. This is not that rare in education - but again, Kate and Katy did not explore this. A missed opportunity to go beyond a partial rehashing.
Clanchy has now found friends among those who write articles attacking multiculturalism, dismissing evidence of genocide and mocking trans people. Perhaps the episode radicalised her; perhaps these people aligned with her earlier values. The podcast didn't help me to make sense of this.
The podcast ends with discussion of freedom of speech. Writers are forgrounded here. But Katy Razzall doesn't seem to consider the freedom of speech of those without access to broadsheet and BBC converage, namely GoodReads reviewers (I dislike some of my reviews on there) & (pre-Musk) Twitter users.
She doesn’t acknowledge the irony that she is doing here is exactly what her critics did with her own words - and what she said was wrong.
5) she had some regrets and changed some words 6) the sensitivity reader brought in was over the top and shows she was right in the first place. Clanchy reads out comments from the sensitivity reader and critiques them. She explains to Katy Razzall how her own writing is laced with irony.
Kate Clanchy's arguments slips from 1) The GoodRead reviews were all lies (they weren’t) 2) there were inaccuracies (there were) 3) the screenshots of the book took the words out of context (it’s odd to imply you cannot quote from a text) 4) the actual words were fine and she has no regrets...
I've listened to the BBC pocdcast 'Anatomy of a Cancellation' in full. At the outset it promises high concept - The Rashomon Effect. Yet numerous vital perspectives are absent. And then there's the title itself. It's as if the film was called 'Rashomon; Suicide of a Samurai'.
Really interesting listening to @darrenchetty.bsky.social talking about how history is written when it comes to racially minoritised people - thinking about the POV, the reader, context, and how the narrative humanises, shows agency and recognises heterogeneity in social groups.
