Purchase a physical copy of Not My Idea here: https://www.dottirpress.com/not-my-idea
SPEAKER:
Thank you for watching, and for a full transcript visit www.fun4thedisabled.com. We hope you enjoy.
(VIDEO PLAYS).
FANNIE THE PUPPET:
Hey there, kids, it’s Fannie, here to tell about a real important story. So listen well. This book spreads awareness of privilege and racism, to encourage, to dismantle an unjust system. Fun4TheDisabled is happy to present today’s book, ‘Not My Idea’, written and illustrated by Anastasia Higginbotham. And now, to share the story, here’s Anastasia Higginbotham, her son Sabatino, and Nina Grollman.
SPEAKER:
Not my idea’, A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham. When grown ups try to hide scary things from kids… Oh no, not again. What? Mom. What “not again”? It’s usually because they’re scared, too.
Who is that with their hands up? Why is that policeman screaming at him?
Bang! bang! bang! bang! bang!
SPEAKER:
They want to bury the truth.
SPEAKER:
You don’t need to worry about this. You’re safe. Understand?
SPEAKER:
No. Our family is kind to everyone. We don’t see color. Deep down, we all know color matters.
(MUSIC PLAYS). Skin color makes a difference in how the world sees you and in how you see the world. I wanna bring my aunt a gift. This will only take a minute. It makes a difference in how much trouble seems to find you, or let you be, in stores, in cars, on sidewalks, at school. Your skin color affects the most ordinary daily experiences, including which neighborhoods welcome you.
SPEAKER:
So relieved you got here safely!!
SPEAKER:
Why wouldn’t we? The protests. Marchers came to demand justice for the unarmed African American. They demand an end to killings across the nation, part of a shameful pattern that has claimed the lives, particularly of young men of color. Marchers referenced past victims and a video taken by a bystander. They’re blocking the road. Breaking news. Family speaks out on police shooting.
(GUN SHOOTING). You may get the message that racism is happening only to black and brown people.
SPEAKER:
I can’t watch the news. That police officer was just doing his job. Racism is a white person’s problem and we are all caught up in it. Mostly by refusing to look at it. Come away from the TV now. Look, I made your favorite. You can face this. “Racial justice. We must step up.”
SPEAKER:
Understanding the truth takes courage, especially a painful truth about your own people, your own family. “Are you alright?” Even people you love may behave in ways that show they think they are the good ones.
Racism was not your idea. You don’t need to defend it. You can bring your curiosity to learn about it and see that it’s true.
SPEAKER:
“I’ll be over here if you need me, OK?” Our Shared History. In the United States of America, white people have committed outrageous crimes against black people for 400 years. All along, every step of the way, people who love justice and love each other have been fighting back.
SPEAKER:
Many white people did things they never should have done, denied opportunity, bank loan denied, denied housing, notice of eviction, denied voting rights, voter registration test parts A, B, C, pages 1-4, sections 1-20. Exploited the love and labor of black women. Yes, ma’am.
SPEAKER:
Many other white people failed to see the problem with this. These choices put wealth and power into white hands, homes and neighborhoods. Some white people joined the leaders of black liberation. Angelina Grimke and Sarah Grimke, 1838, Abolitionists, Suffragists, Sisters. White people joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee under the leadership of Julian Bond in 1963. White people listened to and learned from the music of black artists such as Nina Simone, who in 1967 sang about ‘Liberation’, which means love plus freedom. White nuns joined fellow marchers on the Selma to Montgomery March 1965. John Lewis and fellow demonstrators kneel in 1962. Colin Kaepernick kneels in 2017. Racism is still happening, it keeps changing, and keeps being the same.
And yet just being here, alive in this moment, you have a chance to care about this, to connect.
But connecting means opening, and opening sometimes feels like breaking.
SPEAKER:
Our car’s parked over here, love.
SPEAKER:
Um, Mom? I don’t feel good.
SPEAKER:
Uh-ah. Should I pull over? I need to know what’s going on. What are you talking about? Why didn’t anyone teach me real history? I do see color, I see yours, mine, and everybody’s. You can’t hide what’s right in front of me.
I know what that police officer did was wrong!
SPEAKER:
OK! Geez! You don’t have to yell.
SPEAKER:
Go with your instincts on this one. Racial justice is possible, but only if we’re honest with each other and ourselves. I see a playground over there, wanna get some air? Yes.
SPEAKER:
Your history’s not all written yet. What do you want it to say?
SPEAKER:
Thank you for watching, ‘Not My Idea’, written and illustrated by Anastasia Higginbotham. We had the vision, the role of white supremacy in the history of racism, empowering white children and families to see, so we can dismantle white supremacy, power and privilege is a reality. So we educate ourselves on true history. We must learn from the past and do it together. And that is how we make this world better.
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