Divining the Future From the Past: 1960s and '70s, Black Children’s Literature for the People

• In Event: Across Time and Place: Black Literature for Youth and the Continued Significance of Communal Literacies

Abstract

The 1960s and 70s were decades fueled by intersecting social, political, and structural dynamics that indelibly shaped children’s literature, particularly the communal literacies and literature for and about Black people. Johnson (1990) asserted that the 1960s and 1970s were “when black children’s literature gained weight and recognition within the publishing world, to a level which has not been enjoyed since” (p.77).
Using critical content analysis (Utt & Short, 2018), this research explores the content of Black authored retrospective literature and the socio-historical and political dimensions that informed the work of Black writers of children’s literature of the 1960s and 1970s to understand the implications for African American reading communities of practice within and outside of schools in the 2020s and beyond.
Throughout, the author draws from Nikki Giovanni’s notion that we “divine the future…from the past” and McKittrick’s (2021) recursive, non-linear logic, recognizing the power of Black narratives to address the following questions: What identity constructs and themes did Black children’s writers explore during this era? What can we learn from the literary archives of this decade to inform contemporary Black children’s literature and reading communities of practice?

As Muhammad (2020) discovered, history is instructive; she utilized Black literacies cultivated within Reconstruction-era literary societies to develop a contemporary framework to support the literate lives of all students. Because of the ascendency of community-driven Black nationalist organizations and the social and political gains of Black arts and civil rights movements, the 1960s and 1970s were an equally provocative era of influence that redefined and dramatically shifted Black literacies, literature, and literary communal legacies. Structural dynamics like the establishment of Broadside Press, an independent Black publishing house that began in 1965, helped nurture creators like Sonia Sanchez and Gwendolyn Brooks, who wrote for children and adults. They developed literature for children that centered on the extraordinary everydayness of Black life in segregated schools and neighborhoods from the perspective of Black children. Like much of the children’s literature published during this era, they sought to capture the sonic resonance and inventiveness of Black language(s). Just as Black language reflected a much-desired authenticity, visual representations of Black hair, particularly the representation of afro and braided styles, became prominent symbols of racial pride and childhood agency in Black children’s literature during this decade.

The data set examines textual elements (e.g., author’s note, dedication), themes, characterization, and rhetorical tone of four picture books from this era. Authors such as Lucille Clifton, John Steptoe, and Mari Evans wrote books featuring Black childhood perspectives that addressed work, money, civic engagement, play, and negotiating racial geographies. Grief and loss, as well as diverse family structures, were also topics that several Black creators explored. Preliminary findings indicate that Black children’s literature of the 1960s and 1970s, highlighted topics that attempted to transcend white ideological aspirant identities and the imposition of white middle-classness to highlight Black identities, communal needs, and literacies that were recognizable, intergenerational, and accessible to the range of the Black community, particularly young working-class readers and their families.

Author

• Roberta P. Gardner, Kennesaw State University