Thread by @innodim

Good Morntint🌞
It was such a treat to be a mystery reader AGAIN for my 9 year old, Ugochinyere🥰💕
When I say 3rd graders are a whole vibe! 😍
We read “Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba” by Ekiuwa Aire (Cos you’re gonna get this African History baby!) and “The day you begin”… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

…by the incomparable Jacqueline Woodson & illustrated by Rafael Lopez.
As I always say, please have a family curriculum of reading & storytelling no matter the age: from the womb to the tomb. At my big age, one of my favorite things to do is listen to my parents’ stories… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

…, both of them phenomenal story tellers & animated readers. Read and tell stories about African/Black History and culture - pre-colonial to modern times.

Our lives and stories didn’t start with the violence of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.

We must learn and teach our children about who we were and still are as the land from whom all humans originate and to whom they return one way or the other. We are the inventors of medicine, metallurgy, agriculture, sciences, language, rhythm, life.

We are royals, healers, teachers, priests, artists, inventors, farmers, creators, lovers, mothers, fathers, children. There is nothing we cannot do. If we think, dream, imagine it, we can actualize it.

We can do this with joy, movement, & in community.

The more our children know who they are and to whom they belong, the more their confidence and self esteem grows and the lower the risk of depression, anxiety, & other mental/emotional/behavioral issues - evidence-based.

So read, story-tell, travel with them & show them the world starting from your very backyard & all the way to Nigeria!

& remember, they’re watching & copying us consciously & subconsciously, so make sure they see YOU reading too!!! 😁

📣CORRECTION
Re: Error in the first reading video - Angola is technically on the west coast of southern Africa, NOT West Africa.

My bad, I be gettin’ mixed up sometimes 😇😁😆 #Imperfection

Shout out to my siblings in the great nation of Angola, crushing it on the daily🇦🇴✊🏾💕

@JackieWoodson @rafaellopezart @jenneki