Christine Platt on the Power of Storytelling for Antiracism and Diversity, Equity + Inclusion
Christine Platt is a passionate advocate for social justice and policy reform. A believer in the power of storytelling as a tool for social change, Christine’s literature centers on teaching diversity, equity, and inclusion to people of all ages.
In Better to Speak’s first major content project, our founder Kési Felton sits down with Christine to discuss her journey as an author, the importance of Black storytelling, and how we can all do our part to own our story and advocate for a truly equitable society.
Kesi Felton: Your bio explains that you are “a believer in the power of storytelling as a tool for social change” which aligns perfectly with my organization Better to Speak. Could you start by sharing your story and how you got to where you are today?
Christine Platt: Sure. I started my career as a historian and a lawyer. I have a bachelor's and master’s in African American History and Culture, and then I went on to Law school. Worked in law for a while, and transitioned to government. And it was while I was in government where I remembered my love for writing. I wrote my first novel while I was there, and that was the novel that sort of launched my career into being a storyteller.
ANA & ANDREW AND DIVERSITY IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
KF: You’ve said in previous interviews that you hope to write children’s books that are “both a window and a mirror.” As Diversity & Inclusion can sometimes be a buzzword, why is having both the mirror and the window important when you’re talking about true diversity, equity, and inclusion?
CP: Traditionally, if you think about some of the first stories that you’ve read growing up, most of those stories involved white protagonists. So those books – for someone of African descent – those books would be considered “window” books. Those are windows where you’re always looking into somebody else’s experience. Mirror books are where readers can see themselves reflected in those stories. For me, it’s important for children of African descent to have more stories that are mirrors. Stories that reflect the lives that they live, the lives that they can live. Then at the same time, they’re also windows, giving children who are not the same racial demographic an opportunity to look into the lives of children that they may be curious about.
KF: You have a series of children’s books called Ana & Andrew. Reading from your website: “Ana & Andrew are always on an adventure! They live in Washington, DC with their parents, but with family in Savannah, Georgia and Trinidad, there’s always something exciting and new to learn about African American history and culture. This series includes A Day at the Museum, Dancing at Carnival, Summer in Savannah, and A Snowy Day. Aligned to Common Core standards and correlated to state standards.” What inspired you to start this series of children’s books, and why was it important to you to make sure they were available in school libraries?
CP: Well it’s actually interesting – the series came to me. My agent had approached me with an opportunity to write children’s stories centered on African American history and culture. And initially, I said no because I liked writing adult fiction...you know, our history can be very heavy and traumatic, and I just enjoyed telling less watered-down stories of our history. So I didn’t really think that I could write for children. I gave it a try, and I ended up loving it. It’s interesting when you write children’s books, oftentimes you’re just writing the story, so I just turned in a word document. Then, months down the line, when I had a chance to see it fully illustrated, that’s when it came alive for me as well. I ended up just really enjoying writing the story, and really enjoyed the reaction – not only from children but from parents and educators. It’s been a wonderful experience.
And it’s important not only to have the books in school and libraries but also in homes. It’s important – as I said, again, windows and mirrors. It’s important for our children to see themselves as it’s equally important for other children to have an opportunity to look into their life experiences.
KF: You actually touched on my next question: What has the response from the book series been like for you?
CP: It has been amazing. There are moments when it’s overwhelming – so I’ll often get pictures from parents of their kids reading the books or sleeping with the books, I get beautiful email messages. I mean, it has been such a joy. I really didn’t – because my daughter is older... I know that there was obviously a lack of literature when I was raising her – but I didn’t understand that that gap was still there. It’s been wonderful being among the authors who are filling in that gap.
KF: Do you believe that schools are doing a good job to ensure that diverse history is taught to students? What can education advocates for this issue do to ensure more diverse stories are being told?
CP: I think schools are doing a much better job – obviously a much better job than they were when I was growing up. And I think that’s largely in part to parents and educators pushing.
An example of how someone can advocate for their child’s classroom or for their school is when they see the reading list, look and see how many diverse authors are on there and if there aren’t a lot, push back. For educators, when they get their budget, make sure they’re including diverse and inclusive, not only literature but also toys...different things to ensure reading and play accurately reflect our world rather than just one particular view.
KF: Can you explain what truly “culturally responsive literature” looks like?
CP: Again it’s like a mirror. Culturally responsive literature are more mirror books. They are representing the culture of the reader.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
KF: You also have an extensive background as a Race, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion expert and previously served as the Managing Director of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University. How have these roles impacted you as well as your understanding of social issues?
CP: As a person of color and a person of African descent, oftentimes my view of the issues is centered on my community. I think working in those capacities, and working in that capacity now, opens me up to other social issues that are happening in other communities. It definitely brought me a level of awareness. I got out of the silo of just Black issues, Black problems and get an opportunity to look at it holistically, so there’s some overlap there. It’s been a blessing to have an opportunity to see other cultures and other nationalities and what some of their struggles are, some that are similar to ours and how can we collaborate and collectively bring about change.
KF: And given your expertise, how can storytelling positively impact policy?
CP: Again, never thinking that I would write for children, I really didn’t understand how important it is to be teaching diversity, equity and inclusion to young readers and introducing them to these concepts at an early age that will hopefully be expanded upon in an age-appropriate manner throughout their education. Children – these are the next generation of the folks that are going to be able to bring about change. It’s not that I’ve given up on adults – because obviously there are many adults who are doing the work and doing their part – but I think there’s something about capturing young minds and establishing that at an early age and normalizing it so it's not just when they get to high school or when they get to college that they’re being forced to hear about diversity and equity and they’re like “What? I thought everything was fine. What are we talking about?” It really reinforces it, the storytelling at a young age, it weaves it in and reflects their normal community and every day of life.
2020 ELECTION
KF: Given the political climate that we are in today, and especially ahead of the 2020 election, some have said that identity politics shouldn’t be the main motivator for voters choosing a candidate. Do you have any thoughts on that?
CP: When it comes to voting, it’s something that is so personal it’s almost like a religion to me, so I never feel like I should be telling someone what they should or shouldn’t be doing when it comes to picking their particular candidate. But I do think that we are in a social and political climate that we can see how important it is to have a leader and to have leaders who reflect the morals and values that we wish to see. I don’t want to tell anyone to pick a candidate on any particular thing, but definitely think about how it will impact our social climate.
IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES
KF: You have also served as a Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. Department of Energy, where your work focused on low-income and indigenous communities. Given your experience in that role, do you think the national conversation around climate change is adequately inclusive of those communities?
CP: I don’t think so. And I still think climate change is something that we’re grappling with as a country, even as ice glaciers melt away. There’s still sort of this belief that climate change isn’t real, that nothing’s happening, so I think that until we get on a national level of agreement on that, I don’t even see how we can dig that deeply into some of these communities. Which is really unfortunate because most of the underserved communities and a lot of the indigenous communities, they are like Ground Zero for a lot of the climate change issues that we’re having. So it’s pretty unfortunate.
KF: And while you were there, at the U.S. Department of Energy, how receptive were they to talking about [these underserved communities?]
CP: I was in a department where that was one of our main focuses. They were very receptive, they had wonderful programs. Our Tribal Energy Program was a great program – providing grant funding for tribal lands to help with energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. But I just think on a national level, there’s not awareness at all.
D&I: MORE THAN A BUZZWORD?
KF: As more and more businesses and organizations implement Diversity and Inclusion statements, trainings and strategies, what advice would you give people my age who are in college and about to enter the workforce about making sure these organizations are actually walking the walk?
CP: That’s the thing. Unfortunately, race work has become profitable, so now it’s become this business whereas before it was like a culture and people just genuinely wanted to do the right thing. I think young people looking at future places of employment can go on Glassdoor, you can reach out to individuals who work at these companies and most people are very forthcoming about their experiences. I don’t think it takes very long to figure out whether a company is really walking the walk and talking the talk. I mean, you can walk in the door on your interview and it’s like an office full of white men. Do your research, is what I would say.
CLOSING WORDS & SHARING YOUR STORY
KF: What challenges have you faced throughout the course of your career?
CP: I think the biggest challenge that I’ve faced that I think most people face is just believing in yourself and believing in your work and what you’re capable of doing. And it’s taken me – what am I, 42? – it’s taken me 42 years to just really be confident in what I have to offer. It’s really important to – once you’ve figured that out and you have that level of confidence in what it is that you do, I just stay in my lane.
There are always going to be things happening all around you that may be closely related or similarly situated. You have to just stay focused on what it is your goal is, the work it is that you want to do – obviously be helpful in the ways that you can – but just don’t allow yourself to be pulled in 100 different directions trying to work on every single race issue, trying to solve every single social justice issue because it’s just not possible. There are people out there that are doing the work and I get those questions, projects or even opportunities that are not necessarily in my lane – I may be able to speak effectively to it, [but] I know there’s someone out there that could do this work much better than me and so I just refer that work on.
KF: What has been your favorite moment in your career?
CP: My favorite moment in my career so far has been working with Ana & Andrew. Like I said earlier, seeing the reaction from children, parents, and educators. I recently received a message from a mom, her daughter had gotten a copy of [Ana & Andrew:] A Day At The Museum. In that book, the children go visit the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, and after reading that book, she was like she has to go, she has to go. She forced them to find a way to get tickets. So they shared that story with me and then they sent me a picture of her posing in the same way as Ana off the cover of the book. It just makes me so emotional, but I love those moments when I see that I’m making a change or an impact on someone’s life.
KF: What can we look forward to seeing from you in the near future?
CP: Things are about to get pretty crazy for me. I have a TedTalk coming up in November. And in 2020, I have about 13 children’s books coming out. There are four more books in the Ana & Andrew series that are coming out – they get to visit a slave castle in Ghana, they get to learn about Frederick Douglas playing the violin – and then there are some nonfiction early readers. There’s a lot coming down the pipe, I’m excited about it.
KF: What advice would you give to anyone listening about what it means to own and share your story?
CP: I think we all have a story to tell. How we tell it – that’s up to the individual. But I do think it’s important to share our stories – our triumphs, our failures, our successes, lessons learned. It’s something that I’ve learned to take much more ownership of, now that I’m older. When someone comes to me and they’re like “How did you know when you graduated?” Now I can speak to that. I remember there were moments in my career or in school when I wish I had someone to talk to. Obviously, there were people around me with stories, but I either didn’t think to ask or they didn’t think to share. So I say ask and when someone asks something of you where you can tell a story that’ll be helpful to them go ahead and share that.
Stay connected to Christine
Twitter: @christineaplatt
Instagram: @afrominimalist
Website: www.afrominimalist.com
