A Crisis and the Importance of Words - Wisdom from Jason Reynolds, National Ambassador of Young People's Literature.

Jason Reynolds's tweet from Friday May 29, 2020, shared by Jacqueline Woodson (our previous National Ambassador of Young People's Literature) and more than 7,000 others, is a powerful reminder in the midst of America's dual crises of Coronavirus and Racism:

"If you call us thugs, you don't have to call us children. If you call us thugs, you don't have to call us angry. If you call us thugs, you don't have to call us heartbroken. If you call us thugs, you don't have to call us human. You also don't have to call yourselves complicit." — Jason Reynolds

Words Matter. #BlackLivesMatter.

And we, as creators of work for children and teens, have power in our words, our stories, our illustrations. And in that power is responsibility, and even the opportunity to make our world a better place.

Illustrate and Write On, and Stay Safe,
Lee