“Building empathy in more than 2 million children in the U.S.A.”
How it all began:
In Michigan, some students at the Royal Oak Middle School chanted “Build a Wall” in the cafeteria on the day after the 2016 presidential election. The incident was recorded by seventh grader Josie Ramon and widely circulated on social media. Nana Adom Mills-Robertson, a Ghanaian senior at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, watched the video and followed the public outcry that came as a result. Being shocked as to how children could say these things, Adom decided to create a children’s book to build empathy among kids.
About the book:
This Land is My Land is a children’s book written by Dubie Toa Kwapong and illustrated by Samuel Fleming. In the summer of 2017, Nana Adom Mills-Robertson, a senior at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, came up with the idea of creating a children’s book. This book would attempt to build empathy in more than 2 million children in the USA. Adom approached Dubie Toa-Kwapong, an award-winning writer and Macalester graduate ‘16, with the idea. Dubie agreed with it and created “This Land is My Land”. However, it was not complete. Samuel Fleming, a junior at Macalester, who doubled as a prominent up-and-coming artist in the Twin Cities brought life to the characters through art. This Land is My Land will launch as a kickstarter project on September 23rd, 2017 in both physical and digital format.
Story:
Amina is a little girl who lives in a city called Minneapolis with her mom, dad, and baby brother, Alfie. Amina is a very happy girl. She loves her family and mathematics. But recently things have changed at school. Some of her schoolmates have started to say and do mean things to Amina and some of her friends because they are “different”. It has been making Amina very sad. Luckily, Amina has a mom who reminds her that she and her friends are wonderful, just as they are.
Links:
Check the CNN news about “Build a Wall” chant in the cafeteria at the Royal Oak Middle School on YouTube. youtu.be/rD_nqP6glSY
Check out this Blavity’s article about our project. blavity.com
Check out the 2016 Nancy “Penny” Schwarz Undergraduate Essay Award from the Association of Africanist Anthropology (AfAA) for the past works of the author. afaa.americananthro.
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