Black Studies: An Education for Me + You

BookMobile and Book Fair – igniting a passion for reading!

The Black Studies: An Education for Me + You Bookmobile and Book Fair – where education meets inspiration for an unforgettable experience for all. Embark on a transformative journey with us as we delve into the rich tapestry of Black voices, experiences, and legacies. The Black Studies: An Education for Me + You Series is a movement dedicated to ensuring that Black Studies as the Study of the World resonates in every classroom, enriching the education of all students and elevating our entire educational system.

March 30, 2024

Bronx Children’s Museum
725 Exterior Street, Bronx, NY

June 9, 2024

Tompkins Avenue Merchant Association (TAMA) Open Streets
Tompkins Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

June 22, 2024

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center, New York, NY

The Black Studies: An Education for Me + You Bookmobile Read Aloud and Bookfair, proudly presented by United Way of New York City, is sweeping across all five boroughs, featuring exclusive conversations with Black authors, illustrators, and storytellers from across genres, and best of all – thousands of free books.

Inside the Bookmobile, witness the Black Studies Curriculum come alive visually, with lessons and units that spark curiosity and celebrate diversity. We’ll be delivering over 10,000 free books into the hands of eager learners. In addition to public dates in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn, we’re partnering with school districts to bring the Black Studies: An Education for Me + You Bookmobile to children across the city. We hope to see you!

A 2019 study of over a dozen commonly used book lists from Pre-K to eighth grade found that 83% of the 1,025 books analyzed were written by white authors, nearly five times more books than all authors of color combined.*

It is critical that our school children see themselves and their stories represented in the books they read; the Black Studies: An Education for Me + You initiative is making this happen, one book at a time.

*Source: “Chronically Absent: The Exclusion of People of Color from NYC Elementary School Curricula” – NYC Coalition for Educational Justice.

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Background on United Way of New York City

United Way of New York City (UWNYC) is committed to saturating communities with culturally relevant books and stories, learning resources, and innovative multigenerational literacy experiences. UWNYC distributes more than 75,000 annually to communities across New York City.

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Background on EEAPC

United Way of New York City (UWNYC), Eagle Academy Foundation (EAF), Black Edfluencers United (BE–U), Association of BlackEducators of New York (ABENY), the Black Education Research Collective (BERC), with the support of City Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus (BLAC) are working together to develop an interdisciplinary Pre–K–12 Black Studies curriculum that acknowledges the history and contributions of Black people–from early Black societies through the present. The interdisciplinary Pre–K–12 Black Studies curriculum will demonstrate the contribution of ancient Black civilizations and their impact on the modern world. The creation of the curriculum represents the culmination of immense public will resulting from the unique is accompanied by a stakeholder engagement approach taken by our partners that seeks to align support from many diverse stakeholders for the implementation of this first–of–its–kind curriculum, which will soon be accessible to all Pre–K–12th grade public school students across New York City.