Do you know who Angela Davis is? If you do, you are one up on me. I had never heard of them, or if I had it was just a footnote in history. And to be honest, Davis deserves to be more than a footnote. She needs her own thousand paged book. Instead I must settle for the clever picture book (currently available but read on line) Be the Light: How She Became Angela Davis written and illustrated by Daria Peoples.
Davis was born in 1944 and as of this writing, going strong at age 81. She was a strong presence in the civil rights movement during the 1960s and 1970s. She was always strong willed, always striving for better. She would become a member of the communist party, was wanted by the FBI, was arrested and/or a person of interest multiple times, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and much more. This picture book introduces us to this person in words that are not overwhelming, but have heft to them. Davis is not an easy person to talk about. They had edges and I wonder if she is really appropriate for the picture book crowd.
Which just means, she must be important and appropriate because we don’t know about her, and yes, she is more militant, it is important to see that side of things as well. She needs to be heard. You might not agree with how she fights/fought but she is a leader in the ilk of Dr. King and Malcolm X. With that said, I would go with ages 5 and up, and the afterward is for the 8 and up crowd. Plus, know your reader and what they are ready for. Even though it is a picture book, I would love to see first to third graders read it as well as adults.