Atlantic City teacher goes viral with children's book list to spark conversation on racism

Brittany Smith, 27, of Egg Harbor Township, a preschool teacher at the Sovereign Avenue School in Atlantic City, said she was taken aback when she heard about backlash over a commercial in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on the children’s channel Nickelodeon.

The commercial, which aired on several ViacomCBS-owned television networks, featured the words “I CAN’T BREATHE” on a black screen for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time a Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on the neck of George Floyd before Floyd died of asphyxiation May 25. Floyd’s death in police custody sparked nationwide protests and riots against police brutality.

“There was a lot of discussions about ‘children are too young,’ ‘they don’t see color,’ ‘they don’t understand these things,’” Smith said. “As an educator myself, I realized that’s not the case. And I felt like it was important to know that there are ways to have these discussions with children, and it’s important to have these discussions.”

Smith, a Black woman, said children in the Black community often have to have these discussions with their parents at an early age. The teacher in her knew one of the simplest ways to spark discussion is through books.

“So I just started a thread on my Twitter of 15 or so children’s books” that would help parents and educators begin the conversation, she said. “It ended up going viral, which is not what I expected at all because at the time I only had 300 followers.”

The Twitter thread has now been liked more than 400,000 times and retweeted 212,000 times, including by celebrities, politicians, athletes and authors. Smith has heard from educators all over the world and has been featured on talk shows and in print.

“It’s just been a whirlwind,” Smith said, calling her segment on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” a “mind-blowing experience that I wasn’t expecting.”

She said her favorite interview was on Good Morning America’s third-hour segment, “Strahan, Sara and Keke.”

“We really got to have a nice conversation about everything,” Smith said.

The book list includes two of her favorites: Lupita Nyong’o’s “Sulwe” and “Intersection Allies: We Make Room for All” by Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council and Carolyn Choi.

It also includes “The Proudest Blue” by Ibtihaj Muhammad with S.K. Ali, of which Smith wrote, “It’s necessary for me to add this book to the list. A coworker had lent it to me one day for my classroom, and it nearly brought me to tears. So beautifully written, with such beautiful imagery.”

Smith said the feedback has been very positive, both from the public and in her community. She is proud that through her tweet, children of color will see themselves represented in books, conversations about race can happen in school and at home, and that children in less diverse settings can be exposed to students of different backgrounds.

“Acceptance of diversity should be the norm,” she said.

Smith said she wants to continue using her platform to advocate for children of different backgrounds and to continue to have discussions with teachers, administrators and thought leaders in regard to developing more thoughtful and inclusive curriculum.

“My school is really good at inclusion and representation, but I know it’s not like that everywhere. I would love for different administrations to really make this a priority,” she said.

Eventually, Smith said, she wants to release her own children’s book. In the meantime, she will continue to add to the book list on her website, wanderingbritt.com. Smith’s Twitter handle is @wanderingbritt_.