Our school’s Equity Team was tasked with selecting books for our students to read during Black History Month. We chose The Case for Loving to expose our students to an important story that many have never heard. Love, perseverance and an understanding of the law are powerful weapons against hate.
This month, our classes will also explore historical figures in African American culture. Our Equity team, in collaboration with our teachers, chose books that highlight aspects of history that we hope provide new insights for our students. *(Grade book list below)
The Case for Loving. By Selina Alko and Sean Qualls-
For most children these days it would come as a great shock to know that before 1967, they could not marry a person of a race different from their own. That was the year that the Supreme Court issued its decision in Loving v. Virginia.
This is the story of one brave family: Mildred Loving, Richard Perry Loving, and their three children. It is the story of how Mildred and Richard fell in love, and got married in Washington, D.C. But when they moved back to their hometown in Virginia, they were arrested (in dramatic fashion) for violating that state's laws against interracial marriage. The Lovings refused to allow their children to get the message that their parents' love was wrong and so they fought the unfair law, taking their case all the way to the Supreme Court - and won!
If you would like a copy, here’s a link to Terrace Books-
https://www.communitybookstore.net/book/9780545478533
Grade Level Book Selections-
Charlie Parker Played Be Bop: Kindergarten
You Should Meet- Mae Jemison : 1st grade
The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath (Amazing Scientists): 2nd grade
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History: 3rd grade
Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker: 4th grade
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat: 5th grade
