A Queer-Inclusive Children’s Book Inspiring Peaceful Protest for Change

Here’s a beautiful, new, queer-inclusive children’s book that encourages taking action to create positive social change.

Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights, by Rob Sanders (Simon & Schuster) takes readers on an alphabetically-themed journey through actions and concepts for making a difference in the world. “Assemble. Take action. Create allies,” we read in the first spread. “Make buttons. Make banners. Make bumper stickers, too,” then follows. Through the course of the book and the alphabet, we see many other ways to make change, too, from organizing and voting to performing powerful music. The collage illustrations by Jared Andrew Schorr are as powerful as the text, giving us images of a multi-racial, multicultural, multi-gender, varied-ability, all-ages world of people mobilizing in their homes and communities.

It is through the illustrations that we see the queer inclusion: a couple of rainbow flags; an HRC equal-sign button; one person who seems genderqueer. This is not a book “about” being LGBTQ, but it distinctly sees queer people among those on the forefront of social justice movements. That’s not surprising, given that Sanders is a gay author and teacher whose most recent previous book was Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag (about which more here).

There’s a generally progressive slant, although the targets of the activists’ actions are often kept vague, making the book applicable and relatable across many causes. At the same time, we see some images tied to real-life events, such as symbols of the National Farm Workers Association, which led the historic strike of California grape pickers in the 1960s; Black people sitting at a lunch counter with scowling White people behind them; a woman knitting a pink pussy hat; and a football player taking a knee. Parents and teachers can explain the real-life origins as they wish, or link the content to events in their own communities. There are nice subtle touches, too: the White woman knitting the pussy hat is watching the kneeling Black football player on her TV and wearing an identical jersey in apparent solidarity.

The book has a definite similarity to Innosanto Nagara’s 2013 board book A is for Activist, but is aimed at children just a bit older (though still within the picture-book realm). Sanders offers simpler sentences, though, that seem more intended to inspire actual action by the target age group, like “Give time. Give strength. Give money if you can.” Some of Nagara’s sentences have always seemed to me to be aimed more at parents than board-book-age kids (e.g., “Querying Qualities counter false assertions”). The difference between the books feels appropriate—board-book-age kids are too little to take actions on their own, but may still enjoy Nagara’s rhythms and rhymes; slightly older ones are ready to think about what Sanders’ calls to action mean for them and their families. A Glossary at the end explains terms that might be unfamiliar, like “boycott,” “demonstrate,” “persevere,” and “vigil.”

Whether you want to explain to your children your own involvement with social justice movements, share the wider picture of fighting for positive change, or inspire them to take action on their own, Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights is a good place to start.

(Pair it with the recent “Action” issue of Kazoo magazine for an even bigger dose of inspiration.)