Jelani Memory

Back in 2018, I wrote a book for my six kids titled A Kids Book About Racism. At the time I had 5 kids (4 white and 1 brown) with a new little brown baby on the way. Growing up as a black kid in the whitest city in America, it felt important that my kids not only know and understand what racism is but be able to talk about it openly. So I did what any dad would do, I wrote a book. Not so that we could start the conversation on Racism (we were already having it), but so that they always knew it was an open subject with me, their black dad. I’m grateful that my kids, especially my white kids, feel comfortable asking, “Is this racist?” because they heard something at school that didn’t sit well with them.

And now here we are, some three years after I wrote that book. With my kids encouragement and a lot of help, I built a company around the idea that kids were ready to talk about the important stuff of life, and that books were sort of a magical way to open up those conversations. Our company has now published over 50 books ranging from topics like Divorce, Optimism, Voting, Cancer, Shame, Racism, Gratitude, Empathy, and Being Non-Binary. We’ve sold hundreds of thousands of copies and more importantly started important conversations in homes, schools, classrooms, pillow forts, grandparent's houses, and therapists’ offices all over the world.