Vanessa Willoughby of School Library Journal compiled a list of 17 non-fiction books that spotlight Black scientists, thinkers, and inventors. We welcome any content that promotes Black people in STEM, especially when it involves educating children to that fact.
As a preface to the list, Willoughby discussed the misrepresentation of marginalised people in STEM and the alarming rate with which Black and Latinx students were dropping out of STEM courses. While a report which analysed these figures couldn’t find a root cause, Willoughby suggested white privilege as one.
The #BlackinSTEM hashtag on Twitter seems to back up this theory, which not only aims to promote the visibility of Black academics in STEM but to call out the racism and microaggressions Black STEM students and professionals experience […] Racism is rooted in the dehumanizing idea that a community or group of people are a monolith; these books show that Black people have always been integral to the intellectual landscape of this country and the scientific community at large.
I strongly suggest you read Willoughby’s article in full and grab some of the books from her list if you can.