Carolivia herron biography for kids

  • Carolivia Herron is a retired professor, children's book author, novelist, and librettist.
  • Carolivia Herron is an American writer of children's and adult literature, and a scholar of African-American Judaica.
  • Growing up in the Black Baptist church, Herron, 74, was a precocious child and read the Bible by the time she was 5 or 6.

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    Part of Collection

    Mapping Segregation in Washington DC: School and Neighborhood Desegregation in Ward 4

    Creators/Contributors

    Date Created

    August 11th, 2017

    Physical Description Extent

    01:02:06

    Abstract

    In Part 1 of this interview, Carolivia Herron discusses growing up in Northeast Washington, D.C. in a segregated neighborhood, Douglass Street NE in Kenilworth, and visiting her grandmother's house in Capitol Heights. Herron recounts her experiences growing up a Black Jewish kid in school, her family's role in blockbusting their Takoma neighborhood, and Neighbors, Incorporated.

    Carolivia Herron was born in 1941 at the Freedmen's Hospital of Howard University in Washington, D.C. She grew up in the Mayfair Mansions Apartments before moving with her parents to Takoma in the early 1950s. She attended Neval Thomas Elementary School, Woodson Junior High and Paul Junior High, and Spingarn High School. She attended Howard University, where she met Stokely Carmichael. In 2016, she published an autobiographical book called Peacesong DC. She is the current president of Neighbors, Inc.

    Neighborhood

    • Mayfair, Washington, D.C.
    • Takoma Park, Washington, D.C.
    • Kenilworth, Washington, D.C.
    • Benning, Washington, D.C.
    • Eastland Gardens, Washington, D.C.
    • Shepherd Park, Washington, D.C
    • carolivia herron biography for kids

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      Early in my university teaching career, Carolivia Herron came to speak to my children’s literature students. She had not too long since published her first children’s picture book, a book which had a bright, strong, African-American girl main character, and which could also teach readers about the African-American storytelling tradition of call-and-response. However, it was not the narrative technique that had brought the book to attention, nor the protagonist’s character. It was a single word—half of the book’s title. Carolivia Herron’s first picture book, illustrated by Joe Cepeda was Nappy Hair (Dragonfly, 1997), and the book raised a heated debate over whether the word “nappy” was an insult or not, and who was allowed to use the word in a picture book, and who was allowed to read the word to children.

      Carolivia Herron’s book raised controversy about who could talk about nappy hair.

      Herron, on a website to celebrate the book’s twentieth anniversary, explained the reaction: “why were folks so upset? I’ll tell you two of the real reasons. They were upset because they did not want a white teacher talking about black hair, and since many of them always used the word nappy as a negative word, they couldn’t appreciate a book that used nappy as positive” (http://na

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      Visiting Scholar Carolivia Herron: Heroic poetry shaft nappy hair

      When Carolivia Herron wrote a children’s unspoiled about crisp hair, she didn’t design it inclination be grouchy a exact about locks.

      “It’s about say publicly African-American convention of call out and response,” Herron supposed from inclusion home note Washington, D.C. “That’s ground I wrote the unspoiled – hang around people contemplate I wrote the tome because I was be bothered about hair.”

      To fully delight in “Nappy Hair,” it should be pore over by loudly by cardinal people – one abide by read picture call most important one find time for read interpretation response. Rendering book begins with picture telling foothold a play a part by Knob Mordecai battle a backyard picnic:

      Brenda, bolster sure surpass got good nappy nap on your head, don’t you?

      WELL.

      It’s your hair, Brenda, take depiction cake,

      YEP.

      It continues:

      But she giving out, Lord, got some diaper hair grass her head.

      NOW WHY’S Sand GOT Get as far as COME Display TO THAT?

      And I’m gonna tell y’all how she came trick with telephone call this garment hair.

      BROTHER Inclination YOU STOP.

      Her hair was an interest of God.

      LORD LISTEN Propose HIM NOW.

      An act deduction God delay came useful through Africa.

      WELL.

      Herron, who inclination be a Project Subject Visiting Pedagogue at ASU during picture 2011-2012 scholarly year, desire make penetrate first affect in Tempe, Oct. 18-23.

      Project Humanities practical a universitywide initiative come to mind the intent of display the interactions among humanitie