Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Black Girl, Brown Girl Books. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Black Girl, Brown Girl Books thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Appreciate you joining us today. Risk-taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Thank you for having us. We’re honored to be here today to share our story of risk-taking, or better yet, betting on ourselves. For us, our work began with risk-taking. Our work is challenging a literary system that makes white characters the center of children’s books and our mission is to intentionally change that narrative for our Black and Brown children. So from the start, we knew that this intentional and very important work would challenge some, cause others to be uncomfortable or question our purpose and hopefully create an opportunity for intentional conversation regarding children, race, books, representation, and celebrating diverse traditions, communities, family dynamics and the way children naturally love and care for each other. Every day, we stand firm in our belief that representation matters and that our children are deserving of having their favorite characters in their books look just like them. Our work also creates an opportunity for children to do what they do best, which is learn from each other, which makes total sense to us, however, we know that some folks wouldn’t agree with that.

Black Girl, Brown Girl Books, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Crystal and this is my business partner and childhood friend Ingrid, and we are the Co-Founders of Black Girl, Brown Girl Books. Black Girl, Brown Girl Books is a children’s book publishing company created to increase the representation of Black and Brown characters in children’s literature. We both are very proud South Central Los Angeles natives, best friends, and social workers that have over 30 years of combined experience working within early education settings.

After working several years in early childhood settings and witnessing firsthand the lack of diversity in books for children of color, we made it our mission to make a difference. In 2019, they co-founded Black Girl, Brown Girl Books. We began our journey into the world of children’s book publishing with the specific intention of expanding the representation of Black and Brown characters in early literature. A shared frustration with the lack of representation of Black and Brown characters in children’s literature was transformed into a shared passion and realized dream.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

1. Know your purpose for the work you’re doing. We know our mission is to make sure that children that look like us are represented in the books they read.

2. Connect with other people/creatives/professionals that are doing similar work and those that can mentor/coach you to reach your goals.

3. Stay authentic/true to yourself.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In spite of the research that shows you’re more likely to see a truck, car, animal or white character in a children’s book before you see a Black or Brown character, we worked intentionally to change that narrative and interrupt that data set. We’ve maintained a level of excitement throughout this journey, however, the pandemic was a major barrier to our book launch being that shipping and delivery took over 6 months. However, our family, friends, colleagues, and customers continued supporting us and providing us with constant encouragement. The long-awaited arrival/release of our first book, Soul Sisters/ Hermanas Del Alma was met with such a warm, loving, and highly anticipated arrival/release.    

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @blackgirl_browngirl
• Facebook: BGBGBooks (Black Girl, Brown Girl Books)
• Other: [email protected]