KWAME VOTES
By Dr. Artika Tyner
Just recently, the Democratic National Convention took place in Chicago, where Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, as did Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for Vice President of the United States. It was “a moment for inflection,” and a serendipitous time for me to review Dr. Artika Tyner’s children’s book, Kwame Votes.
Our story opens with Kwame being picked up from school by his father. Kwame is excited because his friend Imani won the student government election at school. From school, they drive to his Grandma Alice’s house, where he enjoys Grandma’s pound cake and talks with her and his Uncle William and Aunt Ruth about Election Day and what it means, not just nationally, but in local and statewide elections.
They all drive over to the polling place, where Kwame’s mother is an election judge. After his elders have voted, Grandma Alice places an “I Voted” sticker on Kwame’s sweater, reminding him that voting is his opportunity to be heard.
I appreciate Dr. Tyner’s mutigenerational focus in the story. Kwame reminds us that we’re never too young to learn about the voting process and its importance. In his mother, I see active participation in the process, as she is a judge. In Grandma Alice, I see our elders who fought and died for our right to vote as African Americans. This book also provides teaching moments in the back on what children and young adults can do to make a difference in government, as well as a history in the progression of voting rights in this country. Indeed, this is a must-read for our personal libraries as a legacy to our children; I remember well the experience of taking my 8-year-old son with me to the general elections of 2008 to witness the voting process in action.
Kwame Votes is available through Barnes & Noble and Planting People Growing Justice Press (www.ppgjli.org).
Thank you, Artika, for this timely and inspiring addition to your collection, and for all that you do support literacy and the community.
W.D. Foster-Graham
W.D. Foster-Graham is a native son of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a B.A. in psychology from Luther College, and he was an original member of the multi-Grammy-Award-winning ensemble, Sounds of Blackness. He has also been recognized by the International Society of Poets as one of its “Best New Poets of 2003,” is a guest writer for journalist/author/entertainer Wyatt O’Brian Evans.
