A Bright Day at the State Capitol

THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW

A Bright Day at the State Capitol

By Portia Bright Pittman and Dr. Calvin Mercer

As we all know, 2024 is an election year, where the allocation of resources is determined and who will best represent the interests of the voters, especially those of us who are part of what are considered marginalized groups in our society. When I was in 9^th grade, we were taken on a field trip to the Minnesota State Capitol for a tour of the building and where we received information about the lawmaking process, augmenting our civics classes. This knowledge is expanded to include elementary school children in the activity book co-authored by Portia Bright Pittman and Dr. Calvin Mercer, There Ought to Be a Law: A Bright Day at the State Capitol.

In an interactive activity book of games, puzzles, coloring, and glossaries, Pittman and Mercer take children ages 6-9 through a journey about how a bill becomes a law and the elected public officials who are involved in the process. The children in the story, Eliza and Martin, are taken to the State Capitol by Eliza’s mother. They learn about the lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives, past and present governors, voting, creating a bill, getting the bill passed before the governor signs it into law, to name but a few steps in the process.

This process is broken down beautifully by Pittman and Mercer. Pittman served as a legislative assistant at the North Carolina General Assembly, currently leading programs of several diverse groups about the legislative process as well as helping children understand just how government works. Mercer served on the city council in Greenville, North Carolina, and shares Pittman’s passion for engaging people in their government.

I applaud Pittman and Mercer for their work. Voting and having knowledge of the lawmaking process is something we cannot take for granted. The presidential election may take place every four years, but it doesn’t stop there. The decisions made in local and state government have a greater impact on our daily lives, and our children need to know these things in order to make informed decisions as adults.

For this achievement, Pittman and Mercer received a Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute Award for National Book of the Year.

There Ought to Be a Law is available through Bright Books (www.brightbooks.org), Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Thank you, Portia and Calvin, for showing and reminding us that we are never too young to learn that knowledge is power!