Many in kid lit are familiar with with this graphic on the dismal rep of BIPOC characters. The CCBC also tracks creator rep—I just took a look & did some math. In 2010, 3% of books were by Black creators; in 2018, 5%.

(Browse full annual breakdowns at https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp)

This is not new information. @LEEandLOW highlighted this too in their recent post on anti-Blackness in publishing. But I wanted to call out the lack of progress over time in particular. Only 2% more Black creators in pub in nearly a DECADE.... https://twitter.com/leeandlow/status/1268289978196467720

I keep going back to these stats by Lee & Low and CCBC bc so often across publishing there’s a knee-jerk defensiveness—“We’re doing better! Once the stats are released THIS year you’ll see!” C’mon. Even if we doubled, tripled, QUADRUPLED that # it would still be upsetting.

And here’s the thing. Even if all publishers collectively flipped tomorrow and only published books by/about BIPOC....there are still decades of backlist to contend with. The concerted output wouldn’t even make a dent in publishing’s racist legacy.

But lack of rep is only one part of the picture. When publishing does crack the door open for Black creators and characters, what are the kinds of stories that are prioritized? The @DiverseBookFndr has taken on that research for picture books... https://twitter.com/kaitfeldmann/status/1213231304747241473?s=21 https://twitter.com/kaitfeldmann/status/1213231304747241473