Andrea Davis Pinkney

Greetings!

This morning all the students in grades 1 through 4 had the opportunity to hear Andrea Davis Pinkney speak. She is a petite Black woman who gave a dynamic presentation to a few hundred students from area schools. She spoke about her writing style and how she gets her ideas. Andrea’s day begins at 4:00 am with some silent meditation on something beautiful and lovely or something that she loves. She said that she sits with her cell phone on her knee so she knows how long she has been sitting and thinking. She invited the children to sit quietly with their hands folded in their laps, close their eyes and think of something they love. Then she puts on her swim suit and goes to the YMCA in her neighborhood in New York City and swims. Andrea said that she takes her notebook with her everywhere she goes. She walked down the steps to the audience level and walked along the side showing her notebook and asked the students if her writing was neat. It was not. She then commented that it was a bit sloppy but that it was her notes and not meant to be neat. She uses her notebook to write down her ideas as soon as they come to her so that she won’t forget them.

Since I knew that our students would be attending this session, I bought two of Andrea’s books and shared them with the students. I bought “Dear Benjamin Banneker”, and “Sit In. How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down”. Andrea shared parts of the book “Sit In” along with other books of hers. The “Sit In” book is the story of the Greensboro sit in that occurred in February of 1960. It tells the story of a nonviolent protest for equal rights. Andrea uses Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words in sections of the story.

She did not mention her book about Benjamin Banneker, but that was one of my favorites. Benjamin Banneker was born free to free Black parents. They owned a small tobacco farm that he eventually took over when he was an adult. He studied the stars and wrote his own almanac, but was unable to get it published because he was Black. A group of people who fought for the rights of black people helped him eventually get his almanac published. Benjamin also wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson reminding him that he had written in his document “The Declaration of Independence” that all men are created equal but at the same time he – Thomas Jefferson – was guilty of owning slaves. Jefferson answered and said that Banneker was right. This book shows that all people are able to learn and achieve their dreams no matter the color of their skin.

Andrea’s husband, Brian Pinkney, illustrates many of her books. He uses scratchboard – white covered over with black – for his illustrations. He scratches away the black part that he doesn’t want, and is left with black and white. He then paints color where he wants color. After sharing Andrea’s books, you might incorporate an art lesson and let the children try some scratchboard art for themselves. For those children who are ‘lefties’, you can tell them that Brian is also left-handed.

If you are unfamiliar with this author, you might want to get some of her books. The two that I have mentioned are two that are certainly appropriate for our SDA Schools and there are most certainly others. Andrea also writes picture biographies about famous Black people. Check them out of your local public library and see which ones will be best for your school.

Have a great week!
Audrey