Happy 100th birthday to Mildred Pitts Walter

As I handed Mildred a copy of Justin to sign, I felt like I was entertaining royalty. We talked about her life, books, racism, sexism, and oh my goodness, joy! She exuded joy. Yet her story was not all joyous. Born in 1922 and raised in the South, she lived with and fought against racism her entire life. She shared how, in the 1960s, at a major gathering of publishers and librarians, she stood up and asked why there were so few books with children of color as the main characters. She was loudly booed and shouted down. But she was not shut down! She left that gathering fired up, and began writing children’s books featuring children of color, over 20, including Justin, a boy who liked to bake, and the world took notice. Her stories featured people of color in ordinary life experiences which made it possible for young people of color to see themselves in books.

My husband and I visited Mildred’s San Mateo home a few months later, to feast on even more stories of her career and personal life, the highs and lows, and the struggles she had faced as a woman of color demanding that her children, one of whom we got to meet, be represented in books. I’ll never forget the warmth, welcome and history we felt in that house.

Mildred is turning 100 years old this week and is still a force of nature. Today, there is an explosive push back by some based on the false narrative that race and gender in literature have displaced basic reading, writing and arithmetic in classrooms. Organizations like Moms for Liberty say that white children should not be made to feel guilty for historic injustices against people of color. Mildred recently wrote an essay for the Horn Book Review, with a revolutionary idea. Why not celebrate all the white people who stood up against slavery, against segregation, and against racial violence? Mildred wrote that “There are too few white characters like Harper Lee’s Jean Louise (Scout), Jem, and Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. White children, I believe, will welcome characters like them who will inspire them, answer their questions, and speak to their confusion, fears, and guilt about racism. More stories about white people who have participated in actions to end slavery and discrimination and present-day racism are needed so that children will have stories to expand their thoughts and memories about the issues of this vital debate. Without these stories, they will have no expansion of their intelligence. And without intellect there can be no new creative action.”

Now it is important for me to point out that To Kill A Mockingbird is on the top 10 list of banned books for the use of racial slurs and depicting Atticus Finch as a “white savior.” Censorship and book bans, sadly, have been widely practiced by people of all social and political stripes throughout history. It is ironic, though, that an organization with “Liberty” in its name is today’s leader in demanding book bans.

As we celebrate Mildred Pitts Walter’s life and work, let’s double down on celebrating the good that people of ALL colors do, uplift the lives and stories of ALL people, all religions, political ideas, socioeconomic situations, saints, sinners, queerish and straightish. That’s my idea of liberty. And with the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week right around the corner Sept. 18-24, consider this question: Doesn’t censorship divide us more than it unites us? Happy Birthday Mildred and thank you Gretchen!

Craig Wiesner is the co-owner of Reach And Teach, a book, toy and cultural gift shop on 25th Avenue in San Mateo.