On March 24 Nadia Conyers and her daughter Arrington read their new children’s book to residents who live at APAH’s Gilliam Place.
The story continues when Arrington asks her parents what they are planning to do that day, and learns they are going to a naming celebration for a street. Arrington wonders why the street name is changing, and her mother explains it had been named for a person who didn’t treat people fairly. Arrington declares it “cool” when she learns the new street name will be the same as Langston Community Center in the neighborhood where her grandmother lives and her mom grew up.
“We wanted young people to be able to see themselves in the book. We wanted to show people of color in books and the importance of representation.”
— Nadia Conyers, author
Nadia said the idea for the book came about because her mother was on the Renaming Committee and instrumental in the street renaming effort. “Some of our neighbors came to the renaming ceremony, and my mom wanted to give the children a book about John Langston and who he was. Nadia said she researched and couldn’t find anything like that “so we decided to write our own book.”
Nadia said it only took about three hours for them to write the book. “It is just 26 pages long and geared to K-2, and we already knew what we wanted to say.”
But she added it took longer to find a publisher and an illustrator who could portray them the way they saw themselves. John Langston was one of the most prominent African Americans in the US before and during the Civil War and the first Black member of Congress from Virginia.
“We wanted young people to be able to see themselves in the book. We wanted to show people of color in books and the importance of representation.”
Nadia and Arrington had just returned on Saturday afternoon from another book signing, this one at the Unitarian Church on George Mason Drive where they read the book aloud to preschool children. Arrington was still excited and trying to wind down. Her mother had told her “You’re a part of history; this is a big deal.”
Coming up are more events at the Photo Gallery, Central Library and an Earth Day event hosted by the Langston Boulevard Alliance. A second APAH book signing event is scheduled for March 31 from 5-6 pm at their The Springs location on N. Thomas Street.