Encore: Transform Your Passion Into Action

The world is full to the brim with passionate people! What would happen if those same passionate people transformed their passions into action? Our schools would be better! Our communities would be safer! Our relationships would be healthier! How do we get there? Dr. Stephanie Brown has three passions that electrify her life… faith, education, and writing. During the Pandemic Lockdown of 2020, God transformed her passions into action to address the lack of representation of characters of color in children’s literature and in curriculum. In fact, a survey of 3,716 books surveyed in 2019 indicated that only 11.9% had main characters that were African American. Animal character ranked at over 20% (Herndon, 2020). So, to transform her impact on education, her community, and the minds of children, she wrote and published a children’s book in 2021 called, “She Looks Like Me!”, where the main character is a spunky and curious little African American girl named Elena. The purpose of the book is to teach children about hidden figures in Black History and provide parents and educators with recommendations on how to promote diversity in children’s book at home and in the classroom. The impact of, “She Looks Like Me!” has been tremendous! The book has been read aloud in classrooms all over Philadelphia, bought by educators nationwide and the support keeps growing! Dr. Brown has also created an educational resource hub called I AM Educational Series that provides free lesson plans for teachers and parents in Black History and in Women’s History. And… On MLK Day 2022, a second book, “She Looks Like Me!: The Activity Book”, will be released to give kids an opportunity to reinforce their knowledge of hidden figures in Black History through building fine motor skills, word searches, matching, coloring and more! The Activity Book also comes with a lesson plan.