Collier, Bryan. We Shall Overcome. Orchard Books, 2021.

In We Shall Overcome, Bryan Collier introduces readers to a girl, a story, a history, and a song by way of watercolor and collage illustrations (copyright page) that complement sparse text–the lyrics to the Civil Rights anthem "We Shall Overcome." Although the story transpires over the course of only one day in the present, it reveals images–painted in black and white–of meaningful events from the Civil Rights movement. Collier presents a Black girl in a yellow dress who begins her day walking with friends to the school bus stop and ends the day by walking with them to a community gathering in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

In this double-page spread, the figures are evenly spaced, suggesting equality. Too, they are painted wearing distinct bold colors, suggesting individuality. The girl in the yellow dress walks forward with purpose: it's time for school. She stands as straight as the three pencils poking out of her red backpack and looks directly ahead, seemingly static. Her friends are most definitely in motion. On the recto, from wraparound headband to blue backpack, the entire person of the girl in green is on a diagonal, while, on the verso, the placement of the hands and arms of the girl in blue and boy in white imply their movement. The friends' eyes look down–or away (can the girl in blue see, feel the history behind her?)–and indicate they might not be awake enough, ready for, or excited about the day. This is a snapshot of regular kids on a typical day doing a routine activity. The children are positioned in front of the base of the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue erected following the Ku Klux Klan bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama (back matter). The church itself lies behind the statue. Painted in shades of black and white, the background represents another time and place. It is one stop on the friends' walk, one memory, or reminder, about those who came before them, whether they see, feel, know it, or not.

Children's book author, editor, and publisher Denene Millner bemoans the number of picturebooks featuring Black characters that emphasize the "degradation and endurance" of Black people and ignore their everyday lives (par. 7-10). McNair responds to Millner and argues stories about everyday Black children’s lives do exist, and further, that stories about “degradation and endurance” are central to Black children’s everyday experiences: "[f]or children of color, race is often intertwined with the mundane, and it is possible for a story to be authentic and diverse while celebrating the mundane" (par. 5). Because Collier ties the injustice of the bombing in the past to an everyday activity in the present, this spread skillfully represents this connection.

Works Cited

Collier, Bryan. We Shall Overcome. Orchard Books, 2021.

McNair, Jonda C. “Reflections on Black Children’s Literature: A Historical Perspective.” The Horn Book, 23 July 2018, www.hbook.com/story/reflections-black-childrens-literature-historical-perspective. Accessed 21 March 2022.

Millner, Denene. "Black Kids Don't Want to Read About Harriet Tubman all the Time." The New York Times, 18 March 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/opinion/sunday/children-literature-books-blacks.html?smid=url-share. Accessed 21 March 2022.