‘Dear Black Girl; I See You’

Milwaukee-based children’s book author Ebony Haynes poses with her new book, “Dear Black Girl: I See You.” Photo courtesy Ebony Haynes

Both of Ebony Haynes’ children’s books grew out of letters she wrote.

“I lost a cousin to suicide and wrote a love letter to him,” Haynes told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “The other was to myself. Both were turned into stories.”

The letter to her late cousin evolved into the 2019 book, “Dear Black Boy: It’s Ok To Cry.” Haynes’ letter to herself became “Dear Black Girl: I See You,” which was released in March. In both cases, Haynes turned her pain and life experience into affirmations for Black and brown children everywhere.

“I write very specifically to Black and brown children because their stories matter,” Haynes said. “I know that children’s books don’t always reflect everyone positively. Some young people may look at books and never see themselves reflected. But I also always remind readers that they’re not exclusive. If you’re a person, if you’re a human, you can read ‘Dear Black Boy’ and still feel the words that are on the page.”

The books’ illustrator, Jasmine Grant, also joined “Wisconsin Today.” She saw these stories as an opportunity to respond to Haynes’ letters and communicate with everyone reading the books.

“I wanted to create a diversity of Black girls and make it so they could really see themselves — see their features,” Grant said.

Grant draws both human likeness and abstract shadows in the book. She said the shadows are “playing with what’s seen and what’s not seen,” and are meant to “encourage Black girls to see every aspect of themselves, even the ones that might upset them or might upset others.”

Haynes’ family history is everywhere in her books. In “Dear Black Girl: I See You,” she quotes loving words from her father, who passed away while she was writing the book. Haynes asked Grant to depict him in the book to honor what she learned from him. Haynes said it was important to her to share the affirmations from her loved ones that kept her going on her own journey.

“We all deserve very basic things that we’ve been taught we have to work for,” Haynes said. “That can be so damaging for a young person — this idea of having to work for someone’s love.”

That’s why, Haynes said, she included in the book the people and spaces that gave her unconditional love.

In both books, Haynes and Grant represent recognizable Black figures who they wanted young readers to see themselves in, such as Simone Biles in “Dear Black Girl: I See You” and Martin Luther King Jr. in “Dear Black Boy: It’s Ok to Cry.”

“Dear Black Boy” was published the year before the murder of George Floyd, which sparked widespread Black Lives Matter protests. And “Dear Black Girl” was published nearly five years after Floyd’s death. The timing of the publications is not lost on Haynes.

“Thinking about the uprising of Black Lives Matter and what’s happening in our nation now, you get to a point where you recognize: If there was not power in your story, why would someone be trying to erase it?” Haynes said. “We have to tell these stories because they do matter, and so that children everywhere can see themselves reflected in a positive light.”

Haynes said she is currently working on her next project, a children’s book and an accompanying parenting book that will reflect on her journey as she’s learned how to meet the needs of and advocate for her son who was born with hearing loss.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, call or text the three-digit suicide and crisis lifeline at 988. Resources are available online here.

Listen to the WPR report

From a Milwaukee children’s book author: ‘Dear Black Girl: I See You’ was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.