Ellington was not a street

by Ntozake Shange

illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2004.

"it hasn't always been this way
ellington was not a street"

The opening line to this illustrated poem by noted poet Ntozake Shange takes us into a world before civil rights. Shange tries to explain what it was like as a young African American when some of the world's biggest names used to come to her house and talk politics with her father.

I think this is a simple, powerful tool to introduce children to some of the important African American names that have shaped our country.

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