Carole Boston Weatherford (born 1956) is an American author and critic. She has published over 50 children's books, primarily non-fiction and poetry. The music of poetry has fascinated Weatherford and motivated her literary career.[1] She has won multiple awards for her books, including the 2022 Coretta Scott King Award for Author for her book Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre. As a critic, she is best known for her controversial criticism of Pokémon character Jynx and Dragon Ball character Mr. Popo.
Carole Boston was born February 13, 1956, in Baltimore to Joseph Alexander and Carolyn Virginia Boston.[2] She began writing in first grade by dictating poems to her mother. Her father taught printing at a local high school and published his daughter's early works. As a child, she enjoyed reading Dr. Seuss and Langston Hughes. She continued to pursue creative writing as a hobby through high school and college.[citation needed]
Boston Weatherford has held many positions before beginning her writing career, including as an English teacher (1978); a field representative for the American Red Cross (1978–79); creator, producer, and host of the Black Arts Review radio show (1979); Art Litho Co. account executive (1981); National Bar Association communications director (1981–85); B & C Associates, Inc. vice president and creative director (1985–88).
Weatherford published her first picture book, Juneteenth Jamboree, with Lee & Low Books in 1995; the book discusses a summer celebration in memory of the Texas Emancipation.[4] She then wrote a series of board books for preschoolers. In 1998, she co-authored Somebody's Knocking at Your Door: AIDS and the African American Church, and then published a collection of poetry, The Tar Baby on the Soapbox. After establishing herself as a versatile writer for both children and adults, she published two nonfiction chapter books before penning her first award-winning children's book, The Sound That Jazz Makes (2001), a poem that traces the history of African-American music.[citation needed] The book won the 2001 Carter G. Woodson Book Award[5] and was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Children.[citation needed]
Since then, she has continued to write poetry, historical fiction, and nonfiction biographical works for children. She said in a 2008 interview that one of the most important poems she has written was Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom: "Those inspired words came together with Kadir Nelson's soulful paintings and Ellice Lee's brilliant art direction in a perfect publishing storm. Moses propelled my career to another level."[1]Moses has won a Caldecott Award for illustration,[6] as well as an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Children,[7] and became a New York Times bestseller.[citation needed]
In 2008, Weatherford published her first poetic novel for young adults, Becoming Billie Holiday, about the development of the artist who she refers to as her muse.
As an author, Weatherford acknowledges her calling "to mine the past for family stories, fading traditions and forgotten struggles."[10] The books she writes, in poetry and prose, explore African-American history from a children's perspective and relate the past to new generations. Her works are often inspired by true events, many of which took place in the areas where she has lived. In her Author's Notes for each book, she includes a portion of the historical research from which her fiction or poetry emerged. In describing her purpose for writing to School Library Journal, in a 2008 interview: "I want the books that I write that are set during the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights era to nudge today's kids toward justice. We've gone a long way, but we still have a long way to go."[11]
Weatherford eventually became a writer-in-residence at Fayetteville State University (FSU). In 2007, she received the position of associate professor teaching composition and children's literature.[12]
Critical articles
Weatherford has written multiple articles attacking what she identifies as stereotyped caricatures of black people in East Asian popular culture, with two of the more prominent ones being geared toward anime, and another aimed at the name of a toothpaste brand.
In January 2000, Weatherford wrote an op-ed piece that ran in newspapers across Alabama. "Politically Incorrect Pokémon" explained how she believed that Pokémon #124, Jynx, was a negative stereotype of African Americans:
The character Jynx, Pokémon #124, has decidedly human features [in contrast to most other characters]: jet-black skin, huge pink lips, gaping eyes, a straight blonde mane and a full figure, complete with cleavage and wiggly hips. Put another way, Jynx resembles an overweight drag queen incarnation of Little Black Sambo, a stereotype from a children's book long ago purged from libraries.[13]
In response to the controversy, Jynx's in-game sprites were given a purple skin color in the American versions of Pokémon Gold and Silver, released in late 2000. By 2002, Nintendo officially redesigned Jynx, changing its skin color from black to purple; this change was not reflected in the animated series until Jynx's purple skin appearance debuted in the episode "Mean With Envy!" (混戦、混乱！ポケモンコンテスト・キナギ大会！ （前編）), which originally aired in 2005,[14] with the Amazon Prime release of "Holiday Hi-Jynx" recoloring Jynx accordingly, although it is still black on the thumbnail.
In an article published in The Christian Science Monitor in May 2000, Weatherford reiterated and expanded on her argument. Jynx had looked like "an obese drag queen" and she also offered Mr. Popo, a character from the Dragon Ball franchise, up for critique:
Mr. Popo is a rotund, turban-clad genie with pointy ears, jet-black skin, shiny white eyes and, yes, big red lips.[15]
The Dragon Ballmanga later released by Viz in 2003 had reduced the size of Mr. Popo's lips.[16] Furthermore, media related to the series' sequel Dragon Ball Super showed an increase of black characters that strayed away from racist stereotypes, such as that of Goten and Trunks' classmates Rulah and Chok, and fewer references made to Mr. Popo (with the latest release Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero only indicating the character being off-screen).
My Favorite Toy. Illustrated by Michelle Mills. Writers & Readers Publishing. 1997. ISBN0-86316-215-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
Somebody's Knocking at Your Door: AIDS and the African-American Church, with Ronald J. Weatherford (Author) and Harold G. Koenig (Author), 1998, Routledge, ISBN0-7890-0575-1
The Tar Baby on the Soapbox, 1999, Methodist College, ISBN0-9670994-3-9
Sink or Swim: African-American Lifesavers of the Outer Banks, 1999, Coastal Carolina Press, ISBN1-928556-03-5
2000s
The African-American Struggle for Legal Equality, 2000, Enslow Publishers, ISBN0-7660-1415-0
Great African-American Lawyers: Raising the Bar of Freedom, 2003, Enslow Publishers, ISBN0-7660-1837-7
Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins. Illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue. Dial Books for Young Readers. 2005. ISBN0-8037-2860-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[119]
A Negro League Scrapbook, 2005, Boyds Mills Press, ISBN1-59078-091-4
The Carolina Parakeet: America's Lost Parrot in Art and Memory, 2005, Avian Publications, ISBN0-910335-01-X
Champions on the Bench: The Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars. Illustrated by Leonard Jenkins. Dial Press. 2006. ISBN978-0-8037-2987-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[120][121]
Racing Against the Odds: Wendell Scott, African American Stock Car Champion. Illustrated by Eric Velásquez. Marshall Cavendish Children's Books. 2009. ISBN978-0-7614-5465-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[129]
The Beatitudes: From Slavery to Civil Rights. Illustrated by Tim Ladwig. Marshall Cavendish. 2010. ISBN978-1-46-743277-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[131]
Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America. Illustrated by Jamey Christoph. Whitman, Albert & Company. 2015. ISBN978-0-80-753017-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[138]
Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression. Illustrated by Sarah Green. Albert Whitman. 2017. ISBN978-0-8075-1699-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[140]
In Your Hands, with Brian Pinkney. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2017. ISBN978-1-48-146293-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[141]
The Legendary Miss Lena Horne. Illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2017. ISBN978-1-48-146824-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[142]
You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen. Illustrated by Jeffrey Boston Weatherford. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2018. ISBN978-1-48-144939-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[144]
Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream and You. Illustrated by James E. Ransome. Bloomsbury USA (Children). 2018. ISBN978-0-80-272368-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[146]
BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom. Illustrated by Michele Wood. Candlewick. 2020. ISBN978-0763691561.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[149]
By and By: Charles Albert Tindley, the Father of Gospel Music. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. Atheneum. 2020. ISBN978-1-5344-2636-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[150]
Madame Speaker: Nancy Pelosi Calls the House to Order. Illustrated by Chris Hsu. Little Bee. 2021. ISBN978-1-4998-1189-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[153]
Call Me Miss Hamilton: One Woman's Case for Equality and Respect. Millbrook Press. 2022. ISBN978-1-54-156040-6.[155]
The Faith of Elijah Cummings: The North Star of Equal Justice. Illustrated by Laura Freeman. Random House Studio. 2022. ISBN978-0-593-30650-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[156]
A Song for the Unsung: Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the 1963 March on Washington. Illustrated by Byron McCray. Henry Holt and Co. 2022. ISBN978-1-25-077950-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[157]
All Rise: The Story of Ketanji Brown Jackson. Illustrated by Ashley Evans. Crown Books for Young Readers. 2023. ISBN978-059-365016-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[159]
Kin: Rooted in Hope. Illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2023. ISBN978-1-66-591362-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[161]
Sugar Pie Lullaby: The Soul of Motown in a Song of Love. Illustrated by Sawyer Cloud. Sourcebooks Explore. 2023. ISBN978-1-72-824253-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[162]
You Are My Pride: A Love Letter from Your Motherland. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis. Astra Young Readers. 2023. ISBN978-1-63-592387-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[163]
A Crown of Stories: The Life and Language of Beloved Writer Toni Morrison. Illustrated by Khalif Tahir Johnson. Quill Tree. 2024. ISBN978-0-06-291103-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[165]
Outspoken: Paul Robeson, Ahead of His Time: A One-Man Show. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Candlewick Press. 2024. ISBN978-1-5362-1297-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)[166]
Notes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bank Street College of Education marked All Rise, The Faith of Elijah Cummings, Freedom in Congo Square, How Do You Spell Unfair?, Leontyne Price, Me and My Mama, and Me and the Family Tree as books of "Outstanding Merit".
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