Art and Storytelling on the Streets: The Council on Interracial Books for Children’s Use of African American Children’s Literature

From 1970 until 1974, the Council on Interracial Children’s Books (CIBC) ran the Arts and Storytelling in the Streets program throughout New York City. This program involved African American and Puerto Rican artists and storytellers bringing children’s literature directly to children in the streets. This occurred amid a rise in African American children’s literature and educational upheavals in the city as local communities demanded oversight of their schools. Originating in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville district in New York City, the Arts and Storytelling on the Streets program helps to underscore the interrelation between African American children’s literature and educational activism. This article examines how storytelling sessions run by authors and illustrators became extensions of African American children’s literature and educational activism in the city as Black American children’s books became key tools in a fight for a more representative and relevant education. Storytelling teams hoped to use African American children’s literature to help engage children in reading and provide a positive association with literature among local children. The Art and Storytelling program mirrored ideas and themes within African American children’s literature including Black pride, community strength, and resisting white supremacy. The program also became a key extension of the literature as the locations, storytellers, and the audiences all helped to expand upon the impact and many meanings inherent in contemporary African American children’s literature.