A Richmond-based youth-led charity is making complex social issues more understandable for the younger generation by publishing a children’s book that will highlight diverse family structures. Asra Fatima, co-founder of Framing the Future said the book is meant to challenge what people are normally familiar with.
“We’re starting to talk about the different types of families. Families with only one mom or one dad, a single caregiver, or other structures like that where they’re not as common. So the goal with this book is that it doesn’t have to be that way. There’s many different types of families. There are many different types of people and they should all be accepted.” – Asra Fatima, Co-Founder of Framing the Future
According to Fatima, while there are resources covering similar issues, some of them are not “as well put out as they should be.” The book With Love, will feature six different families.
With Love is one of three other books that’s been published through the group’s Turning Pages project. The group has already published books covering ableism, culture, and race. For Fatima it’s important that the books are made by people their age, who are either in high school or have just started university.
“I think it’s really important for them to write these books, because a lot of these books come from personal experience or things that they’ve thought when they were growing up as children of immigrants, immigrants, or immigrant children. When they address these things, it’s sort of an outlet for them to share their stories.” – Asra Fatima
As diverse as their experiences were growing up, there’s one thing in common shared by immigrant children and children of immigrants throughout the years. There was a lack of diversity and representation while growing up in school.
Fatima migrated to Canada from the US and was only one of three Indian Muslims in her school. The other two were her siblings. According to Fatima, her American Muslim Indian culture varied from the predominant Indian population in her school. She said books became an outlet for her to turn to.
Caroline Belgrave is a mother of two from Langley. Her family migrated to Canada in the late 70s. She came from a predominantly Afro-Caribbean neighbourhood in the UK but when she arrived in Canada, she found herself as the only Black person in her elementary school.
“As young people, we spent a large majority of our time in our academic careers. And so all of the materials that I’m being surrounded with are not reflecting my history, or have images of me in the academic component. If you take me outside of school, and you’re thinking about the late 70s, early 80s, you’re looking at magazines, TV shows, movies, where the imagery is all Eurocentric,” Belgrave said.
Lu Kombe is an author who grew up on Canada’s east coast after moving from Taiwan as a child.
“There was definitely a lack of education in terms of even like your textbook. I didn’t see many people who I would identify with. But I think as a kid, you’re just like a sponge and soak everything in. You kind of get used to it. And you don’t realize that there’s a lack until much later,” Kombe said.
Kombe is now raising her biracial children with her Tanzanian husband while they manage a safari company in Africa. Kombe said it has been easy for her to access books and even toys for her biracial kids. She said she didn’t realize how much she missed out when she was growing up.
“Then I also decided that maybe it could be more. So I wanted to also participate in creating characters, storyline that would evolve around characters that would resemble more cultural identities.”
Belgrave said that while she was proud to be Canadian, having access to her Black heritage saved her sanity amidst the bullying she experienced while growing up. Her parents kept her connected to their Black heritage by actively seeking out Black publications, driving to one of two Caribbean stores in town at the time. For Belgrave, every generation opens the door a little bit more for the next.
“I think that there’s a beautiful evolution of the human spirit that you’re seeing in the next generation of being more accepting of people. And that’s accepting of people across the BIPOC population, and not just the diversity in our ethnicity, but our roles and gender. All of those kinds of things. You’re seeing younger people are more accepting and loving towards each other in that way”
For Fatima, the stories they tell are not just for the kids. Fatima said that while they hope to inspire with the stories they produce, the change of perspective isn’t only aimed at the younger generation but at older generations and everyone who reads the books. Their group hopes to publish more books with LGBTQ+IA representation and environmentalism from an Indigenous perspective.
As a youth charity, the books Framing the Future publishes are donated to select local libraries within the Lower Main land. The group is continuously fundraising to produce more books. Donors can reserve a copy on their fundraising page. They have also made their books accessible online. With Love will be coming out in May.
(Published in BCIT News)