For Black History Month, CBS Saturday Morning co-host Michelle Miller interviewed children’s book illustrator Vashti Harrison for a segment that was perfectly normal until the Miller’s addendum at the end, where she suggested some of Harrison’s work might be banned in Florida for simply having black characters.
Miller’s segment focused on two books, one of which was Big authored by Harrison herself and Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o that Harrison illustrated. During the interview, Miller asked, “Do you see your books making an impact on the next generation?”
Harrison recalled the satisfaction of seeing a child enjoy her books, “when I get to go out to schools and chat with young people, it feels really special for me when they pick up a book, when they pick up one of my books, they've never seen it before. They say, ‘That one's me’ or ‘That one looks like me,’ that makes a huge difference because I remember that feeling.”
It was Sulwe that Miller would claim is controversial. The book describes itself thusly, “Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school. Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything.”
If that seems uncontroversial, that is because it is. However, back live in studio, Miller reported on:
An important footnote to the story. Sulwe has been banned in some Florida schools and might be banned statewide under the Stop Woke Act. Harrison says it's disappointing and upsetting, but she will continue to work on stories with diverse characters. The fact that Sulwe, a character, trying to find her identity and be okay with it would be banned because she's a black character, she just couldn't believe it, but these are stories for everyone.
Miller provided no evidence that statewide ban is probable beyond simply asserting it. This is also the second Saturday in a row, CBS has had trouble with the state of books in Florida. News reports on Sulwe bans center on Duval County, which is the same county that saw a substitute teacher fired for spreading misinformation about the state of school libraries and the manufactured Roberto Clemente controversy that was ginned up by political activists trying to make a scene.
This segment was sponsored by Colonial Penn.
Here is a transcript for the February 25 show:
CBS Saturday Morning
2/25/2023
9:15 AM ET
MICHELLE MILLER: Stories Harrison hopes young readers can find comfort in.
Do you see your books making an impact on the next generation?
VASHTI HARRISON: I think I can think of my work in abstract terms and knowing that this is important, that it's going to reach people because I know how books affected me, but when I get to go out to schools and chat with young people, it feels really special for me when they pick up a book, when they pick up one of my books, they've never seen it before. They say, "That one's me" or "That one looks like me," that makes a huge difference because I remember that feeling.
…
MILLER: An important footnote to the story. Sulwe has been banned in some Florida schools and might be banned statewide under the Stop Woke Act. Harrison says it's disappointing and upsetting, but she will continue to work on stories with diverse characters. The fact that Sulwe, a character, trying to find her identity and be okay with it would be banned because she's a black character, she just couldn't believe it, but these are stories for everyone.
DANA JACOBSON: When she was describing Big, I was like, I wish that existed when I was a kid. I love that story.
JEFF GLOR: Love the vibrancy of the work. Just jumps off the page.
