Hey, I'm so excited you're here!
My name is Krystal the Creative. I'm a wife, mother, and an educator. But before I was all those things, I was a curious little brown girl who loved to learn about black history..
In school, there wasn’t much mention of it. We had a sentence or two about slavery and in January we colored a picture of Dr. King. The gaps in my learning were filled in by my parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
When I was in 4th grade, my grandmother bought me a book. In this book I learned about journalists who showed boldness with their words. Activists who showed boldness through their actions, and so many others who without their contribution, our country would have never changed. I read this book from front to back and back to front. If we had google back then, I would’ve looked up every name to learn more. This one book, lit a spark in me to want to know as much as I can about the history they didn’t teach me in school.
My history, Our history.
I am still on that journey. As a teacher at a school that infuses African and Black history and culture into all areas of education, I discovered even more about our history before and after slavery. I learned about African Kings and Queens who fought colonialism, I learned about an empire that was the mecca for innovation and education, that Africa was the home to the first University where people from around the world came to study. I see how the scholars (my students) who are taught our rich history were so confident in who they are, Confident enough to stand proud and speak, sing or perform in front of a room full of strangers. Their knowledge of where they came from and who they are afforded them the ability to not be scared of speaking up when it came to that point.
The Bold Leaders Educational Coloring Book Series was created to give ALL children access to our rich history full of courageous, bold, intelligent men, women, and children, and to instill the confidence in the next generation to become bold in their words and actions, that I wish I had as a child.
My hope is that my book will light a spark in a child to want to learn more.
Just like the book my grandmother bought me.
