I’ve been trying to come up with a blog post for the past few days and keep coming up empty. I thought about linking to the many fine posts that are kicking up dust about the state of ethnic children’s literature, but I’m tired of kicking up that dust. I began this blog over seven years ago in my attempt to get books by authors of color into the hands of readers and to work to improve the literacy of teens of color.

Here I am, seven years later still doing pretty much the same thing. Sure, I’ve taken some action by taking up the pen. I’m not just kicking up dust, but

• those who want books featuring characters of color still have difficulty locating them.
• authors of color are having an even more difficult time getting published.

I need a word other than ‘frustrating’ but, that’s all I have.

I considered a post about Black Expo which was held in Indy last weekend. I remember taking my children to the event when they were smaller and the convention center would be packed with exhibitors and visitors as items related to black culture were actually available in the city. Between the Circle City Classic and Black Expo,  friends in other cities thought Indianapolis really had it going on. But, not really. Facilities for these events are rented and most money generated by the events does not circulate in the black community.

This year, there were fewer exhibitors (the cost for tables is HUGE) and the crowd was much smaller. The streets of Indianapolis have become quite violent this summer and many feared the violence would spill downtown.  It was sad to see fear impact such a positive event. As I sat in the booth my university sponsored, I was so impressed to see so many families in attendance.  Self published authors were there selling there books. I didn’t visit the vendor sector but I do wonder if any major publishers were there with their books to sell or display.

Guess I had more to say than I thought.