source: The Coretta Scott King Awards Book: From Vision to Reality ed. by Henrieatta M. Smith; 1994.

It seems the intent of the CSKBART Executive Committee is to get back to the original intentions of the award’s creators by limiting the qualifications for award winners to those Black Americans who are US citizens whose ancestors were enslaved in the USA. This excludes those people of African descent who are not US citizens or who are US citizens but, their ancestors were not enslaved in the US. I do wonder if the CKSBART Executive Committee would expect the other ALA Youth Media Awards to align with this exclusive practice.  I’m not sure what process will be used to determine ancestry or whose responsibility that will become.

With all this in mind, I thought I’d provide a little history of the award.

In 1969, after years of Black creators being excluded from the ALA Youth Media Awards, Mabel McKissick, Glyndon Greer, and John Carroll invited Harriet Brown (NY City Board of Education), Beatrice James (pres. Of NJ State Library Assoc.) Roger McDonough (NJ State Librarian), and Ella Yates (asst. Director of Montclair NJ public library) created the Coretta Scott King Award. Glyndon Greer suggested that the award be named for her friend, Coretta Scott King to honor the works of Dr. King and to honor Mrs. King for her “courage and determination in continuing the work for peace and brotherhood” (Smith). The first meeting took place at the Annual NJ LIbrary Assoc. Meeting The award became an official part of ALA in 1980.

Leb Mills designed the CSK Award Seal, The original winning seals were printed in bronze seal “representing the tones of Mother Africa” while the honors were printed in sliver. In 1990, the winning seals were produced with character details superimposed in bronze on a black background and honors were created with pewter. The Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award is detail in green, a color symbolizing newness. The seal contains images of a dove (for peace), a chlld reading a book (symbolizing knowledge as the key to understanding). The five religious symbols below the image of the child represent non-sectarianism: star and crescent (Islam), om (Hinduism), cross (Christianity), Star of David (Judaism), yin-yang (Taoism).

1985 Selection Criteria:

“The Book Selection Committee of the Coretta Scott King Task Force honors a Black author and a Black illustrator for outstanding contributions which promote better understand and appreciation of the culture and contributions of all people to the realization of the American Dream. This man or woman doesn’t necessarily have to be a member of the organization.”

https://alair.ala.org/bitstream/handle/11213/16205/1002006a_004_CSK_Bylaws_circa1985.pdf?sequence=1

2009 Selection Criteria:

“Thematically the material (text or illustration) must speak to some aspect of the African American culture, with an awareness of Martin Luther King Jr.’s sense of the brotherhood of all cultures.

The author or illustrator must be African American.

2023 Selection Criteria:

1. Must portray some aspect of the black experience, past, present, or future.
2. Must be written/illustrated by an African American
3. Must be published in the U.S. in the year preceding presentation of the Award. (For example: only books published in 2023 will qualify for the 2024 award.)
4. Must be an original work
5. Must meet established standards of quality writing for youth which include:
   • Clear plot
   • Well drawn characters, which portray growth and development during the course of the story.
   • Writing style which is consistent with and suitable to the age intended
   • Accuracy
6. Must be written for a youth audience in one of three categories:
   • Preschool-grade 4
   • Grades 5-8
   • Grades 9-12
7. Particular attention will be paid to titles which seek to motivate readers to develop their own attitudes and behaviors as well as comprehend their personal duty and responsibility as citizens in a pluralistic society.
8. Illustrations should reflect established qualitative standards identified in the statement below:

Illustrations should… “heighten and extend the readers’ awareness of the world around him. They should lead him to an appreciation of beauty. The style and content of the illustrations should be…neither coy nor condescending…Storytelling qualities should enlarge upon the story elements that were hinted in the text and should include details that will awaken and strengthen the imagination of the reader and permit him to interpret the words and pictures in a manner unique to him”
–Cianciolo, Illustrations in Children’s Books (p. 24-25)

The content (illustration or text) must be of high literary or visual quality, with a theme that has the potential for long-term, meaningful significance.”

SOURCES:

(Smith, Henrietta. The Coretta Scott King Awards Book: From History to Reality. American Library Association, 1994.)

Smith, H. M. (2009). The Coretta Scott King Awards, 1970-2009: Vol. 4th ed., 40th anniversary. ALA Editions of the American Library Association.

Biblo, M. (1985). Bylaws, circa 1985. https://alair.ala.org/bitstream/handle/11213/16205/1002006a_004_CSK_Bylaws_circa1985.pdf?sequence=1

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards for Authors and Illustrators https://www.ala.org/rt/cskbart/cskbookawards/slction