Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, May 7, 2023
Ingrid Chalufour, clerk of Peace and Social Concerns introduced this morning’s book in this way:
Good Morning Friends!
I will start by asking you to hold the Obadiah Brown Benevolent Fund Committee in the light this week as they review our proposal and decide if we will receive a grant from them. They meet on Friday and we hope to hear next week.
A part of introducing social justice to young children is introducing them to injustice. Whether it impacts their own lives or the lives of others, whether it is a part of history or the present day, injustice is a part of the package. One of the things we will explore and clarify for ourselves next year is what are the injustices to introduce young children to, when, and how.
I happen to believe that injustice should always be introduced to young children in the context of activists who are working to correct the injustice. We have shared quite a few of those books with you and I have another one today.
I share a book by Duncan Tonatiuh, a prolific author and illustrator of social justice books for young children. This book tells the story of the Mendez family in the 1940s in California. It is a true story and the author did a great deal of research, interviewing Sylvia Mendez and using actual text from the court files. The book is called Separate is Never Equal.
![](https://www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Screenshot-2023-05-08-at-11.22.39-AM-842x1024.png)
.You can hear the book read here, from Reading Is Fundamental.