NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — “My beautiful is black all shadows mixed within. Blended shades of Black makes the color of my skin. This is my baby brother. He’s beautiful, he is black too. He lets me squeeze his cheeks as he smiles and coos.”
These of the words of rising eighth grade author Shaniya Reddy of Oscar Smith Middle School.
Her book, “My Beautiful is Black,” is the inspiration behind an outreach effort created by the Lake Taylor High School class of 1973. 50 years ago, this class persevered the race-based turbulence that followed desegregation via crosstown busing.
Alexandria Forte, a member of the class, calls the desegregation experience transformational.
“We were changed by those experiences at Lake Taylor; it was a challenging time but also ultimately rewarding. We went from it’s strife from the beginning during the desegregation process to a beautiful Black homecoming queen in our senior year [Beverly Perkins Williams] and along the way forged 50 years of friendship,” Forte said.
That transformational experience could play a role in changing a community in need. Blocks from the church this week, a double shooting left a woman dead and a man injured. Pee Wee Thompson is the unofficial mayor of Berkley.
“A lot of mental health issues; it’s just a whole lot. I call it the deficit of life right now; we are in all time low,” Thompson said.
Because of the deficits, the class of ’73 is using the power of literacy to take back the community.
“We believe that when children of color learn to able to read about themselves, about experiences that they can discover. We believe that they will fall in love with reading,” said Perkins Williams, who launched Literacy Matters in the Neighborhood as an effort to reach academically underserved children.”
The timing of this effort is critical. According to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin during the pandemic, fourth graders in Virginia scored poorly in both math and reading.
“It is statistically very difficult for them to catch up and what they also miss aside from just the reading is the world that reading provides,” Forte said.
“We are asking our community to join us and donate new books written by Black authors for preschoolers through 12th grade students,” said Perkins Williams.
The 29th annual Berkley Reunion takes place August 11-13 at the Berkley Park. That’s where the will donate the book to families. The Class of ’73 will have a 15-by-15-foot tent, two tables, banners and a life size poster.
First Baptist Berkley Pastor W.D. Tyree says the efforts of the class of 1973 can make a difference in the lives of Berkley children.
“It takes a village; here’s an opportunity for people to be part of the village and be part of the solution as opposed to shaking their heads at the problems we see,” Tyree said.
For information on the book drive call 757-838-6939. To order Shaniya Reddy’s book, “My Beautiful is Black,” send an email to teamshaniya4L@gmail.com.
