Friendship is the driving force behind a new organization that aims to improve racial equity in Asheville schools -- starting with classroom bookshelves.
The effort, called Colorful Pages Coalition, involves distributing picture books featuring characters and authors of color to first graders in Asheville City Schools.
BPR’s Cass Herrington sat down with the founders of Colorful Pages to talk about racial equity. Bianca Gragg identifies as Latina and Jeannie Curtis is white. They're both moms and have experience working with kids -- Gragg was a school behavioral therapist and Curtis was a teacher and most recently, a consultant.
Their goal is to get books representing people of color into every first grade classroom in Asheville City Schools by the end of the 2019-2020 school year. They also hope to expand to Buncombe County Schools, as well as districts in surrounding counties.
Gragg and Curtis launched Colorful Pages in January, with the help from a Buncombe County Tipping Point Grant. They say they hope to have a website up in June. In the meantime, more information about their work and how to get involved can be found here.
