Five years ago I was on the hunt for the perfect baby doll for Gianna. Little did we know on her first birthday that we were pregnant with Caleb! After we found out, I was determined to prepare her as best as I could to be a big sister. Part of that plan involved getting her her own baby doll. I remember first checking out Amazon. I did a search for “Asian baby doll,” and got ready to browse an assortment of cuteness. As my search results filled my screen, I couldn’t believe it. There was nothing. I was given a few options for brown and black haired dolls, but nothing that looked like my babies.

I browsed my local Target shortly after that, expecting that since we lived in a pretty diverse area that there would be some options there. But no, there were lots of blonde haired dolls with disproportionately huge eyes. Again, nothing that looked like my babies.

In the end, I ordered a doll on amazon with dark brown hair and medium toned skin. That experience really opened my eyes to the world I’m raising my kids in. All the dolls, and books, and shows they watch show images of people that don’t look like them. Yes, it’s getting better, but I still find that I have to go out of my way, especially with books, to find minority characters. And then the next step after that? Finding minority authors, because usually the more popular books that have diverse characters are written by white authors.

More recently, I’ve aspired to fill our shelves and my social media feeds with more images and voices of people of color. For others who are interested in something like this, I thought I’d share some of what I’ve compiled so far, and this will become an ongoing list to add to. Please share and help me grow this list! You’ll notice that at least for now, my list will lean toward Asian-American voices, because that’s where I come from. I’ve made notes on some of the authors, others of them are recommendations from good friends of mine who I reached out to asking for help with this list.

Children’s Book Authors 
Grace Lin
Christian Robinson
Anti-Bias Children’s Books Pinterest Board
The Brown Bookshelf

Authors/Writers 
Gene Yang– Graphic novelist, 2016 US Library of Congress Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Also, Lucia’s godfather!
Celeste Ng– Ng’s novels are popular with book clubs.
Rigoberta Menchu
James McBride– Another book club read.
Toni Morrison 
Ta-Nahisi Coates
Chante Griffin (Site, Instagram) – Actress and writer, a good friend/mentor of mine.
Delonte Gholston– Pastor and Community organizer in Los Angeles.
Justo Gonzalez– Cuban American historian and theologian
Lisa Sharon Harper – Speaker, writer, and activist. Founder of Freedom Road
Mark Charles (twitter, Sojourners)- Native American writer, speaker, and consultant.
Brandi Miller (twitter, Salt Collective) – Writer on practical theology in racial justice.
Justin Chang– Film critic for the Los Angeles Times, friend of ours from college.
Kathy Khang – Co-author of More Than Serving Tea.
35 Novels by Women of Color
List of Authors of Color

Blogs
Garden Betty – Garden focused.
Two Red Bowls – Cooking blog.
My Name is Yeh – Also a cooking blog, mostly baking.
Feisty Thoughts– racial reconciliation and women of color in Christian leadership (among other topics).
Balance is Boring – Tips and ideas from a working mom.
Putting Me Together – Fashion blog.

Instagram 
The Conscious Kid– Diverse children’s books through a critical lens.
Michelle Obama
Yara Shadidi– Biracial actress from Blackish.
Tracee Ellis– also an actress from Blackish.
Joy Cho– Founder and creative director of Oh Joy.

Twitter
Andre Henry
Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes
Michael McBride
Samuel Singyangwe
Linda Sarsour
Brittney Cooper

Facebook Groups
Zinn Eduation Project – Non- Eurocentric historical narratives.
Teaching Tolerance – Written for teachers but great for parents wanting to learn how to engage with social and political issues.
Remezcla – holistic sharing about social issues that touch Latinx communities
Angry Asian Man– sharing about social issues that touch Asian American (mostly East Asian) communities

Podcast
Asian America- The Ken Fong Podcast
Truth’s Table
Code Switch– NPR podcast by journalists of color, race and identity.