Manhattan Beach: Here's How You Can Help Pop The Bubble On Racism

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Three South Bay school districts, Manhattan Beach Unified among them, are participating in an effort to bring diversity, equity and social justice to South Bay school children. Pop the Bubble 2020, which in June held a peaceful kids' rally to "pop the bubble on racism" at the Manhattan Beach Pier, is now partnering with pages {a bookstore} in downtown Manhattan Beach to collect funds to supply three books "that support critical conversations on anti-racism and social justice" to elementary and middle schools.

The "South Bay Diversity Drive" [#ReadItLikeYouMeanIt] book drive launches on Tuesday, September 1, during National Literacy Month. All month, Pop the Bubble 2020 will collect donations to purchase the three books for elementary and middle schools in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District, Hermosa Beach City School District, and El Segundo Unified School District. All books will be bought from pages.

Said Allison Hales, a Manhattan Beach resident and Pop the Bubble 2020 board member, "Our local school boards have committed to strengthening diverse classroom resources to make the curriculum more reflective of each student’s voice... And we’re shopping local. All the books will be purchased through pages, the independent, woman-owned bookstore in Manhattan Beach. In addition to the books, teachers will also receive lesson plans that will help them engage in thoughtful discussions with their students."

For October, Phase 2 continues with a challenge to local businesses and others to donate and exceed the amount raised in September for books that will be donated to students in the Compton Unified School District and Highland Elementary School in Inglewood.

Said Lisa Bennet, a Manhattan Beach mom who founded Pop the Bubble 2020 with other soccer moms, "Pop the Bubble 2020’s goal is to educate young people to see the humanity in those who are different from them. We all want our kids to become compassionate, empathetic global citizens. Your donation will give our future leaders books that will allow them to connect and reflect on perspectives and life experiences that are often different from their own."

Donations can be made online here. Information on the pages website is here. All of the donated funds [100%] will go toward purchasing the books, according to the Pop the Bubble 2020 team.

Here are the books pages and Pop the Bubble 2020 have selected:

“Sulwe” [K-2]
A picture book on colorism and self-esteem written by Lupita Nyong’o, the first Kenyan and
Mexican actress to win an Academy Award. 2020 Coretta Scott King Award Honoree for illustrations by Vashti Harrison. Watch the book trailer here.

“The Undefeated” [3-5]
Watch Kwame Alexander read “The Undefeated,” his book that won the 2020 Caldecott Medal. Los Angeles-based artist Kadir Nelson won the 2020 Coretta Scott King Award Illustrator for his work on the book that the American Library Association describes as “an emotional deep dive into the unapologetic brilliance of the Black experience in the face of unspeakable injustice.” Listen to a clip from the book on this page. Scroll down to locate it.

“We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices” [6th-8th grade] asks 50 of the most renowned diverse children’s authors and illustrators to consider, “What do we tell our children when the world seems bleak, and prejudice and racism run rampant?” The anthology includes poems, personal essays and art to compose what Kirkus Reviews calls, “a love song from children’s literature’s brightest stars to America’s indigenous children and children of color, encouraging them to be brave and kind.”