Mamie Phipps Clark: Champion for Children

 

When Mamie Phipps Clarks was just four years old, she was frightened to hear of the lynching of Gilbert Harris in her community of Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Mamie realized that the world was not as open and caring as her family and close community. The injustice, discrimination, and unfair treatment that her community faced needed addressing. She began to ask herself what she could do to help Black children faced with such negativity.  Mamie Phipps Clark: Champion for Children is a graphic novel that is part biography, part self-help activist awareness manual. In it, Lynnette Mawhinney tells the story of an extraordinary woman who, after being the  first Black woman to graduate from Columbia University with a doctorate degree in psychology, began research on the development of self-image in Black children. Her conclusions, that racial segregations resulted in negative outcomes for Black childhood development, became pivotal in the fight to end segregation of U.S. schools. The fight wasn't easy: Clark had a hard time balancing her public and private life. Raising a family while developing a career and fighting a political system is hard work, and Mawhinney doesn't sugar coat the stress.  Neil Evans' illustrations are clear and compelling and make this graphic novel an interesting read. Mamie Phipps Clark, Champion for Children goes beyond just being a biography of an inspiring woman. It gives middle-grade readers a lot to think about regarding race, identity, and advocacy. Each chapter ends with a brief history lesson that helps set the scene for Clark's life, and then a section called Try This that gives readers a chance to extend the lessons of the past into today through thought-provoking activities. A timeline and glossary at the end of the book will help readers understand our nation's struggle for equality and be able to voice their concerns as they carry on Mamie’s legacy and become champions for themselves and others in their community. ​ The author of this book is the no less impressive and inspiring Lynnette Mawhinney, an award-winning writer, creator, and long time educator who taught high school English in Philadelphia before she transitioned into teacher education. A Professor of Urban Education and Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Academic initiatives at Rutgers University-Newark, she had conducted teacher trainings throughout the world, including Vietnam, South Africa, Bahrain, and Egypt. She is the author of five academic books and books for children, and is the founder and President of Gaen Knowledge, a consultancy firm that performs equity audits.  ​I am grateful that Magination Press provided me with an ARC of this hard cover graphic novel, which is the third book in the American Psychological Association's Extraordinary Women in Psychology series. If you'd like me to send you my copy, please comment below. Jennifer Bohnhoff is a former educator who now concentrates on writing historical and contemporary fiction for middle grade through adult readers. Her next book, The Famished Country, is book three in Rebels Along the Rio Grande, a trilogy of middle grade novels set in New Mexico during the Civil War, and is due out from Kinkajou Press in October 2024