猫咪AV

Victoria Felder (she/her) is the community engagement manager for . Her first memory connected to reading was reading with her mom, who was her first teacher.聽聽

鈥淢y momma was able to stay home with me for the first two years of my life and encouraged me to become a storyteller like her and the women in my family before me,鈥� Victoria says. 鈥淪he would take me to the local library to get books. I couldn’t read the words, but I would read the pictures and create my own stories.鈥澛�

Her mom was very expressive in conversation and when she and her dad would read to their daughter. Victoria would often pretend to be her to make her own stories more exciting.聽

As a kid, Victoria鈥檚 favorite book was . 鈥淚 would ask my momma, 鈥榃hy does it matter if he’s missing a button? If I miss a button on my overalls (I had several growing up), would I not be able to go home with her?”聽

Victoria says she took the story pretty literally back then, but that her momma would always say, “Of course you鈥檙e going home with me. You’re my baby and I love you with or without buttons!”

Now that she鈥檚 older, Corduroy reminds her of what it means to belong and to be loved in spite of our flaws. 鈥淪hout out to my parents and extended family for instilling that core belief in me!鈥� she says.聽

As an adult, Victoria says she feels empowered, curious, and excited when she鈥檚 reading a good book. A few books she wishes she had as a kid are Hair Love, My Hair is Magic, and Crown, among other kids鈥� books that encourage Black children to love and embrace their hair textures.聽

Victoria says, 鈥淭hese books encourage them to be creative with their hairstyles as a form of expression and an extension of their culture. It was a very different time in my community during my childhood to conform for acceptance. I was 18 years old when I made a conscious decision to appreciate my crown and I haven’t looked back.鈥�

She knows that representation matters for ALL children, and that every kid should have the right to see themselves, their families, their cultures, and their realities in the books that they read.聽

鈥淩eading is a superpower and we should continue to promote this practice to our youth,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ooks give us language, which is important for growth, understanding, activism, and pure love. Nelson Mandela said, 鈥業f you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.鈥欌��