An ode to Black love – Chicago Tribune

Good morning, Chicago.

The holidays can bring out the warm and fuzzies as familial traditions and classics are revisited as touch points to legacy. Published in 1998 and written by Chicagoan Natasha Anastasia Tarpley, “I Love My Hair!” can now be considered one such classic.

Back in the day, “I Love My Hair!” was a book that many viewed through a lens of self-esteem; others, a paean to a mother’s love; others, a celebration of Black identity. More than 20 years old, the book showed us Keyana’s world through a story of learning to love yourself as the young girl’s mother brushes her hair every night before bed.

Seeing a need for more literature that showcases joy for Black kids, Tarpley is creating a new series centered on imagination and persistence.

The first book, “Keyana Loves Her Family,” is on sale now. The picture book takes readers on a journey where Keyana is planning a movie night. “This book for me also was an opportunity to showcase a Black family network, an extended family network with Keyana’s friends, who all support this little girl and her big ideas and her big visions and help her to manifest that,” Tarpley said.

Read the full story from the Tribune’s Darcel Rockett.

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