Ich bin Dr. Holly Y. McGee, Professorin für Geschichte und Kultur an der University of Cincinnati. Mein Schwerpunkt liegt auf der Geschichte des Rassismus und der Bürgerrechtsbewegung in den USA. Ich hoffe, dass du diese Informationen nützlich findest und dazu beiträgst, Ungerechtigkeiten zu bekämpfen und eine bessere Welt für alle Menschen zu schaffen.

Ich bin Dr. Nina Jablonski, Professorin für Anthropologie an der Pennsylvania State University. Meine Arbeit dreht sich um die Biologie und die Evolution der Hautfarbe des Menschen. Ich habe viele Jahre damit verbracht, über die Anpassung der Hautfarbe beim Menschen zu forschen und zu schreiben und das Thema in Schulen und für die Öffentlichkeit weltweit zu präsentieren. Die Haut ist unser größtes Organ und sie hat viele wichtige Funktionen. Sie schützt uns vor Krankheiten, vor schädlichen Umwelteinflüssen und hilft uns, unsere Körpertemperatur zu regulieren. Die Hautfarbe ist nur eine von vielen erstaunlichen Eigenschaften unserer Haut. Ich hoffe, dass du meine Arbeit über die Hautfarbe interessant findest, und dass sie dir hilft, zu verstehen, warum wir so verschieden aussehen. Bis bald, und vergiss nicht: „Es ist nur Haut!”

Grace Byers ist Schauspielerin und Aktivistin, die durch ihre Rollen in der Fox-Erfolgsserie „Empire“ und Marvel’s „The Gifted“ bekannt wurde. Als multikulturelle Black Person of Color CODA (Child of Deaf Adults – Kind gehörloser Eltern) wurde Grace während ihrer gesamten Kindheit gemobbt, was sie zu ihrem ersten Bilderbuch inspirierte, dem New York Times-Bestseller „I Am Enough“ – eine Ode an die Selbstbestimmung junger Mädchen. Heute lebt Grace mit ihrem Mann, dem Schauspieler Trai Byers, in Los Angeles.

Keturah A. Bobo ist Künstlerin und New York Times-Bestseller- Illustratorin, die dafür bekannt ist, lebendige, nachvollziehbare und unverwechselbare Bilder zu kreieren. Ihre Leidenschaft ist es, Kunst zu schaffen, die inspiriert, aufmuntert und sich für ihre Gemeinschaft einsetzt. Keturah hat viel Lob für ihren farbenfrohen Illustrationsstil erhalten, der Geschichten zum Leben erweckt. Sie schloss ihr Studium am Columbus College of Art and Design mit einem BFA ab und lebt mit ihrer Familie in Columbus, Ohio.Ihre Liebe zur Illustration wurde mit der Zeit immer stärker und bildet mittlerweile den Schwerpunkt ihrer kreativen Arbeit.

Born and raised in Hilden near Düsseldorf in 1972, she studied American Studies and Business Administration in Hamburg. She then did a traineeship at the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Since then, she has worked as a freelance journalist and author specializing in film, literature and society for Die Welt/Welt am Sonntag, Spiegel online and epd Film, among others. She wants to give a voice to people who are otherwise hardly heard and tell of lives that are completely foreign to many, in order to open people’s eyes to the diversity of our world. Britta Schmeis has a daughter and lives with her family in Hamburg.

worked as an editor for a Hamburg television production company after studying modern German literature and sociology and internships at the Lübecker Nachrichten and the Hamburger Morgenpost. Since a volunteer stay in Uganda, the native of Schleswig-Holstein writes for newspapers, magazines and non-governmental organizations. As a partner at agenda fotografen & journalisten, she researched reports and features in Hamburg and around the world. Today she works mainly in PR and writes about topics from the world of work and education. She is enthusiastic about meeting a wide variety of people and immersing herself in their lives. She wants to give them the opportunity to tell their stories and present their view of the world.

Sean Qualls has illustrated many highly acclaimed children’s books, including “Giant Steps to Change the World” by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, “Lullaby” by Langston Hughes, and “Before John was a Jazz Giant” by Carole Boston Weatherford, which was named a “Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book.” Sean also created the art for “Dizzy” by Jonah Winter, which received five stars, and “Freedom Song” by Sally M. Walker. Learn more at seanqualls.com.

Laurie Ann Thompson is the author of Be a Changemaker: How to Start Something That Matters, a guide for teens who want to change the world. Laurie is an advocate for social justice and is dedicated to inspiring and empowering young readers. Emmanuel’s Dream is her picture book debut. Visit her at lauriethompson.com.

Nicole Gebel is an illustrator and graphic designer. Born and raised in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, her passion for design brought her to Kiel in 2007. Here she studied at the Muthesius Academy of Art and graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Design. Since then, she has been working from Kiel as a freelance illustrator and designer for a diverse group of clients. Art and illustration have always been a big part of her life. She has been influenced and inspired by everything and everyone in her life. Especially by her childhood at the Baltic Sea. Her illustrations live from their complexity and attention to detail.

Dayan Kodua is an actress, speaker, author and founder of Gratitude Publishing. Born in Ghana and raised in Kiel, Germany, Dayan followed her heart after graduating as a business assistant and studied acting in Berlin and Los Angeles. In addition to her work as an actress and speaker, she is passionate about empowering People of Color and making them more visible as role models. In 2014, she therefore published the illustrated book “MyBlack Skin: Black. Successful. German” and launched a traveling exhibition and corresponding workshops. It is particularly important to Dayan to make children aware of their inner strength. She addresses this topic in her picture books “Odo” and “Odo and the Beginning of a Great Journey,” among others, which will be published in 2019 and 2021. With Gratitude Publishing, she wants to give other authors the opportunities to present their diverse stories to the public.

After a short time in Berlin, Robby Krüger has already focused on two creative areas: Interior Design and Illustration. The field of illustration has developed very successfully, especially in the last 5 years, and she has already been able to work on some exciting projects, such as a planned American animation series, a 5-volume fantasy book series, the first part of which will be published this year, and of course the first part of “Odo”.
Her love for illustration grew stronger over time and is now the main focus of her creative work.

completed a PR traineeship after studying business administration. Afterwards, the Hamburg native worked for several years as a local reporter for the Hamburger Abendblatt and as an online editor for the Milchstraße publishing group. She has since returned to PR and is responsible for the website, exhibitions and publications of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft selbstständiger Migranten e. V. (ASM). (ASM). Susanne Dorn is the author of the first volume “My Black Skin. Successful. Deutsch”, which Dayan Kodua published in 2014. “I have great respect for the life achievements of those I portrayed. I was enriched by the work on the two volumes, and I am grateful for the openness with which my interview partners met me.”

In 2012, the modern fairy tale “Sternenreiter – Kleine Sterne leuchten ewig” was published as a hardback and audio book edition. Another publication is the modern fairy tale “Traumflieger – Lena schreibt Briefe an Gott”, which has been available as a hardback and audiobook edition since May 2015. In September 2016, “Die Chroniken der Windträume” (The Chronicles of Wind Dreams) was published, a story about parting, mourning, about eternal becoming and passing away, but above all about hope and the irrepressible power of life. The title is also available in hardback and as an audio book.

Ali Dönmez, geboren 1986, ist Logopäde und Lehrer für Deutsch als Zweitsprache. Als freiberuflicher Logopäde konzentriert er sich hauptsächlich auf die Arbeit mit türkisch-deutschsprachigen Kindern im Kindergartenalter. In seinem Masterstudium “Deutsch als Fremd- und Zweitsprache” hat er sich auf einen rassismuskritischen Ansatz zur Mehrsprachigkeit spezialisiert. In seinem Workshop “In der Schule wird Deutsch gesprochen!” diskutiert er mit Schülern und Lehrkräften Themen wie Sprachverbote und Sprachgebote in Bildungseinrichtungen. Als engagierter Bildungsaktivist hat er die Petition #LasstKinderGemeinsamLernen ins Leben gerufen und leistet Aufklärungsarbeit über Social Media (Instagram).