Anastasia Higginbotham

“Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness”

At the start of her book, she opens with the following Call To Action:  

 “In a 1993 interview, Toni Morrison said about racism in America:  “White people have a very, very serious problem, and they should start thinking about what they can do about it.”    And She added, “Take me out of it.”  

Those words landed in me as a direct command.  (Direct quote from the author, Anastasia Higginbotham). 

Anastasia resides in the state of New York.  She is an artist whose 2018, banned children’s book, titled, “Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness”, invites white children to confront anti-Blackness and dismantle white supremacy, in themselves first, and everyplace else, second. 

 Not My Idea centers a white child who has seen video footage of racist police brutality. The child is horrified and expresses curiosity about the incident to white adults in their family who reassure the child that *they* are safe from police violence. Their family then makes excuses for and ignores the injustice. The child goes to the library to learn about the history of white supremacy and another legacy of white people who joined the leaders of Black Liberation to undo oppressive systems.

Other books Anastasia has written address death, sex, abuse, queer identity, and divorce. Higginbotham makes her books using grocery bags and other discarded items as a way to make wholeness and beauty from what’s broken and in pieces. She teaches full impact self-defense to children and adults in New York City and has two children. All of her books are available through Dottir Press and anywhere books are sold. She is reachable through Instagram at @ahigginbooks.