Three Tips for Cross-Cultural Communications as Learned through Children’s Storybooks
Kids aren’t born to discriminate or think of themselves as better or less than someone else. This Black History Month we are exploring ways in which adults can foster acceptance of our differences and celebrate our similarities through storytelling.
Charlitta Hatch, founder of Me3 Project and author of the Black Boy Joy series, recently held a workshop about fostering diversity in children’s literature with a focus on changing the narrative between black boys and their mothers in storytelling. She explained that children of color and their families are still very much under-represented in children’s books. According to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, of characters depicted in 2018, 50 percent were white, and 27 percent were animals and other creatures. Meanwhile, only 10 percent were African Americans, seven percent were Asian Pacific Islander/Asian Pacific American and five percent were Latinx. In fact, much of the same language, dated stereotypes and illustrations used prior to the 1960’s to depict characters of color are still used today.
The statistics are eye opening and really underscore the importance of messaging and imagery in our work as PR professionals. Charlitta offered the following definitions of key terms.
- Diversity: being invited to the party.
- Inclusion: being asked to dance.
- Equality: being on the party planning committee.
- Representation: seeing people like you at the party.
The Teak team, alongside many of our clients, is listening and learning every day to understand how we can consistently be more inclusive. Below are three tips to improve cross-cultural communication in public relations campaign.
Lean into your community – build your planning committee to ensure representation at the party.
Consider who in your network, whether an individual, company or community organization, may have the resources or talent in place to advise you on messaging, actions, and partnerships for specific initiatives. The power of inclusivity is bringing together all different perspectives to create solutions and execute plan
Don’t overlook populations – make sure everyone is invited to the party.
When creating campaigns, if you want your programs, events, and services to reach specific age groups or segments of people, such as households with children, be sure to communicate the message across multiple communication channels and in multiple languages to ensure that everyone is aware of your offering. Don’t forget about media outlets and websites that serve non-English speakers.
Lead by example – ask people to dance.
It’s one thing to change the words and images you use to describe your organization, programs and events. It’s another to put policies and services in place that create change, such as developing and implementing new recruitment strategies to reach new audiences. By implementing these changes, you will be showing stakeholders internally and externally how to foster a more diverse and inclusive community. You will attract others to join the work and support the mission.
Just like adults, kids notice and think about race based on what they read, hear and see. The messaging and imagery we control as adults – and as publicists – can have a major impact in helping to foster a world where kids can see themselves growing up to be whomever and whatever they want to be.
