Ella Jenkins

Today, I'm talking with Tracy Todd.

Tracy is the author of multiple books that focus on Black culture and social justice, with titles like This Is Not a Small Voice, Stacey Abrams and the Fight to Vote, and Make a Pretty Sound, a story of Ella Jenkins.

She's here today to discuss her newest, and I would add stunning, picture book titled That You Are Here Is No Small Thing, an unforgettable exploration of culture and history that records the important survival story Black children carry and celebrates their hope for a radiant future.

I can't wait to talk about this beautiful book with her.

are too.

You are hearing the voice of beloved singer, songwriter, and creator of children's music, Miss Ella Jenkins.

Hello.

Let's try it.

Hello.

Ella Jenkins was a Chicagoan.

She's known as the first lady of children's music.

And what you immediately notice when you hear Ella Jenkins' music is that the kids are a part of making it.

Um, I don't...

You know, there's all sorts of wonderful people like Ella Jenkins who, who, who had, wa- was a, an amazing song leader with children.

And if you watch how she does it, you, you'll see, oh, you'll see things that aren't even talked about.

You'll notice things about the relationship between her and the kids, and it really is about relationship with children, and, um, it, it's, it's all of that.

Um...

Yeah, it makes me think of my favorite Fred clip of, um, him and Neighbor Aber dancing with Ella Jenkins.

Yes.

'Cause I don't think that's necessarily improv, but you can see that there were elements where I don't think Fred expected Ella to be as fast in her dance moves as she was, and he would, like, mess up a little bit, and that was okay because he was totally s- all smiles and happy, and that makes me think of improv and what you're describing now.

No, that's so true because you can even tell in that clip, I think it's highly unlikely that Fred practiced that dance [laughs] ahead of time.

I think that was in, on the spot, real time.

I think Ella Jenkins said, "Let's do this," and he said, "Okay." [laughs] And then, then they did it.

So, um, yeah, that's a actually a great connection, a great example.