Carole Boston Weatherford

Pokémon

In January 2000, Weatherford wrote an op-ed piece that ran in newspapers across Alabama. "Politically Incorrect Pokémon" explained how she believed that Pokémon #124, Jynx, was a negative stereotype of African Americans:

The character Jynx, Pokémon #124, has decidedly human features [in contrast to most other characters]: jet-black skin, huge pink lips, gaping eyes, a straight blonde mane and a full figure, complete with cleavage and wiggly hips. Put another way, Jynx resembles an overweight drag queen incarnation of Little Black Sambo, a stereotype from a children's book long ago purged from libraries.^[16]

In response to the controversy, Jynx's in-game sprites were given a purple skin color in the American versions of Pokémon Gold and Silver, released in late 2000. By 2002, Nintendo officially redesigned Jynx, changing its skin color from black to purple; this change was not reflected in the animated series until Jynx's purple skin appearance debuted in the episode "Mean With Envy!" (混戦、混乱！ポケモンコンテスト・キナギ大会！ （前編）), which originally aired in 2005,^[17] with the Amazon Prime release of "Holiday Hi-Jynx" recoloring Jynx accordingly, although it is still black on the thumbnail.

Dragon Ball

In an article published in The Christian Science Monitor in May 2000, Weatherford reiterated and expanded on her argument. Jynx had looked like "an obese drag queen" and she also offered Mr. Popo, a character from the Dragon Ball franchise, up for critique:

Mr. Popo is a rotund, turban-clad genie with pointy ears, jet-black skin, shiny white eyes and, yes, big red lips.^[18]

The Dragon Ball manga later released by Viz in 2003 had reduced the size of Mr. Popo's lips.^[19] Furthermore, media related to the series' sequel Dragon Ball Super showed an increase of black characters that strayed away from racist stereotypes, such as that of Goten and Trunks' classmates Rulah and Chok, and fewer references made to Mr. Popo (with the latest release Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero only indicating the character being off-screen).

Awards

Selected best "of" lists

1990s

• Juneteenth Jamboree. Illustrated by Yvonne Buchanan. Lee & Low Books. 1995. ISBN 1-60060-248-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[5]
• Grandma and Me. Illustrated by Michelle Mills. Writers & Readers Publishing. 1997. ISBN 0-86316-252-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  • Grandma and Me. Illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin (2nd ed.). Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. 2023. ISBN 978-1-7282-4243-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[83]
• Me & the Family Tree. Illustrated by Michelle Mills. Writers & Readers Publishing. 1997. ISBN 0-86316-251-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  • Me and the Family Tree (2nd ed.). Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. 2022. ISBN 978-1-72-824250-7.^[83]
• Mighty Menfolk. Illustrated by Michelle Mills. Writers & Readers Publishing. 1997. ISBN 0-86316-253-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
• My Favorite Toy. Illustrated by Michelle Mills. Writers & Readers Publishing. 1997. ISBN 0-86316-215-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
• Somebody's Knocking at Your Door: AIDS and the African-American Church, with Ronald J. Weatherford (Author) and Harold G. Koenig (Author), 1998, Routledge, ISBN 0-7890-0575-1
• The Tar Baby on the Soapbox, 1999, Methodist College, ISBN 0-9670994-3-9
• Sink or Swim: African-American Lifesavers of the Outer Banks, 1999, Coastal Carolina Press, ISBN 1-928556-03-5

2000s

• The African-American Struggle for Legal Equality, 2000, Enslow Publishers, ISBN 0-7660-1415-0
• The Sound that Jazz Makes. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Walker Books. 2001. ISBN 0-8027-7674-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[119]
• Sidewalk Chalk: Poems of the City. Illustrated by Dimitrea Tokunbo. Wordsong. 2001. ISBN 978-1-56397-084-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[120]
• Princeville: The 500-Year Flood, 2001, Coastal Carolina Press, ISBN 1-928556-32-9
• Remember the Bridge: Poems of a People. Philomel Books. 2002. ISBN 0-399-23726-7.^[121]
• Jazz Baby, with Laura Freeman (illustrator), 2002, Lee & Low Books, ISBN 1-58430-039-6
• Stormy Blues, 2002, Xavier Review Press, ISBN 1-883275-11-3
• Great African-American Lawyers: Raising the Bar of Freedom, 2003, Enslow Publishers, ISBN 0-7660-1837-7
• Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins. Illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue. Dial Books for Young Readers. 2005. ISBN 0-8037-2860-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[122]
• A Negro League Scrapbook, 2005, Boyds Mills Press, ISBN 1-59078-091-4
• The Carolina Parakeet: America's Lost Parrot in Art and Memory, 2005, Avian Publications, ISBN 0-910335-01-X
• Champions on the Bench: The Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars. Illustrated by Leonard Jenkins. Dial Press. 2006. ISBN 978-0-8037-2987-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[123][124]
• Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Jump at the Sun/Hyperion. 2006. ISBN 0-7868-5175-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[125]
• Dear Mr. Rosenwald. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. Scholastic Press. 2006. ISBN 0-439-49522-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[126]
• Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane. Illustrated by Sean Qualls. Henry Holt. 2007. ISBN 978-0-8050-7994-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[127]
• Celebremos Juneteenth, with Yvonne Buchanan (illustrator), 2007, Lee & Low Books, ISBN 1-60060-247-9
• Birmingham, 1963. Illustrated by Boyds Mills. Wordsong. 2007. ISBN 978-1-59078-440-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[128]
• Jesse Owens: Fastest Man Alive. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Walker Books. 2007. ISBN 978-0-8027-9550-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[129]
• I, Matthew Henson: Polar Explorer. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Walker Books. 2007. ISBN 978-0-8027-9688-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[130]
• The Library Ghost. Illustrated by Lee White. Upstart Books. 2008. ISBN 978-1-60213-017-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
• Becoming Billie Holiday. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Wordsong. 2008. ISBN 978-1-59078-507-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[131]
• Racing Against the Odds: Wendell Scott, African American Stock Car Champion. Illustrated by Eric Velásquez. Marshall Cavendish Children's Books. 2009. ISBN 978-0-7614-5465-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[132]
• First Pooch: The Obamas Pick a Pet. Illustrated by Amy Bates. Two Lions. 2009. ISBN 978-0-76-145636-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[133]

2010s

• The Beatitudes: From Slavery to Civil Rights. Illustrated by Tim Ladwig. Marshall Cavendish. 2010. ISBN 978-1-46-743277-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[134]
• Michelle Obama: First Mom. Illustrated by Robert Barrett. Marshall Cavendish. 2010. ISBN 978-0-76-145640-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[135]
• Obama: Only in America. Illustrated by Robert Barrett. Marshall Cavendish. 2010. ISBN 978-0-76-145641-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[136]
• Oprah: The Little Speaker. Illustrated by London Ladd. Marshall Cavendish. 2010. ISBN 978-0-7614-5632-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[137]
• Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century. Knopf Books for Young Readers. 2014. ISBN 978-0-37-585606-8.^[138]
• Sugar Hill: Harlem's Historic Neighborhood. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. Albert Whitman. 2014. ISBN 978-0-8075-7650-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[139]
• Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement. Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. Candlewick. 2015. ISBN 978-0-7636-6531-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[140]
• Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America. Illustrated by Jamey Christoph. Whitman, Albert & Company. 2015. ISBN 978-0-80-753017-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[141]
• Freedom in Congo Square. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. little bee books. 2016. ISBN 978-1-49-980103-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[142]
• Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression. Illustrated by Sarah Green. Albert Whitman. 2017. ISBN 978-0-8075-1699-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[143]
• In Your Hands, with Brian Pinkney. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2017. ISBN 978-1-48-146293-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[144]
• The Legendary Miss Lena Horne. Illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2017. ISBN 978-1-48-146824-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[145]
• Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Candlewick Press. 2017. ISBN 978-1-53-620897-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[146]
• You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen. Illustrated by Jeffrey Boston Weatherford. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2018. ISBN 978-1-48-144939-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[147]
• How Sweet the Sound: The Story of Amazing Grace. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2018. ISBN 978-1-48-147206-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[148]
• Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream and You. Illustrated by James E. Ransome. Bloomsbury USA (Children). 2018. ISBN 978-0-80-272368-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[149]
• The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. little bee books. 2018. ISBN 978-1499804119.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[150]

2020s

• Beauty Mark: A Verse Novel of Marilyn Monroe. Candlewick Press. 2020. ISBN 978-1-53-620629-6.^[151]
• Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom. Illustrated by Michele Wood. Candlewick. 2020. ISBN 978-0763691561.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[152]
• By and By: Charles Albert Tindley, the Father of Gospel Music. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. Atheneum. 2020. ISBN 978-1-5344-2636-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[153]
• Respect: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. Atheneum. 2020. ISBN 978-1-5344-5228-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[154]
• Dreams for a Daughter. Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. Atheneum. 2021. ISBN 978-1-5344-5198-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[155]
• Madame Speaker: Nancy Pelosi Calls the House to Order. Illustrated by Chris Hsu. Little Bee. 2021. ISBN 978-1-4998-1189-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[156]
• Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. Carolrhoda Books. 2021. ISBN 978-1-54-158120-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[157]
• Call Me Miss Hamilton: One Woman's Case for Equality and Respect. Millbrook Press. 2022. ISBN 978-1-54-156040-6.^[158]
• The Faith of Elijah Cummings: The North Star of Equal Justice. Illustrated by Laura Freeman. Random House Studio. 2022. ISBN 978-0-593-30650-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[159]
• Me and My Mama. Illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin. Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. 2022. ISBN 978-1-72-824246-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[83]
• A Song for the Unsung: Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the 1963 March on Washington. Illustrated by Byron McCray. Henry Holt and Co. 2022. ISBN 978-1-25-077950-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[160]
• Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. Crown Books for Young Readers. 2022. ISBN 978-0-59-330634-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[161]
• All Rise: The Story of Ketanji Brown Jackson. Illustrated by Ashley Evans. Crown Books for Young Readers. 2023. ISBN 978-059-365016-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[162]
• How Do You Spell Unfair? MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. Candlewick. 2023. ISBN 978-1-536-21554-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[163]
• Kin: Rooted in Hope. Illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2023. ISBN 978-1-66-591362-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[164]
• Sugar Pie Lullaby: The Soul of Motown in a Song of Love. Illustrated by Sawyer Cloud. Sourcebooks Explore. 2023. ISBN 978-1-72-824253-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[165]
• You Are My Pride: A Love Letter from Your Motherland. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis. Astra Young Readers. 2023. ISBN 978-1-63-592387-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[166]
• Bros. Illustrated by Reggie Brown. Candlewick Press. 2024. ISBN 978-1-53-622041-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[167]
• A Crown of Stories: The Life and Language of Beloved Writer Toni Morrison. Illustrated by Khalif Tahir Johnson. Quill Tree. 2024. ISBN 978-0-06-291103-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[168]
• Outspoken: Paul Robeson, Ahead of His Time: A One-Man Show. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Candlewick Press. 2024. ISBN 978-1-5362-1297-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)^[169]