Thursday, Nov. 13, the College of William and Mary’s Lemon Project hosted historian Sidney Rose McCall M.A. ’23 in conversation with author and scholar Ravynn K. Stringfield M.A. ’18 Ph.D. ’21. As a former Lemon Project history apprentice, McCall got the chance to speak about her first children’s book, “Once Upon a Kwanzaa,” which she co-authored with Nyasha Williams.
The conversation began with an introduction by Associate Director of the Lemon Project Sarah Thomas. Thomas expressed her excitement to welcome both McCall and Stringfield into the space, particularly as they both hold ties to the College through completing a degree or conducting research.
McCall is a historian who studies Black ecologies, slavery and environmental history.
McCall responded to questions about being hosted by the Lemon Project, highlighting her gratitude for the program and her research.
“It was such an honor to come back to the space,” McCall said. “Part of the reason I decided to come to William and Mary in particular was because of the Lemon Project when I was doing my initial research for grad programs.”
The Board of the College established the Lemon Project in 2009 following the recognition of the school’s ties to slavery, exploitation and failure to stand up against segregation during Jim Crow. The project is named after a man, Lemon, whom the College enslaved.
Throughout the conversation, McCall spoke about her experience of writing a children’s book. She struggled to balance the two distinct voices of herself and her co-author, Williams. Translating complex themes into terms digestible to children marked another challenge for the pair.
“We don’t talk down to children,” McCall said. “That’s something that served on Sesame Street, and I’ve tried to carry with me throughout my life. It’s not necessarily that Kwanzaa is very complicated; it’s just, how do you even say the word ‘principles’ when most four-year-olds can’t even spell their own names yet.”
Stringfield agreed with McCall about the importance of reading at any age.
“I really love what you said about continuing to encourage people to read,” Stringfield said. “It’s still reading and you can still learn something at any age.”
Beyond her work as a writer and scholar, McCall is an activist. She uses social media to share diverse historical content, which the American school system often fails to cover.
“Part of my responsibility as a historian is, if I have knowledge, to share that knowledge with the public and other scholars,” McCall said. “There are so many people in the public who love history and don’t even know they’re being taught history in ways that are not only harmful but also are very one-dimensional.”
McCall and Williams bonded over social media due to their mutual passion for activism, particularly regarding adoption rights. The pair took Williams’ lived experiences as an adopted child herself and McCall’s knowledge as a historian.
“We just clicked in the best way possible because we had these shared passions, so we came at them from very different places,” McCall said.
Taylor Garrison M.A. ’23, a current Ph.D. student at the College, attended the talk as a member of McCall’s cohort. Getting to see the development of the book firsthand, Garrison felt excited to show her support and remarked on its ability to engage a wide age range of readers
“Reading [the book] helps children and adults to learn the importance of Kwanzaa,” Garrison said.
While this marks her first children’s book, McCall suggested that it is far from the last. She and her co-author are currently exploring the idea of creating separate books for each of the seven themes of Kwanzaa.
Through these next books, McCall wants to center the themes around personhood, which she equates to accountability.
“What personhood allows you to do is recognize that you might not be directly connected to these things, but you have just as much responsibility to ensure these things don’t happen again,” McCall said. “Personhood is about accountability, and personhood is also about teaching children how to speak up and how to lead.”
McCall noted that she finds Kwanzaa popping up in her everyday life, often unexpectedly. Sometimes it means taking time for self-care, and other times she intentionally incorporates it into her teaching practices or interactions.
“Kwanzaa becomes an everyday affirmation for me, so even if it’s not intentional, I always find myself thinking about [it],” McCall said.
McCall closed out the conversation with advice for the audience.
“Just take a little bit of Kwanzaa into your everyday life because it brings a lot of magic, but it also teaches you how to do some good work,” said McCall.
