“Zak and Niki,” By Regional Writer Cynthia Yancey

A first look at rising above racism.
Zak and Niki: A first look at rising above racism is a children’s picture book that tells the true story of Zak’s first playmate at a school in Mississippi. Zak is white; his playmate, Niki, is African American. The story is of Zak’s family’s evolution regarding biracial relationship.

The heart of the story is when Zak tells his mother that he has found his first “girlfriend.” The mother, because of the society she had been raised in, has to “think” about whether or not this is all right. The mother breaks down her thought process for her son as simply as she knows how in a key passage of the book:

“Way back when I was a little girl your age, there was a mostly unspoken sort of rule that it was not all right to have a good friend whose skin was a different color. A friend’s eyes and hair could be different, as could their personalities, and they didn’t even have to be all that nice… but the color of their skin had to be more or less the same.”

Zak was, of course, incredulous. What child could believe such absurdity existed? So then they break free!

The mother declares to her son… “Just because it was a rule doesn’t make it right!”

Zak and Niki is a pivotal story for Cynthia Yancey’s family. They will never again have to go back and wonder about the beauty of these “ever-so-colorful relationships.” In the acknowledgments, the author tells more about her family’s journey and describes some of her past that contributed to the path they took. Dr. Yancey is available for interviews, as well as book signings, programs and readings. It is her goal to increase awareness of the importance of teaching a love for diversity to young children. It is her hope to help in the struggle to dismantle the destructive nature of persistent, insidious racism.
Twila Jefferson, the book’s illustrator, worked her artistic magic on the children’s faces. Zak and Niki are both beautifully drawn with youthful enthusiasm for learning and playing, for living and loving spontaneously and vibrantly.

The reason to read this book over and over to our young children is so that we might move beyond the madness of having to think about accepting biracial relationship into a space that would welcome it. Only then can we live in the full richness that naturally comes with embracing cultural diversity.

Author Bio: After working as a public health physician for more than twenty-five years, Cynthia Yancey is now developing a life with a more creative rhythm. Having been an English major before medical school, she is finally beginning to write. She is starting with her children’s stories, inextricably intertwined with her own.

Cynthia, Zak’s mother, had been raised in a racist environment through the covert way that is all too common. She, at some intellectual level, had long since shed those racist roots, but now was forced to confront the issue head-on. The book tells of the joy of breaking free from those malicious attitudes of her childhood.

For more information about the book or its author, Cynthia Yancey, please visit: www.zakandniki.com

 
A book launch party was held on February 27, 2015 at the YMI Cultural Center in Asheville, NC.