By Mia Wenjen & Victor Bizar Gómez
$19.99
48 pages • Jacketed Hardcover • Ages 8-12 • 11" x 11" • ISBN: 978-1-63655-087-9 • Available October 15, 2024
As a young boy, both in school and working in his family’s Chinese restaurant, Simon Tam faced racist taunts and verbal bullying. Words were used as weapons. And from a young age, Simon understood how powerful they could be.
When Simon decided to trademark the name of his band, The Slants®, he was denied. But it wasn’t the fact that he was denied that angered him, it was the reason why—because they deemed the name was racist. Words mattered, and he was reclaiming what was used against him all those years before.
What followed was an up and down, eight year landmark battle that would take him all the way to the Supreme Court—a fight that he fought to rout out structural anti-Asian racism in our government systems, and a fight for free speech that was worth fighting for.
We Sing From The Heart
How The Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court
Mia Wenjen
Mia blogs about parenting, children’s books, and education at pragmaticmom.com. She is the co-creator of Multicultural Children’s Book Day/Read Your World. She is the author of several illustrated children’s books and lives in Boston with her husband and three kids. Follow her at PragmaticMom and on X, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.
Victor Bizar Gómez
Victor is a painter, illustrator, and graduate of Pacific Northwest College of Art. He has worked with many clients, including Disney, the Los Angeles Times, Dark Horse, and Portland Monthly. We Sing from the Heart is his debut picture book. He lives in Portland, Oregon. Find out more at bizarthestar.com and on Instagram at @bizar_gomez.