By Dylan Deprey
ABC Me Flashcards on display at a library. (Picture by ABC Me.)
The imaginable light bulb sitting above one’s head has sparked inspiration for many people, especially when least expecting it. Some have had genius ideas while sitting on the toilet or half asleep on the couch. Leilani Brooks found it when wandering the dollar section in a Target.
She grabbed a set of Presidential flash cards to look over with her children. Later, as they shuffled through two hundred years of presidential leadership, the lack of diversity was met with the forty-fourth card.
“It was very special for me because it was the odd one out of the bunch,” Brooks said.
President Obama’s card was just the spark for ABC Me Flashcards: The African American Edition.
After getting the “OK” from her friend and now business partner Stevi Meredith, the two teamed up to create a brand of flash cards to showcase African American culture.
When sorting through the deck of ABC Me Flashcards: The African American Edition, cards branding the letter “A” stand for “Africa,” the letter “C” stands for “Civil Rights,” and letter “G” stand for “Gabby Douglas.”
Although names like Martin Luther King Jr., Oprah Winfrey, and Rosa Parks may come to mind, Brooks and Meredith went off the beaten path when making their A-Z lists to avoid those that were already taught in school.
“We wanted a balance of arts, firsts, sciences and sports,” Meredith said. “We could have probably done four sets with as many names and things that we had.”
Although they hand wrote the lists of names for the cards, the illustrations were a different story.
“If I would have done the illustrations the cards would have never happened, because they would have been stick figures,” Brooks said.
After reviewing hundreds of freelance illustrators across the World Wide Web, Brooks found the perfect match across the world, in Switzerland. After sending designs back and forth the vibrant colored and detailed designs were ready for print.
“We consider them to be miniature pieces of art,” Brooks said.
Brooks mentioned how people hang flash cards in their nurseries and classrooms. She added how children can always enjoy the imagery, but also become intrigued and ask to learn the information on the back.
Although there is an app for everything, Brooks and Meredith wanted to have a tangible product that looked good and children could physically shuffle through.
“I still have an appreciation for the way I learned things,” Meredith said. “The way we learned things was through repetition. I don’t think children are obtaining as much without it.”
Brooks said that the cards were to also a step in changing the imagery of African American culture in the United States. Her defining moment was being a first time mother and watching the events of the Trayvon Martin shooting unfold.
“As a mother it broke my heart,” Brooks said. “ What people perceive us to be is making others make ridiculous, rash choices and decisions.”
Brooks said that to help successfully turn the tides of the negative media portrayal was to start with teaching children the successes their culture has contributed and accomplished.
“It is meant for them (kids) to see themselves as something other then what everybody else perceives them to be,” Brooks said.
ABC Me Flashcards: The African American Edition was just the first step in an endless whirlwind of possibilities.
They are currently working on a Latin American set, and are looking to do an all-women’s deck in the future.
“This is a labor for love for us,” Brooks said.
ABC Me is based out of California and can be purchased at http://www.abcmeflashcards.com/.