Mamie Phipps Clark: Champion for Children – Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Mamie Phipps Clark: Champion for Children

Lynnette Mawhinney, Author

Neil Evans, Illustrator

Magination Press, Biography, Feb. 6, 2024

Pages: 144

Suitable for ages: 10-13

Themes: Mamie Phipps Clark, African American psychologist, Women, Segregation, Education

Publisher’s Synopsis:

This inspiring graphic novel tells the story of groundbreaking psychologist and civil rights activist Mamie Phipps Clark, PhD and her research in the racial identity and development of self in Black children, the work that ultimately played a vital role in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case.

Part of American Psychological Association’s Extraordinary Women in Psychology series.

Mamie was born and raised in Hot Springs, Arkansas, during a time when United States laws intentionally disadvantaged Black people and permitted racial segregation. This profoundly impacted her life and work and  instilled in her an unstoppable force to champion for Black children. Mamie made a difference with science – she studied math and psychology at Howard University. She was first the Black woman to graduate from Columbia University with a doctorate degree in psychology. Mamie expanded her earlier master’s research into the famous black-doll/white-doll experiments that exposed the negative effects of racial segregation in children. Along with her research partner and husband, Kenneth Clark, Mamie became expert witnesses in several school desegregation cases, including Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, which effectively ended racial segregation in school. Mamie dedicated her life to advocate for children who deserved more than what society offered them and she built the Northside Center in Harlem, NY to support children with special needs, academic programs, and mental health services. 

Filled with interesting news stories and thought-provoking activities, this book encourages readers to carry on Mamie’s legacy and become champions for themselves and others in their community.

My thoughts about Mamie Phipps Clark:

I always enjoy learning about women who have the courage to tackle big issues and make a difference that literally create change big change. Thank you Lynnette Mawhinney for undertaking the  massive amount of research required to bring the important life of Mamie Phipps Clark  (1917 – 1983) to life for young readers. This is the perfect classroom book for Black History Month.

Readers will enjoy that most Mamie’s everyday life story is reimagined as a graphic novel vividly illustrated by Neil Evans. She is an ordinary girl who sees injustices as a child, teen, and college student. She attended a segregated K-12  school for Black children, heard about lynchings, and experienced the fear of KKK mobs terrorizing her town.  She began to ask herself at an early what she could do to help. A full scholarship to Howard University led her to study the impact of segregation on the racial identity of Black children. Her research changes the lives of black children for years to come.

Make sure you read the author’s note at the beginning of the novel. There are six chapters which highlight Mamie’s life and legacy. The author challenges her readers with additional information called “Did You Know” followed by a “Try This,” which encourages students to get involved in their communities. And she shares some of Mamie’s racial identity research, so that readers can use it in the classroom, Teachers will appreciate all of the thoughtful and important activities and suggestions. 

Another another interesting fact is that Mamie married Dr. Kenneth Clark and they had two children — making her a working mom in the 1940s.  Her husband was her ally and helped her publish her research, but he was also became the first Black tenured professor at City College in New York and the first Black president of the American Psychological Association. 

Lynnette Mawhinney, Ph.D, is an award-winning scholar, educator and author of several books, including Lulu the One and Only. She lives in New Jersey. Visit lynettemawhinney.com and @lkmawhinney on X and instagram. 

Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday posts on his wonderful Always in the Middle website. Check out the link to see all of the wonderful reviews by KidLit bloggers and authors.

*Review copy provided by Magination Press in exchange for a review.