This Milwaukee author ensures kids see 'positive representations of themselves' in books and toys


Deanna Singh wants to get people talking.
Singh is an author, motivational speaker, and business owner from Milwaukee who aims to make learning about race, diversity, and inclusion accessible for everyone. "I really think that it's important that everybody gets an opportunity to see positive representations of themselves," she told CBS 58.
Through her company, Uplifting Impact, Singh and her husband work with companies to start conversations in the workplace about diversity and inclusion. In the summer of 2020, they expanded their focus to offer online sessions with kids about race, after being approached by parents who said they were "experiencing conversations they didn't feel like they were prepared for with their children."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
At first, there were a few hundred people signed up, and by the end of the summer, "we talked to 10,000 people," Singh said. Her workshops resonated with the team at American Girl, which attended a session and then asked Singh to write a book for the company. Singh said American Girl told her they wanted to get people talking about "why it's important to have diversity in our literature. It's important to have diversity in our toys."
Singh wrote A Smart Girl's Guide: Race and Inclusion, which discusses racism, anti-racism, and inclusion. "If we're having conversations with our young people at a younger age, then as they grow up these conversations are not so scary," Singh told CBS 58. "They don't seem like something they can't take a part of." Her next book, Actions Speak Louder, is out May 31.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Should you add your child to your credit card?
The Explainer You can make them an authorized user on your account in order to help them build credit
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate branding
In the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
Food trails are the best trails. Eat your way across the US with these 7 regional food journeys.
The Week Recommends Take a bite out of the United States
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
7 US cities to explore on a microtrip
The Week Recommends Not enough vacation days? No problem.