fly away, and David and I stare through the glass at the branches above the deck rail, watching as a chicken-size crow lands silently.“ Oh no!” David says, dread and worry spreading across his face.“ That’ s not a good bird!” He freezes, alarmed but clearly eager to run outside and save the squirrels, who are still eating, oblivious to the danger.“ Why do you think that’ s a bad bird?” I ask.“ Because it’ s black,” David replies.( 2020b, 55 – 56)
David’ s comment prompts Sullivan to embark on a project focused on her initial question posed to the children and teachers,“ Are crows bad because they are black?”( 56). The ensuing journey with her children and colleagues involves Sullivan’ s efforts to read and reread texts on the historical depiction of crows in literature and the media, which ranged from Grimm’ s Fairy Tales to The Wizard of Oz to Dumbo. Acknowledging David’ s Samoan heritage and the“ many shades of brown” in his family( 57) along with her own identity and history, Sullivan critically examines David’ s developmental understanding and“ decisions about color and meaning that could possibly shape his feelings about himself, other people, and the world for the rest of his life”( 57).
Sullivan and her co-teachers then design arts-based projects for the children to explore selecting and using colors on their own and with peers. Reflecting on these activities, the teaching team realizes that the initial inquiry question has morphed into an even more local question,“ How do we use colors in our school, and are we contributing to color bias?”( 58), which upon continued collaborative reflection becomes even more specific and contextualized:“ What do we like, and what color is it?”( 59). This inquiry-question-as-reduction process prompts the team to return with the children to watching the crows in the morning; in essence, returning to the beginning of their journey.
For the next few weeks, the children and the teachers watch with special interest from the classroom windows as the crows eat with other birds and squirrels.
“ He brought his family!” David says excitedly. There are five or six crows now eating our nuts. We watch as they take turns eating the nuts, one always sitting on the branches as a sentry to keep the others safe. There is a lot of squawking and screeching as the crows communicate with each other, and I worry the neighbors might complain about our project. After the crows leave, we notice that the crows didn’ t eat all the nuts, leaving a few behind for the grateful jays. In circle time, we talk about our observations, and the children are happy that the crow left to get his family. They comment on how it was nice of the crow to bring the others to enjoy the nuts rather than keeping them all to himself. I follow up these sentiments with the question of focus: are crows really bad birds? The children are still unsure. Finally, I ask,“ Would we like crows better if they were white?”( 59)
This new question moves their inquiry in even more expanded directions as Sullivan and her co-teachers bring in an assortment of nonfiction and fiction books about crows, offer new artsbased activities about crows, and take local nature walks to learn more about the daily life of crows in the local park. Sullivan acknowledges that their inquiry work around color is a starting point in the long-term journey for children and adults to“ destigmatiz [ e ] negative perceptions of color” and engage in“ opportunities to identify assumptions, misunderstandings, and unrealized biases”( 61).
Sullivan’ s story constitutes a critical first step to address historical systems of exclusion and oppression of children and families from racially marginalized communities. Tragically, Pat Sullivan passed away in June 2025. She was a fierce advocate for supporting African American children, families, and educators in early childhood education and a talented inquirer and writer whose voice and talents will be deeply missed. Yet her stories live on— continuing to teach, inspire, and guide others in the ongoing work for justice and belonging.
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