{"id":9690,"date":"2019-11-21T21:33:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T21:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=9690"},"modified":"2019-11-22T22:29:43","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T22:29:43","slug":"balancing-the-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2019\/11\/21\/balancing-the-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Balancing the books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young Mary Taris \u201904<\/strong> was so thankful to be a girl. The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority required children of different genders to have separate bedrooms, so while her brothers had to share a room, Taris had her own. Through reading, her bedroom walls grew into a mythical grove where she\u2019d encounter a prince or sit for tea with Frog and Toad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI escaped into books. Or maybe,\u201d she said, \u201cI disappeared in them.\u201d Books gave her the life she longed for, but those beloved tales were someone else\u2019s story. She was 20 before she read a book with black characters.<\/p>\n

Now 55, the retired teacher is driven to change that narrative. Last August, at the historic James J. Hill Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, Taris stood in front of family and friends to voice her dream, Strive Publishing, into existence. The startup\u2014based out of her Twin Cities home\u2014supports emerging authors of picture books and young adult novels that are culturally relevant, contemporary, and relatable to kids of all shades, abilities, and experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has a story, and those stories build bridges to connect us all,\u201d said Taris, a graduate of Augsburg University\u2019s Adult Undergraduate program, a flexible degree program that pairs on-campus classes with online coursework in a dozen undergraduate majors. \u201cToo often, authors conform to narrow industry standards driven by profit, but I refuse.\u201d At Strive, Taris and her team work to create pathways for writers and artists from all backgrounds to write about their own experiences and a wider array of identities.<\/p>\n

Publishing stories that represent and connect<\/h3>\n
\"Mary<\/a>
Mary Taris \u201904<\/strong> with two of her children, Jermaine Taris and LaToya Taris-James<\/strong>, who both work with Strive Publishing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Strive Publishing has released three titles by local African American authors, and several more books are in the works with upcoming launch dates. Taris\u2019 efforts have been featured nationally and celebrated locally, with invitations to inaugural African American Voices in Children\u2019s Literature Contest in partnership with Free Spirit Publishing.<\/p>\n

\u201cStrive is more than a company; it\u2019s a mindset,\u201d she said. \u201cI was a runaway teen mom who finished high school while striving to raise a son and work for a better life.\u201d That determination led her to enroll in Augsburg\u2019s elementary education program. Juggling work and family, it took Taris eight years to graduate, but she walked across the commencement stage and into the classroom where she taught a range of grades and subjects (mostly English) for 15 years. \u201cI became the first person in my family to earn a college degree,\u201d she said. \u201cIt had been my dream since childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Augsburg left a mark on Taris, as classes exposed her to inequities in education and literature. Taris reframed those inequities as opportunities. Now, years later, Barbara West<\/strong><\/a>, director of student teacher placement at Augsburg, recalled Taris\u2019 embrace of story-filled, relevant learning. While student-teaching, Taris invited a Japanese friend to talk with students who were reading a novel about a Japanese girl during World War II. On her lunch hour, Taris met with eighth-graders to advise on a student-produced newsletter. She sought to incorporate diverse voices and stories into the curriculum.<\/p>\n

\u201cAugsburg taught me to consider the whole child and to understand the classroom as a life-giving space where you can listen and let people tell their stories,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a teacher, I struggled to find diverse texts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taris also struggled when administrators brought speakers and books that reinforced cultural stereotypes and limited experiences rather than providing real cultural and ethnic diversity. \u201cI wish they would have, instead, given kids diverse books or brought in local authors who looked like the students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celebrating voices that defy stereotypes<\/h3>\n

Taris launched Strive in 2016 while teaching full time, but three years later, she took early retirement to dedicate herself fully to the publishing company. Taris remains an educator, though, as a mentor to young authors and as an advocate for change. She challenges communities, schools, and publishing houses to invite new titles that can find their way onto more readers\u2019 nightstands.<\/p>\n

Ricardo Peters is among Strive\u2019s \u201cfounding authors,\u201d as Taris calls them, and he says he is indebted to \u201cMiss Mary\u201d for her guidance and encouragement. Peters\u2019 book\u2014 the first in a fantasy series\u2014 sold out within months. The 35-year-old stands out, Taris said, because he is a black man who loves and lives the arts like few others.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlenty of black men are deeply connected to their artistic side, but society doesn\u2019t celebrate that expression,\u201d Taris added. \u201cOur sons are not all basketball and hip hop. Ricardo defies that stereotype, and his work will lead others to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peters had been dreaming up stories since he filled stapled together notebook paper with \u201cTransformers\u201d stickers. Publishing a book remained his dream, but it wouldn\u2019t have happened without Taris.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had been working on this series for nine years and likely would have sat on it forever,\u201d said Peters, who works as a reading instructor at Kumon Math and Reading Center of Maple Grove. \u201cBut Mary presented me with this opportunity, she believed in me, and I am eternally grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making stories more accessible runs in the family<\/h3>\n

\"Mary<\/a>This sentiment is shared among the authors who work with Taris. Her children are equally inspired by her, so much so that they joined the Strive team. Her oldest son, Jermaine Taris, is a book illustrator. Her 16-year-old daughter, Grace Taris-Allen, serves as \u201cquality control,\u201d happily reading manuscripts; and her eldest daughter, LaToya Taris-James<\/strong>, assists with marketing and social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom makes things happen,\u201d said Taris-James, a student leadership program coordinator for Augsburg\u2019s Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship. \u201cShe is resourceful and passionate, with a unique way of connecting with and inspiring others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was 12, she introduced me to \u2018Things Fall Apart\u2019 by Chinua Achebe. It was the first piece of African literature I had read on my own, and it shaped my view of black people across the African diaspora and helped connect me with my heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through Strive, her mother is making those connections on a broader scale, said Taris-James, who hasn\u2019t fallen far from the tree. Along with a friend, Taris-James created a social impact initiative known as Rooftop (or RFTP) that uses storytelling to engage communities in dialogue around difficult, often polarizing, issues. Mother and daughter are both driven to make stories of all kinds more accessible and communal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt called to create Strive, and to be honest, it\u2019s been difficult to wear so many hats and break through,\u201d Taris said. \u201cWhere I have come to see the greatest need is for a safe space for all people to tell their stories, whether they get published or not. I\u2019m working with PopUp Think Tank to gather ideas for how Strive can make the greatest impact, and it\u2019s feeling more like a social enterprise than trying to operate as a traditional publishing house. Whatever Strive looks like in a year\u2014 or five years\u2014I know it will be moving the dial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strive Publishing\u2019s Book List<\/h3>\n