Unveiling the Truth: "I Woke Up! Is Not a Racist Book" - A Deeper Look Into Dr. Terance Shipman's Perspective

On February 29, 2024, I launched my seventh book in Mr. Shipman’s Kindergarten Chronicles, I Woke Up! My team and others think this is my best book yet. 

There are two positive affirmations that I have been saying in my classroom for over 28 years. They are: “I woke up this morning” and “I pledge to do my best.” I still say these affirmations with my seventh graders today. They love it! These affirmations are more than just words. I live by them; they are at the forefront of my thinking. They drive all of my efforts, including the launch of my most recent book.

Part of the marketing plan for I Woke Up! book included ad promotions on social media to spread the word about it and get information about it in places where people would see it so they would want to buy it. This worked well.

I am sure you can imagine my satisfaction with the book launch. Sales are still great. It has been the best launch of my seven books. The reviews are fantastic; however, I noticed comments on social media. They were disturbing. Some commenters online were calling me a racist and a nigger. They also said my book showed no diversity and promoted the “woke” movement. I was flabbergasted. I didn’t know if it was the title or the little Black girl on the cover that caused such an attack. 

The positive was I knew the ad for I Woke Up! was getting seen. 

Many people thought that the book was about the “woke”movement. My wife, illustrator (Milan Ristic), and I had several conversations about the title. The original title was I Woke Up This Morning, but I felt that people would misunderstand and think the book was about getting sleepy children out of bed. My wife and I agreed that the shorter version of the name was better. We loved the shortened title, I Woke Up. So, we went with it.

When I reviewed the social media comments, I didn’t find manycomments about the “woke” movement. The racist comments, however, have been plentiful and ugly. 

Let me give you a brief history of my teaching career to give you more background about me. I have been in education for almost 30 years. I’ve taught students from kindergarten to high school (kindergarten, being my favorite). Over the years, I taught students from over 20 countries and many races and ethnicities.  I have had the pleasure of enjoying classrooms with a higher level of diversity than most schools. And I’m proud to say that I keep in touch with many of the students and families in our Facebook group “Team Shipman.”

As a teacher, especially a middle school teacher (another blog coming), I’ve been called a lot of things, but not racist. My books are based on true events from my years of teaching. During this journey, I’ve dealt with a few racist comments, but nothing like this year. I don’t know if it’s because of the election year and the former president’s high profile, but I’ve found that people feel like they can be openly racist and attack a motivational children’s book. 

The book cover follows the theme of all Mr. Shipman’s Kindergarten Chronicles books with a cartooned picture of my classroom. I Woke Up is the first book without me on the cover.My books represent a part of my journey as a teacher. So, theycontain characters of all races. They embrace and spotlight the diversity of my students and me.  Celebrating the richness and broadness of a typical classroom and encouraging readers to enjoy the differences that make up a classroom are key to children’s educational experience, and they have always been priorities for me as an educator. 

When I first started selling books, I remember my good friendtelling me, “You should have made Mr. Shipman White. You would sell more books.” I responded, “No, these are my (Team Shipman) stories, and I will let the world see them for what they are.”

More than anything, I wanted to share the grand moments of my experiences with remarkable children. But the comments directed to my book, I Woke Up, were upsetting, and I could not ignore them.  People accused me of promoting the “woke” movement to five-year-old children and defaming white people. 

At first, I used to delete and block the racist comments. My rule was to never respond to them. But as they continually poured in, I had to reflect on that stance and decided that I could no longer just ignore the hate. My book is good!  My book is positive. My book can be used to motivate and encourage any child of any race in any circumstance!  So, I shifted my stance and now I leave these vile comments on my social media pages for others to read and to respond to them. I also send the negative postersand commenters a description of the book and encourage them to go beyond the cover and to READ I Woke Up! I go beyond what is expected, and I send these negative hatemongers pictures from the pages of my book and offer them a free eBook. I even sent one commenter a picture of my highly diverse first class from 1994.

I will continue to tell my stories. Mr. Shipman’s Kindergarten Chronicles is very special! This series of books represents a time in my life and others when I effected positive change in children’s lives. My students gave me the gratitude and thanks that all teachers need to do their great work!  

I don’t know if some people have a problem with seeing a positive Black man on the front of a book about education and school or if people just get upset about the ads coming across their social media feeds, but I won’t stop telling people about the great things that occurred in my classroom and the successes I witness with children of all colors and backgrounds.  

To those who don’t like it, just keep scrolling your social media,or not, because my books will keep coming. Another good thing about it is I made you look. Thank you, Milan Ristic, for your world-class covers. Let’s keep the world looking.