Welcome back to the Our Stories Decodables blog series where we highlight the incredible authors behind the culturally responsive collection.
Today, we’re excited to spotlight Sean Miller, a graduate of Old Dominion University, Howard University with a master's in arts and religious studies, and Regent University with a master's in special education. Sean teaches social studies at South County High School and currently resides in Fairfax Station, Virginia.
One of Sean’s titles, My Glasses Give Me Superpowers, tells the story of a young girl named Zee who is modeled after his daughters. Zee wrestles with the idea that she doesn't want to wear glasses because she won't be able to be a superhero until she reaches a pivotal moment where she realizes that glasses are her superpower.
Keep reading to learn more about Sean and his experience with Our Stories Decodables:
Q. When did you first see yourself in a book?
A. For me, it began with comic books. There was a DC Comics genre called Milestone where they introduced African-American characters into the superhero world. I remember being in elementary and middle school and feeling so excited because they made an intentional effort to bring diversity into the comic book world. Being an avid collector, just seeing this was extremely amazing to me. I remember buying all the comic books, and I actually still have some in my collection today. Being a young person at that time – in the 1990s – it was very exciting to see myself represented in an art form and a literary genre that I really appreciate.
Q. Why is it important that we tell these stories now?
A. In education and literature, equity is such a big word. It's a national buzzword. But in order to appropriately address issues of inequity, you have to acknowledge that there's a problem. What I've seen in education is that even when we look at DEI efforts, we don't call problems what they really are. We don't effectively address specific demographics of people that are victimized by systems that erase them from the narratives of literature and history. When we don't acknowledge those issues of the past, it becomes very difficult to come up with a viable solution, because what are you solving?
You have to figure out where you truly are in order to address those issues and look at the systems that perpetuate those negative issues.
A lot of times we use theories and philosophies to address real-world issues, but history tells us that they haven't solved the problem. So we kind of have perpetuated cycles, people not being fully represented, even through equity efforts.
It's usually an uncomfortable conversation. The history of African Americans is American history. It's very much a challenge to teach, and it takes a lot of reworking of people and their educational philosophies about ‘how do we address the needs of the students that we serve and for young readers, how do we give them opportunities to truly see the world more holistically?’
Q. How do you hope that your story will impact young readers who may not have seen themselves represented in books before?
A. My goal is for students to receive a narrative and read a story that they're not gonna get in any other book. I remember my brother lost his glasses on purpose in middle school, just so he didn’t have to wear them. I have students that I didn't know wore glasses until about a quarter of the way through the year because they don't want to put them on. And just the empowerment that can come from that. I think for students of color, they can see themselves in a space that isn't often talked about. Like, ‘what happens when I don't wanna wear glasses? What are the consequences of that? How do I embrace my identity?’
In my second book, I talk about hip-hop. ‘How do I achieve my dreams of being a writer of hip-hop music and a performer? How do I bridge relationships with my family to understand our familiar history?’
I want students to be able to understand that African American people are not monolithic, but we have a lot of different experiences, and there are also some experiences that we can share with other diverse groups of people. Hopefully through this [Our Stories Decodables] students will get to read some exciting stories that resonate with them and have fun with it as well.
Q. What do you think sets Our Stories Decodables apart from other literacy tools?
A. I thought it was great that this initiative is active about pursuing students that are at historically Black colleges and universities. That was brilliant because you have students that are ingratiated in the HBCUs. There's a unique perspective at an HBCU in terms of the way that we're instructed, the way that we learn, and how we process our worldview.
When we're able to get our hands on these stories, there's gonna be a little soul in it, there's gonna be a little kick to it – a little seasoning to it – that I think is going to push it a little bit further.
The students that are writing these particular books at various levels will allow you to get a broad perspective in terms of where we are in our studies and how we look at the world. It's not something that I believe is just a monetized product, but rather something where people that may not have been authors before get to try out the craft for the first time. They bring a heart for diversity, a heart for their stories, and a heart for inspiring other people – which I think will be a unique difference when people read these stories.
Q. Is there anything else that you would like to say to future educators and future writers?
A. I tell this to my students sometimes – you never know when a dream is going to come true. In elementary school, my career goal was to be a comic book illustrator and writer. All these years later, I've had opportunities to do comic book covers, but this is the first opportunity where I officially wrote a comic book that'll be published.
Constantly create, constantly believe in yourself, and then also take the opportunities that are presented to you.
For me, this process allowed me to share stories that I may have kept to myself, or stories that I may have just shared with family. It allowed me to share my love for aspects of family and culture.
Always remember to take the bull by the horns and be true to yourself. If you decide to become an artist – don't compromise the fact that you have the support system to create, hone, and make the best representation of yourself. Hopefully, just doing that will benefit other people as well.
To learn more about Our Stories Decodables click here, and be sure to follow @ScholasticEdu on X!
