Love
Tell the Untold Stories
Brick building as a genre has some representation issues. The stories that have been told overwhelming represent white males. Brick Books is on it!
Brick Books has committed to representing historical skin tones for figures from the Bible. Figures from Africa and the Middle East are depicted with dark skin. Historical figures are depicted with realistic skin tones.
We are striving to tell stories that represent the lives of under-represented populations. Brick Books has set some pretty ambitious representation goals:
• Goal 1 – 67% of minifigs representing females (We’re getting there at 61%.)
• Goal 2 – 51% of minifigs representing people of color (We’re close at 50%.)
• Goal 3 – 33% of minifigs representing children/youth or elders (We’ve done it with 37%!)
• Goal 4 – 25% of minifigs representing folks from the LGBTQIA+ community (We have work to do with just 11%.)
• Goal 5 – 10% of minifigs representing folks living with a disability (We have work to do with just 5%.)
One of the big reasons that Brick Books got started in the first place was to bring far more representation to the building bricks genre. Unfortunately, the figures represented by classic building brick brands have been overwhelming white, male, straight, cisgendered, middle-aged, fictional characters. We are trying to change that by bringing you real figures like Alicia Alonso, Anne Frank, Annie Oakley, Emily Dickinson, Empress Jingū, Enheduanna, Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, Juana Azurduy, Karl Witte, King Tut, Laurel Clark, Louis Braille, Lozen, Maharani Tarabai, Nelson Mandela, Queen Makeda, Samantha Smith, Shirley Temple, Wolfgang Mozart, Woman Chief, and the list goes on.
What happens when the under-represented are depicted in Brick?
What do you see? What do you feel? What do you learn?
Who else deserves to be immortalized in brick?
About Brick books' creator
Dan (he/him) is a Deacon of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Dan has served in children, youth, and campus ministries. Dan first heard the call to ministry through Black Liberation Theology as an undergrad at Wittenberg University and discovered his gifts for sharing that theology creatively while in seminary at Yale Divinity School. His greatest passions are serving kids and advocating for justice in fulfilling God's promised kingdom. These days, you're likely to find Dan knee deep in excited kids, building bricks, or pages of new poetry and children's lit. You might also find him outside tending to his small duck farm.