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Imani peeked into her sister, Hope’s, room. Her parents didn’t notice, but Hope was always disappearing. Just where did she disappear to?! Hope told her not to snoop, but Imani was just so curious! Not only would Hope disappear, but Hope’s dog Prince- full name “Prince Winston Cortez Frankenstein Father Christmas Easter Bunny Werewolf Helen Keller Harriet Tubman Prince of London Prince of France Prince of Hawaii”- would disappear too!

Suddenly, there was a flash of a golden and purple light in Hope’s room! Imani gasped and fell back. She quickly got up and looked in. She saw Hope and Prince hop into the light! It looked like a shimmering magnifying glass, a strange symbol, shimmering with purple and gold. She could kind of make out the words, but it looked like the light was fading fast.

Gathering her courage, Imani ran into the lights after her sister. 

WHOOOSH! Imani felt the wind around her, an almost dizzying speed. Then, she was somewhere else. A room full of kids and some animals- a HUGE building with many floors. The purple and gold light behind her vanished- so all she could do now was find her sister. Further ahead, she saw Hope walking with Prince as if none of this was surprising. Imani began sneaking behind her at a distance. She saw Hope talk with a boy she had never seen. Prince seemed to know him. Then they walked up some stairs. Imani followed- feeling like she was in a spy movie, hiding any time her sister looked back. Then, suddenly, Hope looked right at her. 

“Imani! Your detective skills need work.” Hope looked at her, not too angrily. Imani always found her older sister to be supportive, even if they occasionally had sibling fights. This is why it was so odd that Hope disappeared so often without telling her. Hope sighed deeply. She did seem more annoyed than usual. “I told you it ain’t good to snoop.”

“What is this place?” Imani asked, looking around.

              “We better not tell her just yet- let’s go see what Miss Barbara thinks.” Said the boy next to Hope.

           Without explaining, Hope nodded, and took her little sister’s hand. “Come on.” She led her to a big windowed office. 

An older teenager turned around in the desk. “Hope, Abraham- and who’s this?” She asked.

              “Hello Miss Barbara. This is my little sister, Imani. She must’ve followed me through the portal.” Hope explained.

              Miss Barbara paused, then shook her head. “Well, we have no time for this today, she will just have to go with you. We have an urgent mission.”

Miss Barbara clicked a remote button and a screen appeared with a glowing red dot on a line. “We have an anomaly. Do you know what this year, 2026, means for U.S. independence?” She turned and asked Hope and Abraham. 

“Yes- it’s the 250^th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.” Abraham answered.

              “ ‘America 250’.” Hope echoed.

   “An Anomaly? America 250? Decoration of Independence?” Imani couldn’t help but ask. 

“The Declaration of Independence being approved is what gives the United States of America its independence. It was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4^th, 1776- which is why we celebrate the 4^th of July.” Hope explained to Imani.

     “It was signed on August 2^nd, 1776 in Philadelphia.” Abraham added. “This year represents the 250^th Anniversary of the signing of that document.”

   “Correct!” Miss Barbara said, beaming with pride. “Well, I fear that’s why we already see an anomaly this year. An anomaly, Imani, means something happened that is different than what it should be. When we see an anomaly, it means we have to investigate what’s wrong.”

“We?” Imani interrupted before Miss Barbara could keep talking. “What is this place?”

Hope and Abraham smiled. “We are-” they clicked a button on their belts they had on, and, in a flash of light, it changed their outfits to long brown detective coats and gave them both brown hats and regular looking magnifying glasses they clipped to their belts- “History Detectives!”

              “We protect history and set things the way they happened when it gets disrupted by The Twister.” Abraham explained.

              “The Twister likes to twist time to impede progress- like a tornado tearing through and erasing history.” Hope turned to Miss Barbara. “Miss Barbara, you’re afraid The Twister is trying to set all of American history back?” 

“Yes- that’s correct. So I’m sending you back in time to put things right. I’ve loaded into your tablets information about today’s mission- but you must hurry! If history is upset for too long, then it could affect today!” Miss Barbara said. “I’m sending you back to 1776, Philadelphia. There is a 10 year old boy there who has to hear one of the first public readings of the Declaration of Independence. Right now, The Twister seems to have done something to, well, twist the timeline. I need you to ensure James Forten hears the Declaration of Independence!”

Both Hope and Abraham saluted to Miss Barbara- Imani could’ve sworn the dog saluted as well! Not to be left out, Imani tried to make herself as big as possible and salute as well.

“Now quickly, go get your gadgets and gear up, History Detectives. History is counting on you.” Miss Barbara saluted back.

By: Caitlyn Arnwine (formerly Caitlyn Cobb and her daughter, Hope Grace. This was written in 2026 with a complete source list at the bottom.



© 2026 Transformative Justice Coalition. All rights reserved.

© 2026 Caitlyn Arnwine and Hope Cobb. All rights reserved.

Feel free to publish on your social media outlets and teach these lessons, with credit given to the Transformative Justice Coalition. Please let us know if you do share the series so we can publicly recognize and thank you. Be sure to send any publications to carnwine@tjcoalition.org so we can repost!

We encourage everyone to share this series to your networks and on social media under the hashtag #VRABlackHistory and to use this series for school projects. You can also tweet us @TJC_DC to share your own facts or connections to this history.

Others can sign up for the daily articles at VotingRightsAlliance.org. 

HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!

We hope you enjoy our #VRABlackHistory Series 2026

From the Transformative Justice Coalition and the Voting Rights Alliance



Please note, if you'd like to opt out from only the upcoming daily Black History Month Voting Rights Alliance #VRABlackHistory series, please email carnwine@tjcoalition.org. Unsubscribing at the bottom of this email unsubscribes you to all Transformers, not just from this special February Series.

INTRODUCTING: History Detectives

The Transformative Justice Coalition and the Voting Rights Alliance, in honor of Black History Month, are continuing the annual tradition of our daily special series devoted to sharing the legacies and stories of the sheroes, heroes, and events in the fight for Black suffrage. This series was created in 2017 and will introduce all new original articles this year- with a twist.

The 2026 #VRABlackHistory Series will center around the United States’ 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It will also center around teaching kids the Black History voting rights advocacy that surrounds the United States Constitution and its amendments, as well as different forms of government, with a new children’s series: “History Detectives”. This will be a series parents, guardians, teachers, and siblings can read to the children in their lives, with a lesson guide which includes what each story will cover as well as a short fun quiz. 

The “History Detectives” Series follows three kids, Hope – aged 12-, Abraham – aged 12-, and Imani- aged 8-, as well as their dog Prince, as they work in a secret kid detective agency aimed at helping figures or events in history stay on track anytime there’s an anomaly caused by “The Twister”, a villain who twists time with the goal of impeding progress, like a tornado tearing through and erasing history.

The “History Detectives” article draft attached has not only been put through the Dale-Chall Readability Test, giving an average of a 4th through 6th grade reading level; but, has also been tested with children, and is made with input from the author's soon-to-be 14-year-old daughter to ensure it’s engaging for kids. And did you know the author is also pregnant, due in February?! That makes this series all the more timely!

But we didn't forget about the adults! Each of the “History Detectives: Voting Rights Unit” articles (aside from this prologue) will also be paired with a counterpart article for adults to read. The adult counterparts will filter out the children’s story, and dive deeper into the historical figures or events the “History Detectives” article covered.

In addition to these daily newsletters all February long, this series also incorporates daily social media posts; an interactive calendar; and, website blog posts to spread the word broadly.