May 2016 - Raising Race Conscious Children

Renters or owners in our school?: Questions and reflections from a parent of color

May 31, 2016 · by Raising Race Conscious Children · in Elementary School, Lori Taliaferro Riddick, Race, Racial Identity, STRATEGY: AFFIRM CHILDREN'S QUESTIONS, STRATEGY: FAIRNESS/UNFAIRNESS, STRATEGY: NAME RACE/WHITENESS

by Lori Taliaferro Riddick “He takes a circuitous route to hang up his coat to avoid them,” I told the head of the lower school. “That’s a good strategy,” he replied. And I sat there dumbfounded. Why should my child…

Apologies 100th post email went out too soon!

May 29, 2016 · by Raising Race Conscious Children · in Uncategorized

Dear Raising Race Conscious Children community of readers, workshop participants, and guest bloggers, Our 100th post was published early through a technical glitch–but we are so excited to see the excitement this mistake has generated! Stay tuned for posts #98…

Undoing the myth of White=beauty: Reading Snow White to my daughter

May 27, 2016 · by Raising Race Conscious Children · in Early Childhood, Elementary School, Gender, Race, Racial Identity, Sachi Feris, STRATEGY: AFFIRM CHILDREN'S QUESTIONS, STRATEGY: CHALLENGE STEREOTYPES, STRATEGY: CHILDREN AND ACTIVISM, STRATEGY: CONSIDER FEELINGS, STRATEGY: FAIRNESS/UNFAIRNESS, STRATEGY: NAME RACE/WHITENESS, STRATEGY: SPEAK TO IMAGES/WORDS, Toddlers, White Privilege

by Sachi Feris A friend had been staying in our apartment while we were on vacation and left some Disney-version fairytale books from her Spanish class for my then-two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Among them, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” which my…

“Who lived here before?”: Brooklyn’s changing skyline

May 24, 2016 · by Raising Race Conscious Children · in Early Childhood, Elementary School, Sachi Feris, STRATEGY: AFFIRM CHILDREN'S QUESTIONS, STRATEGY: CHILDREN AND ACTIVISM, STRATEGY: CONSIDER FEELINGS, STRATEGY: FAIRNESS/UNFAIRNESS, STRATEGY: NAME RACE/WHITENESS

by Sachi Feris My daughter has picked up many a book (from my children’s book collection that preceded her birth) that was too long or complicated for her present age and insisted that I read it to her. One such…

“People decide for themselves how they want to identify” or dismantling the gender binary with my children

May 21, 2016 · by Raising Race Conscious Children · in Babies, Early Childhood, Elementary School, Gender, Sachi Feris, STRATEGY: AFFIRM CHILDREN'S QUESTIONS, STRATEGY: CHALLENGE STEREOTYPES, STRATEGY: EXPLORE THROUGH PLAY, STRATEGY: NAME RACE/WHITENESS, STRATEGY: SPEAK TO IMAGES/WORDS, Toddlers

by Sachi Feris The other day I overheard my mom reading a board book of “first words” to my eight-month-old son. On the first fold of the book, she read: “girl” and then “boy.” “When we read,” I told my…

What’s tone got to do with it? (when you’re talking about race and other issues of justice)

May 17, 2016 · by Raising Race Conscious Children · in Class, Early Childhood, Elementary School, Sachi Feris, STRATEGY: CONSIDER FEELINGS, STRATEGY: FAIRNESS/UNFAIRNESS

by Sachi Feris The other day my dad was visiting and I overheard an exchange between him and my daughter around the brushing of her teeth. My dad kept turning the water off, impressing upon my daughter the importance of…

Staceyann and Zuri Chin’s Living Room Protests: A conversation with Staceyann

May 13, 2016 · by Raising Race Conscious Children · in Early Childhood, Elementary School, Gender, Racial Identity, Sachi Feris, STRATEGY: AFFIRM CHILDREN'S QUESTIONS, STRATEGY: CHALLENGE STEREOTYPES, STRATEGY: CHILDREN AND ACTIVISM, STRATEGY: CONSIDER FEELINGS, STRATEGY: EXPLORE THROUGH PLAY, STRATEGY: FAIRNESS/UNFAIRNESS, STRATEGY: SPEAK TO IMAGES/WORDS, Toddlers, Uncategorized

by Sachi Feris Performance artist Staceyann Chin and her four-year-old daughter, Zuri, have been modeling powerful conversations about positive racial identity, gender identity, children’s rights, human rights, and many other important topics over the past year. These conversations are child-centric,…

I am my mother’s daughter: Assumptions about my multi-racial family

May 8, 2016 · by Raising Race Conscious Children · in Early Childhood, Elementary School, Lori Taliaferro Riddick, Race, Racial Identity, STRATEGY: CHALLENGE STEREOTYPES, STRATEGY: NAME RACE/WHITENESS, Uncategorized

by Lori Taliaferro Riddick I have been told many, many times that my mom and I do not resemble each other. My mom has straight blonde hair, green eyes, and White skin while I have café au lait colored skin,…

Chocolate, slave labor, my four-year-old, and our local supermarket

May 3, 2016 · by Raising Race Conscious Children · in Class, Early Childhood, Elementary School, Middle Grades, Race, Sachi Feris, STRATEGY: AFFIRM CHILDREN'S QUESTIONS, STRATEGY: CHILDREN AND ACTIVISM, STRATEGY: CONSIDER FEELINGS, STRATEGY: EXPLORE THROUGH PLAY, STRATEGY: FAIRNESS/UNFAIRNESS, Uncategorized, White Privilege

by Sachi Feris Last Halloween, a friend posted this link on Facebook about child slave labor in the cocoa industry (in West Africa). As a chocolate-obsessed person, I was embarrassed that this injustice was not on my radar. Since then,…

SURJ MAY DAY ACTION WITH CHILDREN TOOLKIT

May 1, 2016 · by Raising Race Conscious Children · in Class, Early Childhood, Elementary School, Middle Grades, Sachi Feris, STRATEGY: CHILDREN AND ACTIVISM, STRATEGY: FAIRNESS/UNFAIRNESS, STRATEGY: SPEAK TO IMAGES/WORDS, Toddlers

Raising Race Conscious Children is honored to have partnered with Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) to create this May Day Action with Children Toolkit. Below, you will find book suggestions and talking points/questions you can ask as you engage your children…