My daughter asked me what Black Lives Matter meant. Here’s what I said…

My daughter asked me what Black Lives Matter meant. Here’s what I said…

by guest blogger Allison Kenny I am a White woman married to a Black woman raising a mixed race girl. We adopted her through the foster care system as a six-year-old. Conversations about race are something I am learning to…

Talking about slavery through a lens of resistance

by guest blogger Kesa Kivel  Never Give Up! Ama’s Journey to Freedom on the Underground is a free, coming-of-age historical fiction film set in the 1850s. The film provides excellent, well-researched content on slavery in the United States as well…

Teaching resistance on the eve of the inauguration

by Lori Taliaferro Riddick The day after the election, my seven-year-old told his class that we were moving out of the country. Now, on the eve of the inauguration, he continues to have a lot of fear and anxiety about…

White bias and dolls: Helping children create meaning around race and gender

White bias and dolls: Helping children create meaning around race and gender

by Sachi Feris A friend once told me the following story: She and her daughter, a blonde-haired, White, three-year-old, were surveying her large collection of dolls. “All of the dolls are blonde,” her daughter observed. “It’s true,” my friend affirmed,…

“Why are all the White dolls sitting together on the Target shelf?

“Why are all the White dolls sitting together on the Target shelf?

Supporting kids to push back against racial injustice by guest blogger Melissa Giraud “I guess they only like White people,” my five-year old said the first time she noticed the Our Generation doll section at Target. Screeeech! I stopped our…

Road to Racial Justice board game: Opening up conversations with young people

Road to Racial Justice board game: Opening up conversations with young people

by guest blogger Kesa Kivel Road to Racial Justice is a free downloadable, educational “board” game for ages 13+. Racism and white privilege are addressed through critical thinking, social analysis, and team-based discussion. Through the game, players become more aware that racism exists in many…

Interrupting White silence with my children

Interrupting White silence with my children

by Sachi Feris On Wednesday, November 9th, the day after Election Day, I picked up my four-and-a-half-year-old daughter from school with my fourteen-month-old in the baby carrier and told her that we were headed to Manhattan to a protest Trump’s…

The curriculum I created for my children: Combating “Why is the bad guy brown?”

by guest blogger Martha Haakmat My teenage daughters now tease me about the number of times the words “diversity” and “race” came up at our dinner table as they grew up in our family. My middle daughter does an imitation…

My Family Builders: Talking race, gender and family structures

My Family Builders: Talking race, gender and family structures

by guest blogger Shannon Cofrin Gaggero Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are those of the author. I’m always on the hunt for children’s books and toys that are diverse and feature individuals and families beyond the typical “white-and-heterosexual-as-norm” narrative. We…

De-segregation is not enough: Why building strong, integrated schools matters

De-segregation is not enough: Why building strong, integrated schools matters

by Sahba Rohani At Community Roots Charter School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, where I work as the director of community development, we have ten years of experience running a purposefully integrated school. That’s been possible for a few reasons. Home…