This Daily Tool Transformed Our Racial Justice Knowledge
We use this tool every day in our parenting
For our family’s spring break, we took the kids on a super impactful and deeply meaningful trip to learn about the history of racial justice in the American South. Even as parts of the trip were for the kids, we both learned so much that we didn’t learn about in school–Tabitha as an immigrant who didn’t grow up learning American history and Adam who grew up in US public schools with a whitewashed version of history. Even now, American history in schools often does not cover the true depth of racism in our history.
That’s why we are really excited by a tool Tabitha picked up on our trip that we use every day to learn about the history of racial justice and injustice in the United States. Keep reading to learn more.
In today’s edition of Raising Antiracist Kids, you’ll find:
Continuous Learning-The One Tool We Use Every Day to Learn About the History of Racial Justice
On Our Bookshelves- What We’re Reading
What The Kids Are Reading
Let’s get into it, shall we?
We talk often about the importance of Continuous Learning on the part of parents who believe in antiracist parenting. It’s crucial to learn and unlearn not just practical implementations of antiracism but also the history of how we got to this point. Once you start understanding the context within which injustices have long occurred, I guarantee that you’ll start to see patterns in systems around you and you’ll start to question it for yourself.
BUT we’re all busy, right? As parents, we’re chefs, chauffeurs or public transit companions, confidantes, and more. Between school, extra-curricular activities, home and family, it’s sometimes hard to find the time to do that unlearning and learning. We speak to parents all the time who tell us that they wish they could do more reading, more studying but just don’t have the time. And this applies across race, class, ethnicity, gender, etc.
So how do we reach that key building block of antiracist parenting, Continuous Learning? We’re not here to preach to you about the importance of this building block because, if you are here, you already know how essential continuous learning is as we teach our children about antiracism. We can only teach our kids within the confines of our own knowledge. But you already know that. Still, that stack of books can seem daunting. What we’re here to do is to help you get the knowledge you need in realistic ways as parents.
On our civil rights history road trip, Tabitha picked up a tool that has brought the learning right into our email inboxes. When visiting The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, there was an option to sign up for A History Of Racial Injustice’s daily learnings on the wall at the end of the experience. Tabitha did just that and thought nothing more of it.
This simple tool, though, has transformed our knowledge of racial justice.
It’s so much more than just another newsletter. It drops between 6-10 short paragraphs of history related to racial injustice into your inbox daily according to that date in history, allowing you to unlearn and learn consistently, daily, as part of your routine of checking your emails (if you don’t check your emails daily, please tell us, what is that life?? We are severely jealous). We appreciate that these emails:
Tell truthful, factual historical info
Are just the right length to read in about 5-7 minutes
Do not sugarcoat the reality of race and history (you’ll learn about lynchings, discrimination, and other forms of racial injustice)
Leave us with more historical context for the current epidemic of racism and racial injustice in this country
Provided by the Equal Justice Initiative, this resource is ideal for us busy parents who need to do the hard and necessary work of continuous learning and are searching for opportunities for micro-learning.
To sign up to get this resource in your inbox, click here. And be sure to let us know how it’s landing for you, okay?
Our Bookshelves:
Tabitha: What I’m Reading
I finally finished Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, a book I picked up at the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana. It’s a fictional book about a young researcher who is fascinated with the cause and impacts of addiction because of her experiences with her own brother. This book touches on mental illness, inner torment and what it means to carve out space for oneself in the epicenter of religion, faith, racialized trauma and addiction. It’s a must-read.
I started reading Raising Antiracist Children by Britt Hawthorne. I’ve been following Britt’s work on social media and was happy to learn that she wrote a New York Times Bestselling book on how we, as parents, can raise antiracist kids. I’ll keep reading and let you know what I think.
What The Kids Are Reading
Payden’s Pronoun Party by Blue Jaryn-This one is on constant rotation at the moment. It’s a delightful story of a kid who explores the right pronouns and talks to different people in the community to get their perspectives. Our daughter has so many questions about pronouns (“Mom, who are the other people in the ‘they?’ ”) and we’re delving into it with love, compassion and grace.
Powwow Day by Traci Sorell-We recently attended a powwow (the kids’ and Tabitha’s first one) for Father’s Day, and Adam and our daughter had the honor of taking part in one of the dances (by invitation to all fathers and children visiting). We tried frybread for the first time and the kids LOVED it. This book reflects their experience at the powwow and shares even more knowledge about the significance of honoring Native American culture and the land we’re on.
What resources are you finding invaluable in your antiracist parenting journey? Share and let us know. In the meantime, take good care in this heat. Love up on your kids, okay? And remember, we’re in this together.
Tabitha and Adam