Antiracism Resources

Anti-racism Resources for Families

This document will be updated frequently. Please reach out with any comments, questions, and/or ideas of how to strengthen this support to parents, families, students, and others who are committed to this work.

Thoughts to Consider:

• When talking with your child, just like many difficult conversations, allow openness, admit that you do not know it all, and encourage questions.

• Avoid “everyone is equal” and other stereotypical responses. Quite honestly, they are not true and brush over the importance of these conversations.

• Some of these resources are helpful for difficult conversations during difficult times. However, I urge you to not stop there. Continue these conversations even once the news coverage wanes. You cannot talk to your child about this once and then check it off the to-do list. Also, buy books, watch shows and movies with people of color as the main character; buy multicultural Barbies, dolls, and other toys; encourage ongoing conversation and questions.

Child Development:

• It is often assumed that we should not start talking about race until kids are older. However, research shows that it is never too early to start.

  • “Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup”

  • “Your Age-by-Age Guide to Talking About Race

  • “How to Teach Your Kids to Fight Hate: An Age-by-Age Guide”

Books for Adults:

• “Raising White Kids” by Dr. Jennifer Harvey

  • Article by Dr. Jennifer Harvey “How do I make sure I am not raising the next Amy Cooper?”

• “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo

• “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi

• “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum

  • Ted Talk by Beverly Daniel Tatum “Is My Skin Brown Because I Drank Chocolate Milk?”

Other Great Resources for Adults:

• “Anti-Racism for Kids 101: Starting to Talk About Race"

• “How to Talk to Kids About Race and Racism”

• “Supporting Vulnerable Students in Stressful Times: Tips for Parents”

• “Beyond the Golden Rule” A Publication by Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org)

• “Let’s Talk: How to Talk to Kids About Race” on PBS

• “Racism and Violence: How to Help Kids Handle the News”

Antiracism Books for Children (all appropriate for most ages):

• “All Are Welcome” by Alexandra Penfold

• “Someday is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 OKC Sit-Ins” by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

• “A is for Activist” by Innosanto Nagara

• “What’s the Difference? Being Different is Amazing” by Doyin Richards

• “Something Happened in Our Town” by Marianne Celano

• “The Day You Begin” by Jacqueline Woodson

• “We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands” by Rafael Lopez

• “Skin Like Mine” by LaTashia M. Perry

• “a kids book about racism” by Jealano Memory (also available on YouTube here.)

• There are so many great books about people of color in history:

  • “Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race” by Margot Lee Shetterly

  • “Malala’s Magic Pencil” by Malala Yousafzai

  • “Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History” by Vashti Harrison

  • “Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History” by Vashti Harrison

  • “Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa” by Jeanette Winter

  • “Malcom Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Be Malcom X” by Ilyasah Shabazz

• Diverse books to add to your collection:

  • “Grace for President” by Kelly DiPucchio

  • “I Am Enough” by Grace Byers

  • “Last Stop on Market Street” by Matt de la Pena

  • “Trombone Shorty” by Troy Andrews

    • From 2014 to 2019, just 21% of the children’s books published featured a person of color and only 14% of books were written by a person of color. Please, seek them out. Buy them, read them, gift them.

      • Also of note, a study looked at all children’s books published between 1900 and 2000: results found that no more than 33% of the books in any given year feature a woman or female animal, men or male animals were featured in 100% of the books.

    • “OurStory” is a great way to find diverse books.

    • “Biracial Bookworms” is another great resource to find diverse books.

    • “The Conscious Kid” promotes access to children’s books centering underrepresented and oppressed groups and has some great resources.

Other Great Resources for Children:

• Town Hall with Sesame Street and CNN

• Sesame Street “I Love My Hair” Song

• “Hair Love” Short Film by Matthew A. Cherry

• “Let’s Talk About Race” Read Aloud by Julius Lester