“The work of Antiracism is becoming a better human to other humans.” – Austin Channing Brown.
I love this framing. I want to be a better human to other humans. Most people I know want to be a better human to other humans, and the teachers, caregivers, and parents I know want to raise humans who are better humans to other humans. And yet, the “how” can feel overwhelmingly complex.
We read the books, we listen to the podcasts, and yet it can still feel so hard to know how to take action and talk to the kids in our life about these issues. We may even try to have these conversations, only to find that it comes out wrong, or the kids get confused, or scared, or just look at us blankly.
This is where the arts can be a powerful tool. Kids instinctively make art, and tell stories, and dance, and play. They don’t instinctively have complex conversations about the impacts of historical and ongoing harm committed against communities of color. We have to nurture and guide this work. The arts are an incredible entry point into the self-reflection, connection and community healing necessary for real, systemic change to take place.
So… how do we use the arts to make this happen? I’ve been working on developing answers to this very question for years, and I’d love to share my strategies to empower you to engage with the children in your lives, too!
On September 22nd at 8:15pm PST, I’m offering a free webinar for parents, caregivers, and teachers, called: 5 Ways to Use Art to Raise Antiracist Kids. In this hour-long webinar, we will explore 5 tangible ways to incorporate art in your own journey of raising and educating anti-racist kids. I’ll also preview a class I’ll be leading in the coming weeks that dives even more deeply into these ideas. There’s no art experience necessary and you can’t make the live webinar, a recording will be sent after the fact. You can find the sign up page on my homepage here.
As a white woman raising multi-racial kids, this work is close to my heart, and was born of many years of art facilitation, activism, studies in expressive art therapy and ongoing learning from those closest to me. I hope it finds resonance out in the world.