For MLK Day and All Year: Resources for Talking With Kids About Race and Racism

I hope we not only read Dr. King’s words today, but put them into action throughout the year. Here are some resources for talking with kids about the holiday, and also about race and racism—conversations we should be having regularly.

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’ve found these sites and articles thought provoking. I hope they motivate you and your kids to discuss these important topics and explore further resources. May they help us work further towards being anti-racist and dismantling oppression.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Himself

Talking with Kids About Race and Racism

For Older Children

  • The TED Talks Live Short, “Unconscious Bias,” is a three-minute live and animated video from the perspective of one Black boy as he grows up under the oppression of racism. (Also includes one scene with smoking and alcohol use.)
  • Informative for older kids and parents is Mellody Hobson’s TED Talk, “Color Blind or Color Brave,” a great 14-minute talk for anyone who’s ever said or heard someone say that “Race doesn’t matter to me” or “I don’t see race.”
  • Bryan Stevenson’s TED Talk, “We Need to Talk About an Injustice,” while a little longer (23 minutes) is also well worth it for parents and older kids.

Book Lists

While my own Database of LGBTQ Family Books includes many books with Black characters and other characters of color (though more need to be published!), and some books that touch on issues or race and racism, my focus is on LGBTQ inclusion, not race and racism per se. I rely on others who are more expert than I am to cover such topics in full. Below is just a small selection of the many lists that exist.

Adults may also want to read “Anti-CRT Mania and Book Bans are the Latest Tactics to Halt Racial Justice,” by Ishena Robinson at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Children’s books about race and racism are being banned across the country along with books that include people with LGBTQ identities. I am reminded of another quote from Dr. King, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Taking Action

  • To take action on this national day of service, visit www.MLKDay.gov to find MLK Day volunteer opportunities near you. Bring your kids, if they’re old enough!

Inspiration

  • Finally, President Obama’s MLK Day Proclamation still makes good reading. I particularly like this part, which speaks to why we must both remember the origins of the holiday and carry its spirit onward:

Only by drawing on the lessons of our past can we ensure the flame of justice continues to shine. By standing up for what we know to be right and speaking uncomfortable truths, we can align our reality closer with the ideal enshrined in our founding documents that all people are created equal. In remembering Dr. King, we also remember that change has always relied on the willingness of our people to keep marching forward.

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