As we honor Dr. King today, I hope we put his words into action throughout the year. Here’s my revised list of resources for talking with kids about both the holiday and about race and racism—conversations we should be having regularly.
October is LGBTQ History Month and includes National Coming Out Day, Spirit Day, Ace Week, and Intersex Awareness Day. By Halloween, my head is abuzz with ways to support and sustain our multifaceted queer selves. Here’s how the spookiest day of the year can bring it all together.
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.
Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was shot by a White police officer during a traffic stop in Minnesota this past Sunday. Regardless of whether this was an intentional or accidental shooting, Wright’s is another Black life lost in a country where Black people are three times more likely than White people to be killed by police. My fellow White people—this is yet another tragic reminder that racism remains for us to fix.
Yesterday, a grand jury indicted only one of the three police officers involved in the shooting death last March of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman in Kentucky—and the charge was “wanton endangerment,” not the more serious ones of manslaughter or reckless homicide. I hope that other White people like myself make it a priority to learn more about this case and about the ongoing need for racial justice in the U.S. Here are a few places to start.
Black lives matter. Black LGBTQ lives matter. And we will never have a just world for LGBTQ families until we have racial justice.
The events of the past few weeks—and the entire history of our country since 1619—have shown just how dire the need is to dismantle racism. Next Tuesday, June 23, Family Equality is hosting a national day of action to encourage families to “deepen their anti-racism work” through tangible, age-appropriate actions for both parents and kids. I’ll be participating and I hope many of you will, too.
Want to talk with your children about race and racism, but not sure where to start? Already started but want some newer resources, including upcoming online events? Here are a few ideas.
Five Black LGBTQ leaders held a LGBTQ #BlackLivesMatter Town Hall yesterday, and it’s well worth watching. View it here if you missed the livestream.
It feels right now like our country is coming apart at the seams. I wish I had some answers; I don’t. All I have are a few suggestions for how to take action and find community right now.
