On the Spot: Unanticipated Conversations about Race

On the Spot: Unanticipated Conversations about Race

by guest blogger Kim Sherman When I was pregnant with my second child, I prepared to tell my then-two-year-old about the baby-on-the-way. I anticipated questions about where babies come from and whether we were having a boy or girl. I…

A hard (but needed) conversation: New York City’s segregated schools

A hard (but needed) conversation: New York City’s segregated schools

  by guest blogger Myra Hernandez One morning, I was working with a group of elementary students at a public school in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. As a program coordinator for a non-profit, I had been reading Harlem’s Little Blackbird by Renee…

Body conscious talk: Discussing masturbation

Body conscious talk: Discussing masturbation

by guest blogger Katie Schaffer Little kids masturbate. They’re exploring their bodies and it feels good. But one of the reasonable concerns that many parents have is how to encourage children’s curiosity and joyous sensual connection to their body while…

We are a family…not an “alternative” family

by guest blogger Janet Alperstein, Ph.D I have heard that my son and I are an “alternative family” too many times. It was said by people who meant well, but it hurt. While my son didn’t overhear many of these…

Confronting White bias: Bringing my research to my parenting

Confronting White bias: Bringing my research to my parenting

by guest blogger Richard Milner, Ph.D As an African-American, middle-class professor of urban education, I am constantly bridging my research with my parenting responsibilities, reflecting on discourse and actions I take with my children as I attempt to help them…

“Are you a boy or a girl?”: Helping young children think through gender

“Are you a boy or a girl?”: Helping young children think through gender

by guest blogger Katie Schaffer I’m a queer woman with short hair who often wears button ups and slacks. (I use the word queer to talk about myself because it provides space for the recognition that both gender and sexuality…

White privilege and imaginary play with guns

White privilege and imaginary play with guns

by guest blogger Amy Fellows Today, I had a very clear moment of understanding White privilege. My six-year-old bi-racial daughter was playing with some White neighbor kids, when another girl came over with a very real looking cap gun pistol,…

My toddler called me a racist...

My toddler called me a racist…

by guest blogger Shannon Cofrin Gaggero …Out of the blue, while washing his hands one day. It sounded more like “ray-tish” and for a solid 2 minutes we were stuck in the excruciating toddler communication limbo where he repeats himself…

Seeing “the only one”: Students of color in majority White schools

Seeing “the only one”: Students of color in majority White schools

by guest blogger Martha Haakmat When my oldest daughter, Kaila, was two, she came home from pre-school with her class picture firmly in hand. She wanted to put it up by the other pictures on the piano in our living room…

The problem with my White son believing that "everyone is equal"

The problem with my White son believing that “everyone is equal”

by guest blogger Danielle McDonald Today I read a post on Urban Cusp’s Facebook page stating, “White parents there is work to be done and you have a critical role to play.” This was posted above a tweet that had…