The Third Little Pig: A lesson on wealth redistribution

The Third Little Pig: A lesson on wealth redistribution

by Sachi Feris While I was in Argentina recently, I found a pop-up version of “The Three Little Pigs” in Spanish, which I purchased and quickly became one of my son’s favorite books. After about 100 readings, literally, it occurred…

Leo Lionni's "A Color of his Own": Cross-race versus same-race spaces

Leo Lionni’s “A Color of his Own”: Cross-race versus same-race spaces

by Sachi Feris As a long-time reader of Leo Lionni, it surprised me that Google searches of Lionni’s books did not yield lessons plans explicitly discussing race, since many of his books speak to themes of racial identity and the…

Why it is my job to explain White privilege to my almost four-year-old

Why it is my job to explain White privilege to my almost four-year-old

by Sachi Feris A couple of months ago, I was singing a bedtime song to my daughter and she interrupted with, “Mamma, sometimes in the morning when I wake up my pillow is wet.” It was a statement with the…

"Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What (Colors) Do You See?"

“Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What (Colors) Do You See?”

by Sachi Feris I have been reading the book, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?” by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle for over a decade to my kindergarten Spanish students (“Oso pardo, oso pardo, que ves ahi?”)….

Talking about prison with my three-year-old

Talking about prison with my three-year-old

by Sachi Feris When my daughter was just a year old, I remember being struck by this interaction between a mother and her child at the playground: I was standing in front of the bridge that connects the steps to…

My daughter’s charmed life and her contact with the service industry

My daughter’s charmed life and her contact with the service industry

by Sachi Feris As a White, upper middle class woman, my contact with the service industry provides a constant reminder that the legacy of slavery is inextricably connected to our present-day reality. I live near a block that houses a…

Explaining “race” versus skin color to my three-year-old

Explaining “race” versus skin color to my three-year-old

by Sachi Feris Since we often talk about skin color, I wasn’t surprised when my daughter, while sitting on a bench in San Cristóbal, Mexico the other day, noted that her baby brother’s skin color is pinker and paler than…

Child labor and Chanukah in Chiapas, Mexico

Child labor and Chanukah in Chiapas, Mexico

by Sachi Feris Eight years ago, my husband and I planned a sabbatical-like trip to Mexico. We are finally taking this trip and are currently living in San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico with a three-and-half-year-old and a two-month old baby. San…

“The world is unfair”: My head-on approach to talking about homelessness with my daughter

“The world is unfair”: My head-on approach to talking about homelessness with my daughter

by Sachi Feris I want my daughter to see people who are homeless as people. I don’t want her to avert her eyes, as so many adults do when confronted with the reality of homelessness. One day, I saw my…

In light of Spring Valley (Part Two): Activism, the police, and my three-and-a-half-year-old

In light of Spring Valley (Part Two): Activism, the police, and my three-and-a-half-year-old

by Sachi Feris Almost a year ago, when I was launching Raising Race Conscious Children, I wrote a post about what I would say to my future four-year-old about Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Well, my daughter is almost three-and-a-half…