“Why bring it up?” Pushing back against White supremacy

“Why bring it up?” Pushing back against White supremacy

by Sachi Feris The other day, my dad was showing my children a video of his wife’s daughter’s circus performance and my three-year-old asked, “Are they girls or boys?” “They look like they’re wearing costumes that ‘girls’ more commonly use…but…

Families Belong Together

Families Belong Together

by Sachi Feris Inspired by Stand for Kids and A Striving Parent, I asked my six-year-old daughter and two-and-a-half-year-old son whether they might like to make rice krispie treats to raise money for immigrant children who have been separated from their…

Moana, Elsa, and Halloween

Moana, Elsa, and Halloween

by Sachi Feris My five-year-old, who I had successfully shielded from Disney princesses until recently, finally figured out that “Let it go” (which she had been singing with her friends for a over a year), was from the movie “Frozen.”…

Playing Monopoly and my “anti-Monopoly” talk

Playing Monopoly and my “anti-Monopoly” talk

by Sachi Feris My almost-five-year-old has attended her fair share of protests since November. Even my 19-month-old raises a fist in protest when my daughter prompts a call and response: “One!” “We are the people!” “Two!” “A little bit louder!” “Three!”…

Interrupting Whiteness with my White family

Interrupting Whiteness with my White family

by guest blogger Shannon Cofrin Gaggero I am a White, cisgender woman, married to a White, cisgender man and we have two White children. I started naming race with my kids about two years ago, when my son was three and…

Trump and the Muslim ban: A conversation with my eight-year-old

Trump and the Muslim ban: A conversation with my eight-year-old

by guest blogger Michael Loeb My daughter is eight years old and lives with me, Michael Loeb, a NYCDOE administrator, and Julia Davis, a civil rights attorney, in Brooklyn. This conversation was part of an ongoing attempt to help my…

My daughter asked me what Black Lives Matter meant. Here’s what I said…

My daughter asked me what Black Lives Matter meant. Here’s what I said…

by guest blogger Allison Kenny I am a White woman married to a Black woman raising a mixed race girl. We adopted her through the foster care system as a six-year-old. Conversations about race are something I am learning to…

Sharing the Injustice Boycott and Daily Action with my daughter in 2017

Sharing the Injustice Boycott and Daily Action with my daughter in 2017

by Sachi Feris Since the conversation with my daughter the day after the election, I have found inspiration as an individual and as a parent by participating in the Injustice Boycott and Daily Action. Injustice Boycott describes itself as “relentless, principled, organized…

The Black Santa Claus at our local pharmacy

The Black Santa Claus at our local pharmacy

by Sachi Feris I am Jewish. I did not grow up with a Christmas tree, nor did I have Christmas tree envy, or wish for Santa Claus. Though Chanukah is often considered a “Hallmark holiday,” I have always loved watching…

White bias and dolls: Helping children create meaning around race and gender

White bias and dolls: Helping children create meaning around race and gender

by Sachi Feris A friend once told me the following story: She and her daughter, a blonde-haired, White, three-year-old, were surveying her large collection of dolls. “All of the dolls are blonde,” her daughter observed. “It’s true,” my friend affirmed,…