Here at SF Bay Play Therapy we stand against all racism and racial and social injustice. We are committed to learning how we can best be an ally for parents, children and play therapists of color. Our hears weep and rage at the injustice that continues in this country towards black people and all people of color, and we promise to do all we can to change it. We practice humility and invite growth and learning opportunities. We hope the following resources will serve you well and invite your wisdom and resources as well. And we wish you and your families strength, love, and connection.
Sincerely, Karen Wolfe, LMFT
**This is a living document updated frequently. If you know of a resource that you think should be on here, please contact us!*
For Kids and Teens
Books:
- Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners: books for children and young adults
- 31 Children's books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi (for teens)
Podcasts:
- Parenting Forward podcast episode ‘Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt’
- Fare of the Free Child podcast
- Integrated Schools podcast episode “Raising White Kids with Jennifer Harvey”
- The Very Best Code Switch Episodes For Kids
- Here is a podcast recommendation from NPR titled "Talking Race With Young Children."
Social Media:
- Therapy for black girls (full of resources and a podcast too! Their Facebook Page )
Articles:
- PBS’s Teaching Your Child About Black History Month
- Your Kids Aren't Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup from Pretty Good
Activities:
This is an activity you can do with your children to help facilitate discussion (taken from the NMAAHC website):
Draw a picture, make a sign or write in a journal to tell about what positive changes you would like to see in the world and what you and others can do to help. Think about how your school, community, country or the world can change for the better.
Use the questions below to guide your art making or writing.
▪Who or what is important to you?
▪What's something you'd like to see change in your community?
▪What would your community be like if everyone was healthy, happy and safe?
▪Do you see a problem that needs to be fixed? How?
For the Adults
Patty Wipfler emphasizes the importance of three initiatives we each can take to combat racism:
• Work on our own hurts in Listening Partnerships, focusing especially on incidents of early intimidation and powerlessness
• Using the Listening Tools with our children
• Make friends across racial lines and any other boundary that you've been taught can't be bridged.
In my experience, I would add to this list to specifically work in your listening partnerships on your feelings about embarking on educating yourself on the history of racism and advocating for the voices of people of color to be heard, so you can free yourself from frozenness in taking steps, fears, and make a plan that works for you to help you heal the hurts our society has transmitted.
Podcasts: Videos:
- 13th, 2016 American documentary by director Ava DuVernay. The film explores the "intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States (***HIGHLY recommended)
- This TED Talk by author and scholar Beverly Daniel Tatum called “Is My Skin Brown Because I Drank Chocolate Milk?” gives parents a great example of how you can explain the topic of slavery to young children who may not be at an age to emotionally process the hard facts of slavery. It is also summarized in this article here.
Articles:
- Talking with Children about Racism, Police Brutality, and Protests by Dr. Laura at Aha! Parenting
- They were raised to be ‘colorblind’ — but now more white parents are learning to talk about race
- Inoculating Our Children Against Racism
- Love First: Parenting to Reduce Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, and Other Forms of Hate, by Sarah MacLaughlin, MSW and Certified Hand in Hand Parenting Instructor
- About working to end racism in schools: Equity Literacy for All, article by Paul C. Gorski and Katy Swalwell
Books:
- Listen: Five Simple Tools to Meet Your Everyday Parenting Challenges, pp. 241-246, Fears of Differences Between People has two excellent anecdotes about helping young children with fears attached to skin color differences.
- White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, a book by Paul Kivel.
Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes What We See, Think, and Do, book by Jennifer Eberhardt, Ph.D.
I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World
A book by Marguerite A. Wright, Ed.D., who sat on Hand in Hand Parenting's board for many years. It's a useful book for white parents as well as Black parents.
Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice that Shapes What We See, Think, and Do, book by Jennifer Eberhardt, Ph.D.
I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race-Conscious World
A book by Marguerite A. Wright, Ed.D., who sat on Hand in Hand Parenting's board for many years. It's a useful book for white parents as well as Black parents.