Resources on Race, Racism, and Racialized Violence

At Foster Adopt Minnesota, we recognize the longstanding inequities and disproportionality within the child welfare system and the impact these have on Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. These disparities affect families and children every day, and we believe it is critical to acknowledge and address them.

As part of our commitment to supporting families and promoting equity, we have gathered resources that may be helpful as you navigate questions, challenges, and opportunities for learning. We invite you to explore these tools and share them with others in your community.

Conversations With Your Children & Teens

• • • Teaching Tolerance –  Teaching Tolerance was created to help educators teach their students, but parents can also use this resource to teach valuable lessons in their home. “Cultivate positive identity formation, encourage students to confront racial and ethnic injustice, and prepare them to live and work together in a diverse world. Our resources can help you facilitate discussions about race and guide students through lessons on white privilege, economic inequality, mass incarceration, the complexities of identity and more.”
    • Child Trends – Resources to Support Children’s Emotional Well-Being Amid Anti-Black Racism, Racial Violence, and Trauma.
      
      
    • [Recorded Webinar] I [STILL] Can’t Breathe: Supporting kids of color amidst racialized violence (EmbraceRace) – Embrace Race founders talk with child psychologist, Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith about how to talk with kids of color about racialized violence.
    • Talking About Unrest in Our Midst (Center for Adoption Support & Education) – This article outlines tips and resources to help parents help their children/teens have conversations around current events related to race, racism, and protesting.
    • Talking About Race (National Museum of African American History & Culture) – Engaging content and resources for parents, caregivers, and educators to explore talking about race, racial identity, systems of oppression, self-care and much more.
    • They’re Not Too Young To Talk About Race (The Children’s Community School) – Infographic highlighting how young children notice and think about race at various ages.
    • Talking With Children About Racism, Police Brutality and Protests (Aha! Parenting) – A guide written by Dr. Laura Markham, Clinical Psychologist, which incorporates the infographic tool above to help parents and caregivers talk about issues of race, racism, and racialized violence with their children.
    • Raising Race Conscious Children – Blog, interactive webinars and other resources for talking about race with young children.

Booklists on Race, Racism, and Anti-Racism

These websites are good to bookmark as they update their lists with new books on a regular basis.

• EmbraceRace – Lists of multicultural and diverse books from around the web.
• Red Balloon Bookshop Staff Picks – Books by authors from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
• Social Justice Books – Offers a broad selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators.

Specific Book Recommendations:

• Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard (Children)
• Daddy, There’s a Noise Outside by Kenneth Braswell (Children)
• A Terrible Thing Happened by Margaret Holmes (Children)
• Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson (Children)
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Teen/Young Adult)
• All American Boys by Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds (Teen / Young Adult)
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi (Teen / Young Adult) 
• Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey (Adults)
• So You Want To Talk About Race? by Ijeoma Oluo (Adults)
• How To Be An Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi (Adults)
• View EmbraceRace’s list of 20 picture books “to help engage the broad range of emotions and needs of diverse children in our multiracial society”: https://www.embracerace.org/resources/20-picture-books-for-2020