Fall is a busy time for us. Not just because of what we’re working on at the Septima Project (more on that later!). But as parents, this time of year means juggling school schedules, family responsibilities, and endless mom duties. We’re navigating carpool, carline, homework, playdates, extracurriculars, back to school night, field trips, and busy calendars that are impossible to keep up with.

Like a lot of parents right now, we’re also balancing raising kids with trying to make sense of the world around us–election anxiety, attacks on equity, political divisiveness, the list goes on and on. We’re grappling with tough questions about race, equity, and justice and figuring out how to talk to our kids about these issues. As much as we might want to shield our kids from what’s happening in the world, they’re more aware than we think. We can’t ignore these topics and pretend our kids aren’t affected by them.

Our work has shown us how important it is that parents talk about race and racism. Our experience as mothers has also taught us how necessary it is to have these conversations at home–even when it feels difficult, weird, or uncomfortable. We’ve learned to embrace the awkwardness and roll with the odd, complicated, and existential questions our kids ask. We’ve learned how to ask our own questions and listen with compassion and curiosity.

We’ve discovered the power of a well-placed “what do you think?” or just a simple “why?”. We’ve also discovered sometimes we just need to pause and sit in silence. We’ve learned how to be honest with our kids and say “I’m not sure, I’ll get back to you” or “Let me think about that.” Or sometimes we might just need to say, “This is hard to explain” or “Let’s figure it out together.” We’ve also learned that we need to continue to unpack our own experiences, beliefs, and narratives about race so we can model what racial justice, healing and equity look like.

As antiracism educators and practitioners, we know how hard it can be to have these conversations with our families. It’s easy to feel worried about what to say or be unsure of how to start. Talking about race with kids takes work, takes practice and takes patience. It’s also a skill that we have to learn and we need tools to help support us. That’s why we’re thrilled to share our new How to Talk to Kids About Race Workbook. 

It’s includes insights and ideas about how to have meaningful conversations with your family. We explore how to teach your kids to see color, diversify playtime, confront inequities, and introduce antiracism at home. We also include reflection questions, conversation starters, resources, and recommendations.

It’s not a how-to guide or manual, but hopefully a starting point to help you begin conversations at home about race, identity, privilege, and inequality. Or if you’ve started having these discussions, the workbook is an invitation to go deeper and find new ways to connect. Whether you’re just getting started or talking regularly about race, we hope this helps you take action and keep the dialogue going.