A Message from Park Slope Parents

Category: Newsflash

Park Slope Parents stands in solidarity with BIPOC communities in Brooklyn and all over this country. As a community we must stand up for the injustice happening around us to say “Black Lives Matter” and “we see you.” This did not start with George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, or Breonna Taylor; they are just the most recent in a long line of injustices.

To our families of color, we'd like to reaffirm our commitment to you by providing a safe and nurturing space for you. While it’s not your responsibility to educate families on Park Slope Parents, we hope that you feel comfortable pointing out when we can do better. We will work to be better allies, keep the conversations going, educate ourselves, and reflect on our own privilege.

Each and every parent in our community also has an important obligation in dismantling racism in ourselves as well as teaching our children to be anti-racist. For many of us, confronting our own implicit biases is inherently difficult; it takes self-reflection and energy that, especially right now, may feel like a monumental task. However, it is one that must be done.

Park Slope Parents is committed to building a more just and fair community for everyone. We are organizing anti-racist and diversity trainings for our staff so that we can more mindfully and compassionately guide discussions, and not perpetuate racism. We can do better. We need to do better. We will continue to collect resources for the Understanding Race in Today's Times article (currently on our homepage). In addition, we are partnering with Hootenanny and The Old Stone House on events and experiences that focus on social justice and civic action. Finally, we are determined to work with organizations that can guide us down a just path and help us continue to gather the best ways to listen, help, learn, teach, and move forward.

In last night’s Embrace Race webinar, “How do I make sure I’m not raising the next Amy Cooper,” Dr. Jennifer Harvey explained that, for many white parents, discussing racism can be challenging. It takes courage, and we may not get it right every time, but it’s a challenge we must take on.

Here are a few things you can do TODAY to make a difference.

Buy and read books that have diverse characters. Our resource page has a long list of books, and you can also read these 10 tips for reading picture books with children through a race-conscious lens so that you are having transformative conversations with your kids.

Educate yourself by watching videos and reading articles and books about racism. We have gathered resources on the Understanding Race in Today's Times page of the Park Slope Parents website. You can also look at this thread for resources recommended by our members. John Green has also put together a playlist of videos.

Talk to your children. The American Academy of Pediatrics has advice for families for how to talk to your children about racism.

Donate to EmbraceRace.org, whose mission is to fight systemic racism by supporting parents in raising children who are brave, informed, and thoughtful about race.

Sign up for the Interactive Webinar for White People on June 18th @ 8pm that Raising Race Conscious Children is hosting.

Join the #Kidlit Community Rally for Black Lives on June 4th, 2020 @ 7:00 pm, which has a specific focus on talking to young people. There is also the Break the Chains with Love March on June 19th @ 6:00 pm that starts at Brooklyn Bridge Park and travels across the Brooklyn Bridge. Please RSVP!

Park Slope Parents is a community that supports compassionate parenting practices. There are no lessons as valuable as teaching our children to understand their agency, build their resilience, and to be a force in combating racism and all other forms of oppression. It’s easy to make a statement about injustice and change; it’s powerful to protest and stand in opposition to the injustices right now. It is much more difficult, however, to do the follow through; the long-term, challenging, sometimes uncomfortable work that leads us toward a more just world. Park Slope Parents is committed to helping our community do better as well as helping your children avoid the patterns that have allowed so many of us to be part of the problem. We are hopeful that together we can make a lifelong difference in ourselves and our children.

Susan Fox, Ph. D., Sean Seu, Dr. Philippa Gordon, Carla Weiss, Rachel Maurer, Christopher Diamond, Talya Phelps, and Colleen Grant

Park Slope Parents Staff and Advisory Board