I had the pleasure of having Marycarmen Lara-Villanueva, a mother of two and a PhD student in Social Justice Education, on the podcast to speak with me about educating our children on the topic of race. Considering the ongoing, and most recent, events sorrounding the death of Black people in the hands of police brutality, it is crucial that we all do the work to dismantle racist and anti-Black systems. I strongly believe that by teaching our children about race we are building a foundation where they have the knowledge and awareness to speak up against racist circumstances and advocate for their racialized peers; as well as be aware of their own racial identity and even the privileges that may be tied to it. It is not easy work for parents, but it sure is necessary. 

“Speaking to children about…” is a new series by the Vida With Christie podcast where we discuss topics that many parents may hesitate teaching to their children, or speaking about to their kids in general. These podcast episodes aim to encourage parents to be honest with their children, to not undermine how much they can understand and comprehend, remind you of how deserving kids are of this information, and most importantly communicate with your child in an open and trusting manner. 

Show Notes

About Marycarmen Lara-Villanueva

“Race is a social construct, but the consequences of race are very real”  

Marycarmen Lara-Villanueva

Marycarmen Lara-Villanueva is a mother of two based in Tkronto. She is a PhD student in Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and a community organizer working on parenting projects that center social justice.

Online Resources for Parents

Are your kids too young to talk about race?

Parenting Decolonized

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The mission of @prntgdcolonized is to help Black parents unpack the generational curses of enslavement and colonization, but I realize that's not enough to impact change. I have to talk to my white followers about the generational curses of whiteness and white supremacy too. Because I don't think ya'll quite understand yet that racism is a generational curse that all of you suffer from. Yes…all of you. When you stop thinking of racism as burning crosses and white sheets and start thinking of it as the socialized views about the construct of race, which creates unconscious biases, it becomes easier to accept. This isn't an accusation. I don't want you to feel guilty for being born white. We don't need your guilt. We need you to divest in whiteness. To be willing to forgo the privileges your skin color affords you. To look deep within yourself and recognize that your political stance or the Black child you bore or how many Black friends you have has nothing to do with how you've been socialized to unconsciously believe the lie of white supremacy. If the vast majority of white people didn't have unconscious biases based on racist socialized views, then we wouldn't have disparate health outcomes or maternal mortality rates. We wouldn't have inequities in wealth distribution and a private prison industry incarcerating more Black men today than were enslaved 400 years ago. We wouldn't still be killed by the police at such high rates. Like Dr. King said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”…people who will say they're sorry and type something thoughtful, then go about their days continuing to benefit from the very oppression they lamented about a few days ago. It's not enough to acknowledge the inequities and oppression exist, you have to acknowledge your complicity in the systems that keep it going and actively work to divest your life from it. Are you up for that challenge? Because if not, absolutely nothing will change and you will continue to be complicit in the oppression that I'm working to help Black parents unpack. #BlackLivesMatter #DivestinWhiteness #WeCantBreathe

A post shared by Parenting Decolonized (@prntgdcolonized) on May 27, 2020 at 7:31pm PDT

Embrace Race

Mamademics

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We made it to 8 years and 2.5 months before my husband had to give Sesame the first of many “you’re a young Black man in America” speeches. My sensitive big kid who just finished 2nd grade saw the news today and said he was scared. Today my husband told him he was going to have to toughen up because he’s a young Black man in America and that isn’t going to change. He told him the most important thing is for him to stay alive, and then to resist if possible. I sat there silently twisting my hair because somehow it’s just dawned on me that my kid is now the age that white women teachers will likely start to fear him. It’s 2020… this world isn’t supposed to be like this anymore. But it is… so we’ll stay alive… and we’ll resist… for them…

A post shared by Danielle (she/her) (@mamademics) on May 29, 2020 at 5:36pm PDT

Mothering Justice

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The recent violence that has occurred against black WOMEN and black people is unacceptable. It's on white parents to stop raising racists kids. Check out our blog article written by Sam our Accountability Academy Facilitator: (Link in bio) or visit https://motheringjustice.org/do-black-lives-really-matter-to-you/ #blacklivesmatter #blackmamasmatter #motheringjustice

A post shared by Mothering Justice (@motheringjustice) on May 29, 2020 at 7:45am PDT

Parenting is Political

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Restoration and transformation cannot coexist with shame.

A post shared by Mo | They/Them Jasmine|She/Her (@parentingispolitical) on Jun 1, 2020 at 1:40pm PDT