As parents and people in this world, we are thinking a lot about the Black Lives Matter movement and racial injustice. As makers of some of the sounds and ideas that go into your kids’ ears, we feel a special connection to your family and a responsibility to address this topic -- anti-racism -- thoughtfully with you and your children on Ear Snacks.
Kaitlin McGaw and Tommy Shepherd of Alphabet Rockers generously offered to have a conversation with us about anti-racism, anti-racist parenting, making progressive media for kids and their ongoing Grammy-nominated musical work about identity, race, gender and so much more including their anti-racism course for families: We Got Work to Do.
We hope this episode designed for parents (though not inappropriate for kids, we'll release a separate episode intended for young listeners) can help open or enhance conversations that you're having to further the dismantling of racism in our homes, our media, and our communities. There's lots of work to do, and it isn't easy -- but you are not alone.
Topics & references we touch on include:
questions to instigate anti-racist conversations with kids
voter suppression
setting limits around violent video games and police “toys”
contextualizing what kids read to foster anti-racism
pronouns & pronunciation
I Am What I Am by Rosario Morales
performing anti-racist programs at schools
We plan to follow this conversation up with episodes design for children - and we would love your involvement! If you or your children participated in a Black Lives Matter protest, conversation about race, or other form of activism this summer, we would love to have you on the show. Please let us know if your family would like to get involved with these kinds of episodes and we’ll reach out to you as soon as we can. Know someone doing work in this area who we should talk to? Please introduce us!
We believe the most impactful way we (Andrew Barkan and Polly Hall, the humans) can affect change is to empower children to think deeply, in an age-appropriate way, about what is happening in society at this moment. We are thankful to connect with parents like you - parents who are raising thoughtful, open, and brave kids. We can be the change we want to see in this world.
