The Continued Work of Black Lives Matter and the Practice of Anti-Racism

Here at Mommy Rebellion we believe that all mothering voices are important and we will continue to amplify all kinds of voices.  I am committed to the practice of Anti-Racism (it is not just a book you read and check off, it is an ongoing, lifelong process) and raising anti-racist children so to stay accountable and to share I will be posting monthly on my observations, learnings and new resources I have been discovering.

Last month I posted the beginnings of some resources I have found useful and I have created an Anti Racism Resource page here on Mommy Rebellion that I will continue to update as I find more resources, both as a white person who is learning and as a parent who is teaching my daughters.  I hope you will check back regularly to see how it has been updated, I will be pointing it out to you when I update my blog post.  I will also have a section for business owners, as I find resources and navigate making sure that my businesses work with BIPOC as I continue to grow.

So beyond checking out my new resources page which has had resources added to it, I have also joined a local Anti-Racism book club that is meeting virtually (which is actually easier for me these days especially with a nursing infant, even without being in a pandemic) for three weeks and then taking a week off.  The nice bit is you can go in and out as you need too, it is a safe place for white tears, and it is nice to be part of a community of other people committed to this group.  Our facilitator has training in this work and was nice enough to give us an idea of what is coming up so I already ordered our next book from Elizabeth of Akron;’s bookstore as I do not have any BIPOC book stores in my area. (We are doing Whistling Vivaldi next, which looks like the kind of book I will love to geek out about.)  I also enjoy knowing what is coming so I can plan my time accordingly as these books are not something I want to breeze through.

My almost 12 year old daughter has been asking all the heavy questions about why racism is, why white people think they are better than black people, so we are having lots of conversations.  Sometimes I am at a loss of how to answer her (especially if we are driving in the car when the conversation happens) but I am honest when I don’t know the answers and I always tell her to keep asking the questions, even if we may have to go and research it to find the answers.  These are good questions.

My 6 year old is just in the identification part.  Pointing out people of color and confirming if she got the color/race correct.  She doesn’t seem too fussed if it is someone who is Black or another race, she just wants to know.

We all rewatched Zootopia last night and I haven’t seen it in years.  I remembered that someone referenced it as a good starting place movie to talk about race so I watched it with new eyes this time around.  It was interesting seeing how the bunny was treated becoming a police bunny as well as of course the whole predator/prey issue.  I also thought the scene where the sheep was looking up something and the fox was petting her wool without asking was particularly poignant after having just listened to the hair section of So You Want to Talk About Race earlier that day.

This is an ongoing process.   I am working to make sure the toys and books we add to our lives for my 5 month old (wait — she’s that old already?) are representative of more than just the white default.  I am enjoying that our local library’s online summer reading program this year includes a woke reading challenge and it is about reading books from a lot of different perspectives, including, black, asian, hispanic, LGBTQ+ and more.  It is a nice way to keep track and make sure that all five of my girls are getting exposed to many different cultures.  I made dal for dinner last night and that allowed my hubby to talk about his trip to India last year and the other foods usually served with dal.

How are you dealing with this work?  Is it new to you and you are just starting to navigate it all, or is it something you have been working on for years?  What resources do you wish were available and please feel free to share any I haven’t found yet!