The path to anti-racism is a long journey, but it is not impossible. It involves unlearning many things we thought we knew and deep personal exploration. Many times, we are unclear about how to approach anti-racism work with children, but it is important to help children process the world and the people around them. Studies show that children as young as three years old are making inferences about people based on their race (Aboud, 2008; Hirschfeld, 2008; Katz, 2003; Patterson & Bigler, 2006).

Listed below are age-appropriate resources to help you and your children go on this journey together.

Elementary Resources 

BOOKS:

Grades Kindergarten - 2

• I Am Enough by Grace Byers
• We March by Shane W. Evans
• Let's Talk about Race by Julius Lester
• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña
• Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney
• Black is a Rainbow Color by Angela Joy
• Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o
• Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson

 Grades 3-5

• Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham
• Grandpa, Is Everything Black Bad? by Sandy Lynne Holman
• Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story about Racial Injustice by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, Ann Hazzard, Jennifer Zivoin
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
• Revolution by Deborah Wiles
• Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

TV SHOWS & MOVIES:

• Bino & Fino (Amazon Prime)
• Dancing in The Light: The Janet Collins Story (Rent)
• Akeela and The Bee (Hulu)
• Queen Of Katwe, 2016 (Disney+)

VIDEO CLIPS:

• Hair Love | Oscar®-Winning Short Film
• Helping Your Child Cope with Media Coverage of Community Racial Trauma: Tips for Parents

ARTICLES (for parents):

• How to Talk to Kids About Race: Ages 3 to 8
• How Can Parents Make Their Kids Understand How To Be Anti-Racist?
• 158 RESOURCES TO UNDERSTAND RACISM IN AMERICA
• Why You Need to Stop Saying 'All Lives Matter'
• THE POC FAMILIES’ GUIDE FOR TALKING ABOUT RACISM
• A WHITE FAMILIES’ GUIDE FOR TALKING ABOUT RACISM

Secondary Resources

BOOKS:

• In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives by Kenneth C. Davis
• This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi
• Dear Martin by Nic Stone
• Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America by various Authors
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
• Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement by Janet Dewart Bell
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

FILMS & TV SHOWS:

• Black-ish (Hulu)
• Mixed-ish (Hulu)
• Dear White People (Netflix)
• When They See Us (Netflix)
• Fruitvale Station (Rent)
• The Hate U Give (Rent)
• Just Mercy (Amazon Prime)
• Blackkklansman (Hulu)
• 13^th (Netflix)
• If Beale Street Could Talk (Hulu)
• Selma (Amazon Prime/YouTube)
• The Central Park Five (Amazon Prime)

VIDEO CLIPS:

• A Conversation About Growing Up Black | Op-Docs | The New York Times
• A Conversation With My Black Son | Op-Docs | The New York Times 
• TED Talk | The Urgency of Intersectionality
• TED Talk | Don't Be a Savior, Be an Ally
• Microaggressions in the Classroom
• Let's get to the root of racial injustice | Megan Ming Francis | TEDxRainier
• The Dangers of Whitewashing Black History | David Ikard | TEDxNashville
• How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them  Vernā Myers TEDxBeaconStreet

PEOPLE TO FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA: 

• Rachel Cargle, a writer and lecturer who explores the intersection between race and womanhood
• Ibram X. Kendi, the author of How To Be An Antiracist and Director of the Antiracism Center
• Nikkolas Smith, the artist behind portraits of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and others
• Charlene Carruthers, founder of the Black Youth Project 100
• Brittany Packnett Cunningham, co-founder of Campaign Zero, a policy platform to end police violence, and a host of Pod Save The People
• Ebony Janice, a womanist scholar, author, and activist doing community-organizing work, most specifically around black women’s body ownership as a justice issue
• Ally Henny, a Christian commentator on race
• Ethel’s Club, an online social and wellness club dedicated to celebrating people of color
• The Conscious Kid, an educational nonprofit that creates Parenting and Education Resources through a Critical Race Lens

ARTICLES:

• “The Death of George Floyd, In Context,” by Jelani Cobb of The New Yorker
• “How to Make This Moment the Turning Point for Real Change,” by Barack Obama in Medium
• “The Law Isn’t Neutral,” by Boston University School of Law dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig in Slate
• The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying
• It’s exhausting. How many hashtags will it take for all of America to see Black people as more than their skin color?” by Rita Omokha
• Who Gets to Be Afraid in America? By Ibram X. Kendi

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Department of Organizational Strategy, Initiatives, and Culture (OSIC) was established in 2017 to oversee YES Prep functions which speaks to organizational development and cultural foundation of YES.