I am back today because I wanted to share my usual Things I’m Loving Friday roundup of favorites with you but wanted to begin today’s roundup with some of the articles and resources I’ve read over the course of the past week that I found particularly educational and helpful. I feel like there is no shortage of roundups like this on the internet right now but I hope they’re of interest to you. I’m doing a lot of saving of blog posts, articles, Instagram shares, etc. because it can all feel a bit like information overload (a GOOD thing!) and this is a process I know will be ongoing for me and hopefully many.
Things I’m Loving Friday
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Anti-Racism Articles and Resources
This is a compilation of articles and resources that spoke to me personally throughout this week. I hope they will be of interest to you as well.
75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice: I’m guilty of feeling overwhelmed to the point I feel frozen when it comes to being actively anti-racist and found this article particularly helpful and action-oriented
Anti-Racism Resources for White People: This was one of the most direct and helpful compilations of resources I’ve found
Anti-Racist Fiction Reading List: For my fellow bookworms who love fiction, this is a list of fictional stories that center Black people and Black lives written by Black writers telling their stories
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man: This video is articulate and informative and worth a watch in its entirety
Anti-Racism Daily Newsletter: I signed up to receive this newsletter to keep my education regarding anti-racism consistent and persistent
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Anti-Racism, Race and Parenting Articles and Resources
(Image of books from @wildflowerlibertyleague)
This is a list of articles and book lists that spoke to me as a mother. For those looking for ways to discuss race with children and incorporate more books featuring Black people into their personal collections, I hope you find these articles and resources helpful.
A White Families’ Guide For Talking About Racism (I purchased this to help guide my discussions with Chase and, eventually, Ryder and baby #3 as well. After reviewing the PDF, it is incredibly well done and essentially provides caregivers a script and photos to help guide an interactive discussion about racism, bias and how to be an ally. I will absolutely share more about our experience with this guide once we’ve completed it with Chase.)
‘Raising White Kids’ Author On How White Parents Can Talk About Race
Raising Race-Conscious Children
Are Your Kids Too Young To Talk About Race?
Black Boy Joy: 30 Picture Books Featuring Black Male Protagonists
Black Girl Magic: 33 Picture Books Featuring Black Female Protagonists
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Excellent Ed BY STACY MCANULTY, ILLUSTRATED BY JULIA SARCONE-ROACH
I saw a bunch of book roundups featuring Black characters this week and wanted to chime in and share one of our family’s favorites. I actually shared this book on the blog when I wrote my blog post about Favorite Books for Four Year Olds last year and recall specifically wanting to mention that one of the reasons it is one of my personal favorites is the fact that the family in the book is Black. I didn’t know how to say this on the blog without coming out and saying it just like that and recalling this experience just reiterated in my mind the fact that I have so much to learn in my personal journey to becoming more actively anti-racist.
I felt awkward and uncomfortable saying something as simple as, “This family in this book is black and we think that’s awesome and your kids will love it!” Why!? Because it drew attention to race and I’m a white woman? Over the course of the past week, one of the most poignant things I’ve learned is that we WILL make mistakes. We WILL feel uncomfortable, likely say the wrong thing, stumble and flounder a bit as we try to grow and change and do better. The overwhelming sentiment I took away from the Black community regarding this feeling was to DO IT ANYWAY. Share, stumble, do more. You will make mistakes, people will correct you… and you will change and hopefully impact change moving forward.
When I initially shared Excellent Ed on my blog, I focused on the fact that this book features Ed, the Ellis family dog who believes everyone in the family is excellent at something but him. Ed is determined to find something to excel at only to be outdone by each of the Ellis children. As the book continues, it ever-so-subtly offers a glimpse into sibling rivalry and feeling good about yourself even if you’re not always the best at everything. And it absolutely does all of those things. But it also features a black family and I think that’s awesome.
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Celebrating My Dad’s Birthday
One very special thing I am loving right now is having my parents here with us! My mom and dad drove in town from Florida and arrived yesterday afternoon and we could not be more grateful to have them staying with us for the weekend ahead. It’s been a good 5+ months since I’ve seen my dad and 3+ months since I’ve seen my mom so you better believe there was a lot of excitement and emotion involved in their arrival! Chase and I made my dad a birthday cake from scratch and it was so, so nice to be able to see family again and simply enjoy being together. Our plans for the weekend look similar to the past few months (boating, grilling, spending time outside) but they feel all the more special since we’ll have Mae and Pop with us for the fun!
Years ago, I shared beach bags I loved from a brand called Hayden Reis on the blog and a month or so ago, I was so disappointed when I headed to their website to order another bag and found that they’re no longer in business. I loved how huge their bags were and the way they wiped clean and didn’t soak up a ton of water. I then became a woman on a mission to find an extra-large bag for our days on the lake (and hopefully the pool this summer!) that would hold our family’s towels, snacks, a few kid toys, sunscreen and water bottles. Clearly a LARGE order!
Well, I found a big-time winner on the L.L.Bean website and cannot sing its praises loud enough! (I maaay have sent Ryan a link to the bag as a birthday present hint this year.) The size is huge which is exactly what I was looking for because I get oddly stressed out when my bags are overly stuffed and I cannot comfortably sift through them. The quality of this bag is fantastic, the price point is decent ($45!) and I love the way the interior of the bag is made with a thermoplastic interior coating that is water resistant — perfect for damp clothes and towels after a day on the water! My sister loved the bag instantly during their visit (one may or may not be coming her way for her birthday at the end of the month…) and I know this will be my go-to giant summer tote bag. Oh and if you don’t need to cart around a billion towels and snacks, it’s available in a medium and large size, too!
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Another Week, Another Mocktail
The sparkling water + juice-based mocktails continue over here and the one I’m sharing with you this week was a tropical delight! This one featured a combination of coconut pineapple sparkling water and orange juice and may just become my official mocktail of summer. Also, as a random aside, do any of your kids love bubbly water, too? Ryder and Chase are all about it and Ryder runs over to me whenever he hears a can pop open and says, “bubbie, bubbie” over and over again until he gets a sip. He looks totally shocked by the carbonation after every sip (big eyes + a wide-open mouth after he swallows) and then immediately asks for more. Let’s just say I wasn’t the only one enjoying my mocktails this week…
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Friday Flashbacks
Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad (Bright and flavorful and a great recipe you can easily prep ahead, whether it be for a summer cookout or a nourishing weekday lunch!)
Paleo Lemon Cupcakes (A sweet and tangy gluten-free dessert, made with fresh lemon juice and sweetened with honey.)
Question of the Day
What is one thing you are looking forward to this weekend?
What is one thing making you smile right now?
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Thanks for compiling all the information- I’ll definitely check it all out.
Another great lake/beach bag is the Bogg Bag https://boggbag.com/collections/bogg-bag-products
they are amazing and you can easily wash them out. A little on the pricey side but great great bag.
Thanks for the resource list! Great posts. Hope you have a nice weekend with your family!
Thank you for sharing all these great resources! I especially love the articles on talking to kids.
Hi Julie. Have a wonderful weekend with you parents. I am so happy for you that you all will have this special time together. Happy birthday to your Daddy!!
I have felt the same way this week – wanting to do more but also overwhelmed. I like seeing all of the kids’ books because I think adults will learn from them too. I can tell you are committing yourself to do more and hopefully that will lead to supporting more Black-owned businesses that you can share with all of us along the way!
I love your heart, Julie! Thank you for sharing resources and being vulnerable. I appreciate you and all the work and care you put into your blog. Wishing you a great weekend!
Julie as always thank you for your words! Especially the reminder in regards to talking about race (or any hard subjects for that matter!) that we will fail but we should persevere and do it anyway. My pastor always said “do it afraid” when talking about following God, being faithful and I think “do it afraid” applies to talking about hard things, moving towards difficult situations and/or things that makes me uncomfortable- and to be kind to others when the effort is made because the desire is change! Thanks again. Blessings to you and yours
Have a wonderful weekend with your parents! Last night, my family got together (for the first time since March 2) before my nephew heads back to work in DC. It was awkward (not sure if it’s ok to hug them or not), but so so nice to all be together again!
Thanks for being so up front about your thoughts on everything going on. I especially appreciated this: “ I’m guilty of feeling overwhelmed to the point I feel frozen when it comes to being actively anti-racist“ because SAME! I am so encouraged and excited to do better and do anything I can to help make the world *actually* better instead of just kind of silently wishing/hoping that people would start to be better on their own. Anyway, I know it can be awkward to talk about something which we have no experience with, BUT I think that uncomfortableness is exactly the first step towards change, so thank you!
Just wanted to point out something that I have learned over the past week is that Black should be capitalized in a similar way that Italian or Asian would be. Seems like you went back and forth and just wanted to point this out not as judgement but a place to learn like I did 🙂
Thank you for sharing this information, Jaclyn! I actually read more about this over the weekend and 1,000% agree it should be capitalized and will capitalize it moving forward.
I absolutely love this round-up! One thing I am thankful for this week is how people are really engaging on making a difference in their families in taking about race. So glad you are one of them! I’d been really wanting to engage more, but wasn’t sure what that could look like for me, but with all the resources shared this week I’ve sent emails, made calls, and listened to podcasts/audiobooks. I’m so glad your parents could be with you this week!
I used to be all about the LL Bean bags and still use them for travel. I switched to using Scout bags when going to the lake or beach given they have a plastic coating and can be wiped down. I love the Original Deano by Scout and you can find on Zulily most of the time.
Hi Julie,
Thanks for sharing your resources!
For the “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man,” I’m wondering if you know “articulate” is often seen as an offensive adjective to describe Black speech as it indicates surprise that a Black person is well spoken?
Samantha,
I agree! Have you researched or learned anything about implicit bias or micro aggressions . I’m a teacher, and we have had some fabulous professional developments about these two topics and I have learned so so much! I think there is so much subtle racism out there, where we white folks don’t even realize that what we are saying is offensive….. because we haven’t lived it. Thank you for your perspective on this in your post!
Hi Emily! Thank you so, so much for sharing more about this with me. I just replied to Samantha’s comment that echoed similar sentiments to yours and wanted to be sure you saw it and know I’m grateful for the additional information as I am trying to learn and grow.
Julie,
I think that all of us noticing is a step in the right direction. There are some good videos about both topics (happy to email them to you) that I watched and it was certainly very eye opening to me and things I have said or done and didn’t realize they were offensive. I agree with you, starting the conversation now with our kids is imperative! We took our family (5 kids 21m to 9 years) to a demonstration in our town this weekend. Super safe and socially distanced (I’m 35 weeks pregnant), we took a knee for 8:46. It was very impactful and was an awesome way for our kids to be a part of making a change.
I did not but really appreciate you bringing this to my attention and your comment, along with Emily’s, have encouraged me to look into implicit bias or micro aggressions. The last thing I want to do as I try to actively become more anti-racist is say or do something to take a step backwards so I appreciate your corrections very much.
haha no my daughter, who is chase’s age, *hates* sparkling water/soda! Even when she was younger she hated it, my mother in law ( out of thrist/only having her sprite to share at the time) tried giving my daughter 2.5 at the time, a sip of her sprite at the zoo a few years ago, and my daughter showing disgust said ” you like that stuff?!” hahahah at 2.5 yrs old! so funny.
Hi Julie,
I’ve loved your blog and Friday faves series for a long time! Thank you for this post. I would be so excited to continue to see support for Black owned-businesses mixed in on here. Jewelry, clothing, beauty, food, etc. I look to you for a lot of product reviews/inspiration, as you have such great taste, and that would be so wonderful. Much love!
I would add the book White Fragility to your list. I also hope you would consider updating what you learn and put into practise in future blog posts. I also am curious about how you plan to address the lack of diversity in your day to day life–not saying go find a token black friend, but if you spend your life around only white people books and articles will only do so much. Do you plan to check out black owned businesses, etc in your area? Again, not trying to be overly critical. I am encouraged that so many people want to do better. I only hope that this is something that will last longer than a month or so. For the record, I am a white woman married to a black man and I have a son. I have had to do a lot of learning and growing myself. I am glad that the other white people in my life that previously downplayed my fears about what my son might go through when he is no longer a cute little toddler finally say they understand what I mean.
Thank you for this recommendation, Kim. I actually mentioned this book on Monday’s blog post and have started reading it. I appreciate your comment and want to assure you this is something I absolutely plan to continue in my life moving forward and whole-heartedly admit I have a lot of growing and learning to do. I want to be and do better and know this will take time and consistent effort.
Thanks as always for being so open and honest in your posts. I’m sure this post is something I’ll come back to a few times for the recommendations!
And YESS!!! My 3.5 year old LOVES “Bubbles”! She loved the cold cans when she was really little so we let her try them pretty early. Kind of funny to me because I remember hating sparkling water until after college.
I’m such a fiend for tote bags! They just draw me in. But, my all time favorite for the lake is from Rare Form. They are made from recycled billboards, so they are waterproof and each one is unique. Super roomy and I don’t worry about putting wet stuff in there.