What I learned from a Six Year Old Ally
Jun 11, 2020
We are living in very sensitive and powerful times.
As the Founder of kidYOUniversity, and a Black American woman, I am constantly thinking about the children in the world and what they are taking from the messages and energy that surrounds them, especially right now.
As incredibly powerful parents and educators, I know that you are thinking of ways to discuss the Black Lives Movement to your child whether they are black children themselves, or children you are raising to be allies.
Books are an incredible start.
Today, I share with you a story about how a child became an ally for me after reading an incredible book in Korean. I prefer to teach and share with stories because I believe stories transfer messages directly from our souls.
Here it goes:
I will never forget the day one of my students said that she hated my mother and sister because they had dark skin. I froze.
It wasn't said in anger or with any negative intent. We had a beautiful relationship and incredible harmony in our learning environment. But, to her, dark skin was different and she hadn't yet been taught to love differences. Anyone else meet someone and get excited about what you have in common rather than what you don't? We learned that.
Luckily, one of my other students stepped in. She confidently told me that she would like to lead our next lesson with a book from home. You can find out exactly what happened next in the video.
Questions to ask when reading Diverse books:
1.) Can you tell the story back to me?
2.) If I were your student, what should I learn from this book?
3.) Pretend you are the main character in the story and I am your best friend. What is your name? What do you love about yourself? What makes you sad? What makes you happy?
4.) How is each character different from you? What do you think about these differences? Would you be the character's friend? Why/Why not?
5.) What will you do differently after reading this book?
Remember, diversity and inclusion is something that must be practiced and intentionally learned, as we all grow up with different biases and forms of privilege.
We're in this together.
In Solitude,
Gahmya
