The events of recent weeks have brought widespread attention to the systemic racism present in the U.S and the injustices that our students and families—nearly all people of color—experience on a daily basis. We are outraged by the long list of victims—both named and unnamed—tragically murdered as a result of police brutality and systemic racism. We will not stand by silently.

The central tenets of our ‘Heartbeat’—the core values that our organization lives by—is that our community shares a deep belief that our students will change the world and that we are responsible for dismantling systems of oppression that hold our students back from achieving their full potential. Above all, the promises we make to them are sacred. It is our mission and responsibility to build a more just world for our students and prepare them to do the same.

Engaging in productive conversations about race, identity, stereotypes, and microaggressions is something that our teachers and families do year-round—whether they are initiated by thought-provoking literature, a student experience, or a racist incident on the news. But these recent racist incidents have brought new urgency to this work.

Our staff has been offered time and space to reflect, process, and discuss how we can better engage and partner with our communities and increase equity within our own organization—whether that’s reconciling with our own biases or reconsidering our approach to the work that happens in our classrooms. We also seek to make these conversations even more informed and accessible for various audiences.

Whether you’re an educator, manager, parent, caregiver, or student—below, you will find resources (in many cases sourced by our teachers and staff) that will serve as a starting point to these conversations. We hope you find them actionable and useful as we work towards building a more equitable and just world. Have other resources you’d like to share with our community? Call them out in the comments!

Resources for Parents and Caretakers

• Talking to Children About Racial Bias, Healthy Children.org.
• Racial Stress and Self-care: Parent Tip Tool, American Psychological Association.
• Injustice and Anger: Understanding your emotions, Brains On! Science Podcast for Kids. 
• Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective
• 100 Race-Conscious Things you can Say to your Child to Advance Racial Justice from Raising Race Conscious Children.

Resources For Students

• What Is Your Reaction to the Days of Protest That Have Followed the Death of George Floyd? The New York Times Learning Network.
• Rapid Response: Race and Justice | Student Reporting Labs, PBS NewsHour 
• The Other Student Activists. By Melinda Anderson, The Atlantic.
• Youth Activist Toolkit. Advocates For Youth.
• Animation Series: Something Happened in Our Town.

Resources For Non-Black Allies

• The 1619 Project, The New York Times Magazine.
• Checklist for White Allies Against Racism. Power Shift Network.
• For Our White Friends Desiring To Be Allies, by Courtney Ariel, Sojourners.
• A guide to starting anti-racist conversations with friends and family, Sharon Park, DoSomething.org. 

Resources for Educators

• Let’s Talk! Discussing Race, Racism, and other Difficult Topics With Students. Southern Poverty Law Center.
• Facing Ferguson: News Literacy in a Digital Age, Facing History, The News Literacy Project.
• Confronting Anti-Black Racism, PBS Learning Media.

Resources for Managers

• Check in on Your Black Employees, Now. The New York Times.
• How Managers Can Promote Healthy Discussions About Race. Harvard Business Review.
• Taking Steps to Eliminate Racism in the Workplace. Society for Human Resource Management.

The image used in this blog is by Max Bender.