Parenting for Social Justice: Tips, Tools, and Inspiration for Conversations and Action with Kids

In 2015, social justice educator and activist Angela Berkfield held her first Parenting for Social Justice workshop. Now it is time to share those tools and inspiration. This book discusses race, class, gender, disability, healing justice, and collective liberation, initiating age-appropriate and engaging conversations with kids about social justice issues. Included are ideas for taking action as families, from making protest signs and attending a local march, to trying healing meditations and consciously connecting with people from different backgrounds. Resources for further learning and activities that readers can engage in on their own or as part of a group.

Angela Berkfield, is a parent of two boys who have a lot of privilege. She is raising them to be conscious of what that means, and has aimed to center social justice in her parenting from day one. Angela has taught in a variety of settings over the past decade and is a co-founder of the Root Social Justice Center, ACT for Social Justice, and Equity Solutions.

Chrissy Colón Bradt is an educator and mom to two young, biracial, white-presenting children. As an Afro-Latina in a biracial marriage, Chrissy is keenly aware of her family's intersecting identities and privilege. She strives to support her son in developing a positive racial and ethnic identity. Chrissy serves as an educator and Director of Equity and Inclusion at an independent school, and is on the board of The Courage of Care Coalition and the Root Social Justice Center.

Rowan Parker has worked in early childhood education and early childhood development for over a decade. He is white and transgender; he neurodiverse and has a chronic pain condition. Rowan currently works in Early Intervention as a Developmental Specialist, assessing young children for therapeutic needs, but his favorite part of the job is helping parents learn to understand and work with their children. He continues his work with children as a foster parent with his partner.

Jaimie Lynn Kessel has spent her entire life dealing with the consequences of being born into generational poverty. Jaimie is raising her four children with the knowledge necessary not only to propel themselves out of poverty but to help create a world in which all people have access to what they need, not just to survive, but to thrive.

Leila Raven is an Afro-Caribbean descended, mixed-race queer mama parenting using a consent-based, non-hierarchical approach. From 2015 to 2018, she was the director of DC-based grassroots organization Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS), where she worked to create community-based strategies to interrupt patriarchal violence and state violence in public spaces. Leila sees the family as an important site of resistance against oppression and seeks to uplift alternatives to the nuclear family structure to promote collective responsibility for the safety and well-being of whole communities.

Abigail Healey is the mother of two children, one of whom is limb-different and Hard of Hearing, and both of whom are creative, wild and kind. She currently works with elders, providing activities and gardening at a residential care facility. She is constantly seeking ways to engage her children in critical thinking, big questions, justice, and change-making.

Brittney Nicole Washington is a Southern Queer Black Artist + Mama + Art Therapist + Doula + Strategist + Troublemaker. As an artist, Brittney uses painting, illustration, and filmmaking to uplift BIPOC experiences and perspectives in media. As a racial justice strategist and cultural organizer, Brittney facilitates nationwide to illuminate the historical events that shape our current experiences of racialized poverty, trauma, and disconnection. She curates arts-based spaces where folks can be brave, vulnerable, and imaginative about how to bend our world toward justice together. She also serves as a visual arts producer for various justice groups.