Webinar Series Featuring AHS Faculty

Calling all parents, caregivers, educators, and family practitioners! 

Mark your calendars for a FREE upcoming webinar series entitled, “Race Conscious Parenting: Tools for talking to children and youth about race and racism, nurturing self-love, and working toward collective action.” 

Hosted by Virginia Cooperative Extension, this three-part series will feature a panel of youth, parenting, and racial equity experts including Dr. Maru Gonzalez, AHS faculty member and Youth Development Specialist; Dr. Kim Allen, Interim Associate Dean and Director of CALS Academic Programs; Dr. Ebonyse Mead, Clinical Instructor at Georgia Southern University and president of the Educational Equity Institute; and Fiona Allen, Community Health Worker for Wake County’s HIV/STD outreach program. 

The series, which kicks off on April 21st, is part of the Race Conscious Parenting program, funded by the North Carolina FCS & ECA Board.

Please register at this link. Additional information about each session is available below. 

Session 1, presented by Dr. Maru Gonzalez on April 21st from 11-12 pm EST

Let’s Talk About Race: Laying the Groundwork for Healthy Dialogue 

For parents and caregivers, navigating conversations about race, racism, and racial identity can seem daunting. Often, parents don’t know exactly how to start a dialogue, what resources might be helpful, or how to respond to tough questions. This webinar is all about laying the groundwork for healthy conversations about race, racism, and racial identity with children and youth – whether you’re a caregiver yourself or a practitioner who works with youth and families. 

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Session 2, presented by Dr. Kim Allen and Fiona Allen on April 28th from 11-12 pm EST

Lessons from home: Teaching children about combating racism

We all want to raise our children to be caring, compassionate, informed, and kind people. When it comes to race, we sometimes struggle with what we should say and do. Most of us agree that in order to raise our children to be kind, and to do that, we need to address the difficult topic of racism. Helping our children become anti-racists requires more than conversations; it is about modeling desired behaviors, pointing out disparities, and consciously acting in ways that fight against racism.  

In this session, a mother and daughter presenting duo, Kim and Fiona Allen, will identify strategies for helping parents help children understand privilege, marginalization, and the systems that uphold racism. We will also discuss what worked and didn’t work in our house from the perspectives of a parent and a child. 

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Session 3, presented by Dr. Ebonyse Mead on May 5th from 11-12 pm EST

Embracing Race: Helping Young Children Build a Positive Racial and Ethnic Identity

This webinar will focus on using racial socialization as an approach to support young children in developing a positive racial and ethnic identity. This webinar will also discuss the importance of helping young children embrace all of who they are, including hair, skin color, features, culture, and language.