‘Change Can Happen’: Black Families On Racism, Hope And Parenting

[July 19, 2020: NPR]

The Black Lives Matter movement has changed the country and shifted conversations about police, social justice and structural racism.

Nowhere is the impact as great as it is for Black families, especially those with children. NPR spoke with five couples about how their family conversations have changed and how they try to support and inform their children in the face of police violence and racism.

The parents spoke about how painful it is to have these issues rupture the innocence of childhood, and the importance of having these discussion proactively. They say they try to model a measured optimism about the future, teaching their kids "to stand up and speak out", as one mother, Dr. Rhea Roper Nedd puts it.

She says she and her husband's message to their children right now is hopeful, despite their own misgivings about the slow pace of progress. "This is the time for us to move forward," she says. "This is the time to change."... MORE