You know what would really help us all out? If we realized that historical figures are more than the heroes/villains that we often reduce them to. 

Although past presidents and leaders had important titles with huge amounts of power, it’s critical that all of us, including our children, understand that they were people. People who were complicated. People who did good things and bad things (sometimes very, very bad things that have been erased for a long time and need to be talked about). When we look beyond the hero/villian binary, we get closer to the truth and closer to learning the important lessons that history has to offer us. 

In this episode — which is the last installment in our Summer School series — we are talking about how we can reconcile and grapple with hard history as adults and how we can help the kids in our lives do the same.

Summer School is a series where I’m sharing quick tips and tidbits for you to be thinking about this summer when it comes to anti-racism. Some of the tips will be for grown-ups and some will be for kids, but all of them will leave you with more information in your anti-racism toolbelt.

In this episode, you’ll learn more about:

• How to reevaluate history beyond the heroes/villains, good/bad narrative.
• Why there’s no such thing as old morals and new morals.
• How to help white children learn hard history while providing them a chance to identify with the allies and to see how they can be the change today.

This episode contains excerpts from our Patreon Q-and-A sessions. Members of our Patreon community come together once a month to learn together and ask me and my husband Carter their pressing questions about anti-racism, inclusion and what’s going on in the world. To learn more about becoming a Patreon member, visit patreon.com/firstnamebasis.

Bite-Sized Black History

Bite-Sized Black History is a program that empowers you to teach the little ones you love about brilliant Black Americans who have been largely overlooked by our history books. We have two different seasons featuring 12 different people in each season, and each season comes with a workbook with illustrations to color and reflection questions to discuss. 

Fam Favorites

Each week we round up our favorite resources to give you a deeper understanding of the featured episode topic. And Fam Favorites is the only place you can access our mini segment “Ask Jasmine” where I answer one of your pressing questions. Sign up to get Fam Favorites in your inbox!

Articles, Studies, & Podcasts Referenced in the Episode

First Name Basis Patreon community

Song Credit: “Tomorrow is Far Away” by The Undertowns