First Name Basis Podcast

It's obvious that there is a need to talk about race with our kiddos when big events are in the news. But if that's the only time we're talking to them about this, that means these conversations are always coming from a place of trauma instead of a place of preparation.

It's time to be proactive instead of just reactive, and Dr. Lucretia Berry is here to help us with that.

Dr. Berry is a scholar, mother to three little girls and anti-racist educator. She recently joined me for a conversation to discuss how we as parents and teachers can be talking to kids about race and anti-racism long before something bad hits the news.

It is seriously an honor to have Dr. Berry on the podcast sharing her wisdom with us. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Iowa State University and her BA from South Carolina State University and is the founder of Brownicity (pronounced like "ethnicity"), an organization that works to foster racial healing and anti-racist education through courses for children and adults. You can see her work at brownicity.com, in her TedX Talk ("Children will light up the world if we don't keep them in the dark"), on Instagram (@lucretiaberry) and in her new book, on sale starting TODAY, Feb. 22, 2022, titled "Hues of You: An Activity Book for Learning About the Skin You Are In."

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 featured 12 different people in Season 1 of the program and are featuring 12 all new Black Americans in Season 2. Season 2 is live, invest today!

Use code BLACKHISTORY5 to get $5 off until Feb 28, 2022 at 11:59pm!

Buy Bite-Sized Black History!

Articles, Studies & Podcasts Referenced in the Episode

Dr. Lucretia Berry on Instagram (@lucretiaberry)

Brownicity's website

Brownicity on Instagram (@brownicity)

"Hues of You: An Activity Book for Learning About the Skin You Are In," by Dr. Lucretia Berry

Dr. Berry's TedX talk ("Children will light up the world if we don't keep them in the dark")

First Name Basis Podcast Season 2, Episode 10: "Let's Talk Language: Black or African-American?"

Since the push for anti-racism has become more mainstream some white children (and adults) are learning about the true history of the United States for the very first time. This has proven to be pretty dang uncomfortable for them. So uncomfortable that state legislatures have created bills that would allow white parents to sue the school if the history lessons their children learn make them feel uncomfortable. Most of us can see that this is not the right move, but what should we do when it comes to teaching white children the truth? Press play to learn what white children need to understand in order to respond to the uncomfortable truths they are facing.

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 featured 12 different people in Season 1 of the program and are featuring 12 all new Black Americans in Season 2. Season 2 is live, invest today!

Buy Bite-Sized Black History!

Articles, Studies & Podcasts Referenced in the Episode

First Name Basis Podcast, Season 2, Episode 5: "A Conversation With My Dad About Black History Month"

"Florida seeks to block uncomfortable themes in schools. Its history is full of them," Washington Post

First Name Basis Podcast, Season 3, Episode 29: "Critical Race Theory in School"

"Florida bill bans businesses and schools from making anyone feel guilt about race" by Greg Allen, NPR

"White Supremacy Culture" by Tema Okun

"The Milgram Shock Experiment" by Saul McLeod, Simply Psychology

First Name Basis Podcast, Season 2, Episode 14: "What Is Privilege & What Do I Do With It?"

First Name Basis Podcast, Season 4, Episode 8: "Can We Talk About White Privilege?"

First Name Basis Podcast, Season 1, Episode 4: "Using Your Culture to Build Your Child's Sense of Self"

Song Credit: "Sleeper" by Steve Adams" and "Dive Down" by VYEN

What did you learn about Rosa Parks growing up? You may have learned, like I did, that she was a tired seamstress on her way home from work and when a bus driver asked her to give up her seat to a white person it was the last straw so she decided not to stand. Well she was a seamstress, but the true story is so much more exciting than that. Rosa Parks was a high ranking member of the NAACP and her actions were not only planned but part of a larger, multi-organizational strategy. In this episode we talk about all of the events leading up to Ms. Parks' fateful decision, and one of the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement: Claudette Colvin.

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 featured 12 different people in Season 1 of the program and are featuring 12 all new Black Americans in Season 2. Season 2 is live, invest today!

Buy Bite-Sized Black History!

Montgomery Bus Boycott-Stanford

Claudette Colvin: The 15 Year Old Who Came Before Rosa Parks

Before Rosa Parks There Was Claudette Colvin (NPR)

An Interview with Attorney Fred Gray

Bus Boycott Took Planning, Smarts

Browder v Gayle

Song Credit: "Sleeper" by Steve Adams" and "Dive Down" by VYEN

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 featured 12 different people in Season 1 of the program and are featuring 12 all new Black Americans in Season 2. Season 2 is live, purchase today!

Buy Bite-Sized Black History!

Song Credit: "Sleeper" by Steve Adams" and "Dive Down" by VYEN

Growing up as a mult-racial child, I often felt my racial identity shifting and developing — heck, even as an adult I do!

Navigating what it means to be mult-racial continues to be a journey for me, which is why I was so excited to be able to interview Dr. Jennifer Noble.

Dr. Jenn, as she's known online, is a licensed psychologist, parent coach and associate professor of psychology, who shares her expertise both in her private practice in Los Angeles and online. She focuses on identity and mixed race experience as she works with mixed race teens, BIPOC women and other marginalized groups.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• The experience many multi-racial children have of shifting identity development.
• How parents can help their multi-racial children prepare to answer questions about their identity.
• Affirming identity in the face of other people's assumptions.
• How terminology can change based on where the mixed race person is in their identity journey,
• Building resilience in kids and their parents through open communication.

I hope any of you listeners out there who are multi-racial or raising multi-racial kiddos leave listening to this conversation feeling like you can be more fully connected to your family and your identity. And for anyone who is mono-racial, I hope this gives you a better understanding of how you can support the multi-racial people in your life.

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 featured 12 different people in Season 1 of the program and will feature 12 all new Black Americans in Season 2. And, if you missed Season 1, both seasons will be available for purchase.

Articles, Studies, & Podcasts Referenced in the Episode

Dr. Jenn's website, which includes information about Mixed Life Academy

Dr. Jenn's Instagram account @drjennpsych

Dr. Noble's therapy practice website

Multi-racial Bill of Rights by Dr. Maria Root

"One Drop of Love" by Fanshen Cox

"50 Experiences of Racially Mixed People" by Dr. Maria Root

Video of a mom in England giving her son a shirt to tell him he's leaving the school where he's been bullied

Song Credit: "Sleeper" by Steve Adams" and "Dive Down" by VYEN

In the summer of 2020, author Veronica Chambers had what she calls an "aha moment."

Born in Panama and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Veronica's Afro-Latina heritage has always been very important to her, and she worked hard to make sure her then-12-year-old daughter felt the power of her "Black girl magic."

But when protests were happening across the country and in their own city, Veronica realized she needed to be able to teach her daughter more about race, systemic racism and the role of protests.

Veronica's recently published book, "Call and Response: The Story of Black Lives Matter," was born out of this desire to teach her own daughter.

"Call and Response" is just one of many projects Veronica has produced during her prolific writing career. She is the editor of Narrative Projects for The New York Times, a public speaker, and author and editor of more than a dozen books — which span a spectrum in subject from several about food to books for kids to helping influential people with their memoirs and more.

Veronica was gracious enough to join me for an interview for this week's podcast — Season 5 Episode 4: "Blake Lives Matter: How Will You Respond?" In this interview, Veronica shares:

• Thoughts on how to talk to kids — all kids, not just Black children — about police
• What protesting looks like for different people and finding what it looks like for you and your family.
• Insights on how to avoid burnout.
• Using your skills and what you love to do to make a difference.

It was truly an honor to read "Call and Response:The Story of Black Lives Matter" and to have Veronica share her time and thoughts with me. I sure learned a lot and know you will too!

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 featured 12 different people in Season 1 of the program and will feature 12 all new Black Americans in Season 2. And, if you missed Season 1, both seasons will be available for purchase.

Click here to be the first to receive the coupon code on Feb 1st when the program launches!

Articles, Studies, & Podcasts Referenced in the Episode

Books edited or written by Veronica Chambers

New York Times Learning Network "Lesson of the Day: 'Black Surfers Reclaim Their Place on the Waves'"

For info about Bakers Against Racism, read this newsletter by Veronica Chambers

"13th" documentary available on Netflix

Veronica Chambers' Instagram @vvchambers

Visit Veronica's website for additional information, including booking her for speaking events.

"The End of Policing" by Alex S. Vitale

"Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson

Song Credit: "Sleeper" by Steve Adams" and "Dive Down" by VYEN

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is less than a week away, and I couldn't let this important day pass without another episode.

It's actually my THIRD episode about Martin Luther King Jr., and I feel like this episode shows our journey as a community and my journey as an anti-racist (both personally and as an educator).

With each episode, the content has gotten more and more radical — just like the journey that Dr. Cornel West takes us on in the incredible book "The Radical King."

The first episode — Season 3, Episode 10: "The Untold Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr." — was about nonviolence and loving accountability.

The second episode — Season 3, Episode 11: "The One Thing I Wish You Knew About Dr. Martin Luther King Jr." — was about the fact that racism and Dr. King's assassination have more to do with money and power than skin color.

And in this third episode — "Stop Using MLK to Justify Racism" — we are going to dispel 3 myths that people have perpetuated about Dr. King to justify their racism.

Those 3 myths are:

• Dr. King would have been against riots
• Dr. King would have been anti-Critical Race Theory
• Dr. King's dream has already been achieved

I hope by the end of this episode you feel like you have a better understanding of what this incredible man really felt about each of these issues, and I hope you feel inspired to learn more about his teachings yourself.

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 featured 12 different people in Season 1 of the program and will feature 12 all new Black Americans in Season 2. And, if you missed Season 1, both seasons will be available for purchase. Click here to be the first to get the coupon code when Bite-sized Black History is released on Feb 1st!

Articles, Studies & Podcasts Referenced in the Episode

First Name Basis Podcast Season 3, Episode 10: "The Untold Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

First Name Basis Podcast Season 3, Episode 11: "The One Thing I Wish You Knew About Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

First Name Basis Podcast Season 3, Episode 29: "Critical Race Theory in Schools"

"The Radical King," by Martin Luther King Jr., edited and introduced by Cornel West

"​​93% of Black Lives Matter Protests Have Been Peaceful, New Report Finds," by Sanya Mansoor, TIME

"Nonviolence and Social Change," by Martin Luther King Jr.

"Ron DeSantis Introduced the 'Stop W.O.K.E. Act'—and Name-Dropped MLK," by Paul Blest, Vice

Bernice King's response to Ron DeSantis on Twitter

Sylvia Duckworth's CRT definition, which she worked with Dr. Angel Jones and Dr. Kate Slater to create

"After Desegregation — What" by Martin Luther King Jr.

"Where Do We Go From Here?" by Martin Luther King Jr.

Francheska's Instagram account @cheskatanglao

Bernice King's response on Twitter to people claiming her father "didn't offend people"

Song Credit: "Sleeper" by Steve Adams" and "Dive Down" by VYEN

This past week we've had some deep and meaningful conversations about responding to the myth of "Black on Black crime." As our conversations unfolded I realized that I left out one key detail, rich people commit crimes too! I made this clarification on our "Ask Jasmine" segment this week and wanted to make sure it had a permanent place in the podcast library.

"Ask Jasmine" is a mini podcast segment that we send out to our Fam Favorites email list. Each week I choose one of your questions to answer, the question for this week is: How do you respond when someone says "Those communities are the ones who need the police the most"?

Tune in to hear the answer to this important question and click here to sign up for our Fam Favorites email list so that you can get "Ask Jasmine" sent straight to your inbox every week.

Join Fam Favorites

Each week we round up our favorite resources to give you a deeper understanding of the featured episode topic. Fam favorites is the only place you can access our mini segment "Ask Jasmine" where I answer one of your pressing questions. Click here to join for free!

Articles, Studies, & Podcasts Referenced In The Episode

"How Black People Really Feel About the Police, Explained" by Aaron Ross Coleman

Throughline Podcast: "American Policing"

First Name Basis Podcast: "What About Black on Black Crime?"

Song Credit: "Sleeper" by Steve Adams" and "Dive Down" by VYEN

When a white person murders a Black person and we try to call it like it is — RACISM — there's a response that, without fail, will crop up.

The heartbreaking circumstances of the killing can differ — whether it's police violence like in the cases of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd or racist white vigilantes like in the case of Ahmaud Arbery — but the frustrating response we often hear is the same: "Well what about Black on Black crime?"

Let's take a moment now to get our collective eye roll out of the way before we tackle how to respond.

While this response is SO FRUSTRATING, I'm here to help you have the tools to address it, focus on your values and hopefully have a productive conversation with the person who brings it up.

In this episode, we will talk about:

• How your response will differ if you are BIPOC. Spoiler alert: Your primary responsibility is to protect yourself.
• Where to start when you're trying to engage someone in a conversation about this.
• What research actually says about race and crime.
• What under-resourced and over-exploited communities have to do with this conversation.
• How to help the person you're talking to dissect why they asked that question in the first place.

Y'all, don't forget to see this question for what it really is: a deflection tactic. And by the end of this episode, you'll know exactly what to do to face it head-on.

Race Talk Roadmap

Our Race Talk Roadmap is the tool you need to begin conversations about race and racism with your children! We have a list of three tips for parents of older children and a list of three tips for parents of younger children. Visit firstnamebasis.org/racetalk to get the Race Talk Roadmap sent straight to your inbox.

Articles, Studies & Podcasts Referenced In The Episode

Code Switch Podcast: " Imagining a World Without Prisons or Police"

"So You Want to Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo

Report from the US Justice Department: Household Poverty and Nonfatal Violent Victimization 2008-2012

"Why We Don't Talk About Black on Black Crime: An Answer to White America's Most Pressing Question" by Michael Harriot

"'Black-on-Black Crime" Is a Dangerous Myth" by Jameelah Nasheed

First Name Basis Podcast: Season 3, Episode 29: "Critical Race Theory in Schools"

2018 report from the Center for American Progress, "Systemic Inequality: How America's Structural Racism Helped Create the Black-White Wealth Gap"

Code Switch Podcast: "Tulsa, 100 Years Later"

Zinn Education Project: "Jan 1, 1923: Rosewood Massacre"

Song Credit: "Sleeper" by Steve Adams" and "Dive Down" by VYEN

When I first started learning about anti-racism, before I ever started First Name Basis, I remember thinking, "I wish I could just turn it off sometimes and enjoy things."

That line of thinking reveals just how early I was in the process and shows that I still had a lot of maturing to do when it came to anti-racism.

What I've come to learn since then is it can't be done one way or the other — anti-racism or enjoyment. It has to be a both/and situation.

We must commit ourselves to anti-racism and to finding the enjoyment we deserve in life. We must remember and give ourselves space to enjoy things and try to change them at the same time.

In this episode we will talk about:

• Why it's pretty much impossible to avoid seeing things that are racist. (Spoiler alert: It's because it's systemic.)
• Thoughts on setting boundaries for you and your family.
• Encouragement to either start or continue on your anti-racism journey.
• How working for change looks different based on what privileges you hold.

As a reminder, this is the final episode in Season 4. Can you believe that?! I hope you enjoy the end of the year with your family. Season 5 launches January 4, and I can't wait to continue this journey with you.

Articles, Studies & Podcasts Referenced In The Episode

First Name Basis Podcast, Season 3, Episode 9: "Racism 101"

First Name Basis Podcast, Season 2, Episode 14: "What is Privilege and What Do I Do With It?"

First Name Basis Podcast, Season 4, Episode 8: "Can We Talk About White Privilege?"

First Name Basis Podcast, Season 3, Episode 7: "Service Not Saviorism"

Toni Morrison's interview with British journalist Jana Wendt

The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda by Ishmael Reed

Song Credit: "Sleeper" by Steve Adams" and "Dive Down" by VYEN