9.2: Don’t Do THIS During Black History Month
First Name Basis Podcast
In case you haven’t noticed yet, I’m passionate about Black History Month. I did not enjoy learning about Black history growing up. It felt more like grieving than celebrating for me, and because of that it’s my dream to make Black History Month a positive experience for ALL children and students. So today, as part of that, I’m talking about 3 mistakes parents and teachers should avoid when talking to kids and students about Black History: 1. Don’t say “because they were Black.” It’s time to put the onus on racism. 2. Don’t refer to Black people as “non-white.” This makes...
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9.1: Let’s Celebrate Black History Month
First Name Basis Podcast
Can you believe February is right around the corner?! And with it comes BLACK HISTORY MONTH! Celebrating Black History Month is so important for ALL kids, not just Black children, and I created to help kiddos everywhere be able to learn about Black history in a way that is both meaningful and joyful. In this episode, I’m telling you all about Bite-Sized Black History and including a sample episode for you to check out that is all about singer, actor and activist Harry Belafonte! is a collection of mini-podcast episodes that empower you to teach kiddos about brilliant Black Americans who...
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8.15: Work With Me: First Name Basis
First Name Basis Podcast
We’re wrapping up Season 8 with this episode, and it’s got me thinking all about our evolution over the years. From beginning as a tiny Instagram account to starting the podcast, from working with families to working with schools, First Name Basis has grown in ways that is a dream come true! I consult with schools across the country to implement anti-racist education. But as some of you have said, you’re not sure what that would look like, so in this episode, I’m giving all the details of what it looks like for me to work with your school! It’s one thing to know that anti-racism is...
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8: We Are Anti-Racist and Anti-Genocide
First Name Basis Podcast
Like so many of you, I have been all consumed the last few weeks by the events going on in Gaza and the genocide that is being carried out against the Palestinian people. We've put everything on pause at First Name Basis to be able to try to share updates and share actions that we can be taking as a collective to try to support the activists and so many amazing humanitarian workers that are on the ground in Gaza. After having some conversations as a team, we realized that continuing to do anti-racism work is one of the things we can do as a group to facilitate productive conversations around...
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8.14: Black and Brown Emojis Are Not a Punch Line
First Name Basis Podcast
This episode can be summarized with one sentence: Please stop using Black and Brown emojis if you are not Black or Brown. Skin color is something that should be celebrated, not laughed at, but I have seen people using emojis that don’t match their skin tone time and time again. I think a lot of the time people aren’t intentionally trying to do something racist, but when you peel back the layers you realize that the only reason why doing this could be funny is because of racism, and racism is not funny. And, like we talk about all the time, the IMPACT of an action always outweighs the...
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8.13: Invisible Lynching and What It Says About the Fight for Justice
First Name Basis Podcast
Trigger warning: Before you continue reading these show notes or listening to this episode, please be aware that it discusses lynching and white supremacist violence. Lynching is a reality both now and in the past. Yet despite the fact that lynching continues to happen, it took more than 120 years to get an anti-lynching bill passed. In that time, more than 200 iterations of bills that would make lynching a federal crime were introduced and failed to pass over and over again — including one that was voted down only three days before Ahmaud Arbery was lynched in February 2020. It...
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8.12: Raising Multiracial Children
First Name Basis Podcast
Growing up as a multiracial child, I often felt my racial identity shifting and developing — heck, even as an adult I do! Navigating what it means to be multiracial 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....
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8.11: 3 Things I’ve Learned On My Anti-Racist Journey
First Name Basis Podcast
This episode is a bit of a role reversal with someone I admire SO MUCH. I have been a longtime fan of Rachel Nielson’s podcast 3 in 30: Takeaways for Moms. Each episode is 30 minutes long and provides 3 ACTIONABLE takeaways for listeners to go and do. She has over 250 episodes covering a huge variety of topics — from potty training to mental health to tips for not looking at your phone as much — and I’ve been honored to be a guest on her podcast in the past to talk about anti-racism. And on top of that, I’m lucky to get to call Rachel a dear friend and podcasting mentor of...
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8.10: Let's Talk Language: Under-Resourced
First Name Basis Podcast
Language is always evolving and we need to evolve with it. Reflecting on the words we’re using and recognizing opportunities to grow and change is a natural (and necessary) part of our anti-racist journeys. It means breaking down and unlearning things that we thought in the past, but the result is language that better aligns with our intent. So this week we’re taking a look at the term “under-resourced” and discussing why we need to switch it out for something new. If you’ve been around for a while, you’ve already heard me talk about how I changed from using “low-income” to...
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8.9: Teaching Children About Disabilities
First Name Basis Podcast
July 26, 2023, is the 33rd anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act. If you’re doing the math in your head, let me give you a shortcut: That means the ADA wasn’t passed until 1990. 1990?! It took quite a while for Americans with disabilities to officially be named a protected class as neither the 1964 Civil Rights Act nor the 1965 Voting Rights Act included people with disabilities — and the United States still has a long way to go in making our public spaces, businesses and communities truly accessible. In honor of the 33rd anniversary, I wanted to invite a very special guest...
info_outlineIf you’ve been around a while, you’ve heard me say it hundreds of times: Race is a social construct.
Race was created and has always been manipulated to make sure that the people in the dominant culture — in the U.S., that means people who are white, middle class, Christian, male and cisgender — can maintain power.
History is full of examples of this, but we don’t need to only look to the past to see it happening — it happens all the time, right now, in our own communities, and one current example is the fight to restrict Black voting power.
I’m sharing my thoughts about this in today’s episode, “Real Quick: Black Voting Power,” which is the second episode in our new Real Quick series!
You know when you’re talking to someone and the conversation is about to wrap up but there’s one more thing you want to say before you part ways so you say, “Real quick, ____”? There are lots of things I want to say or wish I could add that don’t quite fit in an episode or qualify as a full episode on their own, so this Real Quick series is my way of sharing those thoughts with you.
Whenever we have a Real Quick episode, you can plan on getting two mini-episodes that week. If you missed our first Real Quick episode that was released on Tuesday, don’t forget to also check it out!
Get your Voting Action Plan
Whether it’s for a primary election or a general election, if you‘re voting for your local school board or president of the United States, being an informed voter is crucial — and takes more effort than just skimming headlines or reading one-off articles on social media.
We’re here to help! Head over to firstnamebasis.org/vote to have the First Name Basis Voting Action Plan sent straight to your inbox!
Articles, Studies & Podcasts Referenced In The Episode
First Name Basis Podcast, Season 2, Episode 28: “How to Become an Informed Voter”
First Name Basis Podcast, Season 7, Episode 11: “Real Quick: Politicians Need Experience”
First Name Basis Podcast, Season 6, Episode 1:”Racism is Built on a Big Fat Lie Pt. 1: Blood Quantum and the One Drop Rule”
First Name Basis Podcast, Season 2, Episode 14: “What is Privilege And What Do I Do About It?”
“Who counts as Black in voting maps? Some GOP state officials want that narrowed,” by Hansi Lo Wang, NPR
Song Credit: “Sleeper” by Steve Adams” and “Dive Down” by VYEN