Families Of Color Seattle (FOCS), a local nonprofit that is building a loving community of families of color and connecting parents, will host a special series of five community workshops on race and family beginning next month. FOCS will feature keynote book authors, local experts, parents and community members. The dialogues looking at what it means to raise a family in a racialized society, are open to all. Attendance is free. Childcare will be provided.
The series will kick off with Talking Race, Identity & Racism on Saturday, October 10, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at The Seattle Girls’ School. The first keynote speaker will be Sharon Chang, an accomplished author, scholar, parent and activist, and author of Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World. “As a mother myself, I want my son to have lots of opportunities and resources to ask questions and find answers for himself around who he is and becoming his whole self,” says Chang. Also, Youth Undoing InstitutionalizedRacism will lead a brief workshop to start the series.
The full Community Dialogue Series is as follows:
#1 Talking Race, Identity & Racism – Saturday, October 10, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Seattle Girl’s School
#2 Multiracial Families – Friday, November 13, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., The Bush School
#3 Anti-Bias Education and Schools – Saturday, December 5, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. , Garfield Community Center
#4 Anti-Racist Birthing – Friday, January 22, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., location TBD
#5 Transracial Adoption Experiences – Saturday, February 27, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. , location TBD
Youth Speaks Seattle, the city’s premier collective for youth spoken word poetry, will perform at every dialogue. “I believe that nationally we are at a tipping point on race and equity and the impact on all families. We need many opportunities to learn how to talk with our children about race and to learn together,” said Amy Pak, the organization’s founder. To learn more, join FOCS to discuss and think about what it means raising a family in Seattle’s rapidly changing city, in the context of race, identity and education.
RSVP on the organization’s online calendar. More information on other speakers for all dialogues is available on the facebook event page.
Questions: admin@focseattle,com. Contact for donations of in-kind space and volunteers for each dialogue committee.
