Eps 503: Examining Whiteness in Parent Education with Yolanda Williams

Joyful Courage for Parenting Teens

My guest today is my returning friend, Yolanda Williams! We’re getting a little meta this week as we focus on what white parent educators can be doing better, but believe me, this episode is full of great content for all parents.

After catching-up on how Yolanda, Parenting Decolonized, and her daughter are doing, Yolanda jumps in and explains who takes on the emotional, physical, and spiritual labor of what’s going on in our world and why it’s such a huge deal for white parent educators to choose silence in order to not offend their clients. The labor, racism, and speaking out about hot topics that parent educators who are people of color are doing take so much time and effort that white parent educators may not even think of. I get vulnerable with Yolanda and ask about what I can do when I feel uninformed and uncomfortable about topics that I know are important to call out (spoiler: you don’t need to have all the answers to start speaking out). I ask Yolanda specifically what I can do to make Joyful Courage a more equitable podcast & platform and what I can be teaching new, fresh parent educators.

Takeaways from the show

• The roots of traditional parenting in our country is uncomfortable and rooted in racism, sexism, & capitalism
• What’s the responsibility of white parent educators around race? Where can we grow? What’s completely missing?
• Who is taking on the spiritual, physical, and emotional labor of what’s going on in the world right now?
• How can we weigh in and stand-up for people when we don’t know or understand enough information to feel confident about doing so?
• Asking yourself what you’re scared of that’s keeping you from speaking out? Sit with it, and do it anyway
• Centering what our most marginalized children need - everything that they need to be liberated will liberate us, too
• Using media as a starting point for these conversations

For more show notes, including transcripts, visit our website here.

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