Hello and welcome!

My name is Shannon. I have a background in education and non-profit work, and currently serve as the Director of Grant Services at an Atlanta based family foundation.

I created this blog after 9 Black parishioners were murdered in Charleston. I was horrified, not just by the tragic event, but by my own passivity when it came to racial justice and how I was raising my kids. I wanted to change, to be accountable to the ways I perpetuated and participated in racism as a person and a parent, but I had no idea where to start. I started anyway.

I write about my journey exploring the ways I can address and combat systems of oppression within the context of my family. My work has been featured on Blog Her, Blunt Moms, EmbraceRace, Fatherly, The Good Men Project,The Huffington Post, Raising Race Conscious Children, Sammies & Psych Meds, and She Knows.

I’ve learned so much, but a lifetime of work remains. Anti-racist parenting as a white person is painful, liberating, vulnerable and messy, but I’ve never felt more connected to my humanity.

Some important facts about me that influence the content of this blog:

My husband and I are cisgender, heterosexual and white and our children are white. I believe that racism is systemic and pervasive in this country and that white privilege is not only real but I benefit from it daily. My intention is to explore how to be a parent and an advocate for racial and social justice in ways that are sustainable with everything that being a parent brings into my life. My intention is to be inclusive to all parents and people who are interested in issues around racial and social justice, but I’m writing from my perspective as a white, heterosexual, cisgender mother.

About comments:

I moderate comments and accept and post everything shared as long as it’s written within the spirit of the blog’s goal, which is to help parents advocate for social and racial justice. Offering a dissenting view is always welcomed, but it must be respectful in language and tone. Insults are not tolerated. I look forward to your participation.

Contact me!

strivingparent@gmail.com

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