How Do We Talk To Our Children? by Tracee Perryman

by Tracee Perryman

This week's episode is one you don't want to miss. Nightline goes behind the scenes with the cast of #blackish.
Posted by black-ish on Tuesday, February 23, 2016

 I plan to watch THIS! Sometimes the perception is that African Americans live for the opportunity to, or are obsessed with talking about what is wrong with our world. That is NOT the case. We take no joy in experiencing or speaking about injustice. We wrestle with what to say and how to say it. I have spent 6 years studying this very subject - how do we prepare individuals to cope with injustice in productive ways? If not handled responsibly, it can result in hatred and anger towards the larger society. But when handled responsibly, self-esteem, positive identity, and educational performance improves, while mental health problems, anger, and violence risks are lessened - because people are equipped with the coping skills needed to refrain from internalizing the injustices going on around them. Instead, we emphasize their inner gifts and attributes, community identity and preservation, and all the heroes through history who have faced injustice - those shoulders on which we stand.

I plan to watch THIS! Sometimes the perception is that African Americans live for the opportunity to, or are obsessed with talking about what is wrong with our world. That is NOT the case. We take no joy in experiencing or speaking about injustice. We wrestle with what to say and how to say it. I have spent 6 years studying this very subject - how do we prepare individuals to cope with injustice in productive ways? If not handled responsibly, it can result in hatred and anger towards the larger society. But when handled responsibly, self-esteem, positive identity, and educational performance improves, while mental health problems, anger, and violence risks are lessened - because people are equipped with the coping skills needed to refrain from internalizing the injustices going on around them. Instead, we emphasize their inner gifts and attributes, community identity and preservation, and all the heroes through history who have faced injustice - those shoulders on which we stand.