Dear non black parents: Having a Black child does not excuse you from putting in work.

For non black parents who have mixed/black children let me tell you how you can defend your black child/ keep your children connected with the community through the actions of my Grandma who is white and decided to adopt my siblings and me.

She never took us very far from who we were.

1. My grandma made sure she could find a BLACK owned hair shop to do our hair. When she got too old to try to attempt it herself.

2. It was my grandma who sent us to the car so she could hit this man with a cart(lol) and educate him because he asked how a white woman had/ would want black children at the grocery store.

3. It was also my grandma who turned to the black community (grandparents club) to find help and answers on how to raise us to love being black and be in the community.

4. it was grandma who didn’t care what her family would ever think for taking us in.

5. It was my grandma who would call me and make sure I was safe when we found out about Mike Brown and his killer going free. She knew I was ready to protest and checked in almost daily.

As things are going down now unfortunately my grandma is suffering from Alzheimer’s and doesn’t remember much but always remembers her love for her black grandchildren.

This was very personal to share but I just hope this helps with non black parents who want to make sure their children get their full experience in their blackness.

And please don’t be mad or angry when your children grow up and decide to check you on a micro aggression or an action. You may not think it is a big deal but too many of those can produce real life consequences on ones psych.