Below is a video lecture of Dr. Bryan K. Hotchkins at Cascades Academy (Bend, OR) discussing how to raise the cultural competencies of Black children in a world of indifference. This talk was conducted for the general community for approximately 231 attendees who are interested in learning about best practices navigating race in America. If after watching the videos your are considering participating in our educational class sessions please reach out and let us know.

An explanation of our Community V(I)llage and other webinar offerings.

Who: Community V(i)llage is an educational safe space for parents who have adopted Black children, but are uncertain as to what they need to do to help their families navigate unforeseen racial occurrences and blindspots. We welcome participants from a variety of backgrounds. Our clientele includes family members who have the following identities:  Heterosexual and LGBTQ; Baptist, Mormon and Catholic; White, Latino/a, African and Black; Mothers, Fathers, and Grandparents; essentially persons who are invested in the positive raising of Black children.

What: We offer two workshops about holistically raising Black children—Learning to Counteract the Fact that We Don’t Know, What We Don’t Know About Parenting Black Children (BEGINNER) and Purposefully Creating Spaces that Move Black Children from Surviving to Thriving in Society (INTERMEDIATE). In general, participants are taught how to develop detailed, step-by-step action plans to better elevate the racial esteem of Black children, increase family racial interdependence, and prepare parents to help their children navigate K-12 school environments. By learning how to facilitate reciprocal race mentorships, utilize cultural artifacts to educate oneself and build cultural confidence within their children, participants leave our sessions holistically empowered to be family advocates.

When: General sessions are conducted based on demand and require at least SIX families for us to bring our workshops to any city. Last year, on two separate occasions, we presented at the renowned UMOJA, MN transracial adoptive and foster care parent summit hosted by Evolve Services and conducted our sessions at the West Coast Ethiopian Heritage Camp, held at the Camp Jones Gulch, CA, the last two summers.  

Where: Community V(i)llage can be conducted in any city once a host family is located. Subsequently, we will design a curriculum plan based on community specific needs, then travel to your city to conduct our workshops.

How: our educational class sessions are conducted in a face-to-face format that allows for intimate, transparent and thoughtful interactions that yield beneficial solutions to family concerns about best practices for raising Black children in a world of indifference. 

Why: Based on the testimonies of previous participants, we are mindful that some parents are apprehensive about raising Black children. In fact, in some instances parents feel their cultural knowledge about what it means to be Black is insufficient. Many have remarked "I do not know what I do not know" or "Is our love going to be enough?" Concerns like these and our love for Black children led to us developing an educational opportunity where parents can be vulnerable, fearful, reflective and purposeful about how to empower their children to walk in confidence while being proud of being Black in a transracial family.

We recognize that although your individual family needs are different there may be similar community concerns. Let us help you prepare.    

Just so you know, our educational class sessions offer confidential group discussions about how to respond to issues like racial challenges, create strategies for interacting with cultural bullies, garner support from extended family members and best practices for guiding Black children from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Our empirical-based curriculum for Learning to Counteract the Fact that We Don’t Know, What We Don’t Know About Parenting Black Children (BEGINNER) focuses on five critical questions:

1) How do I socialize my Black children to live, exist, and thrive in predominantly White communities, and school environments?;

2) Have I considered the holistic long-term effects of transracial adoption on my Black child(ren)?;

3) What are my strategies for navigating my child(ren’s) racial groups?;

4) How do I purposefully elevate my level of cultural competency concerning my child(ren’s) racial legacy?;

5) Where do I want my child(ren) to be developmentally when they reach adulthood concerning the intersection of race, intellect, and emotion, and what will be my contribution?

Our empirical-based curriculum for Purposefully Creating Spaces that Move Black Children from Surviving to Thriving in Society (INTERMEDIATE) focuses on five critical questions: 

1) How do I prepare my Black child or children to navigate the White Racial Frame at the individual and systemic levels of operation?

2) What must I do to actively facilitate the decolonization of Black child or child(ren) from K-12 learning environments by introducing CRITical questioning processes?

3) How do I parent in a gender specific way that pushes back against the societal constraints of White Supremacy?

4) Why should I teach my Black child or children to be world makers instead of space takers within the confines of time?

5) Who am I as a parent of a Black child or children, what does that look like in actual practice and how can I build an inclusive, empowering legacy that facilitates the holistic, positive development of my family members?

Interested in a Community V(i)llage educational workshop? Please let us know your specific community circumstance at thinkpositionality@gmail.com and we will respond in a timely manner to discuss the possibilities.

As mentioned above, here are pictures of our Community V(i)llage at the West Coast Ethiopian Heritage Camp last summer. This time we conducted three sessions! The first 4-hour session was entitled: “Purposefully Creating Spaces that Move Black Children from Surviving to Thriving in Society (INTERMEDIATE)” then we offered two, 3-hour gendered sessions Being a Black Boy in a World of Indifference and Being a Black Boy in a World of Indifference for Black adoptees.