Buckhead Cascade City Links provides safe space for parents, teens to discuss race
ATLANTA - The Buckhead Cascade City chapter of the Links has opened its virtual portal for a conversation about race, racism, and violence Tuesday.
The virtual talk was intended to explore violence against Black people. It quickly developed into a training ground for how to have difficult conversations with young people of color, community relationships with police, and how to handle racial bias.
"We are a village, we have to help each other," clinical consultant Janie Francis Asante said.
Still grappling with 2020's racial reckoning, a group of several dozen parents and teenagers logged onto a Zoom meeting Tuesday night to discuss race and racism.
"I am grateful schools are closed because I'm worried what he would have had to deal with during this time," a mother said during the session.
Black adults in the U.S. are more likely than white adults to report persistent symptoms of emotional distress, according to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health.
"We have taught our boys not to scare anyone but the burden of that on our young men...is something for us to think about," another attendee said.
"Seven out of 10 brothers on the call said they ignore those emotions, but they have direct access to us," Lawrenceville School Dean of Diversity and Inclusion Rick Holifield said.
Tuesday's event aimed at providing solutions for those feelings.
"How do we talk to our children once they've experienced racial prejudice," a parent asked.
A clinical psychologist joined the consultant and Dean to field questions from teens as young as 13 and their parents.
"We talked about appearance and not giving them any other reason to judge us," psychologist Nicole Pass said of her talk with a group of young girls. "While it might not be right, how we present ourselves is important."
Solutions don't always present themselves immediately, but event organizers tell me they hope these conversations help Black people draw closer together and better express themselves in difficult situations so those feelings of distress don't stunt their success.
"Have those talks with your children, communication is key to help us move forward as a people," Dr. Asante said.
The Buckhead Cascade City chapter of the Links organizers said this won't be the only opportunity to express concerns about race relations, although the timing of it, during Black History Month, was purposeful. Another event will be announced in the coming weeks.
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