First Name Basis Podcast

I recently received a question from a parent in our First Name Basis fam that boiled down to: what do I do when my child's school says to leave anti-racism at home? I have a hunch that many of you are in a similar situation, or know of a school in your area who would say the same thing. Tune in to learn a few action steps that you can take to partner with your child's school and create an environm...

Happy Ramadan to all of our Muslim brothers and sisters!   If you are not Muslim, perhaps you've seen Ramadan listed as holiday on your calendar but don't really know what it's all about. Well, here at First Name Basis, we believe the best way to learn about traditions, beliefs and people that are unfamiliar to you is to get on a first name basis with members of that community, so my friend Felici...

My dear friends, we have been on this anti-racism journey together for 2.4 years, and it's AMAZING to think about the growth we've gone through together.  Over the course of almost 100 episodes, we've gone from talking about the basic building blocks to more in-depth conversations. And just like we as adults have worked to build up our own understanding of anti-racism, we need to do that for our k...

Sometimes when white women are at the start of their feminist journey they can get tunnel vision and make choices that ultimately harm Women of Color. Today on First Name Basis I'm joined by Channing Parker & Elise Poll who break down the pitfalls of white feminism and give practical tips for people who are looking to move into a space of anti-racist intersectionality!  Tune in to learn: Channing...

Y'all, I am sooooo excited that I can finally share this with you! It's something that we've had in the works for a while now and something that I've been thinking about for even longer. Since the First Name Basis podcast launched in 2019, I have been amazed at the work you've done in your homes and classrooms. Now it's time to take the next step — to broaden the work we're doing at First Name Bas...

"White passing" and "white presenting" are terms you've probably heard before when people are talking about being multi-racial, but what do they even mean? And where did they come from?   I talked to Dr. Gabriel Cruz, a lecturer in the communications studies department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, about this topic.   Dr. Gabriel A. Cruz received his Ph. D. From Bowling Green...

This episode answers one of the most common questions I receive: Where do I start? Press play if you're taking your first step on your anti-racist journey or if you've been at it for a while and want to bring the people you love along with you. In this episode I share 3 episodes from the First Name Basis archives that will help jumpstart your anti-racist journey.    Copycat Kiddos  I'm making an e...

When something tragic happens, we often look to those around us — whether it's people we know in real life, people we listen to on the news or people we follow on social media — to help us process and understand what's going on.  And there's a phrase I've seen pop up over and over again among influencers (specifically white people on social media who consider themselves parenting experts) that mak...

Racism is traumatizing no matter what, but when it manifests itself in your personal relationships, it is crushing.   Dr. Lucretia Berry, an anti-racist educator, author, scholar and mother to three little girls, joined me on the podcast earlier this week to discuss the need to talk to our kids about race before something bad happens, but we also found ourselves talking about how to redefine relat...

It's obvious that there is a need to talk about race with our kiddos when big events are in the news. But if that's the only time we're talking to them about this, that means these conversations are always coming from a place of trauma instead of a place of preparation. It's time to be proactive instead of just reactive, and Dr. Lucretia Berry is here to help us with that. Dr. Berry is a scholar,...

Since the push for anti-racism has become more mainstream some white children (and adults) are learning about the true history of the United States for the very first time. This has proven to be pretty dang uncomfortable for them. So uncomfortable that state legislatures have created bills that would allow white parents to sue the school if the history lessons their children learn make them feel u...

What did you learn about Rosa Parks growing up? You may have learned, like I did, that she was a tired seamstress on her way home from work and when a bus driver asked her to give up her seat to a white person it was the last straw so she decided not to stand. Well she was a seamstress, but the true story is so much more exciting than that. Rosa Parks was a high ranking member of the NAACP and her...

Bite-sized Black History  Bite-sized Black History is a program that empowers you to teach the little ones you love about brilliant Black Americans who have been largely overlooked by our history books. We featured 12 different people in Season 1 of the program and are featuring 12 all new Black Americans in Season 2. Season 2 is live, purchase today! Buy Bite-Sized Black History! Song Credit: "Sl...

Growing up as a mult-racial child, I often felt my racial identity shifting and developing — heck, even as an adult I do!   Navigating what it means to be mult-racial continues to be a journey for me, which is why I was so excited to be able to interview Dr. Jennifer Noble.   Dr. Jenn, as she's known online, is a licensed psychologist, parent coach and associate professor of psychology, who shares...

In the summer of 2020, author Veronica Chambers had what she calls an "aha moment."   Born in Panama and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Veronica's Afro-Latina heritage has always been very important to her, and she worked hard to make sure her then-12-year-old daughter felt the power of her "Black girl magic."   But when protests were happening across the country and in their own city, Veronica rea...

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is less than a week away, and I couldn't let this important day pass without another episode. It's actually my THIRD episode about Martin Luther King Jr., and I feel like this episode shows our journey as a community and my journey as an anti-racist (both personally and as an educator). With each episode, the content has gotten more and more radical — just like the journ...

This past week we've had some deep and meaningful conversations about responding to the myth of "Black on Black crime." As our conversations unfolded I realized that I left out one key detail, rich people commit crimes too! I made this clarification on our "Ask Jasmine" segment this week and wanted to make sure it had a permanent place in the podcast library.    "Ask Jasmine" is a mini podcast seg...

When a white person murders a Black person and we try to call it like it is — RACISM — there's a response that, without fail, will crop up. The heartbreaking circumstances of the killing can differ — whether it's police violence like in the cases of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd or racist white vigilantes like in the case of Ahmaud Arbery — but the frustrating response we often hear is the same:...

When I first started learning about anti-racism, before I ever started First Name Basis, I remember thinking, "I wish I could just turn it off sometimes and enjoy things." That line of thinking reveals just how early I was in the process and shows that I still had a lot of maturing to do when it came to anti-racism. What I've come to learn since then is it can't be done one way or the other — anti...

The holiday season can be a beautiful time of celebration, but if we're being honest, it can also be extremely stressful — especially when it comes to spending time with family members you disagree with. I get asked all the time questions like "What should I do about family members who say things that uphold white supremacy?" or "What should I do when family members say racist things?" My dear fri...

I made my " Untold Story of Thanksgiving " episode to help me — and hopefully you — understand the true, accurate history. As I think about the episode, I think it does a good job at correcting the history, but it still centers on the colonizers. Because of that, I've been thinking a lot about how I can better make Indigenous Peoples the center of our conversations and learning around Thanksgiving...

Every mother experiences motherhood differently — no two journeys are the same. And there are some things that Black mothers experience that mothers who hold white privilege don't fully understand.   We need to take the time to listen to the Black moms in our community to learn how we can use our power to change the systems that are oppressing them and their children.   I invited my friend Sheryl...

In many ways, Emi Kim is what you might consider a typical 9-year-old. When she grows up, she wants to be a scientist or president of the United States, but for now, she loves to swim and sketch — and fight racism.   And fight racism she has.    When Emi noticed that her school library was lacking diverse books, she decided to do something about it. She led her whole family in hosting a lemonade s...

ALLY ELEMENTARY IS HEEEEERE! Pop all of the confetti cannons in the world because I am so dang excited to share this transformational program with you and your family! In this episode you'll hear the real reason I created Ally Elementary for all of us and a SNEAK PEAK of one of the lessons! Press play and celebrate with me!  Ally Elementary  Parents have been asking for a practical, interactive wa...

Have you ever heard a white person claim that they've experienced "reverse racism"? I sure have! Let's break this down together because I've heard from many of you that you're not sure how to respond when someone pulls the reverse racism card.  In this episode you'll learn: The difference between bias, prejudice, and discrimination  How to analyze a situation to determine whether or not it is raci...