Episode 30: Parenting Decolonized Podcast

Parenting is an ever-evolving journey. As our children grow and develop, the tools needed to cultivate their growth must also evolve. The toolbox we use to raise liberated toddlers will look different than the toolbox we need to raise liberated tweens and teens. However, the roots are the same – in order to raise liberated children, we must liberate ourselves. This means, we have to ask ourselves the hard questions and look in the mirror more times than we want to. But this honest path that we travail paves the way for our children to have a more healthy relationship with themselves and their parents (you!)

For Black parents, especially, this path is layered with beliefs and systems rooted in white supremacy. Black people aren’t given the space to be human. And when we deny ourselves our humanness, we deny our very existence. We become shells of ourselves – showing up as a minimized version of ourselves in an effort to fit the roles that have been written for us.

How does this serve us? How does this serve our children?

In this episode, I am joined by DeAntwann “DJ” Johnson – Husband, Father, Author, Motivational Speaker, and Parent Coach. DJ and I discuss:

• The importance of vulnerability – for our own healing and for others
• Reimagining masculinity, especially for Black men
• Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and how it informs how we navigate society (and parenting) as adults
• How to cultivate control for your children so they grow up with their own sense of autonomy and trust within themselves
• Fostering healthy relationships with teenage children

Honesty is radical. And this conscious parenting journey requires a lot of it! More than you may be comfortable with. But there is discomfort in growth and there is discomfort in staying where you are. And when you choose to stay where you are, you give a silent nod to white supremacy to keep doing its thing – which hurts all of us in the long run. Our children deserve better. And so do we. We are our ancestor’s wildest dreams, after all.

If you need support communicating with your teens, check out DJ’s Speak Life: The Communication Workshop. You will learn how to utilize the temperament assessment Real Colors® to help you establish what your “color” is and help you gain a completely new perspective on yourself and the things that are most important to you.

And if you’re a black parent who wants to learn how to be a more conscious parent, we’d love to have you in our Facebook group, Conscious Parenting for the Culture.

We’ll be discussing this more on the Parenting Decolonized Facebook page so see ya’ll over there!