Racial Justice and Cultural Responsiveness Resources

MENTOR Virginia is committed to creating a movement that is inclusive of and supports all young people. We strive to help create an America where all young people can thrive through meaningful relationships – and that happens when they are safe and their lives are valued. We continue the work to rewire systems to center supportive, meaningful, and responsive relationships with our young people.

This page contains a collection of resources that may be helpful for program staff, stakeholders, mentors, and families to address racial inequities, bias, and violence. Not finding the resource you’re looking for? Contact Sarah at sarah@mentorva.org for assistance.

taking action and educating yourself on racial injustice

tips for leading in the fight for racial justice

Virginia Youth-Led Advocacy and Mentoring Town Hall

As mentors in Virginia learn and grow alongside young people, there are many ways that they can support the advocacy and policy interests or passions of their mentees and young people. No matter what the issue or topic, young people have a critical voice and role to play in advocating for positive change. This youth-led conversation discusses youth advocacy, civic engagement, partnering with adults on advocacy, and how mentors can support their important work in the state.

Mentoring Boys & Young Men of Color Through a Racial Equity Lens

The challenges facing Boys & Young Men of Color (BYMOC), though well-documented and heavily researched, continue to persist in communities across the United States. While bright spots exist through the work of organizations such as the 100 Black Men of America, the Campaign for Black Male Achievement, and My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, what more needs to be done to improve life outcomes for BYMOC while addressing the realities of structural racism?

Conversations with Young People on Race and Racism

George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. What do we tell our children? (USA Today)

Talking to Your Kids About Racism (Unicef)

Teaching about Race, Racism and Police Violence (Teaching Tolerance)

Talking to Children About Racial Bias (American Academy of Pediatrics)

Talking to Kids About Discrimination (American Psychological Association)

Talking About Race (National Museum of African American History & Culture)

‘Teaching for Black Lives’ – A Handbook to Fight America’s Ferocious Racism in (virtual or face-to-face) Classrooms (The Washington Post)

Educating our Children: Talking to Kids About Racism & Police Brutality (Achievement First)

Afterschool Webinar: Difficult Dialogues: Engaging Youth in Tough Conversations (Afterschool Alliance)

Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism – a town hall for kids and families (CNN/Sesame Street)

‘I’m going to be a black man one day and I’m scared:’ Why it’s important for kids to talk about racism (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

How to Talk to Kids about Racism, Explained by a Psychologist (Vox)

What White Children Need to Know About Race (National Association of Independent Schools)

Resources for Support & Action: Denouncing Hate & Violence Against the Asian American Pacific Islander Community

Supporting Youth in the Wake of Trauma (MENTOR)

Anti-Racism Resources to Support the AAPI Community (NBC)

Resources to stop to Asian hate movement (NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development)

Violence Against Asian Americans: How Do We Support the Children? (EmbraceRace)

Taling to Children About Anti-Asian Bias (New York Times)

AAPI Youth Voices on Race and COVID: Webinar (Youth Mentoring Action Network)

How to Respond to Coronavirus Racism (Learning for Justice)

Resources to foster ongoing learning about AAPI communities, experiences, cultures, and histories (Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center)

Anti-Racism College Guide for AAPI Students and Allies (College Consensus)

Mentoring Youth of Color (National Mentoring Resource Center)

Will I Be Able to Understand My Mentee? Examining the potential risk of the dominant culture mentoring marginalized youth. (MENTOR Minnesota)

Mentoring for Black Male Youth (National Mentoring Resource Center)

Mentor Training for Cultural Competence (National Mentoring Resource Center)

How Mentors and Mentoring Programs Can Support Mentee’s Ethnic/Racial Identity (The Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring)

Four Tips for Having Healthy Conversations About Race (The Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring)

Racial equity & anti-bias tools for OST programs & youth workers (Afterschool Alliance)

Teaching Tolerance (a website with classroom resources)

Support, Solidarity, and Action

Support:

Helping Youth After Community Trauma (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network)

Empowering Young People in the Aftermath of Hate (Anti-Defamation League)

How to Talk About Traumatic Events and Tragedies (Minnesota Department of Education)

Tools to Support Youth Activism (Racial Equity Tools)

Solidarity:

Now is the Time to Offer Solidarity and Support to Young People of Color (The Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring)

10 Things You Can Do to be An Ally (YWCA)

How White People Can Move Race Conversations Forward (Caprice Hollins @ TEDx Seattle)

Dear White People: 10 Ways You Can Show Up for Your Black Friends & Colleagues (Colorlines)

Action:

The Afterschool Leadership Landscape: Supporting and Strengthening Racial Equity (VPOST)

Speak Up at School: How to Respond to Everyday Prejudice, Bias and Stereotypes (Learning for Justice)

Resources for Helping and Healing (The Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring)

Racial Truth & Reconciliation Virginia (Voices for Virginia’s Children)

Talking to White Family Members About White Privilege (WELL+GOOD)

Additional Resources

Reports:

Ready to Lead: Leadership Supports and Barriers for Black and Latinx Girls (Girls Leadership)

Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood (Georgetown Law Center of Poverty and Inequality)

The Intersection of Developmental Relationships, Equitable Environments, and Social-Emotional Learning (Search Institute)

Being Black is Not a Risk Factor: A Strengths-Based Look at the State of the Black Child (National Black Child Development Institute)

Fundraising for Equity:

Resources for Community-Centric Fundraising (Community Centric Fundraising)

Giving Black Greater Richmond: The Legacy of Black Ingenuity & Collective Power (New England Blacks in Philanthropy)

Systems Change:

The Water of Systems Change: Six Conditions of Systems Change (FSG)

Systems Change: A Guide to What It Is and How to Do It (LankellyChase Foundation)

Other Resources:

Before You Call the Cops

What’s Lost When Black Children are Socialized into a White World (The Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring)

The Future of Healing: Shifting from Trauma Informed Care to Healing Centered Engagement (Shawn Ginwright Ph.D.)

Project Implicit

Can Mindfulness Help Dismantle Inequality? (Mindful)

Books & Podcasts

Books to Teach White Children and Teens How to Undo Racism and White Supremacy (Charis Books & More)

10 Tips for Reading Picture Books with Children through a Race-Concious Lens (EmbraceRace)

Books for Young Readers:

A Kids Book About Racism (Jelani Memory)

Rights and Equality & Culture and Diversity (Marie Murray and Hanane Kai)

Black Lives Matter Instructional Library

Children’s Books with Strong Black Characters (PBS)

30 Books for Young Readers that Celebrate Black Joy (The Brown Bookshelf)

Books for Middle Grade & Young Adult Readers:

All American Boys (Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely)

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix (Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi)

Ghost Boys (Jewell Parker Rhodes)

We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices (Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson)

The Hate U Give (Angie Thomas)

17 Middle Grade and Young Adult Books that Spotlight Black Joy (School Library Journal)

Books for Adults & Allies:

This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work (Tiffany Jewell, illustrated by Aurelia Durand)

Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates)

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race (Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum)

Me and White Supremacy Workbook (Layla F. Saad)

The Racial Healing Handbook (Annekiese A. Singh PhD LPC)

The New Jim Crow (Michelle Alexander)

Podcasts:

Code Switch (NPR)

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Race Capitol)

Seeing White (Scene on Radio)

Black Youth Town Hall

In partnership with Youth Mentoring Action Network, MENTOR co-hosted The Black Youth Town Hall, a youth-led community dialogue aimed at supporting young people as they process recent events and the state of race relations.

Dr. Wizdom Powell on Mentoring

During the 2020 National Mentoring Summit, Dr. Wizdom Powell spoke to the importance of mentors in the lives of young people who have experienced trauma, particularly Black youth.