We have seen, on a regular sustained basis, the very best that our country has to offer, which is loving families and children; and the very worst, a systems that has been designed to help some flourish, and others fail. This is why it has been so incredibly painful for us to watch as our country has been engulfed in a continued narrative of inequity, injustice, and brutality.

We teach our children that actions are stronger than words. It is in this spirit that the Connecticut Children’s Collective encourages you to work within your communities to help educate parents, colleagues, and legislators about the inequities, bias, and racism that is part of our current American culture and its history. We must provide social-emotional supports to our families and children who are feeling vulnerable and raw. We must advocate for our early childhood systems, public school systems, and we must be an example to our communities at large.

If we see racism, we can no longer be silent. The time is now for us to rise up and use our united voices to call for a change to the powers that be. The time is now for us to provide love and understanding to those families and children who are in need of support. The time is now to weave and integrate intentional lessons and structures into our programming. The time is now to check ourselves for bias and our own fears and insecurities. Being vulnerable—being honest is how we will lead best. Being vulnerable and being honest is how we will begin to heal ourselves, our children and families, our communities, and our country.

We invite you to use the following resources to help you in your work. We thank you for all that you have done, and continue to do to make this a better place for our children and families to grow and thrive.

Discussions with adults and teens:

 10 Documentaries To Watch About Race Instead Of Asking A Person Of Colour To Explain Things For You

Systemic Racism Explained (Short Video)

 PBS News Hour w/Attorney Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative (Short Video)

 Discussion with younger children:

  A list of books to read and discuss with younger children

 Advocacy:

 Find your local House Representative’s Contact Information

Find your local Senator’s Contact Information

 Resources for administrators, teachers, and staff

 The following is a curated list of resources on equity as it relates to social and emotional learning. This list was developed with input from several experts in the field.