Change Starts With Us

Jun 1, 2020

Jaylon Rosenblum & Family

“Wait, your last name is White? But your skin is brown….that’s so funny,” said Sam, an adorable 3-year old neighbor. For kids, color is just a characteristic. When they're young we have the opportunity to continue to foster their openness talking about race by celebrating differences and underscoring similarities.

My name is Jaylon Rosenblum (maiden name White). I’m Head of Marketing at Manhattan Toy Company and a black mom to two boys. From the moment they were born I have thought about when and how I will talk to my guys about race, but it’s not something that’s top of mind for all parents.   

As parents, we have an opportunity to seed change early by talking to our kids about race and building positive associations with races that are different from our own. The building blocks we use can be as straightforward as curating books with main characters of different races, exposing kids to different cultures, and providing dolls of different skin tones to nurture.

We can also approach conversations proactively and head-on. For some, conversations about race come naturally and for others, they’ll be difficult, but they’re imperative for all of us. Our friends over at Lovevery have shared a list of resources to help guide conversations about race with young kids.  I’m resharing their list because I’ve found it to be a helpful resource in my own life.

This past week has brought a spotlight to a long-standing fracture in our society. This post does not address the complex issues that we face as a country, it simply provides a resource that we can employ so that we can all move forward together in building a better society for our children.

Here are some resources that might be helpful:


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