Office of Child Development Presents Twice at 2021 Pitt Diversity Forum

Join the Office of Child Development for two different presentations at the 2021 Pitt Diversity Forum. Register for free today, and learn more about each session below:

Thursday, July 29 at 10:45 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

My Racial Journey: Lessons from a Year of Promoting Racial Literacy

Presenters: Shannon Wanless, Julia Brazier, Aisha White, Adam Flango

At the 2020 Diversity Forum, the Pitt Office of Child Development launched My Racial Journey, a self-guided curriculum aimed at developing racial literacy for adults who work with and learn about children across disciplines. Over the past year, the facilitators have seen the program implemented in classrooms, workshops, and trainings around the world, from schools in Germany to nonprofits in Texas to virtual learning spaces. Through a roundtable discussion, this workshop will reflect on how facilitators have found success with My Racial Journey, highlighting experiences working with it from both professional and personal standpoints. It will also discuss the importance of having a tool like My Racial Journey to further social justice and equity work, and provide an open space for participants to ask questions. The goal will ultimately be to show how participants can incorporate racial literacy into their work successfully, regardless of their field, and use it as a tool to build just communities. Learning Goals include: professional development, social justice, resource sharing, and personal growth.


Thursday, July 29 at 2:00 PM-3:15 PM

P.R.I.D.E. Parent Village: Interrupting White Supremacy - Supporting Positive Racial Identity Development

Presenters: Aisha White, Medina Jackson, Sister IAsia Thomas

In his origin story of white supremacy -Exterminate all the Brutes -filmmaker Raoul Peck states: "any historical narrative is a particular bundle of silences, an exercise of power that makes some narratives possible and silences others". The P.R.I.D.E. Program Parent Village strategy, one of 5 strategies that make up P.R.I.D.E. -positive racial identity development in early education -aims to give voice to both the silencing of historical Black oppression and Black resilience.

In this session, the presenters will share details of the Parent Village curriculum, as well as describe the way the project has been implemented with parents and is currently being used with students. Presenters will also talk about their experiences creating the curriculum. Participants will gain awareness of why basic historical racial understandings are critical to building communities of knowledge and are foundational to disrupting oppressive systems. Attendees will also have a greater grasp of how difficult racial issues can be presented to and shared with children.