Week Two Summer of Mentorship 2020 :: Dorena Williamson

Many of us avoid and struggle with conversations about race or disabilities because it’s uncomfortable. When our children ask innocent questions about someone who is different than they are, it can make us feel tongue tied or embarrassed.

Author Dorena Williamson has created some lovely children’s books to help parents respond and invite their children to join them on the journey of learning to love and speak worth over every person that God created.

And I kept feeling frustrated thinking that’s not the solution to teach your children to be colorblind because that’s minimizing the beauty of God’s handiwork. And as Christians we should be the biggest proponents of celebrating the beauty of our racial diversity and not minimizing it or sort of washing it away and this colorblind land.

She shares powerfully about how to engage with your children about racial and cultural differences and how we can model what it looks like to grow in the area of loving and accepting people who are different than us.

As our children get older, I think that these are valuable conversations to have with them because the beauty of it is that it tells your children you are teachable and that you don’t get it right all the time and that you’re continuing to learn and grow.

What we chat about:

• All about Dorena’s family and their multiracial church, Strong Tower Bible Church
• Her book ColorFull and the background behind why she wrote it
• The creativity of God and how he uses color in all that he created
• Looking for opportunities to share the beauty of racial differences with our children
• Language for parents to use to help teach children and avoid shaming
• Reinforcing the idea that “Different is not bad” and calling out the worth of people
• Why equipping kids early is important
• Modeling how we are all growing when it comes to loving and accepting people who are different than us
• Encouraging our children to ask questions even when they are uncomfortable
• Engaging with our kids about other cultures whether we can travel internationally or experience cultures in our own cities

Connect with Dorena:

Links Mentioned:

• ColorFull: Celebrating the Colors God Gave Us**
• ThoughtFull : Discovering the Unique Gifts in Each of Us**
• GraceFull : Growing a Heart that Cares for Our Neighbors**

Other books/sites that Dorena recommends:

• Brownicity.com site with helpful resources (created by a Godly woman Dr. Lucretia Berry)
• The Beatitudes by Carole Boston Weatherford
• The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
• Beabridgebuilder.com
• A list of 28 picture books (aren’t about boycotts, buses or basketball) –listed created by ScottWood