A first

For the past two years, I’ve been volunteering for the YWCA "It’s Time To Talk About Race" forums, which include facilitating talking circle dialogs. This weekend we had our practice session for our Oct. 31st event.

In my circle of 10, besides me there was an adult adoptee (white) who has an adopted Black brother. And three adoptive parents of kids adopted transracially or transnationally. What are the odds that in a setting outside of my work and adoption activism there would be half of the members of a group affected directly by transracial adoption?

Each of these parents talked about how important it was for them, as white parents of kids of color, to look at white privilege and being part of an anti-racist community. And the participant whose brother was adopted transracially talked about how damaging it was to their whole family that race and racism was never talked about in their family.

I usually have negative experiences in these kinds of situations but I have to say I was so heartened by the honest and thoughtful comments these fellow circle members expressed.

I guess there’s always a first for everything.