From the perspective of a POC/WOC/Indigenous Womxn
Kia ora HSC!
Here are my top 10 highlights from the 2019 HSC Conference:
1. African-American Keynote speaker Julie Lythcott-Haims’ presentations about her two books, How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success (2015) and Real American: A Memoir (2017). Julie’s presentations were my favorite at the conference and I learned so much from her about parenting and what it’s like to grow up being black in America. As a non-American, non-black parent of black girls, I found both of her presentations extremely valuable because they educated me about what it's like for black kids growing up in America. This is something I am not privy to because I didn't grow up here.
2. Akilah Richards' talks about Raising Free People and Parenting Patois: Exploring liberation language in our parenting. Akilah did a brilliant job of introducing ways for us as parents to understand and connect on a deeper level with our kids through the use of words that encourage us to look at certain situations from a different perspective.
3. Erika Davis-Pitre’s talk about race and racism. Erika is a black woman, long-time homeschooler and is a member of the HSC Board. She bought much needed attention to these two important topics and created space for questions and dialogue about them. I thought this conversation was both important and necessary because many homeschoolers experience racism in the homeschool community and creating discussions around these topics creates more awareness of the issues that we as a community face.
4. Tiffany Sandoval’s meetup for POC homeschooling and unschooling families. This was very beneficial as it created a safe space for us to share about homeschooling issues that affect us as POC. It also connected all of the POC families at conference and many of us became friends.
5. Worldschooling talk about cost-effective ways to travel presented by George and Lalika Kaponay. This session provided some very helpful and useful information for traveling on a budget. It also presented the idea of travel as a way to create closer family bonds and connections.
6. The HSC Board meeting. It was great to see the diversity of the HSC board! The majority of the HSC Board are POC and the leaders of the HSC Board are both women of color. There are also several other communities represented on the board! It was also great to find out more about how the board process works.
7. Fiber land. Just Wow!!! There was an abundance of wool, yarn and other supplies needed for any fiber based projects.
8. The Volunteers! So many people gave their time and energy so others could enjoy themselves. THANK YOU! It was amazing seeing so many people investing into the organization
9. The Moms Dance. It was a lot of fun attending the "Super Secret Underground Mom’s Dance Party!" All the moms cheered every time a new mom came into the room!
10. New connections, sharing stories and making new friends! It was great to find community at HSC and spend time with other POC homeschooling families!
HSC has recently undergone a lot of changes to ensure inclusion for ALL homeschoolers! Thank you HSC board for creating the space for POC families who homeschool. I am excited to attend again and to see more POC families at the event next year!
-Amelia Butler is one of our newest columnists. She has been homeschooling her two girls in the LA area and moderates multiple homeschool groups for women of color. She is a wonderful resource for infomation on the Maori culture and women who want to run their own businesses.