Antiracism for Young Kids was born out of witnessing the Black Lives Movement gain momentum in the Spring of 2020 while I was in lockdown with my family in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I was virtually teaching my students in Shenzhen, China while my young kids, aged 2 and 5, were home without childcare or schooling. My partner had just started his job and was working from home. We were following the news coming out of the US chronicling killings of unarmed Black people at the hands of police and vigilantes including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd.
I wanted to do something to educate my own kids about the state of our country and raise them to be actively antiracist, so I decided to write Antiracism for Young Kids. My children are multiracial and are half Black so much of my motivation was to help them understand their own identities and build empathy and awareness of racism and injustice in a developmentally appropriate and empowering way.
Meet the Developer
Rassamee Hayes is an experienced educator, curriculum developer, and instructional coach. Over the course of her career she has taught students in grades K-9 and worked in the states and abroad.
Rassamee was a founding faculty member at Vincent Academy in Oakland, California and Whittle School and Studios in Shenzhen, China. She has coached teachers in a multitude of areas including balanced literacy, English language development, multicultural and antiracist teaching, and supporting students with learning differences. She helped found the tech mentoring program, The Hidden Genius Project, and was a contributing writer to WestEd’s Making Sense of Science Project.
Rassamee was raised in Washington State within a multiracial family (Thai and White). Her and her partner have two young kids who are also multiracial (Black, Thai, and White). She and her family currently live in Singapore.
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