Activism & Politics

How to Get Kids Involved in Local Government

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / 1 Comment

Photo: People gathered around a table, looking at maps; Text: How to Get Kids Involved in Local Government

“I’m not going to be here for dinner tomorrow,” I told my kids. “I’m going to tell the people in charge of the city that I support our neighbors from other countries.” I was going to speak at our city council meeting about a proposed Sanctuary Cities policy. They nodded, then went back to eating dinner. While their interest in local government is pretty low at two and five years old, I hope that I can help get them more involved as they get older.

That’s because local government at the heart of a lot of policies that underlie unjust systems. It’s also a place you can see personal impact. While calling your Congressperson or national representative is important, you can rarely see the same level of individual response and even change that you can on the local level. From climate change to racist policing, getting involved in local government is one of the biggest ways you can teach kids to make a difference.

Here are some ways you can get your kids involved:

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What Do You Do When Your Dream is Crushed?

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / 1 Comment

What Do You Do When Your Dream is Crushed? (Photo: Hand of a person writing in a journal while they are sitting on grass)

My activist heart is tired. My mama heart is too.

Old-school conservatives would have called me a bleeding-heart liberal. I admit that I am – my heart certainly feels crushed and bruised these days.

Like many people in the United States now, feelings of guilt, shame and borderline despair threaten me on a semi-regular basis. I always keep going, but the awfulness tickles at the back of my mind. Those feelings came to a head most recently with the news about separating immigrant and refugee children from their parents. While I had always been able to clear my head previously, these horrors just kept on creeping back in. Even time spent with my kids reminded me of how much of a luxury that is.

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Why My Grandmother Would Be an Illegal Immigrant Today

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Why My Grandmother Would Be an Illegal Immigrant Today (Photo of sign Refugees are human beings)

If my grandmother had come to America today, she might be in a cage right now.

My grandmother immigrated to America when she was just three years old. My great-grandmother and great-grandfather has come over to the United States from Poland a few years before. When they started running out of money, my great-grandmother returned to Poland to get help. But she didn’t realize something very important – she was pregnant. Because America didn’t allow babies into the country, the two of them had to wait three long years before returning to America. Passing through Ellis Island, they finally reunited with my great-grandfather. My grandmother’s first memories are of seeing the Statue of Liberty as they came into the harbor and meeting her father for the first time. She said he was the most handsome man she had ever seen.

Now imagine if they were immigrants today.

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How to Find Your Group of Progressive Parents

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / 4 Comments

How to Find Your Group of Progressive Parents (Photo: Homemade cardboard sign that says 'Yep George Soros paid me to rally with stickers and cheerios"

Writing letters in crayon to new refugees in America, I looked around the room and thought, “These are my people.”

My family was attending a kids’ dance party to benefit refugees in the wake of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies. It was organized by a local group of politically progressive parents. Beyond card writing, the event included a guitarist, kids’ Zumba, and of course, a drum circle.

It’s hard enough to find good “mom” (or dad) friends. It’s even harder if you want to find people interested in discussing racial justice or climate change in the context of parenting. But building community is key to preventing burn-out as both a parent and activist. It’s nice to talk to people with a variety of perspectives, but it’s also great to connect with people who have the same concerns as you do.

Here are a few ideas for finding like-minded parents:

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The Reality and Fantasy of Green Living with Kids

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / 1 Comment

 

The Reality and Fantasy of Green Living (Photographs: - set of three - Upper left-hand corner, very neat arrangement of produce; upper right - photo of the overgrown garden, Giant cargo bike holding two children and also not interested in learning.

Skimming through Pinterest, I’m slightly overwhelmed looking at all of these lovely photographs. Let’s be realistic. I’m a lot overwhelmed.

I squint looking at homesteading blogs, wondering how these women grow all of their own food and make time for their kids. I sigh looking at the “green living” posts with their homemade cleaners. Does it count as green if I just don’t clean at all?

Maybe you feel the same way looking at me. You may think, “How does she find time for all of this stuff?” The answer is that I don’t. Not really.

Personally, here’s how my reality doesn’t come even close to matching my fantasy:

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50+ Awesome Acts of Kindness for Kids and Families

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / 4 Comments

Want to teach your kids kindness but don’t know where to start? From learning how to listen to fighting poverty, here are more than 50 acts of kindness with real, concrete impacts for kids and families to do together. 

Text: 50 Awesome Acts of Kindness for Kids and Families; Background photo: Hands clasped together

“Was that a kind thing to do?” I asked my four-year-old right after he snatched a toy away from his younger brother.

He looked down and said, “No.”

“What would be a better choice?” I said, hoping he can figure it out on his own.

Teaching kids what kindness is and how to demonstrate it in everyday life isn’t easy. Even adults struggle to listen to people without judgment or jumping in with their own opinions.

It gets even harder when you think of kindness beyond being “nice.” Compassion and respect for all people involves examining a number of our society’s toxic systems and working to change them.

It can be overwhelming.

To make it a little easier, I’ve assembled a list of 50 acts of kindness for you and your kids to explore together. I’ve broken them into five categories, from building a kind mindset to challenging inequality. Many of these draw on research from Harvard University on encouraging kindness in children. You can get more information on almost every activity by clicking through on the link.

To get five days worth of in-depth descriptions of some of the most high-impact activities right to your email, be sure to subscribe to our Family Kindness Challenge!

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A Letter to My Kids on the Anniversary of the Trump Presidency

/ Shannon Brescher Shea / Leave a comment

It’s been a full year since Donald Trump became president. A full year since he stood on the National Mall and swore to “faithfully execute the office of President of the United States,” just as Barack Obama had done eight years before. Attending President Obama’s inauguration was one of the most patriotic moments of my life. Instead of attending Trump’s inauguration, I joined with half a million other women in the next day to raise our voices in protest.

Photo of a white woman in a red and gold Wonder Woman shirt and black sweatshirt looking at the camera in a selfie.

Needless to say, I entered Trump’s administration ready to fight. In my Instagram photo from that day, I’m wearing my Wonder Woman shirt, my smirk and stance challenging the camera.

But despite my attitude, I was worried. In fact, I had been worried since I blearily read the results the morning after the election. I was worried for you and even moreso for the many families less privileged than ours. As we’ve seen since then, my worries about the treatment of immigrants, LGBT folks, black people, and poor families were justified. Everything has been as bad as we expected. In some cases, it’s been worse.

And yet.

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My 2018 Wish for You

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Goodbye 2017; hello, 2018!

The world felt like it went to hell in 2017, but you know what? It was an opportunity for us to fight for what we believe in harder than ever before. Even – and especially – when it felt like we may lose. As my morbid but truthful friend says about our bodies’ continual wars against death: “And even if it looks like defeat is assured, like there is no hope, like we absolutely cannot win… well, we can handle an unwinnable war on ten million fronts, what’s one more?”

In 2018, we’ll continue to fight that good fight for us and our kids.

But I hope within all of that difficulty and challenge that you take time and space to have fun.

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