Parenting for Liberation

by Trina Greene Brown

Speaking directly to parents raising Black children in a world of police brutality, racialized violence, and disenfranchisement, this guidebook combines powerful storytelling with practical exercises, encouraging readers to imagine methods of parenting rooted in liberation rather than fear.

Parenting for Liberation, written by activist and mother Trina Greene Brown who founded the multimedia platform of the same name, fills a critical gap in currently available resources for liberated parenting. Pairing personal stories from her successful podcast series with open-ended prompts designed to inspire reflection and creativity, the book provides guidance for those seeking to dismantle harmful narratives about the Black family, initiate difficult conversations on social issues with their children, and find community with other parents who share their struggle.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Anti Racist, Childrens

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 16, 2020

Reviews

[Delores Cooper-Greene]

I, being a parent (61 yrs old) of the past generation, did not come with a manual. I see, I lived on the backbone of the slave mentality of rhetoric such as,

“spare the rod spoil the child, this is my house and what I say goes, my rules are your rule, boys are not suppose to cry, and boys don’t play with dolls, etc.”

However, after reading this book Parenting for Liberation, I believe every parent or grandparent raising Black children, should invest in this book; for it offers so much detail in rearing our children in a positive atmosphere, gaining knowledge in how to liberate, love, and nurture our children, in a society where we have been raising them in fear. I highly commend the author for a superb job in creating a manual that delivers wisdom, strategies, and exercises on becoming a liberated parent, offering our black boys joy and our black girls magic. I highly recommend this book. A book of positive affirmation for our Children!

[Deneisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. It was written so well. I feel like this is a MUST READ book, and should be read in classes such as Child Development, Sociology, and Psychology. It is the perfect guide for African American parents. Though I am not a parent, this book has given me great tools to be a successful and liberated one when that time comes. For now, I will use what I have learned to benefit the needs of my nieces, nephews, cousins, God children and for all the African American children I come in touch with. I am aiming to be that liberated individual for them. This book has allowed me to dig deep within myself. I love this book!!!!! It's on the top of my list. A must read if you're on a mission to become a healthy adult - mentally and socially for the youth.

[Patricia Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tina Greene Brown has blessed the world with this offering of a book. Reading and engaging with it was deeply pleasurable, challenging (for all good, transformative reasons), and healing. Trina’s storytelling and curation of experience throughout the book is visionary and pragmatic. With deep context throughout, it brims with opportunities to creatively reflect and practice liberatory parenting for folks raising Black children and families. As a non-Black queer person and care-worker in various intergenerational social movement spaces, this book invited me to deepen my reflection and accountability practices in relationship with the Black children and families in my life, and in the world. I highly recommend Parenting for Liberation for all parents of Black children, as well as other adult allies in the family, community organizers, youth workers, therapists, educators, counselors and all types of healers. I’ve gifted it to friends, family and collaborators. As they work through it and reach out to me to dialogue around it, the reflection and actions deepen. This book makes more possible the fresh worlds we desire and that we are co-creating. Thank you Trina Greene Brown!

[Timneisha Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great read with an important message! I appreciate the very raw emotion and vulnerability within each chapter. Parents, I urge you all to dive into this book as it comes with a load of tools and knowledge that you can use as guides for your own household. Parenting is not the easiest task, especially parenting through systematic inequalities in the Black community, but the author has given readers some strategic and healthy methods that I find very helpful.

[Corey Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad I read this one, though it didn't go as in depth into the concepts as I would have liked. "Parenting for Liberation" is such a strong title, and I believe that coupled with the attempt to cover so much ground in one book took away from the experience for me. It felt like a series of teasers, rather than a guide for raising black children.

I loved the structure that provides real examples from real people via references to her Parenting for Liberation podcast. With this structure though, it felt like the goal was to use this book to get the readers to go deeper by embracing the podcast and other materials.

Though I felt this way, here are some things that I took away and enjoyed.

My favorite quote was "when we invest in one another (black mamas), we contribute to a world of Black liberated parents who can show up whole for their children."

"Unfortunately, when things get messy, challenging, and busy, we cut the things that feel "extra," which often means eliminating things that bring us joy, like playing, reading a good book, rest and our creativity." This stood out because with becoming a new dad, and even when things pick up at work, I try to make it a point to make sure I don't do this! (I.e. reading books)

I also loved the section dedicated to the concept of a village raising a child. "My husband and I have never raised our children by ourselves. We have biological and chosen family who are a significant part of the picture for us." Lyric has a huge village that we are blessed with, and we plan on utilizing it in the manner mentioned in this book to not only surround her with other caring adults, but to also introduce her to different things.

Lastly, this quote from Audre Lorde is amazing that was referenced in the book: "Caring for myself is not self indulgence, it is self preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." Mrs. Brown's quote to follow that up, fire!! "In a world that teaches us to not take care of ourselves, it is revolutionary and healing when we do create the space to do so."

[Semi-Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this book as a white guardian of two black children looking for a way to raise my babies to make them proud of their blackness but prepared for the bigotry of the world, helping them to embrace their culture even though it is not mine.

This book was not written for me, it was written for black parents raising black children. But I still learned so much. This book is amazing. Hearing the testaments of black parents moving away from fearful parenting and into the light of liberation is revolutionary. To be a liberated parent is an extremely difficult task but this book provides really accessible solutions and practises that make it feel more achievable. It has made me realise as a white guardian the importance of surrounding my kids with a community that looks like them, this is the start of a lot of work going forward. This book will be a guide I re-visit often, to check-in on my progress towards liberation in my parenting.

I would also love to highlight one particular section about adult male figures teaching children appropriate relationships between men/children and men/women by modelling clear and boundaried behaviour and leading by example. This section is something I’ve never seen articulated before. It is extremely important and perpetuates a culture of consent in a really active way.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is mainly intended for Black parents, but it’s valuable for anyone raising Black children. I love the format of pairing a piece/interview excerpt with an exercise; it was so helpful to make myself interact with the material. There are so many great resources mentioned throughout — I stopped often to read the poems and listen to the songs referenced. Love the P4L sample meeting agendas provided at the end. I’m listening and loving the author’s podcast (from which the interviews come). Looking forward to see what she does next — in the meantime, I’ve got a bunch of things to work on in myself, family, and community!

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful and accessible outline for raising liberated black children. I wish there was more detail! She brings up additional resources and does a great job of crediting people she has collaborated with. Thankfully there is also a podcast, so I may check that out. Definitely written for black parents, but also helpful for me as a white parent of a black child to think about creating intentional communities (which will unfortunately be on pause in the physical realm until there is a covid19 vaccine).

[Reshona Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must have guidebook for Black Parents raising black children in today's society. I'm a mother of five and this book has filled me with the Knowledge to Know better as a parent and do better for my children. Thank You Trina Greene for the Wisdom and Inspiration!

[Amethyst · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS is the book I’ve been looking for. An incredible amount of resources around raising liberated children, from discussing bodily autonomy and shame-free sex education to writing a letter to the child’s teacher about expectations around cultural competency, I just love this book. Listened to the audiobook but quickly decided to grab the physical copy too.