SOUTH SIDE MOTHER TAKES INITIATIVE TO TEACH CHILDREN ABOUT RACE AND COLORISM

Lanisha Thaddison (pictured) is a mother of three and the author of Black Rainbow, a children’s book that explores the topic of race and colorism. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lanisha Thaddison
Lanisha Thaddison (pictured) is a mother of three and the author of Black Rainbow, a children’s book that explores the topic of race and colorism. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lanisha Thaddison

South Side Mother Takes Initiative To Teach Children About Race and Colorism

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

After struggling to explain to her preschool-aged daughter about the concept of race, Lanisha Thaddison took it upon herself to write Black Rainbow, a children’s book that explores the topic of race and colorism, for other parents to turn to when they have similar struggles at home.

Thaddison is a mother of three girls and lives in Chicago’s Washington Heights neighborhood. She said the idea for Black Rainbow came when her three-year-old daughter started to call herself white because her teacher was white. Thaddison struggled to explain the difference between the two races in a way that her daughter would understand.

“When my middle daughter was in preschool, she got a new teacher who was white which isn’t an issue, but the issue was that she started to think that her race was white as well because she is a lighter-skinned African American girl. She came home and told me that she was white too,” said Thaddison. “I didn’t plan to have a conversation about race with her at this age, and I didn’t even know where to begin.”

Trying to wrap her head around explaining the difference between white and black races to a three-year-old led Thaddison to develop the concept for her book, Black Rainbow.

“The way that I described it to her was that I associated with a person’s ancestors and explained to her that her ancestors are from Africa but somebody else’s ancestors may be from Asia and because of that, those people are considered Asian American. Breaking it down that way and making it as simple as possible helped her to understand it,” said Thaddison.

Knowing that she was not the first person to have this conversation with a young child, Thaddison became motivated to write a book that other adults and parents could use as a tool to help talk to kids about race.

“I just felt so motivated to get this book out and help parents that are possibly in a situation like I was [in] and trying to figure out what’s the best way to explain complex things such as race to young children and that’s where Black Rainbow started,” said Thaddison.

Aside from exploring race based on ancestry, the book also dives into the concept of colorism.

“The book also touches on colorism in the African American community because we come in all different shades and it’s hard to know how to explain to an African American kid that may be of a darker shade that they are equal, or the same, as maybe a person that is a lighter shade. That’s where the name Black Rainbow came from. We come in all shades but that doesn’t mean that we’re not all from the same place in regards to the African American community,” said Thaddison.

Thaddison said she has been bitten by the writing bug and is considering writing a second book that will explore how to talk to children about having a mixed-race background.

Black Rainbow is available for purchase through Amazon.

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