This discussion group series from JF&CS Adoption Resources is for adoptive parents of any race who are raising Black children up to age 18. Co-facilitated by an adult adoptee and an adoptive parent, the group will provide a safe space to share questions, experiences, and concerns around parenting Black children. Participants should be prepared to examine their own biases in order to best support their children. The group also aims to create an opportunity for community building among participants.

Facilitators

Ayo Holden-Canzoneri (he/they) is a mixed-race transracial adoptee who has been in reunion with his birth father for six years. He is a licensed educator currently working in a Boston Public Schools middle school, and is an organizer at heart, with experience in community and electoral organizing as a volunteer and a staff member. In 2016, Ayo established an affinity group for multiracial students at his undergraduate institution, and in 2019, he built and co-facilitated a support group for adoptees of color in Boston. He believes that it is through brave, authentic, and compassionate actions that people can bring meaningful changes to their lives and the lives of those around them, and looks forward to bringing this perspective and others to his work with parents of Black adoptees.

Emine (Emi) Barkus (she/they) is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and a parent of two children- one by birth and one by adoption, one white and one Black. She comes from a multicultural, multireligious, and inter-abled family of origin, and brings that experience into her work as a parent and a therapist. She works from an attachment frame, with a social justice lens, and believes that the ultimate goals of both decolonized therapy and anti-racist parenting are in supporting, and removing barriers to, access to the full range of love and liberation available in the world.

Topics that will be covered

  • Ways to strengthen parent-child relationships through healthy racial identity development
  • How to talk about race and racism
  • The importance of promoting multicultural family identities in interracial adoptive households

Schedule

There are a total of 7 meetings:

  • Tuesday 9/12 - 7-8:30 PM in person in Waltham
  • Tuesday 9/19 - 7-8:30 PM via Zoom
  • Tuesday 9/26 - 7-8:30 PM via Zoom
  • Tuesday 10/3 - 7-8:30 PM via Zoom
  • Tuesday 10/10 - 7-8:30 PM via Zoom
  • Tuesday 10/17 - 7-8:30 PM via Zoom
  • Sunday 10/22 - 2-4 PM in-person family gathering in Waltham

Please register only if you can attend all 7 sessions. Limited space available.

Cost

$75 per adoptive family thanks to the generous support of the Lindell Fund.

Audience

Adoptive parents of any race who are raising Black children up to age 18

Register

If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Kahan at michellekahan@jfcsboston.org.