[Image: Banner that says “Raising Luminaries Resource Roundup December”]

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You, my friends, are a gift.

As we wrap up this year, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for the hard work you’ve done this year raising kind and courageous kiddos.

For those of you muddling through each day wearing the same pajamas you put on back in March 2020, I hope you’ve not just found ways to survive this pandemic, but carved out new paths to courage and kindness.

Beyond just survival – I’m hoping you’ll find pockets of genuine joy. I’m grateful for you, your insight, and our community as a place where we’re all learning how wonderful all of our traditions are. Our friendship is a gift.

No matter what, you are worthy and deserving of safety, healthcare, and self-agency. This coming year, we will fight to ensure that.

For today, though, I’m taking a minute to think about what a gift it is to have this community – where we can be together from around the world.

You’re great. Your voice is a gift that matters, and I’m grateful you’ve chosen to lend it here.

If you enjoy these tool kits – help me keep it up: CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

 

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You are doing a good job!

Raising Luminaries & Books for Littles are free and accessible for readers who can’t afford a paywall. Posts may contain affiliate links, which allow me to earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Check out the full affiliate disclosure along with my statement of accountability.

Ways to reciprocate if you benefit from this work:

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Parenting is Praxis: December Edition

These are resource roundups are getting long and unwieldy – but no worries, I have a plan to chunk these into bite-sized Family Action Toolkits in 2023. For now, however, bear with me as this roundup balloons into a long obstacle course of resources to consume, reflect on, and transform into action.

Pick one topic, pick ’em all, it doesn’t matter – we’ll meet our kids where they’re at and explore the topics they are interested. Sooner or later, you’ll see an opportunity to introduce the topics below as they become relevant to your family’s expanding interests.

As always, no one expects you to tackle everything below. Just keep it on your radar, and keep asking your kids, and yourself – how can we be more generous with each other?

What do we have to offer in our community? What do we find joy in giving freely?

Below, find reading guides, family conversation starters, and more support discussing:

• Significant Dates & Events in December
  • Mutual aid & the Montgomery Bus Boycott
  • Latina Equal Pay Day
  • How solstice traditions connect us
  • Maintaining Hope through Hanukkah
  • A Very Anti-Consumerist Christmas, with a quick discussion on the invisible holiday labor loaded on women
  • How to discuss the 7 principles of Kwanzaa with kids
  • Culturally responsive Gregorian New Years
• Monthly explorations for December
  • Modeling radical generosity (without being a doormat)
  • Collecting vaccine-hesitant friends and family with discussions on herd immunity
  • More trickster and animal stories on cooperation, impatience, and impulse control
  • Faith acceptance and interfaith social justice
• December Calls To Action
  • Bystander Intervention for Kids: Delegate
  • Bystander Intervention Training for GrownUps
  • Help Iranians in Iran
  • Kindness As An Action: GIVE
  • Join When We Gather
  • Quick & Easy 5-Second Actions
• Good Finds for December
• Your Turn
  • Support Project Nia
  • Support this work by joining the Luminary Brain Trust
  • Amplify & boost these resources
  • Help our family through a rough patch

Need help explaining big ideas? Check out our Luminary Wordbank, where we’ve got simple kid-friendly definitions for big concepts.

As always, I super-duper appreciate you, your tenacious curiosity, and your push for inclusion and justice <3

 

 

Significant Dates & Events in December

Let’s learn about Mutual Aid through the Montgomery Bus Boycott

During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Black residents of Montgomery and surrounding towns refused to ride buses for over a year.

Obviously this created immense hardship and obstacles – how would everyone get to work? Get groceries? Do daily life?

For folks who already didn’t have access to private transportation, Montgomery activists created a network of mutual aid. This involved volunteers who provided carpools and rideshares. Taxi drivers who broke anti-boycott law and charged much lower rates competitive with bus fees. Shoe donations to replace tattered footwear from miles of walking. And bakers like Georgia Gilmore, who fed tied and hungry activists.

When was it?

• The formal boycott started December 5, 1955 and ended December 20, 1956

Read:

• Pies from Nowhere (ages 7+)

Discuss:

• Why is helping each other called mutual aid? What do these words mean?
• What social justice initiatives are happening in our town right now?
• How can we help, either directly as advocates, or indirectly in supporting advocates?
• How does helping others in our community make this a safer, happier place for us?
• Even though we’re not getting anything in return, how do acts of radical generosity make us happier?

Take Action

• Together with the kiddos, search for local mutual aid organizations in your city
• Identify 5 types of aid they solicit for and provide
• Identify one skill we have – housekeeping, crafts, careers, interests, and hobbies, that could be used for mutual aid.

Additional resources to dig deeper into this topic:

• Stories of Collective Action
• Cooking is Community Care: Kids books about care work
• Video for kids 12+: What is Mutual Aid?, by Dean Spade (7.5 minutes)
• Video training for adults: Introduction to Mutual Aid, by Mariame Kaba (1.75 hours)

 

 

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Let’s Learn about Latina Equal Pay Day

“Indeed, given that this is the last “Equal Pay Day” observance of the year, Latinas must typically work longer than … everyone. This disparity hurts not only Latinas, but also the families and communities they support.” – #LatinaEqualPay Day

When is it?

• 2021: October 21st
• 2022: December 8 (notice that this is much WORSE)

Read:

• My Name is Celia (ages 5-8)
• Dolores Huerta (ages 6-9)
• Tía Isa Wants A Car (ages 3-7)

Discuss:

The United States was built on a foundation of entitlement to cheap labor and fossil fuels. Our government has manipulated and occupied other countries to sustain this greed. How has the consumption of US citizens and corporations impacted people from what is currently called Central and South America?

• What’s the difference between open borders and closed borders?
• What is circular migration and why have people living in very hot, cold, or desert climates used seasonal migration to survive since the beginning of humanity?
• How do closed borders inspire people who live in stable climates to look down on migration and criminalize undocumented migrants?
• What impact has climate change had on people living in what is currently called the Central and South Americas?
• What is xenophobia and Latino Threat? How do employers take advantage of this stigma to extract free and cheap labor from Latina workers in the US?
• What unpaid or uncompensated social and emotional labor are Latinas & Latinx expected take on that white women and Latino men are not?
• What ideas about Latinx people are we clinging to, that we inherited from the stories around us? Which do we need to let go of to acknowledge that the Latinx identity is an integral foundation of our society?

Actions:

• Read & discuss the web comic On a Plate: A Short Story About Privilege with your kids.
• Brainstorm as a family: What contributions can our family make in disrupting this cycle?

Additional resources to dig deeper into this topic:

• Kids Stories For Women’s Equal Pay Day
• Why Border Enforcement Backfired
• Kids books on immigration & borders

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Let’s Learn How the Winter Solstice Connects Us

Learning about traditional stories, faith traditions, and world festivals surrounding light and the scarcity of it during the solstice, kids get a sense of our shared humanity across cultural divides.

The solstice is a poignant time to explore world faiths and religions, particularly because most faith practices have at least one celebration of light, particularly in the winter when the sun and the moon are the only changing thing in a frosty landscape.

Understanding our shared values, our common needs, aspirations, and ancestors inspires kids to be more generous, more compassionate, and more curious about how to connect with people we might otherwise feel have nothing in common with us.

 

When is it?

• Around December 21 or 22 in the Northern hemisphere
• Around June 20 or 21 in the Southern hemisphere

Read:

• Lucia and the light (ages 3-8), content warning for close death of a family due to starvation/cold
• Raven Brings the Light (ages 4+)
• Sun Bread (ages 3-5)

Discuss

• Choose one set of the family guided discussion questions in our post about How We Are All Connected – Interfaith Kids Books for the Winter Solstice, especially the one about appreciating our resources more when they’re scarce 😉
• Are there any winter holiday traditions we’re participating in that no longer align with our values?
  (Example: gross holiday consumerism supporting evil corporations, trampling retail workers.)

Take Action

• Identify one change we can make to our family winter holiday observances that reaffirms a family value.
• Identify one winter holiday we don’t celebrate, that we can learn more about.

More Resources to Dig Deeper

• How We Are All Connected – Interfaith Kids Books for the Winter Solstice
• Acknowledging the winter solstice as an act of decolonization
• 5 Indigenous Winter solstice celebrations that honor the shortest day of the year

 

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Let’s Learn About Hanukkah

 

Hanukkah is not as big of a deal as Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, but it feels weird to leave this holiday out (especially since we’re celebrating frivolous stuff like Danny DeVito Day). Also there are so many children’s books about Hanukkah. But more importantly – seeing how, why, and the meaning behind these observances help us understand the shared values and practices we have in common with our Jewish friends and family.

The only spectacular Hanukkah books I can find feature white Jewish characters, including Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas (a multiracial South Asian non-Jewish parent paired with a white Jewish parent). Add your favorite book suggestions below if you know good suggestions to de-whitewash Hanukkah.

When is it?

• The 25th day of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, continuing for eight days and nights. Usually falls on November or December.

Read:

• Oskar and the Eight Blessings (ages 4.5+)
• Simon and the Bear (ages 5-9)
• Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (ages 4+)
• Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas (ages 3.5-7)

Take Action

• Grownups, register for free virtual bystander training:
  Bystander Intervention to Stop Antisemitic Harassment, December 14, 2022, 7-8pm EST

Additional resources to dig deeper into this topic:

• Helping Kids See The Good In Folks with ‘Oskar And The Eight Blessings’
• How Kids Find Hope In Hard Times With ‘Simon And the Bear’
• Hanukkah Stories for Gentiles & Interfaith Families

 

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Let’s reveal & reject all the shitty parts of Christmas-season consumerism & sexism

Every year, I’m like:

“YEAH! This is the year we’re gonna DO CHRISTMAS TO THE MAX! I’m gonna create so much friggin’ warm and joyous memories, the Earthquakes will be hardcore resilient for the rest of their lives!”

“THIS IS THE YEAR we will start sustainable family traditions. THIS IS THE YEAR I’m gonna start sending Christmas cards and deepen friendships! THIS IS THE YEAR we’re gonna PUMP UP THE GENEROSITY and schmaltz it up to 11!”

And then I pull together some shitty DIY cookies or whatever, run out of steam, and do a big online order of plastic garbage because I’m too tired to Christmas any farther.

But what I’ve figured out after trying to do a decade of CHRISTMAS TO THE MAX!!!!**, is that the less I scramble to keep up with ‘mom’ responsibilities for the holiday, the more fun we all have.

So over in Bumblebee Hollow, this upcoming Christmas will focus on our basic staples: thoughtful giving, receiving with appreciation, and keeping our heads above the snow.

 

When is it?

• 25th of December

Read:

• Tree of Cranes (ages 4+)
• The Tomtes’ Christmas Porridge (ages 4+)
• The King of Too Many Things (ages 4-8)
• Little Sid (ages 4-8)
• The Better Tree Fort (ages 4-8)
• The Table Where Rich People Sit (ages 6+)

Discuss: Invisible Labor & The Tomtes’ Christmas Porridge

The English translation of The Tomtes’ Christmas Porridge is a bit jarring, referencing the man of the house as ‘master’ – which has some nasty connotations in American English (re: slavery). Discuss with your kids!

Beyond that – this story creates an opportunity to talk about emotional and invisible labor. Specifically – how the mother tomte has to run herself ragged to protect her husband’s fragile ego.

The story also reinforces a gender binary and implies ridiculous magic powers that come as a part of pooping out a baby, suggesting  female tomtes have foresight magic that men lack. But with the right spin, we were able to discuss how this ‘like all mother tomtes’ situation reflects a cultural tendency to dump all of the invisible labor of orchestrating holidays on women – on mothers in particular – and how this ‘ability’ could be a skill developed by demand and survival in a sexist world, rather than biology.

• What does the porridge symbolize? (Recognition, appreciation, respect, reciprocity)
• Why is it important to Papa that we recognize his hard work?
• Who else in the Tomte family works hard?
• Who does NOT get recognition for their hard work?
• Why is it that only mother tomtes have the job of knowing what is important and urgent?
• Do women have a natural biological ability to pay more attention? Or are they nurtured and raised to pay attention?
• How does it feel when your hard work goes unrecognized and unappreciated?
• Why did Papa throw a fit & hold a grudge when he didn’t feel appreciated?
• Who did Papa take out his hurt on?
• How did Papa’s reaction force Mama to work harder to protect his feelings next time?
• Whose responsibility is it to manage our behavior when we are upset?
• Why do we assume men are too weak and fragile to work without recognition?
• What ‘invisible’ work is each member of our family expected to do? What are the consequences to them if they don’t keep up?

Resources to create a better Christmas:

• Christmas Stories for Secular Families
• Stories on Post-Consumerism for Kids
• Overcoming False Scarcity & Xenophobia with ‘Shelter’
• Appreciating hand-me-downs with ‘A Fire Truck Named Red’
• Santa Narratives & Origin Stories
• Comic for kids 9+ and adults: the Mental Load
• Raising Luminaries Podcast: How the Earthquakes Cancelled Christmas
• How to limit advertising influence on your kids

**No judgement if you still love to do CHRISTMAS TO THE MAX!!!!! It’s not my thing, but if it brings you joy, BRING ALL THE CHRISTMAS.

Unless your family has reached a state of enlightenment or you’ve managed to extricate yourself from a community saturated in capitalism and reciprocity, you’re probably going to have to participate in the whole gift-giving ordeal just to lubricate your social life for the next 12 months. So here we go, our old comprehensive list of gifts:  The Books For Littles Gift guide.

 

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Still doing gifts this year?

Save time & gift a year of monthly Little Feminist Book Club books for your favorite kiddo.

Use the code FAMILY4EVA at checkout for 15% off through December 2022.

This code is good for new and old customers alike, it just can’t be used for subscription renewals.

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Let’s learn about Kwanzaa

There are plenty of dry, didactic books explaining Kwanzaa for new folks – but where are the stories for second- and third-generation families who are well past the need for a primer?

Here are our three favorites – but there’s still plenty of room for authors to create new stories and adventures based on the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

 

When is it?

• December 26 through January 1

Read:

• Li’l Rabbit’s Kwanzaa (ages 4-7)
• Seven Spools of Thread (ages 4+)
• A Kwanzaa Celebration Pop-Up Book (ages 4-8)

Discuss as a family:

• Umoja (unity): In a society that divides people to make them easier to control and oppress, what are the benefits coming together and affirming a larger sense of ‘us‘?
• Kujichagulia (self-determination): Given our country’s history of enslavement, segregation, and mass incarceration, why is the ability to self-identify and choose their path so important to Black people living in the US?
• Ujima (collective work and responsibility): Why is it important for us to recognize our responsibilities in working together for shared safety and freedom?
• Ujamaa (cooperative economics): Why is it important for us to consider where, and with whom, we spend our money and distribute our wealth?
• Nia (purpose): How can we adjust our individual goals to support our wider community?
• Kuumba (creativity): Why should we strive to leave the world better than we found it? Why is it important to take time to create and appreciate beauty and joy even while we struggle?
• Imani (faith): Why is it important for us to work toward a goal that seems out of reach – that we may never see or achieve in our own lifetime?
• How are the rituals and principles of Kwanzaa similar to the ones in our other ancestral and cultural holidays?

Action:

• Grownups, register for free virtual bystander intervention training via Right to Be:
  Bystander Intervention to Stop Police Sponsored Violence and Anti-Black Racist Harassment, December 12, 2022, 1-2:15pm EST

Additional resources to dig deeper into this topic:

• Where are all the Kwanzaa books for kids?
• A sparse list of Kwanzaa Favorites where we’ll add new good finds as they’re published
• Kids Books About Collective Action

 

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Let’s learn about the Gregorian New Year

Since we celebrate the Lunar New Year, we don’t make a big deal out of the Gregorian one.

But if you’re looking for some books to ring in the new year, or enjoy learning a few traditions beyond staying up too late and smooching strangers (this pandemic ruins everything!!!), here are a few sweet stories.

 

When is it?

• Gregorian New Year happens on January 1, although it seems like New Year’s Eve on 12/31 is the actual Big Deal date.

Read:

• A Song of Frutas (ages 4-8)
• Shanté Keys and the New Year’s Peas (ages 3-8)
• Greet the Dawn (ages 6+)

Additional resources to dig deeper into this topic:

• Kids stories for the Gregorian New Year
• Books for Littles Best Books of 2022

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Monthly Explorations for December

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Let’s explore radical generosity

When we demonstrate radical generosity with our kids, we give without an expectation of getting anything back in return. Reciprocation is a healthy part of interdependence, but without rampant radical generosity, we just live in a transactional world of cold capitalism and a widening wealth gap.

Radical generosity is not setting ourselves on fire to keep others warm. It’s not violating our own boundaries, becoming a martyr, or silently suffering.

Radical generosity requires strong, resilient, transparent boundaries. As the Tomte in The Tomten and the Fox says to the starving fox he’s chosen to care for: ‘No eating hens!’ We’re allowed to choose who we support, what that support looks like, and under what circumstances we’re willing to do so. Being generous doesn’t mean being a doormat.

Radical generosity does not mean throwing gifts at everyone we know, just for the sake of giving. It’s not showing up to every invitation. Radical generosity means listening to what people really need, understanding how supporting them benefits our wider community – and then asking ourselves if we’re willing, and able to help them get there.

Sometimes that sounds like a thoughtful, conditional ‘Yes. I will do that for you, with the conditions...’ Sometimes that looks like a compassionate, honest, “Thank you for the opportunity to help, but no, I can’t.” without apology, and without feeling the need to justify our ‘no,’

 

Read:

• Extra Yarn (ages 4-7)
• The Tomten and the Fox (ages 3-6)
• No Water No Bread (ages 4-8)

Discuss:

• When have we felt happy to give?
• What do we find is easy to give? Acts of service? Gifts or donations? Our time, attention, or care?
• When have we felt obligated to give? How did it make us feel?
• When do we feel uncomfortable saying ‘no’? How can we role-play and practice our ‘no‘?
• How do we show appreciation for what we received?
• Have we ever felt the urge to ‘get even‘ with a return gift after receiving a kindness? Did it feel like healthy appreciation, or a competition to show off?

More resources to dig deeper:

• How we strengthen our communities with Kids Books about Radical Interdependence
• More Stories Cultivating Gratitude & Appreciation
• More Stories to discuss Courageous Generosity
• Kids books on building and respecting boundaries
• For Luminary Braintrust members: Unpacking Greed in Spirited Away

 

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Let’s learn about vaccinations and herd immunity

We got the Earthquakes vaccinated for both the flu and Covid, and oh my gosh, such sweet relief. If your kids are able and it’s accessible for your family, be a hero and get a shot. Herd immunity helps keep our most vulnerable community members safe.

For those of you who can’t be vaccinated due to having younger kids or health limitations, holding space for you, and I recognize this pandemic isn’t over, and it’s still up to us to wear masks and avoid crowds and foolish behavior. You deserve to be safe and it’s our responsibility as potential vectors to ensure that.

For those of you with kids who aren’t familiar with vaccines, who have vaccine-hesitant family who don’t understand the science – or how herd immunity works, – or don’t understand how it’s not only about you, or you can’t catch my autism through medicine (!!!), here are a few books to help.

They’re also helpful for kids who are less-than-wild about getting poked by sharp things, who are kind and brave, but still have some anxiety.

Stay save, spread hope, not germs!

Read:

• Baby Medical School: Vaccines (ages 3+) for a simple explanation of how vaccines work
• For kids who are nervous about shots, try The Little Ouch (ages 3-10)
• Judah Maccabee Goes to the Doctor (ages 4-7)
• Thank You, Dr. Salk (ages 4-8)

Discuss

• What is the difference between actual illness and symptoms and side-effects of a vaccine response?
• Why do we get vaccines even though we’re not currently sick?
• Some parents refuse to vaccinate their children because they are afraid. What are they afraid of?
• What is the anti-vaxx movement? What assumptions does this movement make about our responsibility to keep others safe?

Take action

• Book a covid vaccination for your child or yourself
• Help someone who faces barriers getting vaccinated, for example:
  • Overwhelmed parents who might not have time to spare booking a vaccination (this is a surprisingly big hurdle).
  • Families who need transportation but are uncomfortable with public transportation and ride-shares due to exposure risk.
  • Families who have transportation, but can’t take time off (work, school, getting dinner on the table, caring for younger children or elders, etc.) for vaccinations.
  • Vaccine-hesitant families who need someone to take them seriously in a conversation. Be the person who can just listen to their concerns without trying to convince them or bend to your will. Affirming that their fears are a sign they want to do best for their kids, and asking what information they need and for how they want to move forward – is a great way to support families and open minds.

Resources to dig deeper:

• The Neurodivergent Narwhals explain Coronavirus
• Stories to help your kids understand vaccines & herd immunity
• Motivating Kids To Protect Others With ‘Do Not Lick This Book’
• Inclusive Kids Books about Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Mathematics
• Kids Books For Pandemic Life
• Books to brighten days home sick
• Books To Reassure Kids During Coronavirus Isolation
• Whenever the Earthquakes get a little uppity and superior about ‘knowing better’ than anti-vaxxers, I like to knock a bit of humility into them with: What is the Dunning-Kruger effect? (9+)
• Vaccines do not cause autism (8+)
• Unpacking the vaccines and autism medical myth (8+)

[Video description: R2 explains for other kids what to expect from the first covid vaccination Captions available.]

 

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Let’s Rally through the Winter Season with Trickster & Animal Stories

In celebration of the long-term thinking required of radical generosity, let’s read some cathartic stories of animals acting selfishly and impulsively, before finally learning the benefits of working together.

 

 

Read

• Spirits of America (7+)
• Rabbit’s Snow Dance (ages 3+)
• The Origin of Day and Night (ages 6-9)
• The Raven and the Loon (ages 4+)

Watch

• Owl & Raven: An Inuit Legend.

Discuss

• How does this story show us what personal and community qualities the storyteller values?
• Why do we still tell this story?
• How would this lesson apply to a real-life decision we’ve faced before?
• To be satisfied and happy with the process, what expectations and hopes do we have to let go of when we help someone else?

Additional resources to dig deeper into this topic:

• Find Trickster Stories that connect to your family’s culture, or stories told with permission from your local Indigenous nations.
• Animal Stories
• Winter Favorites
• A rundown of our favorite Sun Wukong stories for kids
• On animal personhood & rights: Stories About Animal Rights & Anti-Speciesism

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Let’s Explore World Faith & Religion

Respecting and supporting the religious and cultural practices of others doesn’t threaten our faith, it’s just makes it stronger.

As an athiest-agnostic family, our kids have a healthy appreciation and respect for folks of faith. With these stories, we see how the foundation of our values are rooted in the same humane principles of justice, love, and interdependence.

 

Read:

• Winter Candle (ages 7-11)
• My Grandma and Me (ages 4-8)
• Yaffa and Fatima (ages 3.4-9)
• *Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints (ages 8+)
• *Finding Om (ages 4-8)
• *A Lion’s Mane (ages 4-8)

Additional resources to dig deeper into this topic:

• How We Are All Connected – Interfaith Kids Books for the Winter Solstice
• Progressive Kids Books About Faith, Religion,& Spirituality – many religions are under-represented in this list, mostly because the big 4 publishers aren’t interested in publishing any stories beyond popular monotheistic religions with wealthy members.
• Interfaith friendship stories
• Books For Littles Favorite Winter Stories
• How Kids Look For The Good In Folks with ‘Oskar And The Eight Blessings’
• Cozy Kid’s Books To Warm Up Your Winter
• For adults: Parenting Forward Podcast: Cindy Wang Brandt helps parents heal from religious trauma, break toxic cycles, and raise children with healthy spirituality and conscious citizenship.
• *Saffron Press, Sikh-owned indie publisher fights discrimination with gorgeous books
• *Circumventing white fragility with South Asian indie press, Mango & Marigold
• Raising Luminaries Devotionals for Radically Inclusive Agnostic Atheist Parents

*Disclosure and transparency! Daneen A. (author of Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints), Sailaja J. founder of Mango & Marigold Press (Finding Om), Navjot K., founder of Saffron Press (A Lion’s Mane), and Cindy Wang Brandt of Parenting Forward are friends of mine, and some have sent me free review copies of their books.

 

 

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December Family Actions:

 

Kids: Learn the third ‘D’ of Bystander Intervention: DELEGATE

“In our 5Ds for Kids animated videos for ages 3 to 10, they teach them how to respond constructively to bullying and racism. These videos are a great tool to help your children understand this problem and take action. Using catchy music and lyrics, the videos adapt Right To Be‘s 5Ds methodology (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct) to other concrete and empowering intervention strategies.”

via Right To Be, the AAJC & Woori Show. Click here for the full series.

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Grownups: Register for Free 1-Hour Bystander Intervention Training via Right To Be

• Bystander Intervention to Stop Antisemitic Harassment, December 14, 2022, 7-8pm EST
  Bystander Intervention to Stop Police Sponsored Violence and Anti-Black Racist Harassment, December 12, 2022, 1-2:15pm EST

 

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Help Iranians in Iran

The Iranian government is killing the Iranian people – targeting women and children, specifically.

What Iranians are asking for the most is help spreading awareness on social media and pressuring major news outlets to cover the atrocities.

Learn more about how to signal-boost the women- & youth-led Iranian resistance against the police state killing children and murdering political prisoners.

Have 15 seconds?

Text SIGN PZLFVW to 50409 or share this quick petition & script for calling Congress on Resistbot

Have 3 minutes?

Learn How To Be Their Voice

Have 5 minutes?

Share a public post on social media signal boosting an Iranian creator speaking out, using the hashtags #MahsaAmini | – #JinaAmini | #ZhinaAmini | #IranProtests |#Iran

 

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Kids Kindness as Action: Support Under-Served Youth

Donate – Today’s act of kindness is a pretty standard one, but still valuable!

 

Find a local to you organization and make a donation. It can be $5 or $50, whatever you are able to give. Try to find either an organization that’s new to you, a cause you aren’t familiar with but strikes a cord, or an organization that specifically caters to serving kids in a way that’s meaningful to you.

 

Give thoughtfully and discuss with your kids where you’re donating and why.Ask kids if they want to donate, too!

 

Shared with permission in cahoots with Revolutionary Humans!

> Support Bellamy’s work here. <

 

Looking for an organization to support?

Project Nia works to end the incarceration of children and young adults by promoting restorative and transformative justice practices.

Led by Black women & femmes, Project Nia maintains a list of educational resources, programs, and tool kits, such as this video for kids on what it really means to ‘Defund The Police.’

In 2021, I redirected over 12% of my patreon contributions to organizations like this.

Join me and donate $15 to Project Nia.

 

 

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Grownups: Join When We Gather’s Stories That Save Us

“Stories shape our world in big and small ways and, in our hardest moments, can give us hope for the future. Whether you are a natural storyteller, writer, or artist, or not, I hope you’ll join us for this exciting and inspiring exploration of stories and the revolutionary humans who tell them.”

Register for Jan. 15, 2023 here.

Register for Feb. 4, 2023 here.

Learn more about Stories That Save Us

Psssst: I’ll be one of the guest hosts, focusing on my decades of work exploring single motherhood in the Invisible Obstacles Series along with how I processed childhood trauma, navigated seven years of infertility and pregnancy loss, and learned how to parent an Autistic kiddo as an Autistic parent through my work as a documentary photographer. – Ashia 😉

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Quick & Easy 5-Second Actions

Thanks to our Action Sleuth, Shannon B. S. for these quick & easy calls to action saving us all time & mental bandwidth!

• Sign this petition to tell Congress that we must act before the end of 2022 to protect DACA recipients. Via Moms Rising. 
• Submit a template thank-you letter to Congress for investing in electric school buses. Via Moms Clean Air Force.
• Amplify & share this awareness campaign to close the nature equity gap for targeted kids. Via Sierra Club & AddUp

 

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Join the Luminary Brain Trust & Support My Work

“I don’t have time to respond to every call to action – but that doesn’t mean I’m not engaged – I’m just busy – my youngest is screaming and someone just shit themselves.”

“As an education consultant and a home-schooling parent, I can tap into the collective wisdom of the Luminary Brain Trust for an inclusive, neurodiversity-accessible library of resources so I don’t have to waste time on Google.”

April B., Member since 2018

This November, we explore how to release draining friendships that leave us too exhausted to show up for our families and activism.

Learn more and find out what’s new in the LBT this month. Your membership fees are how I support my family while creating all of this :::gestures broadly around at everything here:::

 

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Good Finds for December

Our Good Finds collections are now sorted by reader age!

You can keep track of great new finds as we add them to the in-progress best books of  2022, as well as books that made us laugh and our Winter Favorites.

 

One more good thing…

So in those merciful moments when the Earthquakes aren’t screaming at each other and I’m not negotiating with them to pick up their damn socks, they have pockets of weird awesomeness, like this:

[Video description: R2, our resident pescatarian and chicken-rights advocate, slowly chicken-walking across the kitchen, singing “buck-a, buck-a chicken, buck buu-uck” on repeat. He did this several times a day, every day, for over a month. We still don’t know why.]

 

 

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Stay Curious, Stand Brave & Smash The Kyriarchy

In case you didn’t catch it – THANK YOU! I appreciate the heck out of you, being here, doing the work you’re doing in the world, igniting that next generation of luminaries. ​​I like you!

Gosh you worked hard this year. Good job.

With you,

Ashia R.

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Join the Raising Luminaries Community

Knowing we’re in this together, each making tiny steps toward courageous, radical kindness – we’re not alone!

 

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<< PREVIOUS November Resource Roundup |||  ALL Monthly Resource Roundups ||| NEXT January Resource Roundup >>

 

In the comments: Let’s discuss, reflect, and brainstorm:

• What initiatives are you working on this December?
• What challenges are you facing balancing parenting and activism?
• How can we help each other raise kind & courageous leaders?