STEPPING UP AGAINST RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA (sparx) pROJECT

with Dr. Deborah-Rivas Drake & the SPARX Team
(2019-2021)

A lot of people have been having thoughtful conversations about racism and xenophobia with friends and family recently. Parents and teachers have told us that many recent events have brought these topics up in their households and in schools, events like the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement, the increase in anti-Asian hate with the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-immigrant laws, and more. Our team realized that there are many people who are ready to have these hard conversations about racism and immigration with the youth in their lives but don’t know where to start. And others others who are already doing it are looking for more opportunities to keep learning.

Adults need opportunities to learn from their own experiences so they can in turn support the youth in their lives. Their lives are also busy and complicated! They told us they want a rich but easy-to-navigate menu of options for learning. They want different types of resources that they could read, watch, or listen to and at different entry points to a bigger conversation.

With insights from researchers, practitioners, caregivers, and community co-designers in mind, we designed the Stepping uP Against Racism and Xenophobia (SPARX) Project. This is a theory- and evidence-informed website that has free, publicly available resources as well as a curriculum with structured learning modules. We hope these carefully curated resources will help adults feel confident in having conversations with the youth in their lives and keep growing their ability to recognize, respond to, and disrupt racism and xenophobia wherever they encounter it.