East Erie Satellite: White Mothers of Black or Biracial Children: Parenting in the Shadow: Overlooked, Unheard, and Disregarded
In the grip of numerous deaths to young Black males, beginning with Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Eric Gardner, three Black women created #BlackLivesMatter to offer support and love to one another and to share their grief experiences of losing children, primarily black sons, to violence, many times through acts of police brutality. In 2023, the Pew Research Center reported that 51% of the adults in America supported the Black Lives Matter Movement. However, lost in the discussion centered within the Black Lives Matter Movement were a group of white mothers of biracial children who feared for the welfare of their children, confronted with the reality that their children were perceived as Black. Dr. Parris Baker, JES Scholar-in-Residence, will address the dilemmas, fears, and struggles of raising biracial, multiracial racial children in a polarized America and hear the strategies used by several white mothers to overcome their challenges.
Location: ECAT: Erie Center for Arts and Technology – 650 East Ave., Ada Lawrence Community Room, Erie, PA 16503
Date/Time: Thursday, March 6, 7-8:30PM
Admission: FREE
Parris J. Baker, PhD., MSSA, Associate Professor and Director, Social Work, Mortuary Science, and Gerontology Programs, Department of Criminal Justice & Social Work, Gannon University. He received his undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees in social work from Gannon University, Case Western Reserve University, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, and the University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work, respectively. In 2011, Dr. Baker became the first African American tenured professor at Gannon University. He most recently became a Jefferson Education Society Scholar-In-Residence and Harry T. Burleigh and Beyond Fellow.
