Stephenson & Fleming, LLP was established to serve all children and families. Today, we intentionally recommit ourselves to that mission and pledge our specific ongoing commitment to function as advocates for families we serve with Black children and/or Black parents and family members, prioritizing the physical and emotional safety of the children we advocate for. We are also challenging ourselves to find new opportunities for allyship and partnership with the Black community as a whole. We will use our position as attorneys to identify and support systemic reform opportunities that combat overt and systemic racism on both an individual case and system-wide basis. We are also committed to accessing and sharing resources that we find helpful in our own learning and advocacy.
The most effective resources we have recently witnessed regarding parenting, racism, institutional racism, and the current state of our country were created by none other than PBS and Sesame Street in partnership with CNN. If you are a parent, foster parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, or loving adult to any children in your life we recommend viewing and utilizing these two fabulous resources
A Special Event for Parents: Talking to Children Authentically about Race and Racism was a live event held on June 9, 2020. The event provided practical tips for engaging in conversation with your children and setting an example in your everyday life to combat overt and systemic racism. The recording can be viewed on PBS Kids for Parent’s YouTube channel.
Sesame Street and CNN partnered for a special called Coming Together: Standing up to Racism, which was a town hall for kids and families that aired on June 6, 2020. The town hall includes stories, questions and answers, and sharing by both adults and a favorite Sesame Street character to discuss how to combat racism and how children can effect change. The town hall can be viewed in its entirety here.
In the words of Sesame Street, we are committed to supporting “a world that is smarter, stronger, and kinder.”
