We have reposted this blog post from the Communities Count blog, please note that it has been edited for brevity.
In this two-part blog series, we share what we heard from parents and families on their experiences of everyday racism through the Best Starts for Kids Health Survey (BSKHS) and café community discussions. Read the first blog of this two-part blog series here.
In sharing back what we heard with community partners, King County policymakers, and program staff, we continue to inform our ongoing work and build toward a shared vision of lifelong health and well-being for children, youth, and families across the county.
We are thankful to all the families who shared their stories with us and are grateful to share our full report, “Understanding Experiences of Racism for King County Families,” below!
This series includes findings for 10 communities:
- African American
- Afro-Latina/x/o – view translated Spanish version here
- Cambodian (Khmer) – view translated Khmer version here
- Ethiopian – view translated Amharic version here
- First Peoples (American Indian/Alaska Native)
- Hispanic/Latina/x/o – view translated Spanish version here
- Middle Eastern/North African – view translated Dari version here
- Pasifika (Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander)
- Somali – view translated Somali version here
- Vietnamese – view translated Vietnamese version here
Opportunity for other BIPOC communities to share experiences
The 10 communities reflected in this series heard about the café discussions from the Community Café Collaborative or through their work with King County and were the first to express interest in hosting café discussions. We acknowledge that there are many other communities whose experiences are not represented in this series and would love to hear from community partners who are interested in interpreting and sharing their experiences for other BIPOC communities such as: Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, parents in multiracial households, and LGBTQ BIPOC communities.
Please reach out to bsk.data@kingcounty.gov to discuss this opportunity further.
Thank you!
We’d like to acknowledge and thank the many people who contributed to this project:
- The families who shared their personal experiences in the survey and café discussions.
- The Community Café Collaborative who led the cafés with families, including Sunny Giron, Amanda Rambayon (Little Shell Tribe/Turtle Mountain Chippewa), and Shereese Rhodes for their leadership on this project.
- Public Health-Seattle & King County’s Assessment, Policy Development & Evaluation Unit staff for their role in collecting, analyzing, and reporting results, particularly Kristin Moore, Susan Hernandez, Eva Wong, Kim Tippens, Mohit Nair, Jay Marshall, Vanessa Quince, Sara Jaye Sanford, Anne McNair, Nadine Chan, and Marguerite Ro.
- Graphic design and illustrations by Elsa Ferguson of What Else Designs LLC.