Helping families talk about anti-Blackness 💌Letters for Black Lives

An interview with Hema Karunakaram & Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani, two of the volunteers behind Letters for Black Lives. Conversations about race are never easy. For first generation Americans, there are added layers that make initiating these conversations difficult. Parents and children have different knowledge of American history, and many terms central to this conversation do not translate directly to parents and grandparents’ native languages. In the weeks following George Floyd’s death, Hema Karunakaram and Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani joined hundreds of first generation Americans and Canadians to draft templates for conversations with elders around anti-blackness and racism. In this interview, Hema and Adrienne share how people from all over are working together with peers and elders to provide translated blueprints for these conversations.