(guest post from Shereen Rahming and the LRSJC)

Hello to you all.  I am a mom and children’s book author.  In the summer of 2015, my husband and I moved our family to the quaint town of Ladera Ranch, California.  We arrived with all the hope and excitement of enthusiastic new residents.  But we soon became unsettled by the homogeneity of the community.  You see, we are a family of color who moved to a place where there are few people or images of people of color.  My daughter went from rarely seeing representation of herself in school books and materials to never seeing it.  I struggled with this.  We weren’t sure how to proceed.  We even pondered leaving.

Then through the power of social media, I became aware of another Ladera Ranch mom who was looking to start a social group with individuals who wanted to discuss social and racial justice, equity, and diversity.  Naturally, I contacted her right away and was pleased to find out that there were other parents who wanted to engage in such conversations.  We gathered for our first meeting in October 2016 and so was born the Ladera Ranch Social Justice Committee.

Our goal is to include and advocate for culturally and socio-economically diverse families within and beyond Ladera Ranch, including multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and LGBT families.  We would also like to support schools, teachers, and libraries in developing curriculum and policies that include and engage all students, promote critical thinking, and prepare children to interact effectively in our diverse global world. [Read more…]