Tattered Cover is pleased to virtually welcome Melissa Guida-Richards to discuss her book What White Parents Should Know About Transracial Adoption on Thursday, October tth at 5:00pm MT. She will be in conversation with Tina Mowrey.
If you're the white parent of a transracially or internationally adopted child, you may have been told that if you try your best and work your hardest, good intentions and a whole lot of love will be enough to give your child the security, attachment, and nurturing family life they need to thrive.
The only problem? It's not true. What White Parents Need to Know About Transracial Adoption breaks down the dynamics that frequently fly under the radar of the whitewashed, happily-ever-after adoption stories we hear so often.
Written by Melissa Guida-Richards--a transracial, transnational, and late-discovery adoptee--this book unpacks the mistakes you don't even know you're making and gives you the real-life tools to be the best parent you can be, to the child you love more than anything.
From original research, personal stories, and interviews with parents and adoptees, you'll learn:
• What parents wish they'd known before they adopted--and what kids wish their adoptive parents had done differently
• What white privilege, white saviorism, and toxic positivity are...and how they show up, even when you don't mean it
• How your child might feel and experience the world differently than you
• All about microaggressions, labeling, and implicit bias
• How to help your child connect with their cultural heritage through language, food, music, and clothing
• The 5 stages of grief for adoptive parents
• How to start tough conversations, work with defensiveness, and process guilt
About the Author
MELISSA GUIDA-RICHARDS is an author, adoptee, and advocate based in Pennsylvania. She was adopted in 1993 from Colombia to a family in the USA. Her viral essay, "My Adoptive Parents Hid My Racial Identity From Me for 19 Years," was published in Huffington Post in April 2019. She soon launched the Adoptee Thoughts Instagram and Podcast to help elevate adoptee voices and educate adoptive parents on the nuances and complexity of adoption.
Guida-Richards graduated from SUNY Fredonia in 2015 and published her first book Bedtime, The Ultimate Battle in January 2020. Her work has appeared in Huffington Post, Zora by Medium, ElectricLit, and more. She has been on podcasts such as NPR's Code Switch, BBC Radio 4, The Adoption and Fostering Podcast, and Do the Work, and has appeared on panels such as We the Experts: Adoptee Speaker Series. Guida-Richards is also a contributing editor at The Everymom.
**Important Event Information**
-- This is a free, live stream event using Zoom Live Streamed to YouTube. You may choose to purchase a book through the event link and still gain access to the event.
-- Tickets are limited to one ticket per email address.
-- Attendees will be sent a link to join the live stream at least 30 minutes prior of the event via email
-- Presentation begins at 5:00pm
-- The event will last about one hour but the official end time of this event is an estimate
-- Event registration/tickets are available online ONLY, through Eventbrite. Tickets will not be sold in-store or through our website.
-- If you purchased a book, it will be mailed via media mail after the event
