Sunday, November 29, 2020

Our Favorite Things 2020 Holiday Gift Wish List

Happy holiday season, friends! This year, we want to share with you our multiracial family's favorite things. You know, the goodies you might want to add to your holiday shopping or wish list!

2020 has been an odd year, for sure, and without an end-in-sight. However, we can have some comfort and joy. Christmas IS NOT canceled! 

Before I dive in to our faves, remember that you can check out all our favorite representation matters holiday finds here. There are so many fantastic items to choose from! We're posting daily on Black Santa Joy's Facebook and Instagram pages, so be sure to follow us there!

Alright! Here we go! You can click on the links or the images to learn more about each featured product. Happy shopping!

1:  BESTTOOL Detangling Brush

We cannot get enough of this brush. It's sturdy, affordable, cleanable, and best of all, it WORKS! I love how easy it is to clean. No more wasting money on crappy brushes that don't last. 



If there's a book to gift (or get) this year, it's this brand-new release. There's no shock that it's received tons of 5 star reviews. Have you read it yet? 




We love, love, love this soap, perfect for sensitive skin. No sulfates, parabens, or animal testing. There's a light scent, healthy ingredients, and the bar is huge. This two-pack lasts us for months. Shea Moisture is a Black-owned business. 




This Black-owned business offers coffee that's fair-trade and four different taste options. The company donates 5% of their profits to at-risk youth organizations, too! To gift, pair the coffee with our favorite mug ever Yeti. And this year, they have a copper mug



The best children's book of 2020, in our humble opinion. Written by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C James, I Am Every Good Thing is a beautiful story about   This powerful author-illustrator duo also brought us Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut



This black with multi-colored letter tee comes in youth and women's sizes. Roll it up and place in a stocking. My toddler has this tee and always gets lots of compliments on it! Sweatshirts and tanks are also available, as well as several other styles and designs.  



We absolutely love this company! The variety pack is awesome for my family since we use every single skin tone offered. These bandages stay on and are flexible (perfect for busy kids and active adults). These make amazing stocking stuffers! 



This Black-owned business is rapidly growing. They create amazing representation matters puzzles for our children. There are tons and tons of designs to choose from!  





This Black-owned business offers many lip colors ranging from neutrals to bolds. The products are "long lasting, highly pigmented," vegan, and cruelty-free. These are perfect stocking stuffers. Now, how can you pick just one? 



Monday, November 9, 2020

Teach Your Kids the Truth About Thanksgiving, Not White-Washed, Fake History

Hey, all! It's been awhile since I've posted. We just launched Black Santa Joy on Facebook and Instagram, and we've been busy with that. Please join us? 

Today we're tackling Thanksgiving. Yes, like pumpkin pie (or maybe sweet potato is more your jam), mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, football Thanksgiving. If you have fond Thanksgiving memories like I do, you're a bit jaded by the fact that this holiday has been seriously white-washed. It's time that we teach our kids the truth.

Thankfully, there are a few children's books here to help us with this important conversation. We recently ordered all three of them, and I hope you will, too.


What can you do once you realize that we need to ditch the cheesy, disrespectful Indian-and-Pilgrim coming together nonsense that we artificially relied on before now? I personally don't plan to ditch Thanksgiving altogether. 

Instead, we will focus on 

-teaching our kids the historical truth

-reminding our kids what cultural appropriation is and why it's not okay

-focusing on family and being thankful

-continue to practice activism and anti-racism

How do you plan to celebrate Thanksgiving, if at all? Let's discuss on Facebook and Instagram

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

The Eleven Best Back-to-School Racially Diverse Children's Picture Books

It's back-to-school time, and no matter how you're choosing to educate your children this year, I want you to know I'm cheering for you! Maybe your kiddo needs a lunch box and backpack, or maybe school is wearing pajamas and hovering over a laptop at the kitchen table. 2020 has been a real doozy so far, and we just have to keep rolling with it.

Just because the coronavirus has taken over our newsfeeds (and is causing us to have some serious anxiety) doesn't mean we have to ignore making back-to-school special for our kids. I'm a big-believer in helping our children LOVE learning. One way to instill this desire to get educated is to positively enforce to our kids that craving knowledge, asking questions, and succeeding is important. 

Parents, we set the tone for our children. This year, it's going to be extra challenging to be positive about back-to-school, but we can do it. I've put together this book listing to help you. These racially diverse books are an awesome way to encourage your child to get excited about a fresh school year and new possibilities. I hope you'll check them out, choose a few, and read to your children! 

Click on the book image to learn more, including reviews, get a sneak peek inside, read a summary, and purchase if you wish.

Happy learning, happy reading, friends! And as always, please come hang out with me on Facebook and Instagram, where I'm posting all of our family adventures, favorite books, videos, answers to your questions, articles, and memes.