How Black Families Empower Students: Racial Socialization, Self-Efficacy, and Everyday Advocacy

Bridges Leadership and Education Service LLC

By Dr. Yvette C. Latunde

We don’t have to wait for a new program, grant, or policy to support Black students. We already have what we need—each other.

From front porch conversations to Sunday dinner affirmations, Black families and communities have long practiced racial socialization: teaching our children who they are, where they come from, and how to move through the world with confidence and awareness. This is more than protection—it is cultural empowerment and identity development.

At the same time, our children’s self-efficacy—their belief that they are capable, worthy, and equipped—is shaped not just by schoolwork, but by us. By the way we say, “You’ve got this.” By the way we prepare them to speak up. By the way we model resilience and self-advocacy, even when systems fail us.

But this work doesn’t stop at home. It must expand from private encouragement to public advocacy—from whispering affirmations to demanding collective accountability from the institutions that serve our children and families.

The dual power of racial socialization and self-efficacy

Racial socialization teaches Black children:

• That they are more than stereotypes

• That they come from legacy, brilliance, and creativity

• How to interpret and resist racism without internalizing it

Self-efficacy helps them:

• Trust their thinking and voice

• Ask for help and advocate for themselves

• Recover from mistakes and persist despite adversity

Together, these tools lay the foundation for positive identity formation, academic achievement, and emotional resilience—all essential for long-term success.

Everyday family practices that grow confidence and capacity

Black families and communities already lead in ways that matter. Here are a few everyday practices that build student confidence, critical thinking, and self-advocacy:

• Tell our stories. Teach children about Black innovators, artists, scientists, and changemakers—past and present.

• Practice self-advocacy. Help them rehearse asking questions, sharing their needs, and speaking up respectfully.

• Choose mirrors, not just windows. Read books and watch media that reflect Black joy, creativity, and leadership.

• Affirm their worth daily. Say it out loud: “You are capable. You are valuable. You belong.”

• Teach truth with care. Discuss racism and bias honestly, but always return to their power—not just the pain.

These aren't just parenting techniques—they’re acts of preparation, resistance, and love.

From the garden to the school board: family-led advocacy for educational equity

Encouragement is essential, but not enough. Black families must be co-designers of educational systems—not just recipients of school policy. Start here:

1. Identify 1–3 shared priorities

Choose clear, community-rooted goals. Consider:

• High-quality, culturally responsive teaching

• Safe and supportive school environments

• Equitable access to programs like AP, GATE, Special Education, early college, and counseling

These goals give your advocacy a focus and a standard to hold institutions accountable to.

2. Organize a rotating presence

Be present at:

• School board meetings

• Local education councils

• City and district policy spaces

Create a schedule so community members rotate in and out. Visibility builds influence.

3. Use data to tell the story

Collect and analyze school data on:

• Discipline disparities

• Academic achievement

• Enrollment in advanced programs

• Access to counselors and post-secondary pathways

Pair numbers with lived experiences. This combination makes injustice harder to ignore.

4. Require public plans with timelines

Push schools to:

• Publicly acknowledge challenges

• Share specific, research-informed strategies

• Assign responsibilities and clear deadlines

Ensure there’s a way for the community to track and revise the plan—not just internal evaluation.

5. Bring in trusted Black experts—with structure and support

Don’t be the unpaid expert. Instead:

• Recommend Black educators, youth leaders, and mental health professionals

• Require fair compensation, long-term engagement, and actual decision-making power

• Make sure their involvement is part of a broader, sustainable strategy—not a one-off training

Real change requires more than symbolism. It needs time, money, and commitment to transformation.

You belong in the room

You don’t need a policy degree or a title to speak up. You need presence. You need clarity. You need the unwavering belief that Black children deserve systems that work as hard as we do.

Black families already know how to nurture brilliance. It’s time institutions match that energy—with transparency, shared responsibility, and lasting investment.

Let’s keep it going

There is no single solution to centuries of injustice in education. But there is power, wisdom, and strategy in Black families and communities. Together, we can raise the next generation not just to survive—but to lead, innovate, and thrive.

I’ll be sharing more in my August 5 keynote, The Audacity of Black Families (https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/not-like-us-cbce-annual-conference--2025), and in my forthcoming book, Affirming the Role of Black Families in Education: A Community-Based Approach to Family Engagement, coming Spring 2026 from Routledge. It offers practical tools, elder wisdom, real stories, and research-based guidance rooted in love, justice, and lasting change.

Thank you for everything you do for our children.

#Black family engagement, #racial socialization, #educationalequity, #self-efficacy, #culturallyresponsiveteaching, #schooladvocacy, #family-school partnerships, #Black student success, #Dr. Yvette C. Latunde