“I'm Black in the Mumford And Sons moments and I'm Black in the Kendrick Lamar moments and I guess it's not as much of this badge that I have to show anymore.”

Meet Isaac.

"I'm the founder of Etter Consulting. We specifically consult around transracial adoption, including consultation with adoption agencies. We do a lot to reform adoption within the system. I'm a queer Black man, a father, an activist, and all the fun things."

Here's some of what we talked about:

• How Etter Consulting started from his personal experiences as a transracial adoptee
• His work with young activists to help them create the change they want to see in the world
• Discovering racism on Tumblr when he was 16 and how he processed his thoughts and feelings while living in a white community
• Becoming an activist
• Working with Black kids as a camp counsellor and learning from his experiences with them
• Finding ways to enter activism in a grounded way
• His practices to care for his body and emotions
• Developing a relationship with his birth mother
• The keys to Etter Consulting's impact
• Getting people to open up to real change in his talks
• Helping his participants get to the implementation phase.

Annie's take-aways for adoptive parents:

• I heard how adoptees need to be really listening to their bodies and emotions. And that's something as a parent that I can encourage in my kid. I heard the examples of ways to do that being journaling, physical activity (in his case basketball) and meditation. I also want to model those things, because I think we have an easier time doing those things if we see our parents doing them.
• I heard how coming out of the adoption bubble of childhood brings a new layer of challenges and complicated moments. It's so helpful to know that and to be able to anticipate that.
• I also got the book Isaac mentioned: Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew. Since it impacted him so much that told me it was worth reading. It's got some gems in it which we can talk about more at some point.

Katelyn's take-aways for adoptees:

• I want to encourage adoptees who have been displaced from your community to look to internal validation for your identity. Before entering activism, pay attention to what is going on inside.
• It's important for adoptees to find other adoptees they can share their stories with and feel really seen and heard and validated.

Resources Discussed:

Book: Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew by Sherrie Eldridge

Adoptee Influencers who inspire Isaac:

Rhonda Roorda

Hannah Matthews

Tiffany Henness

Brittany Nash

Kevin Hoffmann