Community Events

How we perceive children – and the assumptions we make about them – can profoundly shape the way we understand, respond to, and support them in grief. This thought-provoking session will explore the ways implicit and explicit bias influence our perceptions of grieving children and families, and how those perceptions can affect the support we provide. 

Drawing on research and examples related to Black, Hispanic/Latino, AAPI, and other communities, Vic will examine how culture, identity, and social context can shape assumptions about how children grieve, communicate, behave, and cope. Participants will be invited to consider how their own perceptions and biases may influence their interactions with grieving children and to reflect on what it takes to create more inclusive, equitable, and compassionate spaces for grief support.

The presentation will emphasize research and practical reflection, helping participants recognize bias, challenge assumptions, and approach each child’s grief experience with greater curiosity, cultural humility, and openness.

Learn more about Vic here

Grief does not occur in a cultural vacuum. For Latino/x children and families, cultural traditions, beliefs, values, family relationships, and community can shape how grief is understood, experienced and expressed. At this same time, there is no single Latino/x experience of grief; each family brings its own cultural identity, history, beliefs, and lived experience to their grief.  

This presentation will explore cultural factors that may influence grief and mourning practices within the Latino/x community, including both the strengths and challenges that can shape the bereavement experience. Participants will consider how culture, family, spirituality, and community may influence the ways children and families make meaning of loss and seek support. The presentation will also invite reflection on how participants' own assumptions, cultural perspectives and practices may influence the support they provide.

Participants will gain practical strategies for providing culturally responsive and compassionate grief support that honors the diversity, resilience, relationships, and individual experiences of the Latino/x children and families while avoiding assumptions about what grief "should" look like within the cultural community.

Learn more about Christina here

Queer youth of color carry stories shaped by life, healing, identity, culture, community, resistance, and radiant possibility. Yet their grief often lives at the intersections of racism, homophobia, transphobia, cultural expectations, family and community relationships, social injustice, and the ongoing struggle to be fully seen, valued, and safe. 

Drawing upon contemporary grief theory, intersectionality, and the lived experiences of queer youth of color, Adam Stevens will explore how race, culture, gender identity, and sexual orientation influence the ways young people experience, express, and make meaning of grief and loss. Particular attention will be given to suffocated grief – grief that becomes constrained, dismissed, distorted, or silenced when a young person’s identity, relationships, community, or loss is not fully recognized.

Rooted in cultural humility and an unapologetically affirming approach, this session invites participants to move beyond simply acknowledging identity toward creating spaces where queer youth of color can bring their whole selves and their whole stories. Together, we will consider how grief support can honor the brilliance of Black and Brown LGBTQIA+ young people, affirm trans and intersex youth, challenge systems of silence, and create pathways toward healing, belonging, resilience, and liberation.

Because queer youth of color deserve more than visibility. 

They deserve to be seen, loved, protected, celebrated, and heard. All of us. All the time. No exceptions. No erasure.

Learn more about Adam here

This discussion will feature representatives from the Lincoln Indian Center, Asian Community & Cultural Center, Malone Center, and El Centro de las Américas in a conversation moderated by Adam Stevens.

What can we learn from the communities themselves about how children and families experience grief? This moderated community voices panel will bring together representatives from local cultural centers to share perspectives on how culture, traditions, beliefs, family practices, and community connections can shape the experience of grief and mourning. 

Panelists will explore the strengths and resources within their communities, as well as barriers that may make it more difficult for grieving children and families to access or engage with grief support. The conversation will also consider what helping professionals and community organizations can do to build trust, honor cultural differences, and provide support that is responsive to the communities they serve.

Participants will leave with greater awareness of the diverse ways grief may be understood and expressed, along with practical insights from local community leaders about creating more inclusive, culturally responsive spaces for grieving children and families.