This is incredible and I sincerely support this being that I too am raising another's child. Kudos to all involved. I by no means intend to detract from this awesome event BUT the visual here is telling... https://twitter.com/govparsonmo/status/1385329758658088960

When it comes to adoption, we may assume all children are treated equally. But research shows that darker-skinned children are constantly discriminated against--both by potential adoptive parents and social workers tasked with protecting their well-being...

Parents pursuing adoption within the United States have strong preferences regarding the types of babies they will apply for, tending to choose non-African-American girls, and favoring babies who are close to being born as opposed to those who have already been born...

According to data from the US Commission on Civil Rights, children with lighter skin were adopted more quickly out of foster care. This is an interesting paradox given it tends to cost less to adopt Black children. YES this felt cringy as heck to type....

A big part of the issue is VISABILITY. Who even is reaching out to the Black community regarding adoption rather that that last minute dash to "place" children I'm a foster situation upon crisis? Doesn't look like anyone Black even knew about THIS event ...

...and I work in the Capitol & talk about my kid all the time! My "niece" didn't have to be or should she have been the only brown person there. This isn't/shouldn't have even appeared to have been partisan (I'd only ever seen Black foster parents until I was nearly grown)...

Anywho, we exist, both Black adoptive parents AND children. Here's the day I dropped EVERYTHING, moved from Louisiana, and got mine (although he's my biological nephew and has always been *mine).

He was SO smol back then y'all!
Again, KUDOS & THANK YOU TO ALL INVOLVED!