Jordin Sparks is finding it "so hard" to teach her son about racism.
The ‘American Idol’ alum is mother to two-year-old son DJ – whom she has with her husband Dana Isaiah – and has said she feels "devastated" that she needs to talk to her toddler about the impact racism will have on him as he gets older.
She said: "How do we tell him that he may be treated differently because his parents have melanin in their skin? It’s devastating. It’s so hard that we have to have that conversation; he’s so young, and it’s hard to chip away at his innocence in that way. We’re going to have to have a conversation that’s going to shatter some things for our son."
And the ‘No Air’ hitmaker, 30, is determined to throw her support behind the Black Lives Matter movement, because she wants to see a "better future" for her son.
She added: "I want his future to be better than this; it’s got to be better than this."
Jordin is currently enjoying some extra family time amid the coronavirus pandemic, and says her son has "blossomed so much" over the past few months.
Speaking to People magazine, she gushed: "DJ has just blossomed so much during this time. Being able to see him grow every single day is so much fun. This morning DJ walked up to Dana, shook his hand and said, ‘Nice to meet you, Dad.’ It was the cutest thing – we never taught him how to shake hands! He’s like a little Energiser bunny – he just keeps going and going."
Meanwhile, Jordin recently said she’s ready to speak her mind without worrying about offending people.
She said: "I’ve always been one of those people that fears being misunderstood. I would never intentionally try and hurt somebody’s feelings or try and offend anyone.
"I have been nervous to speak on things, a lot of times throughout my career. [But I] just can’t be afraid to offend people anymore, or to be misunderstood.
"This moment in time for me, especially being mixed, and especially having a Black husband, and a son that the world is going to view as Black as well – even though he’s got lighter skin and blue eyes, he’s still going to be a Black kid, you know what I’m saying? And for me, it was just like, you know what? Basically, expletive this. F this. I can’t, I cannot, I just can’t, I cannot not say anything. I have to say something."