“ANYONE CAN PLAY”Earlier this year, The Imagine Neighborhood™ released the limited series Imagine Equity: Six New Stories About Race, Identity, and Making Things Right, which empowers listeners to take pride in their own identities, celebrate diversity, and stand up against discrimination.Thanks to the generous support of The Allstate Foundation, this week, we're revisiting the Imagine Equity episode "Anyone Can Play"!When Macho Supreme and Count Vacula find a big cardboard box and decide to play Nebula Trek in it, Vac is excited to pretend to be one of his favorite characters from his favorite movie! But every time Vac jumps in, Macho won’t let him play. Because the actors in the Nebula Trek movie are white, Macho thinks that only white people can play them, and Vac is Asian.When we tell someone they can’t be part of something because of their identity, that’s called exclusion. And excluding people is not only wrong, it makes our world a little smaller!When we exclude, we put limits on the kinds of fun we can have, the kinds of stories we can tell, and even the friends we can play with. But when we use our imaginations to make room for everyone to play, we can go anywhere, and we can do anything!You can hear more from the Imagine Equity series by visiting the Imagine Equity page on our website—where you can also get downloadable PDFs with activity ideas and discussion prompts from the episodes. And as always, we’d love to get your feedback, drawings, and ideas at kind@imagineneighborhood.org.This show is supported by a generous grant from The Allstate Foundation. The Allstate Foundation works to empower youth to reach their full potential and build the just, equitable, and healthy world we all deserve. To learn more, visit AllstateFoundation.org.