How Keke Palmer plans to talk about race with her 3-year-old son

NEW YORK – Keke Palmer wants her movies to mean something.

It’s why she was immediately drawn to “I Love Boosters” (in theaters now), a fantastical, fast-fashion comedy that also tackles race, class and exploitation head-on.

Promoting the incisive social satire, Palmer, 32, has been thinking a lot about real-world issues and how they might one day affect Leo, 3, her son with ex-boyfriend Darius Jackson.

“I don’t want to give crazy power to it and say it’s my biggest fear,” Palmer says on a recent morning. “But as a Black mom of a Black child, you’re always thinking about, ‘How am I going to explain the Black stuff to him?’ I don’t want to steal his innocence because that’s what happens.

“I remember when I first understood concepts around racism or value in relation to my skin color,” she says. “I was like 5 years old and it’s not a good feeling. It’s like part of your innocence is gone because you have to have an awareness around systems in a way that nobody really should, but also, can become a gift if metabolized correctly.”

Palmer says that early awareness helped her navigate child stardom as the lead of Nickelodeon series “True Jackson, VP” and Disney Channel movie “Jump In!”

“So with my son, I'm always wondering and thinking about how I'm going to approach that," Palmer says. “How am I going to make sure that he feels like he gets to be a free child and he doesn't have to carry the weight of what that means to other people, but still be able to understand how he's perceived? That's a big thing.

“Also, his sense of power. We all have such a great sense of agency when we're kids, and then the world teaches us in different frameworks how we're supposed to adjust our power for the room.”

Some people become quieter, meaner or more comedic so they can get their needs across, the “Nope” actress adds.

“I see my son is very vocal, he’s very boundaried and he’s very demanding – and I don’t know where he gets it,” Palmer quips. “I want him to have that power, but I’m trying to figure it out.”

Before she found success in Hollywood as a preteen, Palmer came from a modest Midwest background and her parents taught her the value of a dollar at a young age. Although, because he’s still so young, she hasn’t broached “the money thing” yet with Leo.

“Sometimes I think I sound so crazy talking to him because it’s like, ‘He don’t understand what you’re saying, girl! He’s only 3 years old!’ ” Palmer jokes. “But I want him to understand the value of people's time and what they give him.”

Palmer and her son live in Los Angeles in the same house as her two sisters and their kids. As a result, they’re often surrounded by extended family.

“I want him to understand that is a real gift, and to always be appreciative of the people around him,” Palmer says. “To make sure that he's being kind and understands that's so nice – they don't have to do that. I'm really trying to make sure he understands that sense of gratitude, because he's growing up in a totally different way than I did.

“My older sister and I, we grew up the same way,” she says. “We're four years apart; we know life before I became Keke Palmer.” Now, “our kids have even more access and resources. I want them to remember where we came from, so they have gratitude for where we are now.”