Month: September 2011

Webinar: Transracial Adoption – Becoming a Multiracial/Multicultural Family

I attended this webinar–it’s a great beginning…I hope there is more to come!!

Transracial Adoption – Becoming a Multiracial/Multicultural Family  from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Becoming a multi-racial/multi-cultural family through adoption. This webinar explores social definitions within the context of adoption to include race, ethnicity, nationality and culture. Our webinar informs participants of the joys and challenges of expanding families through Transracial adoption, provides awareness of the sensitivities to the lifelong impacts of adoption, and offers tangible suggestions for the community to help support and embrace families.

Song: Society’s Child (forbidden interracial) ~ Janis Ian

Society’s Child

by Janis Ian

Come to my door, baby,
Face is clean and shining black as night.
My mother went to answer you know
That you looked so fine.

Now I could understand your tears and your shame,
She called you “boy” instead of your name.
When she wouldn’t let you inside,
When she turned and said, “But honey, he’s not our kind.”

She says I can’t see you any more, baby,
Can’t see you anymore.

Walk me down to school, baby,
Everybody’s acting deaf and blind.
Until they turn and say, “Why don’t you just stick to your own kind.”

My teachers all laugh, their smirking stares,
Cutting deep down in our affairs.
Preachers of equality,
Think they believe it, then why won’t they just let us be?

They say I can’t see you anymore baby,
Can’t see you anymore.

One of these days I’m gonna stop my listening
Gonna raise my head up high.
One of these days I’m gonna raise my glistening wings and fly.

But that day will have to wait for a while.
Baby I’m only society’s child.
When we’re older things may change,
But for now this is the way, they must remain.

I say I can’t see you anymore baby,
Can’t see you anymore.

No, I don’t want to see you anymore, baby.

*Learn more about Janis Ian at her site and on wikipedia

Poem: In My Life (biracial)

In my life as a:
“Mixed-Race”,
“Half-Caste”,
“Biracial”,
“Heterogeneous”,
“Half-breed”,
“Multi-cultural”,
“Creole”,
“Mulatto”,
“Mongrel”,
“Hybrid”,
“Inter-racial”,
“None Of The Above”
“Other”

I’ve been told:
“You’re Too-Light”,
“You’re Not Light Enough”,
“You’re Too-Dark”,
“You’re Not Dark Enough”,
“You’re Too-White”,
“You’re Not White Enough”,
“You’re Too-Black”,
“You’re Not Black Enough”,
“You Have An Identity Crisis”,
“You’re Not One Of Us, You’re One Of Them”,
“You’re Not One Of Them, You’re One Of Us”,
“You Don’t Know Who You Are”,
“You’re Not White, You Must Be Black”,
“You’re Not Black, You Must Be White”,
“You’re Not Really White”,
“You’re Not Really Black”,
“You’re Both Black And White”,
“You’re Neither Black Or White”
“You’re Nothing Really”.

I’ve been:
Accepted By Black And By White,
Rejected By White And By Black,
Integrated With Black And With White,
Alienated From White And From Black,
Praised And Complemented By Black And By White,
Insulted And Offended By White And By Black,
Loved By Black And By White,
Hated By White And By Black,
Paid Attention By Black And By White,
Ignored By White And By Black,
Pleased By Black And By White,
Angered By White And BY Black,
Enlightened By Black And By White,
Frustrated By White And By Black,
Fascinated By Black And By White,
Bored By White And By Black,
Helped By White And By Black,
Hindered By Black And By White,

I’ve:
Lived With White And With Black,
Lived Apart From Black And From White,
Agreed With White And With Black,
Argued With Black And With White,
Laughed With White And With Black,
Cryed With Black And With White,
Wanted To Assimilate With White And With Black,
Wanted To Segregate From Black And From White,
Never Seen Anyone Who’s The Color Of Coal,
Never Seen Anyone Who’s The Color Of Snow.

~sabu

Children’s Book: “You Belong to Me Little One” (multiracial)

Joy! Oh, joy! In sharing the other books with you today, I discovered that Lisa Harper published another book at the end of May. In “You Belong to Me Little One“, she captures some of her favorite memories with her son, her favorite little man. So, white mommy and brown little boy. I ordered it today so I’ll give you an update after I receive it!

UPDATE: Precious poem and adorable pics! My heart gets FULL when I see books reflecting multiracial families! Thank you, Lisa Harper!

Children’s Book: “Welcome Home Little Baby” (multiracial)

Here’s another book by Lisa Harper. Based on a poem she wrote immediately after the arrival of their first adopted child, this story is perfect for anyone who has adopted or is going to adopt. I have to admit that I was disappointed with this book. While it is a darling poem, the book is SHORT. I read “I’m the Luckiest Mommy” first (I ordered them together) and this book had half the pages…well, actually it had the same number of pages but half of them were left BLANK. I called the publisher and they said it was not missing any pages. I still didn’t believe it and contacted the illustrator Sandra Martin (who by the way did a wonderful job) and again, she confirmed it wasn’t missing any pages. Disappointing. I guess if I were an adoptive mommy, it wouldn’t matter…I would just be thrilled to have a book about adoption that reflected my family. So, you might want to add this one to your collection.

Children’s Book: The Luckiest Mommy (multiracial)

This is such an adorable book! I love that it shows a white mom and brown daughter! The author, Lisa Harper, based the book on a silly song she sang to her daughters. My youngest daughter LOVES it! One of the things that I really like is the book can be for adoptive families or interracial families! A pet peeve of mine is when every book that shows a multiracial family is ABOUT being a multiracial family. Can’t someone just make some books that REFLECT multiracial families and are just everyday, fun books? Lisa Harper has done just that with this adorable book. There aren’t many out there, if you know of others, let me know! You WILL want to add this to your collection.