Tag: interracial

Who Was the Real Dido Elizabeth Belle?

What historical records say about the mixed-race heroine of a new film.

Have you seen the movie yet? If not, do you plan on it? I sure do!

See on www.theroot.com

Our Kids Are Becoming More Racially Diverse, But Our Cancer Treatments Aren’t Keeping Up

Flier being circulated to help Baylor find a bone marrow donor

Seven-year-old Baylor needs a multiracial bone marrow donor to hep treat his leukemia. But that’s easier said than done.

Only two percent of mixed race children find a match on the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Find out what’s being done (and what you can do about it): thinkprogress.org

Video: Who is Black in America (Full Show, No Commercials)

Compelling documentary produced by CNN. If you didn’t catch it on TV, you won’t want to miss this!

Enjoy!

Your friends at iCelebrateDiversity.com

Poem: “We are talking about” (biracial)

This will be my last poem from Arnold Adoff’s book “All the Colors of the Race” that I featured a couple of days ago. There are many more great poems in the book–buy it or check it out from your local library!

We are talking about

by Arnold Adoff

We are talking about

                           the ones who pick        their friends

                           because of how    black      they act

                                                                             or

                           because of how    white     they can

                                                                             be.

Sometimes blackness seems too black for me,

                    and whiteness is too     sickly pale;

                    and I wish every

                                        one were golden from

                                                                    the

                                                                   sun.

                         Golden from the

                                                   inside

                                                out.

Poem: “On my applications” (biracial)

Here’s another great poem from Arnold Adoff that was in the book All the Colors of the Race that I featured yesterday.

On my applications

by Arnold Adoff

On my applications   I can

                               put:

this girl:

          a black,

             white,

Christian,

Jewish,

            young

            woman:

                 student,

                 musician,

singer,

dancer,

runner    in the middle distance races,

                 is willing to help you

                 if you take her as she

                                             is.

Poem: “The lady said” (biracial)

Here is a tiny treasure that I found in the library this summer. A book of poems, All the Colors of the Race, written by Arnold Adoff. Based on his own interracial family, Adoff writes from the perspective of his biracial (black/white) daughter, which I find very interesting. At first I was a bit thrown off because I generally prefer poetry to rhyme, however, his style is considered “free verse” poetry. The more I read (and re-read) them, the more I fall in love with them! I hope you do too.

The lady said

by Arnold Adoff

The lady said:       what are you going to

                                                 be

                                when you grow

                                all the way up?

And I said:      a woman.

And she said.     No. I mean what are

                                          you

                                          now?

And I said:   a girl.

And she said:   No. I mean what do you call

                                        yourself?

And I said:   Honey. Baby. Sweet

                                       potato

                                       pie

                                       face me.

If she finds it hard,

                     I find it easy

     to make it hard for her.

Children’s Book: “Peanut Butter Brother” (Interracial)

I’m Your Peanut Butter Big Brother

by Selina Alko

Interracially married, author/illustrator Selina Alko came up with the idea for this book while pregnant with her first child. She wondered what the child might look like–and created a darling children’s book that reflects the many possibilities.

(from the book) Big Brother wonders whether the new baby will look like him. He blends from semisweet dark Daddy chocolate bar and strawberry cream Mama’s milk. He’s the baby’s peanut butter big-brother-to-be.

Will the baby’s hair look like big brother’s soft, crunchy billows of cotton candy, or Noel’s string beans locked this way and that, or Akira’s puffy head of broccoli flowerets?

Will the baby’s eyes match big brother’s–hot cocoa footballs set wide apart–or will they be a perfect pair of pennies?

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the illustrations! This will be a favorite in our home for sure! Order here.

Rug – Children Around the World

children around the world rug

Show your love for all people with this bright and colorful rug! This would look great in a playroom, bedroom or classroom! Available here in several shapes and sizes.

Interracial Marriage Legal 43 Years

Today is a very special anniversary for my family. Forty-three years ago today, Mildred and Richard Loving won the Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, allowing interracial couples to marry.

Illegal to marry in Virginia, the Loving’s drove to Washington DC to take their vows. Upon return to Virginia, they were arrested and sentenced to one year in prison for violation of the Virginia Racial Integrity Act of 1924 that criminalized marriage between whites and non-whites. Their sentence was suspended for 25 years on the condition they agreed to leave the state.

The Lovings appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, Loving v. Virginia, was decided unanimously in the Lovings’ favor on June 12, 1967. The Court overturned their convictions. 

The couple never wanted to be famous, just happy. They went on to have three children.

Richard Loving died at age 41 in 1975, when a drunken driver struck their car. Mildred Loving died of pneumonia on May 2, 2008, in Milford, Virginia, at age 68. Her daughter, Peggy, said, “I want [people] to remember her as being strong and brave, yet humble—and believ[ing] in love.”  The final sentence in Mildred Loving’s obituary in the New York Times read, “A modest homemaker, Loving never thought she had done anything extraordinary. ‘It wasn’t my doing,’ Loving told the Associated Press in a 2007 interview. ‘It was God’s work.’

On a personal note, I, too, think it was God’s work. His signature is in their last name!

Beginning

I’m so excited about starting this blog! It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a while but I wasn’t sure exactly what approach I wanted to take with it. Well, this weekend I sat on a panel at a transracial adoption workshop and know exactly what I want to do!  I want to create a place where we can share our experiences of having a multiracial family, ask questions, post frustrations, share resources and encourage each other. This is my first blog, so I’m going to have to learn how to navigate the blogosphere, but I’m looking forward to the journey! Will you join me?