tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19632269357303377102024-02-22T08:09:04.953-08:00Multiracial Asian Familiesthinking about race, families, children, and the intersection of mixed ID/AsianSharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-82783051618017940532016-10-07T05:34:00.000-07:002016-10-07T05:34:20.575-07:00Say Hapa, With Care<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i>this piece was originally published June 2014 on (the now defunct site) AAPI Voices </i></span></span><br /><br />by Sharon H. Chang <br /><br />What does Hapa mean? One way to know is to look at the ways in which the word is used.<br /><br />It’s a “Hawaiian word for ‘mixed-race’,” says <a href="http://hapakitchen.com/blog/about/">Hapa Kitchen Supper Club</a>, “coined to refer to people of East Asian and Caucasian backgrounds.” <a href="http://hapasushi.com/about-hapa/">Hapa Sushi Grill & Sake Bar</a> calls it “a harmonious blend of Asian and American.” It’s a “slang term,” proclaims <a href="http://naturalhapa.com/">The Natural Hapa: Bamboo Bundles</a> and <a href="http://www.hapatime.com/p/about-me.html">Hapa Time: Style Inspiration</a> chirps it’s “just one of the coolest words ever.” There’s <a href="http://www.hapayoga.com/">Hapa Yoga</a>, <a href="http://haparamensf.com/">Hapa Ramen</a>, <a href="http://www.hapagrillbeaverton.com/">Hapa Grill</a>, <a href="http://www.hapacupcakes.com/about.html">Hapa Cupcakes</a>, Hinode sells a “<a href="http://www.hinode.us/our-products/medium-grain/hapa-blend">Hapa Blend</a>” of brown and white rices and <a href="http://www.hapaculture.com/erasers/">Hapa Culture</a> sells…erasers?<br /><br />Let’s talk about this word, Hapa.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />
I spoke recently with <a href="http://ucsc.academia.edu/MaileArvin">Maile Arvin, Ph.D.,</a> a Native American scholar, a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Santa Cruz, and soon-to-be Assistant Professor at UC Riverside in Ethnic Studies. According to Maile, Hapa with a capital “H” (as used on the mainland) is indeed intended “to denote people with Asian and white ancestry.” But its Native Hawaiian roots look quite different:<br /><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Hapa is a Hawaiian language word literally meaning 'part.' Historically it was most often used as ‘hapa haole,’ which referred to a Native Hawaiian person who also had white ancestry. As other peoples from Asia and elsewhere came to Hawai'i, 'hapa' also came to refer to Native Hawaiians who also had other non-Native Hawaiian ancestry. The word began being used in Hawaiian language newspapers in the 1830s, and first appeared in Hawaiian dictionaries in the 1860s.</i></span></span></blockquote>
<br />The hapa of Maile’s people stands in stark contrast to a widely commodified version, which lumps together mixed-race Asians and Pacific Islanders and then somehow magically loses the Pacific Islander part. This is no accident (whether intentional or not). It stems from a history that has sought to forget and remove Native peoples for centuries. Maile further explains:<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For Native Hawaiians, ‘hapa’ is a way to claim and recognize those of us with multiracial ancestry as being integrally part of the lahui, or the Kanaka Maoli nation. This claiming is especially important because along with British and American settlement in Hawai'i, there was tremendous depopulation through the introduction of diseases to which Native Hawaiians had no immunity. The population of Hawai'i was between 800,000 and 1 million in 1778. By 1878, there were only around 50,000 Native Hawaiians. On top of depopulation, U.S. science, law, and popular culture began to divide Native Hawaiians into "Pure" and "Part" categories. ‘hapa’ identity was one way Native Hawaiians could refuse racial "blood" logics, and insist that we were still growing as a nation, not dying out.</span></span></i></blockquote>
<br />Lumping-then-losing by non-Native Hawaiians then is an insidious practice following in the veins of what’s long been happening institutionally. Consider for example that reporting Asian and Pacific Islander in combination (API) was federally directed until <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg_1997standards">Congress approved a revision</a> separating “Asian” and “Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.” Before the categories were separated things looked pretty awesome for Pacific Islanders. According to <a href="https://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p20-540.pdf">numbers generated by the U.S. Census in 2002</a>:<br />
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<ul>
<li>APIs were much more likely than whites to have earned at least a bachelor’s degree (average 48% API versus 30% whites)</li>
<li>APIs were unemployed at a similar rate to whites (6% API versus 5% whites)</li>
<li>40% of all API families had incomes of $75,000 or more, compared with 35% of white families </li>
</ul>
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But when the data was disaggregated, things were devastatingly different. <a href="http://advancingjustice-la.org/sites/default/files/A_Community_of_Contrasts_NHPI_US_2014.pdf">In their report</a> reviewing the state of NHPIs based on numbers around the turn of the century, <a href="http://empoweredpi.org/">Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)</a> and <a href="http://www.advancingjustice.org/">Asian Americans Advancing Justice (Advancing Justice)</a> found:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Only 18% of NHPIs have a bachelor’s degree, a rate identical to Blacks or African Americans</li>
<li>From 2007 to 2011, the number of unemployed NHPI increased 123%, higher than any other racial group, to an unemployment rate of 14%</li>
<li>NHPIs suffer high poverty (15%) and low per capita income ($19,051)</li>
</ul>
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It would seem pretty obvious that we are dealing with some strong settler-colonial echoes out of the past. But given the 1st TEN pages of my Google “hapa” search turned up only happy sales pitches loaded with utopian visions of an Asian minus Pacific Islander race-blended future (that you can usually eat), I don’t know that we’re getting the picture. Take the afterword to Kip Fulbeck’s well-known <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Part-Asian-100-Hapa-Fulbeck/dp/0811849597">Part Asian 100% Hapa</a> in which sociologist Paul Spickard dismissively writes that while he sympathizes with Hawaiians, language “morphs and moves” and “is not anyone’s property.” “Continental Americans,” he adds snarkily, “Might just as well complain about Hawaiians using ‘TV’ and ‘cell phones’” (Afterword, Part Asian 100% Hapa, pp.260-262). And Kip Fulbeck himself was very defensive when asked about the same:<br /><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I’ve actually never heard of any controversy about the word in real life, having lived and worked in Hawai’i. It’s just not an issue there. People refer to me as “Hapa” or “hapa haole” and that’s that. Any arguments that do come up occur only in Internet forums or academia, and those aren’t environments I’m particularly interested in since they’re so removed from the real world” [emphasis mine] (Wei Ming Dariotis, “100% Hapa: An Interview with Kip Fulbeck,” War Baby / Love Child: Mixed Race Asian American Art, p.152).</blockquote>
<br />We need to recognize that attempts to erase Native Hawaiians have been happening for a long time, that attempts persist today on purpose, and that using the word Hapa without (a) having any Native Hawaiian ancestry, or (b) any awareness of its history and significance, may make us complicit with white-dominant-colonial agendas which have sought to wipe away and wipe out indigenous peoples for practically ever. Said Maile:<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It is frustrating to me, and many Native Hawaiians, that non-Native Hawaiians now use hapa to refer to multiracial people outside of a Hawaiian context. This erases the use of hapa by our own people to keep growing our lahui… this extraction is also inappropriate and tone-deaf because the Hawaiian language was systematically banned with colonization. Language revitalization efforts are strong now, but the appropriation of Hawaiian words obscures the existence of a thriving Native Hawaiian language and people.</span></span></i></blockquote>
<br />Of course, this still leaves open the question: Can we, should we, still refer to the term outside of the Native Hawaiian context, but with a capital “H”? Maile urges care when doing so:<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>If you decide to use hapa in a non-Native Hawaiian context, I urge you to not rush to explain away the problems with it, but hold them in tension. Examine the many ways living in the United States can make you complicit with settler colonialism. There are no easy solutions to this complicity, but it is important to struggle against it nonetheless.</i></span></span></blockquote>
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Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-20508034643939988182016-09-21T16:58:00.003-07:002016-09-21T16:58:55.937-07:00SHELFTALK Nightstand Reads: Seattle author Sharon H. Chang shares from her bookpile(s)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">this piece originally appeared on <a href="https://shelftalkblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/21/nightstand-reads-seattle-author-sharon-h-chang-shares-from-her-bookpiles/" target="_blank">Shelf Talk</a> and is reposted here with permission</span></i><br />
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Dear Readers,<br />
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First. Truth. I’ve got books on my nightstand but I don’t read at night. I mostly read in the early, early morning before the sun comes up; when the air outside is quiet, still and fresh; when cars are parked, the hustle bustle of the day hasn’t begun and most people are still sound asleep; most importantly my six-year-old son is still sound asleep. And I keep books all over the house. On my nightstand yes. But also on shelves, counters, in book bags, unopened and opened boxes, upstairs and downstairs, half-read, read twice, never read, will read later, reading now. In my head I have a rule “one book at a time, finish first then the next.” But in reality that never works out. There is - to simply put the simple truth - just too much exciting stuff to read and not always the perfect time to read it in.<br />
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So what’s in my for-the-morning nightstand/all-over-the-house piles right now? <br />
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXDlM86peT5pwms6ZxI-jjmZO3P103HsCKBtLAhBjKpoYUhYHZwLsnUe2Py79zS0loNunm9_W9Gc9zCJcoXXQZtCMKWqekT5OYf344HliEoU1GB3yIAILz6ZSiQrY9JB-kbYKXJL4VbiPO/s200/41jXMgoynnL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="130" /> <br />
<i><a href="https://www.routledge.com/Black-Feminist-Thought-Knowledge-Consciousness-and-the-Politics-of-Empowerment/Hill-Collins/p/book/9780415964722">Black Feminist Thought</a></i> by Patricia Hill Collins (1990)<br />
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When I finished writing <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Mixed-Race-Multiracial-Post-Racial/dp/1138999466" target="_blank"><i>Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World</i></a> I left with a whole bunch of questions (as I think most research will inevitably do). Questions about intersectionality and in particular the gendered experience of race and racism. We often speak of racial group experiences as monolithic: the Asian American experience, the Black experience, the Latinx experience, etc. But within these groups there is much stratification along gender, sexuality, class, religion, ethnicity, citizenship status, able-bodiedness and other lines that is often harmfully disguised by generalizing. Pondering race through a prism in this way lead me to my next book project looking at Asian American women, sexism and gendered racism. Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought is a seminal work in Black feminist thinking and a must-read for anyone attempting to write on women of color in the U.S.<br />
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiinqsOf7zdON56RY3u2oSt1jBTcRRaf4sYS2yfVnorgpWUGXOr2i22FzE9xcU3H5meYz_AfmsScFcnFghBiJoPNWEcWMpju47fQvzRd75G89pmTHapmxgJZn9YpKgi8SudKB3239KhRfe5/s200/Unico_00-Rob-Liu-Trujillo_72-dpi.jpg" width="181" /> <br />
<i><a href="http://www.bloodorangepress.com/shop/pre-order-one-of-a-kind-like-me-unico-como-yo/">One of a Kind Like Me / Único como yo</a></i>, written by Laurin Mayeno, illustrated by Robert Liu-Trujillo (release Oct 2016, pre-order now)<br />
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This incredibly exciting picture book is not only on my nightstand but my son’s nightstand too. Out next month and the second title released by artist/author/activist Janine Macbeth’s radical Blood Orange Press - One of a Kind Like Me / Único como yo explores multiraciality, sexuality, gender, language, family (and more) through the story of a young mixed-race boy wanting to dress up as a princess. What’s so amazing about this story is its attention to multiplicity in building identity; something I don’t see much of in children’s lit but something that is very salient for our children. I had the honor of meeting Laurin Mayeno at my recent book talk in San Jose where I also invited her up to speak. She is a mixed-race identifying person herself, devoted, loving mother, and fierce advocate for her gay son. She has a profound view on society and willingness to speak it. I highly recommend her book which is available for pre-order now!<br />
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqh9IZdF2xd3lkCmzDj9794qUW-XC4wI3T2_T-sbaw-MBMlDOtYGQQFf0_1mEVt3iwxwy1CyQNFd0sc3Zaluld4ZYjIn_owigVdE2OQv1e6SatW1gXpLpUBo2AmHOvkClYlkDpXx6b8XuF/s200/9781447316503.jpg" width="133" /><br />
<i><a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/R/bo23482471.html">Race Policy and Multiracial Americans</a></i> edited by Kathleen Odell Korgen (2016)<br />
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I can’t express how thrilled I was when <a href="http://www.wpunj.edu/cohss/departments/sociology/faculty/kathleen-odell-korgen.html">Professor Kathleen Odell Korgen</a> and I put our books (and selves) into conversation with each other. Kathleen is a public sociologist who specializes in racial identity, race relations and teaching sociology. She is author/editor of several works including her newest Race Policy and Multiracial Americans which is the first to look at the impact of multiracial people on race policies and promoting racial justice for multiracial Americans. At a time when mixed race is the fastest growing identifier among youth but the dominant narrative is coopting mixedness to promote harmful post-racial myths and racial justice work rarely makes space for multiracial issues (which are frequently considered trivial) - I cannot emphasize enough how consequential Kathleen’s book is. A deeply, deeply important anthology on multiraciality and policy that is in my view ahead of its time and something we will find ourselves turning to at the next decennial census when we see even more shift in numbers.<br />
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKzAX5iOIovQCRbjlT7bURR9_Uwm9x6qV-Cnk1s5LlaOqQky-WGwk47Pm6bZt4-RGHTNSyNJZ9Je0jaCwUV8HiCOqKuPuec83FkB1XW1Uz3kQ6z2JlydlxLiTVJIY_cmTL45nWFWGzMO6g/s200/41j7HmH0twL._SX304_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="122" /><br />
<i>Idoru</i> by William Gibson (1997)<br />
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I’ve always loved sci-fi but the well known reality is that most of it is written by white men. It can be hard, sometimes very hard, to read the stories and concurrent bias I see over and over in this genre (e.g. anti-woman, anti-people of color, etc.). Still I haven’t given up on it! If we care about something but see its flaws a lot of times we don’t walk away but hope/help it to change right? Today I try to appreciate the artistry and storytelling while keeping a careful critical eye to how the creator’s privileges might be impacting their worldview and weaknesses. Which is why I deliberately picked up William Gibson’s Idoru recently knowing it utilizes Asian themes. Even though part of me cringed at the thought, I also continue to feel it is super important to be aware of white male sci-fi’s lens on Asia being a fan of the genre and person of Asian descent myself.<br />
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7go-qxLqRhGD9U0-yB24aWzlOS_HOfKYDZ4EPZPHlZK7i_yRd3jIjL4igotR89KknoY5HKFtDg-TtwAkuseonCouUZpgr51sbcK0hRvr-GElmC7LBrJpC2c3fBRW5JMaa0DJJ-uFoOJi/s200/51hy9DeJdZL.jpg" width="133" /><br />
<i><a href="https://www.bkconnection.com/books/title/trauma-stewardship">Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others</a></i> by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky with Connie Burk (2007)<br />
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Over the years I have become increasingly visible via my book, talks, panels, presentations, other writings, community participation, activism and organizing. But that visibility does not come without a cost. Especially for a woman of color with a critical social justice and antiracist analysis. I’ve also become increasingly targeted by bigots, trolls, racists, sexists, etc. Meanwhile I am witness to the constant, similar/different, and often much more violent struggles of other folks of color and marginalized peoples. The toll starts to become very high and the spirit can’t help but get worn down. One of my best friends in the world gifted me Trauma Stewardship this year - an incredible resource for self-care and sustaining social justice work. It is now the book in my library given to me with the most thoughtful, loving care I’ve ever received.<br />
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Happy Reading and hope to see you at my <b><a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2016/09/youre-invited-raising-mixed-race.html" target="_blank">Central Library talk Thursday September 29th, 7:00-9:00p</a></b>!<br />
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Love,<br />
Sharon H. Chang<br />
author scholar activist<br />
<a href="https://sharonhchang.com/">https://sharonhchang.com/</a> <br />
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P.S. Before I leave it would be remiss of me not to mention my queue. Though admittedly late to the game I just learned about nonprofit <a href="http://auntlute.com/">Aunt Lute: A Multicultural Women’s Press</a> which has been publishing women of color literature for over thirty years. I immediately ordered three innovative anthologies the likes of which I haven’t seen anywhere else. Maybe you’ll join me? (If you do, please make sure to order direct from the publisher)...<br />
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<img height="200" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p8DMas7SCHSB13GGrFnguLHK8ugtqVMrSBTWIECKPFIvtRAn7wMQVssSGdTumRjrTVIi3Cs5IdOtYFYq2NGC1qsbXyzIrza3htH9ZMIt1kR7ew-lNBbAQw-zIx6I4GuOGaIAJphI" width="133" /><br />
<i><a href="http://store.auntlute.com/Asian-and-Asian-American/Babaylan-p183.html">Babaylan: An Anthology of Filipina and Filipina American Writers</a></i> edited by Nick Carbó and Eileen Tabios (2000). First international anthology of Filipina writers published in the United States.<br />
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<img height="200" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Id3jrQJ3U44lftyGtrxuccXLFsj7AJMnqCoEiSVUlc-GR-1RG8iFzR-4qVRlijbg5-OFWUYWmkssZPx1eEy8lJgEe-YJrGazL2kIGS_PzBh5HUe4X4fCDwtz2uk89RlNLTXipeGV" width="129" /><br />
<i><a href="http://store.auntlute.com/Asian-and-Asian-American/good-girls-marry-doctors-p244.html">Good Girls Marry Doctors: South Asian American Daughters On Obedience and Rebellion</a></i> edited by Piyali Bhattacharya (2016). The first anthology to examine the multiple facets of daughterhood in South Asian American families.<br />
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<img height="200" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/JOjdUzVv9fdGs1EVzXcn_XehDymQjHpLLu5qOf2_mSuxOgtv6wTJTpdOnqxQxZNMWBm77w0nxZ1H0Psun9k76odaQE2YSxRPfJhs2_VuPn2shKbxcwV2QHMTQZ2dfuxwi9TfC0V2" width="133" /><br />
<i><a href="http://store.auntlute.com/Asian-and-Asian-American/Our-Feet-Walk-the-Sky-p210.html">Our Feet Walk the Sky: Women of the South Asian Diaspora</a></i> (1993). The first comprehensive work to focus on South Asian American and South Asian immigrant women in the U.S.<br />
<b id="docs-internal-guid-29a55a54-4f25-7864-5e33-48a3c31df62c" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><b id="docs-internal-guid-29a55a54-4f25-7864-5e33-48a3c31df62c" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b> <br />
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<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-30772169652830384202016-09-21T16:57:00.000-07:002016-09-21T16:57:14.151-07:00YOU'RE INVITED! Raising Mixed Race @ Central Library, Seattle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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That's a wrap! Please join me for the LAST STOP on the <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> book tour!!! (sniff) <span class="_4n-j fsl">Poetry, dance, performance and an author talk by me to celebrate my journey over the last year with this book and many amazing collaborators. You really don't want to miss this one at an incredible venue, Seattle's world-known Central Library, with an incredible lineup.</span></div>
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<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Central Library<br /> 1000 4th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104<br /> Level 1 - Microsoft Auditorium <br /> <br /> Free and open to the public. Doors open 6:30p. <br /> <br />
Parking in the Central Library garage will be available for $6 after 5
p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Books and band merchandise will be
available for purchase. This event will be recorded for future podcast.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Go to the --> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/895820023883775/" target="_blank">Facebook Event Page: Raising Mixed Race at Central Library</a></span></span> </span></span> </span></div>
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Poetry / <b>ANIS GISELE</b> ~ Anis is a queer immigrant writer, by way of Manila, Philippines. Her work is celebrated as much as it is minimized and/or blindly consumed. She is a 2016 Everyday Feminism fellow, a 2016 VONA/Voices fellow (fiction), and a 2016 King Country Artist for Equity and Social Justice (poetry). <br />
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Afrofuturism: Amalgamation / <b>LUZVIMINDA "LULU" UZURI CARPENTER</b> ~ <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">a</span>lso known as Ms. Lulu, Ate "Big Sister" Lulu, and #LuluNation... is an artist, educator, consultant, cultural and youth worker, producer, community organizer and strategist. She is the Seattle Girls' School Performance Studies Teacher & Resident Artist; Hollow Earth Radio Youth & Young Adult Program Coordinator & Anti-Oppression Consultant; Radio Host of LuluNation + Crew; Co-Chair of the City of Seattle LGBT Commission; and was an Ambassador for On the Boards (OtB). She shows her commitment and love towards Duwamish territory through projects with UZURI* Consulting & Productions, and weaves intersections of community, nonprofits, business, and organizing through Green Bodies & WonderLab. You can find her on instagram and twitter @LuluNation206 and #LuluNation via social media.<br />
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Dance / <b>JASMMINE RAMGOTRA</b></div>
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Dance / <b>ANGEL "MOONYEKA" LANGLEY</b> ~ Moonyeka is a young Filipina-American street dancer and choreographer and recent dance graduate from the University of Washington. She has been a teaching artist teaching ballet/modern/hip hop at Rainier Dance Center, Remix Dance Team at My World Dance and Fitness Studio, Arts Corps as a resident artist, at Mt. View Elementary and other Seattle elementary schools, D&G Dance Studios, Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, Massive Monkees Studio: The Beacon, and local community centers. Moonyeka has also collaborated and organized with Youth Speaks Seattle, Moksha, Arts Corps, Anak Bayan, and the Seattle dance scene. </div>
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<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-68523260681343863672016-08-30T05:48:00.001-07:002016-08-30T10:52:23.433-07:00IN THE WHITE FRAME : An interview with mixed-race dancers Angel Langley & Jasmmine Ramgotra <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">[photo by Jean-St</span><style><!--
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--</style><span style="font-size: x-small;">éphane Vachon]</span></div>
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by Sharon H. Chang<br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">STRANGE COUPLING</span> is an annual juried exhibition of collaborations between University of Washington (UW) student artists and local professional artists. Over a decade old, the School of Art + Art History + Design program aims to connect campus and community through teamwork and direct engagement. This year I was entirely captivated by one of twelve projects, a performance piece entitled <i><span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">I<b>n The White Frame</b></span> </span></i>by mixed-race student dancers <b>Angel Langley</b> and <b>Jasmmine Ramgotra</b> with local sound artist/composer/teacher <b><span style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.hearbyron.com/" target="_blank">Byron Au Yong</a></span></b>. The piece is a stunning work of art and innovative look at the experience of multiraciality within our white dominant culture.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>A stunning work of art and innovative look at the experience of multiraciality within our white dominant culture. </i></span></b><br />
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Performed Friday June 10 at Seattle's <span style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.seattle.gov/arts/king-street-station" target="_blank">King Street Station</a></span>, <i>In the White Frame</i> is a 20-minute structured improvisation that utilizes movement, materials, sound and space. The audience -- who does not sit -- is invited to participate but also come and go at will. "We wanted to create something that was structured and improvisational," said Jasmmine, "And we had an intention to do it about identity."<br />
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Over coffee with me at Columbia City Bakery in Seattle, Angel and Jasmmine sit down to tell more about creating this beautiful piece. They recall at their first meeting with Byron months ago talking about the prevalence of racial dichotomies in society right now. "We knew we wanted to do [something] about our own experience," reflects Jasmmine. At the same time the three artists had discussed how art is often presented in white-framed gallery spaces. That was when Angel had an epiphany. She had been reading <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Mixed-Race-Multiracial-Post-Racial/dp/1138999466" target="_blank">Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World</a></i><span style="background-color: white;"><b> </b></span>and learning about Joe R. Feagin's theory of <b><a href="http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2008/05/25/the-white-racial-frame-what-is-it/" target="_blank">the white racial frame</a></b> for the first time. "I remember giving [the book] to Jasmmine like you need to read this chapter on white framing cause this is what we’re doing," says Angel. But also "what does that mean being our identities in a high art space, a white-framed gallery?" Jasmmine can't hide her enthusiasm, "I was like oh my god that makes so much sense."<br />
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To give form to their improvisation they brainstormed a wordlist with Byron. "Ideas of what mixed race peoples are," explained Angel, "like<i> superhuman</i>, <i>mixed.</i>" <i>Mutt</i> was one of them says Jasmmine "because someone called me that before and I was like wow. Really?" The dancers nod to themselves about such contradictions. Mixed race identity is supposed to be fluid so <i>fluidity</i> was also on their wordlist. But the reality is that being multiracial is often a polarized, painful experience via other peoples perceptions<i>. </i>The truth of this dichotomy compelled them to add <i>stuck</i> to their list too. "Like <i>more ugly</i> or <i>more beautiful</i>," Angel gives another example. "Just this idea you're either a superhuman, or you're a piece of shit."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angel 'Moonyeka' Langely</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">ANGEL 'MOONYEKA' LANGLEY</span> shares more, "I’m Filipino, my mom’s Ilocano, my dad’s [white] American. Other identities are Queer and then Woman. Dancer. Artist." But, she says, there are so many grey areas. For instance even though she was classically trained at UW she identifies strongly as a street dancer who does popping and more recently <b><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/antwaunsargent/the-evolution-of-voguing?utm_term=.kneJZKrO4o#.uxBxO7yPZM" target="_blank">voguing</a></b>, a style made by trans and queer people of color (not Madonna). Voguing is "a resistance dance that I've been exploring my queerness in," at the same time popping is "male-dominated, homophobic, sexist, all of that," while doing concert dance at UW is mostly privileged white women and "I’m not a skinny white girl who can do perfect ballet." Angel glances to one side a little sadly and confesses her journey as a mixed race person, dancer, artist has often felt really lonely.<br />
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She turns to Jasmmine smiling, "Except for Jasmmine which is probably why we collaborated."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jasminne Ramgotra <span style="font-size: x-small;">[photo by Jean-St</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">éphane Vachon]</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline;">JASMMINE RAMGOTRA</span><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span> smiles back warmly and knowingly. "We can never be one or the other and so we're stuck in this No Man's Land middle space," she says, "and we have to find our own community in that." Jasmmine's mother is Punjabi, East Indian, and her father is Polish, Ukrainian. "But I’m Canadian. I was born in Canada and we moved here." Jasmmine started very young in classical Indian dance. However when she moved to the U.S. she shifted to classical Western: jazz, modern, contemporary and ballet (she's also done quite a bit of hip hop). "I always hated ballet," she admits, but did it anyway because she felt it helped make her strong physically. Nowadays, "I love to choreograph and things that I make are creepy." Jasminne describes her choreography as urban with a contemporary focus.<br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>In the White Frame </i></span></span></span> comprises Angel, Jasmmine and Byron performing different elements to explore these identities and their racialization in a white world: crumpling, rolling and straightening white paper with the audience; taping off space with white tape; moving through the space itself; mirroring and echoing each other; as well as solo dance and sound improvisation. Profoundly they didn't choose the piece title as a main hashtag for social media. Instead, they chose <b>#RacialAndrogyny</b>. But that makes total sense given everything they've already told me. "It’s an exploration of what does this all mean to me?" elaborates Jasmmine. "Having grown up with all of these expectations and stereotypes projected onto me, how that affected me emotionally, physically and mentally."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Byron Au Yong <span style="font-size: x-small;">[photo by Jean-St</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">éphane Vachon]</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 44.16px;"><span style="color: #0c343d;">BYRON AU YONG</span></span><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 44.16px;"> </span> who is the Chinese American son of immigrants, tells me by email that he very much connected to this idea of racial androgyny as well. He too is often questioned about his ethnic background. "When I was younger, I performed in a number of different drum ensembles," he writes, "I'll never forget being introduced as a drummer from Japan at a Starbucks corporate event." Byron accompanied movement <i>In the White Frame</i> through sound improvisation on, among other things, the venue's walls, wood windows and metal support structures. He highlights performer bodies can be framed to suit unintentional agendas and it's important to ask: "How can we reject racial categorizations in favor of the realistic complexity that makes us human?"</div>
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Back at the bakery Angel reminds me about the performance's close audience proximity and participation. "They were like so close," Jasmmine comments. "A foot." Angel says even closer. In fact the audience was so close they could've almost touched the performers. It's significant, the dancers illuminate for me, because it was asking to be seen. Inviting viewers into the space instead of just being separate and watching them do something. "We didn’t have anything explicitly saying: We’re fucking mixed race people!" Angel says. It was more like "come experience this with me." "Even though [the audience] might not be knowing exactly why they’re doing a certain thing," she tells me, "it was inviting them into the space to also <i>feel </i>the space we’re in." </div>
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But it was hard. "People are staring at us," says Angel. "How does that feel?" Sometimes it was literally, physically hard like when the dancers tried to bring attention to the space itself by rolling across a long piece of paper together, traversing the walls and windows, and fitting themselves into cracks. And sometimes it was very hard. One of the most emotional parts was Jasmmine's solo during which she improvises getting a huge pile of white paper over her head and "suffocating" herself. Meanwhile Angel is hidden beneath a paper draping. It was extremely intense for both women. "While I was inside of the paper I got really - I don’t want to say violent, but aggressive," says Jasmmine, "having all this paper on me and I can hear it crumpling and it’s so loud." At the very end she remembers, "I just got so sad all of a sudden. I let the paper fall off of me." Angel says under her paper bridge she felt really scared. "I couldn’t see [what] was happening like right above me," she describes, "All you could hear was this really frantic crumpling of paper and then silence, or the people around you."<br />
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All-in-all I can't help but be blown away by these mixed-race women, dancers, artists, multiracial persons, thinkers, students, and just everything that they are. As I have seen more dialogue on mixedness enter the mainstream over the last years I definitely have been heartened. At least we can sometimes talk about it now. But I've also been disappointed because so much of the conversation still just skims the surface. And yes I hold a high bar. So it is amazingly profound to be sitting at a table with Jasmmine and Angel and listen to them talk about doing something so complex and deep with their experience of multiraciality; something that surprises me by transcending anything I could've ever imagined. <br />
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Angel is now a UW graduate. Jasmmine will be a senior this next school year. As we wrap up our interview, thanking each other lovingly and profusely, warm in our connections, it's clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that <i>In the White Frame</i> is something so important and meaningful to the artists and will probably remain so for a long time. "I had a strong emotional connection to it," emphasizes Jasmmine, "that's for sure. Because putting the essence of you on a platter for people...it was a lot of vulnerability." Angel is again obviously on the same page. She says making art with another mixed race person and also Byron, who's Asian American, brought up feelings of "I'm not alone." And I know this statement is so rich given what she's told me over the previous hour. "There’s a lot of grey areas I feel like our identities have," she sums up. "It was nice to travel through that with people similar to you."</div>
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Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-34723633601995045112016-07-18T18:36:00.000-07:002016-07-18T18:36:06.220-07:00Tragedy, Trauma, and Telling Our Kids the Truth<br />
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by Sharon H. Chang<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On Thursday morning, July 14, I had the honor of talking on-air with <b><a href="http://www.roundhouseradio.com/hosts/2015/07/14/minelle-mahtani" target="_blank">Minelle Mahtani</a></b> -- author of <a href="http://www.ubcpress.com/SEARCH/title_book.asp?BookID=299174509" target="_blank"><i>Mixed Race Amnesia</i></a> and host of <a href="http://www.roundhouseradio.com/Senseofplace.aspx" target="_blank"><i>Sense of Place</i></a> at Roundhouse Radio -- about race, tragedy, parenting and our kids. Of course we did this show to engage with a string of recent tragic shootings that have left many reeling: the mass shooting of queer people of color (predominantly Latinx) at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, FL, which resulted in 49 deaths; the highly publicized police shootings which killed two Black men - Alton Sterling and Philando Castile - in Baton Rouge and Minnesota, respectively; </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> the subsequent mass shooting of police officers in Dallas, TX, at a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest, which resulted in 5 officer deaths. And sadly much more has happened since.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Minelle and I took questions via email, tweet and call-in. Parents and teachers asked, how do we broach this incredibly painful subject of racism and escalating violence with children? It is more and more obvious that we </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">have</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> to as our children pick up and absorb the increasing myriad of racialized messages being delivered by society about these tragedies. We’re seeing, hearing, observing our kids using race and racist words and ideas, and they’re also starting to ask us really tough questions. What is our response? How do we know what’s age appropriate? When do we start? What if we frighten our kids or leave them depressed with hopelessness? How do we find time and space to even begin said conversations when we don’t have a lot of time and space ourselves? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have spent the last couple years doing race workshops with parents, educators, administrators and schools (and many years before that working with children). Questions are often very similar to those above. If I’m honest - I’m exhausted. And I’m worried. Because there’s so much trepidation, tiptoeing and uncertainty from parents/caregivers/adults. Also because while I’ve certainly experienced many beautiful moments of parent investment over the years, I’ve simultaneously experienced an equal amount of pushback, avoidance, denial and paralysis. This is beyond concerning because as tragedy after tragedy unfolds I see plainly the urgency to educate and engage with youth as part of transforming society for the better. Our children need to talk to us NOW and yet I see so many (way too many) parents stickily caught in webbings of hesitation, fear, and feedback loop. </span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Don’t mince words. Don’t be afraid. </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Don’t think they can’t take it. They can.</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My answer now is simple. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tell your children the truth</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. And tell it to yourselves too. Don’t mince words. Don’t be afraid. Don’t think they can’t take it. They can. Talk to them about guns (rifles, bombs, riot gear, drones, militarized vehicles, etc.). Talk to them about people dying from being shot. Talk to them about war. Talk to them about unfairness. Talk to them about anti-Black and Brown racism, anti-Indigeneity, xenophobia, anti-Muslim hate, white supremacy. Unpack these pervasive oversimplified “good guy” versus “bad guy” dichotomies that they see endlessly in their cartoons, books, TV shows, movies. Talk about institutions like government and police. Talk about protest. Don’t lie. Be honest. Tell them many people are not safe (including maybe them) but we gain nothing from living in fear. Don’t stop at the point of hopelessness. Push through it to inspiration. Talk about being scared and sad, but being STRONG. Talk about taking action as transformation and energy, not being cryo-frozen in fright. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Parents. Quite frankly we don’t have </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.6667px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">time</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> to get mired down in guilt paralysis, confusion, complacency or whatever it is. People are dying, communities are in strife, the need is dire. The time, to overuse a well-used adage, is now. You know it. I know it. We see it every day on the news. It's okay to feel anxious but don't let that be the end. Don’t worry about making mistakes. It’s okay to make mistakes. Admit you make mistakes! Don’t worry about the “age appropriate” thing, aka paralysis (again). You know your children, you’ve figured out age appropriateness in so many other ways, you’ll know what to do. Just start the conversation. Brainstorm with your kids. Notice things together. Talk about your privileges and oppressions. Talk about others privileges and oppressions. Get tired together. Get pissed together. Rage together. Cry together. Feel together. Learn history together. Try new things together. Act together. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You know, so many parents want me to give them a script of exactly what to say, word for word. I’ve been asked more times than I can count. But I refuse. Because there is no one size fits all and every family will have different conversations based on their makeup, context, space, place, time. But also maybe more importantly because </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> need to have agency, creativity and empowerment in this. How to begin? Just open your mouth and let a sentence, a word, a sound, fall out. Just </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">start</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Repeat - JUST START. Then start again. And again. And again. And see where it goes. It’s going to be messy, of course. Sometimes it’ll feel great and productive. Sometimes it’ll feel awful. But the more you try the better at it you’ll get. Also you’ll be surprised how much your children have to teach you if you let them. And at the end of the day? These painful but special interactions are the ones your kids are probably going to remember for the rest of their lives.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> My frank advice? Is frankly this...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Don’t. Be. Afraid. Of. The. Truth. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For more, please listen to </span><a href="http://cirh.streamon.fm/listen-pl-3832" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">“How to Talk to Your Kids About Race” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Sense of Place</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"> ROUNDHOUSE RADIO 98.3</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">AND to see Minelle and I talk more on this in the flesh with other fierce collaborators, come to <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2016/07/youre-invited-raising-mixed-race-at.html" target="_blank">“Raising Mixed Race at Elliott Bay” this </a></span><a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2016/07/youre-invited-raising-mixed-race-at.html" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wednesday, July 20, 7:00p, Seattle WA</span></a><br />
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Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-61763719698711667082016-07-06T07:06:00.003-07:002016-07-12T07:04:11.694-07:00YOU'RE INVITED! Raising Mixed Race at Elliott Bay, Seattle WA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.elliottbaybook.com/event/sharon-chang-friends" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.elliottbaybook.com/event/sharon-chang-friends" border="0" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLxrFVjYtzMKfGD198cxPC07Y4wlRaPDS-88rIK7nkuZ_XptP-AwwLJqCBQtd1-zWUCT7A7NPrIz49_2DrVYL0PNu8PlK308rZWA5nv41_a3wQbPXlpqW8AVOoDRqBzMJ5X5wYDmqBM-KF/s400/elliottbay_signing3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="_4n-j fsl">SO EXCITED to invite you an incredibly special <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Mixed-Race-Multiracial-Post-Racial/dp/1138999466" target="_blank"><i>Raising Mixed Race</i></a> book event at <a href="http://www.elliottbaybook.com/" target="_blank">Elliott Bay Book Company</a>
in Seattle, WA!!! If you're a Seattle-ite (or can be for the evening) you seriously don't want to miss this interstellar collaboration including
book talks, readings, local music, powerhouse Asian Pacific Northwest
women writers and contributions from local chefs. Our night will open
with a set by super talented local musician <b>Brenda Xu</b> + yummy food sa<span class="text_exposed_show">mples from <b>Hood Famous Bakeshop</b> and <b>Marination</b>. Next up, I will of course speak and read from Raising Mixed Race. But <i>then</i> it's not over. Following I'm so honored to panel with badass Canadian authors/editors <b>Minelle
Mahtani</b> and <b>Brandy Lien Worrall-Soriano</b> for critical conversations on
mixedness. There will definitely be time for Q&A ~ and ~ Brenda Xu
merchandise + copies of all writers books will be available for
sale/signing.<br /> <br /> See? Told you. Don't want to miss it... </span></span><br />
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<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Elliott Bay Book Company</span></span><br />
<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">1521 - 10th Avenue</span></span><br />
<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Seattle, WA 98122 </span></span><br />
<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">(206) 624-6600</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">This event is free and open to the public. Doors open 6:30p.</span></span><br />
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<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Go to the --> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1225900787429416/" target="_blank">Facebook Event Page: Raising Mixed Race @ Elliot Bay</a> </span></span><br />
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Music / <b>Brenda Xu</b> ~ <span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Ambient/folk artist, Brenda Xu
(pronounced “shoo”) has been building a steady following since her
arrival on the Seattle music scene a few years ago. The momentum she
created with the release of her last album "For The Winter" (2014) has
led to two successful western U.S. tours and a recent feature in the MTV
show "Awkward." Compared to artists such as Cat Power, Daughter, and
Aimee Mann, her sound has been described as "treading the delicate line
between washed-out ambient tones and carefully crafted acoustic
arrangements." She is currently working on her fourth album and plans to
tour the U.S. and Europe this year. http://brendaxu.com/</span></span></div>
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<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Panel / <b>Minelle Mahtani</b> ~ </span></span><span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Minelle is an author, journalist and Associate Professor of Human Geography and Planning, and the Program in Journalism at University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC).
She has written two books: <i><a href="http://www.ubcpress.com/SEARCH/title_book.asp?BookID=299174509" target="_blank">Mixed Race Amnesia: Resisting the Romanticization of Multiraciality</a></i> and <i><a href="http://nyupress.org/books/9780814770733/" target="_blank">Global Mixed Race</a></i>. She is a former
CBC TV journalist, sits on the steering committee of UBC’s journalism
school and has won several awards, including a Queen Elizabeth Diamond
Jubilee Award for her contributions to journalism. Minelle is currently
on sabbatical from University of Toronto to host the exciting new show
<a href="http://www.roundhouseradio.com/Senseofplace.aspx" target="_blank">'Sense of Place'</a> at Roundhouse Radio.</span></span><br />
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<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Panel / <b>Brandy Lien Worrall-Soriano </b>~ Brandy is editor of the recent anthology <a href="http://www.rabbitfoolpress.com/products/cmu" target="_blank"><i>Completely Mixed Up: Mixed Heritage Asian North American Writing and Art</i></a> (2015) and author
of <a href="http://www.rabbitfoolpress.com/products/what-doesnt-kill-us" target="_blank"><i>What Doesn’t Kill Us</i></a> (2014), a groundbreaking memoir about growing up
in the din of her Vietnamese mother and American father’s trauma from
the Vietnam War, and how it related to her breast cancer experience as a
young adult. She is also the author of eight collections of poetry and
owner/editor of <a href="http://www.rabbitfoolpress.com/" target="_blank">Rabbit Fool Press</a>, a small family-owned-and-operated publishing company based in Vancouver. https://brandyworrall.com/</span></span></div>
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<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Videography & Photography / <b>Devon de </b></span></span><b>Leña</b> ~ Devon is a storyteller, filmmaker, and powerful community facilitator. As a mixed-raced filipina/white woman she values the importance of
intersectionality and honoring complexity within our stories and
movements. She believes in building power through healing, creativity and
cultural work. Her vision is to weave stories of identity, resilience and
imagination together so that we can cultivate authentic representations
of people living at the intersections and fringes of our society. http://www.devondelena.com/</div>
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Cheesecake / <b>Chera Amlag</b> ~ <span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Chera is a co-founder of the <a href="http://www.foodandsh-t.com/" target="_blank">Food & Sh*t</a>
monthly pop-ups in Seattle, where diners became enamored with her
desserts that blended Filipino flavors with familiar Western desserts.
When her ube cheesecake debuted in 2013 it quickly became the most
demanded item on the menu leading Chera to grow a branch on the Food
& Sh*t tree and the larger Filipino food movement -- the <a href="http://www.hoodfamousbakeshop.com/" target="_blank">Hood Famous Bakeshop</a>!</span></span></div>
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<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Sliders & Tacos / <b>Kamala Saxton & Roz Edison</b> ~ </span></span><span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">In 2009 <a href="http://In 2009 Marination owners Kamala and Roz decided to run their own business. Big Blue took to the streets in June with a unique Hawaiian-Korean fusion cuisine in tow. Over one million tacos and nearly five incredible years later, Marination has grown into a big aloha family! One truck, one little brick-and-mortar in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, and one beachside restaurant with a full bar, huge patio, and a TO DIE FOR view." target="_blank">Marination</a>
owners Kamala and Roz decided to run their own business. Big Blue took
to the streets in June with a unique Hawaiian-Korean fusion cuisine in
tow. Over one million tacos and nearly five incredible years later,
Marination has grown into a big aloha family! One truck, one little
brick-and-mortar in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, and one
beachside restaurant with a full bar, huge patio, and a TO DIE FOR view.</span></span> </div>
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Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-29012864348915464382016-05-20T06:46:00.000-07:002016-05-20T06:46:27.675-07:00Raising Mixed Race and the Danger of Racial Assumptions<br />
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<br />
by Sharon H. Chang<br />
<br />
I'd like to clarify a few things about my book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Mixed-Race-Multiracial-Post-Racial/dp/1138999466" target="_blank"><b>Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World</b></a></i>. And full transparency here - this emerges from a recent email thread I was part of as well as a notable number of exchanges, side comments, critiques, messages, emails, etc. at this point where I've come to see folks make a lot of assumptions about my book based on its title, cover image, and the fact that it's about parents and children. Now it's important to say I have also gotten a lot of really amazing, positive feedback at this point too from tons of supportive, engaged and brilliant readers which you can read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Mixed-Race-Multiracial-Post-Racial/dp/1138999466" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a> and <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/p/raising-mixed-race.html" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>. I think overall there have been far more folks who love and support <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> than those who pigeonhole and pin it down with their presumptions.<br />
<br />
That said I think it's still worthwhile to look at the handful who have allowed their assumptions to take hold. They tend to look like this: Politicized readers who don't like "post-racial" in the title, think I'm espousing post-raciality, and refuse to read the book. Activists who see mixed-race identity politics as unimportant, ask how I will put aside ideas about "specialness" in service of greater racial causes, and probably won't read the book. Parents who <i>have </i>read the book but are frustrated because they expected a parenting guide and feel I "didn't tell them what to do." People in Preschool, K-12 learning and the general public who are confused because they thought the book would be about celebrating ethnic and national heritage, multiculturalism, and multiracial children as bridge-builders. And then everyone who cannot (or will not) believe that young children know anything about race and so will never read it ever. Oh - and I supposed I should tack on everyone who thinks mixed race is not really a thing (or if it is, then it's an anti-POC thing) and so will never read it ever.<br />
<br />
Let me clarify . . . <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
First. <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> is not a parenting book. Though it certainly can be (and has been) read by parents to great benefit. <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> is a sociological study for which I interviewed 68 parents of young multiracial Asian children about race, racism, identity and parenting. Why? Because (a) mixed race is the fastest growing identifier among youth today, (b) early childhood is a critical race learning period thus (c) a critical point for pouring anti-racist foundations in caring for the self/others - also known as undoing racism - but (d) it is adults that are predominantly in control of children's early learning environments and experiences. And what did I discover? Adults tend to be very under-informed and believe vastly disturbing things about race, mixed race, themselves and their children. Which certainly doesn't bode well for the future of racial justice.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><i>Raising Mixed Race</i> </b></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>is not a parenting book.</b></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>It's a book about racism.</b></span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
Second then. <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> is a book about racism. Not about multiculturalism, ethnic holidays, traditional costumes, favorite restaurants, dragon dances and so forth. It's a look at how mixed race exists within and in relation to settler colonialism, imperialism, white supremacy, anti-Indigeneity, anti-Black and Brown racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, etc. It's a discussion about racial realities, past and present, histories to today, how multiracial peoples have always been part of those narratives; how we can learn something unique and really so much overall from looking at mixedness within conversations about race; and also how critical it is to engage mixed folks in working to undo racism now and at a young age.<br />
<br />
And finally. <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> is not a book about post-racial anything. It's a book about how far we have to go. It actually problematizes the idea of mixed people as "post-racial" or the end of race. Because doing so distracts from the reality that we're actually no where near solving racism. Think post 9-11 Islamophobia, Black Lives Matter, Flint Michigan, the upcoming election. The U.S. has always been a very racist nation. But more, the book folds in thinking about global racism and our shrinking world due to technology, Internet, social media and so forth. So it's a book about hoping for the future too. Rather than claiming we're at the end of the road, <i>Raising Mixed Race </i>asks where are we going? How are we going to get there? Are we on the right path? And are we all in this together? <br />
<br />
I hope this brief post helps. I hope it helps with imagining where <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> might connect with you, your life and/or work, and whatever communities you're part of. I hope this helps those of you who haven't read yet feel excited about reading. I also hope it helps derail the many damaging assumptions we <i>all</i> have about race (e.g. young children know nothing about racism, mixed race isn't a "real" race thing, or multiracial = colorblind multiculturalism) that really do derail us from true progress and from moving forward.<br />
<br />
<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-55392596678452846532016-04-21T07:27:00.000-07:002016-04-21T07:27:22.639-07:00"Passing" "Presenting" & the Troubled Language of Mixed Race<br />
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<br />
by Sharon H. Chang<br />
<br />
I'm a light-skinned mixed race Asian/white woman.
I don't deny it. On my lightest day, in the deep of
winter, under cover of endless Seattle clouds, I could definitely hold
my arm next to some white people and almost match (though the tinting
never seems quite right). Because I'm non-Black and light-skinned I am
not vulnerable to police brutality, housing discrimination, hate crimes,
excessive surveillance, racial bullying and assault, and the many, many
forms of violent oppression acted upon visibly Brown and Black peoples
every day. This is undoubtedly a privilege, one that I actively
acknowledge and try to hold in constant consciousness and
conscientiousness as I write about race and am involved in social
justice work. My main responsibility is often going to be de-centering
myself to make room for the voices of others most impacted; to listen,
not lead; support and even sometimes leave spaces entirely because my presence may
interrupt safety and sacredness. <br />
<br />
And yet, these are the things that have been said to me recently by whites<i> and</i>
people of color (POC), men and women, young and old: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What are you? Because if you had said you were white - I would've believed you.</span></span></span></i><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Man! How do you people do that <b>international</b> thing??</i></span></span></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Excuse me, I'm sorry, but can I ask what your<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span>mix is?</span></i></span></span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is no pure Asian anymore.</span></span></span></i> </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">You Asian? I need help with my gardening.</span></i> </span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So what do you do? </span></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Are you a flight attendant, stewardess? </i></span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>While I always need to be aware of my
light-skinned privileges, I also have to hold <b>being read by others</b> as "definitely not white" a lot of the time. That matters. I, like everyone else, am a racialized body in a racialized/racist place. I am not Brown or Black and it's incumbent
upon me to be eternally thoughtful about this. But I am not often seen as white either. Could I describe
myself as white? I could try. But does that reflect who I am? Or how
the world sees me? Or, more importantly, does it prepare me to deal with
the racial-boundary policing I butt up against? Absolutely not.<br />
<br />
So
why am I starting to see so many mixed race peoples foreground
their whiteness as more significant than their color - when the world
around them doesn't actually allow that?<br />
<br />
I'm disturbed by the growing number of multiracial folks who are describing themselves as "white" and "white passing" when they don't read remotely white at all. For example Hollywood A-lister <b>Olivia Munn</b> recently <a href="http://www.fashionmagazine.com/fashion/2016/04/04/fashion-magazine-may-2016-cover-olivia-munn/" target="_blank">told <i>Fashion Magazine</i></a> that she "had more of a white appearance on the outside" though her "bone structure is very much Asian." This bizarre explanation was meant to diffuse plastic surgery accusations. But I'm completely uninterested in whether or not she had work done. I'm interested in the fact that I have never once seen a picture of Munn where I perceived her as white. And yet Munn chose to articulate a racial defense - out of her mixedness - that described away almost any major part of her outward appearance that could be Asian.<br />
<br />
It's not just A-listers and/or apoliticals who do this. I've been hearing it from the left too. Take for instance savvy musician, Macklemore collaborator, and activist <b>Hollis Wong-Wear</b> who is well known for her political work and sharp analysis. Last year <a href="http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2015/05/02/seattles-smartest-global-women-hollis-wong-wear/35756" target="_blank">she told </a><i><a href="http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2015/05/02/seattles-smartest-global-women-hollis-wong-wear/35756" target="_blank">The Seattle Globalist</a> </i>that
while she did identify as progressive 2nd gen Asian American, she also
saw herself as a "white ally" and that she needed to "claim her
whiteness." I found the language rather strange since, again, I have never perceived her as white nor has the public generally speaking. And sure enough seven months later this self-proclaimed whiteness echoed weirdly when <a href="http://jezebel.com/seattle-paper-describes-asian-woman-macklemore-collab-1748566937" target="_blank"><i>The Seattle Times</i> published an article</a> on Wong-Wear under a racist headline targeting her Asianness; a headline that likely would never have materialized
if she had been actually white.<br />
<br />
I'm also disturbed because I'm not sure what we're doing for folks from mixed backgrounds who do<i> </i>appear white other than making them feel like shit about themselves. In 2012 Mia McKenzie of <i>Black Girl Dangerous</i> published a widely-read piece called <a href="http://www.blackgirldangerous.org/2012/08/20121127the-white-skinned-elephant-in-the-room/" target="_blank">The White-Skinned Elephant In the Room</a> in which she sharply criticized what she viewed as "white-skinned" people who had grandparents or great-grandparents of color. According to McKenzie since these people "presented as white," "looked white," and were basically white (to her), it apparently stripped them of any right to connect with their heritage of color or move in people of color spaces. Cue the guilt, shaming, authenticity testing and revoking of POC cards. Given multiple factors including that many Indigenous populations have survived because of racial mixing, that many Native peoples appear white/light because of this, combined with the reality that non-Indigenous biracials with a <i>parent</i> of color are sometimes born white/light - I found McKenzie's complexion-based analysis not only superficial and flawed but dangerously separatist, divisionist and fragmenting. <br />
<br />
Case in point about a month ago I visited a local high school to talk about my work on multiraciality and not only did about 30-40 percent of seniors come from mixed backgrounds but almost everyone was in tears by the end of the hour. Students who looked white but had a grandparent of color were in some of the worst pain during this conversation. They felt deeply silenced and had even sometimes been accused of appropriating their own cultures. It didn't mean they weren't willing to admit their whiteness, but it did mean they experienced immense pressure to publicly hide parts of who they are and members of their own families. About a month later I facilitated a race dialogue with a local elementary school. Attendees understood their school as predominantly white and were entirely shocked when the principal revealed the study body actually identified as a third POC. Many of these children came from mixed race families and had been read variously by others as white or non-white <i>depending upon what the reader saw</i>. An unsure conversation unfolded after this reveal during which I heard folks confusedly - and with some resentment - interchange diversity language like "people of color that we can see" and "people of color that we can't see."<br />
<br />
All in all these observations have got me wondering what exactly we're doing with the language of mixed race today. I think particularly the way we're using words like "passing" and "presenting" are posing some serious problems.<br />
<br />
First I see that we're having a serious problem understanding agency. We use "passes" and "presents" as if multiracial individuals have full say and control over their racialization. When they don't at all. Could I work to pass as white? Yes. But <u>would</u> it work? Maybe. <i>It all depends on the reader</i>. Meaning this: <b>we only pass when others let us pass</b>. Full agency does not rest with individuals. Similarly when we say someone "presents as" we imply the person is choosing that presentation. Sometimes that's true. But sometimes that's not true. For example I often hear adults describe multiracial children as young as infancy as "white presenting." How in the world is a child less than a year old presenting their race at all? Who is actually presenting their race? WE are. When we assign a description. Regardless of whether the assessment is true, why aren't we saying "<b>I read</b> the child as white" which claims accountability rather than asserting our perception on someone else and insinuating they made that decision on their own?<br />
<br />
Second I see consequently that we're having a serious problem understanding power and privilege. When an adult says "the child presents as" without input from the child - that adult has <i>taken away</i> the child's agency and self-determination. At the intersection of race/age, the adult has more power. Here's another example. I feel I'm often viewed by people of color
as white-or-close-enough-to-it, yet am almost never viewed as white
by whites themselves. But whites are the ones at the top of the racial hierarchy. That means regardless of what people of color say, it is actually whites who get to decide whether I'm white since they hold the most power. In another example, cishetero men of all races can often exercise more gender-power over my identity than me. I can make a claim only to have it quickly erased, invalidated or silenced publicly by a man (something I've
experienced very painfully in the last months). Because at the intersection of race/gender, cishetero men have vastly more power than cishetero women. <br />
<br />
Third I see that we might not be acknowledging the very real impact of internalized oppression upon mixed race peoples and how that can look <i>uniquely different</i>. When non-mixed people of color manifest internalized oppression by striving toward whiteness, we understand that. We nod our heads, we feel sad, we shake our heads, we know things have to get better. And rightfully, necessarily so. But when mixed race peoples of white descent (who read visibly ethnic) work to erase their heritages of color - I don't feel that same sadness or compassion from the community. I feel instead, "They should. They're actually white and they need to own it." Then I turn around and look at those same multiracials folding under enormous pressure of guilt, shame, confusion; saying widely untrue, potentially hurtful things about themselves; withering into denial, avoidance, uncertainty which can then render them incapable of solidarity work - and I feel so much sadness. What a terrible way to not move forward. For people like me the white-color-only race conversation still elbows and edges us out at every turn. We shouldn't be the loudest at the table nor should we dominate. But does that mean we shouldn't sit at the table at all? And what is lost when all voices aren't present?<br />
<br />
I've been doing a lot of talks and workshops and interviews since my book came out. One of the things I consistently argue for is multiracial dialogue that has more nuance. I can't tolerate anymore these race conversations that collapse into dichotomy. Either/Or. Black/White. Color/Non-Color. Yes/No. Good/Bad. Humanity is plagued by binary thinking and it is forever our downfall. Now here's where I do agree with McKenzie. Racial privilege is real. It's very real. I agree that white/light-appearing peoples need to be very careful not to takeover and lead when they are not the most impacted. I also agree that people of mixed heritage can appear white and can pass for white and should own that. But what we need is not the blame game and the squelching of people's humanity. What we need is for multiracial peoples of white descent to create spaces <i>with each other</i> to do good work; privilege and oppression work that doesn't burden other POC at the same time it is nuanced, gritty, real but also transformative and empowering. What we need is for multiracial peoples of white descent to also do collaboration/co-liberation work that centers mixes of color and non-mixed people of color. And what we all need is to understand that we are headed at blazing speed towards a society that hugely identifies as mixed race (like it or not); a reality which requires everyone to be exponentially more thoughtful about the realities - yes - but also
the many loaded layers and potential harm of words like "passing" and
"presenting" when it comes to mixedness. <br />
<br />
<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-10186873569554334052016-04-09T07:34:00.000-07:002016-04-15T09:31:24.245-07:00YOU'RE INVITED! Raising Mixed Race Signing 2, Portland OR<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3wM3Ra9onjcfp_kxK3pi4hUjJrkbvdHCUqmuJVuU9qL8P1UMekr46iiVm7UMnrw92tlf064ycbN-KS06t2tFNUmCPy6pnliNPD8vSdn32EGxSArgjblprpsmq32VKwbRxytMR2Nb3DVb/s1600/raisingmixedrace_portland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3wM3Ra9onjcfp_kxK3pi4hUjJrkbvdHCUqmuJVuU9qL8P1UMekr46iiVm7UMnrw92tlf064ycbN-KS06t2tFNUmCPy6pnliNPD8vSdn32EGxSArgjblprpsmq32VKwbRxytMR2Nb3DVb/s640/raisingmixedrace_portland.jpg" width="568" /></a></div>
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<span class="_4n-j fsl">Please join me next Saturday for a talk + signing of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Mixed-Race-Multiracial-Post-Racial/dp/1138999466" target="_blank"><i>Raising Mixed Race</i></a>
in Portland / Beaverton, Oregon! So thrilled to also be
screening short documentary film, "What Are You?" by Sarah Nicole
Donaldson<i> </i>and hear a reading by Gian-Luca Matsuda. Following I'll speak on the book, followed
by Q&A and Meet and Gree<span class="text_exposed_show">t. Looking forward to seeing everyone there... <br /> <br /> Kinokuniya Bookstores<br /> 10500 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy<br /> Beaverton, OR 97005<br /> (503) 641-6240<br /> <br /> This event is free and open to the public.<br /> </span></span><br />
Go to the --> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1052570558136014/" target="_blank">Facebook Event Page: Raising Mixed Race - Portland, OR</a><br />
<br />
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-uEp8TE-OUaG_i-mymCAT44-l47Wl7v0_ILQMj_sPOcz0Ri9Y2eGrRlmIezdhlboJrqOE9ttxzcjhHl44fZroYLOdA488r_-1vvhcm8E0Rd-1O17e4huBqwgm91bLTcW7JKAshOd7wubV/s320/sarah_donaldson.jpg" width="180" /><br />
<br />
<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Film / <b>Sarah Nicole Donaldson</b> ~ Sarah is an Asian-American scholar and independent
filmmaker. Her short documentary film on the multiracial/ethnic
identity, “What Are You?,” was aired on Oregon Public Broadcast in
August 2015. Her research focuses on the preservation and modern
representations of Indonesian folklore, and she is fluent in the
Surabaya dialect of Javanese. Sarah’s other passions include conflict resolution, creative writing, fashion design, and binging on Netflix.</span></span><br />
<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span></span>
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGa2JN1UaJYiVXlqrdhpy7yNWx9Wmqiy7w3bRCeQTRVD34-mpCQfpkoQZcTBAXNlP9AB5N8YRsMi8PAbwYkLR2IM-fryThO_MO-4e26a4OtvkQqvCjlbmtfFj1NDr0crgRIgrsiOWi4gD/s320/gianluca.jpg" width="213" /><br />
<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"> </span></span> <br />
Reading / <b>Gian-Luca Matsuda</b> ~ <span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Gian-Luca
Matsuda is a Portland based queer techie who is the product of a Black
Puerto Rican mother and a Japanese-Brazilian father. His work focuses on
environmental justice, technology access, and the intersectionality of
racial, environmental, and social justice. Gian-Luca is currently in
school studying computer science and environmental science. You can find
Gian-Luca knitting, inhaling caffeine, or doing other weird nerd things
in his free time.<br /> <a href="http://www.gianlucamatsuda.net/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>www.gianlucamatsuda.net/</a></span></span><br />
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<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Read Gian-Luca at <i>BuzzFeed</i>: <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/gianlucalemort/the-concept-of-being-latino-and-why-im-not-her-1fkd9" target="_blank">"The Concept of Being Latino and Why I'm Not Here For It"</a></span></span><br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtZDkh3DoP-Q0ge6e8tqLGy3qH_AAEjbXuZH98O1ycS8XL9f4_UF8Lvm4dq_msWGYYTvTcKftgW6W0W1ecPqGrm74LE9JfU3w3XQXvlK2W_1B48zaZQ8W3wIkw_6cKRviXE7-QSqjppFt/s320/rebekka_markillie.jpg" width="241" /><br />
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<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Reading / <b>Rebeka Markillie</b> ~ Rebeka Markillie is a student at the University of Portland
studying communications and minoring in biology. She has a passion for
books, science, and writing. She has worked with student media for three
years as a writer, journalist and design editor. In January 2015,
Rebekka redesigned student newspaper, The Beacon
, which won First Place for General Excellence at the College Media
Association and First Place for General Excellence and First Place for
Best Website at the 2015 Oregon Newspaper Publishers Awards.</span></span><br />
<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> Read Rebekka at <i>The Beacon</i>: <a href="http://www.upbeacon.com/2016/04/13/race-isnt-just-black-or-white/" target="_blank">"Race Isn't Just Black Or White"</a></span></span><br />
<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upbeacon.com%2F2016%2F04%2F13%2Frace-isnt-just-black-or-white%2F&h=1AQHwEThD&enc=AZN027L03OQv4OtfX5IFhQpJ2gXWQyFKtq3lbd36lDRHE9sGEOXYozZB8hjxnRRVjcg&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></span>
<span class="_4n-j fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> </span></span>Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-69904292494095648152016-03-15T05:50:00.001-07:002016-03-15T05:50:27.698-07:00TO PASS or NOT to PASS<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxgu51TMaHXUGXQIMe5MTXzkbPjJW6hbVRbGmRim9udy151-z-3YATpv7UjpToipjMniqNZeXmxeHgwGumz3tPqIF_UlmC5Rd98RifacD9h6WTh61OUCGZo_mGa5foKzvc9r7qOPR10L0/s1600/lulu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxgu51TMaHXUGXQIMe5MTXzkbPjJW6hbVRbGmRim9udy151-z-3YATpv7UjpToipjMniqNZeXmxeHgwGumz3tPqIF_UlmC5Rd98RifacD9h6WTh61OUCGZo_mGa5foKzvc9r7qOPR10L0/s400/lulu.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Photo Credit: Mario D Lemafa]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">by <b><span style="color: #0c343d;">Luzviminda Uzuri "Lulu" Carpenter</span></b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(aka <span style="color: purple;">#LULUNATION</span>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I know what it is like to be passed…</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">from community to community</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">passed</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> by with no notice of being Queer</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Of being Filipino</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Of being Black</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Of being Christian</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Of being Radical</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But still marked as "other"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As "outsider"</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">That not only my body,</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But even my spirit is weary from these travels</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have been passed</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> around so much</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">That I was late in understanding my identities…</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As Mixie</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As Revolutionary</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As Drag Queen</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As Gender Queer</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As Dreamer</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As a Believer</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As Faith Healer</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Even As Lover</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 10.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I am draw upon as something unknown</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As some Thing not to be.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I am marked as NOT the NORM</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As NOT the STANDARD</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 10.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So I marked my body with tattoos</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And exposed the drawings of history</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">That traced my back</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Back to my ancestors for protection</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And forgotten memories</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have been read by others!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And their experiences</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">through their eyes,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">they carve </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">fears</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on my </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Black & Brown /Queer/ Body</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes they use ropes</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">And I have grooves upon my wrists and neck from the strain</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Stretched skin forms lashes of memories</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Marking me dangerous and visible</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">New lynching ropes in modern times</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 10.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">These lashes are made with fake </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Asian</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> accents to cross out my mouth</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Marking me invisible once again</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My story </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">erased</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So I have put substances into my veins</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To blow them off my mind</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 10.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My Body makes marks on communities!!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 10.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As folks wonder where I fit</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">NO SAFETY</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> as I have stood with hands and mouth</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Pushed OUT!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">With no excuses!!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 10.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So I can just pass into sleep</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To dream and believe.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 10.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Without my moves being </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">watched</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">examined</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">so I can hum songs of my history to rock me to sleep</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Upon waking my body vibrates with memory</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So when shaken daily</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> light can shoot through my eyes</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As I answer questions</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 10.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Black Sister?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Maybe not, but definitely a Black Queen, a Queer one.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 10.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Filipina ka ba? Are you Filipina?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Opo! Yes, Filipino ako, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">but not made for beauty pageants, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">whitening creams, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">or diets.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Bakit? Why?” I ask</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Kumusta ka na?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“How are YOU doing today?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Since you forgot to even greet me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Queer?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Yes,” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">but crossed too many times</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And marked with racism and poverty</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As my body moves in spaces.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So I put folks on Notice…</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“YOU are on NOTICE!”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Since you didn't notice that my body had a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">name</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Luzviminda for the Filipina Babaylans murdered</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Uzuri for the African slaves forgotten</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">stamped</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> my </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">name</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on my </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Body</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To remind me</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">stamped</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> the places my Body has traveled</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And passed throughout time</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And I carry it on my </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">back</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A willing target in old </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">age</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And old rage…..at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">judgment</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So notice</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And move past me</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So I can </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">focus</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">remember</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> who I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">am</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And who my </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">ancestors</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">are</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Without the blockages of eyes and ears</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On my road to communities</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">transformation</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">all</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 15.3333px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> my people's liberation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">© </span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande";"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Luzviminda Uzuri "Lulu" Carpenter</span></span></span></span></div>
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here with permission. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of
this material without express and written permission from the artist is
strictly prohibited.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "lucida grande";"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">See Lulu perform this piece --> <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2016/03/video-raising-mixed-race-kinokuniya.html" target="_blank">at the first <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> signing</a></span></span></span></div>
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Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-74152491880535465652016-03-10T05:30:00.001-08:002016-03-11T06:47:33.143-08:00[VIDEO] Raising Mixed Race @ Kinokuniya Seattle<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUbM2NEeCM-bCeGD59gpT47buB-58kO4dwak_vX5e8zGZhsGgvfAj8OPclmpdEQDD6dvw2uTWfnrtYKK71x3HRS17HZsCeXQx7bua0EjLOLeiBCe0d039RuwhxSWcvMI7wU8X8JRlkDY4/s1600/IMG_0692.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUbM2NEeCM-bCeGD59gpT47buB-58kO4dwak_vX5e8zGZhsGgvfAj8OPclmpdEQDD6dvw2uTWfnrtYKK71x3HRS17HZsCeXQx7bua0EjLOLeiBCe0d039RuwhxSWcvMI7wU8X8JRlkDY4/s400/IMG_0692.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Me and Angel "Moonyeka" Langley / Photo by Bo Kim]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
by Sharon H. Chang <br />
<br />
On Saturday afternoon, March 5, 2016 we held the first unbelievable <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> book signing at Kinokuniya Bookstore in Seattle's International District. I say "we" because I was very intentional in organizing the event. I wanted it to be not just about me - but about community and centering, uplifting all mixed race, people and women of color voices; a transformative goal that actually lies at the center of <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> itself. And I'm pretty sure we accomplished that goal. Which is why I say "unbelievable" because for me and I think for many there - at the risk of sounding cheesy (but who cares?) - this was nothing short of a transcendent experience. It was a special moment, a rare moment, that very few of us mixed identifying people get to have. A moment where our voices could be not only heard, but fly free and liberated. I'll never forget it.<br />
<br />
So pleased to be able to share an incredibly well done video of the event by <b>Angela Flores-Marcus</b> below. Take a look. View time is over an hour and I know it's hard to find an hour to do anything these days. So. I've included a view menu. Definitely jump around or watch it in bits and pieces if you need to. But please do watch it. Promise you won't be sorry...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_99v0nab61o/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_99v0nab61o?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">________________________________</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>VIEW MENU</b></span></span> </span></span></div>
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0:18 <b>Ahren Scholtz</b><br />
8:10 <b>Cody Choi</b><br />
12:42 <b>Angel "Moonyeka" Langley</b> dancing to "Exodus" by M.I.A. & The Weeknd<br />
15:48 <b>Luzviminda "Uzuri" Carpenter</b> performing her poem "To Pass Or Not to Pass"<br />
19:31 <b>Kalayaan Domingo</b><br />
32:00 <b>Me!</b> (trailer for <i>Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight: The Japanese War Brides</i> at 45:19)<br />
1:01:37 <b>Q&A</b><br />
<br />
(for full bios of speakers and performers please <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2016/02/youre-invited-raising-mixed-race.html" target="_blank"><b>go here</b></a>)<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">________________________________</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">GALLERY</span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnG2uiUvChD-pPdy0WKnF0GU90QbZbWXFiXyXmYh1bg6jBm0TlB4MXEpuIN_sJ0vVZWIyPQEwsb4A0Rotbr_MfaKxImwrSWwbdCVyO-w3IspuoK_gaLRW2pIdQ0yBgJ6s9AWsURaskiAv/s1600/IMG_0517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnG2uiUvChD-pPdy0WKnF0GU90QbZbWXFiXyXmYh1bg6jBm0TlB4MXEpuIN_sJ0vVZWIyPQEwsb4A0Rotbr_MfaKxImwrSWwbdCVyO-w3IspuoK_gaLRW2pIdQ0yBgJ6s9AWsURaskiAv/s400/IMG_0517.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Ahren Scholtz / Photo by Bo Kim]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Singer songwriter <a href="http://scholtz.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank"><b>Ahren Scholtz</b></a> (Indonesian/Dutch/Caucasian) opened with a stellar short acoustic set on guitar. He played us two songs - with his wife proudly recording front row - including the title track off his album <i>Suckerfish</i>. <b> </b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJ-oYMpSaOGGtBi9InpqjipPDsSR4fiu0Q-7MMlqcrvalKi9Nhdo0GyKX4csRoIJ1KIZ5_7ym9PNlJXxMzwQRlQzb8fl8_kqnXXfubCMtY8Id3Q3fGAXf41qjDvbEaXXboLEwmAj-rIhQ/s1600/IMG_0547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJ-oYMpSaOGGtBi9InpqjipPDsSR4fiu0Q-7MMlqcrvalKi9Nhdo0GyKX4csRoIJ1KIZ5_7ym9PNlJXxMzwQRlQzb8fl8_kqnXXfubCMtY8Id3Q3fGAXf41qjDvbEaXXboLEwmAj-rIhQ/s400/IMG_0547.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Angel "Moonyeka" Langley / Photo by Bo Kim]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Angel "Moonyeka" Langley</b> (mixed Filipina) followed with a
crowd-draw dance performance to "Exodus" by M.I.A. & the Weeknd. Folks walking
by couldn't help but stop to watch. Moonyeka is one of the only female
poppers in Seattle; a subject she's also conducting an ethnographic
study upon as a dance major at the University of Washington. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbLNjukezmzKl7igMYh2SeWdS_Mbj4Jb79HkeATmX_AQpZgnukXJs9DsDkWQ2ob4tylfNVHCowcDxxEPMPmKyfbV9dZZMIry9BuhA_UIdUpXMsGLA7VV92Gi_3c-tf8hG3ebkn_xAbqU3y/s1600/IMG_0527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbLNjukezmzKl7igMYh2SeWdS_Mbj4Jb79HkeATmX_AQpZgnukXJs9DsDkWQ2ob4tylfNVHCowcDxxEPMPmKyfbV9dZZMIry9BuhA_UIdUpXMsGLA7VV92Gi_3c-tf8hG3ebkn_xAbqU3y/s400/IMG_0527.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Cody Choi / Photo by Bo Kim]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Brilliant youth voice <b>Cody Choi </b>(Korean/white) gave testimonial next with a sharp essay about her experiences growing up and navigating the complex waters of being mixed. Cody is a writer and activist, and senior at the Ida B. Wells School for Social Justice.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ZKtH4RjReI6vx67eD54MosuyJV4X-WS0w_eXBvoMoqirqHuCUABGenj4M7T4ebmZpUFVny3QRh70nUY84xaWKwvs3DbSKL7fUSbeC9Iip25J0s4ORnNlcr0be5T1LerfIxdk5avpUaxn/s1600/IMG_0573.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ZKtH4RjReI6vx67eD54MosuyJV4X-WS0w_eXBvoMoqirqHuCUABGenj4M7T4ebmZpUFVny3QRh70nUY84xaWKwvs3DbSKL7fUSbeC9Iip25J0s4ORnNlcr0be5T1LerfIxdk5avpUaxn/s400/IMG_0573.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Luzviminda "Lulu" Uzuri Carpenter / Photo by Bo Kim]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Luzviminda "Lulu" Uzuri Carpenter</b> (Queer, Black/Filipina) read her powerful poem "To Pass Or Not to Pass." Lulu does more things than I could count on a million hands. She is widely known and respected; a force in the Seattle justice community. You need to know her, her incredibly important work, and her multi-multi-multi-faceted activism. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDagJYEeUQN1kjha5K9t9qnWA7XAQy-uVFuaboAKVfYJyXvoydk0wiTMf4NZH5gujqQytECt1Hz0rFjbLVR1mjHtcOAuoGCKN26bWzpqM93Vq-275JBktERVUyuxX6G8mKrGv8f9nD5ME3/s1600/IMG_0583.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDagJYEeUQN1kjha5K9t9qnWA7XAQy-uVFuaboAKVfYJyXvoydk0wiTMf4NZH5gujqQytECt1Hz0rFjbLVR1mjHtcOAuoGCKN26bWzpqM93Vq-275JBktERVUyuxX6G8mKrGv8f9nD5ME3/s400/IMG_0583.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Kalayaan Domingo / Photo by Bo Kim]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Mother and activist <b>Kalayaan Domingo</b> spoke deep from her heart about her experiences as a multiracial woman and now as parent to two multiracial boys. She talked about intersections; mixed race as resistant, political, historical; and the vital necessity of expanding mixed conversations beyond biracial-mixed-with-white. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3ZRTC7SydddgztfQdivyGUI2f8g1eC-2vMUn1XpDO0VkgBYD4sipGYDWc57LHbf_mNPJd9rJHE4fsAg631AiAnSipjvIqsHagZoXRLJ7FJekzJnW7yQe6mcswnih97MUSSyOzDRfiC36/s1600/IMG_0618.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3ZRTC7SydddgztfQdivyGUI2f8g1eC-2vMUn1XpDO0VkgBYD4sipGYDWc57LHbf_mNPJd9rJHE4fsAg631AiAnSipjvIqsHagZoXRLJ7FJekzJnW7yQe6mcswnih97MUSSyOzDRfiC36/s400/IMG_0618.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[My turn / Photo by Bo Kim]<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhspcCt0zQcaIFLhAC1W9y7ugrjgvkUQ_Pb3aAwfo9QKSXtb1nsqmijdNvhxv7lP0mt4shW5pUA25beT3y4GKVaUChs9_ZedfiAjjRvFm40mCqzVa9gyShqQESvv5zj45QZsSaVWF36Kl7I/s1600/IMG_0644.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhspcCt0zQcaIFLhAC1W9y7ugrjgvkUQ_Pb3aAwfo9QKSXtb1nsqmijdNvhxv7lP0mt4shW5pUA25beT3y4GKVaUChs9_ZedfiAjjRvFm40mCqzVa9gyShqQESvv5zj45QZsSaVWF36Kl7I/s400/IMG_0644.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Photo by Bo Kim]</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Standing room only / Photo by Bo Kim]</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuFuCo_rDD2T08W7Ny2lAfsk_V__wDbOVIcLcvEPVMAkOPQFpU-YFRG_ZJG1Ct2Bfz9HEtCvGRHcK1hUOGqkvi_4bL5chdfTdm1ak_3RnYL6tFWmvkjPpaXEJNkZUNZHdy_WSEO4CGN9H/s1600/IMG_0682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuFuCo_rDD2T08W7Ny2lAfsk_V__wDbOVIcLcvEPVMAkOPQFpU-YFRG_ZJG1Ct2Bfz9HEtCvGRHcK1hUOGqkvi_4bL5chdfTdm1ak_3RnYL6tFWmvkjPpaXEJNkZUNZHdy_WSEO4CGN9H/s400/IMG_0682.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Signing / Photo by Bo Kim]</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHIdaG-Giw3XLGVw1hkpel5ALmio2LIihLCYmMRaDXUjdHrxW5rROFWfD19e0f0D5g9wzLY5TPtgMn33ed005tYXTjenY5xcKCJZrC70N6AvykHmAYC4jzZ59eYhYVYVCGYSAjLLITRCj/s1600/IMG_0668.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHIdaG-Giw3XLGVw1hkpel5ALmio2LIihLCYmMRaDXUjdHrxW5rROFWfD19e0f0D5g9wzLY5TPtgMn33ed005tYXTjenY5xcKCJZrC70N6AvykHmAYC4jzZ59eYhYVYVCGYSAjLLITRCj/s400/IMG_0668.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Photo by Bo Kim]</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIG1sb-zHvQWBPhRVePEQpOkFImVrMtXQlXxvSyeS1erNkJVBvmDcuBO4cEhCM_0ZQii_LcMbtAySfRYbt7q3z6kRrpzuhftYh2lDSJeb5DyaWMaL3dNfj0RmKoegnUfkzTl3_EXvcCdS1/s1600/IMG_0672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIG1sb-zHvQWBPhRVePEQpOkFImVrMtXQlXxvSyeS1erNkJVBvmDcuBO4cEhCM_0ZQii_LcMbtAySfRYbt7q3z6kRrpzuhftYh2lDSJeb5DyaWMaL3dNfj0RmKoegnUfkzTl3_EXvcCdS1/s400/IMG_0672.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Me and Lulu / Photo by Bo Kim]</td></tr>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hope to see you at the next signing</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Kinokuniya Portland, Oregon, Saturday April 16th!</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;">_________________________</span></span></span><b><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-32322949217230315072016-02-24T14:22:00.002-08:002016-03-02T06:07:41.419-08:00YOU'RE INVITED! Raising Mixed Race Signing 1, Seattle WA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wfrQ5iQvdWYr9Wc76qovUNt5OP7DK3umXr5FfTrXQhrYULN4-rarJtNVF2MEfGC2MiWhIMYg-xeZ-zC3SNIyzoLKB1Ah0nXDKBAUN3yOkeYHURYhbPGyGVIK4xrGUIGpVumcOSvbPFe4/s1600/flyer2_signing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wfrQ5iQvdWYr9Wc76qovUNt5OP7DK3umXr5FfTrXQhrYULN4-rarJtNVF2MEfGC2MiWhIMYg-xeZ-zC3SNIyzoLKB1Ah0nXDKBAUN3yOkeYHURYhbPGyGVIK4xrGUIGpVumcOSvbPFe4/s640/flyer2_signing.jpg" width="556" /></a></div>
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Also go to the --> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/180226795681697/" target="_blank">Facebook Event Page: <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> 1st Book Signing!</a><br />
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<a href="https://scholtz.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://scholtz.bandcamp.com/" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhurwZhZ3mLGEE5SS2XeWlXnaoYMMiqHtrVdNltjlQr-2efYXY79nYHWs9LfLs7GjlTS9-yfsxM0xuaur_Mgirgi12XJQhioi9fO6YSJhbYPEkwdWE2BVyVh4ie6RaDxQpZTEtBr53aUgvg/s200/ahren_scholtz.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Music / <b>AHREN SCHOLTZ</b> ~ Ahren is a Dutch/Indonesian/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>Caucasian
singer/songwriter from the Seattle to Everett corridor of the Pacific
Northwest. He was raised with an awareness of diversity and it shows,
mostly in his love of food. Writing songs has always been a passion for
him but even more than that, it has been a way of expressing his inner
most emotions and thoughts: <b><a href="https://scholtz.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">www.scholtz.bandcamp.com</a></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVCOIsYV4hzSo0gwGMGXq1H17Scnc1xUyIsmtitzyllFAYYumX6e6dpL8xRWmXupqeabaP-tFYnJOeT1dmf0CsfQCr80I99cbbcllFvb9yBHHQXNQ96eWs-Udl9xiad5NFUF-CeOl9Klhb/s200/cody_choi.jpg" width="150" /> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Youth Voice / <b>CODY CHOI</b> ~ </span></span></span></span><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Cody Choi is a soon to
be 18 year old senior from one of the Middle College High Schools
sites, the <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Ida-B-Wells-School-195691807177217/?fref=ts" target="_blank">Ida B. Wells School for Social Justice</a></b>. Empowered by the
transformative nature of an engaged pedagogy, Cody utilizes her voice to
expand important discussions around critical real world issues. Through
her transcendence as a student and a woman of color, Cody uses her
writing to reach out to others and with determined activism to help
reconnect the </span></span></span></span></span></span>global community.<br />
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcIDJGkJYXykGacMdhqFcvZ0Ty_v4r9zQ95vKK8gd3N3PeZaK_WNsOUtjQnoeKVJ70fO5yD9jV8D_00T_4TPMWjvwOLQUhyLiyPKby5vZrrkx92RxFSrUYjzl1JcV8VMB_E7XA1E6lHGK0/s200/moonyeka.jpg" width="153" /><br />
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<span class="_fbReactionComponent__eventDetailsContent fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Dance
/ <b>ANGEL "MOONYEKA" LANGLEY</b> ~ Moonyeka is a young Filipina-American
street dancer and choreographer pursuing her dance degree at the
University of Washington. Current projects include “WHAT’S POPPIN’
LADIEZ?!” , an ethnographic research project and community event series
focused on the female popping experience. Moonyeka has collaborated and
organized with Youth Speaks Seattle, Moksha, Arts Corps, Anak Bayan, and the Seattle dance scene. She has been a teaching artist teaching ballet/modern/hip hop at Rainier Dance Center, Remix Dance Team at My World Dance and Fitness Studio,
Arts Corps as a resident artist, at Mt. View Elementary and other
Seattle elementary schools, D&G Dance Studios, Langston Hughes
Performing Arts Center, Massive Monkees Studio: The Beacon, and local community centers. </span></span><br />
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ6lhmdr31pmQo5ow-eNWYVJhDBiNP-aL6AJauVdHQmSRvEIDA3iSg67roLgB19nQrcbpIfpTfD9vNLzd5uOahEVSDg3S07aGGdK_enVXyDxBHq1vvcNPNrQJ8xia782e8NeZBfygfCR3k/s200/lulu_carpenter.jpg" width="155" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[PHOTO CREDIT: Mario D Lemafa]</span><br />
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Afrofuturism: Amalgamation / <span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><b>LUZVIMINDA "LULU" UZURI CARPENTER</b> ~ Lulu is an artist, educator,
consultant, cultural and youth worker, producer, community organizer and
strategist. She is the Seattle Girls School Performance Studies Teacher
& Resident Artist; Roots Young Adult Shelter Anti-Oppression Change
Team Consultant; Hollow Earth Radio Youth & Young Adult Program
Coordinator & Anti-Oppression Consultant; Radio Host of <a class="_58cn" data-ft="{"tn":"*N","type":104}" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/lulunation">#LuluNation</a>
+ Crew; Co-Chair of the City of Seattle LGBT Commission; and an
Ambassador for On the Boards (OtB). She shows her commitment and love
towards Duwamish territory through projects with <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/UzuriConsultingandProductions/?fref=ts" target="_blank">Uzuri* Consulting & Productions</a></b>, and weaves intersections of community, nonprofits,
business, and organizing through Green Bodies & <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WonderLabArtsCollective/?fref=ts" target="_blank">WonderLab</a></b>. </span></span> <br />
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<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNX-WjZuGQYC8geG9qaoBoTFgG3S61VGnPGgIGidsyGcTymyhV1p71VqDsC5mLU7MXqAk5RnMi9pm5eRxwvuLdZQ7wETUY_K7Rf25KX_c8m0Q8teiwcUc8gZgx0fM8HbDBKu9iq3pAD_K/s320/kalayaan_domingo.jpg" width="320" /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[PHOTO CREDIT: <span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"> Tien Vo Tse]</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Intro / <b>KALAYAAN
DOMINGO</b> ~ Kalayaan is a multiracial woman of Filipina and mixed European
descent, and is the mother of two multiracial boys, Réne and Raúl, who
are proudly Filipino, Mixed European and Salvadoran. Raised in a
multiethnic community in South Seattle Kalayaan is proud of her
multiracial roots and strives to instill the same foundation in her
sons. Kalayaan spends her time surrounded by a large extended family,
supporting bi-lingual/bi-cultural <b><a href="http://seattleamistadschool.org/" target="_blank">Amistad School</a></b>, building and
participating with <b><a href="http://focseattle.com/" target="_blank">Families of Color Seattle</a></b>, and working on health
equity issues within King County to ensure our larger community is a
safe and just place for all residents.</span></span><br />
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<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJP6QjxjvYKtIjQRFKAxpDuK9Jyh3Wr_0Q_JpSmuFeaB433rUAgct9rm68xD7yWUDC35f1jdWICePH6qm9FXRDGV1gPObmwRj84EXnGIdDCsulrpLzjeXl8YK1WnMHQc1OvrAO9bCLoUT3/s320/bo_kim.jpg" width="213" /> <span class="_fbReactionComponent__eventDetailsContent fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="_fbReactionComponent__eventDetailsContent fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Photography
/ <b>BO KIM</b> ~ Bo is a Seattle-based freelance photographer who moved to
the area from Maui, Hawaii a little over 6 years ago. She graduated from
UW Seattle with a Film Studies Degree and worked in multiple different
fields starting in Fashion photography and Experimental Digital Video
later moving into Public Relations with GKPR (Seattle-based PR Company).
Bo continues to do all different kinds of photography from blogging to
restaurants/businesses to product photography and editorial work. See
more at her website: <a href="http://bokimphoto.squarespace.com/" rel=" nofollow" target="_blank"><b>www.bokimphoto.squarespace</b><wbr></wbr><b><span class="word_break"></span>.com</b></a></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="_fbReactionComponent__eventDetailsContent fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><b><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTbjCK9XAG9nyle2NE2CiOmdCLXVg3q7a7EH2hOQwD2iqhtoQjyG2BpjgCv2bYxEJm7xsqEmyR9N9v7Gnx7EEeXV3up8VJQOk2gYbs6CyXaRI9txcGGpMEXWAAICugCZfRjz8xCXRKl8y/s320/angela_flores.jpg" width="209" /> </b></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="_fbReactionComponent__eventDetailsContent fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Video / <b>ANGELA FLORES-MARCUS</b> ~ </span></span></span></span><span class="_fbReactionComponent__eventDetailsContent fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show">Angela is an audio engineer and in-house videographer at Earwig Studio.
She is currently in school for electrical engineering and hopes to
pursue a career in audio hardware design. Angela is actively engaged
with her community, and is working with other young women who are
pursuing careers in science and engineering through the Women in STEM
club at South Seattle College.
Angela has loved playing music since she was a kid. While she
especially enjoys producing R&B and hip hop music, she loves working
with artists of all genres. </span></span><span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="_fbReactionComponent__eventDetailsContent fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><b> </b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="_fbReactionComponent__eventDetailsContent fsl"><span class="text_exposed_show"><b> </b> <br /> </span></span> </span></span><br />
<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-40120054497873496342016-01-26T06:28:00.003-08:002016-01-26T07:04:59.753-08:00REVIEW: Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yh4Cxj6zVxj3wmLyxmbICdIukhOVTpUOQcy_QQG5xDMV1dP-3Dp8ofFJ4DAHOFvh6sPgDsVayuMOJAWQvVrWpapAXlhc7bA6ZyfD_INMNZsHKMndHHMbYMlMSwRU-ew0b_9HorImlawu/s1600/RP20.4_cover_PROOF2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yh4Cxj6zVxj3wmLyxmbICdIukhOVTpUOQcy_QQG5xDMV1dP-3Dp8ofFJ4DAHOFvh6sPgDsVayuMOJAWQvVrWpapAXlhc7bA6ZyfD_INMNZsHKMndHHMbYMlMSwRU-ew0b_9HorImlawu/s640/RP20.4_cover_PROOF2.jpg" width="492" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">by Hugo Wong</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN PRINT ONLY. REPRINTED HERE WITH PERMISSION FROM RICE PAPER MAGAZINE]</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">In the United States, the fastest-growing census demographic is "multiracial" - those who check more than one box to answer the "race question. For some, this growth can't come soon enough. Many believe that more multiracial people will eventually make physical differences irrelevant and usher in a new era of racial harmony. Other well-meaning people try to be colour blind, unaware that they might be overlooking real problems that non-white people face each day. In her book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Mixed-Race-Multiracial-Post-Racial/dp/1138999466" target="_blank"><i>Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Children In a Post-Racial World</i></a>, author Sharon Chang looks at these issues as well as many others - and adds an extra complication: whether subtle racism and racist social structures can affect toddlers and young children.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;">" . . . the new vocabulary in the book has helped me talk about thoughts and feelings I didn't have words for."</span></b></span></i></span> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Raising Mixed Race</i> is an ambitious book, diving into issues like poverty, education, and media representation: challenges that are often linked to race. In a particularly revealing section, the parents Chang interviewed were almost all hesitant to talk about race with their kids. Most wanted to keep their children innocent, and felt that they didn't understand race anyway - but Chang says that are not blissfully unaware. She cites a study that revealed that three-year-olds preferred same-race playmates and that white children increasingly wanted white playmates as they got older. Preschoolers can treat people differently based on skin colour, with one Chinese-American mother telling Chang that their four-year-old "would not accept whites speaking to him in Mandarin, saying, 'No. You don't speak Chinese.'" From birth to adulthood, Chang writes that peers and adults keep trying to fit multiracial children into a dated five-race construct (black, brown, yellow, red, and white) to determine if they're closer to one particular race, denying them the right to identify with every part of their own heritage.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Chang's conclusions are, for the most part, hard to argue with. Parents should give their children more credit and talk about race so they can better resist the forces of institutionalized racism. However, the book's prose and organization might be hard to follow for anyone expecting another feel-good parenting book; <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> is denser than your average magazine article.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;">"I
hope this discussion moves to mainstream . . . so that more people can
gain the same knowledge and tools that Chang has given me."</span></b></span></i> </span></div>
<br /></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">Though it is not light reading, <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> is in many ways empowering: the new vocabulary in the book has helped me talk about thoughts and feelings I didn't have the words for. I hope this discussion moves to mainstream arenas like talk shows and checkstand magazines, so that more people can gain the same knowledge and tools that Chang has given me. </span> <br />
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<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-53718304320750854702016-01-15T06:50:00.000-08:002016-01-15T07:12:03.285-08:00My 2015 Year In Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6noX4MqnTGvM97_bblboXAZ_HBDnB3IoI1Ug8SMPtiFUq8X_N8PF2NhVrwmYIv4Qm4GZNnQmp_SPeylN4hicsg1CxQkMEAwtTTfzFiwWBJgpdJTw1NR9jH8MtieGb06LcpFDtJc0jdIVc/s1600/2015_YearInReview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6noX4MqnTGvM97_bblboXAZ_HBDnB3IoI1Ug8SMPtiFUq8X_N8PF2NhVrwmYIv4Qm4GZNnQmp_SPeylN4hicsg1CxQkMEAwtTTfzFiwWBJgpdJTw1NR9jH8MtieGb06LcpFDtJc0jdIVc/s400/2015_YearInReview.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
by Sharon H. Chang<br />
<br />
I recently saw a fellow blogger pull together a year-in-review roundup and thought, "Why haven't I been doing that? I'm gonna try that!" So I sat down one morning and started rifling through 2015's posts and events and you know it was actually pretty fascinating. Fascinating how much can happen in a year; how momentum just moves you in certain directions when you don't even know what those directions are; how you start wondering where the journey will take you next. Okay, stopping. Won't get too heady. Needless to say I'm happy to share now, without further ado, my 2015 Year In Review . . . <br />
<a name='more'></a><b><br />Wrote the Most Viral Pieces I've Ever Written</b> <br />
<br />
In chronological order<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #134f5c;">Feb 2</span></b>: Kicked off the year right here on <i>Multiracial Asian Families</i> with <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/02/are-mixed-race-asianwhites-basically.html" target="_blank">Are Mixed Race Asian/Whites, "Basically White"?</a>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>Mar 2</b></span>: My first piece for <i>The Seattle Globalist,</i> <a href="http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2015/03/02/race-in-seattle-progressive-mystique-integration/34402" target="_blank">Time to shed the ‘progressive mystique’ and confront racism in Seattle</a>, went viral AND was <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2015/03/05/21833433/why-does-seattle-still-have-a-race-problem" target="_blank">responded to</a> by well known local writer/filmmaker Charles Mudede over at <i>The Stranger</i>.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #134f5c;">Mar 3:</span></b> My first piece for <i>ThinkProgress</i> went viral, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/03/03/3629106/nan-hui-jo-abduction/" target="_blank">Domestic Violence Survivor Found Guilty Of Child Abduction For Fleeing With Daughter, May Be Deported</a>. Very tough to write because the circumstances were so devastating but definitely opened my eyes to the power of activist journalism. <br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #134f5c;">May 21</span>: </b>Then my first piece for <i>BuzzFeed, </i><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/sharonchang/this-mocha-caramel-honey-post-racial-fantasy-is-making-me-si#.qoPwdgv02" target="_blank">This Mocha-Caramel-Honey Post-Racial Fantasy Is Making Me Sick</a>, went MASS viral with over 50,000 hits. To date it remains the most viral piece I've written. <br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #134f5c;">Jun 2:</span></b> Most popular piece I've ever written here on my blog, <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/06/yea-aloha-is-super-white-but-whats-up.html" target="_blank">Yea 'Aloha' is Super White, But What's Up With the Way We're Talking About It?</a> It was cross-published by <i><a href="http://www.racialicious.com/2015/06/05/yea-aloha-is-super-white-but-whats-up-with-the-way-were-talking-about-it/" target="_blank">Racialicious</a> </i>(another first).</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>Jul 29:</b></span> Another that was widely viewed on <i>Multiracial Asian Families</i>, <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-it-was-like-being-mixed-race.html" target="_blank">What It Was Like Being Mixed-Race Photographed By National Geographic.</a> Really special to see so many of my blog posts go viral this year. It's one thing when you get published on a big platform with almost guaranteed readership. It's another thing when you're building your own platform from the ground up. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>Oct 18:</b></span> This editorial for <i>The International Examiner</i> was incredibly hard to write because the circumstances were so violent. But I remain forever grateful that readers resonated and shared across their networks, <a href="http://www.iexaminer.org/2015/10/poc-yoga-closure-a-tragedy/" target="_blank">Closure of POC Yoga due to hate, death threats a tragedy for all people of color</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>Dec 16:</b></span> And lastly, closed out the year with another successful essay here on <i>Multiracial Asian Families</i>, <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/12/new-york-times-just-boarded-post-racial.html" target="_blank">New York Times Just Boarded the Post-Racial Express: A critical response to "Choose Your Own Identity"</a><br />
<br />
<b>Wrote the Most Hated Piece I've Ever Written </b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgobawE8-k3c921Gm90qiJVtC47ogXpyJT5hEI9ozcObhV7pPr81iEixm62l_JdaXiED4UiV9X8Lakz7dXTRi9ATNxjTM4bPMyXnsMbHAZ7tKMN2iDcgOPYxcb4Yt_2LQ7dSD6zKGcly2N0/s1600/kyoko1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgobawE8-k3c921Gm90qiJVtC47ogXpyJT5hEI9ozcObhV7pPr81iEixm62l_JdaXiED4UiV9X8Lakz7dXTRi9ATNxjTM4bPMyXnsMbHAZ7tKMN2iDcgOPYxcb4Yt_2LQ7dSD6zKGcly2N0/s320/kyoko1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="http://io9.gizmodo.com/heres-the-scene-from-ex-machina-that-made-my-jaw-drop-1699543182" target="_blank">image source</a>]</td></tr>
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There's one viral piece I haven't mentioned yet though. On May 30, 2015, I wrote a critique of the heady sci-fi film <i>Ex Machina </i>and what I saw as it's abusive treatment of women of color characters, <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/05/how-ex-machina-abuses-women-of-color.html" target="_blank">"How 'Ex Machina' Abuses Women of Color and Nobody Cares Cause It's Smart"</a><i>. </i>While it was the first post of mine to ever be cross-published twice, on Racialicious <i>and</i> boundary2, it also was the first to open my eyes to real public attitudes about gender violence. Wow. Scroll the comments and you can see how events unfolded. While at first other women of color stepped forward to voice their relieved gratitude, their voices eventually faded to be quickly replaced by vitriolic trolls who have attacked me over, and over, and over. I still get hateful comments about this piece about once a month. I publish them for posterity. Of all the pieces I've ever written, this is the only one that's ever generated so much hate and hated staying power. I'm sad to say I learned a lesson that at least right now is informing my writing choices very carefully --> violence towards women is grossly epidemic but also grossly accepted by society and not something most people want to talk about in the slightest. If you are a woman (esp woman of color) and you try to speak out, you are seen as an easy target for more violence. So. There's that.<br />
<br />
<b>Won My First Writing Award</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHslagaBMlugVMYgtgJTIJkYCS6mf9Aa7AmW_tk7Vi_dDXPjsqv8bmrQjG-akhS2f8BI9JxNqgYcp6xNL7HR_knN-sUWnhiFT-kWxTR3FkfG0FUA-L6VHHLj0wqqlW3EFV9vGVvNbbZSvC/s1600/sharon_SG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHslagaBMlugVMYgtgJTIJkYCS6mf9Aa7AmW_tk7Vi_dDXPjsqv8bmrQjG-akhS2f8BI9JxNqgYcp6xNL7HR_knN-sUWnhiFT-kWxTR3FkfG0FUA-L6VHHLj0wqqlW3EFV9vGVvNbbZSvC/s320/sharon_SG.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[photo credit: The Seattle Globalist]</td></tr>
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On the other hand, I also won my first writing award this year: <i>The</i> <i>Seattle Globalist'</i>s 2015 <a href="http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2015/07/17/meet-this-years-outstanding-contributors-at-the-globies-2015/39450" target="_blank">Social Justice Commentator of the Year</a>. That rocked. Many thanks to the Globalist!<br />
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<b><b><i>Raising Mixed Race</i> Was Released!</b></b><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Raising Mixed Race </i>virtual launch Dec 17 (view time<b> </b>14:39)</span></div>
<br />
IT WAS. The high point of the year of course. At long last my book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Mixed-Race-Multiracial-Post-Racial/dp/1138999466" target="_blank"><i>Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World</i></a> was born Dec 11, 2015. I preview-premiered it (amazingly) in Vancouver B.C. the September prior thanks to a lovely invitation by the organizers of <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/09/raisingmixedrace-hapapalooza-2015-book.html" target="_blank">Hapapalooza</a>. In October I had the excellent opportunity to speak from this blog and the book at a local community dialogue sponsored by <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/10/talking-race-id-racism-with-families-of.html" target="_blank">Families of Color Seattle</a>. Then on the actual release day I hosted a <span style="color: purple;"><b>Facebook </b></span><i><span style="color: purple;"><b>virtual launch</b></span> </i>which was exhausting but so much fun! Grateful to say the book has been very well-received thus far. It sold out via Amazon pre-orders before it was even available and has received <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/p/raising-mixed-race.html" target="_blank">caring praise</a> by those who've read it. I'm hopeful for the future, am forging ahead, and really looking forward to what its first year in the world will bring.<br />
<br />
<b>Started Interviewing for Book No. 2 </b><br />
<br />
Actually
at this juncture I've finished interviewing. But yes, lastly, thrilled to share
I'm now working on a second book looking at Asian/American women and
gendered racism. It will feature the voices of at least fifty-six
politicized Asian/American women ages 17-75 representing multiple ethnic
subgroups (including South and Southeast Asian). The project is already
under contract (i.e. signed to a publisher) and will be co-authored
with preeminent sociologist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Feagin" target="_blank">Joe R. Feagin</a>, Pulitzer Prize nominee and author of over sixty books on race, class and gender; most recently <a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Blacks-Built-America-Democracy/dp/0415703298" target="_blank"><i>How Blacks Built America</i></a>. <br />
<br />
-----<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>My deepest gratitude </b>however is always for your solidarity, support, and for sticking with me all this time. As the cliches go - it simply put would <i>simply</i> be nothing without YOU. Truth is I always look forward to your work too and the transformative/restorative convos we'll have together. Let's do this thing called 2016. Onward ho . . . </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-1978935774092186572015-12-16T07:20:00.001-08:002015-12-18T03:53:24.576-08:00New York Times Just Boarded the Post-Racial Express: A critical response to "Choose Your Own Identity"<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRj9Ngl9Ww0-dIcMNMX9oF3TNV1H0S_nC5lpCTRKSUmbL7o-rnHOpuz40ViGabo_lwNouwNSu4Chi1JOZEFUGlLTLTRO01lNXwwjj4WvLcX9ENU4slFIKtuyxBqOQ8lCZ0rg5BvIumpF9/s1600/NYTimes_ChooseYourID.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRj9Ngl9Ww0-dIcMNMX9oF3TNV1H0S_nC5lpCTRKSUmbL7o-rnHOpuz40ViGabo_lwNouwNSu4Chi1JOZEFUGlLTLTRO01lNXwwjj4WvLcX9ENU4slFIKtuyxBqOQ8lCZ0rg5BvIumpF9/s640/NYTimes_ChooseYourID.jpg" width="419" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[screen shot from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/14/magazine/choose-your-own-identity.html" target="_blank">NY Times Magazine</a>]</td></tr>
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<br />
by Sharon H Chang<br />
<br />
This Monday, <i>The New York Times Magazine</i> published a very unfortunate essay about multiracial Asian children: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/14/magazine/choose-your-own-identity.html" target="_blank">Choose Your Own Identity</a>, by author and mother Bonnie Tsui. In it, Tsui (who is not multiracial herself) puzzles over her children's mixed-race identities, what they may or may not choose to be one day, while taking a brief foray back/forward in time to consider the sociohistorical context of mixed-race and America's impending multiracial future. After mulling on the subject for about ten paragraphs, she concludes with a seeming liberatory message on behalf of her children: "...the truth is, I can't tell my sons what to feel...I can only tell them what I think about my own identity and listen hard to what they have to tell me in turn." <br />
<br />
Sounds innocent enough, yes? <br />
<br />
No.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;">"I'm so tired of mothers of bi and multiracial children speaking on behalf of their children." ~ TS</span></span></b></span></i></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Let's break it down in three big points. Point one. While I of course appreciate non-mixed parents paying attention to their mixed children's identities, I do not appreciate non-mixed parents speaking <i>for</i> their mixed children - something that happens way too often. Don't think that's happening here? Consider this. Despite Tsui's admittance she doesn't understand mixedness followed by the claim she realizes her role is to listen, in the end SHE's the one writing this story about mixed race people for <i>The New York Times</i> -- not a mixed race person. She does not quote her own children more than once. And other than quickly citing the work of Kip Fulbeck she cites no work by other multiracials when at this point there is a growing canon of rich, deep stuff. Consequently this piece then ends up centering <i>her speculations</i> as a single raced person upon the meaning of multiraciality in America. This does not qualify as "listening" in my mind. It's telling that the following exhausted response by a mixed person <b>is buried in the comment section</b>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">...I'm so tired
of mothers of bi and multiracial children speaking on behalf of their
children. There are so many biracial people (adults) who can address the
topic. The continuous portrayal of biracial people as "children" whose
identification can only be narrated through the lens of a mother
(usually) undermines our voices as independent thinking, fully grown
individuals. Give us respect and give us space to share our stories
instead of using our birth as an excuse for people who reproduced with
someone of another race to work through their own issues of race. - TS, New York NY</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
This trend of monoracial folk claiming all the space, attention and privilege to work out <i>their</i> confused feelings about the multiracial story is incredibly oppressive and part of the
practice of marginalizing mixed race peoples. Everyone gets to talk about us and what we must feel - but us. Which brings me to Point Two. What results when monoracial folk center their own angst in trying to understand mixed race peoples, is almost inevitably the spreading of vast misunderstanding and misinformation about those very same people. Probably the best example in Tsui's essay is that the catalyst for the piece was a conversation with her Chinese/white
5-year-old in which he rejected being Asian: "...when I asked him the
other day if he was Chinese, he said no. '<i>You're</i> Chinese, but I'm not,' he told me, with certainty."<br />
<br />
Tsui jumps to the conclusion that this must be because her 5-year-old in that moment, simply put, identified as a white person<i>. </i>Her proof? That he "confidently" asserted he was "not Chinese" combined with the recent Pew study on multiracials that purported Asian-whites are more "more likely to identify with whites than they are with Asians." No mention of the fact that Pew's study ALSO said the <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/06/11/multiracial-in-america/" target="_blank">majority of multiracials had been subjected to racial slurs and jokes</a>. No mention of her son's seeming "confidence" in being non-Chinese as a possible defense mechanism in a racist society with a long ongoing history of anti-Asian discrimination. No mention of white supremacy as a devastating dominant cultural norm in the U.S., the incredible pressure upon non-white Americans to assimilate to that norm, and the reality that <i>all</i> people of color (including Asians themselves) demonstrate internalized racism repeatedly in studies in exactly this way - by rejecting their racial identities of color.<br />
<br />
Worse, Tsui then goes on to write that (what she views as) her son's confidence in being a white person (by the way remember he's 5 YEARS OLD) hurts <i>her</i> feelings having grown up herself a racialized other in the U.S. And that, if her sons "choose" whiteness, she believes she will have a responsibility to <i>teach them</i> what it's like to be a person of color in this country:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;">"...if they do choose to identify as white, there is something about being a racial minority in America that I would want them to know. As a child, I most wanted to fit in. As a young adult, I learned how I stood apart and to have pride in it. In the experience of being an 'other,' there's a valuable lesson in consciousness: You learn to listen harder, because you've heard what others have to say about you before you even have a chance to speak."</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
I find this pretty ironic given we and her children are listening to what <i>she</i> has to say about mixed race before her children have even had a chance to speak for themselves. No mention of the fact that multiracial people ARE a racial minority in America who experience otherness every day. No mention of the fact that she herself earlier wrote her son is very aware he looks "different." The total effect here I find entirely condescending and erasing on the part of her children, but then also, on her end, deeply confused, avoidant and misinformed. Which brings me to Point Three. None of this surprises me.<br />
<br />
For my book, <b><a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138999466" target="_blank"><i>Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World</i></a></b>, which was released last week, I interviewed 68 parents of 75 young multiracial Asian children. The swirly mishy mushy mess that Tsui has articulated around mixed race in her New York Times essay is very typical of parents (both whites and parents of color). Parents care but most still have a very under-developed knowledge about what race, racism, oppression and discrimination really are. For example, choice is a theme over/over throughout Tsui's writing: Her sons can and might "choose" to be white and in 2000 "the Census Bureau started letting people choose more than one race category". But people of color don't get to choose to be white. WHITES get to choose who's white. Take for instance, as I discuss in my book, that final decision on federally mandated racial categories does not rest with the Census Bureau but Congress, which is still white-male dominated. So at the turn of the
century it was actually elite whites that "started letting people
choose". From <i>Raising Mixed Race </i>(p. 162):<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: purple;">As long as white racial framing exists, multiracials will never wholly control which direction their identities take. White thinking intrudes upon and imposes ownership of all race matters, including mixed race matters.</span></span></b></i></span></blockquote>
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</blockquote>
<br />
Tsui also waxes extremely poetic, as many parents do, about multiraciality being a harbinger of racial peace. She writes racial identity will "<i>have</i> to be fluid" because "Multiracial Americans are on the rise"; "when you start mixing up stories, as my family has, much of the institutional meaning of race falls away"; that her self-perceived ability to navigate mixed identity with her children is tantamount to "practicing good race relations". No mention of the actual racial realities of mixed folk. In my book at least <i>half </i>of the multiracial children represented
(mostly under age six) had already been racialized as people of color
and faced discrimination often within the home by white family members. She writes about use of the <a href="http://aapivoices.com/hapa-with-care/" target="_blank">Native Hawaiian word </a><i><a href="http://aapivoices.com/hapa-with-care/" target="_blank">hapa</a> </i>in the Bay area without once mentioning its appropriation by non-Natives and the horrific near-genocide, erasure and theft of lands of Indigenous peoples which continues today. Further, and of vital importance, in a piece about race that references Black and Brown peoples, Tsui does not once acknowledge the persistent racial oppression clearly evident in every sector of society from growing race-income disparities, Islamophobia, xenophobia, to school resegregation, mass incarceration and the violent anti-Black anti-Brown racism we're seeing in the media EVERY DAY. This all despite the supposed growth of mixed race populations.<br />
<br />
I think you catch my drift and I could go on. But I won't. I'll finish with a few suggestions. First, if you read Tsui's piece I would suggest doing so with great caution. In the last couple days I've gotten messages from people who thought the essay was great and didn't understand why I would have a critique. I hope I've given you a glimpse here into the many layers of why I felt the piece was misguided. But second, there's only so much any writer, both Tsui and I, can do in a thousand words or so on the Internet. When it comes to race, I think the blessing and curse of our modern age is the Net where yes we can make incredible strides - but also avoid doing deep work, developing analyses that extend beyond clickbait and a 60-second skim sitting on the toilet or in traffic. The real transformation is going to happen when we do more than scratch the surface. I urge you to not only read <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> but continue to ask the hard questions, seek out work by/about multiracials, and keep resisting Pollyana-esque narratives that make it seem like everything is better than it really is... <br />
<br />
In unity<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-19995051160731981882015-12-13T08:29:00.002-08:002015-12-20T06:27:27.202-08:00All about my NEW book - Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0BrCY0S6C87BsGk4BMDyIxNMxHHXIoeQ3qnCDlKR7F6KcVua3eCgiBNd6X4Vwep4UlCB0xqC0Y3soKfOQ4zivK8EKjro-rBn5ANhoMWWrJeCo_sOiqCcKHV5Rgt4fldVkU9egXVqk3Vm3/s1600/IMG_4987.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0BrCY0S6C87BsGk4BMDyIxNMxHHXIoeQ3qnCDlKR7F6KcVua3eCgiBNd6X4Vwep4UlCB0xqC0Y3soKfOQ4zivK8EKjro-rBn5ANhoMWWrJeCo_sOiqCcKHV5Rgt4fldVkU9egXVqk3Vm3/s400/IMG_4987.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> came last week (after I screamed & did a dance first)</td></tr>
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<br />
by Sharon H Chang<br />
<br />
I am so thrilled to announce that, at long last, MY BOOK <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138999466" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: purple;">Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World</span></i></a></span> has been released on <a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138999466" target="_blank"><b>Routledge</b></a>!!! This moment is so deeply meaningful to me beyond anything words can express. Raising Mixed Race represents not only years of work on my end but a multitude of others' lived racial realities; stories about and involving mixedness that are poignant, sharp, relevant and vital, and yet - remain mostly untold in America and around the world. To my immense and humble gratitude, advance <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/p/raising-mixed-race.html" target="_blank"><b>reviewers have embraced this book</b></a> with tremendous love; reviewed it glowingly in <i>and out</i> of the US. The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/raisingmixedrace/?fref=ts" target="_blank"><b>Facebook Release Party</b></a> for the book was incredibly well-attended on Friday, Dec 11, and pre-orders <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Mixed-Race-Multiracial-Post-Racial/dp/1138999466" target="_blank"><b>SOLD OUT on Amazon</b></a> over the weekend! It is my sincere belief if we engage with Raising Mixed Race it can (will) challenge our thinking on mixedness to go deeper and contribute to moving society as a whole towards justice, healing and true transformation. I hope you too will read Raising Mixed Race, and join our journey.<br />
<br />
In the mean time, you can of course find a brief Raising Mixed Race book description at any online retailer. But I know that doesn't tell much. So. I put together a little extra something to give you a closer peak. Following are summaries for the book's chapters <i>plus</i> short videos of ME telling you all about them (from the Facebook Release Party)! Take a look, and Happy Reading...<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Introduction</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Building a Home for Understanding, Realization, and Change</span></div>
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In the introduction I share some of my own multiracial
experiences and point out why examinations of racial identity are
extremely important. Racial identity is about self-perception but also
about how one participates in or resists a racist society. It is
essential to add seats for such thinking to the table of society’s
larger race conversation. But while there should be room for everyone,
many are left out. The current under-five age set is predominantly
children of color, Asian and multiracial overall are the fastest growing
groups, and for around a decade Asians out-married at a higher rate
than any other race. Multiracial Asian is a growing presence in this
nation and yet there is very little literature specifically addressing
the needs of mixed race Asian children. Most race research tends to be
monoracial and age-constrained focusing on teens, young adults, and
adults. This is worrisome given multiracial is such a fast growing
self-identified youth group. Raising Mixed Race then importantly fills a
gap. It is drawn from interviews with 68 parents of 75 young
multiracial Asian children on parenting around race and what it means to
be mixed. </div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Chapter 1 Foundation</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The History of Race, Then and Now</span></div>
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This
chapter defines key terms used to understand multiracial Asians through
the lens of Joe R. Feagin’s white racial frame: wherein race is not
biological but a white-constructed worldview and psychosocial belief
system used to rationalize systemic racism. The origins of “race” and
congealed racial thinking are traced back to elite white male
intellectuals in the 17th to late 18th century. Particularly Johann
Friedrich Blumenbach’s human hierarchical taxonomy which is still
employed today by the U.S. Census. Given this foundation it is
established all racial language is loaded language which is rife with
white supremacist societal coding and cannot be understood
ahistorically. Common words and language practices heard today in
reference to multiracial Asians are then critically discussed and
clarified. Especially the racist medical term “Mongolian spots,”
white-originated word “Asian”, colonialist appropriation of Native
Hawaiian identity hapa, as well as the disturbing trends of
interchanging of race, ethnicity and culture, and referring to mixed
race people in fractions.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Chapter 2 Framing</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Multiracial Asian On a White Foundation</span></div>
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This chapter looks at the under-acknowledged but very real ways Asians and mixed race Asians experience systemic racism. Expressly how they are racially perceived and stereotyped by whites and how pervasive discrimination against them is rationalized through the white racial frame. Asians are chiefly seen by whites as forever foreigners and/or model minorities while multiracial Asians are generally seen as either the same, sometimes Asian, still not white and/or conquest babies and cosmopolitans. Each white racially framed perspective has been purposefully leveraged throughout history (and to this day) to justify a wide range of anti-Asian anti-multiracial Asian oppressions from minimization, silencing, erasure, to aggression, violence and exclusion. Taking into consideration these formidable racist barriers, this chapter concludes by defining a positive multiracial Asian identity then as the ability to confidently navigate the race construct and self-identify within it in a resistant, transformative way.</div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Chapter 3 Framing</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Multiracial Asian On a White Foundation</span></div>
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This chapter reviews key research on early race learning and racial experiences of young mono- and multiracial children contrasted against widespread disbelief expressed by parents in interviews. Studies to date show infants as young as 6 months old (and likely earlier) are able to sort people by racial difference. By 2 years of age children can be seen using race to reason about people’s behaviors. By 3 years of age societal pre-prejudice has been planted and by 4-5 years of age children demonstrate very advanced racial understanding using race to include or exclude and value or devalue. Children of all backgrounds learn these racial lessons from the world around them: from what they see, hear, and experience themselves. At least half of the 75 children represented in book interviewing had experienced racism today. Yet parents were wont to deny or dismiss this reality with the conviction children were “too young” to understand. The chapter concludes with the importance of adults acknowledging that young children are in fact developing preformative racial identities very early and that said identities are deeply foundational to their understandings of race later in life.</div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Chapter 4 Insulation</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Barriers for Multiracial Asian Children</span></div>
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This chapter examines the specific barriers young multiracial Asian children face as they grow up in a systemically racist society. Parent interviews revealed that at least 68 percent of the children had already shown race recognition and at least half had already been targets of racism. But in addition to encountering discrimination typically assigned to so-called mono races, mixed race Asian youth were also facing racism and racial barriers very particular to their mixedness. Several large themes emerged. Compounded societal invisibility: where children do not see themselves reflected in the world around them not only because they are Asian but also because they are mixed race and children. Racial isolation: where, as a still very small racial minority in the U.S. (Hawai’i excepted), multiracial Asian children are not likely to have nurturing contact with others like them. And lastly a deep degree of parent indoctrination into mainstream ideology: where multiracial Asian children’s parents often hold underdeveloped racial awareness and are ill-equipped to deal with race, much less mixed race, in their parenting. All these barriers combined leave mixed race Asian children, like all children of color, at risk for internalized oppression and racism.</div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Chapter 5 Walls</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Proximity to Whiteness</span></div>
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While multiracial Asian children live embedded within the same white racial framework and systemically racist society, it is important to remember their mixed heritages are not all the same therefore they do not necessarily share the same experiences of oppression and discrimination. Mixed race is implicitly but dissimilarly shaped by the system of race in which it is embedded. Given that the majority of self-identifying multiracial Asians in America are currently of white descent, this chapter addresses in detail what it means to be “mixed with white” and in close proximity to white parents and family. Though having white heritage can afford measurable racial advantages such as being light-skinned or having access to wealth and education, contrary to popular belief “mixed with white” is still not synonymous with being white. In fact what it means to be mixed with white is profoundly personal, confusing and even painful to those multiracials who are. Interviews revealed mixed race Asian/white children were not only being read and treated as people of color outside the home but simultaneously dealing with surprisingly high levels of white family racism within the home often targeting their parent of color or the children themselves.</div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Chapter 6 Textures</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Centering Blackness</span></div>
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In a nation built on the backs of Black slaves and four centuries of ongoing violent anti-Black racism, this chapter points out the necessity of centering Blackness in any mixed race conversation. Public perception would suggest mixed race is a fairly new phenomenon. But such beliefs operate dangerously out of an ahistorical pro-white framework in ignoring that multiracial Blacks have existed in America since slavery yet a mixed identity for them has historically been disallowed to uphold white supremacy. This legacy remains an undeniable influence upon multiracial Asians of Black descent today. In a white dominated system that has always oppressed those who are “fractionally Black,” being of Asian descent too does not offer protection against whites’ deeply entrenched anti-Black racism. Consequently mixed race identities are differently privileged. Mixed race Asian/white children receive far more white favor (and thus societal favor) than Black/Asian children. Then prejudice against Black/Asians is further amplified by being caught in the crosshairs of white-engineered tension between groups of color wherein Blacks resent Asians being wielded by whites as “model minorities” at the same time anti-Blackness is frequently leveraged by Asians to maintain their greater socioeconomic access.</div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Chapter 7 Mirrors & Exteriors</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Face of the Future</span></div>
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This chapter deconstructs the pervasive modern myth that mixed race people will end racism just by existing. Parents themselves often believed their multiracial Asian children would have the innate ability to bridge races or end racial strife. These children also received comments that they would be smarter and more beautiful for their race. Such mixed-post-race views are becoming alarmingly systemic across society and are incredibly treacherous. Why? Because belief in racialized hybrid vigor pushes race as biological fact while implying some people are higher or lower than others because of it. Color lines and injustice are not disappearing. Mixed people are being used as a lever to achieve racially blind political ends; cited as “proof” of the success of “multiculturalism” over racism while ignoring the persistence of white supremacy. This is a belief pattern emerging not only in the U.S. but all over the world. Meanwhile concurrent research shows younger generations are still demonstrating strong discriminatory behaviors. White racism persists despite the burgeoning visible presence of all people of mixed heritage and insisting naively on the imminent arrival of a post-racial world symbolized by multiracial peoples derails from enormous strides that still need to be made in dismantling systemic racism.</div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">Chapter 8 Final Inspection</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Point of Intervention</span></div>
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In the final chapter of this book readers are asked to look at the whole
picture of multiracial Asian children’s lives and start thinking about
what can be done. Acknowledging that everyone has a different entry
point into making change, chapter eight is parceled into three arenas of
intervention and action: micro, meso, macro. At the micro level readers
are asked to focus on themselves; to elevate their concern, grow their
awareness, and be intentional in their everyday interactions. At the
meso level readers are asked to focus on their communities; whether
mixed race Asian children are moving through spaces that are affirming,
or oppressive, and to make shifts accordingly. At the macro level
readers are asked to focus on nation and world; to critique large
institutions that perpetuate child racial inequity such as producers of
children’s products, schools and schooling, healthcare and medical
science, and government and organizational bodies. In the final analysis
Raising Mixed Race concludes that while there is a stark, painful truth
to the reality of race and racism in multiracial Asian children’s
lives, readers should not feel hopeless at all but now informed and
empowered to move towards transformative change.</div>
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<b><i><span style="color: purple;">Raising Mixed Race</span> </i></b>is available for purchase on <b><a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138999466" target="_blank">Routledge.com</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Mixed-Race-Multiracial-Post-Racial/dp/1138999466" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b></div>
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Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-43297372112446243732015-11-30T06:38:00.001-08:002015-12-20T06:26:49.139-08:00'Raising Mixed Race' Virtual Release Party!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCupD7tBk2lLdHJHKAvNdxHz-t6VbNkD4_U_phPqupyzBJ4qkFPZwWJ5vkLQm7Sn4SNhVbEdqpR6tItItg_0DMjwBN2Ry2QVDlqq-FEcicX8kQMO5nvBQdBJXDDnZt6IUyey1BGPZ2ypH/s1600/flyer1_600pixels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCupD7tBk2lLdHJHKAvNdxHz-t6VbNkD4_U_phPqupyzBJ4qkFPZwWJ5vkLQm7Sn4SNhVbEdqpR6tItItg_0DMjwBN2Ry2QVDlqq-FEcicX8kQMO5nvBQdBJXDDnZt6IUyey1BGPZ2ypH/s640/flyer1_600pixels.jpg" width="492" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">YOU'RE INVITED</span></span></span></b></span></div>
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I'm having a party for my new book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Mixed-Race-Multiracial-Post-Racial/dp/1138999466/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448721292&sr=8-1&keywords=raising+mixed+race" target="_blank"><span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;"><b>Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World</b></span></a></i> on <b>Friday December 11</b> and I want you to come! And guess what? If you use the Internet and Facebook - you CAN. What's a Facebook party you ask? It's <i>easy. </i>That's what it is. Facebookers (and newbies) just do what you always do. Log on to Facebook, go to the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/raisingmixedrace/" target="_blank"><i>Raising Mixed Race </i>Facebook page</a> any time between <b>9:30am-1:30pm PST </b>on Dec 11, read, like, comment, share and voila! We have a party. But suuuch a cool party. Really. I'm super excited. Here's some things you can expect:<br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>Posts every few minutes</b></span></span> - for four hours - so yeah, LOTS going on</li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Video "sneak peeks"</b></span></span> of <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> chapters <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">(2 mins or less promise!)</span> </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Thread discussions</b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;">(though this isn't a rant party, so <i>light</i> thread discussions)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Humor</span></b></span> - as in memes and word games like "caption this" or "react to this"</li>
</ul>
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But possibly the best part of the party? <span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>THE GIVEAWAYS. THE GIVEAWAYS. THE GIVEAWAYS.</b></span></span> I'll be <b>giving away 4 signed copies of <i>Raising Mixed Race</i></b><i> </i><b>plus over 20 stellar donations by other authors, artists and filmmakers - all by/about mixed race Asians</b>. <br />
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Scroll down to see the full list . I can't emphasize enough how special all these giveaways are. Every single one is deeply beautiful and has influenced me tremendously on my journey as a mixed-identifying person, author and mother. How do you win? I'll post a blast with the giveaway item and a not-too-hard question. The first person to email the correct answer - wins! The item will be mailed asap as an end of the year gift from us, to you.<br />
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I really do hope you'll join me if you can Friday, December 11, to celebrate the release of my book (the event is public so please invite friends too). This is the culmination of years of thinking, research, writing and I can't wait to share this moment with all of you...<br />
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See you there!<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">_____________________</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;">THE PARTY</span></b></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Friday, December 11, 2015</span></span></b><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">9:30am - 1:30pm PST</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Just show up <b>on Facebook!</b></span></span><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/raisingmixedrace/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">https://www.facebook.com/raisingmixedrace/ </span></span></a><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">_____________________</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;">THE GIVEAWAYS</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;"> </span></b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4_JbA0LGWu6J_duHxKiD7GJ19JqxJvPyvZlnzdx31qbFUwE1ZWs_yotUq1-7OC2-MkEh_JQiH_45zwLtdOcofsm90ZoNqIgQ8qvYW3r7mbv9FNLmxzzrMebg3vrRiyr8QRx9Hsnxx3Uo/s320/ALotLikeYou_signed.jpg" width="320" /> </i></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Signed!</i></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><a href="http://alotlikeyoumovie.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>A Lot Like You</i></b></span></a></span> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d;">"The Truth Has No Borders" </span></div>
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Documentary film by Eliachi Kimaro</div>
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<img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2TWKMgzyx-2HnMFPMfuJRhJB7S9WSq3eHNbk_ScPbttv4YLX8fu_zS7lxQL00hFZ7lO45XxqOjs9Pm0JQTyu3Afh1Dh_r64TNkp9L-8RuaOQHWCp3W7Aka97E79fWRoW24ortgcWPiwFu/s320/BecomingMexipino_signed2.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Signed!</i></span></span></b> </div>
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<a href="http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu/product/Becoming-Mexipino,4116.aspx" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Becoming Mexipino: Multiethnic Identities and Communities in San Diego</i></span></b></a></div>
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by Rudy P. Guevarra, Jr.</div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlL1jx7wOc0VDEyrkOJ8G6dU95HoyPi5oW-MqTnlLozAU7aMgR3E1bXfPCjRmI2Vr4VXYxz2oWXRhNsR5-bcqcnqNneLxFyAJ1AKZFWlNZXkHGBFVI8so9jJkKjZ6b2w80jPCRY-ew94A-/s200/CompletelyMixedUp.jpg" width="133" /> </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://www.rabbitfoolpress.com/products/cmu" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Completely Mixed Up: Mixed Heritage Asian North American Art and Writing</span></a></i></b></div>
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edited by Brandy Lien Worrall-Soriano</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8FS7fVYoYGZxXM3iIO0m2325s_qcthfnVOPIePGxIuZi2EOVN3pWOH963QRvdGtQ0Fd4XOQCGOrEEiedG4VUITHxmT1qqrOpk7jc_3KRUcun4XiJzalCofnbcoD2qRt2-AguwgPyT7Fz/s1600/CoopersLesson_signed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8FS7fVYoYGZxXM3iIO0m2325s_qcthfnVOPIePGxIuZi2EOVN3pWOH963QRvdGtQ0Fd4XOQCGOrEEiedG4VUITHxmT1qqrOpk7jc_3KRUcun4XiJzalCofnbcoD2qRt2-AguwgPyT7Fz/s320/CoopersLesson_signed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Signed!</i></span></span> </b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.leeandlow.com/books/2778" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>Cooper's Lesson</b></i></span></a></div>
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by Sun Yung Shin (author), Kim Cogan (illustrator)<i><b> </b></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyiupi2yodSPuOm0HbAfng5pE0VEAAxCWOp0a7SfIy_9bewAjY2VyS-MAL6ZzhanAORtvVOY3C3SvIzqOZuq5zUBIn9R3jjbRPusan3BC4X2zkwmEtCVuSzEZ33ySOGU44ia2LzMOU8dK/s1600/CrushingSoftRubies_signed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyiupi2yodSPuOm0HbAfng5pE0VEAAxCWOp0a7SfIy_9bewAjY2VyS-MAL6ZzhanAORtvVOY3C3SvIzqOZuq5zUBIn9R3jjbRPusan3BC4X2zkwmEtCVuSzEZ33ySOGU44ia2LzMOU8dK/s320/CrushingSoftRubies_signed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i> </i></span></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Signed!</i></span></span></i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://brokenshackle.wordpress.com/books-3/" target="_blank"><i><b>Crushing Soft Rubies: A Memoir</b></i></a></span></div>
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by Janet Stickmon<i><b> </b></i></div>
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<img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRHSKCfWFlSc7KieHP730nBvKBjLY5g7llPVyqZeGe_HOJhukPkUtYVSuiUnVnOxOVNuAUfEqVobAnOJCvcB-Xpk7dbQKFyHwAr0sT5WdnkERQSYF6brzFBFqFPFZJKkWL-W0Fzo4BZ6h5/s320/DrumDreamGirl_signed.jpg" width="320" /><i><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i> </i></span></span></i></span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Signed!</i></span></span></i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></b></i></div>
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<a href="http://www.margaritaengle.com/" target="_blank"><i><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Drum Dream Girl</span> </b></i></a></div>
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by Margarita Engle (author), Rafael Lopez (illustrator)</div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_BgBCN-ieypPAOLL8NYJZK6wRCoINe3ePUDtgMPP8TAztmlCKIGXgNVZ57lmhnl4a2xfC6_g2KIS7P6Z76GrYg5JNdf20H0Zire9y-zSclQjHO76KibGQLuUE6K5jMJjR0Y1aI94fqgga/s320/Hafu_signed.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /> </i></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Signed!</i></span></span></b> </div>
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<a href="http://hafufilm.com/en" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">HAFU</span></i></span></b></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d;">"Japan Is Changing" </span></div>
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Documentary film by Megumi Nishikura and Lara Perez Takagi</div>
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<img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUo6pTd2GOzFy8NYr0-RMuSsUZN-xUatMTZ6nrkbC5h2YEvofOjYf-T9ipJtcQ5LXssnyCvUKy6AndVQML6j3GPZpneg4-VHlDoYDbCkUJclallY0DTu00JdUT5pu6g3jBvXW524FwXuxO/s320/HapaGirl_signed.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Signed!</i></span></span> </b></i></div>
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<a href="http://www.may-leechai.com/" target="_blank"><i><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hapa Girl: A Memoir</span></b></i></a></div>
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by May-Lee Chai<i><b> </b></i> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-hZ652wnMKNhw2Q6ZwSWeZVWZIwNABtFJRzpALlTc41kGdEBlVv-gucJEMwrYV-eA-__gezBzWc0nmob1zX6OOhR55D2_H-54E65riHp1jOv7jCyqfs20uadHxaJ4-mXFHFxrpSxfrp0/s1600/MidnightPeaches_signed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-hZ652wnMKNhw2Q6ZwSWeZVWZIwNABtFJRzpALlTc41kGdEBlVv-gucJEMwrYV-eA-__gezBzWc0nmob1zX6OOhR55D2_H-54E65riHp1jOv7jCyqfs20uadHxaJ4-mXFHFxrpSxfrp0/s320/MidnightPeaches_signed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://brokenshackle.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Midnight Peaches, Two O'Clock Patience: A Collection of Essays, Poems, and Short Stories On Womanhood and the Spirit</a></span></b></i></div>
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by Janet Stickmon</div>
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<img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0YgviSBR64EJt92Gz4d755xcDyRaQbE3UwapFCg46fRF37jDUD1wr1i8RPvw2n18AtlK0HKLRx4X4mvr_llqFCjtHHwVdlT4IEFP3DSk3kPxjWoXKaDBK7wi2OEds6HFt0ovzuoiTpibJ/s320/Mixed-Hapa.jpg" width="320" /> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://kipfulbeck.com/books/" target="_blank"><i><b>Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids</b></i> and <i><b>Part Asian 100% Hapa</b></i></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
by Kip Fulbeck</div>
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<i><b><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp5JYIQ6vaMXs4SJPPFIkG6hIK2XVdGCZqyefxMdVPP1U1jgdRD9SPNH_ybh-jX8WpQhL-qD4KxncfsIXacXvTT8EkGXFjeMGomlMjotMNT5xC9C1vjB5do158rxTklf_dPZff_1DhoaDG/s320/MyAmazingDay_signed.jpg" width="320" /> </i></span></span></i></b></i></div>
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<i><b><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Signed!</i></span></span></i> </b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ouramazingdays.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>My Amazing Day: A Celebration of Wonder and Gratitude</b></i></span></a></div>
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by Karin Fisher-Golton (author), Lori A. Cheung (photographer), Elizabeth Iwamiya (designer)</div>
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<i><b><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><br /></span></span></i></b></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5PImvhRxgc6FQqgrqkTnG-oOo2XFxBLyJ7JQocDGy7554YihCLPNRHsRz_EPTWTyyueJc_bRWRMsfR9YvTV-n3IcquD00CgTJ7g4A7kl-0t4mXBwwOZm42TZkdRyg9q8ML3sJdKbvcJ5/s1600/MyProudSacrifice_signed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5PImvhRxgc6FQqgrqkTnG-oOo2XFxBLyJ7JQocDGy7554YihCLPNRHsRz_EPTWTyyueJc_bRWRMsfR9YvTV-n3IcquD00CgTJ7g4A7kl-0t4mXBwwOZm42TZkdRyg9q8ML3sJdKbvcJ5/s320/MyProudSacrifice_signed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><b><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></i></b></i></div>
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<i><b><a href="http://myproudsacrifice.tumblr.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My Proud Sacrifice</span></a></b></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
by Kevin Minh Allen</div>
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<i><b><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></i></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.bloodorangepress.com/shop/oh-oh-baby-boy/" target="_blank">Oh, Oh, Baby Boy!</a></span></b></i></div>
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by Janine Macbeth</div>
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<a href="http://s410571204.onlinehome.us/One_Big_Hapa_Family/Welcome.html" target="_blank"><i><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One Big Hapa Family</span></b></i></a></div>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;">"And You Thought Your Family Was Mixed Up!"</span></div>
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Documentary film by Jeff Chiba Stearns</div>
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<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNed8x0DIn1E6vcNNPSwvi6nKFgi3TA6i3kPH1_2xVyy6I_nCPiXlt2ON7jvHCzPcifjDqkdnMRHfFZqBrifQUCvtlakOlh4zTn7vODLA2t9kt4pnvYgjgEmhZJ_21eNI-Oa2Ye0nwGFmQ/s200/1RaisingMixedRace_bookcover.jpg" width="133" /> </div>
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138999466" target="_blank">Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World</a></span></i></b></div>
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by Sharon H. Chang</div>
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<img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqfk1MvI3bzFRL7qK51_vLw8yVCjA84yi1mgFI68k7fOpAmcYjCNrRTSJj5ZyBgH-s9Q-4HtvHwkUYkPmuZo2pQ-QqEdHTGRLBWjsJzT_bGXKIBDcpwQa_EBHLg9QFsrv23yCg_NeAk0L/s320/SugarIslands_signed.jpg" width="320" /></div>
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></i></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.janm.org/exhibits/sugar-islands/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sugar<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">/Islands: Finding Okina<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">wa in Hawai'i</span></span></span></a></span></i></b></span></span> </i></b> </div>
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The art of Laura Kina and Emily Hamako Momohara <br />
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></i></b><br />
<b><i><a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/05/book-review-author-interview-t-is-for.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">T Is For Tokyo</span></a></i></b><br />
by Irene Akio</div>
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<b><i><a href="http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1454_reg.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Sum of Our Parts: Mixed Heritage Asian Americans</span></a></i></b></div>
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edited by Teresa Williams-Leon & Cynthia L. Nakashima</div>
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<img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUi9UX_zecicmV9FvQPA6gTOoI1OuZi2W7t83QC7CiqWu2TyaTQFnnrGktAilzNRS6aHMnNu3h1EbelQo2youKoz6Uq6iEmmLd8CiZvaL4P_chvDtbx8uzQFStmSwd52HGZXbDJoEDQMY7/s320/TwoMrsGibsons_signed.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.leeandlow.com/books/2828" target="_blank">Two Mrs. Gibsons</a></span></i></b><br />
by Toyomi Igus (author), Daryl Wells (illustrator)<br />
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></i></b><br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/67sde4kc9780252038075.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Undercover Asian: Multiracial Asian Americans In Visual Culture</span></a></i></b><br />
by LeiLani Nishime</div>
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></i></b><br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.warbabylovechild.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">War Baby / Love Child: Mixed Race Asian American Art</span></a></i></b><br />
edited by Laura Kina and Wei Ming Dariotis</div>
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://brandyworrall.com/books/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What Doesn't Kill Us</span></a></i></b></div>
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A memoir by Brandy Lien Worrall</div>
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=6620" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When Half Is Whole: Multiethnic Asian American Identities</span></a></i></b></div>
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by Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu</div>
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<b style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Signed!</span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://nyupress.org/books/9780814772508/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The United States of the United Races: A Utopian History of Racial Mixing</span></a></i></b></div>
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by Greg Carter</div>
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<i> </i> </div>
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Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-56897275376377990652015-10-29T05:41:00.000-07:002015-10-29T16:19:05.020-07:00Professor Minelle Mahtani on 'Raising Mixed Race' in Canada<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Following are closing remarks given by <b>Minelle Mahtani</b> after the premiere of my new book <a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138999466" target="_blank"><b>Raising Mixed Race: Multiracial Asian Children In a Post-Racial World</b></a> at <a href="http://www.hapapalooza.com/" target="_blank">Hapa-Palooza Festival</a> 2015, Vancouver B.C. Minelle Mahtani is <a href="https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/geography/minelle-mahtani" target="_blank">Associate Professor</a> of Human Geography and Journalism at University of Toronto-Scarborough. </i><i><i>Currently she is on sabbatical to host new show <a href="http://www.roundhouseradio.com/people/2015/07/14/minelle-mahtani" target="_blank">'Sense of Place'</a> on Roundhouse Radio. </i> She is also author of the recent book 'Mixed Race Amnesia: Resisting the Romanticization of Multiraciality.' </i><i> </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>My book 'Raising Mixed Race' will be <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/637306289742765/" target="_blank">released December 11, 2015</a></b>. </i></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpJOmWNMC1oDXr98KhZ2Yt-uA7XHmA2QU2vfYJ0yZjNiSaCyTCx7qUQlLdjdZXg4BH3AgJuLBUzdfkTrdeD20UrpIvbgrv80jfT5EjthZwGMjB3iPWSHOyEAVtRNoUsLhyphenhyphenfbqnrGj0yKJ/s1600/minelle_on_bloor_long_shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpJOmWNMC1oDXr98KhZ2Yt-uA7XHmA2QU2vfYJ0yZjNiSaCyTCx7qUQlLdjdZXg4BH3AgJuLBUzdfkTrdeD20UrpIvbgrv80jfT5EjthZwGMjB3iPWSHOyEAVtRNoUsLhyphenhyphenfbqnrGj0yKJ/s320/minelle_on_bloor_long_shot.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Minelle Mahtani </b>[image from Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/mminelle" target="_blank">@mminelle</a>]</td></tr>
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"Hi everybody. I’m going to keep this really short and sweet because I just think that we’ve heard so many really important things. But I just want to say thank you, Jeff, for that really warm introduction. And I just want to thank Sharon and Professor Wei Ming Dariotis for the extraordinary contribution they made here tonight. <br />
<br />
For me being in this room really means a lot. I think it’s really rare that so many mixed people come together to have these conversations...I think it’s really valuable to remember that you’re not alone in this and that there’s other people around who <i>want</i> to share in these conversations. I grew up as a person of mixed race identity. I’m [of] Indian, Iranian, Muslim, Hindu background. And that was a really complicated identity to have in the suburbs of Toronto, mostly white area, that I grew up in.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>I remember being called the N-word in grade three, coming home and telling my mother...and my mother bursting into tears.</b></span></span></span></i> </blockquote>
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I’ve been called every single racial slur you can imagine. I remember being called the N-word in grade three, coming home and telling my mother (I didn’t even know what it meant), and my mother bursting into tears. So what does that story tell us right? In terms of the kind of information that we receive and the kinds of information we get from our parents in terms of how they can cope with these stories. Instead of my mother explaining to me the tortured history behind that word - she immediately felt guilty. I think that’s really important. I think that’s what we need to think about.<br />
<br />
But...I want to talk about Sharon for a minute.<br />
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Now I’ve had the luxury and the real gift of reading this book [<i>Raising Mixed Race</i>] in advance...I just want to say how important this book is. I’m sure all of you could tell from the tenor and the excitement and the breadth and the depth that Sharon brings [to this] presentation. So, thank you Sharon. I just want to say thank you again for how amazing it was for everybody [applause from audience]. I mean so many things that you did tonight really help at this stage for so many of us to continue thinking much more in a critical way about mixed race identity.<br />
<br />
...I remember when I first came across your work. And this was back, I think, many years ago. You wrote this piece that <a href="http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2013/08/26/my-3-year-old-has-experienced-racism-and-yours-probably-has-too/" target="_blank">went viral on <i>Racism Review</i></a>. And the first line of her review was: “I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but if there is a child of color in your life and you ever read to them - then they have already experienced racism.” (pause) BOOyah! Right? Like, <i>right</i> there. And then she did this gorgeous critique of children’s literature; looking at children’s books and how it is that people of color are represented. So that’s when I knew we were emerging a superstar on the face of critical mixed race studies.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqkBFS3huc_vOIiT3zD6QN9HJ5Lf__OE-DG1HPNKxrMDQJe__ped21TVlIxXYFMNiOEpUioTQOTjvTWK67cR7s4wW3E-iZgF7izCC-00JAFBIOOBOQnqGkZLnfExt1LBs8e6gnEDG0YQo_/s1600/bookcover_Routledge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqkBFS3huc_vOIiT3zD6QN9HJ5Lf__OE-DG1HPNKxrMDQJe__ped21TVlIxXYFMNiOEpUioTQOTjvTWK67cR7s4wW3E-iZgF7izCC-00JAFBIOOBOQnqGkZLnfExt1LBs8e6gnEDG0YQo_/s320/bookcover_Routledge.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>We all have a responsibility
to read this book.</b></span></span></span></i> </blockquote>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>~ </b></span></span></span></i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Minelle Mahtani</b></span></span></span></blockquote>
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Now like I say I’ve had the joy of reading her new book. The book is groundbreaking. I can’t say enough good things about it. But I think the thing that I really want to encourage all of you who are interested - you know even if you don’t have a mixed race kid yourself - we all have associations with mixed children in our lives in many different ways. Either as nieces, nephews, or mentors or students. We all have a responsibility to read this book. Because there are strategies and tidbits, I mean Sharon’s only given us the tip of the iceberg [tonight], and there’s so much more here. And I just really want to thank you for writing a really, really thoughtful book.<br />
<br />
Sharon says in her book...she quotes Frederick Douglas… “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” And I really want you all to think about that. Particularly because it’s so important to think about the skills that we need to build strong children. So let’s take it into the Canadian context for a second. It’s been very interesting to me that we’ve had two Americans come in to talk about multiraciality. I think that’s really indicative of a much larger problem that we have in Canada.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDbVV2bGtmfpeD4Pc1eZs11HcFt0q1jMgBzlwgopHyMq_Peqy1_MuZCYnFRASp7Xz6K7eyhOjWCnoQaN34uBMTUaDxyFBB9nIzCof5v1JZgZc_GH_ayV9zCaEKUyzxIHJHZMC8JQrOBGF/s1600/black_berry_cvr_520.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDbVV2bGtmfpeD4Pc1eZs11HcFt0q1jMgBzlwgopHyMq_Peqy1_MuZCYnFRASp7Xz6K7eyhOjWCnoQaN34uBMTUaDxyFBB9nIzCof5v1JZgZc_GH_ayV9zCaEKUyzxIHJHZMC8JQrOBGF/s320/black_berry_cvr_520.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Black Berry, Sweet Juice</i> by Lawrence Hill</td></tr>
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One of the things that I think we need to think about - and this comes from the interviews that I did with women of mixed race - is an old saying… “Fighting racism in the states is like punching a brick wall. But fighting it in Canada is like punching a marshmallow; always melts back to the same shape.” And I think it’s a very telling comment about the ideology of multiculturalism and how it allows us to veil larger racial inequalities...What kind of work are we doing about mixed race in Canada? I mean <a href="http://www.meditatingbunny.com/" target="_blank">Jeff’s films</a> have been so important in terms of opening up the space for us to think about our own multiracial identities. But in terms of the academic work we are still really far behind.<br />
<br />
...A lot of you probably saw the extraordinary Larry Hill speak a couple days ago right for this particular event. You know Larry wrote this important book, <a href="http://lawrencehill.com/black-berry-sweet-juice/" target="_blank"><i>Black Berry, Sweet Juice</i></a>...but apart from that and then my book just finished a couple months ago...we have very little work that begins to talk about the experiences of mixed race people. So I think it really behooves us to think about our responsibility. To make sure we’re sharing those stories. To think about the contribution that you might want to make. If you want to contribute to the <a href="http://criticalmixedracestudies.org/" target="_blank">Mixed Race Studies Conferences</a> that are happening I’m totally happy to talk to you about that and think about how we can really extend our networks and develop something really exciting and important.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Mixed Race Amnesia</i> by Minelle Mahtani</td></tr>
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And then lastly one thing I want to add in terms of my own work. I’ve just written this book called <i><a href="http://www.ubcpress.com/SEARCH/title_book.asp?BookID=299174509">Mixed Race Amnesia: Resisting the Romanticization of Multiraciality</a></i> and...something we haven’t really talked about a lot tonight [is] the way that obviously mixed race people are seen as torn and confused about their identity and not place to call home. But then [also] there’s this other pernicious current that mixed race people are seen as a post-racial world and that we have the solution to all the world’s racist problems simply because we’re mixed. We know that’s not the case right? That it’s so much more complicated than that. So I think we have to think about: Why do we have this category of mixed race identity in the U.S.? How did white mothers play a really important role in the emergence of this category of multiraciality because they didn’t necessarily want their kids to identify as Black?<br />
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And I think we have to think about it in Canada. How this category of mixed race is not only seen as anti-Black, but also anti-indigenous. What is our responsibility as mixed race people to this category around indigeneity? And my book kind of looks at that in detail. It looks at this category of “new Métis” - even saying it I shudder - but a number of Canadian journalists have talked about this idea of mixed race people being the “new Métis.” That for me is really derogatory. We need to think about ways that we are settlers of color and how we have a relationship to our land that’s very different than indigenous people. So I just want to flag that.<br />
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But - I think this is a time for real excitement. And I just way to say thank you again, Sharon, for a really invigorating and important conversation. And we’re really lucky that you came up here to talk to us about it. So thank you.<br />
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And buy the book!"<br />
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<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-32890799872043805702015-10-14T06:05:00.002-07:002015-10-14T06:06:19.155-07:00Talking Race, ID & Racism with Families of Color Seattle<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaDLeVAPpOonqZJQuy81qHRRDVtsZhFC5JIiwmt_nrk6Axq-3FAGvFMFKpRmV9DmFjC5wnyGYgflXGwJGuJQw9yrdjubMWHq2qIpaUcILPs8ObX1huYsq4SsnzzoRMt6qRn2NuLTAqUIo/s400/12107944_10153167468323671_3269868118145830437_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with FOCS Board and Staff [Photo Credit: Amy Pak]</td></tr>
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<br />
by Sharon H Chang<br />
<br />
On Saturday October 10 I had the very distinct honor of being part of <a href="http://focseattle.com/" target="_blank">Families of Color Seattle (FOCS)</a>'s first of five Community Dialogues on Race and Family: "Talking Race, Identity and Racism." FOCS is an emerging, young local nonprofit whose mission is to build strong communities of color by supporting families via parenting
programs, resource sharing, and fostering meaningful connections. Their vision is children of color will be born into loving world that is racially and economically just. This is the first time the org has undertaken a community dialogue series. The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/492946150865733/" target="_blank">other dialogues will include</a>: "Multiracial Families," "Anti-Bias Education and Schools," "Anti-Racist Birthing," and "Transracial Adoption Experiences."<br />
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Technically I was the kickoff keynote at this first launch event but it didn't feel like that - which was actually kind of awesome. <br />
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Truth is I don't relish all eyes and ears on me endlessly. Call it modesty, personality, temperament, gender socialization or whatever - but I speak to represent the work, not myself. I got a good 20-25 minutes but I <i>shared</i> the floor with other greats:<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>Carlynn Newhouse</b> <a href="http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2015/04/17/youth-speaks-seattle-grand-slam-poetry/35850" target="_blank">winner of the 2015 YouthSpeaks Seattle Annual Grand Slam</a> </li>
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<ul>
<li><b>Ardo Hersi</b> & <b>Bana Aberra</b> of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Youth-Undoing-Institutional-Racism-YUIR-Seattle-651030314988329/info/?ref=page_internal" target="_blank">Youth Undoing Insitutionalized Racism</a> who presented on the school-to-prison pipeline and prison industrial complex. </li>
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<ul>
<li><b>Marquita Prinzing</b> & <b>Teddy McGlynn-Wright</b> who gave parent testimonials speaking on, respectively, growing up mixed-race Black and cycles of intergenerational, intrafamilial gendered violence. </li>
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<li>And <b>Matika Wilbur</b>, Native American photographer, speaker and activist, of the nationally (probably also internationally) acclaimed <a href="http://www.project562.com/" target="_blank">Project 562</a>.</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkvSOQh8ZTQvjp0Ae_rC-iRr18O4G3lzYUHNAWye3Kgm4uGMc4guXFWJ-rUST3UwrKWOpQ4Uuqd4q3fMaMP4TXjhqoayJ3vcmDqmh1jkDPu8KL_Rluamv1Rxx7xjrFbVJ73JQCvQ8-bUev/s1600/12074523_10153167767488671_6990426115659356734_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkvSOQh8ZTQvjp0Ae_rC-iRr18O4G3lzYUHNAWye3Kgm4uGMc4guXFWJ-rUST3UwrKWOpQ4Uuqd4q3fMaMP4TXjhqoayJ3vcmDqmh1jkDPu8KL_Rluamv1Rxx7xjrFbVJ73JQCvQ8-bUev/s400/12074523_10153167767488671_6990426115659356734_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carylnn Newhouse (top), Bana Aberra & Ardo Hersi (middle), Me (bottom) [Photo Credit: Amy Pak]</td></tr>
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About 60-70 attendees turned out including filmmakers, teachers, midwives,
community members, parents, activists, organizers, social workers,
advocates, etc. I don't know that I've seen such effective trans/cross/interracial coalition work before. I mean at this point I've certainly been at plenty of events where there were lots of folks from diverse groups. But more often than not the talks and issues are either savvy while segregated from each other -- or -- occupy the same space in such thick tension with an undercurrent so flammable everyone knows we're on the brink of disastrous nuclear meltdown if a single spark gets lit.<br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;"><i>Racism hurts our families </i></span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;"><i>and we need tools to<br />resist, become resilient,<br />and thrive.</i></span></b></span></span></div>
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So yes, deeply special gathering. But no, I'm not here to tell you all about everything. It would be ridiculous to try to encapsulate every detail of what happened Saturday morning in an 800 to 1000 blog post. I can't do that. Who could do that? Here's what I can do. I can tell you about our core message (which I helped write): <i>racism hurts our families and we need tools to resist, become resilient, and thrive</i>. </div>
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I can tell you when I spoke to this message, I talked about how getting tools means <b>getting real</b> <b>and getting active</b>. That despite <a href="http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2015/03/02/race-in-seattle-progressive-mystique-integration/34402" target="_blank">Seattle's 'progressive mystique'</a> Black students here are suspended 3xs as often as white students from elementary through high school; Seattle schools have <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/enrollment-in-seattles-top-scoring-elementary-and-middle-schools-skews-white/" target="_blank">one of the largest equity learning gaps</a> in the entire country; nationwide children of color have become a majority in public schools but <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/sunday-review/where-are-the-teachers-of-color.html?_r=0" target="_blank">80% of teachers of white</a> and the number of teachers of color is <i>plummeting</i>; the US has one of the <a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/numbers-are-staggering-us-world-leader-child-poverty" target="_blank">highest child poverty rates</a> in the developed world and while US wealth has grown 60% in the past 6 years at the same time the number of homeless children, disproportionately children of color, has also grown 60%. </div>
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I can also tell you while I'm an avid researcher with data stuffed into my neural circuitry and while I've certainly written many research-driven-critical-social analyses, for this event I deliberately did <i>not</i> pick any of those pieces to read. I read from personal posts I've written about the racial journey my son, husband and I have been on together. Because I believe as communities we learn the most from the stories of people's lived lives (when we listen) and we get so few chances to listen:<br />
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<b><a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2012/10/my-son-and-i-went-to-his-best-friends.html?m=0" target="_blank">"Having a 'Different' Name"</a> </b>(<i>Multiracial Asian Families</i><b>)</b>, the very first blog post I EVER wrote and yet still so relevant.<br />
<b> </b> <br />
<b><a href="http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2013/08/26/my-3-year-old-has-experienced-racism-and-yours-probably-has-too/" target="_blank">"My 3-Year-Old Has Experienced Racism (and yours probably has too)"</a></b> (<i>Racism Review</i>), the very first post I wrote that ever went viral.<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2014/5/6/talking-mixed-race-identity-young-children" target="_blank">"Talking Mixed-Race Identity With Young Children"</a></b> (<i>Hyphen Magazine</i>), when my son showed me without a shadow of a doubt that he understood the racial order.<br />
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<b><a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-simple-story-about-children-being.html" target="_blank">"A Simple Story About Children Being Brilliant Undoing Racism"</a></b> <i>(Multiracial Asian Families</i>), one of the most recent posts I've written about where we're at with racial learning and resistance in our family.</blockquote>
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And I can tell you after this event was over I was so tired the next day, hell, the next two days, I couldn't sleep enough when I was sleeping or drink enough coffee when I was awake. Not because I was exhausted from planning and organizing (though that's certainly part of it) but because <b>racism hurts. </b>Whether it hurts us, or hurts us because we're watching <i>others</i> get hurt - it just plain hurts so much. This everyday pain makes up our collective reality as people of color, the waters we ever swim through, and it was in sharp focus at this event not only speaking from my own experiences but also listening to Carlynn Newhouse, Ardo Hersi, Bana Aberra, Marquita Prinzing, Teddy McGlynn-Wright, Matika Wilbur, and to everyone in attendance.<br />
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I don't relay any of this to get you discouraged. Quite the opposite. Like I said, my talking points were getting real and getting active. I haven't seen that trying to tiptoe, sidestep, duck or avoid the pain has gotten us damn anywhere. Even if it feels crappy we're going to have to learn to lift our gaze and stampede the eye of the storm to get through. That is, we simply can't get active till we get real. So. I appreciated beyond words this chance to participate and learn from Families of Color Seattle and all those present this last weekend. I feel like my consciousness was raised a crucial bar. I was emotionally devastated. But I'm rested now. I feel raw but alive. Can't wait to learn more. And hope you'll join me next time if you can.<br />
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Until then...<br />
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<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-47329095573836885812015-09-23T06:32:00.000-07:002015-10-14T06:08:36.092-07:00#RaisingMixedRace @Hapapalooza 2015 - BOOK PREMIERE<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiauEajSAR9Vj9NoECy5XV9i-ZnBJuDmka9K45eeC4C_1m52-7avMTTOnRHLtpQTpzyTRfUU_jY_Z208KgPybsSTCq9jNDRfPenH097BRlQ4gZlBdG4jrV0l0G84DLpraFSBqGkoEy5rlFu/s1600/Sharon_Hapapalooza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiauEajSAR9Vj9NoECy5XV9i-ZnBJuDmka9K45eeC4C_1m52-7avMTTOnRHLtpQTpzyTRfUU_jY_Z208KgPybsSTCq9jNDRfPenH097BRlQ4gZlBdG4jrV0l0G84DLpraFSBqGkoEy5rlFu/s400/Sharon_Hapapalooza.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Premiering <i>Raising Mixed Race </i>at Hapa-palooza 2015</td></tr>
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by Sharon H Chang</div>
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I just had the best launch-premiere for my debut book <a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138999466" target="_blank"><i>Raising Mixed Race</i></a> EVER. </div>
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No really. It was the most heart-warming, inspirational and energizing experience I could have ever dreamed of. And I am so humbled, honored and grateful. <br />
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For the last half decade <a href="http://www.hapapalooza.com/" target="_blank">Hapa-palooza</a>, a multi-event festival celebrating mixed heritage, has been held citywide in Vancouver B.C across a series of days. A few months ago, filmmaker/animator <a href="http://www.meditatingbunny.com/" target="_blank">Jeff Chiba Stearns</a> of <i>One Big Hapa Family</i>, <i>Yellow Sticky Notes</i>, and the forthcoming <i>Mixed Match</i>, called me up to see if I'd be interested to offer something for parents. I said yes almost immediately. <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And Saturday night, September 19, was my book launch-premiere + parenting workshop at the <a href="http://www.heartwoodcc.ca/" target="_blank">Heartwood Community Cafe</a>, "A queer-friendly neighbourhood cafe that nourishes the spirit of social justice and liberation."</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkleZ_9xaXVPqyUFTZXSGFwWc1LhPmSiVo4geYUqulHuAd6WEpjpqki8WYUmB7Nam4GdMx8ZcgFq9apYDBBRTfOlKXVzSSjS9bzICK2GwlXpoT6IyGFPPtUuKSztCyybJSyNQRGkhT-dG/s1600/WeiMing_Sharon_Hapapalooza.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkleZ_9xaXVPqyUFTZXSGFwWc1LhPmSiVo4geYUqulHuAd6WEpjpqki8WYUmB7Nam4GdMx8ZcgFq9apYDBBRTfOlKXVzSSjS9bzICK2GwlXpoT6IyGFPPtUuKSztCyybJSyNQRGkhT-dG/s320/WeiMing_Sharon_Hapapalooza.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with rockin' Professor WeiMing Dariotis who introduced me</td></tr>
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Now before we go any further. It would be deeply remiss of me not to acknowledge the difficulty of using the Native Hawaiian word <i>hapa</i> in this context. I have written very critically on use of <i>hapa</i> by non-Native peoples as being implicitly anti-indigenous. I stand by my critique. This festival name has always given me pause as long as I've known it. But you should know that the organizers of Hapa-palooza are <i>also</i> aware of the problematic nature of their festival's name and debate it ongoing. They additionally make a point to attribute name origin to Native Hawaiians as much as they can; something, frankly, I don't see mainland mixed-race Asian Americans do much (if at all). I hope the festival organizers will continue to question use of this name, and I think they will.</div>
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I also want to point out there are so few ways people of color (PoC) can claim who they are because language is white dominated. Marginalized communities are starved for words to describe themselves -- identities that need to be asserted for affirmation, celebration, survival. Because of this intentionally skeletal literary supply, too often we find ourselves vying for scant vocabulary that we <i>mean</i> to use in resistance to white supremacy and erasure, but <i>end up</i> arguing and fighting over in ways that pit us against each other. I believe <i>hapa </i>belongs to Native Hawaiians. I also believe non-Native mixed race Asians need something to locate who they are in a racist world. And I find it endlessly sad that we can't resolve this in a way that honors everyone at the same time. This I don't see as centrally about groups of color themselves, but rather about how white supremacy is easily and invisibly excercised through language -- and <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">how it doesn't need to do its own work once entrenched. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Which is why, the night of my launch-workshop, I chose not focus on the word <i>hapa</i> but on white supremacy, resistance, and PoC liberation. Importantly too I wanted to honor how difficult it is for PoC to create safe spaces, how those spaces aren't ever perfect, but that climbing that steep mountain to make a place to talk about those imperfections -- is itself a massive triumph. There were only six volunteers who put on Hapa-palooza this year; a festival comprised of five big events across five days. They were exhausted, unpaid, overworked, sleep deprived. But they persevered regardless and with joy, energy, and spirit. Why did they do it? Because it matters. So BEYOND-big props to Hapa-palooza's organizers! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with Professor Minelle Mahtani (middle) who gave closing remarks, and Hapa-palooza co-founders Anna Ling Kaye (left), Jeff Chiba Stearns (right) </td></tr>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And, as the cliche goes, the proof is definitely in the pudding. My event was called <a href="http://www.hapapalooza.com/family-workshop" target="_blank">"Empowering Mixed Race Children in a Racialized World"</a>. It was a combination book premiere and community dialog in which I shared some select readings and data from <i>Raising Mixed Race </i>but also facilitated people conversing and exploring with each other. I've facilitated group dialogues around race and families for a while now but this was the first time I got to center mixed race families. It was interstellar. About fifty people turned out that night; some mixed-race PoC, some </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">non-mixed PoC, </span>some white. Words often fail me and they fail me again here. It was awesome. No. That doesn't work. Outstanding? No. How about phenomenal? No still not right. Okay I give up. Here's what my husband said:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">People were really eager, willing to engage. That's so uncommon. How do you describe that in one word. How <i>do</i> you describe that? It was also painful and visceral at the same time too; ran the gamut of emotions. It's that feeling when you become enlightened but it's unpleasant, a painful realization. You could see that happening in the room; people having these moments. I've never been in a room of people who were so needing this stuff to soak up...sitting in that room and seeing faces like mine and seeing people hungry for this knowledge; starving for this discussion; and fearful of not knowing what to do...That was what was exciting about it. Everyone was just so present. So focused.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A-G-R-E-E-D. I don't think I've yet worked with a group that was so engaged, so ready to dig deep, and so willing to experience all the discomfort it takes to move forward. My format: I would talk for a bit, read from <i>Raising Mixed Race</i>, then throw out dialog questions so folks could be with each other. The room would instantly buzz and you almost could see the vigor electrifying the air. Walking around to observe/listen, I was floored by the sharing, the epiphanies, the revelations I heard. I also saw an impressive number of people practice compassionate and real receptive listening (versus predatory listening where you only listen to disagree and push back with your own agenda). And that this was a night where multiracials in particular felt heard, felt safe examining their relationships to white supremacy and racism, felt like they had room to examine their hurt, confusion, and struggles? <b>Unprecedented</b>.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the awesome workshop attendees</td></tr>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Here's
the huge truth. Multiracial children learn and experience race/racism
much earlier than we realize. Society barely acknowledges this. Adults
are not doing enough to support and we can (and need) to do better. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Which is why my main hope for the book was not just that it would be read -- but that it would be tool. A tool for uncovering the reality of lived mixed-race as <i>nothing</i> like a postracial fairytale. A tool for sparking conversation, removing blinders, creating community, support and safe space for multiracials to speak and be heard. And a tool for catalyzing change, connecting (instead of alienating) mixed race people to social movements, and allowing others to build further through work of their own.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> The reason why this Hapa-palooza launch-premiere for <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> was so special? Because it did all of that. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I had the great fortune of premiering my book, my (second) baby, something I worked on for years, in this amazing moment. Though <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> will now continue to move into other places and spaces, I will never forget that the first time I walked it into to the world -- it was into the loving and open arms of Hapa-palooza.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who organized and brought me up to Vancounver B.C. for Hapa-palooza 2015. Also, of course, an enormous thank you to everyone who attended my premiere-launch that night and made it special forever. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">-----</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><i>Raising Mixed Race</i> is now available for pre-order!!!</b> <span style="color: black;">You can buy and it will be sent to you immediately upon release in December --></span> <a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138999466" target="_blank"><b>purchase here</b></a></span></span> </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PRESS</span></div>
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Press for this event was amazing<i>. </i>I did a live radio interview (my first!) with George Noory, CKNW Coast to Coast, Saturday September 19. I was also interviewed by <a href="http://thelasource.com/en/2015/09/07/all-mixed-up-examining-mixed-children-and-unions-2/" target="_blank"><i>The Source / La Source</i></a> (online AND print),<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> <i><a href="http://thetyee.ca/Culture/2015/09/03/Hapa-palooza-Festival/" target="_blank">The Tyee</a> </i></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">and <i><a href="http://schemamag.ca/2015/09/18/hapa-palooza-2015-raising-mixed-kids-parenting-workshop/#.VgAL3HBHarU" target="_blank">Schema Magazine</a></i></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">. A</span> short-form blog post on my workshop appeared in <i><a href="http://westcoastfamilies.com/2015/09/empowering-mixed-race-children-in-a-racialized-world/" target="_blank">West Coast Families</a></i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">. And lastly I taped a pre-interview with an FM station for when <i>Raising Mixed Race</i> drops. But shhhh...that one's for later ;-)</span><br />
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Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-30107386411331237342015-07-29T06:34:00.000-07:002015-07-29T06:37:55.043-07:00What It Was Like Being Mixed-Race Photographed By National Geographic<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[image <a href="http://lilaanton.com/2013/10/15/changing-faces-of-america/" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr>
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by Sharon H Chang<br />
<br />
Remember these pictures? They were part of <i>National Geographic's </i>mixed race photo campaign <a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/changing-faces/funderburg-text" target="_blank">"Changing Faces"</a> published in October 2013. "We're becoming a country," stated the magazine, "Where race is no longer so black and white." The images were shot by famous German portrait photographer <a href="http://martinschoeller.com/" target="_blank">Martin Schoeller</a> who said he liked "building catalogs of faces that invite people to compare them." I think it's safe to say that happened. The gallery was widely viewed (it being <i>National Geographic</i> after all) and more or less greatly admired (it being Martin Schoeller after all). But there was some criticism, including my own, which I wrote about for <i>Racism Review</i> in <a href="http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2014/04/13/mixed-race-pictures/" target="_blank">Mixed or Not, Why Are We Still Taking Pictures of "Race"?</a> One of the larger questions I raised was around the idea that we use images of mixed race people to debate race, without including those mixed folk in the debate themselves. I concluded that essay with a proclamation:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #0c343d;">While modern race-photography believes itself to be
celebrating the dismantling of race, it may actually be fooling us (and
itself) with a fantastically complicated show of smoke and mirrors...We need to make much, MUCH more
space for something ultimately pretty simple — the stories of actual
people themselves which in the end, will paint the real picture.</span></span> </blockquote>
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But here's a truth I want to share with you. I also felt at the time that me making this proclamation wasn't enough. That I had to do more than just say it. I needed to <i>live</i> it; make a commitment to the practice I was preaching. So. As an old friend used to say, "Where attention goes, energy flows." Soon after making this personal resolve I had the amazing good fortune of running into <b>Alejandro T. Acierto</b>, a mixed race identifying person who was photographed for <i>National Geographic's </i>campaign. He graciously agreed share with me/us what "Changing Faces" was like for him through his own experience, his own words, and his own lens.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><a href="http://alejandroacierto.com/" target="_blank">Interview with Alejandro T. Acierto </a></b></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCxRpOBzS6WVqhu6OhN6HwxYe2D5K-5K3sYT0iWhAr1cP6s41toMMKdK7Wj5KLUHpeOtdU7uxpRw9vSwC1cYaKhlVG5WaYNfUTPvXCZbIpCfuw5BCM9RBfelc2CU3IOc43-BPaLOuNOBhq/s320/alejandro+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[image <a href="https://pierrotproject.wordpress.com/artist-bios/" target="_blank">source</a>]</span></td></tr>
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<b>Alejandro T. Acierto</b> is an artist and musician who works in time-based media (definitely check out his stuff which is incredible <a href="http://alejandroacierto.com/">http://alejandroacierto.com/</a>). He holds a Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music and an MFA in New Media Arts from University Illinois at Chicago. He identifies as mixed race Mexican and Filipino. He heard about the <i>National Geographic</i> photo shoot through a Chicago-based mixed race listerv in January 2013. Ultimately Acierto's picture was not published. Nevertheless he found participating a profound episode that lead him to reflect deeply on many, many things. I leave you now with <i>his </i>story...<br />
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<b>What was it like being photographed for this piece?</b><br />
<br />
Acierto recalled a stool, a backdrop, and multiple lights. The LED panels, he said, were pretty bright and about two feet from his face on each side. This approach is what creates the signature aesthetic of Martin Schoeller's potraiture which is
known for blunt full-face closeups, little to no editing, and unflinching attention to facial detail.<br />
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--> </style><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So you sit on a chair with these lights that are really close. It’s actually a really tight fit to get into the booth, onto to the chair. And then Martin was positioned with a tripod and a 4x5 camera basically right in front of you. The camera was, I don’t know, maybe about a foot and a half, two feet, in front of you. So it’s fairly claustrophobic. It’s really like – he’s in your face. There’s no question about it. </span></span>
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The shoot was very quick said Acierto, lasting maybe 5-10 minutes, with Martin Schoeller flying through the exposures of two rolls of films. Having assisted on photo shoots before Acierto was aware what his role was as a subject. "I knew I had to look at the camera and just do as [Schoeller] told me," he explained, "Sometimes [Schoeller] would turn my face. Sometimes I would smile. Sometimes I would make a serious face."<br />
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<b>Did you meet other participants?</b><br />
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According to Acierto, there were a lot of models there who had found out about the shoot through modeling agencies (which had been contacted by <i>National Geographic</i>). This was very surprising to him given the original recruitment email he got came through a family-oriented, ordinary listserv and specifically noted no modeling experience was needed. Acierto thought <i>National Geographic</i> was looking for a broad selection of everyday people and arrived expecting subjects to not have any experience at all:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">So it was a little bit weird for me to hear somebody else ask me, what agency am I from? (laughs) [Sharon: was it another participant or somebody working on the set?] It was both. Both. One of the people who was working asked me right off the bat, “Did you hear about this from an agency?” And I was like, “Oh I just found out on a listserv.” And then one of the participants was like, “Oh yeah I work with such-and-such agency. Which one are you part of?” And two of the participants who were women were exchanging contact information – one of them was a stylist and the other one was actually a model.</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<b>Was there anything about the process you found problematic?</b><br />
<br />
While Acierto said it was kind of fun to participate he also said the project raised a lot of questions for him. For one, he wondered about <i>National Geographic'</i>s decision to employ Schoeller. "They know that [Schoeller's] famous and a big portrait photographer." "And so," queried Acierto, "How does that impact what gets published?"<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwA1GcFb14ZEpYpUuPbDp37vBqNCnfvSW00uBu2PmYI5dSo0dbXDMqGT6akbCicTKizWgz7wFcJIMfUBLWkQD4tdGEKAs0z6Kvne6Z790tI9aKEiCGxMJMTfVvkujyBXy0vX__TPtcMgsS/s1600/taylor-swift-1-768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwA1GcFb14ZEpYpUuPbDp37vBqNCnfvSW00uBu2PmYI5dSo0dbXDMqGT6akbCicTKizWgz7wFcJIMfUBLWkQD4tdGEKAs0z6Kvne6Z790tI9aKEiCGxMJMTfVvkujyBXy0vX__TPtcMgsS/s320/taylor-swift-1-768.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taylor Swift by Martin Schoeller [image source: <a href="http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20856625_20860354,00.html" target="_blank">people.com</a>]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In the same vein Alejandro Acierto also had to wonder about the politics of who was photographed. That is, who got be a part of the shoot, who didn't get to be a part of shoot, and who got to <i>decide</i>. Acierto acknowledged it made logistical sense for <i>National Geographic</i> to pre-screen so Martin Schoeller wouldn't waste his time. But then:<br />
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">What were the qualifications of choosing people to shoot? And what was the pre-screening process like in order for Martin Schoeller to see his subjects and then photograph them?... If I’m thinking about the process as a whole there’s a pre-screening on <i>National Geographic’s</i> side [by] a team of editors and then [chosen subjects] get sort of “advanced”, if you will, to the studio…Martin takes pictures of them. And then from there, Martin and the photo editor work together to select the final twenty-five images that were published and became “the face” of the Changing Faces campaign.</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<b>What was your perception of how the article was received? </b><br />
<br />
Overall there was something about the whole campaign that troubled Acierto. He observed that many people, even within his own family, were excited and happy to be visibilized. But "the discussion that happen[ed] around it," observed
Acierto, "Didn't actually ever really problematize the idea that race is
a construct." For instance, Acierto pointed to the fact
that the magazine solicited modeling agencies and the images eventually
published all "look good." <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/sharonchang/this-mocha-caramel-honey-post-racial-fantasy-is-making-me-si#.rf1OExYVw" target="_blank">P</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank">rivileging beauty/appearance is common in mixed race representations today</a>. Still:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">[It]
reinforces the trope of beauty of mixed race folks I feel like you get a
lot. “Oh your kids are going to be beautiful.” Or like, “Oh that
combination is so great. You get the best of both worlds.” Those sort of
things that are, I don’t know, sort of weird and strange. Sort of like
exotic-ethnic.</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
Acierto also pointed to the fact that there's a legacy of accentuating facial features in racist thinking and practice. Pictorial representations of people of color have historically often <br />
exaggerated certain physical characteristics on purpose: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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--> </style><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I’m thinking about how Black folks, their features, were accentuated in minstrelsy. So when someone would adopt Blackface they would make their mouths bigger or they would like flare their nostrils. Any sort of pictorial representation of these folks is highlighting something that’s really big. For Asians it would be like tiny eyes and super-smudged eyes that would come across even like around the head it seemed. </span></span>
</blockquote>
<br />
Such depictions have served as an important tool of race-making differentiating people of color from whites. In photographing mixed race people of color the way Schoeller did then Acierto felt it was important to ask: Did the choice to center facial accentuation become <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/04/racializing-infants-when-anne-geddes.html" target="_blank">another case of racial etching</a> drawn from a long history of the same-but-different? In other words, do these photographs re-inscribe notions of race?<br />
<br />
<b>The lighting technique Schoeller used really washed out skin tone. Thoughts?</b><br />
<br />
Certainly, I mentioned, when the Changing Faces portraits were first published and went viral some of the reaction was incredibly unhappy. Critics denounced what seemed like representation of predominantly "lighter mixes" and the colonizing of people of color through "lightening" or "whitening." Acierto said that criticism is valid and real. But he also said what we see in the images isn't likely a very reliable representation of the mixed race people themselves.<br />
<br />
On
one hand, Acierto acknowledged, the lighting technique Schoeller uses (with
bright panels close to the sides of the face) is vital to the signature of Schoeller's work. It provides
dimension, depth, and detail to the face where techniques like a
softbox or filters applied to the lights would usually flatten the face out. But on the other hand, added Acierto, the lighting technique Schoeller uses does risk washing out
skin tone. This was certainly true in the case of the images published
by <i>National Geographic </i>where Schoeller's approach had
the effect of making subject skin tone eerily similar (and lighter) when
it probably was not in real life. In fact Acierto himself did a color
analysis of the Changing Faces portraits:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I
actually did sort of like a color comparison of each of the photos that
were published. The spectrum of color on most of the faces was
relatively similar. Like <i>shockingly</i> similar. Which was very
weird. So I think there’s two subjects that are darker-skinned whose
cheekbones, nose area, and most of their face, was lighter by several
tones than the outsides [of their face]. Cause that’s where light wasn’t
hitting directly.</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKFQU5fNSoE6pFLYwM3eVm19AYqKsZwlMcDEMq-ri4qunZ5jb6-epyMCpxhFEf4CyHrQwGN8k7BKTKNepzdlIY4v5x3sN0cSHMKW1ui-iPHTilyuOq9Yl9CAAkdLDa6fnk0jqq-UO4-fN/s1600/rosario.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKFQU5fNSoE6pFLYwM3eVm19AYqKsZwlMcDEMq-ri4qunZ5jb6-epyMCpxhFEf4CyHrQwGN8k7BKTKNepzdlIY4v5x3sN0cSHMKW1ui-iPHTilyuOq9Yl9CAAkdLDa6fnk0jqq-UO4-fN/s320/rosario.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosario Dawson (left) on <a href="http://www.hairstylestime.com/rosario-dawson-hairstyles" target="_blank">hairstyle.com</a>, then (right) by Martin Schoeller</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<b>In the end did you find participating in the project a validating and empowering experience as a mixed race person?</b><br />
<br />
The thrust of Martin Schoeller's work, remarked Acierto, is that all
you need is a face to capture the essence of the person. But to Acierto
that choice feels entirely political. For one, Schoeller could have chosen <i>not</i> to light the mixed race portraits the way he did even though it was a signature technique/style. Different lighting would have made the color spectrum (i.e. skin tone) more consistent over the face. For two, said Acierto, Schoeller's
individual portraits are people without context. Subjects were told to wear solid-colored shirts:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">People
were asked to take off any jewelry or any sort of identifying article
of clothing. People are not located in a specific space. It’s a solid
color backdrop; clearly a studio space. It could be anywhere. So all
that’s present is the person, the human, that’s in the frame. And just
their face. You can’t tell if somebody’s arm got cut off through a
conflict somewhere else. Or if somebody was sitting in a wheelchair.
Like you have no idea about any of that stuff. All you know is that this
is their face. </span></span></blockquote>
<br />
Ultimately Acierto said he wouldn't call the experience he had empowering. He agreed it's important to put mixed
race on the map and conceded it was hugely significant that <i>National Geographic </i>chose to do so. But:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">If
our story is going to be part of and validated in this way, we also
then need to be careful about the details of how the story's being told
through the visual representations that are with it. When we’re talking
about race we’re talking about images. Race is a construct built on
visual stimulus. Knowing the history of those images…is an important
part that needed to be considered in the publishing of the story
itself. </span></span></blockquote>
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<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-448905371199721062015-06-02T07:24:00.000-07:002015-06-17T15:41:23.437-07:00Yea 'Aloha' is Super White, But What's Up With the Way We're Talking About It?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbr9pV39haNsBbwQkyMOVmUOrAzbGZGhgOLfC_uuvjv-FviGBN77bx_iC1pGb0a62pm3ZKm9lmriin-V53RJGxr9rxDpSVZZxsfrexztUtFKhQYpM5tlR-ESaTCVHUeuhkZ04BTToB3z7T/s1600/aloha-bumpy-kanahele.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbr9pV39haNsBbwQkyMOVmUOrAzbGZGhgOLfC_uuvjv-FviGBN77bx_iC1pGb0a62pm3ZKm9lmriin-V53RJGxr9rxDpSVZZxsfrexztUtFKhQYpM5tlR-ESaTCVHUeuhkZ04BTToB3z7T/s400/aloha-bumpy-kanahele.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right <i>Aloha</i> stars: sovereignty activist <span class="st">Dennis "<i>Bumpy</i>" Pu'uhonua Kanahele (as himself), Bradley Cooper (as a white guy), and Emma Stone (as a white person playing a mixed-race Hawaiian/Chinese/Swedish person)</span> [<a href="http://www.honolulupulse.com/2015/05/cameron-crowe-aloha/" target="_blank">image source</a>]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
by Sharon H Chang<br />
<br />
Okay first let's just get this out of the way. <i>Aloha</i> is a really, really bad movie. Like REALLY bad. It's getting horrible reviews (as it should) for lousy directing, a terrible script, mismatched A-list actors, poor production etc. It's boring as hell to watch. I'm not going to even bother giving a a story synopsis here because the plot is so pointless and uninteresting, it doesn't matter anyway. If you want or need a synopsis, it's easy to find one online. Just do a web search.<br />
<br />
No all you need to know, if you don't already, is this: Set in Hawaii where Native Hawaiians continue to be besieged by whites and the military, the movie<i> </i>centers white people and the U.S. military anyway, all of which is supposedly made better by the conceit of a military-serving mixed-race Hawaiian/Chinese/Swedish character, who is actually played by a white actress. <br />
<br />
Yup. Pretty much.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
I saw this movie not because I wanted to (believe me there were so many other things I'd rather have been doing on a sunny day in Seattle), but because I felt I needed to. It's rare that any sort of discussion about mixed-race/Asian intersections enters public discourse. So when it does, it's a really important opportunity to get a glimpse into how society views and thus treats people of multiracial Asian descent.<br />
<br />
I think almost everyone acknowledges/agrees here that casting a white woman in the role of mixed-race woman of color is crap; that blatant Hollywood whitewashing against a Hawaiian backdrop merely renews the license on an insidious practice that keeps marginalizing people of color. But as the scathing reviews keep rolling in, here's what I'm really noticing: <a href="http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2015/05/cameron-crowe-aloha-movie-is-problematic" target="_blank">"Why is Emma Asian"</a>, <a href="http://www.thefrisky.com/2015-05-29/thats-weird-emma-stone-isnt-asian-why-aloha-is-a-hot-mess/" target="_blank">"Emma Stone Isn't Asian"</a>, <a href="http://www.ew.com/article/2015/05/29/im-not-buying-emma-stone-asian-american" target="_blank">"Not Buying Emma Stone As An Asian-American"</a>, <a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/05/29/8_things_about_aloha_that_bugged_amy_pascal_more_than_casting_emma_stone_as_an_asian_character/" target="_blank">"Emma Stone As An Asian"</a>, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/28/the-unbearable-whiteness-of-cameron-crowe-s-aloha-a-hawaii-set-film-starring-asian-emma-stone.html" target="_blank">"Asian Emma Stone"</a>.<br />
<br />
Do you see it too? This is a film set in <i>Hawaii</i> which yes, doesn't depict the many Asians who live there and alludes to yellow peril, but ultimately is a place that belongs to (and has been stolen from) the <i>Hawaiian</i> people. And yet in our conversations somehow this crucial point seems to be getting subsumed under the shadow of politicized Asian America. Even multiraciality seems to be less interesting to the public than that a character was supposed to be a 'quarter' Chinese. To be fair, reviewers do mention Native Hawaiians, Hawaiian culture, history and oppression to varying degrees (they sort of have to), but it's pretty clear the fact of Stone's non-Asian-(sometimes-mixed)-ness, is the one calling shotgun:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"...[multiracial people]
comprise the fastest-growing population in America. Which makes Crowe’s
choice of Stone as the melanin-free embodiment of Hawaiian soul and one
of the most prominent part-Asian characters ever to appear<b> </b>in a
mainstream Hollywood film so baffling."</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- <i>Entertainment Weekly</i> </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Emma Stone, a white actress best known for her role as a
white savior with a heart of gold in 'The Help,' plays a character who
is ostensibly the result of an Asian penis interacting with a white
vagina." </span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- <i>The Frisky</i></span> </span></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"'IT IS THE YEAR 2015. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW EMMA
STONE, WHO IS WHITER THAN WHITE, GOT CAST AS A HALF ASIAN CHARACTER.'"</span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- <i>Salon</i></span></span> </span></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Aloha</i> actually features one of the more prominent Asian/mixed heritage female leads<b> </b>in any studio movie in recent memory.
She just happens to be played by Emma Stone. </span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- <i>The Daily Beast</i></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"In an industry that already severely lacks Asian
representation on the big screen, they get EMMA STONE to play an
Asian...Have you learned nothing
from <i>Breakfast at Tiffany's? </i>It's offensive. And it's offensive
to let the talents of many Asian actors go to waste. Plus, it's just
plain rude pulling this during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month."</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">- <i>Complex</i></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
As far as I can tell, none of these mainstream reviewers are of Native Hawaiian descent and less than half are of mixed descent.<br />
<br />
This, I don't like. At. All. I'm deeply invested in exploring the facets of a mixed-race Asian identity and looking at the many questions it raises in a raced/racist world. But I am <i>not</i> interested in a conversation about that identity which moves towards anti-indigeneity. This is what I see as <b>the Hapa narrative</b>, where mixed-race gets used as a wedge to further divide people of color while advancing white supremacy; something I wrote about in <a href="http://aapivoices.com/hapa-with-care/" target="_blank">"Say Hapa, With Care"</a> for <i>AAPI Voices </i>(2014):<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The <i>hapa</i> of [Native Hawaiian] people stands in stark contrast to a widely
commodified version, which lumps together mixed-race Asians and Pacific
Islanders and then somehow magically loses the Pacific Islander part.
This is no accident (whether intentional or not). It stems from a
history that has sought to forget and remove Native peoples for
centuries.</span></span></i></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
This is why, over the weekend, I called my fierce Native Hawaiian friend, scholar and activist <a href="http://ethnicstudies.ucr.edu/people/visiting_faculty_lecturers_postdocs/arvin/index.html" target="_blank">Maile Arvin</a> again to get her weigh in. And this is why, right now, I'm going to stop talking about my analysis immediately and let hers take final-center stage. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLMwgbCyqwcEVtfNlz4uhJoVRzT0KNe8w-TMKtVw_1Y8blvShz0boGR8Oeiym_RfQss9UkRJuEXE1RLPnEWtJ12jGOHcJzUptA9l7d92SF_UQahFafTZcZ0KwZsslxjAbdY7l_7vb0_RI/s1600/Hawaii+postcard+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLMwgbCyqwcEVtfNlz4uhJoVRzT0KNe8w-TMKtVw_1Y8blvShz0boGR8Oeiym_RfQss9UkRJuEXE1RLPnEWtJ12jGOHcJzUptA9l7d92SF_UQahFafTZcZ0KwZsslxjAbdY7l_7vb0_RI/s400/Hawaii+postcard+.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[image <a href="http://tover-banda.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Maile was completely even-keeled, unruffled and unsurprised by the whitewashing of <i>Aloha</i>:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;"><span style="background-color: white;">Hollywood doesn’t usually do well by Hawaiians. The tourism industry depends on all these movies about white romance in Hawaii. It’s not lucrative for Hollywood or tourism to tell any other story. There are so many movies that are shot in Hawaii and often they’re not identified as [being in] Hawaii, like <i>Lost</i> or <i>Jurassic Park</i>. Hawaii is often used as the backdrop for all these stories that are about uninhabited islands - or - if it’s about Hawaii, it’s about white people falling in love.</span></span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
She said she'd heard the movie-makers were claiming, in their defense, that Cameron Crowe loves, adores and respects Hawaii; that he researched his film for months and worked to incorporate the story of the Hawaiian people. But, she replied:<br />
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-fc1b2d36-b431-d7a1-04c0-cd278c134667" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-fc1b2d36-b431-d7a1-04c0-cd278c134667" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>I’m not really interested in what they think is a more culturally competent movie but still is a white romance. It's fundamentally flawed. It’s about a military contract and using Hawaii to protect the US from China and Japan...I haven’t seen critique of that. I've seen a lot of critique of the word ‘Aloha’ [but] more fundamentally it’s a settler/colonial movie. It’s not just about the name of it but the story they tell about Hawaii.</b></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-fc1b2d36-b431-d7a1-04c0-cd278c134667" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-fc1b2d36-b432-e50b-2fc9-f4a1e3342cc0" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What Maile said she's been far more interested to see is so many articles criticizing <i>Aloha</i>'s whitewashing when, by contrast, <i>Descendants</i> (which also featured a mixed-race Hawaiian character played by white actor George Clooney) drew so little attention in 2011:</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>It seems like the Emma Stone character being Asian has sparked more critique than <i>Descendants</i>. Nobody seemed to have a problem with George Clooney playing a Hawaiian. [So] for a large audience, Hawaiians looking white isn’t a problem, but a mixed Asian person looking white is unbelievable. Which is kind of disturbing. The wider public thinks that Hawaiians could look like Emma Stone, but if they’re mixed with Asian, they can’t. It seems connected to larger problems like the API [Asian Pacific Islander] designation and Asian Americans speaking on behalf or over Pacific Islanders. It shows gaps in solidarity.</b></span></span><br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In conclusion, she powerfully spoke on the kind of intention/action it really takes to build coalitions and work in alliance with the Native Hawaiian community: </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>There are definitely a lot of mixed families and people who are Asian and Hawaiian. They are not necessarily always in conflict. At the same time, a lot of people who aren’t mixed [Hawaiian] grew up on the island and identify as Hawaiian. That’s the same problem. It just covers up Native Hawaiians again. And Native Hawaiians are erased from so many things. It’s important to be clear about how you represent yourself. For example, there are some Asian American activists [in Hawaii] that identify themselves as Asian settlers. Some people hate that idea. But it's a way to express solidarity and really involve in activism with Native Hawaiians.</b></span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-fc1b2d36-b432-85cd-f5fe-b9530d5fbdc1" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I think we need to be very <i>very</i> careful, aware, and far more thoughtful about the ways we critique this film. At this point I'm maybe even less concerned with Cameron Crowe (who's an idiot) and his dumb movie, and way more worried about us. If we're truly outraged by Hollywood whitewashing because it invisibilizes and erases, do we do much better when we erase too? Aren't we just cloning the same that's been done to us? Emma Stone should not have been cast in a person of color role. I one hundred percent agree. But let us never forget what that role was truly supposed to be. Not just an Asian one - but a very marginalized Indigenous and mixed-race one too.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;"></span></span><br />
---<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="color: #134f5c;">Undoing racism is about uplifting oppressed voices, remembering forgotten histories, and not allowing our own suffering to become more important than the suffering of others. In thinking on <i>Aloha</i>, please make sure you are also hearing/centering Native Hawaiian voices and the story of Native Hawaiian peoples:</span></b></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://aapivoices.com/hapa-with-care/" target="_blank">"Say Hapa, With Care" </a><br />
<a href="https://decolonization.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/possessions-of-whiteness-settler-colonialism-and-anti-blackness-in-the-pacific/" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<a href="https://decolonization.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/possessions-of-whiteness-settler-colonialism-and-anti-blackness-in-the-pacific/" target="_blank">"Possessions of Whiteness: Settler Colonialism and Anti-Blackness in the Pacific" </a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://morethantwominutes.wordpress.com/2015/06/16/on-cameron-crowes-aloha-and-indigenous-pacific-films-we-actually-recommend/" target="_blank">"On Cameron Crowe's Aloha and Indigenous Pacific Films We Actually Recommend"</a><br />
<br />
<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-33363945603951819022015-05-30T05:57:00.000-07:002015-08-01T08:25:10.503-07:00How 'Ex Machina' Abuses Women of Color & Nobody Cares Cause It's Smart<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGs4E3YLevOkfLf939x3KfI_3HpX0Jj1tbbBIvBNf1MpZFrgevJoLE_YeKMS2C4Y_Dx9Iv2Kduy5ZEy_n9ZUx9_iI9slkJRULRebw6ua5HcO781GgWRB1NeH_ZW3ta76DuW-u8BaAzAWQA/s1600/kyoko1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGs4E3YLevOkfLf939x3KfI_3HpX0Jj1tbbBIvBNf1MpZFrgevJoLE_YeKMS2C4Y_Dx9Iv2Kduy5ZEy_n9ZUx9_iI9slkJRULRebw6ua5HcO781GgWRB1NeH_ZW3ta76DuW-u8BaAzAWQA/s320/kyoko1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sex slave "Kyoko" played by Japanese/British actress Sonoya Mizuno [image <a href="http://io9.com/heres-the-scene-from-ex-machina-that-made-my-jaw-drop-1699543182" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
by Sharon H Chang<br />
<br />
Last month British science fiction thriller <i>Ex Machina</i> opened in the U.S. to almost unanimous rave reviews. The film was written and directed by Alex Garland, author of bestselling 1996 novel <i>The Beach</i> (also made into a movie) and screenwriter of <i>28 Days Later</i> (2002) and <i>Never Let Me Go</i> (2010). <i>Ex Machina</i> is Garland's directorial debut. It's about a young white coder named Caleb who gets the opportunity to visit the secluded mountain home of his employer Nathan, pioneering programmer of the world's most powerful search engine (Nathan's appearance is ambiguous but he reads non-white and the actor who plays him is Guatemalan). Caleb believes the trip innocuous but quickly learns that Nathan's home is actually a secret research facility in which the brilliant but egocentric and obnoxious genius has been developing sophisticated artificial intelligence. Caleb is immediately introduced to Nathan's most upgraded construct - a gorgeous white fembot named Ava. And the mind games ensue.<br />
<br />
As the week unfolds the only things we know for sure are (a) imprisoned Ava wants to be free, and, (b) Caleb becomes completely enamored and wants to "rescue" her. Other than that, nothing is clear. What are Ava's true intentions? Does she like Caleb back or is she just using him to get out? Is Nathan really as much an asshole as he seems or is he putting on a show to manipulate everyone? Who should we feel sorry for? Who should we empathize with? Who should we hate? Who's the hero? Reviewers and viewers alike are melting in intellectual ecstasy over this brain-twisty movie. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jan/11/alex-garland-ex-machina-interview-the-beach-28-days-later" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> calls it "accomplished, cerebral film-making"; <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OFM1TwZE_LHKyE6V74n4cXoFyqaT9fIlIvM1jS13jGY/edit" target="_blank">Wired</a> calls it "one of the year's most intelligent and thought-provoking films"; <a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/review-alex-garlands-gripping-brilliant-ex-machina-with-domhnall-gleeson-alicia-vikander-oscar-isaac-20150121" target="_blank">Indiewire</a> calls it "gripping, brilliant and sensational". Alex Garland apparently is the smartest, coolest new director on the block. "Garland understands what he's talking about," says <a href="http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ex-machina-2015" target="_blank">RogerEbert.com</a>, and goes "to the trouble to explain more abstract concepts in plain language."<br />
<br />
Right. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
I like sci-fi and am a fan of Garland's previous work so I was excited to see his new flick. But let me tell you, my experience was FAR from "brilliant" and "heady" like the multitudes of moonstruck reviewers claimed it would be. Actually, I was livid. And weeks later -- I'm STILL pissed. Here's why...<br />
<br />
<b>* Spoiler Alert *</b> <br />
<br />
You wouldn't know it from the plethora of glowing reviews out there cause she's hardly mentioned (telling in and of itself) but there's another prominent fembot in the film. Maybe fifteen minutes into the story we're introduced to Kyoko, an Asian<i> </i>servant sex slave played by mixed-race Japanese/British actress Sonoya Mizuno. Though bound by abusive servitude, Kyoko isn't physically imprisoned in a room like Ava because she's compliant, obedient, willing.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>I recognized the trope of servile Asian woman right away and, how quickly Asian/whites are treated as non-white when they look ethnic in any way. </b></span></span></span></i></blockquote>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br />
Kyoko first appears on screen demure and silent, bringing a surprised
Caleb breakfast in his room. Of course I recognized the
trope of servile Asian woman right away and, <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/02/are-mixed-race-asianwhites-basically.html" target="_blank">as I wrote in February</a>, how quickly Asian/whites are treated as non-white when they look ethnic in any way. I was instantly
uncomfortable. Maybe there's a point, I thought to myself. But soon after we see Kyoko serving sushi to the men. She accidentally spills food on
Caleb. Nathan
loses his temper, yells at her, and then explains to Caleb she can't
understand which makes her incompetence even more infuriating. This is how we learn Kyoko is mute and can't speak. Yep. Nathan didn't give her a voice.
He further programmed her, purportedly, to not understand English.<br />
<br />
I
started to get upset. If there was a point, Garland had better
get to it fast. <br />
<br />
Unfortunately
the treatment of Kyoko's character just keeps spiraling. We continue to
learn more and more about her horrible existence in a way that feels
gross only for shock value rather than for any sort of deconstruction,
empowerment, or liberation of Asian women. She is always at Nathan's
side, ready and available, for anything he wants. Eventually Nathan shows Caleb something else special about her. He's coded Kyoko to love dancing ("I told you you're wasting your time talking to her. However you would not be wasting your time - if you were <i>dancing</i> with her"). When Nathan flips a wall switch that washes the room in red lights and music then joins a scantily-clad gyrating Kyoko on the dance floor, I was overcome by disgust:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hGY44DIQb-A/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hGY44DIQb-A?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
I recently also wrote about <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2015/02/baby-gammy-and-sexual-politics-of-mixed.html" target="_blank">Western exploitation of women's bodies in Asia</a> (incidentally also in February). In particular noting it was U.S. imperialistic
conquest that jump-started Thailand's sex industry. By the 1990s several million
tourists from Europe and
the U.S. were visiting Thailand annually, many specifically for sex
and entertainment. Writer Deena Guzder points out in <a href="http://pulitzercenter.org/blog/untold-stories/economics-commercial-sexual-exploitation" target="_blank">"The Economics of Commercial Sexual Exploitation"</a> for the <i>Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting</i> that Thailand's sex tourism industry is driven by acute poverty. Women and girls from poor rural families make up the majority of sex workers. "Once lost in Thailand's seedy underbelly, these women are further
robbed of their individual agency, economic independence, and bargaining
power." Guzder gloomily predicts, "If history repeats itself, the situation for poor Southeast Asian women will only further deteriorate with the global economic downturn."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23MfPJvythrPH3C4NIf9EbPRVWoj_klSE00kutfO4JYU5JlvU3Q7VffIaJBhwW1sGglt4Kus3z0K2fVMlfiGEC5NMg2jO5s8NFMKOkoS7eEdTCJ5xtDlRbSq03BIq_nyJ0V2nyOCk8kQD/s1600/gogobars.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23MfPJvythrPH3C4NIf9EbPRVWoj_klSE00kutfO4JYU5JlvU3Q7VffIaJBhwW1sGglt4Kus3z0K2fVMlfiGEC5NMg2jO5s8NFMKOkoS7eEdTCJ5xtDlRbSq03BIq_nyJ0V2nyOCk8kQD/s400/gogobars.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Light District, Phuket [image source: <a href="http://www.phuket.com/nightlife/go-go-bars.htm" target="_blank">Phuket.com</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"><span id="goog_2104983015"></span><span id="goog_2104983016"></span></a>]</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
You know who wouldn't be a stranger to any of this? Alex Garland. His first novel, <i>The Beach,</i> is set in Thailand and second novel, <i>The Tesseract</i>, is set <a href="http://www.iexaminer.org/2015/05/gabriela-seattle-represents-women-and-families-of-color-contingent-on-workers-day-2015/" target="_blank">in the Philippines</a>; both developing nations where Asian women continue to be used and abused for Western gain. In a 1999 interview with journalist <a href="http://www.gluckman.com/BeachGarland.html" target="_blank">Ron Gluckman</a>,
Garland said he made his first trip to Asia as a teenager in high
school and had been back at least once or twice almost every year since.
He also lived in the Philippines for 9 months. In a
perhaps telling choice of words, Gluckman wrote that Garland had "been
bitten by the Asian bug, early and deep." At the time many Asian
critics were criticizing <i>The Beach </i>as a shallow look at the region by an uniformed outsider but Garland protested in his interview:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">A lot of the criticism of <i>The Beach </i> is that it presents Thais as two
dimensional, as part of the scenery. That's because these people I'm writing about -
backpackers - really only see them as part of the scenery. They don't see them or the Thai
culture. To them, it's all part of a huge theme park, the scenery for their trip. That's
the point.</span></span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
I disagree severely with Garland. In insisting on his right to portray people of color one way while dismissing how those people see themselves, he not only centers his privileged perspective (i.e. white, male) but shows determined disinterest in representing oppressed people transformatively. Leads me to wonder how much he really knows or cares about inequity and uplifting marginalized voices. Indeed in <i>Ex Machina </i>the only point that Garland ever seems to make is that racist/sexist tropes exists, not
that we're going to do anything about them. And that kind of non-critical non-resistant attitude does more to reify and reinforce than anything else. Take for instance in a recent interview with <a href="http://www.cinematicessential.com/interview-with-alex-garland-writerdirector-of-ex-machina/" target="_blank">Cinematic Essential</a> (one of few where the interviewer asked about race), Garland had <i>this </i>to say about stereotypes in his new film:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">Sometimes you do things
unconsciously, unwittingly, or stupidly, I guess, and the only embedded
point that I knew I was making in regards to race centered around the
tropes of Kyoko [Sonoya Mizuno], a mute, very complicit Asian robot, or
Asian-appearing robot, because of course, she, as a robot, isn’t Asian.
But, when Nathan treats the robot in the discriminatory way that he
treats it, I think it should be ambivalent as to whether he actually
behaves this way, or if it’s a very good opportunity to make him seem
unpleasant to Caleb for his own advantage. </span></span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
First, approaching race "unconsciously" or "unwittingly" is never a good idea and moreover a classic symptom of white willful ignorance. Second, Kyoko isn't Asian because she's a robot? Race isn't biological or written into human DNA. It's <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2013/06/what-does-asian-mean.html" target="_blank">socio-politically constructed</a> and assigned usually by those in power. Kyoko <i>is </i>Asian because she has been made that way not only by her oppressor, Nathan, but by Garland himself, the omniscient creator of all. Third, Kyoko represents the only embedded race point in the movie? False. There are two other women of color who play enslaved fembots in <i>Ex Machina</i> and their characters are abused just as badly. "Jasmine" is one of Nathan's early fembots. She's Black. We see her body twice. Once being instructed how to write and once being dragged lifeless across the floor. You will never recognize real-life Black model and actress Symara A. Templeman in the role however. Why? Because her always naked body is inexplicably headless when it appears. That's right. One of the sole Black bodies/persons in the entire film does not have (per Garland's writing and direction) a face, head, or brain. <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsNkwxN7NTuCdZZpbvvoJ_1UfXUapPvrT_CKpai-Zor9Y2c7dgpFYeGhYriZ2SJYWlZvylEvQBE_smuvdlA3fGL8pVKqSKA7PskVqGxb2_s6PCfEczI_wlZ49Tb1aEXUrSNOP_dzUsWkw/s1600/jasmine.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpsNkwxN7NTuCdZZpbvvoJ_1UfXUapPvrT_CKpai-Zor9Y2c7dgpFYeGhYriZ2SJYWlZvylEvQBE_smuvdlA3fGL8pVKqSKA7PskVqGxb2_s6PCfEczI_wlZ49Tb1aEXUrSNOP_dzUsWkw/s320/jasmine.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Symara A. Templeman who played "Jasmine" [image <a href="https://plus.google.com/109202480172636193765/posts" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr>
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"Jade" played by Asian model and actress Gana Bayarsaikhan, is presumably also a less successful fembot predating Kyoko but perhaps succeeding Jasmine. She too is always shown naked but, unlike Jasmine, she has a head, and, unlike Kyoko, she speaks. We see her being questioned repeatedly by Nathan while trapped behind glass. Jade is resistant and angry. She doesn't understand why Nathan won't let her out and escalates to the point we are lead to believe she is decommissioned for her defiance.<br />
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It's significant that Kyoko, a mixed-race Asian/<i>white </i>woman,
later becomes the "upgraded" Asian model. It's also significant that at the movie's end white Ava finds Jade's decommissioned body in a closet in Nathan's room and <i>skins it</i> to cover her own body. (Remember when <a href="http://www.colorlines.com/articles/katy-perry-wants-skin-japanese-people-and-wear-them-versace" target="_blank">Katy Perry</a>
joked in 2012 she was obsessed with Japanese people and wanted to skin
one?). Ava has the
option of white bodies but after examining them meticulously she deliberately <i>chooses</i> Jade. Despite having met Jasmine previously, her Black body is conspicuously missing from the closets full of bodies Nathan has stored for his pleasure and use. And though Kyoko does help Ava kill Nathan in the end, she herself is "killed" in the process (i.e. never free) and Ava doesn't care at all. What does all
this show? A very blatant standard of beauty/desire that is not only male-designed but clearly a
light, white, and violently assimilative one.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5n0vstoC_GxwVcXT8VkBQXLSG3CAtl4nmiBBj-3fdmfjssDlIXm9qecf9bl3c-Bmz3y31Wo5gkbgwi6AYu6VHYkVanQZnDYB5ibdujFsjnTRhyk-au2dBCCj3aNtw2d2PybTwG2TzzPSV/s1600/jade2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5n0vstoC_GxwVcXT8VkBQXLSG3CAtl4nmiBBj-3fdmfjssDlIXm9qecf9bl3c-Bmz3y31Wo5gkbgwi6AYu6VHYkVanQZnDYB5ibdujFsjnTRhyk-au2dBCCj3aNtw2d2PybTwG2TzzPSV/s320/jade2.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gana Bayarsaikhan who played "Jade" [image <a href="http://www.profile-models.com/details.aspx?modelid=113624&pic=257.jpg&subid=4550" target="_blank">source</a>]</td></tr>
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I can't even being to tell you how offended and disturbed I
was by the treatment of women of color in this movie. I slept restlessly the night after I saw <i>Ex Machina</i>, woke up muddled at 2:45 AM and - still clinging to the hope that there must have been a reason for treating women of color this way (Garland's brilliant right?) - furiously went to work reading interviews and critiques. Aside from a few brief mentions of race/gender, I found barely anything addressing the film's obvious deployment of racialized gender stereotypes for its own benefit. For me this movie will be joining the long list of many so-called film classics I will never be able to admire. Movies<i> </i>where supposed artistry and brilliance are acceptable excuses for "unconscious" "unwitting" racism and sexism. <i>Ex Machina </i>may be smart in some ways, but it damn sure isn't in others.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Correction (8/1/15): </b>An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that actress Symara A. Templeman was the only Black person in the film. This post has been updated to indicate that the movie also featured at least one other Black actress, Deborah Rosan, in an uncredited role as Office Manager.</i> <br />
<br />
*** <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>For another great critique of the film by a sister of color, please read <a href="http://rosemaryspixie.com/2015/04/26/ex-machina-and-the-puppetry-of-the-patriarch/" target="_blank">"Ex Machina and the Puppetry of the Patriarch"</a> by Carolyn Mauricette of <a href="http://rosemaryspixie.com/" target="_blank">Rosemary's Pixie</a>.</b></span></span><br />
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>Carolyn Mauricette</b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>Carolyn Mauricette</b></span></span></div>
<br />Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com68tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-6199355418326013302015-04-28T06:42:00.000-07:002015-04-28T06:42:50.954-07:00Racializing Infants: When Anne Geddes Came to Seattle<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ylY9ftUBmMBdVLyM4PgcXLW0_cWVi6E_sdYEKgYKXIS0b_DckSkqp9hvQVfBVcGgdFmFGiJ6t7-iNjrXABb8KFnJnKLk_mMhVed5q6S0oPgS1ZeF064N1RyXAE6BSAogr8Rlr_PS43nK/s1600/Anne+Geddes+Google.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ylY9ftUBmMBdVLyM4PgcXLW0_cWVi6E_sdYEKgYKXIS0b_DckSkqp9hvQVfBVcGgdFmFGiJ6t7-iNjrXABb8KFnJnKLk_mMhVed5q6S0oPgS1ZeF064N1RyXAE6BSAogr8Rlr_PS43nK/s1600/Anne+Geddes+Google.png" height="241" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from Google image search for "Anne Geddes"</td></tr>
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by Sharon H Chang<br />
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She's been called legendary; famed; one of the world's most respected photographers. Her images are <span class="st">award winning, internationally acclaimed, considered iconic and beloved by many. She's sold over 19 million books and 13 million calendars in at least 83 countries and translated into at least 25 different languages. <a href="http://www.annegeddes.com/" target="_blank">Anne Geddes</a> is a globally renowned photographer famous for her whimsical portraits of infants and children in fanciful, fairytale-esque costumes and settings. The Australian born artist is also a global advocate for children. She founded the Anne Geddes Philanthropic Trust in 1992 and has worked to raise awareness around many child-related issues from abuse and neglect, to premature birth and the threat of </span><span class="st">meningococcal disease. "Protect. </span>Nurture. Love," <a href="http://www.annegeddes.com/philanthropy-1/" target="_blank">her website</a> reads, "These three words have served as my mantra and inspiration throughout my
30-year career as a photographer."<br />
<br />
<span class="st">But that's not exactly what happened when Geddes came to Seattle last year for a three day workshop and photo shoot for her 2017 Zodiac Calendar. </span><br />
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I remember the <a href="http://www.meetup.com/creativeliveseattle/events/213671952/" target="_blank">Geddes newborn casting call</a> very well because when it was cast to local families of color by <a href="https://www.creativelive.com/" target="_blank">CreativeLive</a> (the Seattle studio hosting Geddes's visit), it immediately raised eyebrows. "[Geddes] is looking for 6-7mo babies of African American descent" and "newborn babies of Chinese descent," wrote CreativeLive in their solicitation. I of course was struck by the strange specificity of looking only for African American and Chinese. What about Native, Indigenous, Latin@, etc. identifying babies? Other local families wondered, why Chinese and not any of the at least <a href="https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-11.pdf" target="_blank">23 other Asian ethnicities</a> represented in the U.S.? Particularly puzzling given the largest Asian population growth in the United States from 2000-2010:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggA5haTNMTsLHOTNE0_1nqnNdr2Uv9Q_g0JCqbCQ5ByqVomXAvVMFjsY-4EPYvG0O6c0Pw_4PRHnnQ9t7L6iyoYQDx8Cln9kZbYK7u0iw4KBZrnqXmLY9XJcmd-x1bPHqDG_0zCmzJYXBI/s1600/populationgrowth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggA5haTNMTsLHOTNE0_1nqnNdr2Uv9Q_g0JCqbCQ5ByqVomXAvVMFjsY-4EPYvG0O6c0Pw_4PRHnnQ9t7L6iyoYQDx8Cln9kZbYK7u0iw4KBZrnqXmLY9XJcmd-x1bPHqDG_0zCmzJYXBI/s1600/populationgrowth.jpg" height="312" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[source: <a href="http://www.apiidv.org/resources/census-data-api-identities.php" target="_blank">API IDV</a>]</td></tr>
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And further, where did mixed-race babies fit into this? CreativeLive offered a seemingly simple explanation. "Final images will
incorporate images and symbols referring to the Chinese zodiac so [the
Geddes team] are hoping to find proper cultural representation," wrote a production assistant, "If the baby is multiracial - half
Chinese, they will still be considered as a participant."<br />
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But that answer didn't make sense at all given the inclusion of white babies and call for African American babies, nor did it address the exclusion of non-Black, non-Asian babies of color (don't even get me started on the "half Chinese" bit). And it turned out the production assistant was flatly wrong, throwing the purported quest for "proper cultural representation" into gross light. Anne Geddes's 2017 calendar is themed on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac#The_twelve_signs" target="_blank"><i>Western </i>zodiac</a>, not the Chinese zodiac, which is blatantly obvious when you watch the behind-the-scenes video of the shoot CreativeLive later posted to YouTube:<br />
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How could a paid employee of CreativeLive not know this extremely relevant piece of information? Consider the level of cultural insensitivity and ignorance here and the danger of those behaviors in a racialized environment. Already the practice of ethnic casting itself is difficult in having sprung from
a standard definition of beauty as white, which then must label
anything other-than-white to include people of color in that
same definition. Given this, it would seem highly advisable to proceed with as much awareness, sensitivity and thoughtful respect as possible in trying to recruit families of color in a nation fraught with a long history of racism. However when Seattle mom Sarah* brought her mixed-race baby to the Anne Geddes shoot, she alleges things did not improve in the slightest. Sarah was extremely disturbed and upset by her experience. On day one she recalled:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">The Black babies were dressed up as lions (this was revealed once all the babies and their families had shown up to the shoot) and it appeared that the darker skinned babies were selected to be photographed first. This gave me the impression that they purposely wanted a baby who "appeared Black" - all the babies were Black but there was, of course, a range of skin color. [It] felt very stereotyping.</span></span></blockquote>
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On day two, Sarah said (and as you can see in the YouTube video), Asian babies were dressed up as goats for Aries. On day three white babies were dressed up as flowers in pots for Aquarius. "So the babies of color were dressed up as animals and the Black babies as lions no less," Sarah noted wryly, "And then the white babies just got to be white babies in little pots." If you're having trouble understanding why this is problematic, please know: (a) <a href="http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2008/06/16/%E2%80%9Cmonkey-see-monkey-do%E2%80%9D-the-white-mental-health-problem/" target="_blank">animalizing people of color</a> is a long practice of racist framing, the higher up the better, the lower down the worse, (b) only 4 of 12 Western zodiac signs are represented in human form (Aquarius, Gemini, Virgo and Sagittarius), and (c) Aquarius, bearer of water, also meant "The Great One" in Sumero-Babylonian according to Wikipedia. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgpQBEpmfdGGb9-5wEEk04K5IFjy98rBxsssVi0RxoiQZ4Bv8qzohFGB3sYKv_l9utlNw5Q3LoTTCHuk8V6LtxjvQ3fl9vK6hAmWVjeBC50qcWft_Dk-HDM7sfqJSCaoFnwhbbj5JXiN1f/s1600/zodiac+astrology+horoscope.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgpQBEpmfdGGb9-5wEEk04K5IFjy98rBxsssVi0RxoiQZ4Bv8qzohFGB3sYKv_l9utlNw5Q3LoTTCHuk8V6LtxjvQ3fl9vK6hAmWVjeBC50qcWft_Dk-HDM7sfqJSCaoFnwhbbj5JXiN1f/s1600/zodiac+astrology+horoscope.png" height="313" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greek zodiac signs [<a href="http://www.relativelyinteresting.com/astrology-and-horoscopes-debunked/" target="_blank">image source</a>]</td></tr>
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If you find yourself doubting the veracity of Sarah's testimonial you need look no further than the YouTube video posted by CreativeLive to see the truth in her words. You'll notice the conspicuous absence or downplaying of people of color. Babies are consistently surrounded by Anne Geddes's team which scans entirely white/light-appearing. In being interviewed, Anne Geddes gives her thoughts, opinions and backstory to a white representative presumably from CreativeLive. Parents of color are featured only in wide shots (mostly profiles and the backs of their heads) receiving instructions with generally unreadable emotions. White parents, on the other hand, are featured prominently in closeups clearly smiling, laughing admiringly and having an enjoyable time. <br />
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If you find yourself admitting the racial under/overtones but still thinking the whole thing pretty innocuous, another case of "he said she said," and wondering how much it matters anyways -- let me add one final piece to the picture. The 2014 Seattle shoot was <a href="http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Photographer-Anne-Geddes-picks-Seattle-for-first-public-shoot-280724182.html" target="_blank">the first time</a> Anne Geddes opened up her creative process to a public audience. The shoot was livestreamed by CreativeLive for free to anyone and everyone with access and interest <i>all over the world</i>. Considering Anne Geddess is so famous, I imagine that was quite a few people. CreativeLive co-founder <a href="http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Photographer-Anne-Geddes-picks-Seattle-for-first-public-shoot-280724182.html" target="_blank">Craig Swanson</a> told Komo News it was a "bucket
list item" for him and that his company worked for 2 years to make the
livestream happen.<br />
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It's probably a vast understatement to say that this was a pretty important event.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggm4hRYQNQ2Q7NDgdhtCj7JDWG0A3syhR-7TUdDEkwuQeaqVbMw_t0giAXF7ZWbBoaoJWWi6p9fvozdnqW29cBGwYP6P3w6IamDiGki3DJU_SCNylLZ2pBfF06pPqzqUZqmswJHzbflOZ2/s1600/screenshot.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggm4hRYQNQ2Q7NDgdhtCj7JDWG0A3syhR-7TUdDEkwuQeaqVbMw_t0giAXF7ZWbBoaoJWWi6p9fvozdnqW29cBGwYP6P3w6IamDiGki3DJU_SCNylLZ2pBfF06pPqzqUZqmswJHzbflOZ2/s1600/screenshot.png" height="219" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvUyJ8w_F8Q" target="_blank">screen capture</a>]</td></tr>
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But it's also vastly important to acknowledge the depleting impact upon families of color and their children when
cultural insensitivity and ignorance perpetuate race, stereotypes
and disparities. These <i>are</i> the recurring obstacles to self-worth that families of color routinely face not just in modeling, but across all segments of society. We also need to acknowledge how difficult it is to call out and surmount these obstacles. "I feel that this is a situation that's easy to not
think critically about because it's Anne Geddes and it's babies,"
pointed out Sarah, adding it's easy to get distracted by the cute
outfits and not look at what's actually happening. But "I feel like they are
poaching off of [families of color]," she criticized, "I don't really
care what their intention is because the impact is already there." Sarah
said a friend of hers wrote to the Anne Geddes team to inquire about
their intentions and to draw attention to their behavior, but never got a
response.<br />
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Still while our questions often echo frustratingly across an empty desert of others disinterest, it's also true that pinpointing where to begin making change can be like trying to capture an invisible butterfly. Looking at Anne Geddes's formidable body of work to date, which spans decades, it's easy to see wide representation of diversity. It's clear that Geddes has an eye to the importance of capturing babies of all backgrounds and heritages. So it's surprising and confusing that her visit to Seattle unfolded the way it did. How did it happen? Who do we hold accountable? How do we work together to make sure it doesn't happen again? I don't have concrete answers to these questions. But I do know "Protect. Nurture. Love." means listening to each other so that we may be honest about our hurt, keep in conversation, and continue asking the questions. And this perhaps is the most important of all. Here's to hoping that writing and reading this post opens that door even if just a little. Anne Geddes will be back in Seattle May 6-9, 2015 for a <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/12WpTwxExoXkj6IQo1sexqDQi1ixNZ48kH5a8ifZU-7k/viewform?c=0&w=1" target="_blank">second shoot</a>. Let's make it a different experience this time.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Name changed to protect the mother's identity</span><br />
Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1963226935730337710.post-17564994076311004262015-02-17T07:12:00.000-08:002015-02-17T16:43:17.069-08:00Are Mixed Race Asian/Whites, "Basically White"?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amerasian Le Van Minh in post-war Vietnam, <i>Newsday</i> photo by Audry Tiernan (1985)</td></tr>
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<i><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>[She] never told the son who was crippled by polio about her relationship with his father. All she said was that the man was an American, a sergeant in the Army. He was one of the thousands of GIs who left children behind as victims of the conflict that the United States never officially called a war.</b></span></span></span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">-- "<a href="http://www.irenevirag.com/media/saig_sm.pdf" target="_blank">Life and Times of Le Van Minh</a>" by Irene Virag</span></span></div>
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by Sharon H Chang<br />
<br />
I've gotten some pretty vitriolic comments these last months regarding my writings on white-mixing not being synonymous with whiteness. A recent response to <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2014/01/is-hapa-curse-or-gift-answer-for-asian.html" target="_blank">my piece protesting </a><i><a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2014/01/is-hapa-curse-or-gift-answer-for-asian.html" target="_blank">Asian Fortune</a>'s </i>troubled 2013 <a href="http://aapivoices.com/hapa-with-care/" target="_blank">"Hapa"</a> article:<br />
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<i><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Guys...Sometimes you just need to calm the f down. You need to get out of your heads a little bit and stop over analyzing things. I'm sure all you hapas out there have some understanding of the way hapas are treated in Asia. Talk about superficial stereotypical understandings! Your ultra-liberal, ultra-progressive, straight-out-of-an-undergraduate-African-American-studies-class mumbo jumbo would only ever be considered in White countries. And you know damn well that you benefit from 'White privilege.' The reason I put that in quotes is beyond the scope of this comment. Don't write back with some bullshit about traffic stops - I know the statistics." (October 26, 2014) </span> </span></i></blockquote>
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Another recent response, this time to my piece on <a href="http://multiasianfamilies.blogspot.com/2014/05/talking-mixed-race-identity-with-young.html" target="_blank">talking mixed race identity with young children</a> for <i>Hyphen Magazine</i>:</div>
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<i><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"'mom am i white?'</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">the answer is yes, he is. Stop confusing the poor child and STOP telling him he's of Asian descent when you and the baby daddy are clearly white. He will grow up with an identity problem and will very likely hate you for it. Have some decency as a parent." (February 10, 2015) </span></span></i></div>
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"You know damn well that you benefit from 'White privilege'"; "You and the baby daddy are clearly white"; "You just need to calm the f down...stop over analyzing"; "Stop confusing the poor child...Have some decency as a parent." Though one could certainly argue these commenters are just trolls trying to get a rise out of me, there's still a kernel of truth here, a sentiment I see reflected all over the place. Many people today view mixed Asian/whites as "pretty much white" or "the next whites" and therefore white-complicit hench(wo)men immune from racism, even <i>the</i> villains topping society's racist organization. As physical embodiments of the racial hierarchy's two top-positioned groups (white, Asian), there is often a tremendous amount of resentment directed towards us that disregards our history, testimonials and lived lives. As light-appearing mixes with close white family members and near generational ties to whiteness, it is incredibly difficult for communities of color to imagine us people of color and much easier to envision us as easy, automatic, honorary inductees into the world of white privilege. If they're "light" and "half white," then "they're basically white." Initiate mass write-off.</div>
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There are a lot of problems with the idea that Asian/whites are white: (1) it disallows space for contemporary Asian/whites to discuss the racialized experiences they <i>do</i> have when they are viewed and treated as non-white, (2) it ignores/invalidates/erases these oppressions as stemming from a long history of racism Asian/whites have faced nationally and globally that is an integral part of the larger narrative of race, and (3) it ultimately deflects from the more important point that it is not Asian/whites who created and uphold the racism we struggle to undo today. </div>
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Racism targeting Asian/whites has a deep significance that gets dismissed and scoffed at far too easily. Consider that one side of the coin has long been white-mixing grossly and dangerously dilutes white purity and so if it happens, must be of unwanted, lesser value. An Asian/white mix then (or any "white mix" for that matter) occupies a contested place particularly capturing the attention of the dominant group because it encroaches upon the borders of whiteness. This place becomes a stage upon which aggressive strategies of dominance can get played out with especial exaggeration. Case in point, when the first Chinese immigrants came to America they were male laborers who could fraternize with women of color in many cases but were <i>strictly forbidden</i> <i>to fraternize with white women</i>. In 1892, famous English (white) social scientist Herbert Spencer wrote:</div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">"I have...entirely approved of the regulation which have been established in America for restraining Chinese immigration...If the Chinese are allowed to settle
extensively in America, they must either, if they remain unmixed, form a
subject race in the position, if not slaves, yet of a class approaching
slaves, or <b>if they mix they must form a bad hybrid</b>" </span></span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">[bold mine] (from</span></span><i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"> <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=WrVFAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=mix+they+must+form+a+bad+hybrid&source=bl&ots=nWyn1zdNJ_&sig=_ELamthwXtLpmRXXL-7_f3fY-iw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KVTRVKHBDsyagwSstYCYCg&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=mix%20they%20must%20form%20a%20bad%20hybrid&f=false" target="_blank">Proceedings of the Asiatic Exclusion League</a>)</span></span></i></div>
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American GIs (predominantly white) have left in their wake huge populations of abandoned Amerasian children following U.S. military presence in many Asian countries such as Vietnam, Korea, and the Philippines. These Amerasian children have not only often been excluded from American citizenship and orphaned by their fathers, but then treated horribly in Asia as unpleasant, unwanted reminders of U.S. dominance. During <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_Americans" target="_blank">World War II Internment</a> (1942-1946), Asian Americans of Japanese descent were interned if they were as little as <i>one sixteenth</i> Japanese. And when freelance journalist <a href="https://twitter.com/juliacarriew/status/565198932074958850/photo/1" target="_blank">Julia Carrie Wong</a> expressed her concern just last week for Malcolm Harris's safety on Twitter, it was her mixed Chinese/Jewish background that users leveraged to attack and diminish her. It was <i>what they saw as most prominent</i>:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXXgG3TQT8RMz6kseLsMr2dc-r4GtK0ZA_PH_B7XB5gGLwMUn6QTBQUDILj_auuB4IZDJBsOu5bK7CZXpS6XDVaqwAjoGNF1ASVPoKadHk6FZgTRKkPjNfTJZKs9NLsYqnQ2qnzwQQugBD/s1600/wong2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXXgG3TQT8RMz6kseLsMr2dc-r4GtK0ZA_PH_B7XB5gGLwMUn6QTBQUDILj_auuB4IZDJBsOu5bK7CZXpS6XDVaqwAjoGNF1ASVPoKadHk6FZgTRKkPjNfTJZKs9NLsYqnQ2qnzwQQugBD/s1600/wong2.png" height="267" width="320" /> </a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9o-KR7SR4PvHGVxJjzDO-CkhzhT47GtSEFktJYJTH6yqtMdBcuKJA0VK7kXMtPE9h53mDd_CIkt6Fb0xte14vWLXpOwTUkAL4g02q8jS0EWxTbOnyvhxTJxLX5NpOUb8QtsAQFpd3gwo6/s1600/wong4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9o-KR7SR4PvHGVxJjzDO-CkhzhT47GtSEFktJYJTH6yqtMdBcuKJA0VK7kXMtPE9h53mDd_CIkt6Fb0xte14vWLXpOwTUkAL4g02q8jS0EWxTbOnyvhxTJxLX5NpOUb8QtsAQFpd3gwo6/s1600/wong4.png" height="183" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aJYNo5GydpZrNBOLZtKcRdxXfhYCUF2NtQxZXP7maaKZSVdcwVmuEVsUu0Wm1X14FpU5TOpXdUc0u7-p9DKpJUH1-h5eAzPsl_V-JR822QBIIup0oDRha0NxnwVv0ds6Zz1BDGf8cpBI/s1600/wong1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aJYNo5GydpZrNBOLZtKcRdxXfhYCUF2NtQxZXP7maaKZSVdcwVmuEVsUu0Wm1X14FpU5TOpXdUc0u7-p9DKpJUH1-h5eAzPsl_V-JR822QBIIup0oDRha0NxnwVv0ds6Zz1BDGf8cpBI/s1600/wong1.png" height="292" width="320" /></a> </div>
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Even if Asian/whites are seen as some sort of loaded "good hybrid" this has still not typically freed them from being racialized, oppressed, and yet again diminished. Rather, their "interesting" bodies under microscope can become an even more convenient locale to project discriminatory beliefs. Hong Kong prostitute Suzie Wong from the 1957 film <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_of_Suzie_Wong_%28film%29" target="_blank"><i>The World of Suzie Wong</i></a>, for example, was seen as very beautiful. Suzie
was played by mixed race Asian/white actress <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Kwan" target="_blank">Nancy Kwan</a>
(Cantonese/English/Scottish) who skyrocketed to fame and was sometimes called "the Chinese Bridgette Bardot." But the character is also very criticized as what <a href="http://faculty.law.miami.edu/zfenton/documents/SumiCho--SuzieWong.pdf" target="_blank">Susan Cho</a> calls "the Hollywood prototype for the masochistic eroticism of Asian Pacific American Women" (see note 58). There is even a scene where Suzie invites her white love interest to beat her so she can show her injuries off as a measure of his affection. Kwan being mixed did not at all allow her to be white. In fact, viewers clearly had no trouble imagining her as a racialized non-white other and subjecting her to a demeaning gendered, racist typecast that then served to further the oppression of <i>all</i> Asian Pacific American women. In a very protested sexist/racist 1990 <i>Gentleman's Quarterly </i>article entitled "Oriental Girls," Tony Rivers grossly wrote about the "great western male fantasy":</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><i>Suzie Wong was the originator of the modern fantasy...Perhaps even now,...on the edge of a small town, Suzie awaits the call</i>.</b></span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7qjKwR0CCDgO3UjJMKPJqQWLVtbGcJaiObbTDiv-fAb6AqinYlZ-TEjXWgaEm-OCvF-L9Ev569HFEGLuRCNgp5VemaUPFPg0LKUcSKD2zO7Dt8W4rbiKIzyq9b4d8s4AEHCQhR55hWrS/s1600/suziewong.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_7qjKwR0CCDgO3UjJMKPJqQWLVtbGcJaiObbTDiv-fAb6AqinYlZ-TEjXWgaEm-OCvF-L9Ev569HFEGLuRCNgp5VemaUPFPg0LKUcSKD2zO7Dt8W4rbiKIzyq9b4d8s4AEHCQhR55hWrS/s1600/suziewong.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[<a href="http://www.kritzerland.com/suzie_wong.htm" target="_blank">image source</a>]</td></tr>
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Similarly the 1958 movie musical <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pacific_%281958_film%29" target="_blank">South Pacific</a> </i>-- considered very liberal and progressive at the time -- told the story of a young (white) American GI who falls for Liat, a
stereotyped "submissive" "primitive" local Pacific Islander woman. But Liat was
also played by a mixed race Asian/white actress, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_Nuyen" target="_blank">France Nuyen</a>
(Vietnamese/French). Once again, movie-makers and audiences clearly had no trouble imagining Nuyen as a shallow person of color typecast <i>despite her mixedness</i>. "Part white" did not make her white nor did it exempt from harmful stereotyping that pigeonholes and hurts all Asian Pacific Islander women.</div>
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And if you think things have improved on that front, better take a look at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicole_Scherzinger" target="_blank">Nicole Scherzinger</a>'s (Hawaiian/Filipino/Russian) 2011 video for her single, "Right There":</div>
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This is all to say, no. Thousands, even millions, of Asian/whites worldwide are not white and have never been treated as such. Further the racialized experiences challenging Asian/whites are an important and component part of race as it has been socially constructed for hundreds of years; a construct that engulfs us all. It's necessary to know this and <i>also</i> know the role silencing plays here (because telling me I'm "basically white" and to shut up, does exactly that). Within the construct of race/racism stories of discrimination have been silenced for millennia. Silencing is a major way in which the hierarchy remains intact and racial injustice prevails. One of our greatest struggles then in undoing racism is learning how to receive the stories of others non-predatorily and with true attempt at understanding. That means as we struggle to hear and honor the stories of people
marginalized by this construct, we should always be careful about
telling <i>anyone</i> their oppression is unreal or untrue. Remember the practice of silencing is what oppressors have done for -- well practically ever. Let's not use the oppressors' tools to keep oppressing. There are many stories within the story of "race" and they all matter. We can't ever know the whole picture if we aren't willing to see its many component parts. And if we can't see the whole picture, it will be near impossible to make things better.</div>
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Sharon H Changhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02459040772153166380noreply@blogger.com25