This interview was a treat to listen to. Local podcaster Alan Litchfield interviews Joy Holloway-D’avilar, a Barbados native who has been living in the U.S. for 20 years. She talks about her experience as an atheist/freethinker in the Caribbean community. I was especially tickled because my maternal great-grandmother was from Barbados. One of the many…
Read moreBlack moms with biracial kids
I recently read an older blog post from Heidi Durrow, author of The Girl Who Fell from the Sky. She brought up the issue of how black moms encourage their biracial (or multiracial) children to embrace their identity. What are their perspectives? As a side note, she published that post when I was pregnant with my…
Read moreTaking a stand…for what exactly?
By now, you might have heard of the wedding cake drama across the river from me in the town of Gresham, Oregon. Same-sex couple goes to a bakery there in preparation for their wedding and when the owner finds out the cake is for two brides, he refuses service, citing his religion (Christianity). A lot…
Read moreBook Review: Disintegration, The Splintering of Black America
Journalist Eugene Robinson tackles what many African-Americans have noticed for a long time: the common interests of black America are becoming increasingly fragmented. Why? According to Robinson (if I may sum up), it is mostly due to desegregation and social progress. Desegregation opened up opportunities for individuals to seek personal success. Social progress led to…
Read moreAre those your children???
I’ve always said how I’ve never been asked this question and didn’t think I ever would. But it finally happened. While visiting family in Philadelphia, a woman asked me if my children were mine. This seems to be a right of passage for parents with mixed-race children. We were leaving the hotel to go out…
Read moreNo respect for life
By now, most people have heard of Trayvon Martin the teenager who was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. If you haven’t, read the here and here. Initially, it seems police there were just going with his word that he shot in self-defense. However, after the release of the 911 recordings (where…
Read moreLoving documentary premiers on HBO
Sadly, I do not have HBO. *sobs* No, it will be ok. The movie will be on DVD before we know it. But for those of you that do have it, check it out. The Lovings were an interracial couple whose legal battle to live their lives as a married couple made it all the…
Read moreOn colorblindness, part 2
The first phase in the process of colorblindness is actually noticing that someone looks different. It’s not ignoring it. But recognizing someone’s color in this step doesn’t do anything because it can spur a negative emotion (such as with racists). It is also an identification in a general sense because it usually results in stereotyping….
Read moreBlacks in Oregon history
My latest article in Portland Family Magazine is about Black history. I highlight Oregon Northwest Black Pioneers, an organization whose goal is to preserve the historical contributions of Blacks in Oregon. Happy Black History Month!
Read moreOn colorblindness, part 1
I’ve read many accounts of parents of mixed race children talk about how their child had questions about why mommy and daddy look different at ages as young as two or three years old. Never really gave this phenomenon a second thought because obviously we live in a very race/color focused society. Not having had…
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