Here’s a review of the film Belle, which just played at the Toronto Film Festival:
The true story of a mixed-race child raised by British aristocrats is lightly fictionalized by Amma Asante.
click HERE to continue reading
mixed race
Asian American Literary Review: Mixed Race Issue
The AALR is dedicated to providing a space for both established and emerging writers to express what it means to identify as Asian American. Their latest issue is focused on Mixed Race identity, and they’ve gathered an impressive amount of storytellers of all genres to explore the Mixed experience. The hard cover journal is only the beginning, though. Throughout the 2013/2014 fall and spring semesters, over 100 universities will be participating in interactive classrooms using the Mixed Race issue as a springboard to discussions and new understandings of the Mixed experience. We strongly encourage you to purchase this journal, which will certainly be considered a historical archive, and to participate in the university initiatives.
Asian American Literary Review home page
Order your copy of the Mixed Race Issue HERE
Learn more about the University classes HERE
WTTF…a modern day Guess Who is Coming To Dinner?
WTTF…a modern day Guess Who is Coming To Dinner?
I have seen several previews on TV for NBC’s new comedy Welcome To The Family. I wasn’t too interested until I saw a commercial yesterday that talked about interracial families. The two teenagers in the show were talking about the growing number of multiracial families in America and how they will be one too. I have NOT been able to find the clip anywhere online…but when I do, I will be sure to post it. Now as I look into the storyline more… I see that it is more than a teenage pregnancy story. It is a story of the Yoder and Hernandez families being joined by their teenagers falling in love. A classic Romeo and Juliet plot with a splash of racial and cultural differences. Though it is nice to see the presence of multiracial families on TV, I am not surprised that it again will be under an unwelcomed relationship, and child. We will have to stay tuned to see how the story unfolds…
Mixed Character Takes On Comic Books
Have you heard? Miles Morales (African American and Puerto Rican) takes over for Spider Man in the Marvel comic series. He currently has appeared in 90 issues. It will be interesting to track how they portray Miles’ mixed story with an extra layer of super hero.
You can read more about his character, here on Comic Vine: http://www.comicvine.com/miles-morales/4005-79420/
And here in an article written by mixed author Marcia Dawkins: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-alesan-dawkins/marvels-mixed-race-ultima_b_917442.html
MIT Documentary Workshop DEADLINE
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is hosting a workshop for emerging filmmakers and film students. Here’s a chance to learn how to take those Mixed experience stories floating around in your head and get them into a visual medium. The deadline to apply is September 12 – so get those applications IN!
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3MW Collective
We are really excited about 3MW Collective – created by three Canadian women (Jordan Clarke, Ilene Sova and Rema Tavares) whose mission is to use “visual art to deconstruct mixed-race identity.” They’re located in Toronto Ontario, but we expect their beautiful and thought-provoking art will soon be seen elsewhere.
Upcoming showings:
- Location: Brockton Collective Inc, 442a Dufferin St., Toronto, Canada
- Dates:
- October 3rd, 2013, 7pm – 11pm (Opening Reception)
- Open October 4th & October 6th, 2013 by appointment only
Check their website frequently for more events: 3MWCollective.org
Toasted Marshmallows
I love the story of how Marcelitte Failla and Anoushka Ratnarajah met: both were Fellows at the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics’ Emerging Artist Program. In many ways it parallels my own journey in creating more comfortable spaces for Mixed-identified people: through sharing stories I forged relationships that would lead to wonderful projects like Mixed Chicks Chat, the Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival and now, Mixed Roots Stories!
Marcelitte and Anoushka have teamed up to produce Toasted Marshmallows – a documentary exploring the experiences of Mixed-identified North American women. They’ve already completed a successful Indiegogo campaign (raising well-over their initial goal) and are now participating in a project with the Brooklyn Museum. Check them out and support them and the film in any way you can!
Website: www.ToastedMarshmallowProject.com
A Lot Like You
I had the pleasure of meeting Eliaichi Kimaro when she submitted her feature film, A Lot Like You, to the 2012 Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival. We unfortunately were unable to fit this terrific documentary into our lineup that year, but Eliaichi lead a workshop on documentary filmmaking that was very well received.
Synopsis for the www.alotlikeyoumovie.com:
Eliaichi Kimaro is a mixed-race, first-generation American with a Tanzanian father and Korean mother. When her parents retire and move back to Tanzania, Eliaichi begins a project that evocatively examines the intricate fabric of multiracial identity, and grapples with the complex ties that children have to the cultures of their parents.
Kimaro decides to document her father’s path back to his family and Chagga culture. In the process, she struggles with her own relationship to Tanzania, and learns more about the heritage that she took for granted as a child. Yet as she talks to more family members, especially her aunts, she uncovers a cycle of violence that resonates with her work and life in the United States. When Kimaro speaks with her parents about the oppression her aunts face, she faces a jarring disconnect between immigrant generations on questions of patriarchy and violence.
Here are some upcoming 2013 performance dates (check the website frequently for more!):
October 23: ALLY screening/lecture events with filmmaker at University of New England(Maine).
October 17 @ 7pm: Director Eliaichi Kimaro will be speaking at Knox College (Galesburg, IL). Event sponsored by the Center for Intercultural Life.
October 15-16: ALLY screening/panel/lecture events with filmmaker at DePaul University(Chicago), including Laura Kina‘s class on Mixed Race Art and Identity.
October 14: ALLY screening/lecture at Lincoln Land Community College (Springfield, IL)
October 8 @ 6:30pm: Vancouver Asian Film Festival presents A Lot Like You screening + discussion w/Director Eliaichi Kimaro. Alice MacKay room, Vancouver Public Library.
October 2: A Lot Like You screening & discussion w/filmmaker at California State University–San Marcos. Sponsored by Gender Equity Center and LGBTQA Pride Center.
October 1@ 7pm: A Lot Like You screening & discussion w/filmmaker at University of Redlands (Orton Center).
September 19 @ 7:30pm: Director Eliaichi Kimaro will be presenting at the 2013 Critical Ethnic Studies Conference, sponsored by The Institute For Research on Race and Public Policy at The University of Illinois At Chicago.
September 18 @ 7:30pm: Director Eliaichi Kimaro will speak at Venango College (PA) at the Rhoades Center (following ALLY campus screening on 9/16).
Actor breaks silence about being Mixed!
How much are multiracial stories influenced by family/extended family?
Obviously family has influence…but to the point of silence? This story left me with so many questions! I would love to read the script…and better yet sit down and have coffee with Tom Sizemore. Sizemore chose to “modern day pass” as White after his grandfather, who did not like “white folk” told him to “never reveal his mixed-race heritage to anyone in Hollywood if he wanted to become a bona fide movie star.” Well, now he has chosen to break his silence by telling his grandfather’s story, and in turn part of his own through the storytelling vehicle of theater. How have your family/extended family shaped your mixed race story?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/02/tom-sizemore-one-man-show-geffen.html
Congrats Mixed Up Clothing!
Congratulations to Sonia Kang founder of Mixed Up clothing. Her children’s clothing line that focuses on “building friendships through fabrics” has been nominated for a Red Tricycle 2013 Totally Awesome Award. Winners will be announced Sept 1st. Sonia and Mixed Up clothing has been featured on the Today show and has a new collaboration with Chocolate Me (written by Taye Diggs). Tia Mowry-Hardict clothes her son in Mixed Up clothing, you can find out more about where to get Mixed Up clothing at http://www.mixedupclothing.com/. Mixed Nation http://mixednation.com/ has teamed up with Mixed Up clothing for a giveaway. Click here to enter to win: https://www.wf-site.com/microsite/pages/cca80757deead6e8
Sonia and Mixed Up Clothing: Keep up the good work, sharing the mixed race story through your creative design of apparel for children.