Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Jenina Gallaway recently joined us for a MXRS Podcast – Telling the Story Behind the Stories. You can follow her on her Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/jeninagallawaysoprano and support her http://www.gofundme.com/z7tuys. Listen to her interview (also found on iTunes). Read her full bio below.
Soprano, Jenina Gallaway, has performed internationally and throughout the United States in a wide range of genres. Operatic repertoire includes: Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito, the title role in Suor Angelica, Serena in Porgy and Bess, Anna Maurrant in Street Scene, Mrs. Augusta Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe, and the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas.
Equally committed to the concert repertory, Gallaway has performed as the soprano soloist in Anton Bruckner’s Te Deum, Beethoven’s Ninth Syphony, Dvořák’s Te Deum, and Brahms’ Neue Liebeslieder, among others.
A recipient of several awards, Gallaway was an Arizona District Winner and Western Region Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions where she received an encouragement award. She has also been a finalist in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Vocal Competition. In Tucson, Gallaway has been a first place winner in several competitions including the Ameilia Reiman Vocal Competition, Marguerite Ough Vocal Competition, and the Opera Guild of Southern Arizona’s Quest for the Best Vocal Competition. She has also received awards from the Opera Buffs, inc., Fe Bland Foundation Music Award, Society of Singers and the Village Voices Chorale.
Born and raised in Californina, Gallaway holds a Masters in Vocal Performance from California State University, Northridge, a Bachelors in Vocal Performance from Azusa Pacific University, and is currently working towards a DMA in Vocal Performance at the University of Arizona.
Over Memorial Day weekend, the Mixed Roots Stories team gathered for our annual retreat. We spent two days evaluating where we have been and planning where we want to go.
We spent time looking at our mission and vision and decided it needed slight revising to more accurately represent what we do. This is what we came up with:
Revised Vision
A world that recognizes how it benefits from otherness, one that both celebrates and challenges identity categories in order to create more liberatory possibilities for our collective futures.
Revised Mission
Supporting and advocating for diverse Mixed communities through the power of sharing stories. We seek to act as a liaison, creating space between storytellers across academic and non-academic communities, and international and national contexts.
We began planning for the upcoming CMRS events. We also finalized our plans for this year’s Loving Day online event, and began planning for 2016 and 2017 Loving Day events.
We were excited to have our new board members Kaily Heitz and Stephanie Sparling Williams join us! They bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and energy to the team and are launching new student, community, and organization outreach as well as Arts & Education programing.
This weekend the MXRS team got together in preparation for our commemoration of Loving Day 2015: Visualizing Loving Day. This year we thought it would be fun to celebrate the radical love of Richard and Mildred Loving, as well as the pivotal Supreme Court Ruling allowing interracial couples to marry by creating a mixed-media collage. Check out what we did and share your own Visualizing Loving Day projects, activities, and stories!
Materials:
Printed Copy of The Loving’s Story (Print story from www.lovingday.org : here)
Small Canvas
1 Pack of Sticker Numbers & Letters
1 Tube of Paint in a Color of Your Choice (acrylic works best, but tempora will work too!)
Sponge brush or old dish sponge
Decoupage or Mod-Podge
Glue Stick
Scissors
Old Magazine
How to:
Step 1: Read the Loving’s Story. If you are doing the project with friends and family members, discuss what this story means for you and why learning their story is important. If you are doing the project with children consider “The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage” by Selina Alko.
Step 2: Cut or tear images, colors, interesting words, and/or textures from the magazine. Collage pieces together with quotes from the Loving’s story and adhere to your canvas using the glue stick. TIP: Concentrate color and meaningful text in the center of the canvas. Bright colors and unique textures work best.
Step 3: Once you are satisfied with your collage, use the Mod-Podge to seal your design. Let this dry completely (at least 20 minutes).
Step 4: Once your collage has dried use the sticker letters to spell “Loving 1967,” or “Loving Day 1967”.
After the stickers are secured to your collage in a place of your choosing, use sponge to dab paint over your collage, covering the letters completely. Let dry.
Step 5: After the paint has completely dried, carefully peel the letters off of the canvas.
That’s it! Now display your collage momento for friends, family, and guests to see in order to continue the conversation year round!
Loving Day is celebrated every year around June 12th. This year we celebrate 48 years since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision. Mixed Roots Stories wants to celebrate with YOU!
We are seeking visual submissions that commemorate and celebrate the history of the Lovings and show a vision of what we have learned from the Loving’s that can help us move towards justice today!
It is time to get creative! Draw, paint, collage, record, build….
Craft with New Friends. Have a gathering at your house with people you have been wanting to get to know better. The new neighbors. The person at work. Tell them the Loving Story and create a group collage or painting. Check out this Mixed Media Loving Day collage activity that the Mixed Roots Team did.
Explore Expression with Technology. Create a short video, animation. Get creative digitally.
Send your Visualizing Loving Day submissions to info@mixedrootsstories.org. We need the name of the artist, the medium (i.e. ink drawing, water painting), the title of the piece, and any bio information of the artist you would like us to include. You can submit in the following formats: JPEG, TIFF, GIF, .mov, link, etc .
We will post your Visualizing Loving Day submissions to our gallery in the month of June!
Do you binge watch shows and movies online? We do! We found these 6 programs on Netflix that feature mixed roots discussions. Check them out, critically discuss them with others, and learn more! We have provided some questions to consider while watching each one, as well as further reading/resources to keep you thinking and critically looking at mixed roots stories!
We are just getting started with our Netflix recommendations, and we’d love your contributions. What films/TV series have you seen that are relevant? What critical questions can we explore when/after watching them? What mixed identity groups aren’t represented here? Send us an email to info@mixedrootsstories.org.
Trevor Noah: African American
From Trevor Noah:
Trevor Noah brings to film his unique brand of observational humor born of his mixed-race experience under the South African apartheid system. In his most recent stand-up special Trevor weaves together compelling stories with wicked smart observations on the inanity of the racial construct in the United States. The theme of Trevor’s presentation is his journey to America, because he believes he can be fully black here. A clip from Gabriel Iglesias StandUp Revolution:
Mixed Roots Stories Questions to consider while watching:
1) Can humor be an effective storytelling tool for change, especially on matters of race, culture and ethnicity?
2) As you watch Trevor Noah: African American, do you think his point-of-view effectively challenges our racial assumptions?
3) How does idea of mixed/blackness transfer between countries?
From abcfamily.go.com/shows/the-fosters:
The Fosters is a one-hour drama about a multi-ethnic family mix of foster and biological kids being raised by two moms. Stef and her partner Lina have built a close-knit , loving family with Stef’s biological son from a previous marriage, Brandon, and their adopted twins Mariana and Jesus. But how will things change when they meet troubled teen Callie and her little brother Jude?
Mixed Roots Stories Questions to consider while watching:
1) What responsibilities do parents raising kids from different cultures than themselves have in teaching their children about those cultures?
2) Lina identifies as biracial – how does this affect her relationship with her partner, Stef, and her children? Do the conversations she has with her African American mother surprise you, or not? Why?
For Further reading/discussion:
Lisa Marie Rollins is a TRA (TransRacial Adoption) Activist. Her blog, poetry and live performance provide lots of insight into the TRA experience. Learn more here: https://birthproject.wordpress.com/
The Loving Story
From lovingfilm.com:
The Loving Story, a documentary film, tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving to examine the drama, the history, and the current state of interracial marriage and tolerance in the United States.
Mixed Roots Stories Questions to consider while watching:
1) What do you think were the most compelling arguments made by the Loving’s legal team to persuade the Court to rule in their favor?
2) What are some of the other Supreme Court decisions that have had a strong impact on the mixed community?
For Further reading/discussion:
For a more in-depth analysis on Loving v. Virginia and the people involved, see Race, Sex and the Freedom to Marry by Peter Wallenstein (mixedracestudies.org).
Parenthood
NBC recently aired the final season (season 6) of Parenthood. You can catch up/re-watch the first 5 seasons on Netflix. “Parenthood bravely and delicately take on the complexities of family life leaving viewers full of emotion after every episode like all good comedy/drama stories should! In addition to other major topics (cancer, post traumatic stress disorder and more), this series follows an interracial marriage and their child, the process of a transracial adoption and has explored an interracial teenage dating situation.” (https://mixedrootsstories.com/parenthood/)
A few key seasons/episodes:
Season 2 – Crosby and Jasmine (an interracial couple) are trying to figure out how to raise their child and if they are going to work on their relationship or continue to be separated. Addie begins dating Alex, and her parents begin to question the relationship, pushing her to move in with her grandparents. But are they questioning it because he is a different race or because he has a history of substance abuse?
Season 3 – Crosby and Jasmine work out their differences. Julia and Joel interracially adopt a son.
Season 4 – Crosby and Jasmine have a discussion with their son about race (Episode 4). Julia and Joel take on the challenge of raising their adopted son.
Season 5 – Crosby and Jasmine expand their family with a new baby girl. Jasmine’s mother has ideas of how religion should play a role in the families life.
Mixed Roots Stories Questions to consider while watching:
1) If your child brings home a partner with a mixed background (different race, culture, religion, gender orientation, country of origin, etc.) than what you expected, would you be concerned? Why? Would you voice your concern? How?
2) In Season 4 Episode 4 Crosby realizes there are situations his mixed race son will have to deal with that he won’t be able to protect his son from. How would you or do you answer these/similar questions?
For Further Reading/Discussion: Raising Biracial Children by Kerry Ann Rockquemore & Tracey Laszloffy, takes on identity development with mixed-race individuals within a historical context and creates a framework to assist parents, educators, social workers, counselors and anyone who works with multiracial individuals.
Donna Jackson Nakazawa wrote Does Anybody Else Look Like Me: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Multiracial Children out of frustration in a bookstore, when she was unable to find a book that provided guidance on how to address the situations she was facing in her mixed roots family.
The appendix of both books have lists of useful resources!
Rabbit Proof Fence
Set in 1930, western Australia, Rabbit Proof Fence tells the true-life story of two “half-caste” girls who were taken from their families, by the government, and placed in a camp where they are trained to be servants for white families. The hope is for these children to end up marrying white Australian men so their aboriginal blood can be bred out. The girls escape and take off on a journey to find their family.
Mixed Roots Stories Questions to consider:
1) The United States is not the only country that has had a history of hiding unspeakable events around race/color differences. What value, if any comes, from being aware of a global mixed roots history?
2) In what ways do institutions continue to support and enforce the separation of different people?
For Further Reading/Discussion:
“My Place” by Sally Morgan
Black in Latin America: with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
In this PBS 4 episode series, “Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. Discusses the massive influence of African ancestry on the history and culture of Latin America and Caribbean.” He goes to: Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
Mixed Roots Stories Questions to consider:
1) As Gates interviews each country, how does his North American views of “Black” influence his questions, interactions, and expectations on what answers he is looking for in South America?
2) Both North and South America have a history of slavery with “Black” or African people. How are these histories similar and/or different? What lessons can be gleaned from both continents mixed roots histories?
Fun, story-seeking crew looking for guest bloggers who enjoy writing about their mixed experience and love. Must like discussing love in the context of mixed identity or interracial relationships.
Discussion should include, but is not limited to, reflections on one’s own or others’ interracial relationships; or a broader acceptance of loving one’s self, friends, communities, families, etc.
All stories (and story telling methods) welcome!
Send “Mixed In Love” Guest Blogger submissions to mxrsblogger@gmail.com, now through February 14th.
When purchasing gifts for friends and loved ones this holiday season, consider supporting people and businesses that enlighten us about and celebrate the mixed roots experience. Here are a few of our favorite mixed roots gift ideas for you to consider. We’ve included their social media info so you can follow and support them year round too!
In no particular order:
Mixed Up Clothing
“Founded in 2010, Mixed Up Clothing is a multiethnic children’s clothing line inspired by the textiles, cultures and people of the world, to develop friendships through fabrics. Mixed Up Clothing is an ethnic-inspired baby/children’s fashion line that celebrates diversity. The textiles, fabrics, and embellishments from all over the world inspire your mini global citizen to embrace and appreciate the beauty of the 21st Century’s Americana family.”
Gift Ideas: Unique and fashionable clothes for all the littles (N to size 7) in your life.
If you haven’t heard of the movie Belle, it is time you did! Now you can own it and share with everyone you know!! The Mixed Roots Stories team saw the movie in the theaters. You can find our reviews here.
Gift Ideas: Belle is available on DVD to share with friends, family, and more!
“Louie [Gong] is the founder of Eighth Generation, through which he merges traditional Coast Salish art with icons from popular culture and influences from his mixed heritage to make strong statements about identity.”
“The name “Eighth Generation” references the inter tribal value of “Seven Generations”, which suggests that we consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations. By naming my business Eighth Generation, I embed respect for the previous generations all my work and recognize that my successes are a result of our collective effort. Eight is also a lucky number in Cantonese because, when spoken, it sounds the same as the word for prosperity.” –Louie Gong
Gift Ideas: With a wide array of goods, you can probably find something for everyone on your list from this Canadian mixed roots artist. Visit his site to see the variety of goods: jewelry, clothing, bags, pillows, blankets, skateboards, greeting cards, shoes, phone cases, notebooks/journals, and art work:
Formerly Ampersand, The Singer and the Songwriter brilliantly fuse together pop, jazz, folk, and blues creating a unique new classic and sophisticated sound. “Their music is a stylistic hybrid, reflecting their diverse musical and cultural backgrounds.”Listen to our interview with them HERE.
Gift Ideas: A great stocking stuffer or maybe a gift for yourself: their debut album What a Difference a Melody Makes is a gift that will keep on giving.
“6 Degrees of Hapa is a family-owned business that’s all about celebrating mixed cultures and spreading a little Hapa pride. What we think of when we hear the term “haps”: To us, hapa means that you’re a mix of cultures, you might be Asian, Pacific-Islander, or Hawaiian (or maybe even a combination!). But… We like to think that everyone’s got a little Hapa influence in their lives, which is why we decided to name ourselves 6 Degrees of Hapa.The idea for 6 Degrees of Hapa came about when our family and our friends, who are also a Hapa family, started discussing how there weren’t many brands that were created for and by Hapas. Think about it–we’re a very large and diverse community with our own cultures and subcultures, so why not celebrate it?”
Gift Ideas: For unique handmade jewelry, screen printed t-shirts for all ages and more check out 6 degrees of hapa!
“Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. was founded in 2001 by filmmaker Jeff Chiba Stearns. Based in Vancouver, BC, this Webby award-winning and Emmy® nominated boutique animation studio specializes in the creation of animated, documentary, and experimental films aimed at both children and adults that combine different philosophical and social elements together to create humorous inspiring stories.”
We are big fans of Jeff’s ink drawings…Chandra has a set of his owl drawings framed in her living room! Many of #inktober drawings were mixed animals, like this rhino/unicorn. Though these drawings are only being sold at select events, follow Meditating Bunny throughout the year to see when you can get your pictures to hang throughout your home!
Gift Ideas: In the mean time you can support his work, specifically his current project, Mixed Match, by purchasing any of his number of films already produced: Yellow Sticky Notes/ CanadianAnijam, Ode to a Post-It Note, Yellow Sticky Notes, One Big Hapa Family, or “What Are You Anyways?”. These movies are great teaching tools!
“MAVIN builds healthier communities by providing educational resources about Mixed Heritage experiences.”
One of the resources that MAVIN has created is the Multiracial Child Resource Book. With the self-identified multiracial community continuing to grow, this book remains relevant and just as important as ever.
Gift Ideas: The Multiracial Child Resource book is a great gift for educators, community workers, youth workers, librarians, parents, etc. and only $15 (including shipping!).
“We are a non profit that believes that stories have the power to strengthen communities. We support mixed roots storytelling through producing events, and through online, in-person and educational outreach.” Donations assist in supporting and bringing workshop facilitators, films and filmmakers, live performances and performers, educational programming, authors, and other artists to conferences and events near you.
Gift Ideas: Consider giving the gift of a donation in a family’s or friend’s name for the holidays. All donations are tax deductible and makes our work possible.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
We were finally able to sit down with the wonderful duo who created our MXRS Podcast jingle: Rachel Garcia and Thu Tran – also known as The Singer & The Songwriter. Be sure to listen to the end, when they share a special treat with us – a live performance in Mark’s living room!
The Mixed Roots Stories team saw the new movie Belle on May 23, 2014. Below are some of our reviews of the movie!
“Belle is a must see for fans of excellent storytelling! The movie direction was deftly handled by Amma Asante while ably assisted by the editing of Victoria Boydell and Pia Di Ciaula. At no point did I experience a moment that took me out of the story. Thankfully, they had an excellent script to work from by Misan Sagay. Finally, I have to state that the performances by Gugu Mbatha-Rau and Tom Wilkinson were pitch perfect. I really believed I was a fly-on-the-wall listening to the conversations of a family at particularly tense moments in their lives.” — Mark R. Edwards (Co Curator)
“If there is one message to take away from Bell, it has to be through the rising action of her assaulting her own flesh in frustration. How many of us can relate to, at any point, feeling uncomfortable in our own skin? The practice of systematically devaluing a life because of a concept of Race or privilege – a concept most, at one point in our lives, did not understand; nor, the reasons people can chastise and ostracize others for it while they believe it is in good conscience. It is a frustration we hope to suffer less from as time goes on. From beginning to end, Belle imbeds a persistent thought that reminds us how far we’ve come and how far we have to go toward not just an equal, but an acceptant society.” — Jonathan Andrew (Creative Technologist)
“In my opinion, the most thought-provoking moments in Belle are those instances where Dido tries to find herself in literature or art and laments that she does not relate to what she sees. Even today this lack of representation is relevant! Just how many films, books, or TV shows are made with the ‘others’ of society in mind? Not too many. It wasn’t until Dido allowed her story to be told (through the work of the painter) that she finally found herself in art. The story of Belle is one in which a mixed individual is dying to get her story, her experiences, and her astute observations out in order to change public opinion. Belle manages to beautifully capture those moments of progress and joy along with the moments of frustration and desperation that come with standing up for what you know is right. Belle is a wonderfully crafted film and is a must-see for 2014!” — Moya Márquez (Social Media Specialist)
“From start to finish, Belle was filled, with the complexities, created by society, that individuals of mixed heritage often face. It was refreshing to finally see these complexities portrayed honestly on film. Amma Asante artistically and boldly directs an amazing cast in the telling of this story, based on a true story. Though it is set in Britain, in 1769, I would argue that many of the themes of identity are relevant today for mixed individuals everywhere. I enjoyed seeing the bond of sisterhood presented between Dido (Belle) and Elizabeth, that was void of the social contamination of their racial differences; proving that family is not limited by blood. Belle demonstrates that people are people and all deserve to be treated with justice, fairness, and love no matter the color of their skin, or the lineage of their parents. It is about time that stories of mixed individuals are being told void of the stereotypes that have plagued the mixed race population in the past. It is my hope that future films will continue to tell stories with mixed race individuals, interracial couples/families, etc. Bravo, well done, and thank you!” — Chandra Crudup (Co Curator)
Have you seen Belle yet? If not, this is one to see! Share your thoughts about the movie on our Facebook and Twitter.
is a multiethnic children’s clothing line inspired by the textiles, cultures and people of the world, to develop friendships through fabrics. Mixed Up Clothing is an ethnic-inspired baby/children’s fashion line that celebrates diversity. The textiles, fabrics, and embellishments from all over the world inspire your mini global citizen to embrace and appreciate the beauty of the 21st Century’s Americana family.”
Degrees of Hapa is a family-owned business that’s all about celebrating mixed cultures and spreading a little Hapa pride. What we think of when we hear the term “haps”: To us, hapa means that you’re a mix of cultures, you might be Asian, Pacific-Islander, or Hawaiian (or maybe even a combination!). But… We like to think that everyone’s got a little Hapa influence in their lives, which is why we decided to name ourselves 6 Degrees of Hapa.The idea for 6 Degrees of Hapa came about when our family and our friends, who are also a Hapa family, started discussing how there weren’t many brands that were created for and by Hapas. Think about it–we’re a very large and diverse community with our own cultures and subcultures, so why not celebrate it?”
ng Bunny Studio Inc. was founded in 2001 by filmmaker Jeff Chiba Stearns. Based in Vancouver, BC, this Webby award-winning and Emmy® nominated boutique animation studio specializes in the creation of animated, documentary, and experimental films aimed at both children and adults that combine different philosophical and social elements together to create humorous inspiring stories.”
We are big fans of Jeff’s ink drawings…Chandra has a set of his owl drawings framed in her living room! Many of #inktober drawings were mixed animals, like this rhino/unicorn. Though these drawings are only being sold at select events, follow Meditating Bunny throughout the year to see when you can get your pictures to hang throughout your home!
