Tessanne Chin
Congratulations to Tessanne Chin! Winner of Season 5 on the Voice. Her success on the show gave America an opportunity to regularly view her supportive Mixed family on the small screen without fanfare. It was beautiful to see how her family shared the bond of storytelling through music.
Her father, Richard Chin, is of Chinese descent with Cherokee ancestry and her mother, Christine Chin is of half Black and half English/African ancestry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessanne_Chin
from IrishTimes.com
A new campaign has been created to support Mixed children who suffered injustices during their ‘time in the care of the Irish State.’ The Irish Times published this article on November 18, 2013: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/campaign-highlights-abuse-of-mixed-race-irish-in-institutional-care-1.1598162
For more information and to share your story in seeking support, please visit the organization’s home page: http://www.irishsurvivorsinbritain.org/
“Cultural Collisions” – a benefit performance for Multiracial Americans of Southern California (MASC)
Joe Hernandez-Kolski, two time HBO Def Poet, is performing his one-man show at the Bootleg Theater (2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90057) as a benefit for MASC. The show is about the realities of being mixed race, and how American society is rapidly changing, and he does so with laughs on the way to truth.
If you live in Southern California, make sure to represent and show your support on December 7, 2013 – 7:30pm
Food! It has a way of gathering people….families….friends…communities. Many favorite recipes are accompanied by a story that has been passed down through the generations. A recent blog post, Cooking Genes: Our Culinary Legacy on the Narrative Network, talks about the mixing of recipes that are brought from two different cultures in an a multiracial family. The author’s mother “loved to say that our food was delicious because we were a “mixed-up” family!”
http://yonarrative.com/cooking-genes-culinary-legacy/
This year Gloria Govan and Marlena Attinasi published A Mixed Girls Favorite Recipes.
“This cookbook is a collection of recipes that Gloria Govan and Marlena Attinasi have developed over the years of entertaining and raising their children. The Book is a sampling of our favorite recipes that are from the flavors of the cultures of our childhood, African American, Mexican and Italian. Some of the recipes we have named after our family members to honor them, as they have been an influence in our cooking styles and why we love food and entertaining. We are passionate about family and food being the center of every gathering. ” Find out more about the authors and order their book on their website http://www.mixedgirlsfavorites.com/
“Other,” a song by Guante & Big Cats, featuring Chastity Brown, See More Perspective & Chantz Erolin
The song “Other,” from Guante & Big Cats’ 2012 album “You Better Weaponize,” explores mixed-race and mixed-culture identities in a way that is intimate and personal while also keeping an eye on the bigger picture. Featuring Chastity Brown, See More Perspective and Chantz Erolin, the track weaves together different experiences, styles and approaches to coming to terms with what “mixed” really means. More on Guante: www.guante.info
Listen to the song now: http://guanteandbigcats.bandcamp.com/track/other-w-chastity-brown-see-more-perspective-chantz-erolin
Thank you Guante for sharing your story with us!
Fusing words, dance, music and film this story chronicles the quest of a mixed-race daughter from Southern Appalachia who eventually finds her homeless Vietnam Veteran father suffering in Hawaii. SNAPSHOT was nominated for BEST ACTRESS at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, special selection at: Cape Town Festival South Africa and International Women’s Festival Tornio Finland and recipient of: Brooklyn Arts Council Individual Artist Grant, and Kentucky Foundation for Women Arts Meets Activism Grant. See the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdNsYF6UJro
West Virginia PBS premiere Sunday November 10 at 8pm and Tuesday November 26 at 9pm
Find out more about this storyteller at: www.mitzisinnott.com
“Why the title Black Coral? “Locating my family has been like finding Black Coral. Black Coral lies deep within the coral gardens of the tropical deep waters and sea. It is exotic and rare, most precious in color above all other varieties, and often threatened by harvesters wanting to exploit it. Black Coral is often found embedded within the warm waters of the Philippines, the Caribbean and Africa—Black Coral grows in caves under ledges where light is dim; it thrives in the darkness. It grows like trees up from the ocean floor as precious as ivory and pearl.””
Find out more about author C.D. Holmes Miller and her book on her website http://cdholmesmiller.com.
Julie is scheduled to publish her book Growing Up Mixed in SanFrancisco by the end of 2014. Julie believes positive words, thoughts and actions leads to success. Those are the things she can control and she chooses to have a positive response to situation, challenges and obstacles she faces.
Find out more about her story through her book and read her blog posts on her website http://www.juliegramlich.com/about-me/
Yayoi L. Winfrey filled out our ‘promote your story link’ to promote her film Watermelon Sushi. Let us know if you have any projects you’d like us to promote!
“Michiko Johnson looks Asian. She says she’s black. A hip-hop head, soul sistah who greases on greens and cornbread, Michiko is outspoken about her African roots. She adores her younger sister, April, whose physical features are more African than hers. But April speaks fluent Japanese and eats only vegan meals with chopsticks.”
“Told against the backdrop of the rising rap music scene of the early 1980’s,Watermelon Sushi plans to feature old school rappers like Chuck D, Kool Mo Dee, LL Cool J, Afrika Bambaataa and newcomers like Japan’s superstar enka singer, Jero-san.”
In addition to being in film production Watermelon Sushi is an art exhibit series, a blog, and book of photos/poetry/illustrations “Watermelon Sushi: The Story of a Black Girl and Her Japanese Mother.”
http://www.watermelonsushi.com/
The beautiful Eartha Kitt!
Did you know: She didn’t know her actual birthday until she was 71? She never knew who her father was?
Once she finally discovered her birth certificate she was allowed 15 minutes with it and her father’s name was blacked out.
Kitt died in 2008. Her daughter said: “She carried the scar of her rejection with her all her life. She was rejected for the colour of her skin ironically by both black and white.” Her daughter goes on to say: “To some extent, I think my arrival completed her because it gave her a family that she never had.”
Our mixed roots stories might have rejection, secrecy, and pain…telling and sharing our stories can provide healing.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/19/eartha-kitt-suffered-over-identity