See on Scoop.it – Mixed American Life
Known as: Rapper (Member of rap group “Bone Thugs-n-Harmony”)
Music Videos: Tha Crossroads, 1st of tha Month, Look Into My Eyes, I Tried
See on dailymultiracial.com
Month: May 2013
Severn Cullis-Suzuki (Japanese/White) [Canadian]
See on Scoop.it – Mixed American Life
Known as: Environmental Activist, Speaker, Television Host and Author (Known as “The Girl Who Silenced The World for 5 minutes” for her speech, at the age of 12, to the UN Rio Earth Summit in 1992)
Speeches/Videos: The Girl Who Silenced the World / 20th Anniversary,Severn Suzuki’s speech at the University of British Columbia, RARE: Severn Cullis-Suzuki
See on dailymultiracial.com
Light-skinned-ed Girl: Mixed Experience History Month 2013: William P. Powell, Civil War Surgeon
See on Scoop.it – Mixed American Life
Born in 1834, William P. Powell was the son of a free black man and a Native American mother in Bedford, MA. Powell, Sr. was a vocal abolitionist and helped house black seamen as well as fugitive slaves.
Mixed People Monday – Kid Cudi
See on Scoop.it – Mixed American Life
Rapper Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, has a Mexican father and an African-American mother.
See on nomorerace.wordpress.com
Light-skinned-ed Girl: Mixed Experience History Month 2013: George Bonga, Explorer & Activist
See on Scoop.it – Mixed American Life
Born in 1802 near Duluth, MN, George Bonga was the son of an African-American father and Ojibwe mother. Bonga attended school in Montreal and spoke English, French and Ojibwe fluently. He was quoted as saying that he was the “first…
President Obama Delivers Morehouse College Commencement Address
See on Scoop.it – Community Village Daily
President Obama speaks at the Morehouse College commencement ceremony.
See on www.youtube.com
Kayte Grace American Phenomenon
Kayte Grace is a refreshing American Phenomenon.
Her music videos show her singing about attraction to white men – without hesitation, pretense or apology. She brings a refreshing hope to the U.S, humanity and the world.
I love that she has the freedom to make her art how she wants without the kind of oppression that would have been against mixed race art before say the Loving v. Virginia miscegenation law passed in 1967.
I can only count on one hand the number of mixed couple music videos and TV shows. Her videos are a breath of fresh air.
Follow her on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger
Subscribe to her monthly newsletter and get a free music download at her website!
ethnic
See on Scoop.it – Community Village Daily
Ethnic is a Eurocentric way of saying non-Western. In America since the 1920s it has meant something not part of White American culture: ethnic foods, ethnic beauty, ethnic neighbourhoods, etc. “Et…
Community Village‘s insight:
Part of Mixed American Life is recognizing that EVERYONE has an ethnic background.
See on abagond.wordpress.com
You Don’t Know What I Speak
If I’d had the type of week that President Obama has had, I would jump out of the window right over the Rose Garden, and just lay there. It would be up to Secret Service to get me or leave me there. While I didn’t quite have that kind of week, I did encounter one clown during my weekly adventures.
Earlier in the week, I had a meeting with a business consultant to get some help on a project I’m working on. We met at Starbucks and took a seat directly across from the counter. We weren’t more than five or six feet from anyone walking up to the counter to order.
About thirty minutes into our conversation, a beautiful Native American girl and her mother walk up and are waiting in line. The person I am with is an older, white male, and of course me (in all my Mixed girl glory, afro and all) and the little girl is tentatively watching us. My associate (after this, that’s debatable) begins to start speaking Spanish to the little girl. If I could have crawled under the table, I would have been there. The little Indian Princess (not more than 5 or 6) knew whatever this guy was saying to her, it was not the language she understood. And at that age, kids’ faces never lie.
For those of you that have never been to Phoenix, it is a cornucopia of brown. Mexican, Native American, Black, Somali and Middle Eastern (pick your place)…..then do the mixes (Middle Eastern-Mexican, Somali-White). If it weren’t for the politics, it would be paradise. If you are not paying attention, I guess you could say we all look alike…if you weren’t looking at us. The beautiful thing is, we don’t look alike.
When I looked at Mom, I felt a million years worth of shame and guilt. I looked away, and looked at the clown in front of me. I waited until we were walking back to our cars to let him know that the “little girl you were speaking Spanish to was Native American”. I had transferred the shame and guilt I felt, directly to him as his face turned crimson.
When we make assumptions about people and then openly act on those assumptions…well, you know what they say about assuming…and that’s exactly what this guy was looking like.
The most enlightening thing I’ve seen in my life was a Chinese engineer give a talk in German. When I signed up for this particular webinar, I knew that German engineers would be giving the talk. It took a few minutes for my head to understand that yes, he was Chinese, and yes, he was speaking fluent German. I never would have thought that the person presenting would have been of Chinese heritage. Sometimes our brains don’t work like we want them to, but to assume to rightly know something and then be wrong, requires us to step back and understand why we made the assumption.
After having a chance to reflect on this, I wonder now if this business associate makes these types of assumptions when he’s consulting.
Ceremony (Book Review)
Book Review: Ceremony (ISBN: 0140086838)
Publication Year: 1977
Pages: 262
Author: Leslie Marmon Silko
Available: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Books
Review Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Written by a person of mixed ancestry herself, Leslie Silko’s “Ceremony” captures the conflicting reality of a person who is struggling to find his place in a modern world that is transitioning from the “old ways”. Tayo, the main character of this story, is the illegitimate son of a White man and Native American woman. As such he is the unspoken “shame” of the family, never being outright disowned, but never feeling completely accepted either. He is raised by his mother’s family along with his “brother” Rocky, who he adores. Rocky and Tayo end up signing up for World War II, but only one person returning home, Tayo. The book picks up after Tayo’s release from World War II POW camp and a mental and physical illness that requires a cure. The book represents Tayo’s journey to that cure through life, and ultimately a ceremony, which returns him back to life.
One of the first things readers will notice with this book is the structure. “Ceremony” is not written in a straightforward manner (like I expected it too); rather it is a mixture of prose and Native American poetry. The plot also doesn’t follow along a linear path. Instead, it readily mixes memories from the past along with current events to give you deeper understanding of Tayo’s mindset. These memories are relived from Tayo’s point of view as he attempts to work them out. Tayo’s friends, who have also experienced war and discrimination, choose alcohol and living in the moment. Tayo, on the other hand, feels drawn to another answer. That answer is brilliantly worked out with the author’s use of language. As a result, you don’t just read Tayo’s anguish. Readers will feel the anguish Tayo has at being discriminated inside and outside the community. Readers will feel or the queasiness he feels when he feels sick. They will also feel the camaraderie between Tayo and his friends, his special relationship with his brother, and those who support him. Silko provides the good and the bad in strikingly realistic detail.
That complexity, coincidentally, is also what might scare off casual readers. “Ceremony” is not the kind of book you read to escape reality for a few minutes. Characters are not introduced and full details about many of the characters are not described, rather they are revealed in their actions. It is paradoxical at times. That complexity actually bothered me a little but I got accustomed to it as the book continued. “Ceremony” immerses readers in Tayo’s culture and the search for identity. You get a glimpse into someone’s mind as they deal with the grim and (sometimes) ugly realities of the world-discrimination, prejudice, war, etc.
In short, it is a book about journey. Not just any journey, but the journey to find one’s self again after facing the darker sides of humanity. By reconnecting with the time-honored tradition of the ceremony Tayo gains deeper insight into the wisdom that has been in his Native American roots all along. By looking back, he is able to move forward.
Mixed American Life 
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