CVK

Woah. Last night’s episode of America’s Next Top Model was… interesting. They did a photo shoot where each model was transformed into an ethnicity different from their own, and were supposed to emote that ethnicity from within, or something. In one priceless moment, Tyra berated a model for not emoting “Eskimo” enough, saying: “Think about […]

JC
Now…I’m not one to gossip ;), but…looks like Life & Style is getting canned and people are pointing the finger at Kimora. Her diva ways seem to have turned off more than a couple of people. The assumption about why she has failed to bring in the “urban” watchers is interesting. Perhaps the statement is […]

CVK
The Contra Costa Times interviews Emily Raboteau, author of the newly released novel, The Professor’s Daughter. The article is pretty cheesy (the doll metaphor they start off with is STRAIGHT out of “Imitation of Life”) but the book sounds good. Like the novel’s protagonist, Raboteau is a young biracial woman. Here’s part of the Publisher’s […]

CVK
The Office for National Statistics has published a new report on inter-ethnic marriage statistics in the U.K:
Two per cent of marriages were between people from different ethnic backgrounds (219,000). Of these inter-ethnic marriages, most (198,000) included a White person…
The most common inter-ethnic marriages were between White and Mixed race people, 26 per cent of all […]

AUM (a new MMW contributor!)
In this article from the NY Times Opinion pages, Armand Marie Leroi argues that the concept of race as a genetic reality, a concept which we had all replaced with the easier-to swallow “race as a social construct” model, may actually have biological basis.
“The idea that human races are […]

CVK
The New York Times reviews the new film “Face”:
“Face” takes a conventional culture-clash theme and gives it the kick (and hop) of a good music mix tape. In the 1970’s, a young woman in New York’s Chinatown (Bai Ling, who has the demure beauty of Audrey Hepburn) is date-raped and forced to marry her assailant […]

JC
UCBerkeley News follows up on their article of last week about four mixed students in order to highlight some additional thoughts from other members of the Berkeley community.
Thus, for me, race is an artificial construct, which isolates me from those unknowledgeable of the biracial experience. At the same time, my races help me […]

CVK
This is the letter I wrote to Essence magazine, complimenting them on their profile of Mariah Carey. Historically, Essence has not been the most forward-looking in the way they’ve handled mixed race issues or interracial relationships. Therefore, it was refreshing to see a very different take on the topic in their April 2005 issue. In […]

CVK
Ew! Ew! Ew! and Ew! Just saw this on Angry Asian Man. There’s a “club” for Hawaiian women who married white men, it’s called the Haole Hubby Club - they even have t-shirts and crap like that. The Honolulu Advertiser did a story on them. Here’s what the Club says in their About Us section:
The […]

JC

OK, so Ashton Kutcher doesn’t get paid the big bucks because of his highly developed intellect. Sorry, that’s mean….but check out what he has to say about interracial dating. About.com prints an interview with Ashton from the Hollywood Premiere of “Guess Who“.
When “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” came out decades ago, it made an […]

CVK
Mariah Carey graces the cover of Essence’s April issue. Though the coverline takes a one-drop stance (”Mariah Carey: America’s Most Misunderstood Black Woman”), the article inside deals almost completely with her mixed identity, and makes for pretty interesting reading. Here are some excerpts:
So this isn’t a twenty-first-century version of Imitation of Life. Still, race and […]

JC
Deborah Santana, wife of Carlos Santana, discusses her experiences, relationships, and mixed identity in new memoir, Space Between the Stars.
Born Deborah King in San Francisco in 1951, Santana is the daughter of a biracial marriage. Her father, African-American blues pioneer, guitarist, and distinguished tenor, Saunders King, cut the first significant electric blues record, 1942’s “SK […]

JC
The Los Angeles Times talks race with Senator Barack Obama. The interviewer assumes that Barack will have a hard time should he ever decide to run for the US Presidency, due to the things he discloses in his memoir, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. In this book originally published before […]

JC
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports on the shutting down of Panzerfaust. This white-supremacy record label has gotten a lot of attention for their proactive distribution of hateful anti-ethnic messages to teenagers across the country. In September, Panzerfaust announced plans to pass out 100,000 copies of a “pro-white sampler CD.” Now they are in the […]

CVK
Interesting that director Greg Pak was just talking about wanting to see Keanu Reeves play an Asian-American character one day. CHUD.com reports that Keanu will be playing Sinbad (yes, the sailor) in director Rob Cohen’s “The 8th Voyage of Sinbad.” No, it’s not an Asian character but he will be portraying someone of Arab descent–and […]

JC
Check out Mix It Up, a new line of greeting cards that serves consumers in the mixed community. The founders, Tiffany & Courtney Morrison, were inspired to create cards that reflected families like theirs.
Our family, the Morrison family, is made up of dad, who’s African-American, mom, who’s of English & Scottish descent, and us. We’ve […]

RN

Years ago filmmaker Cheuk Kwan was in Istanbul and came across a Chinese restaurant. Kwan had heard that the owner had actually walked from China. The discovery and amazing story sparked a life-long obsession that resulted in a 13-part documentary series that took Kwan and his crew to more than 13 countries. Kwan’s camera […]

JC

The New York Daily News reports on a team of three from Israel (Law students Aviva Cohen and Nevo Vandimo, along with lawyer Abaynesh Tessema) who visited with Queens College’s Hillel as part of their US tour for Black History Month. They shared their thoughts on what it means to be Ethiopian and Jewish in […]

JC
Diversity Inc. interviews Nina Tassler, President of CBS Entertainment. She appreciates her own mixed heritage and considers it a tool that has helped her to be more proactive in showcasing diverse talent.
Developing diversity from within is the philosophy Nina Tassler, president, CBS Entertainment, applies to her inclusive stable of writers, producers, directors and actors. […]

JC
But is she back? The show looks horrible! Check out this wonderfully sarcastic opinion piece (thanks for the tip, George!) from the New York Post about Kirstie Alley’s new sitcom (in which she plays herself), Fat Actress. This show sounds offensive on so many different levels…but I’m here to focus on one. The […]