Light-skinned-ed Girl

The Obama Color Spectrum

Make sure to read this humorous piece, The Audacity of Taupe, in The Root from a fellow Mulatto:

"The other day I pulled up to the Starbucks drive-through window, ordered an iced coffee, and naturally I asked the barista to add half-and-half. When she asked how much I wanted, I couldn't resist telling her to "make it 'Obama,'" and I'm happy to report that she got it just right. With any luck, a craze for venti, half-caff, low-fat Obama coffees will sweep the nation. This could be the breakthrough we've been waiting for. It's a nice, safe way for everybody, regardless of race, creed, color or roast to show their solidarity with Generation M."

Is this the story of the Mixed experience?

In today's Los Angeles Times, Neil LaBute explains his interest in directing Lakeview Terrace a thriller starring Sam Jackson.  "There have been precious few  films made about [interracial marriage].  But it's not necessarily the thing that draws an audience."  Is that why the story has to be about how a black cop terrorizes the mixed-race couple (Kerry Washington and Patrick Wilson) after his kids see the couple having sex in their pool?  Must the story of the Mixed experience be sensationalized for people to pay attention?  Or is that just what Hollywood execs think? 

Writing and Ambition

"One must avoid ambition in order to write.  Otherwise something else is the goal: some kind of power beyond the power of language.  And the power of language, it seems to me, is the only kind of power a writer is entitled to . . . [These days] I think only of what it is I want to write about, and then about the problems of doing it.  I don't think of anything else at all." -- Cynthia Ozick

I was just seated behind Nelly on the plane . . .

and yes it was Hot in There!

Mixed Chicks Mix It Up at Blogging While Brown

Kudos to Gina at What About Our Daughters?  for putting together a great conference--the first ever Blogging While Brown conference for bloggers of color.  I was there with my co-host representing Mixed Chicks Chat.  Our presentation, Podcasting in Conjunction with Your Blog, was well-attended and seemed well-received.  Best of all was meeting the people behind the blogs like Three Brothers and a Sister, Theo and All About Race.  All in all it was a great day--but let me just throw this out there: blogging while brown doesn't just mean black bloggers, right?  And doesn't the internet: blogging, podcasting, social networking, allow us to organize ourselves in different ways than in the real, outside world? 

Light-skinned-ed Girl in Hot-lanta

That's Atlanta for those of you who don't know.  And yes, it's hot.  We, the Mixed Chicks, arrived here close to midnight yesterday --it felt like it was about 100 degrees.  We wanted a cab to get to the cab stand because it was so humid and we worked up a might sweat just walking the couple of blocks we had to go.  We have seen nothing of the city except for the giant flashing Coca-Cola sign from the hotel window, some very fashionable young people patrolling the lobby (along with two kids who should have been in bed), and a good game of bid whist on the second floor.  Off we go to Blogging While Brown.  Tune in for more tomorrow.

On Fragility

"Why wouldn't someone want to feel fragile?  I think fragility is one of the most underrated things as a human being . . . I mean we are fragile, and we're living in a society where we could easily be destroyed--psychologially, emotionally, and physically--so why shouldn't we feel fragile?  Life is on a silk thread hanging like a cocoon from a tree, and it's a fragile thing.  I don't think yoga is to keep you from feeling fragile.  I think it's to enable you to be consciously fragile but still feel like 'I'm fine with this fragility.'" - Rodney Yee

Photo by OanaRayne

Days with My Father

This photo-essay, Days With My Father, by Phil Toledano is an incredible moving and tender piece about spending time with his 98-year-old father in his final days of life.  It's a reminder to use that kind of time as a gift for your elderly loved one as well as for yourself.  (BTW: I think Phil's part of the Mixed experience if this bio information is correct: "Born in London to an American father and a French-Moroccan mother, Philip Toledano has been taking pictures since he was 11. While Phillip believes that all photographs should start with an idea, he thinks that every image should leave some questions unanswered.")

Mixed Family Detained Under Terrorist Act

I felt sick when I read this story about an interracial family detained in England under the Terrorism Act.  Police detained the mother of a 12-year-old boy (who has cerebral palsy and is autistic) as they were going on a family trip out of the country via the Channel Tunnel for alleged child trafficking.  The mother of the biracial boy was questioned for several hours and told: "It's obvious [the boy] has nothing to do with you." 

Growing up, the fact that someone might not understand that my brothers and mother and father and I made a family was a constant fear and frustration.  People would comment to my mother about the cute kids--whose are they?  Classmates would express surprise or discomfort when they met my mom.  Your mother's white?  But this incident--it is terribly terribly frightening.

Yup, It's Called Black Man Toothpaste

I learned about this at The Stranger.  It's a popular Chinese toothpaste brand.  Darlie became the name when Colgate bought the company two decades ago.  But apparently, the Chinese characters still read Black Man Toothpaste.  There it is.