realness

I'm sharing a second article this week from theroot.com that I found really interesting for a number of reasons. I've just recently become a facebook 'fan' of theirs and have really been enjoying their perspectives (I've decided to add a place for links in my sidebar just for them (:), but this one in particular seems to come right on time in the midst of the racial craze that the Skip Gates case has incited.

Has Anyone Noticed That Romeo Is Black?

This article resonated with me intitially because it only further confirms for me how much more 'liberal' British casting always seems to be. My gf has made an avid BBC watcher of me (except for her sci-fi thangs which she gets to watch solo) and I am always so impressed by how much more real their portrayals generally are. i.e., no bs color-conscious casting or censoring of gay relationships on scripted shows, and little-to-no sugar-coating on gritty documentaries. Needless to say I'm a huge fan. And during all of this incessant coverage on clearly unimproving race relations in 21st century America, it makes me wonder why our mainstream 'artists'- those writing and casting for film and television in particular- aren't doing anything to take a stand.

Unity (not 'tolerance') will never be achieved until the incessant dialoguing turns into action. And all of the programming decisions being made to appeal to middle-America (if that's even the target audience?) will never forge that action until they start depicting real, diverse relationships and stop shielding already sheltered audiences from reality. Whatever happened to art imitating life? Close-minded Americans will stay that way until they realize that love exists in many forms, and the relationships they shun may in fact be had by people they admire and respect- or at least the ones they enjoy watching once in awhile (: Meaningful change can only come about through honesty and openness, the willingness to change will grow from those seeds.

Shout out to American programming working to break the barriers down:

-most recently, Jesse L. Martin and Neve Campbell cast as a power-couple on NBC's The Philanthropist (*love)

-TLC made a valiant, albeit a bit cheesey, attempt at effective dialogue with Guess Who's Coming Over (*I only saw the pilot and haven't seen an episode or ad since, but appreciated the concept)

-in film, Starting Out in the Evening and Rachel Getting Married made my heart happy featuring uncontroversial interracial relationships. Starting didn't get nearly as much press but I highly recommend it- I dig Lauren Ambrose and the story is really compelling. (*it's rare enough to find 'unconventional' relationships in film, I appreciate when the couple's differences aren't the central theme of the story being told)

(Pres. Obama's parents- pic found here)

♥

important art collection destroyed in fire

I sat down to the computer earlier this morning to find some truly overwhelming news; the co-founder of my high school in Washington, DC (one of my 2 hometowns) lost her incredible home to a small fire gone terribly awry last night. (view the Washington Post article here) Thankfully no one was harmed as the family was away, but the magnitued of art and history lost in that fire is not to be believed.

Peggy Cooper Cafritz has been a dedicated contributor to the DC community for many years, serving for some time as president of their school board in addition to having co-founded Duke Ellington School of the Arts and being an avid patron of the arts. Her collection was a reflection of her spirit of advocacy, combining works of all types of artists with a focus on the underrepresented works of minorities. The pieces were a vibrant, eclectic addition to her very traditional home.

We had the priviledge of celebrating our high school graduation poolside at Peggy's amazing home. She has always been incredibly welcoming and many of my classmates and friends spent time there over the years. Her home is featured in the August issue of O Magazine, published prior to the fire, which serves as an incredibly poignant reminder of how fleeting posessions can be in this world. No matter how many 'things' a person works to accumulate in their lives, it is the spirit behind them that lives on, and hers is one of incredible generosity and vision. My heart goes out to her and her family during this time of devastation.

Take a complete tour of Peggy's home here and read the article about her in O here.

Peggy on how to start collecting art.

lady elle: beige in america

a friend of mine shared an article recently that I was super interested in posting on here, but it occured to me that it might not make as much of an impact without a little background on little ol' me. I figured it was a good enough opportunity as any to introduce myself a little more formally considering that I haven't yet, outside of the blurb in the sidebar. perhaps an introduction was never a thought before now because this started as more of a personal challenge/experiment of sorts to see if I was really invested in and committed to keeping up with blogging. after a bit of a rocky start (i.e. the two month gap between my first 2 entries and this now steadying stream of posts) I appear to be hooked, so allow me to share a little something with you.

much to the utter confusion of many people I encounter in life, I do in fact identify as a multiracial woman. being the third (and quite probably 4th and maybe 5th) generation of a line of thoroughly ethnically 'mixed' women, how could it be any other way? both my mother and grandmother are of black, native american, hispanic (mexican, as far as I can gather so far) and german descent among other things I'm quite sure. yet because my complexion and some features reflect at most my geman and latin roots, the rest of what lies within my ancestry is often conveniently disregarded by skeptics. it never ceases to boggle my mind that even after their initial, expectedly puzzled reactions to the 'what are you?' answer, many would rather cling to the comfort of their own pre-conceived notions.

I don't want this to turn into a full-on rant about me and the mixed 'identity', as I understand it. suffice it to say that I have strong opinions on the subject, and believe that in a nation of a diverse people working, well, somewhat steadily towards a peaceful coexistence, it is important for people to be allowed to own and embrace who they are without boundaries, ethnically and otherwise. that being said, I loved the viewpoint, allbeit satirical, of this article: Beige in America
preposterously as it's proposed, it makes me wonder how different our nation and world could be if we stopped trying to shove such complex and wonderful people into such teeny tiny boxes.

and for the record, when forced to check a box, it's always 'other.'