May is Mixed Experience History Month!

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

Happy Monday! Happy May! Happy Mixed Experience History Month 2015!

If you’ve been a regular reader of the Meltingpot, then Mixed Experience History Month is nothing new. But if perhaps this is your first time traveling through our cyber world, then you’re probably wondering what we’re talking about. Well, my cool friend and famous Afro-Viking Heidi Durrow, the author of The Girl Who Fell from the Sky and founder of the Mixed Remixed Festival, is the brains behind the whole Mixed Experience History month idea. She launched Mixed Experience History Month way back in 2007 in order to “claim a history” she felt she had been denied as a person of African-American and Danish heritage.

History is full of fascinating characters of Mixed descent, who too often have had their unique ethnic/cultural background erased or overlooked in the telling of their stories. Mixed Experience History Month is the antidote to such erasure, as every day in the month of May, Durrow profiles a historical figure of Mixed heritage on her blog. There are famous faces you might already know – think Alexander Dumas – and people you may have never known were Mixies, like Harlem Renaissance icon, Arturo Schomburg.

I am consistently amazed by the unique individuals Heidi finds to profile, from artists, to scientists to entrepreneurs. As a Black mother of Mixed kids, I am grateful that this treasure trove of resources is being created so my kids can see that the Mixed experience is nothing new in this world, and in fact, it has a deep and significant legacy.

Yes, May is more than halfway over, but that doesn’t mean we can’t all take a moment, or the next 13 days, to marvel in Mixed Experience History Month. Thank you, Heidi!

Peace!