Five Fun Facts about Ms. Meltingpot

Hello Dear Readers,

Even though I’ve been blogging for more than 12 years, I haven’t used this space to share a whole lot about my personal life. Despite the fact that I wrote a memoir filled with a lot of embarrassing personal information, I still somehow feel shy here in cyberspace. But in the spirit of building trust and community, I wanted to share five fun facts about my life that not only might be new information for my readers, but also helps explain why I have such a meltingpot outlook on life.

So, here goes:

1. MY BEST FRIEND WAS JAPANESE I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one of the most segregated cities in the United States. Besides my sister, I was usually the only Black girl on the block, in school, or at social events. BUT, my best friend from age four to forever was mixed Japanese and Irish. Although I don’t remember thinking I wanted to be her friend because she wasn’t white, I always felt like we had something special that bonded us because we weren’t like all the other kids. Plus, I loved learning about Japanese culture through my friendship with Miko. I could eat with chopsticks before other kids could hold a fork properly. I could drop knowledge about the internment camps when other kids were still talking about summer camp and I knew how to ask for my soy sauce and tofu in Japanese.

2. DRAMA IS MY MIDDLE NAME From the time I was about ten years old, I’ve wanted to be an actress. My secret childhood fantasy was that I was going to get a recurring role as one of Vanessa Huxtable’s best friends, which of course would lead to my own show, followed by an Academy Award performance in a movie based on the life of Josephine Baker. Of course, now I’m super happy I never got that big break on the Cosby Show, because I’d probably be testifying in a court case right about now.

3. NOT QUITE A FRENCH KISS BUT… The first boy I ever kissed was a Spanish exchange student at my high school named Enrique. We were in love for exactly three weeks. It was magical.

4. ALMOST A CHILD BRIDE My first marriage proposal occurred when I was 17 years old when I was an exchange student living in Morocco. The young man’s name was Said. He introduced me to his mother but she didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Arabic so we couldn’t have a proper conversation about anything. For the record, I said no. Said and I remained friends until I returned to the United States.

5. PEDICURE POLITICS I might be the only woman in the United States who can count the number of pedicures I’ve had in my lifetime on one hand because the idea of asking another person to clean my feet, coupled with the racial dynamics of most nail salons makes me hella uncomfortable. I used to cope by doing my own nails, but with my increasingly busy life (read child #3), I tend to opt for closed-toe sandals in the summer and just keep on stepping.

So, there you have it. I hope you understand me a little better now and trust that I come to my Meltingpot-ness honestly.


I’m curious, dear readers. What makes you kinda meltingpot? Leave your true confessions in the comments below.

I’m totally listening.

Peace!