Author: Lori Tharps
-
MAMP Podcast Ep #4: Revisiting the One-Drop Rule
On episode #4 of the MAMP podcast, we’re revisiting the one-drop rule with two women who both believed they were white, until they discovered by accident, that they weren’t. My guests are Gail Lukasik and Shannon Wink. Gail is the author of the new book, White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial…
-
Book Marks: Literary News for Meltingpot Enthusiasts
Hello Meltingpot Readers, This year, I’m going to launch the My American Meltingpot book club! I’m so excited because there is nothing I love more than books, except perhaps, talking about books with other like-minded people. So, stay tuned for future announcements about the MAMP book club. Diverse Book News In the meantime, here are…
-
Happy New Year, Meltingpot Community!
Dear Meltingpot Community, I’m going to be honest. I’ve been so caught up in getting my Kickstarter campaign funded in the last waning hours of 2018, I haven’t spent that much time planing for 2019. That’s not how I wanted to start the new year, but that’s something I know I have to work on.…
-
Black Hair Story #87: Wrestling While Black
Hello Meltingpot Readers, It’s the last Friday of the month. That means it’s time for a Black hair story. Unfortunately, it’s not a happy one. This week’s Black hair story is another example of white people oppressing Black hair. It was a week ago today, when a video surfaced of a high school wrestler named…
-
Happy Holidays, Meltingpot Community!
Hello Meltingpot Readers, I hope all of my readers are enjoying this holiday season. Whether you are still aglow from Christmas merrymaking yesterday, celebrating the winter solstice, or enjoying the first day of Kwanzaa, I am sending all sorts of diverse, meltingpot blessings your way. I spent yesterday with my family in Baltimore. I visited…
-
MAMP Podcast Episode #3: “K-Pop is Everything”
On episode #3 of the My American Meltingpot podcast, we’re doing a deep dive into the world of K-Pop. Korean popular music has taken the world by storm, and 2018 was the year K-Pop went mainstream in the United States. On this episode, I’m joined by Billboard K-Pop columnist, Tamar Herman and teen K-Pop fan,…
-
African American Culinary History Doesn’t Begin or End with Aunt Jemima
(Note: This post was originally published in 2015, but has been updated.) Hello Meltingpot Readers, I had one of those driveway moments the other day when I heard a fascinating story on NPR. It was about Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved chef, James Hemings. Yes, the brother of Sally Hemings. James was apparently quite the culinary genius,…
-
What Do You Get When You Whitewash the Three Kings? Santa Claus!
Hello Meltingpot Readers, I was wondering… why in the United States does a jolly, old, white man in a red suit deliver presents on Christmas Day instead of the three Wise Men or the Three Kings as they’re also known? After all, Christmas is supposed to be a celebration of Jesus’ birthday. So much of…
