Category: Identity Politics
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Wednesday Round-Up: Rosie Perez Helps Mitt Romney Get a Clue, Afro-Latinos in America and Little White Girls Who Wanna Be Black
Hi Meltingpot Readers, It’s Wednesday again which means I get to share some of the best stuff around the web I’ve found in the last week. But let’s be honest, I didn’t find all of these by myself. Some of you sent me a link or two. (Thanks, Sharontina!). So let’s get to it. I…
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Wanted: “Hair That Moves”
Hello Meltingpot Readers, Do you know I thought I’d dodged a major bullet when God had the good sense to give me two boys instead of girls. I sighed a major sigh of relief thinking I’d get to avoid the hair issues. Specifically the issues where you have to fill your kinky-curly haired daughters with…
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Columbus Day: A Day of Celebration or Mourning?
Hi Meltingpot Readers, Today is Columbus Day and technically the country has the day off. But to do what? Celebrate or mourn? I guess it matters where you come from. Ponder that. And feel free to share right here what you do to commemorate this controversial holiday. I’m listening. Peace!
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Color Matters, In Fact and Fiction
Hi Meltingpot Readers, I think I’ve mentioned here already that my latest research topic is colorism. I’m looking at how color bias, more so than racism, is prevalent in almost every culture on the planet. When I was doing the research for my book, Hair Story, the concept of the color complex was always rearing…
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Kinks in the Kitchen: Babygirl is Sprouting Black Girl Hair
Hi Meltingpot Readers, It is with great relief and joy that I officially announce right here on the Meltingpot, that babygirl’s hair finally seems to be achieving a level of kink. Right in the back of her head. You know, that spot we often refer to as ‘the kitchen.’ The front of her head is…
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Being Black: So Easy, Anyone Can Do It
Hi Meltingpot Readers, Yesterday morning, my eight-year-old son came into my bedroom and saw my copy of Baratunde Thurston’s hilarious book, How To Be Black on my dresser. He picked it up, thumbed through it and casually announced, “Hey mom, we should send this book to Abuelo y Abuela in Spain so they can be…
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What Color is My Teacher?
Hi Meltingpot Readers, This was a conversation I had with my sons, ages 11 and 8, a few days before school started. We were in the car on our way to parent-teacher conferences. The eight-year old was going to meet his teacher for the first time, as she was a new hire at his school.…
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True Confessions from Ms. Meltingpot
Hi Meltingpot Readers, Since the theme of the week is transparency and coming clean, I thought I’d take the opportunity to share some things about Ms. Meltingpot that you might not know, but that you might find fascinating. Or not. This is pretty much an exercise for me to start ‘sharing’ some of my more…
