Tag: Color Complex
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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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Mixed Messages for Mixed Families
Everybody and their mother sent me a link to this story in the New York Times about the continuing struggles with acceptance and racism experienced by multiracial families. The stares. The hostility. The questions. Yep, it all comes with the territory. Coincidentally, the other day, babygirl and I were at the local dollar store, buying paper towel…
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Color Bias in Asian Communities
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of research on colorism. It’s my next “thing” to write about. Of course, as a Black woman in America, I know all about the color complex in our community. From birth I’ve been indoctrinated with the idea that Black people come in two flavors, light and dark. Interestingly, I…
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Zoe Saldana’s ‘Monster’ Moment
Hello Meltingpot Readers, Colorism has caught my attention. In this country I believe colorism — a preference for, or belief about someone based on the color of their skin –is so pervasive and yet so underreported. It’s like our dirty little secret that keeps us up at night. And of course with all secrets, the…
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Not the Nanny Syndrome Doesn’t Discriminate
Recently, a lovely journalist from TODAY Moms interviewed me about what I call the “Not the nanny” syndrome. You know, that irritating situation when people mistake you for your child’s caregiver because you might be of color and your baby looks kind of White? I know it happens all the time to Black girls like me who…
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Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman and Vampires
Hello Meltingpot Readers, Am I the only one who just heard about the film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? People, I just saw the book in the bookstore the other day and then, come to find out that the Tim Burton produced film hit movie theaters last month! Where have I been? Okay, maybe I did hear…