Let's Try This Again

So----I think I've figured out why I haven't been posting here! It's just too overwhelming. When I started doing research for this blog, I thought this was going to be a list/journal/mishmash of all sorts of mixed/multiracial resources, my thoughts & analysis etc. But there are SO many great sites/organizations out there already doing that, on a much larger level than I could ever manage. (And with such wonderful depth and dedication! Please see the links at the sidebar.)

I'm going to start over, and make this a personal blog about my own particular mixed experience. I think that will leave me feeling less like this is a chore, and more like it's just a fun place to talk about issues (and people! or should i say people and issues) that are important to me. So look out for that, if you're interested.

"Navigating New Definitions of a Multiracial Identity," by Richard Rodriguez From PBS Online NewsHour, 12/11/08:
Essayist Richard Rodriguez reflects on how Americans view multiracial and multicultural identities in the wake of Barack Obama's election to the presidency.

Here's a link, you can read the transcript and/or download the audio (audio/video?) at their site.

BILL OF RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE OF MIXED HERITAGE, by Maria P.P. Root, PhD

Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage

by Maria P.P. Root, PhD


I HAVE THE RIGHT...

Not to justify my existence in this world.
Not to keep the races separate within me.
Not to justify my ethnic legitimacy.
Not to be responsible for people’s discomfort with
my physical or ethnic ambiguity.

I HAVE THE RIGHT...

To identify myself differently than strangers expect me to identify.
To identify myself differently than how my parents identify me.
To identify myself differently than my brothers and sisters.
To identify myself differently in different situations.

I HAVE THE RIGHT...

To create a vocabulary to communicate about being multiracial or multiethnic.
To change my identity over my lifetime--and more than once.
To have loyalties and identification with more than one group of people.
To freely choose whom I befriend and love.


© Maria P. P. Root, PhD, 1993, 1994