Thursday evening, April 9, 2009, NPR aired the show In the Mix: Conversations with Artists…Between Races. Spliced with sound bytes from 44th President Obama’s Inaugural Speech, producer and narrator, Dmae Roberts, raised all too familiar themes and experiences of confused identities, raising awareness, and the exasperating questions I’m habitually poked and prodded with by strangers and acquaintances. “What was she?” shall be written on my epitaph. But with the proliferation of mixed race people, like myself, according to the show, “Nearly 7 million Americans are of mixed race” and “by year 2020 half of the people will be of mixed race,” perhaps we won’t have to serve as Cultural Ambassadors and explain how babies are created, no matter the ethnic backgrounds.
Quotes from some of the artist interviews:
Thomas Lauderdale:
“Coming from no where and everywhere. Openness to everything different.”
“Identity is a puzzle that has to be solved.”
Demetra Pittman:
“Love complexity, revel in it. Life isn’t black and white.”
Velina Hasu Houston:
“Misidentities, made me curious about other cultures across the world.”
Robert Karimi:
“Create communities not just on race Life is a negotiation.
“Point of departure to intersections”
Mixed Race Vocabulary: inclusive, sensitivity, rainbow tribe, Heinz 57, cultural consciousness, melting pot.
Rashaan Alexis Meneses 