Mixed Race Studies

“Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien” with Dr. Yaba Blay

Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien
Cable News Network (CNN)
Monday, 2012-12-10, 12:00-14:00Z (07:00-09:00 EST)

Soledad O’Brien, Host

Dr. Yaba Blay Professor, Scholar and Co-Producer of “Black in America 5” will appear.

Left of Black S2:E33 | Race, Writing and the Attack on Black Studies with Adam Mansbach and La TaSha Levy on Season Finale of Left of Black

Left of Black
John Hope Franklin Center
Duke University
2012-11-19

Mark Anthony Neal, Host and Professor of African & African American Studies
Duke University

Host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal is joined via Skype by writer Adam Mansbach, the author of several books including Angry Black White Boy (2005), The End of the Jews  (2008) and the New York Times Bestseller Go the Fuck to Sleep.  Mansbach discusses the inspiration for Macon Detornay—the protagonist of Angry Black White Boy—the surprise success of his “adult children’s book” and his new graphic novel Nature of the Beast.  Finally Neal and Mansbach discuss race in the Obama era and the legacy of the Beastie Boys…

Hapa: One Step at a Time [KQED Upcoming Broadcasts]

KQED: Public Media for Northern California
KQED World (Comcast 190, Digital 9.3)
2013-01-21, 07:30 and 13:30 PST (Local Time)

Race remains a powerful symbol in the US; it still is a shorthand notation for most Americans. This program speaks to how individuals of Asian and Pacific Islander descent are embracing their ethnic experiences as a symbol of change in an ever-evolving multicultural society. It is a thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be a mixed-race American today. The program is a first-person treatment of the struggles people of diverse cultural backgrounds and perspectives face. “Hapa” comes from the Hawaiian phrase hapa haole, which means half white/foreigner. Once considered a derogatory term, Hapa has come to be accepted as a way to describe a person of partial Asian ancestry. By Japanese American Midori Sperandeo, who provides a personal narrative about her evolution from a novice runner into a national class marathoner andshares the parallel path of her personal growth in searching for her racial identity.

For more information, click here.

Do 2 Halves Really Make a Whole?

Center for Asian American Media
1993
30 minutes
VHS

Martha Chono-Helsley, Producer/Director

This video features the diverse viewpoints of people with multiracial Asian heritages. African and Japanese American poet and playwright Velina Hasu Houston lives an “amalgamated existence” and encourages others to take pride in all that they are. Performance artist Dan Kwong constantly struggles with two strong and often conflicting Asian heritages – Japanese and Chinese American. Chinese-Japanese-Chicana-Scots storyteller, actress and performance artist Brenda Wong Aoki uses her unique ethnic mix to intersect social circles.

A Beautiful Blend

Center for Asian American Media
2004
27 minutes
DVD

David Hosley, Producer
KVIE-TV

In the decades following the Supreme Court’s 1967 decision to end laws making interracial marriage illegal, the United States has witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of mixed-race couples and of the multi-ethnic children born to them. As these segments of the population continue to expand and gain presence, more efforts have been made to understand the quality of their daily lives and their psychological development. Through interviews with interracial couples and their children, A Beautiful Blend provides a forum for them to express their unique concerns regarding their multicultural backgrounds and their growing visibility in America.

A Beautiful Blend also includes Hapa (26 minutes) by Midori Sperandeo.

Hapa: One Step at a Time

Center for Asian American Media
2001
26 minutes
DVD

Midori Sperandeo, Producer
KVIE-TV

According to 2000 Census statistics, nearly 7 million Americans identify themselves as multi-racial, or ‘hapa.’ This engaging first-person documentary is about marathon runner and TV producer Midori Sperandeo’s struggles to come to terms with her hapa identity. Comparing her personal path toward self-awareness as a hapa to the challenges she faces training for long-distance running, Hapa touches upon a national history of anti-miscegenation laws, increasing rates of interracial marriages and additional census data to provide a context with which to better understand this rapidly growing demographic group. Interviews with individuals from diverse backgrounds call attention to the pressure many feel to “choose” between cultural heritages; their anxieties of feeling like outsiders in their parents’ communities; and the unique ways in which the hapa community is enriching the cultural fabric of our society.

Who Is Black In America? Soledad O’Brien, CNN Find Out In ‘BIA 5’

NewsOne: For Black America
2012-12-07

Navarrow Wright

This Sunday at 8 p.m., CNN airs its fifth installment of the “Black In America” series, which is hosted by Soledad O’Brien. In this episode, O’Brien asks the question, “Who is Black in America?” as they tackle the issues of colorism and racial identity. The documentary centers around young women who are part of a poetry program in Philly who are dealing with these issues. I had the opportunity to sit down with Soledad to get her take on what may be one of the most talked about “Black in America” episodes yet.

[Note from Steven F. Riley: Ms. O’Brien also mentions what topics are not discussed in the hour-long documentary.]

Why isn’t ‘colorism’ gone?

Cable News Network (CNN)
2012-12-05

Has “colorism” disappeared? CNN’s Soledad O’Brien asks author and Activist Tim Wise.

Did one-drop rules have a positive side?

Cable News Network (CNN)
Black in America: A Soledad O’Brien Report
2012-12-05

Soledad O’Brien, Host
 
Ethnographer and professor Dr. Yaba Blay explains why she thinks the one-drop rule has a positive side.

[Transcription by Steven F. Riley]

Soledad O’Brien: Why do so many black people—me included—embrace the “one-drop rule” when it really, literally, has its roots in terrible things?

Yaba Blay: Again, I think because the “one-drop rule,” in as much as it was oppressive, protected us.  It gave us an identity in the same way that when we talk about white parents of mixed-race kids, you know, and you’ll hear a lot of white parents say, “oh my child can choose to be whatever they want to be.” And then you see the child struggling. That there’s some comfort and there’s some strength that comes with being told what you are. And so I think the “one-drop rule” gave us a definition of blackness that was unquestionable. There was no space to be mixed-race, biracial, any of these things. And from that, we were able to mobilize, right, in the fight against Jim Crow; in the fight against segregation; in the fight against racism. That, again it gave us the parameters for what our community ultimately was.

Ten-Minute Talk: MoMA Conservator Scott Gerson on Ellen Gallagher’s Deluxe

Museum of Modern Art
New York, New York
2012-03-05

Sarah Kennedy, Associate Educator, Lab Programs

Janelle Grace, Adult & Academic Programs 12-month Intern

This week’s Ten-Minute Talk features Scott Gerson, Associate Conservator in MoMA’s Department of Conservation who discusses the materials and processes explored in Ellen Gallagher’s featured work Deluxe on display in the Printin’ exhibition.

As part of Print Studio, we offer a weekly series of short talks focusing on issues related to the medium of print and the sustainability of ideas within the context of modern and contemporary art. During these Ten-Minute Talks, a variety of MoMA staff—from conservators to librarians and archivists—as well as guest artists and educators, share their expertise, offering insight on a variety of topics and a special behind-the-scenes look at MoMA’s engagement with the medium of print and selected Print Studio projects.

For more information, click here.