Mixed Race Studies

Akala: Dynamite by any other name…

The Guardian
The Observer
2013-06-01

Kate Mossman

Rapper, adapter of Shakespeare and brother of Ms Dynamite, Akala is on a mission to correct a few misconceptions

A few weeks ago in these pages, Birmingham rapper Lady Leshurr asked why there had been no high-profile female rappers in the UK since Ms Dynamite. Akala seems a good person to consult – one, because he’s her brother, and two, because you can ask Akala just about anything and you’ll get a pretty comprehensive answer. In the course of 68 minutes in a London community centre under the Westway, he talks about 16th-century explorers, Biggie Smalls, the universities of 13th-century Timbuktu, tai chi, the Black Wall Street of Oklahoma, the African city portraits of Olfert Dapper, Eminem, peanuts, Napoleon’s generals, traffic lights and golf. But back to Ms Dynamite.

“I remember the Daily Mail wrote an article about my sister at the time,” he says, “and essentially their argument was, ‘Well, she’s not really black, is she – she’s quite clever and she’s got a white mum!’ It was so funny the way they tried to co-opt us. Remember that big story about Bob Marley and his ‘white dad’ last year? He was unequivocally black power, but he’s rewritten as this fun-loving Rasta. Mark Duggan [the Tottenham man shot by police in August 2011] was also mixed race, but no one’s ever going to co-opt Mark Duggan!”…

Read the entire article here.

Mental health service use by adolescents of Indian and White origin

Archives of Disease in Childhood
Published online: 2013-07-29
DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2013-303772

Panos Vostanis, Professor of Psychology
University of Leicester

Nadzeya Svirydzenka, Research Assistant
Department of Psychology
University of Leicester

Pat Dugard, Independent Senior Statistician
King’s Lynne, United Kingdom

Swaran Singh, Professor of Social and Community Psychiatry
University of Warwick, Coventry

Nisha Dogra, Professor of Psychology
University of Leicester

Background Despite the available epidemiological evidence on the prevalence of mental health problems in childhood and adolescence, there is limited knowledge on whether there are differences in the level of need and service utilisation by young ethnic minority groups.

Methods Adolescents of 13–15 years from nine schools in two English cities in which children of Indian ethnicity were over-represented (n=2900), completed rating scales on different types of mental health problems, contacts with services and informal supports.

Results Indian adolescents scored significantly lower on general mental health and depression symptoms. They were also less likely than White adolescents to self-report having mental health problems, even for a similar level of need. Among those with mental health scores within the clinical range, Indian adolescents were less likely to have visited specialist services. Instead, they were more likely to first approach family members, teachers or general practitioners.

Conclusions Rather than a blanket approach being applied to policy and service planning to meet the needs of diverse communities of young people, more specific evidence needs to be gained about patterns of referrals of minority groups and their strategy of accessing supportive adults.

Read or purchase the article here.

Multiracial Daughters of Asian Immigrants: Identity and Agency

Women & Therapy
Volume 36,  Issue 3-4, 2013
Special Issue: Women and Immigration
pages 268-285
DOI: 10.1080/02703149.2013.797776

Leilani Salvo Crane
Counseling and Psychological Services
University of Pennsylvania

Multiracial daughters of Asian immigrants must navigate complex pathways to adulthood, self-efficacy, and self-concept. Frequently they are required by family and society to bridge the cultural divide among a variety of Asian and American norms. Conflicting loyalties at times manifest as psychological struggles, which the daughter may be unable to resolve without therapeutic intervention. This article describes a culturally responsive approach to therapeutic intervention that takes into account both developmental and multiracial identity models, along with specific tools for exploring the complexities of cultural background, familial expectations, and issues of power and oppression. Both Hays’ ADDRESSING model (2001, 2009) and construction of the genogram are used to explore individual differences. Case examples are presented to illustrate interventions.

Daughters of Asian immigrants must navigate complex pathways to adulthood, self-efficacy, and self-view. As noted in the Handbook of Girls’ and Women’s Psychological Health (Worell & Goodheart, 2006), immigrant women and their children must be considered within the family system, rather than as Isolated individuals (Goodheart, 2006). Those with disempowered and or traumatized parents travel an especially difficult road due. in part, to the absence of multiracial role models with whom to identify, as well as to frequently conflicting cultural demands. Multiracial daughters of at least one Asian immigrant parent frequently face demands from family of origin to lie closely connected to family…

Read or purchase the article here.