Archive for 'Multi-Racial'

Learning to Appreciate a Rich Cultural Heritage

Learning to Appreciate a Rich Cultural Heritage

After meeting my birthfather Gil, I begin to love not only him, but also the culture and history of my ancestors.

Here’s an excerpt from Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity.:

In Jamaica, so many years ago, Dr. Dezon was all set to tell me about shiploads of Caribs who were taken from the island of St. Vincent by the English and dumped on the Central American coast. At the time I was not ...

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Misplaced Identity: The Reason to Begin Therapy

Misplaced Identity: The Reason to Begin Therapy

In my recent book, Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity (Kindle) or Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity, I tell the story of growing up within a culture and a race that was different to my own. Here’s an excerpt as to why I had to start a therapy program:

I stand motionless atop a rugged cliff, scanning a landscape where a cloudless sky spans the horizon. The jasmine-scented breeze ...

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How my seven-year old mixed-race son began to define issues of his identity

How my seven-year old mixed-race son began to define issues of his identity

In writing my recent book, Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity (Kindle) or Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity, I tell the story of growing up within a culture and a race that was different to my own. Here’s an excerpt:

On our first vacation we visited friends in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We not only fell in love with the quaint village, we decided to move there. I’d take up ...

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Want to know a Black child’s thoughts about class & privilege?

Want to know a Black child’s thoughts about class & privilege?

Catana at 7years with doll LuluHere is an excerpt from my memoir Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity in which I write about having grown up as an exotic child among Whites in Guatemala City.

“On my first day of school, ...

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What might children of different races say about skin color?

What might children of different races say about skin color?

In my recent book, Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity, I tell the story of growing up within a culture and a race that was different to my own. Here’s an excerpt:

Once in Catalina, we became neighbors with a German family whose three daughters were close to me in age. Putzi, the youngest, wandered over to our house most often. We giggled and ...

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Where Are You From?

Where Are You From?

“Where are you from?” is a simple question. The answer, however, can become rather complex.

When I am asked where I’m from, people expect me to say a Caribbean island, and look at me a bit more closely when I say Guatemala because I don’t look like a representative of the Mayan population. Can I claim being Guatemalan, though? Growing up, my friends were by and large Germans and I spoke primarily German at home. I was the only Black kid ...

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The Exotic Adoptee Speaks

The Exotic Adoptee Speaks

Blame it on the Gemini Mid-heaven or the waning quarter moon in the 10th house of my chart, or both, but fact is that I enthusiastically start a project only to let it lie around, sometimes for years. Then I find it, act as if I’ve made a great discovery, blow the dust off and continue where I left off as if there’d been no lapse in time.

That’s what happened with a manuscript I began in 2005. I had practically ...

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Love is a Given, but is it Enough in Transracial Adoptions?

Love is a Given, but is it Enough in Transracial Adoptions?

Catana as a toddler in LivingstonLast night I came upon an article recently written by professor Darron T. Smith PhD. in The Huffington Post’s Black Voices. It underlines issues I had to deal with, anguished and alone, way into adulthood. It’s titled Can Love Overcome Race in Transracial Adoption? and adresses ...

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Does a Young Child Understand the Pain Involved in Adoption?

Does a Young Child Understand the Pain Involved in Adoption?

This is my response to Anne Cavanaugh-Sawan’s article in Adoptive Families Circle: Does She Know?

Love this sensitive, well-written post.

It is clear that you are a psychologist and know how important it is to include the story the birthmother may have had, even though it may be quite different to your sensitized version. But your daughter knows she is an adopted child, and while she may at this point not show you that she feels different, you ...

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Race Certainly Matters to the Transracially Adopted Child

Race Certainly Matters to the Transracially Adopted Child

Berneis '65A very well written post by Jane Brown showed up this morning in Adoptive Families Circle addressing a variety of ways that are obvious regarding race in the mind of a child growing up with parents who differ in appearance to it.

Here is what I contributed to the discussion:

This is another great post.

Race is first and foremost on ...

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