“Don’t act your color”? We’re radiant!
Avis Danette Matthews, Glenarden, MD “Don’t act your color.” I recall hearing that phrase a lot while growing up in the ’60s in Prince George’s...
Two white dads. Three black kids.
Jack Montgomery, Washington, DC. My husband and I got married and adopted three beautiful children on the same day last summer. Happy times! I have...
I can’t help but not belong
Allie Reese, Washington, DC. I’m a mixed white/Southeast Asian TCK: In the US, I’m some kind of Asian (but in Indonesia I’m ‘bule’, or a...
Think you cute because you’re lightskin?
Kwazi Owens Washington, DC I see so much divisiveness among black women due to colorism. I remember growing up and girls automatically not liking me...
Grandma called me “pretty colored girl”
R. Denise Everson, Washington, DC. My grandmother reared me. Her positive expressions of beauty being black shaped my perception and made me proud to be...
Guilt. I loved my Annie so.
Lisa VonTress Las, Sunrise, FL. As a child growing up in the DC suburbs, I had no idea about what was going on. I had...
“Are they yours? Are you sure?”
Adam Conner Washington, DC My sister and I are both adopted from South Korea. Our parents are white. One of my memories from childhood is...
What does Puerto Rican look like?
Janet Jimenez Washington, DC Puertorriqueño(a) is the “proper” term used to address a native islander from Puerto Rico. Do not confuse with Newyoricans, or anyone...
“Are they yours? Are you sure?”
Adam Conner Washington, DC My sister and I are both adopted from South Korea. Our parents are white. One of my memories from childhood is...
Black Girls Don’t Get Depressed…Wrong!
Tori Collins, Washington, DC. Depression is real and doesn’t care about your race. If you’re African-American and female not only are you expected to be...
Progress? We’ve been running in place.
Christina H. Washinton, DC Too often this summer (2014), I’ve felt like we’re reliving the events and emotions of ’65, ’68, and ’69. I cannot...
Why do people steal from us?
Peter Chin Washington, DC That was the question that my daughter asked me when our house was broken into a second time in three years....
“The only Mexicans I’ve ever met ..”
Josie Villanueva Washington, DC “… pick our melons on my Daddy’s farm.” she said to me, with wide eyes, on one of the first days...
Why Not Put My Needs First?
Faith Dow, Washington, DC. Black women are the benchmark and template for every viable social reform from the past 50 years that others use to...
Now, I can protest that murder
David C. Ruffin Washington, DC I participated in the March on Washington in 1963. I was 18 and home on leave from the Air Force....
My ancestors crossed the color lines.
Deb Ewing, Washington, DC. Project RACE (Reclassify All Children Equally) has been dedicated to helping us be able to find identities on various forms, including...
