Posted by Martha on October 17, 2011
White people are unbelievably uncomfortable talking about race or skin color. This is a fact that I have become acutely aware of in the past three years. In part, my observation of this fact came about with my becoming more accustomed to using skin color as a qualifier for myself. Annika notices and mentions often [...]
Categories: Bi-racial, Motherhood, Race, Racial Identity, Racism, Uncategorized
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Tags: Annika, Bi-racial, Inter-racial, Race, Racism, Stereotypes
Posted by Martha on February 9, 2011
Brown with a white background makes a nice combination Annika has been making note of her brown skin color lately. And today, in our learning co-op, we had our first Black History lesson. We talked about skin color. I gave them a coloring page of a map of Africa, showing them Nigeria on the map, [...]
Categories: Bi-racial, Parenting, Race, Racial Identity
| Tags: Annika, Bi-racial, Books, Inter-racial, Multi-racial, Parenting, Race, School
Posted by Martha on January 8, 2011
Different shades of brown. Annika noticed that her brown markers were two different colors, yet, they were the same. She had picked up two different brown markers, (btw, her favorite colors to color with seem to be brown and black, am I reading too much into that? Probably.) and as she did, she said to [...]
Categories: Bi-racial, Racial Identity, Racism
| Tags: Annika, Bi-racial, Inter-racial, Motherhood, Multi-racial, Racism
Posted by Martha on January 1, 2011
Happy New Year to you! I’ve been blogging for over a year now, but 2010 was the first full year. Here’s a recap of some of my favorite posts to entertain you over the weekend. Here’s hoping that everyone begins 2011 with a fresh and relaxing weekend. Just one of the things nobody warns you [...]
Categories: Alcoholism, Attachment Parenting, Bi-racial, Blogging, Motherhood, Parenting, Race, Racism, Review
| Tags: Annika, Attachment Parenting, Bi-racial, Drunk blogging/Dr-logging, Holidays, Inter-racial, Motherhood, Parenting, Racism, Stereotypes
Posted by Martha on December 22, 2010
Dancing in her Nigerian dress at 18 months. Even though I’ve been told numerous times that, according to the world, Biracial (mixed with some parts Black) is Black and there’s nothing that will change that, I still wonder. I wonder just how the world will see Annika, and others like her, when she’s an adult [...]
Categories: Bi-racial, Motherhood, Race, Racial Identity, Racism
| Tags: Annika, Bi-racial, Inter-racial, Multi-racial, Race, Racism
Posted by Martha on November 12, 2010
They even have curly hair! Apparently, Big Lots stocks the most variety for baby dolls with different shades of brown skin. I’ve mentioned on my blog before my annoyance with all the big stores, HEB, Target, and Walmart, for not stocking baby dolls with skin shades other than White. I found one of Annika’s first [...]
Categories: Bi-racial, Motherhood, Parenting, Race, Racial Identity, Racism
| Tags: Annika, Bi-racial, Inter-racial, Motherhood, Multi-racial, Parenting, Racism, Stereotypes
Posted by Martha on September 16, 2010
I did it. The other day I referred to Annika as a Black girl. I’ve purposely avoided referring to her as “the Black girl,” or “the Black baby,” when speaking to other people. I’ve said Bi-racial a few times, but never Black. Not to other people. I’ve talked to her about her skin being Brown. [...]
Categories: Bi-racial, Detroit, Motherhood, Parenting, Race, Racial Identity, Racism
| Tags: Annika, Bi-racial, Inter-racial, Multi-racial, Racism, Stereotypes
Posted by Martha on August 4, 2010
When I was pregnant one of my biggest fears regarding becoming the mother of a Bi-racial child was the thought that she would identify with one half of her racial identity. I worried (for obvious reasons) that the half she identified with would not be mine, thus denying our mother/child bond. I don’t think this [...]
Categories: Bi-racial, Fatherhood, Motherhood, Parenting, Race, Racial Identity, Racism
| Tags: Bi-racial, Inter-racial, Motherhood, Multi-racial, Parenting, Race, Racial Identity, Racism, Stereotypes
Posted by Martha on July 8, 2010
When I was a kid, I never liked my hair. It was fine and wavy, so it curled funny, but it wasn’t curly. I didn’t have thick, straight hair. I didn’t have curly hair. It was just wavy and weird. I always wanted thick, straight hair. OR, curly hair. What I had was in between. [...]
Categories: Bi-racial, Fatherhood, Motherhood, Parenting, Race, Racism
| Tags: Annika, Bi-racial, Inter-racial, Motherhood, Multi-racial, Parenting, Race, Racism, Stereotypes
Posted by Martha on July 5, 2010
I’ve been waiting in anticipation for opportunities to talk to Annika about race, as recommended in NurtureShock. (I know, I know, if I love it so much I should just marry the damn book.) Last week an opportunity presented itself that just screamed for a conversation. I was pretty excited about it since the other [...]
Categories: Bi-racial, Books, Fatherhood, Motherhood, Parenting, Race
| Tags: Bi-racial, Books, Inter-racial, Motherhood, Multi-racial, Parenting, Race, Racism
