Multiracial Family Man

Ep. 50: Born in Canada, Rae Dawn Chong is a multiracial (Black, Chinese, Irish, and Native American) actress who's had a fantastic career and fascinating life.  She's been in such notable movies as The Color Purple, Quest for Fire, American Flyers, and Commando. She's also had interesting experiences as the daughter of musician/comedian, Tommy Chong, spending her childhood in Detroit and Los Angeles, getting to meet musical giants like Bobby Taylor, the Jackson 5, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, and many, many others, and experiencing the Detroit riots of 1968.  Listen as Rae chats with Alex about her upbringing, her love of music and acting, her acting career, and on the very real impact that race and discrimination still play in the world of entertainment.  Her take on the multiracial experience and on race and racism in the world of film is intriguing and thought-provoking and not to be missed.  For more on host, Alex Barnett, please check out his website: www.alexbarnettcomic.com or visit him on Facebook (ww

Ep. 49: Anita Sengupta has a Bengali Indian father and a White mother.  She grew up in the Midwest, in Cincinnati, where she experienced the range of experience of a multiracial person (fitting in, not fitting in, being asked "what are you?).  Upon graduation from high school, she took a year off to travel and live in India, where she connected with her family and her Indian roots. When she returned, she attended and has now graduated from NYU.  And, now, she has created a fascinating, provocative and much-needed multiracial/mixed-culture magazine called Conflux (http://www.confluxmagazine.com/) with her co-editor, Ozra Yazdani, a multiracial person herself (Iranian and Malaysian), who is an avid advocate for social justice and who is a 19 year old undergraduate student at Eugene Lang College at The New School. Listen as Alex and Anita discuss her life as a half-Indian, half-White person.  Her thoughts on multiracial experience, and the trials and tribulations of starting a print journal in today's World. Fo

Ep. 48: Brad Jenkins is Black and Korean.  His dad is an African-American veteran who served in Viet Nam and, later, met Brad's mother, a Korean national, while stationed in Korea.  But, growing up Black and Korean in an almost all-White town is just a small part of Brad's story. After attending college at the University of Virginia and working in a law firm and then on Wall Street, Brad found himself in Silicon Valley and then working on the Obama campaign in 2008.  Fast forward a couple of years, and Brad found himself working in the White House for President Obama as the Associate Director of the Office of Public Engagement.  In that role, he ultimately played a part in bringing to fruition the now famous Between Two Ferns episode featuring Zach Galifinakis interviewing President Obama, a video which went viral and raised awareness about Obamacare.  To see the video, click here: https://youtu.be/UnW3xkHxIEQ After his tenure in the White House, Brad moved on to Funny or Die (the folks behind the Between Two

Ep. 47: Melissa Swain O'Neill has a wonderful life.  She is married to a fantastic guy, has great kids, and has a job that she loves as a personal trainer to special populations. She also has a phenomenally interesting life story.  A biracial (Black-White) woman, Melissa was born to a young, unmarried White woman in Oregon.  Her biological father, a young, African-American college student was not aware of the circumstances of Melissa's birth. Melissa was then adopted by her White, maternal, great aunt and uncle and raised on the other side of the country, in Cape May, New Jersey. Later in life, as she neared the end of her college career, Melissa decided to seek out her biological father, who remained unaware that she was even alive until receiving her letter.  They connected and developed a fantastic relationship that enabled Melissa (who remained in contact with her biological mother) to develop a relationship with the African-American side of her family. Now, as mentioned above, Melissa is married (to a Wh

Ep. 46: Joy Huang Stoffers (www.joyhuangstoffers.com) was raised by a Taiwanese mother and a Caucasian father. At the age of six, she wrote, illustrated, and promptly recycled her first short story. She holds a BA in English from Rutgers University and a MA in Creative Writing from Newcastle University. Her debut novel is Whasian, which explores the multiracial Asian in America. Listen as Joy and Alex discuss her multiracial, Asian experience and her views on the multiracial Asian experience generally. For more on host, Alex Barnett, please check out his website: www.alexbarnettcomic.com or visit him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/alexbarnettcomic) or on Twitter at @barnettcomic To subscribe to the Multiracial Family Man, please click here: MULTIRACIAL FAMILY MAN PODCAST   Intro and Outro Music is Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons - By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Ep. 45: Kitt Shapiro is the daughter of late international star Eartha Kitt, who passed away from colon cancer in 2008. She is the founder and creator of the Simply Eartha™ lifestyle brand (http://www.simplyeartha.com/) and served as president of Eartha Kitt Productions for more than 20 years. Her work with her mother was highlighted by her own Grammy nomination as executive producer of Eartha Kitt’s CD, “Back in Business.” Shapiro attended Barnard College/Columbia University before beginning a successful modeling career. She studied interior design and worked in the fashion industry before taking on the responsibilities of running her mother’s company. Shapiro has dedicated herself to sharing her mother’s story and bringing attention to the importance of colon cancer screening and early detection, and, toward that end, she serves as a Board Member for the Colon Cancer Alliance (http://www.ccalliance.org/). Listen as Kitt speaks with Alex about living and traveling with her mother, about growing up as a multi

Ep. 44: Shani “Nani” Bernard is just a girl who loves the fact that everyone has the right to creative expression. She comes from a performing arts family and was raised with art and music all around her. She has always had a deep love for children and began babysitting and being a nanny from very young age. The two combined to create what you see now. She graduated with her degree in Theater Arts and uses all her skills to build sets, sew costumes, draw cartoons, film etc. – almost everything you see. She wants to encourage kids to find their own unique voice, use it and never lose it. She is the creator and founder of Nani Nani Kids (http://www.naninanikids.com/) to create engaging media that encourages all children (as well as those who are kids at heart) to be creative. She finds joy in creating age-appropriate programming for a culturally diverse audience.  For videos she's created, please check her YouTube page: (https://www.youtube.com/user/naninanikids). In addition to her artistic pursuits, Shani als

Ep. 43: Tanya Hutchins is a multimedia journalist and Communications Representative with the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAMAW). She worked as a broadcast journalist for more than 10 years in Columbus, Ohio before moving to Washington, D.C. Listen as Tanya describes for Alex how she embarked upon a years-long project of gathering essays from multiracial children about their experience and compiled these for her book Born Beautiful Biracial (http://www.tanyahutchins.com/born-beautiful-biracial/).  Tanya was born in Queens, grew up in White Plains, N.Y. and earned her B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from Ithaca College. She is also an avid still photographer and some of her photos are featured in her new book.  For more on Tanya, please visit: http://www.tanyahutchins.com/ For more on host, Alex Barnett, please check out his website: www.alexbarnettcomic.com or visit him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/alexbarnettcomic) or on Twitter at @barnettcomic To subscribe to the Multiraci

Ep. 42: Steven F. Riley is the creator and founder of MixedRaceStudies.org, which since 2009, is the world's most comprehensive non-commercial website providing a gateway to interdisciplinary English language scholarship about the relevant issues surrounding the topic of multiracialism. This site has been called by a preeminent scholar, "the most comprehensive and objective clearinghouse for scholarly publications related to critical mixed-race theory" and by an up and coming scholar “probably the singularly most valuable tool in my work.” At present, MixedRaceStudies.org contains nearly 8,900 posts which consists of links to 5,100+ articles; 1,200+ books; nearly 600 dissertation, papers and reports; nearly 300 multimedia items; more than 400 excerpts and quotes, and more than 100 course offerings. Currently, MixedRaceStudies.org receives over 2,000 visitors each day and during a monthly period, more than 47,000 unique visitors and 1½ million page views. Over the past five years Riley has been interviewed on

Ep. 41: April Dinwoodie (http://www.aprildinwoodie.com/)is a nationally recognized thought leader on adoption and foster care. As Chief Executive of the Donaldson Adoption Institute (DAI)(http://adoptioninstitute.org/), April is committed to improving laws, policies and practices through sound research, education and advocacy. She is also a co-founder and Vice President of the Board of Fostering Change for Children, a progressive nonprofit that helps drive innovation in the child welfare system. Before joining DAI, April created a specialized mentoring program called “Adoptment,” in which adults who were adopted and/or spent time in foster care serve as mentors to youth in care. As a trans-racially adopted person, April shares her experiences at workshops and conferences to help potential adoptive parents and professionals understand both the beauty and complexity of adopting children of another race. Listen as Alex and April discuss the complex and multilayered issue of transracial adoption, especially as it

Ep. 40: Humorist, motivational speaker, TV & radio personality, actress, author, blogger and entrepreneur are all titles fitting for Karith Foster (http://www.karith.com/). She is one of the hottest comics to come out of NewYork City according to both The Hollywood Reporter and Backstage Magazine who named her one of the “Top 10 Comics to Watch.” She has made a name for herself as national headliner for being a clean, funny African-American comedian. Karith travels nationally and abroad bringing humor and inspiration to all of her audiences.  Karith currently can be seen in the movie Can We Take a Joke (http://www.canwetakeajoke.com/). For her press kit, please go to: http://www.karith.com/uploads/7/5/8/7/7587287/new_foster_media_kit.pdf Karith, who is a Black woman married to a White, Australian man and mother to two biracial daughters, is also a Diversity Engagement Specialist who speaks at colleges and corporate events where she uses her disarming wit and a keen understanding of our shared experiences,

Ep. 39: Kayci Ortiz is a biracial (Black/White) young woman from New Jersey and recent Harvard graduate.  She also is a Board Member of Project RACE and former President of Project RACE Teen.  She is an accomplished academic, who was selected as a 2006 Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholar. She has won several national essay contests.  She was awarded the 2009 Princeton Prize in Race Relations, which was created to identify and commend young people who are working to increase understanding and mutual respect among all races.  As President of Project RACE Teen, Kayci held critical bone marrow donor drives, started a Teen Project RACE panel, created a Facebook page for teens, and was a wonderful asset for Project RACE. She served as president until 2010 when she began college at Harvard University.  She has continued her work with Project RACE as a Board Member. For more on Kayci or to contact her, please visit her at: @ohkray https://twitter.com/ohkray For more on host, Alex Barnett, please check out his website: www.

Ep. 38: Andrea Boxall is a biracial (Black/White) woman from England.  A native of Birmingham, she now lives in London.  A daughter of a Black, Afro-Caribbean Jamaican-English mother and a White English native father, Andrea currently works  as a Recruitment Officer for Frontline (http://www.thefrontline.org.uk/) to help transform the lives of vulnerable children by recruiting and developing outstanding individuals to be leaders in social work and broader society. Listen as Andrea describes her own experiences a multiracial person in in the United Kingdom.  Also, listen as she talks about finding common cause at the most recent Women of the World Festival (http://wow.southbankcentre.co.uk/) For more on Andrea or to contact her, please visit her at: @bodelights https://twitter.com/bodelights Or visit with her on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/bodelights/ For more on host, Alex Barnett, please check out his website: www.alexbarnettcomic.com or visit him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/alexbarnettcomic) o

Ep. 37: Lee & Low Books (https://www.leeandlow.com/) is the largest multicultural children's book publisher in the country. They also are one of the few minority-owned publishing companies in the United States, as well as a throwback to what many publishers used to be: independent, generational businesses in which the people running the company have a personal stake in its success.  On this episode of the podcast, I speak with Hannah Ehrlich, Director of Marketing and Publicity, for Lee & Low Books about the company's simple and elegant mission: to publish contemporary diverse stories that all children can enjoy. In addition, listen as Hannah describes how Lee & Low is committed to meeting the needs of educators by providing award-winning, diverse books for today’s classrooms, along with the resources educators need to make meaningful use of each book. For more on host, Alex Barnett, please check out his website: www.alexbarnettcomic.com or visit him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/alexbarnettcomic)

Ep. 36: Shannon Luders-Manuel is a writer who wrote her masters thesis on the rhetorical implications of the "tragic mulatta" genre.  She is currently working on a memoir, which was featured at the 2014 Mixed Remixed Festival (the nation's premiere cultural arts festival celebrating stories of the Mixed experience, multiracial and multicultural families and individuals through films, books and performance), about taking care of her father at the end of life and how her experiences with him growing up helped shape her identity.  Shannon has written about recent events surrounding relations between Black America and the Police and events relating to Black Lives Matter, including her recent article on the website For Harriet, which you can see here: http://www.forharriet.com/2015/08/what-it-means-to-be-mixed-race-during.html#axzz3pSEtw3xk.  That article has gone "viral" and has led dozens of biracial strangers to thank Shannon for speaking their truths. For more on Shannon, please visit her at: https://shannonlu

Ep. 35:  Seventeen years ago, Michelle Breyer channeled her lifelong struggle with her curly hair into NaturallyCurly.com – a hobby she worked on in her spare time with two curly friends. NaturallyCurly blossomed from a 1998 hobby into a full-blown business including 5 different brands under the TextureMedia brand name today. TextureMedia was acquired in August 2015 by Ultra/Standard, an industry leader in multicultural hair care and beauty distribution, and Michelle is actively involved leading Business Development for the company. What started as a sideline to provide a place for curly girls like herself to get support and education has grown into TextureMedia (http://www.texturemediallc.com/), the largest social platform for hair. Michelle has shared her message of empowerment with other female entrepreneurs, inspiring them to channel their own passions into successful careers. And whether it be taking pictures of a fellow curly on a street or responding to an email from a young girl struggling with her ha

Ep. 34: Keesha Beckford is a former dancer, who turned to writing as her creative outlet when she became a mom.  It has turned into a successful second career as the creator and writer behind Mom's New Stage, a blog about Keesha's own multiracial family, featuring herself (an African-American woman), her husband (a White man), and their two terrific kids (a biracial boy and girl who are starting to experience and understand the complex issues of race and racism).  Check it out here: http://www.momsnewstage.com/p/about.html Listen, as Keesha describes her journey from Queen, New York to Princeton University to dance as a profession to becoming a mom and the journey that took her and her family from New York to Charlotte, North Carolina, to Chicago, where they are now the Obamas' neighbors.  For more on host, Alex Barnett, please check out his website: www.alexbarnettcomic.com or visit him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/alexbarnettcomic) or on Twitter at @barnettcomic To subscribe to the Multiracial Family Man,

Ep. 33: Leighann Lord is a very funny lady (http://www.veryfunnylady.com/).  A comic from New York, with West Indian roots, she's also a writer and the author of Dict Jokes, a book about what the World would be like if words meant what they sounded like. (https://squareup.com/market/veryfunnylady/leighann-lord-s-dict-jokes-volume-one?square_lead=item_embed).  She's also the cohost of StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson (http://www.veryfunnylady.com/startalk).  And, Leighann, who is Black, used to be in an interracial marriage. Listen as Leighann talks with Alex about her race and interracial relationships, her career in comedy, and what it's like to cohost a show with the World's most famous astrophysicist. For more on host, Alex Barnett, please check out his website: www.alexbarnettcomic.com or visit him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/alexbarnettcomic) or on Twitter at @barnettcomic To subscribe to the Multiracial Family Man, please click here: MULTIRACIAL FAMILY MAN PODCAST   Intro and Outro Music is Funkorama

Ep. 32: David Livingstone Smith is a professor of philosophy at the University of New England, where he teaches courses on philosophy of psychology, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, free will and determinism, philosophy of human nature, philosophy of race, and other topics.  For more on David, please see: http://www.une.edu/people/david-livingstone-smith He is the author of the book Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave and Exterminate Others, the winner of the 2012 Anisfield-Wolf Award for non-fiction http://www.lessthanhumanbook.com/ Listen as David discusses and explains the philosophy of race as well as his book in which he asks: What is it about us that makes it possible for ordinary human beings to use race as a way of conceiving of others as less than human. For more on host, Alex Barnett, please check out his website: www.alexbarnettcomic.com or visit him on Facebook (www.facebook.com/alexbarnettcomic) or on Twitter at @barnettcomic To subscribe to the Multiracial Family Man, please click here: MUL

Ep. 31: Sarah Ratliff and Bryony Sutherland are authors who have collaborated on a new book, an anthology called Being Biracial: Where Our Secret Worlds Collide.  It is a must-read for anyone interested in the issues facing multiracial people and people within multiracial families.  The anthology, published by Heritage Press Publications, is a non-fiction book that cites the experiences of both mixed-race authors and those in interracial partnerships of all ages and backgrounds, from all over the world. It blends positivity, negativity, humor, pathos and realism in an enlightening exploration of what it means to be more than one ethnicity. Sarh was born in the Netherlands, raised partially in Lagos, Nigeria and eventually in New York City.  Sarah’s mother was African American and Japanese. Her father was Caucasian. Raised to be proud of her mixed race; at the same time her parents prepared her for the racism she would experience, the result of being Black in a country that repeatedly proves it isn’t ready to