Transracial / Transcultural Adoption

I've been following the health care reform bills, though I can't say I'm keeping track of the minute-to-minute changes. Personally, I support a strong public option that ensures that all Americans have access to good health care. What does this have to do with transracial adoption? My son's birthmother, S, has a son whom she parents. "Iggy" is 5 years old. Just before his third birthday, Iggy experienced at least two unexplained seizures. When S brought him to the emergency room on a Friday, she was told that they "didn't do MRIs on the weekends" and to bring Iggy back on Monday. On Sunday, Iggy had an 8 minute long seizure. He lost his eye sight, though it is, thankfully, returning. More… [more]

The other night my Hubby and I had dinner with some friends.  These friends also invited another one of their friends who is a reporter for our local paper.  Said writer is extremely nice and we have met her before.  She wants to do a piece on our adoptive family.  I baulked at first, not wanting attention (I seem to draw enough without trying to!).  We eventually agreed as I thought it would be a good way to promote adoption and adoption reform in November as well as educate during National Adoption Month. She only has 500 words and there is so much to talk about with adoption I will be interested to read the final outcome.  I talked about older child adoption, transracial adoption… [more]

On Friday, the Internet brought forth this lovely article, making some believe it was 1967: Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License in LA Judge Keith Bardwell will not marry interracial couples "out of concern for any children the couple might have". Bardwell also told the Associated Press, " I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way... I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else." Wow. On the bright side, this publicity has caused many in Louisiana, including Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, to call for Bardwell's dismissal. Bardwell is an elected official, and must follow state… [more]

People, such as this one from Newsweek, are now judging Angelina Jolie's daughter's hair. If you don't have access to media, you might not know that Angelina adopted Zahara from Ethiopia a few years ago. Zahara is now four. There have been several photos of "Angie" out and about with her kids, and always - ALWAYS - someone mentions how awful Zahara's hair looks. This makes me very angry. I admit that I have remained fairly ignorant of the importance of hair to Black women. I have a boy who has curly hair that doesn't require any special maintenance. I don't do much to my own hair. Doing a girl's hair will be a new, terrifying experience for me. I… [more]

Names are powerful. They define who we are. They often precede us on school rosters, resumes, and applications of all sorts. People do discriminate on the basis of a name. In the book Beyond Jennifer and Jason, the authors cite a study in which the same essay was submitted to teachers with different names attached to it. "Ethel" didn't do as well as "Jennifer". Names carry stereotypes. Tell me, based on nothing else, who's smarter - Bambi or Rachel? Now, you know, intellectually, that a name doesn't make a person smart. But when you think of "Bambi" are you thinking "Here comes the next President of the United States" or "Now, appearing live on the Pussycat Stage"? Names that don't sound "American" (that… [more]

I'm at Disneyland this week! Disneyland is glutted with Halloween merchandise, including $65.00 princess costumes. Among them is Princess Tiana. You haven't heard of Princess Tiana? She's the first African American Disney Princess. It may have all started with a petition that made the rounds of the adoption.com forums community in 2006. Then again, Disney plans its movies at least 5 years in advance, so it may simply have been a coincidence that Disney announced that The Princess and the Frog would feature an African American princess. Set in 1920's New Orleans, at first, the princess was named Maddy and she was a chambermaid. The Daily Show's Larry Wilmore did an excellent segment on that revelation, back in 2007… [more]

I have a paranoid side to me that I don't like to admit, but I do. I cannot help but wonder sometimes if the attention we get or that the girls get is because of us or because we promote the diversity that everyone seems to  be craving these days. In the last month we have had our two brown daughers published in a local activities brochure and the paper.  This, of course, is fun for all of us and in general we like it.  I cannot help but wonder in the back of my brain if my girls were picked because they are cute (they are) and it was a good picture (they were) or because they give our primarily white community some color. Does it matter? Yes it does. … [more]

It's been awhile since I've discussed books, and books are some of my favorite things. Parents are often looking for stories that feature children of color, without focusing on the "color" part.  One of my favorite library books is Ben's Trumpet by Rachel Isadora. This beautifully illustrated story follows a young, Black boy who idolizes a jazz trumpeter.  Isadora also wrote Uh-oh!, a book that my 3-1/2 year old asks to check out from the library on a regular basis. Uh-oh! is about a toddler who utters that one phrase throughout the book. Jack can totally relate. Baby Loves Jazz is a series of books, including Duck Ellington and Ella Elephant, that introduce children to jazz music. Jack has loved his "boom-boom-bap" books since he was about nine months old. He also… [more]