Neither Black nor White - The Confusion of Being Mixed Race

In today's world, our race or ethnicity has an enormous effect on our personal identity. Races have histories, celebrations, countries of origin, cuisines, music styles and more. Mixed race, or biracial people have ancestries which come from different races. Technically, we are all multiracial as people boast of being "1/3 Italian, 1/5 French with a Grandma from Scotland" but the term mixed race/biracial refers to those with parents from two different races.

As racism declines and globalism increases, it is inevitable that the number of mixed race people around the world continues to grow. It is still, however, uncommon. In 2006, biracial people made up 2% of the United States population, 1.5% of the Canadian population. In 2005 in the UK, 3.4% of newborn babies were mixed race and by 2020 the mixed race population is expected to be Britain's largest ethnic minority group with the highest growth rate. There is an estimated population of Anglo-Indians is 600,000, with the majority living in Britain and India. 2.4% of the 2007 Singapore population were mixed race. Although the most common mixed ethnicity is some form of black and white, the combinations are endless as the different kinds of races are endless.

Even though being from two different races means you have two different cultures to enjoy, the difficulty comes from the fact that technically, you are neither of those two races either. In a sense, mixed race people are born with a completely blank slate and they can create their own identities. Take me, Robyn, for example. My mother is black Caribbean and my father is white British. While my skin is brown, I am not black but neither am I white. I am both and yet neither and this fact is dealt with differently by each mixed race individual.

I have never connected myself with either the white or black cultures and my race has never even really been an important factor to me. I've always found that its other people who are more concerned about my race. 50% of the time people ask me "where are you from?" and, although I always know what they mean, I like to reply "Harrow" or "London" so they then ask "no, I mean like what country originally?" Then I explain my two different parents. The other 50% like to take a guess and BOY have there been some guesses. I've been mistaken for Indian, Greek, Middle Eastern, Native American, all of the Caribbean islands and just about all of the countries in South America. The only trouble I've ever found with being mixed race is when I am unable to fit in because I'm not a certain race. All over the world there are people who only hang out with and date those of their own race. One such experience when I was a teenager was when my Indian best friend ditched me to join a group of Indian girls just like her. I couldn't appreciate or join in the Indian culture and it must have gotten tiresome for her. Losing a friend because I was mixed race was difficult to accept but for every Ying there is a Yang: there are many men in this world who specifically find mixed race girls HOT. Don't know what it is, but they do! And I have never again found any trouble with my friends and have friends of all different races from all over the world. I also only take my race seriously when I get called Half-caste, the word I hate most in the whole world. I am NOT half of anything. Because mixed race people are so uncommon and the term half-caste has never been widely recognised as a racist term, people often use it in a completely neutral manner, not realising how offensive it can be. Think of it this way: the term "coloured" for black people isn't widely recognised as racist as such, but if a black person got called that, odds are they would be offended and think "I'm not a frigging paint by numbers."

There are also a high number of mixed race celebrities in this world and fame doesn't prevent them having their own mixed race experiences.

Halle Belle recently told Lesley O’Toole how her White Liverpudlian mother Judith met her Black GI father Jerome, when he was stationed in England. She moved to America to marry him and they settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Initially, Berry’s parents lived in a black neighbourhood until Halle was four. However around this time they separated and Halle’s mother moved her and her sister Heidi to a white neighbourhood. 'When we lived in the black neighbourhood, we weren’t liked because my mother was white. In the white neighbourhood, they didn’t like me because I was black. That was the beginning of my trying to be what I thought people wanted to be.'

In this excerpt from her autobiography, Catch A Fire, Melanie Brown (Scary Spice from the Spice Girls) tells the world her thoughts on mixed-race. 'I was lucky that my parents were so cool about race when I was growing up. They respected each other's cultures and mixed them and were happy about it, which was rare. They taught me always to respect both Black and White people. I've since noticed that Mixed-Race kids can get really confused if there parents sway one way or the other and are prejudiced against White or Black, because they become alienated from one side or the other. It's difficult because you've got your Black communities and you've got your White communities. There are Black churches, White churches, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim and other places of worship, but you don't get anything officially for Mixed-Race people. I'm not saying that being Mixed-Race is a defined culture and has a history - well, it has got a history but it's been taboo for a long time, because society has always been so divided. For centuries, Mixed-Race children were mainly associated with being products of rape, the result of forced encounters between masters and slaves on plantations. They were ignored, their existence swept under the carpet and they were part of a forgotten history. Things have changed now. We're starting to mix more and you get people who are quarter this, a half that and a quarter something else, which is great. The only problem is that there are a lot of kids growing up who don't feel they belong anywhere. Their identity isn't black or white. I had problems knowing where I fitted in sometimes. I had Black friends and I also had White friends and some of my Black friends would be completely on the Black side dissing the Whites, while some of my White friends were completely on the White side and didn't really know anything about the history of Black culture. They had no idea about all the suffering that had gone on. I was different to the other Mixed-Race kids at school because I never chose one side over the other. I got on with everyone and as a result I was called 'Bounty' - Black on the outside, White on the inside. I remember thinking, Why are they calling me that? My parents had Black friends and White friends and I spent time with my mum's family and my dad's family, so my life was properly mixed, even down to the music I heard at home - from Aswad to the Eurythmics’

John Conteh was born in Toxteth, Liverpool, to a Sierra Leone father and an Anglo-Irish mother. Frequently in trouble as a teenager, his father steered him towards boxing. On March 13th 1973, at the age of just 21, he won the European light heavy-weight title. He went on to win a string of titles including the WBC Light heavyweight title. John said in his autobiography, ‘My first realisation that I was different from my white mates came when I was making sand castles from some builders materials in the road, that’s how young I was.A drunk loomed over me and began kicking my castles over and called me some frightening names. The one that struck the most fearful chord in my child’s brain was half caste.I remember running indoors to my mother and demanding some kind of explanation. When she told the old man about it that night, he roared like a lion, shouting: ‘My children are not half of anything. They are full human beings.’

For footballer Curtis Davies it is important that people acknolwedge all of his racial identity.'I'm as much white as I am black,' he says. 'People have got to acknowledge that. My mum is white and I don't want people to discount that.' Curtis has an older half-brother who is white. 'Every time we went to football people couldn't believe we were brothers,' he says. 'They couldn't take that I could be related to a white person.' For Curtis Davies having a fluid identity can also raise difficult questions. 'If I'm walking down the street with black mates, it's cold and we've got our hoodies up, we are likely to get name-checked by the police. I've been with my white mates, same area, same hoodies and it's never happened. The police don't even look or slow down. I guess that's another aspect about the split in my race,' he says. Curtis is aghast at the idea of having to choose. 'Choosing which room to go into?' he says. 'That's like choosing who to save from a burning building, your mum or your dad.'

Manchester United's Welsh International winger Ryan Giggs gave a remarkably frank interview in the French weekly L'Eqipe Magazine, when he publicly acknowledged his black heritage. 'Most people do not know that my origins are African-Welsh, in fact only the people who are close to me and who count for me know my whole story. Looking at me from the outside, it is not very obvious, I know but half my family is black and I feel close to their culture and their colour. I am proud of my black roots and of the black blood that runs in my veins. I do not wish to hide my origins, nor do I seek to make it a subject of conversation. I am what I am.'

Growing up surrounded by white faces in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, English footballer David James was the only non-white child at his junior school. 'I was called a coon and a black bastard,' he says. 'I lived with my white mum so I couldn't go back to an ethnic home and relate the experience. At school I was asked if I was adopted. I got confused and I'd go home and ask my mum if I was divorced.' David believes that there was a direct correlation between bullying because of his mixed-race background and his low self-esteem. 'Trying to break records in goal was all about proving that I was valuable.' David also had a problem with the term half caste saying:'Being described in fractions is like being seen as abstract parts. It was a subtle prejudice that I felt,' he says, 'but people always commented on pieces of me - my hair, my colour - no one ever said anything nice about the whole of me.'

Crystal Palace winger Jobi McAnuff grew up in north London with his Jamaican father and English mother. Jobi celebrates his fluid identity, but he admits that in football there are racial cliques. 'From my experience I get seen as one of the ‘brothers’. You walk into the canteen and there's a table of black boys and the white boys are up the other end, but I don't see it as a negative. I'd like to think it's easier for me to cross between groups, but my white friends at Palace still see me as black. People only see skin deep and society says I look more black than white.'

Actress Thandie Newton tells interviewers that one of her fondest memories is watching her mother get dressed in her traditional African garb because it taught her black pride. 'It's funny, but yes. I was recently talking to my brother about what it means to be black, and he gave me a quizzical look, as if to say, 'Hey, this is a bit radical,' because I was taking a very black stance. But he reminded me of how I used to feel- as neither white nor black, but as a bridge between both. Now I see myself as black. There is a side of me that would like to go back to how I used to feel. But then I was looking at my peers. Now I'm looking at the whole world.'

Lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls Nicole Scherzinger was born in Hawaii, her father is Filipino and her mother is Hawaiian and Russian but Nicole has had many people confuse her racial identity. 'I’m Filipino-Russian-Hawaiian,' she says, 'but people think I’m from Pakistan.' She may be a household name now but Nicole remembers how difficult it was as a mixed-race girl when she was first entering the entertainment industry. 'A lot of people didn’t understand what my nationality was or what race I was. So, they were a little confused on how to cast me or what my place was. It was really confusing at first because people wanted me to be like the Puerto Rican girl, the sidekick, the Puerto Rican best friend. I’m like, I’m not Puerto Rican.'

England women's striker Rachel Yankey grew up in west London with an English mother; her Ghanaian father did not live with them. Sometimes it is the small things about a mixed-race background that make the most impression. 'I've been in a shop with my mum and they've looked at both of us and gone, 'I can see you're related', and I'm thinking, 'Why say that?' Or hairdressers, that's the most common one. I remember going to white hairdressers with my mum and they couldn't cut it right, or they put the wrong products in.' Rachel says she feels uncomfortable when people assume things about her because of how she looks. She tells the story of an African mother to a child who attends her coaching sessions. 'She brought in some traditional African food for me and asked if I knew what it was. She wasn't quizzing me, but I felt that being half-African I should know. It bothered me that I didn't. I felt I had to explain. I said that my dad didn't bring me up, I didn't grow up eating African food.' Rachel also says her feelings differ according to the colour of the people in the room. 'When you go in the white room you know you're different looking, but I've grown up with white people so that's probably where I'd feel most comfortable. When you go in the black room you look similar but you don't feel as comfortable inside. I'm happiest when I'm surrounded by a mix of people.'

In a forum on what it is like being mixed race, there were many different responses:

AutoMango: No different to being any other race really. in all of primary school there was just me and a black boy who were anything. there were half german twins but they're still white. i think at that age and a bit older people think if your not white then you're black, which of course im not-im neither, so you get the odd childish comments. "have you been painting with black paint today?"

Kiero: Being mixed race is all about having other people arguing about your identity, and the supposed "crisis" you suffer. Along with being labelled a "coconut" if you're well-educated and articulate.

osg_2: being mixed is a different experiencce still becos lots of ppl think ur confused or in sum way special, iv had lots of ppl sayin 2 me i wish i was mixed-race. But a bad thing is dat alot of (black) people think that mixed-race ppl thinkk there 2 nyc an r skets/slags/hoes/easy. I dnt lyk dese views

korlebu: Good points - I genuinely support France, Ghana and England in major tournaments as they have made me the individual I am

- I have the social and interpersonal skills to adapt into black or white environments (and other environments for that matter)

- My white side (mother) has done what my black side (father) was unfortunate enough not to do. Send myself and 4 other sibblings to top schools and university (cambridge etc). (Father well educated in Ghana but could only get a job as postman in UK)

- Have inherited stronger physical attributes from black side as have my 4 other sibblings (some may argue this, but science will argue my point)

- I represent how far black and white culture have come from our darkest days

- On a lighter note, sooooo many girls (especially black girls) want to have my children! Seriously, I have a queue.

Bad points

- When we lived in Ghana, we were called 'obroni' - white people by the black mainstream. When we came to UK, we were called black by the white mainstream.

- Black people see you as cousins or outcasts and white people see you quite simply as black or are so uneducated on the matter that they think mixed is just black but a different shade.

- Despite most mixed race (including myself) people saying to themselves that they are neither black or white but individuals, the truth is that since the caveman days we have always sought a group in society to belong to and as long as mixed race are not recognised on a more 'official' basis as whites and blacks are the question will always remain

Milk Maroon: Well being mixed race, it's generally having your parents from two very different ethnical and/or cultural background. Sometimes you have to deal with the issues it can generate, sometimes you're lucky enough to get to know both parts and cultures you're made of.

Generally, I believe we're more a product of our environment. That's why you can "look black" but not relate to Blacks... There are numerous of examples, this one is one among many.

BenS: I was never told I was any race as an infant, I always knew I was mixed so in general my me being mixed isn't an issue because I'm just me. What I dislike is the perception people have of mixed race people. Things like if a mixed race person has a white mother, then the perception is she must ugly, fat, working class etc. If a mixed race person has a white parent, he must also be ugly, but also a wimp. I also dislike the fact mixed race people are in general viewed as having identity issues, and that a well grounded mixed race person see's themselves as black. And that mixed race people who are brought up by a single white parent, think they are white, and are somehow racist towards black people. The sad thing is these racist stereotypes are mainly things black people wish to be true. I would say these are the general stereotypes of what it's supposed to be like to be mixed race. They only stereotype I fit is that from the age of 4yrs old I didn't grow up with my black father, so the stereotype of growing up with a single white mother (though a very beautiful and middle class one) is true for me. But from my own experience, I me being mixed race isn't an issue unless I'm around black people who have these "what are you" attitude which which I find very offensive. Though it's wrong to presume every black person has that attitude. The black and white view of mixed race people as a whole I guess is from what I read online and tv documentaries etc is, that white people don't wish to admit we are part of their "pure" culture. And that black people want to control use and have use deny our European side.

Born to a Nigerian father and White mother, Sir Keith Ajegbo is a key figure in education in Britain, as a former headmaster and author of the report to the Secretary of State for Education and Science on diversity and citizenship within the school curriculum. In a post for the Mixedness & Mixing website which gives new perspectives on mixed-race Britons, he said "The spectrum of being mixed race is extremely wide. It is dependent on the particular racial mix, on location and a range of other factors. However a very crucial component to mixed race children belonging and feeling whole has to be the attitude of their parents. My unresearched observation is that if parents are sensitive to their child being mixed race and are prepared to work together on the issues that might arise in terms of identity and belonging then this makes a considerable difference. I expect it also makes a difference if the family is together and both races are part of that family experience. The biggest psychological issue for me was being part of a white family with very little contact with the black side of my family. While my white family were very good to me they treated me as if I was white but had, rather accidentally, black skin. My grandmother would never allow black people into her house because of the trouble caused by my mother's marriage. I remember my mother telling me to pull my cap on so people couldn't see my hair and crying when my aunt referred to my curly hair. As a result I have always felt an element of being outside both races and of being inauthentic. There are geographical contexts. It is probably easier to be mixed race in London, which is increasingly multi cultural, than Bradford and other cities where Trevor Phillips has talked of the country 'sleepwalking to segregation.' Nor is it easy to be 'the only black in the village'. One way in which being mixed race has determined my life is that I couldn't move out of London because I imagine I would not feel comfortable. It is also true that the nature of a person's mixedness make a difference. There are different issues for children of mixed African Caribbean or African and white heritage which is quite common in some urban areas to children of Asian/white heritage. Class makes a difference. A purely personal observation is seeing working class mixed race pupils moving towards black youth cultures and middle class mixed race pupils moving towards white. In terms of schooling and neighbourhoods working class pupils often come into far greater contact with pupils from other cultures. This is exacerbated by white middle class flight. I have often felt disturbed by TV satires around working class culture that imply a mongrel society. While some aspects of being mixed race are easier as the society becomes more at ease with race and difference, mixed race children are still likely to be at the sharp end of tensions and prejudice. An issue for me, which I expect is still there, is for mixed race children to have to listen to prejudices voiced by one or other of their races against the other one. This can create a real sense of dislocation and being an outsider. One of my great fears as a child, which has recurred through my life, was of a great war between white and black in which I could find no haven on either side."

The media are also paying a lot more attention to the mixed race ethnicity. In a 2006 article for The Guardian newspaper, Laura Smith talked being mixed race: "Aged seven, I had the dubious distinction of being the only girl with one pink and one brown parent at my north London primary school. Although rarely intentionally unkind - apart from the little boy who called me poo in the school playground when the mood took him - my all-white classmates never let me forget that I was not like them. They asked me what it felt like to be black and touched my hair uninvited. In turn, I cut off my curls as gifts to satisfy their curiosity and told them that where my mum came from they cleaned their teeth by chewing on sticks. Nearly 25 years on, much has changed. The last national census counted 680,000 mixed race people, accounting for 1.2% of the overall population and nearly 15% of the ethnic minority population - and that is widely believed to be an underestimate. Suddenly, our image is everywhere, projected on posters selling Marks & Spencer's bikinis or sofas for DFS. Mixed-race people have become the acceptable face of ethnic minorities for advertisers and programme makers. We are sufficiently exotic for viewers and consumers to recognise as "other", and therefore a handy shorthand for diversity without the potential alienation associated with using somebody too black, too different, too dangerous. And yet there is an inconsistency. Despite our growth in numbers and our incredible visibility, we are utterly absent from any public debate on race. We appear to be the elephant in the room: obvious to anybody living in a large British city yet invisible at a government level. Take the current discussion surrounding multiculturalism. The fact that people are increasingly falling in love, or simply in lust, and having children across a so-called racial divide is an inconvenient truth that challenges the government's notion of neat "communities" of black, white or Asian people." [to read the full article, see the links at the bottom of this post]

Being mixed race is very different from other any other race and has both its advantages and disadvantages. I believe however that as this ethnicity grows and becomes more common, eventually being mixed race will become as normal as being Black or Asian or White and perhaps my future mixed race grandchildren will have completely different experiences to myself, just as I have had different experiences to people like Sir Keith Ajegbo who grew up in the 1950s and 60s.

Information from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiracial#Regions_with_significant_multiracial_populations

http://www.intermix.org.uk/word_up/index.asp

Melanie Brown's autobiography Catch A Fire

http://www.intermix.org.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=640

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2006/sep/06/guardiansocietysupplement1

http://mixedness.millipedia.net/Default.aspx.LocID-0hgnew0y6.RefLocID-0hg01l0hg01l001.Lang-EN.htm

http://www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/main/contacts.php?p68

Multiculturalism And Its Impact On Democratic Society

"Imagine if the tea party was black" - Tim Wise

We found this fantastic post on ephphatha-poetry.blogspot.com and had to share it with you guys:

Let’s play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called “Imagine.” The way it’s played is simple: we’ll envision recent happenings in the news, but then change them up a bit. Instead of envisioning white people as the main actors in the scenes we’ll conjure - the ones who are driving the action - we’ll envision black folks or other people of color instead. The object of the game is to imagine the public reaction to the events or incidents, if the main actors were of color, rather than white. Whoever gains the most insight into the workings of race in America, at the end of the game, wins.

So let’s begin.

Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters —the black protesters — spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? Would these protester — these black protesters with guns — be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans? Because, after all, that’s what happened recently when white gun enthusiasts descended upon the nation’s capital, arms in hand, and verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country’s political leaders if the need arose.

Imagine that white members of Congress, while walking to work, were surrounded by thousands of angry black people, one of whom proceeded to spit on one of those congressmen for not voting the way the black demonstrators desired. Would the protesters be seen as merely patriotic Americans voicing their opinions, or as an angry, potentially violent, and even insurrectionary mob? After all, this is what white Tea Party protesters did recently in Washington.

Imagine that a rap artist were to say, in reference to a white president: “He’s a piece of shit and I told him to suck on my machine gun.” Because that’s what rocker Ted Nugent said recently about President Obama.

Imagine that a prominent mainstream black political commentator had long employed an overt bigot as Executive Director of his organization, and that this bigot regularly participated in black separatist conferences, and once assaulted a white person while calling them by a racial slur. When that prominent black commentator and his sister — who also works for the organization — defended the bigot as a good guy who was misunderstood and “going through a tough time in his life” would anyone accept their excuse-making? Would that commentator still have a place on a mainstream network? Because that’s what happened in the real world, when Pat Buchanan employed as Executive Director of his group, America’s Cause, a blatant racist who did all these things, or at least their white equivalents: attending white separatist conferences and attacking a black woman while calling her the n-word.

Imagine that a black radio host were to suggest that the only way to get promoted in the administration of a white president is by “hating black people,” or that a prominent white person had only endorsed a white presidential candidate as an act of racial bonding, or blamed a white president for a fight on a school bus in which a black kid was jumped by two white kids, or said that he wouldn’t want to kill all conservatives, but rather, would like to leave just enough—“living fossils” as he called them—“so we will never forget what these people stood for.” After all, these are things that Rush Limbaugh has said, about Barack Obama’s administration, Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama, a fight on a school bus in Belleville, Illinois in which two black kids beat up a white kid, and about liberals, generally.

Imagine that a black pastor, formerly a member of the U.S. military, were to declare, as part of his opposition to a white president’s policies, that he was ready to “suit up, get my gun, go to Washington, and do what they trained me to do.” This is, after all, what Pastor Stan Craig said recently at a Tea Party rally in Greenville, South Carolina.

Imagine a black radio talk show host gleefully predicting a revolution by people of color if the government continues to be dominated by the rich white men who have been “destroying” the country, or if said radio personality were to call Christians or Jews non-humans, or say that when it came to conservatives, the best solution would be to “hang ‘em high.” And what would happen to any congressional representative who praised that commentator for “speaking common sense” and likened his hate talk to “American values?” After all, those are among the things said by radio host and best-selling author Michael Savage, predicting white revolution in the face of multiculturalism, or said by Savage about Muslims and liberals, respectively. And it was Congressman Culbertson, from Texas, who praised Savage in that way, despite his hateful rhetoric.

Imagine a black political commentator suggesting that the only thing the guy who flew his plane into the Austin, Texas IRS building did wrong was not blowing up Fox News instead. This is, after all, what Anne Coulter said about Tim McVeigh, when she noted that his only mistake was not blowing up the New York Times.

Imagine that a popular black liberal website posted comments about the daughter of a white president, calling her “typical redneck trash,” or a “whore” whose mother entertains her by “making monkey sounds.” After all that’s comparable to what conservatives posted about Malia Obama on freerepublic.com last year, when they referred to her as “ghetto trash.”

Imagine that black protesters at a large political rally were walking around with signs calling for the lynching of their congressional enemies. Because that’s what white conservatives did last year, in reference to Democratic party leaders in Congress.

In other words, imagine that even one-third of the anger and vitriol currently being hurled at President Obama, by folks who are almost exclusively white, were being aimed, instead, at a white president, by people of color. How many whites viewing the anger, the hatred, the contempt for that white president would then wax eloquent about free speech, and the glories of democracy? And how many would be calling for further crackdowns on thuggish behavior, and investigations into the radical agendas of those same people of color?

To ask any of these questions is to answer them. Protest is only seen as fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing themselves as prototypically American engage in it. When the dangerous and dark “other” does so, however, it isn’t viewed as normal or natural, let alone patriotic. Which is why Rush Limbaugh could say, this past week, that the Tea Parties are the first time since the Civil War that ordinary, common Americans stood up for their rights: a statement that erases the normalcy and “American-ness” of blacks in the civil rights struggle, not to mention women in the fight for suffrage and equality, working people in the fight for better working conditions, and LGBT folks as they struggle to be treated as full and equal human beings.

And this, my friends, is what white privilege is all about. The ability to threaten others, to engage in violent and incendiary rhetoric without consequence, to be viewed as patriotic and normal no matter what you do, and never to be feared and despised as people of color would be, if they tried to get away with half the shit we do, on a daily basis.

Game Over.

Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S. Wise has spoken in 48 states, on over 400 college campuses, and to community groups around the nation. Wise has provided anti-racism training to teachers nationwide, and has trained physicians and medical industry professionals on how to combat racial inequities in health care. His latest book is called Between Barack and a Hard Place.

The Apprentice Adviser's Rwandan Mission

Nick Hewer is well recognised in the UK as Lord Alan Sugar's adviser in the reality television show The Apprentice but, increasingly important to him, he is also patron for the Hopes & Homes for Children charity.

The charity helps with housing and healthcare for vulnerable children and their families in 10 Eastern European and African countries. "They're essentially ensuring that children grow up in a family environment, but in Rwanda particularly that they're taken out of malnutrition and grow up to be healthy kids - thats the core objective" says Hewer.

In Rwanda, 20% of children die before the age of 5 from malnutrition, malaria and HIV/AIDS, mainly malnutrition. While in Rwanda, Hewer visited one of the 3 'hubs' which treats over 1400 people. These 'hubs' were built to provide shelter, clean water, food and healthcare for children and vulnerable families. "They get a free healthy meal, sex education, inoculations, HIV testing, the weighing and the follow-through with the children so they come back again and again, so they're brought back up to proper weight levels".

Self-help is also part of the project as families are encouraged to keep rabbits as a low-cost source of protein and there are small 'micro' loans to encourage enterprise in the most difficult of circumstances. "I saw one young kid, he was 14, he looked about eight because he was so malnourished, he was tiny. He was sleeping in the corner of a mud hut that is about the size of a potting shed without anything in it. He's now clothed and back in school, but critically, they gave him £20 so he could start a peanut business, roasting them in his little hut and selling them in the market. That little kid can now afford to feed himself, clothe himself and pay his school fees... and suddenly he's a little businessman. Wonderful."

Nick Hewer said "I took away with me the memory of a very inhibited population. They went through the most terrible time, a million people killed in 100 days. I know it was back in 1994 but its still a repressed population. I also got the impression of a country that are really going t0 fight their way through."

This is rewritten from a BBC article (click here) about how high-profile names can help raise awareness of a disease or condition, and bring it under the spotlight. Their video series talks to those in the public eye about their personal reasons for speaking out.

Political Writing-Orwell

According to Orwell political writing is used to “defend the indefensible” which means that it justifies killing other people for the sake of your gain. For example inside the text on page it says “Millions of peasants are robbed of their farms and sent trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry”. This statement says that the people/politicians in power really don’t mind sacrificing lives for gain. The land served a purpose for the politicians. They are going to get the land even if it means people leaving their homes with only their clothes.

Language is an important as a way of knowing because it allows you to know the difference between truths. Whenever someone speaks to a person that person would know if it is true. For example when President Bush tells us about war we as people can tell that there is something he isn’t telling us. President Bush isn’t telling us about the thousands of innocent people dying because of the war. He is not telling us that due to the war hundreds of children will not see their parents because unfortunately they were the causalities of war.

The corruption of language could lead to a totalitarian ideology such as “Fascism” & “Stalinism” because NOW people are willing to believe anything by someone of political power. Hitler was the feur of Germany which meant he was looked up to upon the masses. He was such an influential person that whatever he said was to be had gotten done even if it meant killing millions of people. Hitler was by no means a good person and in fact his mind was so corrupt that he was willing to accept praises from the masses. He actually favored himself as a God. If the masses had thought for themselves he would not have climbed the political ladder as he did. He would not have been able to do the things that he did. Since he did get inside the mind of the masses he was able to kill millions of Gays, Jews, Blacks, Gypsies and more. He had no remorse for human lives.

If the masses had thought for themselves he would have been out of office and in prison when he first proposed such an idea as this. Millions of PEOPLE died, not objects but HUMAN LIVES were taken for the simple fact that they did not fit into his idea of a German Society. This goes to show that if not corrected the Dark Nature of Man will take control of person just for the concept of POWER. If the Dark Nature of Man speaks the language in which people with no beliefs for themselves and they feel that they may benefit it takes control of them now.

Get to know the British Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II

Today is the 84th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, the current queen of the United Kingdom and so here is some information about her!

The Queen is Head of State of the UK and 15 other Commonwealth realms: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. She holds each crown separately and equally in a shared monarchy, as well as acting as Head of the Commonwealth, and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Between 1956 and 1992, half of her realms, including South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon (renamed Sri Lanka), became republics. As a constitutional monarch, she is politically neutral and by convention her role is largely ceremonial.

The elder daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, she was born in 1926 and became Queen at the age of 25, and has reigned through more than five decades of enormous social change and development. The Queen is married to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and has four children and eight grandchildren.

When Elizabeth was born, the British Empire was a pre-eminent world power, but its influence declined, particularly after the Second World War, and the empire evolved into the Commonwealth of Nations. Her father, George VI, was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth.

At the time of her birth she stood third in line of succession to the throne after Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), and her father, The Duke of York. But it was not expected that her father would become King, or that she would become Queen.

Princess Elizabeth's quiet family life came to an end in 1936, when her grandfather, King George V, died. His eldest son came to the throne as King Edward VIII, but, before the end of the year, King Edward VIII had decided to give up the throne in order to marry the woman he loved, Mrs Wallis Simpson.Upon his abdication, Princess Elizabeth's father acceded to the throne as King George VI, and in 1937 the two Princesses attended their parents' coronation in Westminster Abbey.Princess Elizabeth was now first in line to the throne, and a figure of even more intense public interest.

Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret were educated at home. On the outbreak of war in 1939, they were evacuated to Windsor Castle. In 1945, Elizabeth joined the war effort, training as a driver in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service (WATS). In November 1947, she married a distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten (formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark), who was created duke of Edinburgh.

The couple, who had known each other for many years, were married in Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947. The event was fairly simple, as Britain was still recovering from the war, and Princess Elizabeth had to collect clothing coupons for her dress, like any other young bride. They spent their honeymoon at Broadlands, Hampshire, the home of Lord Mountbatten, and at Birkhall, Balmoral.

George VI died on 6 February 1952 while Elizabeth and Philip were in Kenya. She returned home immediately, and was crowned at Westminster Abbey in June 1953. For more than 50 years, during a period of great change in Britain, the queen has carried out her political duties as head of state, the ceremonial responsibilities of the sovereign and a large annual programme of visits in the United Kingdom as well as numerous foreign tours.

Despite the controversies and scandals surrounding her children and other members of the royal family, she remains a respected head of state. In 2002, Elizabeth celebrated her golden jubilee (50 years on the throne) and in 2006 her 80th birthday.

Aside from her official religious role as Supreme Governor of the established Church of England, Elizabeth personally worships with that church and with the national Church of Scotland. She regularly attends Sunday service at Crathie Kirk when in Balmoral.Frequently, the Queen will add a personal note about her faith to her annual Royal Christmas Message broadcast to the Commonwealth, such as in 2000, when she spoke about the theological significance of the millennium marking the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. Elizabeth also demonstrated support for inter-faith relations, often meeting with leaders of other religions, and granting her personal patronage to the Council of Christians and Jews.

Many people do not know exactlty what the monarch does and according to the official Royal Family website, the Queen has many different duties to perform every day.Some are public duties, such as ceremonies, receptions and visits within the United Kingdom or abroad. Other duties are carried out away from the cameras, but they are no less important. These include reading letters from the public, official papers and briefing notes; audiences with political ministers or ambassadors; and meetings with her Private Secretaries to discuss daily business and her future diary plans. Even when she is away from London, in residence at Balmoral or Sandringham, she receives official papers nearly every day of every year and remains fully briefed on matters affecting her realms.As the current monarch of Britain her face is on all money and stamps.She also gives a special Christmas message on television every year on Christmas Day.

Information from:

http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/HMTheQueen.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II_of_the_United_Kingdom

http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/Earlylife/Earlylife.aspx

http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/DayInTheLife/Queensworkingday.aspx

http://www.royal.gov.uk/HMTheQueen/Marriageandfamily/Marriageandfamily.aspx

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/elizabeth_ii_queen.shtml

Who is Thomas Jefferson?

Thomas Jefferson

He was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and—for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States—one of the most influential Founding Fathers. Jefferson envisioned America as the force behind a great "Empire of Liberty" that would promote republicanism and counter the imperialism of the British Empire.[1]

When Jefferson assumed the Presidency, the crisis in France had passed. He slashed Army and Navy expenditures, cut the budget, eliminated the tax on whiskey so unpopular in the West, yet reduced the national debt by a third. He also sent a naval squadron to fight the Barbary pirates, who were harassing American commerce in the Mediterranean. Further, although the Constitution made no provision for the acquisition of new land, Jefferson suppressed his qualms over constitutionality when he had the opportunity to acquire the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803.

During Jefferson's second term, he was increasingly preoccupied with keeping the Nation from involvement in the Napoleonic wars, though both England and France interfered with the neutral rights of American merchantmen. Jefferson's attempted solution, an embargo upon American shipping, worked badly and was unpopular.[2]

Jefferson retired to Monticello to ponder such projects as his grand designs for the University of Virginia. A French nobleman observed that he had placed his house and his mind "on an elevated situation, from which he might contemplate the universe."

Thomas Jefferson had a philosophy which became known as the Jeffersonian Philosophy. The Jeffersonian philosophy held that all men had the right to be informed, and thus, to have a say in the government. The protection and expansion of human liberty was one of the chief goals of the Jeffersonians. They also reformed their respective state systems of education. They believed that their citizens had the right and should be educated no matter their circumstance or status in life.

Internationally, Thomas Jefferson and the Jeffersonians believed that the American form of government was "the world's best hope." They believed that the United States would be an example to the rest of the world in establishing their own sovereign constitutional republics. When the French Revolution broke out, American supporters and allies of France had hopes that the monarchy would fall and the people would form a government of themselves. Domestically, original Jeffersonian thought also had agrarian elements, and believed that the farmer should be the backbone of any nation, supplying it with a strong work ethic and virtue.[3]

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson

[2] http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/thomasjefferson

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffersonian_political_philosophy

Harriet Tubman: "The Black Moses"

Today is Harriet Tubman day in the USA and to celebrate, we are going to tell you all about this stunning woman.

Harriet Tubman was born Araminta "Minty" Ross to slave parents and as with many slaves in the USA, her exact date of birth wasn't recorded and estimates of the year of her birth are between 1820-25. Her maternal grandmother arrived on a slave ship to the US from Africa, but no other information about her ancestors is known. She was the fifth born of nine children.

Her mother, Harriet or "Rit", struggled to keep the family together as slavery tore it apart. Her owner Edward Brodess sold three of her daughters, separating them from the family forever. When a trader tried to buy her son Moses, she hid him for a month, aided by other slaves and free blacks in the community.When Brodess and the potential buyer finally came to seize the child, Rit told them "You are after my son; but the first man that comes into my house, I will split his head open." The sale was then abandoned. Tubman's biographers agree that this event influenced her belief in the possibilities of resistance.

As a child Harriet took care of her younger brother and a baby. At 5 or 6 she was hired as a nursemaid to watch a sleeping baby and when the baby woke and cried, Tubman was whipped. Later, to protect herself from the abuse she wrapped herself in layers of clothing but cried out as if she wasn't protected. Another time she bit a man's knee while receiving punishment; afterwards he kept his distance. She also worked for a planter and was ordered into nearby marshes to check the muskrat traps. Even after contracting measles she was sent into waist-high cold water. She became very ill and was sent back gone, to be nursed back to health by her mother. As she grew older she was assigned to gruelling field and forest work. One day as a teenager she was struck on the head by a 2 pound weight which was aimed at a different slave. She was sent back to her owners house and left without medical care for 2 days and then sent back to the fields. Her boss said she wasn't "worth a sixpence" and returned her to Brodess who tried unsuccessfully to sell her. She began having disabling seizures, headaches, powerful visionary and dream activity and spells of hypersomnia which occurred throughout her entire life. A devout Christian, she ascribed her visions and vivid dreams to premonitions from God.

In or around 1844 she married a free black man named John Tubman. Their union was complicated due to her slave status. The mother's status dictated that of the children so any children born to Harriet and John would be enslaved. Tubman changed her name from Araminta to Harriet soon after her marriage though the exact timing is unclear.

In 1849 Tubman became ill again and her value as a slave diminished as a result. Brodess tried to sell her but couldn't find a buyer. Tubman began to pray that her owner would change his ways and stop trying to sell her. When it appeared as if the sale was being finalised, she changed her prayers, instead praying for God to kill him. Brodess died a week later and Tubman expressed regret for her earlier sentiments. Brodess' widow began selling the family slaves but Tubman refused to wait for the Brodess family to decide her fate. Tubman and her brothers Ben and Henry escaped from slavery on September 17 1849. Tubman was hired out to Dr. Anthony Thompson and it is likely her brothers labored for Thompson too. Two weeks later, Brodess' widow posted a runaway notice offering a reward for the return of her slaves. Tubman's brothers succumbed to second thoughts, fearful of the dangers ahead, and went back, forcing Tubman to return with them. Soon afterwards Tubman escaped again, this time without her brothers. Tubman made use of the extensive network known as the Underground Railroad. This nformal but well-organised system was composed of free and enslaved blacks, white abolitionists and other activists.

In 1850 Tubman received warning that her niece and her niece's two children were going to be sold. Horrified at the prospect of having her family broken up even more, Tubman returned to the land of her enslavement. Tubman's niece and children escaped and Tubman brought the family safely to Philadelphia. The following spring she went back to Maryland to help guide away other family members. This time she brought back her brother Moses and two other unidentified men. As she led more and more individuals out of slavery, she became popularly known as "Moses" - an allusion to the prophet in the Book of Exodus who led the Hebrews to freedom. In the fall of 1851 Tubman returned to Dorchester County to find her husband. While she had been gone, John had married another woman named Caroline and Tubman sent word that he should join her but he said he was happy where he was. Suppressing her anger, Tubman found some slave who wanted to escape and led them to Philadelphia. In December 1851 Tubman guided a group of 11 fugitives northward to Canada. For eleven years Tubman returned to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, rescuing some seventy slaves in 13 expeditions including her 3 other brothers, their wives and some of their children. She also provided specific instructions for about 50 to 60 other fugitives who escaped to the north. Slaveholders in the region never knew that "Minty" was behind the slave escapes. They began to suspect a northern white abolitionist was secretly enticing their slaves away. Despite the best efforts of the slaveholders, Tubman was never captured and neither were the fugitives she guided. One of her last missions into Maryland was to retrieve her aging parents. She travelled to the Eastern Shore and led them north to Canada.

When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Tubman saw a Union victory as a key step toward the abolition of slavery. Tubman hoped to offer her own expertise and skills to the Union cause and soon she joined a group of abolitionists. Tubman served as a nurse in Port Royal, preparing remedies from local plants and aiding soldiers suffering from dysentery. She rendered assistance to men with smallpox. When Lincoln finally put the Emancipation Proclamation into effect Tubman considered it an important step toward the goal of liberating all black people from slavery. She renewed her support for a defeat of the Confederacy and soon she was leading a band of scouts through the land around Port Royal. She later provided Colonel James Montgomery with key intelligence which aided the capture of Jacksonville, Florida. Later that year Tubman became the first woman to lead an armed assault during the Civil War, a raid which rescued more than seven hundred slaves. For 2 more years Tubman worked for the Union forces scouting into Confederate territory and nursing wounded soldiers in Virginia. Despite her years of service, she had never received a regular salary and was for years denied compensation. She didn't receive a pension for her service until 1899. Her constant humanitarian work for her family and former slaves kept her in a state of constant poverty.

Tubman spent her remaining years in Auburn and married a Civil War veteran called Nelson Davis, who was 22 years younger. They spent the next 20 years together and in 1874 they adopted a baby girl named Gertie.

Tubman worked in her later years to promote the cause of women's suffrage. Tubman travelled to New York, Boston and Washington D.C to speak out in favour of women's voting rights. She was the keynote speaker at the first meeting of the National Federation of Afro-American Women.

At the turn of the century Tubman became heavily involved with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Auburn. In 1903 she donated a parcel of real estate to the church under the instruction that it be made into a home for "aged and indigent colored people". It was named the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged and opened on June 23, 1908. By 1911 her body was so frail that she had to be admitted to the rest home. Surrounded by friends and family members, Harriet Tubman died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913. Just before she died, she told those in the room "I go to prepare a place for you".

This information is taken from the Wikipedia page on Harriet Tubman. To read the entire page on her life, click here.

Below is a youtube video of an edited documentary on Harriet Tubman.

How to make your voice heard 101

This fantastic video was posted on http://blogs.cqpolitics.com by Craig Crawford. It does talk in terms of contacting in the US but the tips are definitely usable in other countries.

Election Of Barack Obama

The election of Barack Obama has affected lives around the globe; it has truly been a groundbreaking election. People all over the world tuned into America just to view this election. President Barack Obama encompasses everything we look for in a president. He is intelligent, charismatic, and dedicated to build a better America.

Just watching President Obama speak has renewed my own sense of hope. President Obama speaks with eloquence. He speaks in a way that commands your attention. We watch with our eyes wide open wanting more. In some aspects we cry because what he says hits very close to home. For example, when President Obama talks about the struggling economy and its effects on us we may cry. We cry because we may be or know someone that probably has lost something due to this recession. It feels like this President, President Obama is the one America needs.

When I see scenes such as him speaking I sit for a minute and think. I actually cannot believe that someone of his caliber came from a place similar to mine. President Obama attended Harvard University, which is one of the most prestigious schools in America. From my perspective he attained the unattainable. It has been a dream of mine to attend Harvard University. When I see him achieve heights such as this it lets me know to keep on moving. It makes me aware that if I try hard, great things can happen. I can see now that a person's life should not center around what career makes the most money. A person should do what he or she feels that they should be doing.

Another thing that has renewed my sense of hope is the fact that he crosses the racial divide. Every American should be aware of the race issues that lay inside of America's foundation. We are a country built with the help of slaves. We are also a country who excluded certain races from entry into America. The Asian Exclusion Act that was passed in 1924 as part of the Immigration Act of 1924 is an example of race specific legislation in the United States. It was designed to restrict freedom of movement to people on the basis of their race and national origin. Last but not least we are a country that viewed segregation as legal because it viewed some races as inferior.

Every American is by all means aware of our past. Throughout the hundreds of years that America has been developed as a country a defensive race mindset has been developed. This mindset regard some races as superior while others are inferior. Some people viewed African-Americans as people who would not achieve anything. President Obama has achieved the ultimate dream by becoming America's first African-American president. He has crushed the racial stereotype that consistently persists in America.

There are stereotypes such as African-Americans are all drug sellers or that Spanish-Americans came to this country illegally. These are the stereotypes that go through a person's mind and prevent them from getting to know people. In addition to this America is faced with de facto segregation. De facto segregation is the segregation of races that happens in fact rather than by law. For example, when you look at a lot of neighborhoods and schools in Chicago, you will see that most are predominantly one race. A lot of our communities are predominantly one race which makes our schools one race and of one mindset. There is no personal benefit when there is only one mind frame. America lives through its diversity and without it we're stuck with only, one idea that gets us nowhere, for people to know things and knowledge to be gained different concepts and ideals must then be introduced. Integration is the key to saving our great nation. President Obama is the president that I think will integrate us all so we can truly benefit from diversity.

This has allowed millions of people to see that African-Americans are more than capable of becoming great leaders. By seeing this, it truly inspires us to become better people. We are all captivated by this election. After the election I was in a transcending state of disbelief. I couldn't believe that I was born when the first African American president was elected. The election inspired me to become a better person. Before the election I had a mindset that I will become a successful person with only one thing on my mind myself. I was only concerned about myself and the things I would achieve in life. After watching President Obama, and reasoning about the things he's been through, I feel empowered. I now believe that I should give back to my community in a positive way. I should inspire others to become better people in the way that President Obama has inspired me.

The phrase "Yes We Can" resonates through my mind constantly. I have heard this phrase many times before; I never stopped to think how the words "Yes We Can" could impact America so much. When Obama was declared President of the United States everyone in my community was yelling this motto-"Yes We Can!". This motto exhorts us to do the things we thought were impossible. I can envision the world as a positive place to be. I used to worry about the future of America; but no longer. President Obama will change America for the better. We have elected a man who will be of great benefit to the world. As I come to a close, I would like to say "Thank You" to President Obama for instilling hope in millions.

Cortez A., US

Did you watch this documentary? What did you think? What do you think about Barack Obama? Leave a comment and let us know!

Letter to Arne Duncan

This is a letter I wrote when I was in 8th grade. It is regarding school segregation. I felt that it should post it since I am feeling a resurgence of activism.

Cortez A. ,US

Arne Duncan July 17, 2006

CEO of Chicago Public Schools

Central Office

Chicago, IL 60603

Dear Mr. Arne Duncan,

My name is Cortez Alexander and I am a 14 year old ninth grade student at Jane Doe Magnet School. I recently graduated from an John Doe Elementary School on Chicago’s Westside. A few weeks ago we were having an in class discussion about school segregation. From this discussion I have concluded that schools are still segregated. Segregation is when there is only one ethnic group in a facility.

School segregation is currently done now because of segregated residential areas. Due to the fact many African Americans live in segregated areas, we are now stuck in segregated schools. There should be some way to allow students to attend schools out of their area. It may also be necessary to look into why Chicago continues to be one of the most segregated cities in America.

The difference between now and the past is that it was involuntary. When segregation was legal, kids did not have a chance to interact with different ethnic groups. They had to sit there and miss learning about different cultures. Now that segregation is illegal, it seems kids cannot interact with different ethnic groups.

Segregation has made a negative impact on today’s youth. There were countless children marching for the change of segregation. That tells me if we want change, we as children are going to have to act on the problem. Which brings me to my next question why are schools still segregated, and what will it take for them to become truly integrated?