The Brown Girl World: Raquel's Story

"Let's all pretend to be the astrologer Walter Mercado for a moment. Say we predict that the Obama administration's master plan to engage people of Latino/Hispanic/Spanish origin proves to be effective.  Let's say that along with strategic partners Telemundo and the Census Bureau, they somehow manage to corral the millions of 'Latinos' into filling out the 2010 census forms in April. Say the idea of plot-kneading the message into an already half-baked yet inexplicably popular telenovela, 'Mas Sabe el Diablo,' wins over the hearts and minds of 'Latinos' everywhere.  But what's a Latino?  While we all may speak a version of our Spanish colonizer's language, contrary to popular belief, we're not all Mexican. Yes, the majority of Latinos in America are of Mexican descent, but we also hail from other countries around the world."  Read more from this CNN article here.

Spotlight on One Brown Girl

Spotlight on Sonal Shah

Sonal R. Shah (born May 20, 1968 in Mumbai, India), is an American economist and public official. Shah moved to the USA in 1972 at the age of 4 and grew up in Houston, Texas. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Economics and received a Master’s degree in Economics from Duke University.  In April 2009, she was appointed Director of the new Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the White House. The objective of this office is to coordinate governmental efforts to aid innovative nonprofit groups and social entrepreneurs, and to expand approaches which have been successful in tackling pressing social problems.  Previously, Shah was a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project and was the head of Global Development Initiatives, a philanthropic arm of Google.org.  [Source: Wikipedia]

Project Implicit®

"Are you racially biased? Harvard University has been trying to find out with its racism test, Project Implicit®. The less than 10-minute test throws different races at you and has you identify the images as 'bad' or 'good' as quickly as you can. The idea is that your first reaction is usually the most honest.  Started 11 years ago by Harvard, the University of Washington and the University of Virginia, Project Implicit® is a joint investigation into our subconscious biases. Most people would say that they are not biased against those with darker skin, obese people or women, but researchers say that we often harbor biases that we are unaware of." Click the Demonstration icon here to take the test.  [Source: BV Black Spin]

POW! Cuba

Enjoy these images of Cuba - OBG's POW (Place of the Week) - an island country in the Caribbean. Cuba consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is the most populous insular nation in the Caribbean. Its people, culture, and customs draw from diverse sources, including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples; the period of Spanish colonialism; the introduction of African slaves; and its proximity to the United States.

According to the census of 2002, the racial make-up was 7,271,926 whites, 1,126,894 blacks and 2,778,923 mulattoes (or mestizos). The population of Cuba has very complex origins and intermarriage between diverse groups is general. There is[, however,] disagreement about racial statistics. The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami says that 62% is black, whereas statistics from the Cuban census state that 65.05% of the population was white in 2002. The Minority Rights Group International says that "An objective assessment of the situation of Afro-Cubans remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution. Estimates of the percentage of people of African descent in the Cuban population vary enormously, ranging from 33.9 per cent to 62 per cent".[Source: Wikiipedia]

It's Foto Friday!

Gisselle, an angelic Brown Baby, knows how to rock

a Blessed  Brown Girl tee!

Don't Worry, Be Hapa

(Above) Top model contestant Nicole channeling her Japanese/Malagasy identity

On America's Next Top Model a few days ago, host Tyra Banks transformed each contestant into some combination of two nationalities in a "Don't Worry, Be Hapa" model challenge.  You can bet there was some controversy surrounding Banks' choice to darken the models' skin with make-up as some people find the change of skin color insulting (calling it "Blackface") while others find the challenge an intriguing and interesting celebration of culture.  What's your take?

The One Brown Girl Challenge

Lighten up a little.

There is no way around it:  We all get angry from time to time.  But in order to avoid unnecessary stress (and all of the stuff that comes with it), it's not a bad idea to step away and take a deep breath and then carefully examine a situation that angers you before you (over?)react.  Sometimes, just sometimes, our reactions can be based on our own sensitivities about a subject/situation and we find out later that what we thought was awful/insensitive/crazy/hurtful isn't necessarily a personal attack.  Lighten up a little.  And then later if you find the anger is justified, take a proactive approach as opposed to a hysterical approach.  It'll certainly help keep your blood pressure down.

The Brown Girl World: Ismath's Story

"I will admit: I’ve avoided the sun so I wouldn’t get darker. I’ve gone swimming at night instead of during the day to avoid tan lines. It’s completely and utterly ridiculous. I should enjoy the sun’s warm rays and get some exercise! But where do these thoughts come from? We weren’t born with the innate ability to distinguish between skin colors and assign meanings to them. But for some women, the fair skin battle draws them into deeper depths than just avoiding sunshine during the day."  Read more here.