Swirlz Article

Recently I was contacted through Twitter by a new magazine called Swirlz. They had read a tweet I had posted about being multiracial, which had been retweeted by a few "heavy hitters" in the multiracial media world, like the children's author of "Amy Hodgepodge". They asked me to write a small article on multiracialness and submit it to them. If they liked it enough they were going to publish it in their magazine, and from there I would offically become a published writer.

Below is the short article I wrote from them on growing up with a multiracial identity. I will know by the end of this week if it is getting published - so keep your fingers crossed.

Enjoy!

I, myself, identify as a multiracial male that grew up in the South. Within this geographic arena I was constantly assaulted with questions about my identity. Being of a multiracial background, I fulfilled the stereotype that floats around in society that when two persons of different ethnic/racial backgrounds have children, their children will grow in a society where they will be confused and in a constant feeling of exclusion from their multifaceted background. I was constantly reminded that my brown skin marked me as Black, Egyptian, Cuban, and anything else that had a skin tone that parallels a coffee drink at a local Starbucks. And from my minority background, I always faced a constant competition of "realness" revolving around my racial identity. From this I learned that it isn’t exactly praised when one is of multiracial status.

Daily, I was confronted with the single praise that anyone of multiracial/national/ethnic background can see coming from a mile away – “What are you?” Many say that when this question is asked it is most commonly referring to ones ethnic makeup, but for the little boy of color in the suburbs of Tennessee all I heard was “You’re not a 'real' person". I became hyperaware of all my attributes that society shunned and I had to learn to love them quickly, because I thought that no one else would.

My life experiences have made me continually thankful for my multiracial background daily. It has allowed me to have a beautiful life journey, so far, where I am allowed to experience so many environments. Growing up people always worried that I and my sister were going to be "confused" about our identities and face discrimination. I will not argue that we did not face discrimination, but however I will argue that confusion isn't something I experienced, personally. Awareness is a better word for this feeling, and I am thankful for being allotted that quality. I was aware of what people truly thought of me, I was aware on how I felt about this treatment, and I most importantly became aware of what I can do to make myself happy.

Children of multiracial or biracial backgrounds should not always be spoken to with empathy and concern, because behind that beautiful skin tone is a person who is unique, beautiful, and most importantly aware, and that will take them as high in life as they can ever imagine.