Multiracial Family Man

Ep. 52: Nicola Codner is a multiracial woman (Black Jamaican, Nigerian and White British), born and living in Leeds, Yorkshire within the UK. She is a counselor, and she feels that her background has given her a love for diversity and the ability to appreciate multiple perspectives. Prior to training as a counselor she worked in academic publishing.

She is the founder and creator of the Mixed Race Feminist Blog: https://mixedracefeministblog.wordpress.com/

Listen as Nicola speaks with Alex about multiracialism in the UK, about being a mixed-race feminist, and about the interplay of African and Afro-Caribbean culture.

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. 51: Rhonda M. Roorda, M.A., was adopted into a white family and raised with two nonadopted siblings. She is a national speaker on transracial adoption and a recipient of the Judge John P. Steketee Adoption Hero Award from the Adoptive Family Support Network (MI). With Rita J. Simon, she coauthored a landmark trilogy of books on transracial adoption (In Their Own Voices, In Their Parents’ Voices, and In Their Siblings’ Voices). She works as a fund administrator at an educational advocacy organization in Lansing, Michigan.

Listen as Rhonda speaks with Alex about her own transracial adoption, her work on the topic, and about growing up as a Black child in a White family in an African-American community and living in a geodesic dome.

For more on Rhonda, please see her website: http://rhondamroorda.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 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. 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 (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. 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.

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. 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 Ferns video), where he serves as an Executive Producer and Managing Director of Funny or Die's Washington, D.C. office.

When not hard at work, Brad also has moved onto the stage as a public speaker, and recently gave a TEDx talk about his Afro-Asian heritage, and lessons he learned from his dad. To see that talk, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3S__-5-FHQ

All in all, he has a fascinating story, and you don't want to miss it.

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. 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 White man), they have two wonderful kids (who are multiracial like Melissa), and she is living happily as a multiracial family mom who loves her work as a fitness trainer for special populations.

Hers is truly an American story.

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. 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 multiracial person with a multiracial mom and about her maintaining her mother's legacy through her lifestyle brand, Simply Eartha, and through her work withe Colon Cancer Alliance.

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. 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 also is a nanny and doula who helps train nannies and provides critical information to families looking to hire nannies. For more on her nanny training efforts, go here: http://www.periscope.tv/NaniNaniParent or here http://www.naninanikids.com/7steps/

To connect with her on social media, please go here:

- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/NaniNaniKids : - Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NaniNaniKids or http://www.twitter.com/Parent - Periscope: http://www.periscope.tv/NaniNaniKids : Live kids shows - Facebook: http://facebook.com/NaniNaniKids For her World Artist Coloring Books (English and Spanish) http://www.amazon.com/Nani-Nani-Kids/e/B00YX310FE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1449042755&sr=8-1

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. 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 Multiracial Family Man, please click here: MULTIRACIAL FAMILY MAN PODCAST

And, for a link to Maria P.P. Root, Ph.D. (author/creator of the Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage), please see: http://www.drmariaroot.com/

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/