May is Mixed Experience History Month!

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

My goodness, May is more than half over and I have yet to direct your attention over to Heidi Durrow's Light Skinned-ed Girl blog, where as always, she is celebrating Mixed Experience History Month by profiling a famous Mixed-Race person every single day during the month of May. It's a pretty ambitious project and yet Durrow always manages to find new and interesting Mixies of note to highlight. I always learn something new from her research, like for example, the great Black female aviator, Bessie Coleman's father was mixed, African-American and Cherokee.

I am really impressed and happy that Durrow founded Mixed Experience History Month, way back in 2007. She has opened my eyes to the fact that the Mixed Experience is a unique one and an important one to recognize and celebrate the world over.

Just for fun and to read more about Durrow and her own Mixed experience as an Afro-Viking, check out this Q&A with Durrow that ran in The New Yorker. And if you feel like sharing, who's your favorite Mixie historical figure? Mine? That's easy. Right now, I'm all about, Juan de Pareja, the biracial slave of the Spanish painter, Velazquez. According to legend, Pareja secretly taught himself to paint and his work now hangs in the Prado museum in Madrid. There are many myths about Juan de Pareja, including a YA novel based on his life story. What seems clear is that his mother was Black (African) and his father was Spanish. To read more about him, check out this link.

Okay, your turn.

I'm listening.

Peace!