Richard and Mildred Loving raised three children Sidney, Donald and Peggy. Scholar and write Arica Coleman has explained that Sidney was Mildred’s son from a prior relationship. Donald was born 4 months after they were married. Peggy is their only daughter.
We are super excited about the release of the new film, A United Kingdom, directed by Amma Asante that shares the forgotten, yet epic love story that rocked the world in the 1940s.
Here is a synopsis of the film:
A UNITED KINGDOM tells the inspiring true story of Seretse Khama, the King of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana), and Ruth Williams, the London office worker he married in 1948 in the face of fierce opposition from their families and the British and South African governments. Seretse and Ruth defied family, Apartheid and empire – their love triumphed over every obstacle flung in their path and in so doing they transformed their nation and inspired the world.
Director Amma Asante recently spoke to Vanity Fair about the film which the magazine calls “heart-wrenching”:
“To me, I always think that we know that times are changing when there’s more than one of this kind of film,” Asante told Vanity Fair during a recent phone call.
When we can get to the point where non-white or interracial stories don’t give audiences pause, Asante continued, then “we can concentrate on the story, and not simply the fact that there’s people of different colors. Now, I think we’re moving somewhere positive.”
The reviews have been great and we want the box office to be great too. Make sure you support films like this so that our stories continue to get heard in the mainstream!
We’re big fans of TED Talks generally but when they are focused on stories of the mixed-race or multiracial experience we get really excited! We thought we’d share a round-up of a few that we like! We hope you like them too.
This is a really moving talk by actress Thandie Newton about being mixed and coming to terms with her otherness as a child of two cultures. Thank you Thandie.
Dr. Karen Tabb Dina talks about why it is important to critically examine race/ancestry in health research as she looks at the health information of mixed-race individuals.
Aaron Samuels is a festival favorite who has taught, performed and hosted at the Mixed Remixed Festival. He is a talented poet and speaker and he talks eloquently about his background as a mixed-race (African-American and Jewish) young man in America.
This is a really moving talk about growing up mixed in Japan and the United States. Her personal exploration turned into a creative mission in telling the story of being hafu through film.
Merleyn is the creator of a radio show called Race Matters. Here she talks about being biracial and the importance of talking about it.
The rising Georgetown junior talks about being biracial (Black and Indian) and how she found slam poetry as a way for her to deal with experiencing her difference (the good and the bad of it).
Join us for the largest gathering of multiracial and mixed-race families and people in June 2017 for the 4th Annual Mixed Remixed Festival.
We hope that you are enjoying a happy and peaceful holiday season! And we can’t wait to see you next year!
Want to know more about the moderators behind the Mixed Remixed On-Line Book Club? Today, meet Jamie Moore who is the Festival’s Workshop and Literary Director. And don’t forget to join us over on Goodreads as we get ready for our next book club pick set for a discussion next month.-Heidi Durrow
What do you hope that people will get out of the Mixed Remixed Festival On-Line Book Club?
I hope that participating in the Mixed Remixed Festival Online Book Club that people will have the opportunity to extend the discussion about literature of the mixed experience and it’s role in shaping the way we think about ourselves and our community. I hope we can reach out and include those who haven’t been able to join us in person in this dialogue and build community with each other!
Why do you think it’s necessary?
I think this is necessary because I can think of any other group or conference that is having this conversation. I believe our focus and our strength is in personal story, and by making the space to talk specifically about literature with mixed characters or stories, then we create the demand. We support and build an appreciation and distinction of the mixed experience that is multifaceted, individuals and unique.
What sparked your love of books and reading?
I was a shy kid growing up, and outside of my close friends, didn’t make a huge effort to be social. Yet, I still craved adventure and story. My mother made a huge effort to put books in my hands as soon as I could read, and then I was obsessed. As I got older, I looked to books for information and for validation of my experiences and feelings. I had a lot of conflict growing up mixed, and stories made me feel like my own journey was valuable and worth talking about.
Growing up mixed, did you find books or stories that reflected your story?
I didn’t find books that reflected my mixed experience until late high school. I read a lot of books that had characters of color, specifically young black girls. (Thanks again to my mom!) I read the Amazing Grace books and others that made me wish I was darker; that I could fit within these characters’ worlds. Perhaps the first mixed-heritage character I remember is Sal from Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons, which I read over and over again. In high school, James McBride’s The Color of Water was required reading, and it changed my life. I related to the anxiety he felt around identity, and the descriptions of his family. This book made me believe there were others like it out there. In college, I started my blog Mixed Reader to find those books, and build that canon for myself.
Who are your favorite authors? Or can you name some of your favorite books with mixed characters or interracial families?
My favorite authors are those who talk about intersectional and interracial experiences, in fiction and beyond. My current favorites include James Baldwin, James McBride, Heidi Durrow, Danzy Senna, Mat Johnson, Jamie Ford, Toni Morrison, Zadie Smith, Ross Gay, and Roxane Gay.
If someone has never been part of an on-line book club before, what should they expect?
If this is someone’s first time in an online book club, they should expect a similar community as an in person book club, with the ability to communicate with a larger group! The difference I feel, is that the communication and participation has to be a lot more intentional. We have so many distractions online, and in order to build this community and feel connected to one another, we need everyone to participate. Join the group discussion on Goodreads, send us questions, comments and suggestions there or on the festival twitter and Facebook pages. I was so excited to see the discussion about Loving Day, and the conversation was both analytical and personal; so reflective of our community as a whole!
How did the first on-line discussion go?
I am so energized and proud about the first discussion. I feel like in both the podcast and online discussion there was a lot of honest conversation about the different aspects of Loving Day and how we can connect it to larger issues/topics of the mixed experience. I’m excited for our next discussion!
Jamie Moore is an English Professor in California. She is the author of the novella Our Small Faces and received her MFA in Fiction from Antioch University Los Angeles. She is the Literary and Workshops Director for the Mixed Remixed Festival. Her work was recently featured in the September 2016 issue of Drunk Monkeys.
We are grateful for the support of the Leo Buscaglia Foundation whose mission is building community Spirit by helping people and others.
Leo Buscaglia was an inspirational educator, writer and lecturer who dedicated his work and life to love. He taught a non-credit course for many years at USC called Love 1A. The class inspired a book called Love and many more that became bestsellers.
Festival founder Heidi Durrow discovered his work as a struggling teen. “I was a mixed-race teen growing up poor,” Durrow said. “I felt not just lonely but somehow unloveable. Leo Buscaglia’s books and his speeches helped me through some difficult moments. I still have his books and read them when I’m feeling blue.”
We are excited to continue to grow the Mixed Remixed Festival with the help of the Leo Buscaglia Foundation!
Giveaways will be happening all day long on June 10th & 11th! 😉🎈 At the festival, you will have the chance to win the following prizes: 🎈
Celebrate Loving Day at our Loving Day Reception Saturday June 11 starting at 5:30pm. It’s FREE! A wine and cheese reception kicks off the night (yes, the wine, beer and cheese are FREE too!) at 
5:30pm. The Storyteller’s Prize Presentation and Live Show starts at 6:30pm and wow what a show it is! Check out the line up here.
We’re honoring Taye Diggs and Shane Evans for their awesome book Mixed Me! And yes, the show is FREE too!
Immediately following the show, we will have a short dessert reception and our Storyteller’s Prize Honorees Taye Diggs and Shane Evans will sign copies of their book Mixed Me! Our wonderful bookseller Skylight Books will be on hand to sell copies!
And one more thing: Have you taken 5 seconds to sign the petition to make Loving Day a federal observance? If not do it now! Sign here!
Moderator: Khanisha Foster
Khanisha Foster is a mixed race writer, performer, director, the Associate Artistic Director of 2nd Story, ensemble member of Teatro Vista, a TCGYoung Leader of Color, and has collaborated with the Citizen’s Theatre in Scotland. She directed Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and the adaption Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. She can be seen in the film Chicago Boricua, is writing her memoir, HEROIN(E), screenplays, and is published in the anthology Briefly Knocked Unconscious By A Low Flying Duck. She is currently working on a show called Code Switching. She is getting her MFA in TV and Screenwriting from Stephens College. She hosts the podcast How I Wrote That which focuses on women who write for tv and film. www.howiwrotethat.com You can see more of her work here: http://2ndstory.com/people/khanisha-foster and check out her blog Black, White, and Awesome.
Maya’s an undergraduate student at East Carolina University double majoring in Social Work and English. Besides leading an interfaith organization and co-leading a spoken word organization on campus, Maya has published pieces about mixed race identity in Expressions Magazine, and has written pieces for ECU’s Tunnel of Oppression. She advocates for multiracial identity in video content such as #ECUWithoutMe and #Mixstory campaigns. She also has pieces published online in AltFem Magazine and Mixed Race Daily.
Jenifer Logia served as director of Mixed Student Union at UCLA for two years, helped organize the first annual Mixed Heritage Conference at UCLA, and is the current President and founder of the UCLA Mixed Alumni Association. She now works for the County of San Mateo, engaging predominantly low-income Latino residents in a variety of community development initiatives in the Bay Area.
Via Perkins is a multidisciplinary artist from the Boston area. In 2014, she set out to find her father’s side of the family, whom she had been estranged from. This personal journey sparked the creation of Strange Kindred, a collection of poetry on race, family, and the collision of black and white.
N.Laurence is a co-founder of Mixed Race Politics and a freelance web developer/designer. A mixed queer introvert, they are committed to creating and contributing to spaces that are queer-friendly, anti-racist, body-positive, feminist, and non-ableist. When they aren’t working, they can be found writing, drawing, reading, accidentally falling into the internet, accidentally taking the scenic route, and watching/over-analyzing lots of TV.
Andrea Venkatesan is the CEO of Mixed Race Politics, a proud alumna of the University of Miami, and a wanderlustress. She is passionate about integrating fourth-wave feminist values with the arts and politics, and firmly believes that creative, intelligent, and responsible media is a perfect way to start meaningful conversations that can create lasting, sociopolitical change for the better.
We talk to some of the amazing writers featured at Mixed Remixed Festival 2015 including Mat Johnson, Jamie Ford, Michelle Brittan, Marie Mockett and Bryan Medina. Don’t miss this great 
video!
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