Loving Day is an annual nationwide grassroots celebration to celebrate the Loving v. Virginia decision. The brainchild of Ken Tanabe, Loving Day’s mission is to fight racial prejudice through education and to build multicultural community.
Richard Loving was a white man who was in some ways “passing” as black. As writer and scholar Arica Coleman wrote: “[Richard Loving] lived in a county that was less than 50% white. His father was the employee of one of the wealthiest “Negroes” in the county for nearly 25 years. Richard’s closet companions were black, including his drag-racing partners and Mildred’s older brothers.” Coleman explains that the Loving’s “are prime examples of the way such [racial] lines have long been blurred.”
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.
Chief Justice Ear Warren wrote the unanimous Loving v. Virginia. “To deny this right on so unsupportable a basis as racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment,” wrote Warren , “is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law.”
Thurgood Marshall would join the Supreme Court a few months after the Loving v. Virginia decision. Marshall who married his second wife, Cecilia Suyat who is of Filipino descent, in 1955 was in an interracial marriage himself. In a 2016 Washington Post interview, his widow Cecilia “Cissy” Marshall said that when he first proposed she responded:
“‘No way. No way. People will think you are marrying a foreigner’ . . . He said, ‘I don’t care what people think. I’m marrying you.’ He was so persuasive. So we got married. And, actually, there was no repercussion because people knew me.”
We are excited to share two special film screening programs that feature filmmaker Q&As and also a special discussion with leading scholars in their fields. We will showcase recent films about interracial relationships in the morning program and films about the mixed-race and multiracial experience and identity in the afternoon program. Immediately following the screenings there will be scholar-led talks that connect current storytellers’ work in a larger historical and legal framework and link the social, cultural and economic status of multiracial populations to the broader dynamics and politics of race. There will be an opportunity for the audience to ask questions. Filmmakers will also be available to answer audience questions.
Exploring the impact of race and culture on relationships, PG is specifically pertaining to parents that feel uncomfortable with their children being romantically involved with someone outside of their race/culture. The film ventures through different avenues of dealing with this issue, while still maintaining one’s relationship with their parents.
Akil McKenzie is a film director, cinematographer, and editor that is enrolled in his third year at Sheridan College’s Bachelor of Film and Television. He has filmed and edited weddings, short films, music videos, and more. He is a hard worker that takes pride in his work and adjusts quickly to any situation. He is very easy going with a charismatic attitude.
Kimberly West-Faulcon, the former Western Regional Counsel and Director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc, holds the James P. Bradley Endowed Chair of Constitutional Law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. West-Faulcon was featured in the Los Angeles Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance “Freedom’s Sister” Exhibit as a “Southern California Freedom’s Sister” in 2011. In addition to her selection as a “Southern California Super Lawyer” in 2004, 2005, and 2006 and a “Rising Star Lawyer Under 40” in 2004 by Los Angeles Magazine, she was recognized in the 1999 millennial issue of Ebony magazine as one of Ebony’s “Ten for Tomorrow” (along with Serena Williams, Sean Combs, Chris Rock, and Tiger Woods) “who will almost certainly redefine their fields in the next millennium.” She has also been featured, quoted and interviewed extensively by national media such as CNN, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education and NPR.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program or on this website do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
It’s 2017. What’s the big deal about the mixed-race experience? It’s a question we keep hearing from many younger people. Is the mixed-race conversation is still relevant 50 years after Loving and given the current political climate on issues of race? Panelists of four different generations address these issues. There will be extended time for audience Q&A.
Kayla Briët is a 20-year-old filmmaker and composer, who explores stories of identity through multiple mediums. Her short documentary film, Smoke That Travels, invites you into a world of dance, music, and culture as she explores her fear that her native Prairie Band Potawatomi heritage will be forgotten in time. This screened and won awards internationally, including NFFTY, MoMa, The Smithsonian, and National Geographic. Recently, Kayla
One of the hottest comedians on the Hollywood scene, Actor, tv/radio host, and activist, Tehran Von Ghasri, is a Washington DC native. Mixed Iranian and African-American, Tehran is known for his multiculturalism, diversity, and unique life perspective. With degrees in International politics, economics, and law, Tehran often brings activism and social commentary to life on stage through his comedy. A Laugh Factory favorite, Tehran has been seen on Fox, Bravo, Pivot, Revolt and Comedy Central.
Caroline A. Streeter is Associate Professor of English and African American Studies at UCLA. Her book Tragic No More: Mixed Race Women and the Nexus of Sex and Celebrity (University of Massachusetts Press, 2012), looks at mixed race, black/white women in literature, film and popular culture of the United States. Her publications include essays in The Multiracial Experience, New Faces in a Changing America, Black Cultural Traffic, and The Iconic Obama.
Dr. Greg Kimura was ordained at age twenty-five in Alaska. He then obtained a PhD in philosophy of religion and taught. He then served as the head of Alaska’s humanities council before taking on the role of president/CEO at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. He now serves as Rector of St. Andrew’s Church in Ojai, Ca. Kimura is hapa, half Anglo and half Japanese.
Karen Grigsby Bates is a Los Angeles-based correspondent for NPR, where she covers race, identity and culture issue for the network’s award-winning Code Switch team. Her work often appears on Morning Edition and All Things Considered. A former contributing editor to the Los Angeles Times op-ed page, Bates’ work has also appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian UK, Essence and Emerge magazines.
Mildred Jeter was just 18-years old when she married Richard Loving who was 6 years her senior. They married in 1958 and it wasn’t until 9 years later that their right to marry was acknowledged by the Supreme Court.
LOS ANGELES, CA, April 28, 2017 — 23andMe, the leading personal genetics company, has signed on as a Benefactor Sponsor of the Mixed Remixed Festival, the nation’s largest gathering of mixed-race and multiracial families and artists. The Festival will take place at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in downtown Los Angeles (514 S. Spring Street), June 10, 2017.
Now in its fourth year, the Festival celebrates stories of multiracial Americans and families, the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. A free public event, the Festival brings together film and book lovers, innovative and emerging artists, and multiracial and multicultural families and individuals for workshops, readings, performances, and film screenings. Families can enjoy interactive craft activities, free face painting, and interactive storytelling time.
“We are extremely pleased to have 23andMe as a sponsor,” says Festival Founder Heidi Durrow who calls herself an Afro-Viking because she is African-American and Danish. “The company provides a valuable service that helps people discover the complexity of their backgrounds. The DNA stories 23andMe reveal highlight how the Mixed experience is one that we all share.”
“We are excited to support such a wonderful event,” said Joanna Mountain, PhD, population geneticist and Senior Director of Research at 23andMe. “Our country’s rich and diverse history is reflected in our DNA. Exploring your family’s genetics is just one way to connect with and discover more about your family’s unique story.”
The Festival, a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization, is produced by Durrow a New York Times best-selling writer, and a talented team of entertainment professionals and artists.
Registration opens May 1 for the fourth annual Mixed Remixed Festival, a free event that is open to the public. The complete Festival schedule will be available when registration opens at www.mixedremixed.org.
Festival sponsors and funders include: 23andMe, Mixed Chicks, the Leo Buscaglia Foundation, and the Puffin West Foundation.
The Mixed Remixed Festival, a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization, celebrates stories about mixed-race and multiracial experience and identity with an annual film, book and performance festival.
In a study published by the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, University of Nebraska researchers discovered that photos of mixed-race couples were viewed with derision. The participants were young people whose brain activity was monitored while looking at interracial couples. According to the Washington Post: “Researchers found that the insula, a part of the brain that registers disgust, was highly active when participants viewed photos of the interracial couples, but not was not highly engaged when viewers saw the images of same-race couples, whether they were white or black.”
What do you make of that “fun” fact? Are young people still tied to racist ideas of the past even though they express a more enlightened attitude?
Join us for the Mixed Remixed Festival at the Los Angeles Theatre Center 6/10. FREE! Registration opens 5/1.
The Loving v. Virginia decision continues to play an important role in the lives of interracial couples and mixed-race people. Here are quotes from moving essays about what the Supreme Court decision has meant in the personal lives of these writers:
Do you have your own story of how the Loving v. Virginia decision has affected you or your family? Let us know info(at)mixedremixed.org.
Join us for the 4th annual Mixed Remixed Festival at the Los Angeles Theatre Center 6/10. FREE! Registration opens 5/1.
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