Saturday, December 17, 2011

Diversity..."Crossing the Line"!


Yesterday, I opened a photo Xmas card from my 1st cousin Gil. It was a family portrait of Gil & his wife (Linda)…and their two children…Jacob (a son), and Judith (a daughter). Also pictured in the photo were Jacob’s and Judith’s spouses (Danielle & Mike). Looking at that photo...you’d have to be blind not to notice that both Jacob and Judith married “outside their race”. I started to go though some of the other photo Xmas cards we’ve received thus far…and a huge light bulb went off! Damn near all of “Generation X” and “Generation Y”…(the latter…aka the “Millenials”)…that are a part of our immediate or extended family and friends have “crossed the line”.

I’ve written about this before…here…and here. Looking at these Xmas photo cards reminds me of what was unheard of decades ago. I wish I could be around 20 or 30 years from now to see how much America has changed in this regard…and to see how the children of these Xer’s & Yer’s are doing…especially my grandson Romell! I definitely believe it’s going to be a better America (okay…maybe just the Northeast and West Coast?) Perhaps the rest of America will catch up…and that will be a glorious day indeed!

I think my wife and I (bleeding edge baby boomers) know about 30 couples that fall into the “Gen X & Y” category. Amazing as it seems…about two thirds of them have “crossed the line”...including my two daughters (Kim & Lauren).

What’s going to happen to the Census Form? Question #6…”What is this person’s race?” Answer…”some other race”!!! Even better yet…Human! I’m lovin’ it!



So here's our little list of "Line Crossers" including our Diversity LEGEND!

Diversity Legend: (maybe…hopefully…eventually…it will become a thing of the past!)
BLK = black
WHT = white
ASN = Asian
LTN = Latino
MXD = Mixed…black/white


Generation “X & Y” (aka…the Millenials)!
  • Kim (BLK) & Tobias (WHT-German)
  • Lauren (BLK) & Byron (LTN) - Romell (son)
  • Kahrin (BLK of Jamican parents) & Lenny (French-Filipino) - dating UPDATE: married July 27th
  • Gunnar (WHT-German) & Ndidi (BLK-Nigerian) - Max (son)
  • Niki (BLK) & Harry (WHT-Greek) – Constantine (son)
  • Nadia (BLK) & Matthew (WHT-Jewish) - Selah (son)
  • Jon (WHT) & Michele (BLK) - Morgan & Sage (daughters)
  • Liz (LTN) & Ike (BLK) - engaged UPDATE: married on April 29th
  • Donna (BLK) & Chris (WHT) - separated?
  • Courtney (MXD) & Keith (WHT) - Austin (son), Olivia (daughter)
  • Kristen (MXD) & Kevin (WHT) - Sophie (daughter)
  • Kobe (BLK) & Sara (LTN) - Eleaina (daughter)
  • Jessica (BLK) & Bobby (WHT) - Kieran (son)
  • Jason (BLK) & Joan WHT)
  • Judith (BLK) & Mike (WHT) - Jaron (son)
  • Jacob (BLK) & Danielle (WHT) - Tinsley (son)
  • Brian (BLK) & Joyti (Indian) - dating
  • Courtney (BLK) & Rob (LTN-Costa Rica) - dating
  • Diane (LTN) & Anthony (BLK)
  • Soraya (LTN) & CJ (BLK) - Blake (son)
  • Jeffrey (MXD) & Teresa (ASN)
  • Diana (LTN) & Joey (Filipino)
  • UPDATE: Paul (WHT) & Ama (African Dad & Jamaican Mom)
An interesting side note:
Many of our “baby boomer” family & friends laid the ground for the X & Yer’s!

Baby Boomers:

  • George (BLK) & Nancy (WHT-Jewish)) 4 children – (see Jeffrey & Theresa above)
  • Saundra (BLK) & Rob (WHT) – 2 children…Courtney & Kristen (see above)
  • Donald (BLK) & Cindy (WHT) - 3 sons
  • Roy (WHT) & Edicta (LTN-Cuban)
  • Skip (BLK) & Maria (LTN-Cuban)
  • Walter (BLK) & Terumi (ASN-Japanese)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Black Atheists! Huh?.

New York Times - November 25th

"African-Americans are remarkably religious even for a country known for its faithfulness, as the United States is.   According to the Pew Forum 2008 United States Religious Landscape Survey, 88 percent of African-Americans believe in God with absolute certainty, compared with 71 percent of the total population, with more than half attending religious services at least once a week."

More here

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Gone...but not forgotten!


My best friend was born on December 8th...and was taken away at the tender age of 19.   John Lennon died on December 8th.   I didn't put the two together until a few years ago.   I was never a really big Beatles fan during their hey day.   (I was heavy into the Motown sound back in those days!)   The day Lennon died...they kept playing "Imagine" on the TV and radio.   It wasn't until years later that I really listened to the lyrics.   So on this day...I remember John Lennon's "Imagine" and my best friend Terry!   Both bring tears to my eyes.   This world would have been a much better place had they not been taken away so soon!