When asked to be guest contributor for Real Talk About Race for the January 2014 edition of The Tablet, Wake Forest Divinity student publication, Nathan Berry candidly revealed our family’s ideas, perspective and approach to ‘race.’ The title, Brown Like Me reflects our approach to conscious de-racing — exposing the lie and illusion of race and replacing it with the truth—particularly for our next generation.
“Brown like me, or you or her or him” empowers our children with the understanding that we are all hues of brown with different amounts of melanin. In our family, ‘daddy has light melanin, mommy has dark melanin,’ which is why our skin tones are different. Our “brown like ….” is our initial step in abolishing ‘race’ from our mindsets and from our family! As you can imagine, in a multi-ethnic family/relationship, ‘race’ is counterproductive. Actually, ‘race’ is counterproductive to all families and relationships.
From our candid and often humor-filled conversations with our children, friends, church, and whoever else asks our thoughts and opinion regarding ‘race,’ emerged a narrative, a perspective that we have been invited to share. So, we created Brownicity: The Art & Beauty of LIVING & LOVING Beyond Race—our space to talk about, promote, support, facilitate, recognize, build community around, and celebrate the elimination of ‘race!’ (for proper effect, hear it in our ‘we’re going to take over the world’ voice!!)
Join us. It will be fun….and liberating!!
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