Culture & Society: The New Spider-Man habla Español?

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According to Latina.com, Marvel Comics is gearing up to debut a new character, replacing Peter Parker as Spider-Man. Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino teen, is helmed to take over in the role of the arachnid super hero as part of the Marvel Ultimate Spider-Man series September relaunch.

Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief Alex Alonso shared insight on the New York City teen hero in a broader context. “What you have is a Spider-Man for the 21st century who's reflective of our culture and diversity,” he said. “We think that readers will fall in love with Miles Morales the same way they fell in love with Peter Parker.” (excerpt from Latina.com)

I am not a comic fan, never really read them growing up and was only marginally entertained by the Hollywood renditions on the big screen. But this is still an interesting choice, especially considering race relations in the comic world. So what do you all think? Are you excited to see this new character? Do you agree that it reflects diversity in our culture or is it a gimmick?

What's Your Opinion: Should the United States Be Bilingual?

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I just read an interesting article over on Latina.com and wanted to get your opinions. Here is an excerpt:

"The latest Census results released last week tell us that 1 in 6 people in the U.S. is Latino, and that Latino kids number just over 17 million, or 23 percent of the 17-and-under U.S. population..."

“I just feel like there’s no excuse to not speak Spanish,” she (Odette Yustman) said. "It’s like Canada — they’ve got English and French — that’s what we need to do.”

"Odette tells us she also plans to pass down Spanish to her kids one day. “It’s important because living in the U.S. it’s so easy for kids to forget the language because you go to school and the kids speak English...“I was so fortunate because I learned Spanish first, so that was my first language....You just gotta carry that on, ya know?" (Click here to read the article in its entirety.)

I love Spanish. I learned to speak Spanish in school. I even majored in Romance Languages concentrating in Spanish as an undergrad. My husband was raised in South America and my son will hopefully be bilingual as well. All that being said, do I think we need to be officially blingual in this country? I don't know. I do know that many people feel the US is English speaking only and always should be.

So, after reading the article, this raises two questions in my mind:

1) Should all Americans learn Spanish, become bilingual and willingly adopt Spanish as our national language (in addition to English)?

and

2) Are you any less latino/a if you don't speak Spanish?

You may think this issue does not apply to you if you are not hispanic/latino(a) but I think A) if you live in the USA you are well aware of the growing Spanish-speaking population and B)whether it be race, gender, sexuality or HAIR, we can all relate to issues of identity and image. For example, question 2 could easily be replaced with "Are you any less Black if you don't wear your hair in its natural state" or some other like phrase.

So what do you all think?

Click here to read an older post about Black-Latino Identity.

Acting White

Image from racialicious.com

So I was reading this article about the phenomenon of acting white on Racialicious.com and it brought me right back to middle school! I remember growing up as a kid, all throughout elementary school, most of the people around me didn't look like me. That is to say, I went to a majority white, middle class school where there were only a handful of black kids. I never really gave it much thought in elementary school and we were all friends.

Then, I moved on to middle school and boy was I in for a surprise! Not only was the school bigger and more diverse, it was significantly populated with black students. It also had students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. I remember the shock to my system as slowly but surely I was singled out by my new black peers. I was one of only two kids in the advanced classes and I can just remember all the white kids trying to set us up together. It seemed so obvious to me that the only reason they thought we should be together was because of our similar hues.

But it wasn't until I moved to my second middle school that I can remember being accused of "acting white". I never really felt this coming from black guys, it was usually the girls that wanted to point out how I talked or dressed or who I hung out with. I became so self-conscious that I changed how I dressed and was very aware of how I talked. It was torture!

So, now that I am an adult and I work in the public schools, it is sad to see that this trend continues. It is disheartening to see black children feeling the need to prove their "blackness", however you are supposed to do that. It is even sadder what some kids think being black means.

Take a moment and check out the article then come back to share. What were your experiences growing up? Were you ever teased for "acting white"? Or, were you part of the crowd doing the teasing?! No worries, we won't judge here. I am just interested to hear about your experiences and how you dealt with them. Hit me back!

Kinky on Racialicious

I love to read about the experiences of other kinky-nappy-curly haired people regardless of their ethnicity and background. So I was delighted to read this article entitled Kinkosis (an essay) by guest author Safa Samiezade’-Yazd, on Racialicious.com. It is a wonderful read about an American woman of Iranian and Irish descent who comes to embrace her whole self, coils and all!

The entire piece was inspiring but here are a few excerpts that I found to be especially cool...

"My hair went curly in early adolescence, right around the time I hit middle school. I was a small, petite tweenster, and instead of fretting about breasts, which were hardly there, or periods, which were nonexistent, I poured my angst and energy into my newfound mop of kinky hair that sprung itself on me almost overnight. My father hated my curly hair. He said it made me look black."

"This ideology is pervasive, to the point that many times, we don’t even realize we’re buying into it. Beauty requires an acknowledged ugliness in something else, so in order to look damn good, someone else has to look like a train wreck. I remember being told as a child that curly hair is really a genetic mutation. I remember thinking I was a freak."

"Just look at our cosmetics industry. How many different types of foundation does a woman need to put on before she looks like a piece of dry, flaking cake? So when we’re confronted with opposing images of a woman with straight hair that’s styled with a curling iron, and a woman with free-styled kinky curls, the one with straight hair is going to come off as more mature, because her beauty routine takes more discipline."

"Perfection, or ideal beauty is really a distraction, especially amongst minorities, because instead of guiding us to look inward, it manipulates us to focus on outside projections that tell us how we should look and feel, and we become white-washed, so to speak; formulaic, sterile. The more Euro-centric you look, the easier it is to get taken seriously."

Funny how so many of us (curly kinky coily folks) experience similar things across racial and ethnic lines. At the end of the day, a curly journey is one of self-acceptance and we all have our own path to take to get there.

So what do you think of when you hear the word kinky? Does it always conjure up images of Black people or has your view expanded? Do you believe on African Americans can have Afros? I used to have strict views on race and ethnicity and hair, but slowly that is changing. What do you think?

Click HERE to read this article in its entirety.

Hair Shame? Racialicious Weighs In...

Hey there ladies and gents! I was perusing Racialicious again and came across this article about why so many Black women avoid personal/intimate contact when it comes to their heads. I could totally relate to a lot of what the author had to say and I agree. Often times, isn' the bottom line insecurity?

"Deeper than the “my hair will get messed up” mantra, I think the root of the problem lies in insecurity. And why not? Us women of color have always been taught that, in its natural state, our hair is not beautiful. So we hide behind weaves and wigs and relaxers, quite literally putting up a barriers between our scalps and the hands of others."

I can remember avoiding hugging people sometimes when I had a relaxer because I was afraid my hair wouldn't smell fresh considering I hadn't washed it in a week or so. I was always trying to fix my scalp issues, unfortunately adding heavy greases which of course did nothing for the problem. I feared spending the night with some White girlfriends because I would leave grease on their pillows. I actually had one friend ask me to bring my own pillow the next time because I had gotten grease on it! I was mortified.

Now that I'm natural, there are still times when I feel traces of that same type of insecurity. I am, after all, only human.

Read the article, and the comments below it, and tell me what you think. How was your self esteem before being natural and how is it now? What do you still struggle with and what have you overcome?

I just saw this and wondered what you all think....

"Unlike Black Barbies of yesterday that appeared to have more Anglo facial features and hair texture, S.I.S. vary in complexion, coiffs and physical attributes with fuller lips, distinct cheek bones and wider noses.The dolls which range in price from about $8 to $25 features fashion forward BFFs Grace, Kara and Trichelle who are all about having a good time, but not before sharing their wisdom with the next generation. In the spirit of mentorship, McBride-Irby created a "little sister" for each of the dolls with diverse interests including music, math and science. Each doll's hair can be styled with the help of new Auqa curl technology which allows them to go from straight to curly with a spritz of a water bottle and hairstyling tools." for the whole article click here on Essence.com

Adoption in Black and White

No, this is not a post about White people adopting Black children. My mother who works for Human Services has told me many times about the challenges that both parents and children face when adoption crosses racial lines. Challenges but also positive things too. This post is about a Black family that adopted a White child. I really have to say, in all my years (ok only 26 but you get the point) I have never seen this combo. Strange?...a little. Not because it's wrong or bad. It's just different. I do see White people with Asian or Black children or Black people with adopted Black children, but never ever have I seen a Black family adopt a White child. Maybe I've been under a rock or this is rare around these parts.

The story is on Essence.com and is really interesting. Here is an excerpt:

When Mark and Terri Riding take their three children to the park where they live in Baltimore, they're usually met by lagging stares, obvious whispering and even people bold enough to come up and question them as parents. Their children are all healthy, normal-looking individuals, but it's their 9-year-old adopted sister/daughter Katie O'Dea-Smith who draws all the attention.You see, the Ridings are Black and Katie is White.

Take a look and come back over here to tell me what you think.