PinnedMember-onlyRockin Out in Hollywood: Memories of Slash, Bancroft Junior High School, and Growing up BiracialAdapted from The Girl in the Yellow Poncho We were at the food truck at Bancroft Junior High, where kids smoked cigarettes between classes. Steven Adler, who played drums, was flirting with my cousin Lisa, 13, who was a year older than me. Steven was asking if she was going to the beach that weekend, but she wasn’t…Identity7 min readIdentity7 min read
Published inZORA·PinnedMember-onlyOf Black Mothers, Daughters and GrandmothersContemplating the new book, The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, James Baldwin Shaped a Nation. — What does it mean to be a mother? What does it mean to be a Black mother? Those two questions continue to yield entirely different answers in America today. As the biracial mother of a 4-year-old girl with both Asian American and African American roots, and a father from Spain…BlackLivesMatter4 min readBlackLivesMatter4 min read
Published inZORA·PinnedMember-onlyThis City Is A Multiracial MeccaHint: It’s not where you might expect — “Black. Ivory. Shadow.” I repeat the words to make sure I heard them right. “Black. Ivory… Shadow?” “Yeah.” Jasmin Baker, 25, is cracking up. “When I was younger I made it my thing.” She lowers her voice, making it seductive. “Like… yeah. I’m black ivory shadow.” “Right.” Now her boyfriend…Race12 min readRace12 min read
Published inZORA·PinnedMember-onlyThe Shifting Definition of Mixed-Race in AmericaRadical changes in U.S. demographics are reinventing what it means to be multiracial — “Raise your hand if you would see me on the street and think I’m Black?” Several hands went up in an auditorium full of college students. “Okay. What about biracial?” More hands. “Hmm… And what if I wore my hair in an Afro?” Still more hands flew into the air. …Race4 min readRace4 min read
2 days agoMember-onlyPay Attention to Your Dreams: They Can Change Your LifeTrust me, I speak from experience — Adapted from The Girl in the Yellow Poncho “Dreaming is a state of psychosis. You know that right?” the late J. Allan Hobson, the ever-contentious professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School told me this years ago when I interviewed him for a magazine article. Widely credited as the father…Journalism3 min readJournalism3 min read
May 22Member-onlyIt’s here!My most personal book ever is about to be published. Qué emoción! as we say here in Miami. Hello Friends! Welcome to a new series of posts about my forthcoming book, The Girl in the Yellow Poncho, a family memoir. Over the next few months, you’ll be hearing a lot…Multiracial1 min readMultiracial1 min read
Jul 20, 2021Member-onlyJournalism: What’s changed and what hasn’t in my 30 years in the businessGone are X-Acto knives and fax machines but not our truth-telling mission — Journalism is an ever-changing, volatile profession right about now. Nothing is as it was when I started out some 30 years ago. To start, there was more money in the flush early 1990s. More time, too. Time for leisurely Manhattan lunches with editors; time to toss ideas back and forth…Writing3 min readWriting3 min read
Published inZORA·Jun 29, 2021Member-onlyIt’s Okay to Take Off Your ‘Strong Black Woman’ MaskAn interview with the author of ‘Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen: The Emotional Lives of Black Women’ — We all know about the myth of the super-powered Black superwoman. It’s been ingrained in our consciousness for generations. But is it healthy? Inger Burnett-Zeigler, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, says the strong Black woman mask we wear is an…Mental Health4 min readMental Health4 min read
Published inZORA·Jun 1, 2021Member-onlyDid Greed Derail a Handful of Tulsa Massacre Commemoration Events?It’s disrespectful that three survivors are still living in poverty with no reparations in sight — All eyes are on Tulsa, Oklahoma, this week as the nation remembers the tragic events of May 31 to June 1, 1921, when a White mob killed some 300 Black residents and looted the community known as “Black Wall Street” before burning it to the ground. The official agenda put…History6 min readHistory6 min read
Published inCreators Hub·May 25, 2021Member-onlyA Journalist’s Guide to Financing Your Nonfiction Book ProjectBecause a lot of the time, the publisher’s advance just doesn’t cut it — I once received an email from a reader and aspiring author. “How did you get funding to support your book?” she asked. “How did you pay for travel and other resources?” Her question got me thinking. Over the years I’ve received contracts for advances as high as $150,000 (in the…Publishing6 min readPublishing6 min read