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multiracialmedia-blog · 7 years

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Hers for the Taking: I Don't Have the Luxury of Ignoring Rachel Dolezal

Rachel “I’m Black, bishes,” Dolezal keeps popping up to remind us how ubiquitous racism and White Supremacy are in our lives. Even with more urgent issues commanding our attention, her bold claims of racial domination run like an open app in the background, forcing our attention and draining precious energy we’d rather invest elsewhere.

Her recent headline-snatching-shenanigans include giving herself an African name, claiming she was financially destitute about to be homeless, bragging that her first Black husband couldn’t deal with her being “too Black,” and clarifying that she is Black, not African American. Now her memoir, In Full Color: Finding My Place In A Black And White World, is out, and she has books to sell.

The responses to Rachel are interesting. Many Black folks express how they are weary and ready to dismiss her—if only the media weren’t addicted to her human click-bait. In an ironic turn, Huffington Post ran an apparently serious piece titled, “Can We Please Stop Giving Rachel Dolezal A Platform?” while doing exactly that.

Even as Blackfolks drag her on social media, the deep sigh of racial exhaustion seeps through the Tweets, the memes and the hashtags. Nobody has time for Rachel’s foolishness beyond an increasingly annoyed, “Girl, bye!” followed by teeth-sucking, eye rolls, SMHs, and constant calls to just ignore her hoping maybe she’ll go away.

On the flip side, I’ve also seen Black folks who say they’re curious and are reading her book to find out more about her backstory and motives. And I’ve seen a number of Black people—mostly men—expressing support or wondering why she’s an issue. Which makes me feel the bitter sting of the Tweet that said, “How do you know Rachel Dolezal’s not Black? So many Black men are supporting her.”

Ouch! But it certainly rings true.

As a Mixed person, I share the anger, the outrage and the weariness. But I don’t have the luxury of ignoring Rachel and all that she symbolizes. While she claims to be Black it’s physically obvious that she’d never in a million years be mistaken or able to “pass” for a Black person born of two Black parents. While she claims Blackness as her desired destination, it is Biracial and ethnically-ambiguous identity that she’s trying to use as her passport and visa into all things Black.

When first confronted about her identity, Rachel cited one Black parent, not two, and repeatedly claims to be Biracial. She’s open about keeping her skin tanned or bronzed, and her hair looking as Mixed-Black as possible. So wherever she hopes to end up, she’s on my turf now. Though she’s dated and married Black men, mothered a Biracial child and tried to adopt her Black brother; though she holds a degree from Historically Black Howard University and has made a living repping Black causes, teaching Black college courses and styling Black hair, Rachel Dolezal is pimping the tragic Mulatto because she knows it provides easy entrée into the racial funhouse that seems to be her life.

I can’t brush Rachel off the way I’d like to because she is mining the fluidity of Mixed-race Ancestry and harvesting the physical ambiguities that I live with every day. I can lean to one side or the other, play with folks’ perceptions and even toy with claiming an identity that isn’t repped anywhere in my DNA, if I want to play that game. The life I’ve lived has earned me those rights. What does it mean that a Rachel Dolezal can simply lay claim to the challenges, nuances and abstract notions of my existence without ever having to pay the price of being a Person of Color in a White Supremacist society? Without having to ACTUALLY navigate ambiguity? Or any of the countless ways that Blackness and Mixedness are interwoven too tightly to separate from each other?

I’m not interested in Rachel’s reasons or rationale for her claims to Blackness. And I’m definitely not here for her as the poster child for some insane “transracial” identity. Many accuse her of being mentally ill and/or delusional. But she’s no dummy; she’s in full possession of her mind, and she knows exactly what she’s doing. I can’t predict her end game, but nobody can stop her from making these claims or from gaining a platform to do so. She’s dangerous because she’s not just a household name and a punch line; she’s the most painful kind of reminder that Whitepeople created their notions and policies around race to maintain their power and supremacy at all costs.

As if any Person of Color needed that reminder. As if we have the option to forget, even for the briefest moment of our lives. Her claims would be problematic at any time, but they have additional impact right now, when REAL Mixed-race people have a hard time inserting our voices into the public conversations taking place about our presence, our identities and our cultural choices. While most of America feels entitled to police our identities, Rachel comes along to remind Mixed and Black people alike of the power she wields—power we can neither diffuse nor vanquish. She’s the biggest most abusive Identity Cop on the block.

Those who accuse Rachel of cultural appropriation have got it all wrong. Her offense is far greater: she is colonizing Black and Mixed identity to feed her need for dominance, reminding us—even as she bleats that “race is just a social construct”—that it is White people who created the concept of race in order to build and sustain a nation upon the foundation of racism in service of capitalism. The fact that she feels justified in laying claim to Blackness—and is consistently rewarded for doing so—is the real message we have to heed.

Mixed-race people in the USA know the endless stream of looks, attitudes, questions, challenges, and appropriations that come at us from all groups—those we share DNA with and others as well. We forge our identities against the constant pressure of everyone feeling that they have the right to TELL us what we are or aren’t, where we can or can’t go, how we either must or dare not identify, where we do or don’t belong. And Rachel adds bold, highlighted headlines to mock our experiences and mine them for her own benefit.

So Rachel plants her flag and lays claim to Biracial identity en route to her promised land of faux Blackness. And Biracial America regards her warily from the front lines of the endless battle to be respected for our perpetually complex truths, ambiguous exteriors and inconvenient choices.

I cannot ignore Rachel Dolezal because she would thoughtlessly destroy me to reach the destination that she has claimed as her rightful destiny. I cannot write her off because she is sloshing around in the world I inhabit, spewing her brand of supremacy and bulldozing the nuances we Mixed folks are given to build our lives on into the rubble of her disdain.

She is Miz Anne reincarnated for the 21st century whose sole purpose is to demonstrate that every aspect of our beings is fair game in her hunt to be special. She doesn’t want to be Black; she merely wants to rape and pillage and consume Blackness in her quest for the ultimate act of White dominance: reminding us that even her most bizarre claims are considered credible and attention-worthy.

I can’t look away because she so perfectly reflects everything about America. And America so perfectly reflects everything that is Rachel Dolezal: the entitlement, the presumption of superiority, the mining of every human Black and Black-ish crop on her plantation, upon which she so greedily feeds.

The irony is that, in contrast to her dogged claims to Blackness, and in spite of the indisputable fact that she looks Blacker than I do, Rachel Dolezal is the Whitest person alive, whipping us with her arrogance, chaining us with her privilege, and choking us with her contempt as she reminds us that every aspect of our lives and our beings are hers for the taking, reality be damned.

She is here to challenge my agency and mock my Ancestors. I know precisely the dangers and problems that Rachel represents. Which is why I simply don’t have the luxury of writing her off, averting my gaze from her grotesque masquerade, or ignoring the havoc she is only too happy to wreak upon my never-ending quest to be respected for my racial and cultural truths.

So I swallow my revulsion and recycle my weariness into steely resolve to keep her bizarre contortions in my line of vision at all times. I know she is wielding the weapons designed to destroy us, and I stand on the front lines to challenge and confront what she represents. Mixed-race identity might be the bridge she wants to use to cross over, but my back won’t be lowered or bowed to assist her journey in any way.

Hers for the Taking: I Don’t Have the Luxury of Ignoring Rachel Dolezal if you want to check out other voices of the Multiracial Community click here Multiracial Media

#In Full Color #Rachel Dolezal #TaRessa Stovall

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edc-creations-blog · 4 years

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Swirl Girl: Coming of Race in the USA by TaRessa Stovall

SWIRL GIRL: Coming of Race in the USA reveals how a hard-headed Mixed-race “Black Power Flower Child” battles society—and sometimes her closest loved ones—to forge her identity on her own terms.

As the USA undergoes its own racial growing pains, from the 1968 riots after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, to the historic 2008 election of the nation’s first Biracially Black president,…

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aaronhillsworld · 4 years

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Thanks so much Taressa for hanging out with me at my Key Reflections (Piano Meditation Concert)! It was great seeing you! —————————————————— If you missed the show please check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/ahilltv/videos/10213080209319060/ https://www.instagram.com/p/B7zz0YpF5As/?igshid=9sf1zf16d2zp

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fortworthnissan-blog · 7 years

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Fort Worth Nissan Customer Review by Fort Worth Nissan Via Flickr: This has been the most amazing experience we have had with Nissan in the past 15 years! Chris G., Rob Q., and Gavin were quick, personable, and had the best attitudes of any customer service that I have had anywhere lately. Definitely will rave about them and refer anyone looking to buy a Nissan to make their deal with these three guys! Thank you very much for the easiest car buying experience we've had! Taressa, deliverymaxx.com/DealerReviews.aspx?DealerCode=WWBX&R...

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achristiangirl1 · 7 years

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Late night with the 2017 Homecoming Events (#PurplePride) so we did not get to attend the church activities last night and this morning. So . . . . . I love my family so much that I had "Pancakes and Pajamas" Family Time including the movie #TheShack. Making the ordinary extraordinary. We are all in attendance Mary, Jacquetta, Jordan, Caleb, Joshua, Taressa, Brayden, and of course me. Joshua 24:15 (at City of Bessemer, Alabama - The Marvel City)

#theshack #purplepride

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isaacscrawford · 7 years

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Non-Emergency Medical Transportation: Will Reshaping Medicaid Sacrifice An Important Benefit?

Medicaid delivers care to 74.5 million individuals for less money than any other large-scale health financing mechanism. A 2016 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation study noted that “spending per enrollee is lower for Medicaid compared to private insurance after controlling for differences in sociodemographic and health characteristics between the two groups.” One reason might be that Medicaid covers certain inexpensive, non-medical services that, when delivered early in the progression of chronic diseases, can check or slow the diseases, thereby improving beneficiaries’ health and saving money. One non-medical service—transportation to medical appointments—has been part of Medicaid since its inception in 1966 and addresses one of the socioeconomic disadvantages that prevent Medicaid beneficiaries from accessing health services. It is suggested that 3.6 million Medicaid beneficiaries “miss or delay care” annually due to transportation problems. Although non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) is a mandatory Medicaid benefit, states can limit its availability through federal waivers. As Medicaid enters a period of unprecedented experimentation and, potentially, reduced federal resources, NEMT remains a critical feature of the program.

NEMT In Context

Since its inception, Medicaid has provided beneficiaries with transportation to medically necessary health care services. NEMT is found as early as 1966 in the “Handbook of Public Assistance” (Supplement D), the program’s earliest comprehensive federal interpretive guidance. Additionally, as part of the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit, states are required to offer children (from birth to age 21) and their families “necessary assistance with transportation” to and from providers. In practice, NEMT provides Medicaid beneficiaries who lack the means to travel to and from medical appointments with the most appropriate and least costly form of transportation, which may involve the use of livery vehicles, vans, or public transit.

Despite federal funding and regulations, Medicaid is best understood as a set of diverse state-directed programs. This diversity carries into NEMT, as states deploy several models to manage and finance the benefit:

Dominant model: brokers and managed care organizations (MCOs). The majority of states have evolved to deliver NEMT through NEMT-focused brokers or MCOs (which typically subcontract with NEMT brokers). In most of these states, the broker or MCO receives a capitated payment to manage the NEMT benefit.

Other models:

State entities: A few states rely on government entities such as Departments of Transportation to provide the service and directly fund those entities through an annual contract to reimburse ride providers on a per-ride (fee-for-service) basis.

Local service providers: Other states deliver NEMT through county or municipal ride services that may, in turn, fund independent taxi companies—and pay these transportation providers on a fee-for-service basis.

For several reasons, states have increasingly chosen NEMT brokers and MCOs over the other models. As in fee-for-service in medical care, there is worry that fee-for-service transportation incentivizes overuse, and it has been linked to program integrity problems in a few states. In contrast, most NEMT brokers receive a capped amount of money and therefore need to manage limited funds by, for example, assuring the assignment of the least expensive appropriate form of transportation necessary and monitoring trip information to identify the most efficient, highest-quality ride providers.

Due to lags and gaps in national Medicaid data, it is challenging to compile a contemporary snapshot of NEMT usage, although transportation researchers at Texas A&M estimated $2.9 billion was expended on NEMT to provide 103.6 million NEMT trips in fiscal year 2013. The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured noted in 2016 that NEMT was used most frequently to access behavior health services (including mental health and substance abuse treatment), dialysis, preventive services (including doctor visits), specialist visits, physical therapy/rehabilitation, and adult day health care services.

NEMT Beyond Medicaid

Beyond Medicaid, NEMT is increasingly used in other government programs and health insurance markets. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes transportation options as a social determinant of health in its Healthy People 2020 initiative, and the Association of Health Insurance Plans recently published a report on this topic. Government and private-sector payers increasingly recognize that providing transportation to routine health care improves health outcomes and limits unnecessary expenses, such as hospitalization costs. Below, we briefly survey the use of NEMT in these other programs and markets.

Medicare

NEMT has become a popular supplemental benefit in the Medicare Advantage program. According to a 2016 Health Affairs blog, NEMT is available to roughly one-fourth of that program’s 19 million enrollees. The benefit is most commonly available in $0 premium plans that focus on lower-income beneficiaries. This occurs despite the fact that traditional Medicare provides NEMT via ambulance only and only when other means of transportation, such as a taxi or wheelchair van, would jeopardize the health of the beneficiary. Ken Thorpe, a nationally recognized proponent of value-based insurance design and Medicare Advantage, has called NEMT “cost-effective for a wide range of medical conditions.”

Department Of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers mileage reimbursement and NEMT services for travel to health care and rehabilitation appointments for disabled veterans that meet one of eight qualifying criteria. The VA also provides transportation for family caregivers of veterans when certain criteria are met.

Employer-Sponsored Insurance

As of today, NEMT is uncommon in employer-sponsored insurance. This is likely because most people with employer-sponsored insurance are able to make it to and from their medical appointments without assistance. There is no easy way to know how many employers offer NEMT and whether the benefit is limited to specific care management contexts. But there are signs that commercial insurers are considering NEMT as they increasingly deploy customized interventions to address social determinants of health and value-based benefits. We offer two examples: A 2016 “innovation model” manual from the State of Connecticut to self-insured plan employers surveys value-based insurance benefits and notes NEMT as a supplemental benefit worthy of consideration. The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association recently announced a national partnership with Lyft “to ensure Americans are not missing vital health care appointments simply because they lack reliable transportation.”

Accountable Care Organizations (Episode Model)

A Robert Wood Foundation report by Linda Wilson about accountable care organizations (ACOs) notes that these new provider-led care systems “are developing strategies to address social needs that have an impact on health.” These strategies include providing beneficiaries with NEMT. Several Medicare ACOs recognize the need for “transportation assistance” in the description of their services. A recent study by Taressa Fraze and colleagues published in Health Affairs, concluded that several ACO leaders “view transportation as a barrier for patients to receive timely, high-quality care.” As a result, many ACOs assist patients with transportation to medical appointments by providing transportation subsidies, hiring brokers, or managing NEMT for patients.

Concerns Over NEMT

Despite the expansion of NEMT services generally, and of brokerage as the preferred model for delivering NEMT, the benefit has drawn increased scrutiny within Medicaid. The most prominent concerns are discussed below.

Fraud and Abuse

Program integrity lapses have damaged NEMT’s reputation. Like other parts of the Medicaid program, NEMT is not free from fraud and abuse. Over the past few years, investigators have uncovered bad conduct by some NEMT drivers and vendors. In Massachusetts, a ride vendor billed rides for deceased beneficiaries, and in Connecticut, an ambulance provider billed rides for dialysis transport when an ambulance was not required. Incidents of billing for false trips or up charging on vehicle type have resulted in out-of-court settlements as high as $300,000. These examples explain why states looked to the brokerage model in the first place. The brokerage model is designed to address and mitigate these problems through capitated arrangements that insulate Medicaid budgets from fraud losses and encourage brokers to root out abuses.

Administration

Recent audits by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General suggest that the Medicaid programs of New Jersey and North Carolina both had gaps in their oversight of the NEMT benefit. A 2016 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study noted gaps in NEMT guidance at the state and federal levels and suggested a review by regulators because “NEMT is at high risk for fraud and abuse.” A few months after the publication of the GAO report, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a NEMT Toolkit designed to give states and NEMT providers a primer on providing NEMT.

Necessity

Concerns over the necessity of the NEMT benefit may be fueling a desire to re-examine its use in the Medicaid program, at least for particular populations. Currently, two states—Indiana and Iowa—have waived NEMT for their Medicaid expansion populations. In a 2016 Health Affairs blog, Seema Verma and Brian Neale, now the CMS administrator and head of Medicaid, respectively, made the case for not providing NEMT in the Indiana Medicaid expansion program, HIP 2.0 (Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0): “Consistent with commercial market benefit packages, HIP does not require health plans to cover non-emergency transportation (NEMT) services. Transportation availability has not proven to be a significant issue for HIP members during its eight-year history.”

The Continuing Case For NEMT

NEMT skepticism is not universal, even in Republican-led states. At least four states led by Republican governors—Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, and Ohio—have shown a commitment to continue providing NEMT as they implement the Medicaid expansion.

Two other states with Republican governors—Arkansas and Massachusetts—have sought to limit NEMT, while continuing the benefit for select populations. Arkansas, which contemplated the limitation of NEMT for its expansion program, nonetheless contracted for a favorable report on the benefit in its traditional Medicaid program. A state taskforce convened in 2015 concluded that it has a “very effective brokerage model for non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) with a capitated benefit structure that manages the program in a cost effective manner.” A recent 1115 waiver amendment request from Massachusetts proposes to waive the “assurance” of NEMT for its Medicaid expansion population but retains NEMT for opioid addiction recovery. Thus, Massachusetts acknowledges the importance of NEMT for adherence in medication-assisted treatments and recognizes that the scarcity of Medicaid enrolled practitioners that provide medication-assisted treatments often requires long-distance travel to and from services.

Several studies note that missing routine, preventive care can lead to unnecessary costs and hospitalization. Although it is difficult to isolate the impact of transportation on health outcomes, a study conducted by Florida State University concluded that if only 1 percent of the medical trips funded resulted in the avoidance of an emergency department hospital visit, the payback to the State would be 1108 percent, or about $11.08 for each dollar the State invested in its medical transportation program. According to the study, “Overall, the State of Florida invested $372,264,302 in these transportation disadvantaged programs in 2007. These funds generated benefits of $3,172,813,246.31, which is a payback of 835%, or $8.35 per each dollar invested in these programs.”

Other studies offer less dramatic, but still affirming, findings on the value of NEMT. A 2014 study by Leela V. Thomas and Kenneth R. Wedel concluded that Medicaid beneficiaries with asthma, heart disease, or hypertension who required monitoring to keep their chronic conditions stable were significantly more likely to attend medical appointments if they used NEMT (see Exhibit 1).

Exhibit 1: Non-Emergency Medical Transportation And Health Care Visits Among Chronically Ill Urban And Rural Medicaid Beneficiaries

ConditionRecommended number of annual visitsUsed NEMT and had a recommended visit Did not use NEMT but had a recommended visit Asthma2--12 per year73.97%53.89% Heart disease10 per year (2 with specialist)64.81%27.60% Hypertension4 visits per year50.97%27.20%

Source: Thomas LV, Wedel KR. Nonemergency medical transportation and health care visits among chronically ill urban and rural Medicaid beneficiaries. Social Work in Public Health. 2014;29(6):629-39. Notes: Sample size = 10,824. NEMT population within sample = 697.

A 2013 study in the Journal of Health Economics and Outcomes Research examined the high costs of ambulance transportation for people in need of dialysis (roughly $3 billion annually) and suggested that greater use of public and NEMT transportation might save as much as one-third of these costs. A broader study of the value of transportation services in rural areas also affirmed NEMT’s return on investment. The cost to rural communities of “foregone medical trips” was estimated at between $4.16 and $6.65 for every dollar spent on transportation.

Final assessments of the waiver programs in Iowa and Indiana will help us understand the impact of not providing NEMT to Medicaid expansion beneficiaries. A state-sponsored interim assessment by the Lewin Group suggested that NEMT was not important to expansion beneficiaries. However, this interim assessment focused narrowly on missed appointments, not medical appointments never made because of lack of NEMT or the potential default to emergency care. While we await final assessments, it is worth noting that two Medicaid MCOs—United Healthcare in Iowa and Anthem in Indiana—continue to provide NEMT even without the state requirement.

Looking Ahead

NEMT is one of many parts of the Medicaid program that will likely be subject to experimentation in the coming years. A March letter from HHS secretary Tom Price and CMS administrator Seema Verma promises to “empower” states seeking flexibility in any of seven listed areas, one of which is NEMT. Beyond Indiana and Iowa, two other states—Kentucky and Massachusetts—have waiver applications that would curtail NEMT to some expansion population beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, the NEMT industry is changing rapidly: The dramatic growth of rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft may create new flexibilities for the delivery of NEMT. Policy makers are watching: A 2015 NEMT brief by the National Council of State Legislatures foreshadows greater integration of rideshare and NEMT providers (even while affirming the value of the benefit as “a vital lifeline”). A Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission presentation concurs: “Services such as Lyft and Uber could improve beneficiary experience with shorter wait times and faster service.” In addition, an article authored by Brian Powers and colleagues published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggested that new medical transportation technology offered by Uber and Lyft could reduce wait times and produce cost savings of more than 30 percent. NEMT brokers, for their part, are not resisting the use of rideshare services. Brokers and local service providers use rideshare services—particularly Lyft—although rider limitations (physical and cognitive) and state credentialing requirements limit the number of NEMT rides that can be delivered by typical rideshare drivers.

To address program integrity concerns, Congress could require states to manage the NEMT benefit by contracting with brokers, incentivize states to choose the broker option, or require states that do not use brokers to use utilization management tools commonly used by brokers, such as prior authorization. Several years ago, the HHS Office of the Inspector General identified NEMT brokerage (the report refers to brokers as prime vendor contracts) as a “proactive safeguard.” An NEMT broker with a capitated, risk-based contract is the best way to ensure that the service is provided in a timely fashion only to eligible Medicaid beneficiaries (at the appropriate level of transportation for the beneficiary’s needs) by screened, credentialed drivers and safe vehicles.

In the coming months, states will no doubt use waiver authority to experiment with Medicaid in new ways—by implementing work requirements, increasing member cost sharing, adding healthy behavior incentives and disincentives, providing value-based benefits, and, potentially, limiting NEMT. Research shows that transportation is one of the most common barriers faced by low-income populations in accessing timely and necessary medical care, and NEMT fills this access gap by providing the appropriate and least costly method of transportation. Given the high needs of the Medicaid population and the trend across health insurance toward greater use of non-medical benefits, including NEMT, to improve the efficiency of medical care, we expect that NEMT will continue to be an important part of Medicaid.

Article source:Health Affairs

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mixedfeelingsproject · 7 years

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Worldview beyond the binary

TaRessa

#mixed #black #jewish #blewish #identity

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multiracialmedia-blog · 7 years

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The Problem with Identity Policing Paris Jackson

In January 2017, Paris Jackson, daughter of The King of Pop Michael Jackson was interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine. In it, she proudly identifies as Black.

This past week the article resurfaced in social media and now people are losing their minds.

Although I rarely weigh in on celebrity gossip, I felt I needed to because this hits too close to home. Let me just state up front I am pissed off that people are identity policing Paris Jackson. I had just finished reading TaRessa Stovall’s “Wait Up! Who Called the Mixed Identity Police?” piece and thought the timing couldn’t have been more poignant.

I’ve seen multiple people post this article and then decide that Paris Jackson is not Black, as if someone actually gave them or anyone the authority to just decide someone’s race or how they should or can identify. Those people are ignorant and damaging to Biracial people and continue to perpetuate the issues that Biracial Americans face!

Full disclosure: these are my feelings about both Paris Jackson and Biracial people in general. If other Biracial people feel differently about how to self-identify, I completely respect that, but I don’t appreciate people who are only one race telling Biracial people how we should identify.

NEWSFLASH: Paris Jackson and Other Biracial People Do not Have to Choose One Race or the Other!

And you do not get to throw us in one category or the other because it makes YOU more comfortable with our identity. The fact of the matter is, as a Biracial person you should never have to identify as anything other than Biracial (unless it’s how a Biracial person wants to identify, not because it makes others feel better). And asking people the question “What race do you consider yourself” or “What race do identify with more?” is problematic and oppressive in its nature. Answering this question with anything other than “Biracial” is quite frankly, not the truth. Furthermore, Biracial people are either pressured into this falsehood and not identifying as Biracial, so they instead “choose”… or they feel like “choosing” is norm, instead of feeling that identifying as they actually are is the norm.

In addition, despite how we identify ourselves, society also feels the need to decide how they will identify us for themselves, and it is rarely Biracial. This is a problem on its own, but since society has chosen to lump us into one racial category or the other with or without our consent (most often without), you absolutely DO NOT get to decide FOR US which category we get to go into!

People Claiming that Michael Jackson is not Paris Jackson’s Father are Ignorant and Vacuous!

You have no proof of this and using the logic “she doesn’t even look Black” is about as scientific and logical as people claiming that climate change doesn’t exist! 😒 I have a Black mother. Biologically. Most people feel that I do not look “Black” … at all. My son, who would be considered 75% Black, looks just like me, with straight dark hair. I have family and friends who have both “fully” Black parents and have my skin tone or lighter skin tones and straight hair. Anyone who believes that in order to be biologically Black they MUST present stereotypical Black characteristics and phenotypes, please educate yourself! Your thinking and colorism are hurting both the Biracial and Black communities.

In addition, how many of you have been DNA tested to prove either of your parents you grew up with are your actual parents? Please, I’d like to know. If you haven’t, how do you know your parents are actually and biologically your parents? Other than the fact that you grew up with them and you have always called them mom, dad, etc? If Paris Jackson has always been told that a Black man is her father and a White women is her mother, how dare anyone decide that she cannot identify with being a Black female but you call Barack Obama the first Black president! If you have decided that Barack Obama (Drake, Bob Marley, Rhianna, or any other Biracial celebrity) is Black because he / they look stereotypically Black despite having a Black father and White mother, but you decide that Paris Jackson isn’t Black when she has a Black father and White mother, you are perpetuating ignorance, and are no better than the men deciding what women should get to do with their bodies. Hypocritical and over-stepping. In actuality, you’re worse!

So to recap: no one gets to decide someone else’s race, and especially not just to justify your narrative or to make you comfortable. It’s not fluid, nor is it up for debate. You don’t decide the races of non-Biracial people. You don’t get to decide ours either. Let Biracial people be Biracial to begin with. Stop telling us to choose which race we want to be considered. Stop feeling like you can decide which Biracial people meet the criteria for you to consider them one race or the other. How about you just consider us Biracial? Leave it at that. Let us leave it at that? This applies to Paris Jackson and other Biracial people.

My name is Brittainy Horton. I’m a 28-year-old Biracial woman (Black mother, White father) raised in the south. I have an 18-month-old son who has a Black father. I have a bachelors degree in psychology and am working on my Master’s degree as a physician assistant. I am also in the process of enrolling in a PsyD program to obtain my doctorate in psychology. I have always been an activist for civil rights, and especially the Black community. My mother was a long term president of our local NAACP chapter and National Black Caucus member, so it is a passion I got honestly. Of course never quite being fully and homogeneously accepted into the Black community because of my Caucasian appearance, I quickly began to delve into the deeper layer of Biracial identity and what that means in American society and culture.

Photo credits: YouTube: Paris Jackson: the truth about her father Michael Jackson and herself, courtesy of Celebrities TV

The Problem with Identity Policing Paris Jackson if you want to check out other voices of the Multiracial Community click here Multiracial Media

#Biracial Identity #Michael Jackson #Paris Jackson #Rolling Stone magazine #TaRessa Stovall

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cougbowler · 7 years

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3rd time’s a charm: Thanks Jan!

The 3rd time's a charm. Not really. I mean I guess maybe it is. For me it took a third failed relationship for me to find Jan, thus finding the reason why these relationships, 2 of them being marriages, were failing. Failing for the same exact reason. Jan was my Charm!! When my 2nd wife told me she wanted a divorce and I realized there was no convincing her to reconsider I sat in our bedroom on the floor, sometimes in the walk-in closet, and I wrote. I wrote every day for about 2 weeks. I just wrote and wrote and wrote. The best thing I wrote was that it was finally time to get help, to figure out what was happening, why it was happening and how to stop it. I was at my version of Rock Bottom. I now needed the help I always figured I needed but this time I was going to get that help. Through resources at my workplace I found a counselor..... I found Jan! I had my first meeting with Jan in January of 2015 and it did not go so well. I am not sure what I thought was going to happen but I left her office wondering why I felt the same as when I got there. I mean shouldn't I have some sort of direction now that I spoke to a shrink? I guess it took 44 years to get this fucked up in the head and heart that 1 session with her wasn't going to fix it huh? Plus Jan would say something or ask me a question and then I would respond and when I paused or stopped she just stared at me. "Hey Lady, you talk to people for a living so you obviously know when it's your turn – SAY SOMETHING!" I mean I was already uncomfortable being there and was never good at eye contact so now I have this lady staring into my eyes saying nothing at times. I wasn't sure we were a good fit. Even though I knew that a counselor was the right thing....was it Jan? How do I know who will be right for me? This therapy shit was hard, in more ways than one....or 2 or 7... So after 1 session I felt no different and didn't think I was talking to the right person. Good start Brian! I decided to give Jan one more try. I do not really remember my 2nd session with Jan but I think we got a little into my childhood and parents and I got a little emotional and probably even cried. (Side Note: The reason I never went to a counselor before this was because I knew 100% I would cry and that scared the crap out of me). Jan still stared at me longer than I was comfortable with but maybe she was just giving me a chance to say more, I mean that's why I was there, to TALK to her right? I saw Jan a few more times in the spring but our schedules did not really match up well and after about 4-5 visits I stopped going and spent my summer hiking as my therapy. I was feeling a little better and had gone on a few dates but I knew I was nowhere close to being ready for another relationship and I wasn't going to become ready just because time had passed. I needed more Jan. I think it was around September when I made another appointment with her. At some point we got down to the fact that I had zero self-esteem. Jan recommended that I get a certain Self-esteem workbook so I could work in it and then we could go over it at each of our sessions. I bought the book and we began going through it. This workbook is really good but I believe it's not just something I could have read and learned. I needed Jan to go through stuff with me every other week. I was learning that I was worthy. I, like all of us, are born worthy and then we grow but at our core we always have that worth. It was immensely valuable to my healing. I never thought anything I had to say was important. But I learned from her that I do have importance. I met with Jan every other week or so for quite a few months spending part of our sessions going over the workbook and the other part just talking about whatever it was that I felt like discussing. The biggest thing that needed discussion was “how do I move on from my divorce?” “How do I make sure that what caused previous relationships to fail doesn’t happen again?”

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A little back story is needed here After my ex told me we were done she began talking to one of the other dance dad's from our daughters studio... we will call him Billy. Billy was one of those used car salesman type guys who says whatever it is you want to hear. I am not 100% certain anything went on between them or not but that's not the point of this post... plus we were already done and separated and she was free to talk to whoever she wished. But because I had to see Billy at the studio and competitions it became a point of contention for me. I used to make small talk with him in the past but now we never even made eye contact anymore.

************** Back to Jan. During one of our sessions in late February or early March --- I had already told her all about Billy previously----- I brought it up again and let her know I could not let it go... I didn't know how to get past that topic. I always heard that in order to forget you need to forgive. So I told Jan I wanted to, needed to and was going to forgive her (for picking someone I knew and had to interact with to be the first guy she hung out with) and forgive him (for being that dude). She in no uncertain terms called BS on me. She said forgive them for what? What did he do that you need to forgive him? "She had already told you that you guys were done before she started talking to him right?" Yes. "And he didn't cause the demise of your marriage right?" Right. Jan then proceeded to tell me my anger I felt towards them was a secondary emotion to the hurt and pain of a failed marriage and that I needed to address that pain. I had no clue what she meant. I had no idea what was next. I mean, come on Jan. I just told you I had the answer. I was ready to forgive, forget and move on. I was done stressing over this topic and I wanted to get past it... now I was back to ground zero and lost... Jan told me that indeed I needed to forgive but the person I needed to forgive was not Billy or even my ex. It was ME. Huh?

I needed to take ownership for my part of the failed marriage. Her words hit me like a ton of bricks but made total sense. She said not only should I forgive myself but even let my ex know I was forgiving myself for my part in the failed marriage and forgive her for having a part in it as well if I so desired. I left her office and went home and wrote my apology with the information Jan had suggested but did not send it. The very next day when I saw Billy at the studio not only did I make eye contact but I said Hi to him and made a little bit of small talk. He rambled on about his job or car and nothing much was really said but at least we spoke and I walked out of there feeling like I had just gotten a 14 month long monkey off my back. It felt damn good. At my next session with Jan I told her about speaking to Billy and she was totally surprised that I had already made that move and she was really happy for me. This made me feel even better about it all. I told her I had written and accepted my apology to myself and that I was going to email it to my ex because if I tried to say it in person I wouldn't be able to get it all out. She agreed that was a good idea. So during that week I sent the email. I never got a response but I was not looking for one. I finally had my "apologize, forgive and forget" moment. It was not what I originally envisioned but thanks to Jan it was perfect... And it accomplished what I was looking for. I was free of the past. The blockage to my happiness had been removed!!!

In June of 2016 I was at one of my appointments with Jan and we were talking about dating and how the “meeting new girls” was going and I told her things were good and that I was able to be open and honest with girls and able to let them know I was just looking to meet new people and have fun but not looking for any type of relationship. We still had not finished the “Self-Esteem” workbook but I felt like I was doing ok in that department. In the middle of our session she basically said, “I think you are good now. You do not need my help anymore.” I looked at her kind of weird and was kind of set back by her comment. To me I thought this was kind of like AA meetings for an alcoholic where I was always going to need her. When I questioned the idea of being done she told me when I first came in to see her I always looked down at the ground and showed zero confidence but now I was looking right at her all of the time and I was upbeat and I had good ideas about what I wanted and how I wanted to go about the future. I looked around and quickly realized she was right. I was doing just fine!! I was still shocked that she said I was graduating, that’s what I called it, graduating from Jan. It was bitter sweet for sure. I knew I could always come back and talk to Jan if I ever needed but for now this was it. She made me whole again…and by again…. I mean for the first time since I was an innocent little boy… before I became “emotionally broken”.

I still think about Jan every so often. She is monumental in my life. I thank myself all the time for giving her a chance after that first session. She is my charm – staring right at me. ;)

My post before this was about Taressa but without what Jan did for me that post could never have been written.

THANKS JAN!!!!!

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