Non-profit Tuesday: Why Give? What you might not expect in return

Mixed-race leaders retreat outside of San Francisco in 2008 where I met representatives from MAVIN as well as folks I have since gone on to collaborate with for events, programs, and projects.

Giving is hard. I’m not talking about birthday or Christmas gifts here. There is a social contract that you must give back to those who you love and who have loved and cared for you. That type of giving is easy. I’m talking about giving your time and money to non-profits. This is optional giving. After Black Friday and Cyber Monday, November 27, 2012 has been designated “Non-Profit Tuesday.” What do you believe in today? What do you want to take the time to stand behind and support?

I’ve spent most of my life being selfish, trying to build a career and family and take care of my own, but after the U.S. economy tanked in 2008 and my thin economic security was knocked out from under my feet, it coincided with a time when I have increasingly been asked to step up and give back. While this hasn't always been easy, I want to share just a few things I got back in return that I really wasn’t expecting.

Make a list and check it (send $) twice today. Consider giving over the long haul. The best investments take time to mature.

Here are my top three non-religious non-profit suggestions for today:

Japanese AmericanService Committee (JASC)

The JASC is based in Chicago and provides local services and programs/national and international research resources.

Mission (new mission as of Fall 2012!):

·      JASC engages people of all ages to experience Japanese American history and culture and to improve their wellbeing through innovative, high quality programs and services tailored to the multicultural community.

We accomplish our mission through the work of highly trained and enthusiastic staff and  volunteers and proactive collaboration with other  agencies and organizations.

What I gave:

·      Time, expertise, and board dues, donations – current board member (since 2011).

What I given in return that I didn’t expect:

·      A community in the Midwest to call home. Although I’ve known of the JASC through their annual Holiday Delight celebration for many years, I never thought this was a place for me since I’m not from Chicago and my family was not interned. As I might have expected, I found an established (founded in 1946!) post-WWII resettlement Japanese American community legacy with rich archives and values but I also found a community in the process of changing and expanding to serve a multicultural population which includes anyone interested in learning about or participating in JA history and culture. While this may sounds odd to my West Coast friends, being openly inclusive of mixed-race families, post-1965 Japanese immigrants, Japanese nationals, and Japanese Americans from other migration streams (e.g., Hawaii) is new here and I want to be part of this change while at the same time learning from the archives and community memory about parts of the JA experience that you don’t hear about on the coasts. I’ve been continually surprised to see how welcoming the JASC has been to innovative ideas and building community partnerships.

MAVIN

MAVIN is based in Seattle and provides local programs/national and international research resources.

Mission:

·      MAVIN builds healthier communities by providing educational resources about Mixed Heritage experiences.

What I gave:

·      Time, expertise, and board dues - former working board member (2010-12) and current advisory board member.

What I was given in return that I didn’t expect:

·      What started from a little magazine feature back in 2004 in MAVIN magazine on my art and sharing suggestions for the mixedheritagecenter.org and then meeting and working with folks like Eric Hamako and Louie Gong (see picture above) that has since led to a network of over 500+ activists, academics, artists, and friends interested in mixed-race issues. Today, I teach a class on “Mixed Race Art and Identity” at DePaul University in our Honors program and have been working with other colleagues, scholars and creatives on the Critical Mixed Race Studies conference, the Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies and Wei Ming Dariotis and I have a forthcoming book and exhibition WarBaby/Love Child: Mixed Race Asian American Art.

Woman Made Gallery (WMG)

WMG is based in Chicago and provides local programs/national and international opportunities.

Mission:

·      Woman Made Gallery (WMG) supports, cultivates and promotes the diverse contributions of women in the arts through exhibitions and other programs that serve, educate and enrich the community.

What I gave:

·      A little time/expertise to jury a show in 2009 and just a few days or hours of time here and there to suggest ideas in 2011-12. I became a member in 2011.

What I was given in return that I didn’t expect:

·      Became a feminist and realized this doesn't have to be an “F-word.” The return on this investment is too immense to list at the moment. Like the F-word, I’ll keep this short and to the point.

·      Found role models for a sustained and serious artistic career focused on community engagement.

·      Met an artist from India, Shelly Jyoti, through Woman Made Gallery. We created a two-woman show, Indigo, that has traveled to venues in Vadodara, New Delhi, Mumbai, Seattle, Miami and will open in Chicago at the Chicago Cultural Center on January 25, 2013 5:30-7:30pm. The show runs January 26-April 2, 2013.

I'm going back to Okinawa! 5 of my paintings will be in a museum in Japan

Laura Kina, "Gosei," Oil on canvas, 30 x 45, 2012

Five of my paintings from my Sugar series and one brand new 2012 painting of my daughter Midori will be on view as part of:

"Women in Between – Asian Women Artists 1984-2012—Okinawan Women Artists"
Okinawan Prefectural Museum and Art Museum
December 4, 2012 - January 6, 2013
3-1-1 Omoromachi, Naha City
Okinawa, Japan 900-0006
tel:098.941.8200
fax:098.941.2392
http://www.museums.pref.okinawa.jp/english/art/index.html

 

I have also been invited to give a lecture at University of the Ryukyus
Laura Kina - "Mixed Race Asian American Art: Chanpuru Spirit and "hapa" Identity"
December 5, 2012, 3:00-5:00 PM (details TBA)
Ryukyu University, Okinawa, Japan
International Institute for Okinawan Studies at the University of the Ryukyus

 

Laura Kina, "Issei," Oil on canvas, 30 x 45, 2011

Laura Kina, "Palaka," Oil on canvas, 30 x 45, 2010

Laura Kina, "Hajichi #1" (Okinawan Tattoo), Oil on wood panel, 12 x 12, 2010

Laura Kina, "Hajichi #2" (Okinawan Tattoo), Oil on wood panel, 12 x 12, 2010

2012 Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference and Mixed Roots Midwest Recap

We are in the process of building a dedicated website for Critical Mixed Race Studies, which we will debut in 2013, but in the meantime I want to share a recap of the 2012 conference and Mixed Roots Midwest and some of the feedback we've received thus far. 

As one professor wrote us, "It was one of the best conferences I've ever attended. The audiences for the talks were so engaged, and I couldn't believe how packed the rooms were. I came home itching to write and to work through so many of the great ideas from the conference."

Honeysmoke blogger Monique Fields shared the "10 Things I learned at CMRS." 

Some of our group facebook page members responded:

"...was my first CMRS and I had a great time--many thanks to the organizers and great folks in attendance. welcoming and generative. wonderful space for dialogue between folks of different disciplines, regions, generations. yes to an association. 

"I'm having a hard time deciding what I enjoyed more, the session discussions or the discussions between the sessions. Well done CMRS 2012 crew!"

A graduate student expressed that CMRS has become a "pipeline up and down" connecting faculty, students, the community, and artists and activists. 

Below is the message we sent out to our CMRS list serv. Join our mailing list for the latest updates.

 

Critical Mixed Race Studies Recap

CMRS 2012

Despite being sandwiched between Halloween, Superstorm Sandy, and the presidential elections, over 400 people attended the 2^nd biennial Critical Mixed Race Studies conference, “What is Critical Mixed Race Studies?,” and Mixed Roots Midwest at DePaul University in Chicago Nov 1-4, 2012. Attendees came from across the U.S. from Hawaii to NY as well as internationally from Canada, the UK, Brazil, Australia, and Ukraine and included senior and junior scholars and cultural producers, graduate students, undergraduates, community members, and representatives from community organizations.

We would like to thank all of the attendees, participants, organizers, and volunteers for making CMRS 2012 an engaging and memorable conference. A special thanks to the invaluable conference support from DePaul's Latin American and Latino Studies and our 2012 programming committee: Greg Carter, Michele Elam, Camilla Fojas, Rudy P. Guevarra Jr., and Rainier Spencer. Thank you to our DePaul University co-sponsors: Center for Latino Research (CLR), Center for Intercultural Programs, Global Asian Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies Program (LALSP), Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Dean's Office, Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity (OIDE), Women and Gender Studies Program, and African American and Black Diaspora Studies.

Click here to view the 2012 CMRS Conference Schedule.

Enjoy photos from CMRS 2012

Like our new organizational page on Facebook

Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies Call For Papers
“What is Critical Mixed Race Studies?”
Papers that were presented at the 2012 Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference “What is Critical Mixed Race Studies?” are invited for revision and submission for the second issue of JCMRS. We also welcome papers that speak to specialized research, pedagogical, or community-based interests. JCMRS encourages both established and emerging scholars, including graduate students and faculty, to submit articles throughout the year. Articles will be considered for publication on the basis of their contributions to important and current discussions in mixed race studies, and their scholarly competence and originality.
Visit JCMRS to download the CFP

What's Next?
The inaugural issue of the Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies will be published in Jan-Feb 2013. We are in the process of building a dedicated CMRS website, gearing up for the next conference in 2014 (or sooner), and continuing a creative partnership with Mixed Roots Stories (launching in December 2012), and planning to form a CMRS association. Please keep the conversations going through the CMRS Facebook group page and through the CMRS caucus grouops: Latina/os of Mixed Ancestry, the National Association of Mixed Student Organizations, and the newly proposed Queer Caucus. For more information or to get involved contact us at cmrs@depaul.edu.

Thanks,
Camilla Fojas (CMRS 2012 organizer)
Laura Kina (Mixed Roots Midwest 2012 co-organizer)

Photo of Eric Hamako at CMRS 2012 by Ken Tanabe.

News from the 2012 CMRS business meeting:
US Census Report from Eric Hamako

• Nominated by a coalition of Mixed-Race community organizations, Eric Hamako has been selected to serve a two-year term on the US Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee (NAC) on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations.  (See press release.)

• Two matters of particular concern for Multiracial people & Two Or More Races (TOMR) populations.

1. ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS: For cost efficiency, the Census Bureau is considering using “Administrative Records” in some cases when a person doesn’t submit information to the Census (e.g., if Jane X doesn’t submit a Census 2020 form and doesn’t respond to follow-up requests, the Census might access other public and private databases that contain info about Jane X, to fill in info about her).  However, currently Census studies indicate that Administrative Records are worse at filling in info about non-Whites than Whites -- and are particularly bad at filling in info about people who indicate Two Or More Races (TOMR), ranging from 4%-36% accuracy.  This is largely because many public and private databases do not allow respondents to Mark One or More races.  We need to find ways to improve the accuracy of Administrative Record use.
2. ALTERNATIVE QUESTIONNAIRE EXPERIMENTS (AQEs): Long before each Census, the Bureau tests out various possible changes, using AQEs.  One of the many changes currently being considered is an option that combines the Race question and the Hispanic ethnicity question into a single question.  This would likely a) increase the accuracy of the count of Latinos, b) increase the number of Latinos who are indicating Two Or More Races, c) reduce the White population count by 6-8%.

• Eric is soliciting community perspectives.  Please review NAC-related documents (see public GoogleDocs folder) and contact Eric at CensusNAC@gmail.com.  Eric is also constructing a blog, “Two or More,” to communicate about the NAC, http://censusnac.blogspot.com/.

Photo of Mixed Roots Midwest: Filmmakers Panel by Laura Kina.

CMRS 2012 and Mixed Roots Midwest

Presented by DePaul's Center for Intercultural Programs and co-organized by Fanshen Cox, Chandra Crudup, Khanisha Foster, and Laura Kina, Mixed Roots Midwest featured three evenings of programming that explored what it means to have a mixed identity:

• Nov 1, 2012 Selected Shorts: Silences by Octavio Warnock-Graham, Crayola Monologues by Nathan Gibbs, Mixed Mexican by Thomas P. Lopez, and Nigel's Fingerprints by Kim Kuhteubl.

• Nov 2, 2012 Filmmakers Panel: Fanshen Cox in conversation with Kim Kuhteubl, Jeff Chiba Stearns, Kip Fulbeck.

• Nov 3, 2012 Live Event - featuring spoken word artists CP Chang, Chris L. Terry and Sage Xaxua Morgan-Hubbard from Chicago's own 2nd Story along with a preview of Fanshen Cox's solo-show-in-progress, One Drop of Love and invited Chicago writer Fred Sasaki reading from a manuscript of e-mails called "Letter of Interest."

The Morning After: mixed thoughts on the next four years

My family celebrating the Obama victory in Chicago in 2008

Family voting block for Obama in Chicago, Nov 6, 2012 - white, Latina, Asians in the house!

November 7, 2012 9am Laura Kina

I remember the sheer jubilation of the 2008 election and I’m comparing it to the measured feelings I have this morning.

Four years ago we dragged our then 14 year-old teenager, Ariel, out of the house and down to Grant Park in Chicago to celebrate the victory of president-elect Barack Obama. We wanted her to witness history. We went with a pack of new parents and strollers (all of us interracial families and mixed-race folks, by the way). The crowd went wild when the election was called. “OBAMA, OBAMA, OBAMA” we shouted along with thousands, jumping up and down. Midori, then 3-years old, couldn’t handle the noise and broke down in tears. Ariel wasn’t sure what the big deal was just yet but my husband, Mitch, and I were beyond ecstatic. It seemed that this was more than a presidential election…this was the fulfillment of Martin Luther King’s dream! Pure hope.

With the inauguration of the first black (or biracial) president, claims were made that we had entered a “post-racial” era. And then the economy tanked and racial issues were reduced to the triviality of “Beergate.” “Race” was a tricky subject the President wished to avoid so he could pragmatically deal with bigger issues. I understand and it may be true that “race” is not the issue of the day anymore (or at least how we used to conceptualize it), but, amongst other things, access to power and privilege and social inequality remain a concern.

Ariel is now 18 and part of that 10% Latino/a vote that made such a difference last night. I was very proud that we could join her for her first time voting. Through Twitter, she quickly noticed that her peers were posting pictures of their ballots on Facebook and Instagram and she helped get out the word via social media not to do this since this invalidates ballots in many states. During the debates we had watched TV together and had two cell phones going with multiple Twitter and Facebook conversations and feeds. The way we watched and participated in the elections had changed and it was fun to hear the 18-year old perspective and my 30-40+ demographic friends' perspectives. With the “1980s calling for their foreign policy back” and “binders full of women,” the debates seemed to be a comedic farce though.

I was so nervous about the election yesterday that we opted for a quiet election watching party (with drinks and lefty friends) rather than the downtown Chicago crowds. I had resigned myself to a long night of watching the results come in. We went home and I tucked Midori into bed and no sooner did I kiss her goodnight than the phone rang and my brother Sam called from Washington DC with the news. We heard the cheers from the TV and we were soon all jumping up and down on the bed. OBAMA, OBAMA, OBAMA!

I dozed off while waiting for Romney to concede but woke up again to hear Obama’s victory address. "Hope is a stubborn thing. Not blind optimism…We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions."  

Yes, so true. I was beaming with relief and pride but then he said something else that made me pause:

"This country has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that's not what makes us strong. Our university, our culture are all the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores. What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on Earth, the belief that our destiny is shared — (cheers, applause) — that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations, so that the freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights, and among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. That's what makes America great. (Cheers, applause.)" (http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/npr.php?id=164540079)

I haven’t had time to fully process this yet but the proximity of “exceptional” and “destiny” makes me think of “manifest destiny” and “American exceptionalism.” Is it possible to be patriotic and not, as one of my Facebook friends noted, to display “national chauvinism”?

I drove my 7-year daughter to the bus stop for school today. We live in a very diverse Jewish/South Asian neighborhood. A little boy named Mohammed ran up to us and said, “Guess who is president today? OBAMA!” The group of kids at the bus stop cheered. Many of the kids held mock-elections at their schools and all reported landslide victories for Obama. The parents (who are black, South Asian, East Asian, and white) all expressed a collective sigh of relief and went on to discuss drones, deportation and the rising cost of higher education.

Thank you for making CMRS 2012 and Mixed Roots Midwest a success

We've just finished four days of the Critical Mixed Race Studies conference and Mixed Roots Midwest festival hosted by DePaul University in Chicago, IL. Thank you to all of the volunteers and sponsors who made this possible. I look forward to seeing you again in 2014.

Laura Kina and Camilla Fojas at the CMRS registration table. Photo by Ken Tanabe

Mixed Roots Midwest Filmmakers Panel: Fanshen Cox, Kim Kuhteubl, Jeff Chiba Stearns, Kip Fulbeck

Critical Mixed Race Studies 2012 conference

Mixed Roots Midwest co-orgnaizers Chandra Crudup, Laura Kina, and Fanshen Cox (not pictured - Khanisha Foster)

Mixed Roots Midwest - Chicago's Fred Sasaki performing "Best Head Waiter: Katsu"

Like the Critical Mixed Race Studies organization facebook page for official news from the Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS) and Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies (JCMRS) organizers:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Critical-Mixed-Race-Studies/162591147217029?ref=ts&fref=ts

Join the Critical Mixed Race Studies facebook page to share your scholarly work and to engage in discussion with an international community of scholars, activist, artists and students interested in mixed-race issues:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/13919553099/?ref=ts&fref=ts

View photos from CMRS and Mixed Roots Midwest:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63834915@N03/sets/72157631907923995/

Visit our official sites at:
las.depaul.edu/cmrs
http://escholarship.org/uc/ucsb_soc_jcmrs

Join our mailing list.

Featured in the Chicago Tribune 10/29/12

My DePaul colleague Camilla Fojas and I are featured in this article in the Chicago Tribune 10/29/12 p. 7

In the news:
Dawn Turner Trice, from the Chicago Tribune, interviewed my DePaul colleague Camilla Fojas and I about mixed-race issues and the November 1-4, 2012 Critical Mixed Race conference we are hosting at DePaul University. She also talked to Minelle Mahtani who will be presenting at CMRS 2012.

Here is a link to the article:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-10-29/news/ct-met-trice-biracial-conference-1029-20121029_1_mixed-race-depaul-conference-racial-landscape

To download the complete conference program visit:
http://las.depaul.edu/aas/docs/CMRSConference/CMRS_2012_Final_10-29-12.pdf




To learn more about the conference visit:
las.depaul.edu/cmrs

Presenting and showing work at the Art In Response to Violence conference at NEIU

Laura Kina, Cane Fire, oil on canvas, 30x45 in., 2010

I will have several works from my Sugar series (2010-present) on display at the Art in Response to Violence (ARV) Conference at North Eastern Illinois University October 18-19, 2012.

Northeastern Illinois University

Student Union Building

5500 N St. Louis Ave

Chicago, IL 60625

Register for the conference:
http://arv.neiu.edu/arv.neiu.edu/Register.html

Join me on Thursday, October 18, 2012 6:00-6:45pm for a reception followed by a 7:00pm Gallery Walk, Led by Mark McKernin, Chair Art Dept, NEIU

I will also be presenting on Friday, October 19, 2012
11:15-12:15 Okinawan Blues: Painting Hawaiian Plantation Picture Brides
Laura Kina artist talk
Chair: Saba Ayman-Nolley, Psych Dept Chair, NEIU
Location: Golden Eagles

Join us for this interdisciplinary conference that will reflect on ways that visual art and art making express, communicate, and document violence in its many forms. Through art exhibits, paper presentations, and workshops, participants will address the influences and effects of visual art to address violence.

This two-day conference is open to professionals and students across disciplines and practice. From the opening ceremony, which welcomes all and acknowledges the lands and peoples affected by violence, to the closing session, there will be time for interaction and reflection. Visual art and art making can lead to peaceful solutions. The 3rd Annual Art in Response to Violence Conference continues the tradition of providing learning opportunities for all who attend.

Two weeks until the Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference

Critical Mixed Race Studies at DePaul University

Two weeks until the Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference at DePaul University.

I will be presenting a paper on artists Mequitta Ahuja and Shizu Saldamando on
Friday, November 2, 2012 in Session One 9:00am-­‐10:30am
Mixed-Race Art & Aesthetics
DePaul Student Center 2250 N. Sheffield #312
Chair: Michele Elam

LeiLani Nishime, University of Washington,
“At the Threshold of the Visible: Genetics, Race, and the Hapa Project”
Laura Kina, DePaul University, “Documenting Mythology: Portraiture and Mixed­‐Race Aesthetics in the work of Mequitta Ahuja and Shizu Saldamando”
Cherise Smith, UT-Austin, “The Material Body? Adrian Piper’s Food for the Spirit”
Michele Elam, Stanford University, “Mixed-Race Art and Political Memory in Albert Chong and Robert Pruitt”

Join us for the whole conference Nov 1-4, 2012 and Nov 1-3 for Mixed Roots Midwest.
For more info visit: http://las.depaul.edu/aas/About/CMRSConference/index.asp

Feed & Be Fed - new work in a show in Minneapolis

Feed and Be Fed at Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, MN

I'm showing some digital prints of my Omiyage series and sharing a recipe for Hawaiian Saimin with an Okinawan twist as part of the "Feed & Be Fed" exhibition in conjunction with:

28 Days of Good Energía

a quest for community well-being
in partnership with Intermedia Arts

Oct. 19 – Nov. 15, 2012
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

Join Mero Cocinero for 28 days of live & online arts events celebrating culture, joy & the revolutionary act of eating together – all rooted in the rich tradition of Día de los Muertos.

Feed & Be Fed

(Alimenta & Alimentarán)
a nourishing art exhibit
Explore this cross-cultural Día de los Muertos wonderland where each artwork invites you on an interactive journey, encouraging you to feed & be fed.

Featuring the artworks of:
Rebekah Crisanta, Jake Davis, Robert Garcia, Nicole Infinity, Robert Farid Karimi, Laura Kina, Erin Lavelle, Kathy Maxwell, Ricardo Levins Morales, Nicholas Pecoraro, Molly Balcom Raleigh, Phira Rehm, Victor Sanchez, Kao Lee Thao, Robert Two Bulls, and Victor Yépez. 

 

October 22 – November 10

M-F 10-6; Sa 12-5

at Intermedia Arts

2822 Lyndale Avenue South, 

Minneapolis, MN 55408

t. 612.871.4444 

e. info@IntermediaArts.org

Opening Reception
October 25; 6-9pm
Featuring music, live performance, special guests & free food

Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies inaugural issue coming Winter 2012-13

The JCMRS inaugural issue will be released in Winter 2012-13

The Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies (JCMRS) is a peer-reviewed online journal dedicated to developing the field of Critical Mixed Race Studies (CMRS) through rigorous scholarship. Launched in 2011, it is the first academic journal explicitly focused on Critical Mixed Race Studies.

JCMRS is transracial, transdisciplinary, and transnational in focus and emphasizes the critical analysis of the institutionalization of social, cultural, and political orders based on dominant conceptions and constructions of ‘race.’ JCMRS emphasizes the constructed nature and thus mutability of race and the porosity of racial boundaries in order to critique processes of racialization and social stratification based on race. JCMRS addresses local and global systemic injustices rooted in systems of racialization.

Sponsored by UC Santa Barbara’s Sociology Department, JCMRS is hosted on the eScholarship Repository, which is part of the eScholarship initiative of the California Digital Library. JCMRS functions as an open-access forum for critical mixed race studies scholars and will be available without cost to anyone with access to the Internet.
http://escholarship.org/uc/ucsb_soc_jcmrs

Volume 1, Issue 1, Winter 2012-13 will include:

Editors’ Introduction

“Emerging Paradigms in Critical Mixed Race Studies”
Laura Kina, Wei Ming Dariotis, G. Reginald Daniel, and Camilla Fojas

Articles

“An Interview with Dr. Maria P.P. Root”
G. Reginald Daniel and Teresa Williams-Léon

“Historical Origins of the One-Drop Racial Rule in the United States”
(Based historian Winthrop Jordan’s unpublished papers on the one-drop rule)
Paul R. Spickard

“Retheorizing the Relationship Between New Mestizaje and New Multiraciality as Mixed Race Identity Models”
Jessie Turner

Keynote Address, “Critical Mixed Race Studies: New Directions in the Politics of Race and Representation.” Presented at Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference, November 5, 2010, DePaul University.
Andrew Jolivette

“Slimy Subjects and Neoliberal Goods”
Daniel McNeil

“The Current State of Multiracial Discourse”
Molly McKibbin

“Only the News They Want to Print”
Rainier Spencer

Editorial Board

Founding Editors
G. Reginald Daniel
Wei Ming Dariotis
Laura Kina
Maria P. P. Root
Paul R. Spickard

Managing Editors
G. Reginald Daniel
Wei Ming Dariotis
Laura Kina

Editorial Review Board
Stanley R. Bailey
Mary C. Beltrán
David Brunsma
Greg Carter
Kimberly McClain
DaCosta
Michele Elam
Camilla Fojas
Peter Fry
Kip Fulbeck
Rudy Guevarra
Velina Hasu Houston
Kevin R. Johnson
Andrew Jolivette
Rebecca Chiyoko King-O’Riain
Laura A. Lewis
Kristen A. Renn
Maria Root
Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu
Gary B. Nash
Kent A. Ono
Rita Simon
Miri Song
Rainier Spencer
Michael Thornton
Peter Wade
France Winddance Twine
Teresa Williams-León
Naomi Zack

Contact: Editor
Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies
c/o Department of Sociology, SSMS Room 3005
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9430
Email: socjcmrs@soc.ucsb.edu

Mixed Roots Midwest at DePaul Nov 1-3, 2012

Mixed Roots Midwest at DePaul Nov 1-3, 2012 as part of CMRS 2012

Mixed Roots Midwest Festival

In conjunction with the 2012 Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference at DePaul University, Mixed Roots brings short films, a filmmaker panel, and a live show featuring local and national talent exploring the Mixed experience.

Selected Shorts: Silences, Crayola Monologues,
Mixed Mexican, and Nigel's Fingerprint
11/1/2012 5:45PM-7:15PM
These critically acclaimed shorts take on themes of racism, familial relationships, the
Census and how we define ourselves in a world focused on categorizing racial identity.

Mixed Roots Filmmakers Panel
11/2/2012 5:15-m-6:45pm
Three filmmakers discuss their journeys from pre-production through postproduction,
and what inspired them to tell stories of the Mixed experience.
Filmmakers: Kip Fulbeck (The Hapa Project 2001-2006), Jeff Chiba Stearns (One
Big Hapa Family, 2010) and Kim Kuhteubl (Nigel's Fingerprint, 2003).

Mixed Roots Midwest LIVE
11/3/2012 5:14pm-6:45pm
Experience an energetic, thought-provoking evening of spoken word artists from
Chicago's own 2nd Story, and a preview of Fanshen Cox's solo-show-in-progress. These artists meld performance with an exploration and critical analysis of what it means to have a mixed identity.

All events will be held at DePaul University Lincoln Park Campus, Student Center 120AB
2250 North Sheffield Avenue Chicago, IL 60614

Visit the CMRS 2012 website to download the full conference program:
http://las.depaul.edu/aas/About/CMRSConference/index.asp

Co-sponsored by Critical Mixed Race Studies, DePaul Center for Intercultural Programs, and the department of Latin American & Latino Studies.

New work - The story behind my "Omiyage" series 2012 for the CARE Package show

Laura Kina, "Omiyage" (panel 1 "Saimen" of 4), 30x30 in. embroidery and acrylic on linen, patchwork quilt border, 2012

Laura Kina, "Omiyage" (panel 2 "Kameichi" of 4), 30x30 in. embroidery and acrylic on linen, patchwork quilt border, 2012

Laura Kina, "Omiyage" (panel 3 "Hawaii" of 4), 30x30 in. embroidery and acrylic on linen, patchwork quilt border, 2012

Laura Kina, "Omiyage" (panel 4 "Air Force" of 4), 30x30 in. embroidery and acrylic on linen, patchwork quilt border, 2012

For the past year I've been working on these new textile pieces for "CARE Package c/o Philadelphia, PA" which will open on October 5-26, 2012 at Twelve Gates Arts in Philadelphia. The show has been invited to travel next to Lahore, Pakistan in 2013-14.

Twelve Gates Arts is thrilled to host the inaugural showing of CARE Packag a small-scale international traveling show of five female artists of Asian descent. Taking inspiration from the concept of care package sent to each host country, artists Shelly Bahl, Shelly Jyoti, Laura Kina, Saira Wasim, and Anida Yoeu Ali created multi-media "gifts" to be shared with local audiences. Philadelphia is the city where packages destined for Europe after WWII were assembled for shipment by the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE, Inc.); now it is set to be the first city to receive this unique gift. The universal concept of a gift here acts as a stage for the artists' stories, which promise to tackle issues of nationhood, race, gender, religion, & economic exploitation.

About my new "Omiyage" series:
This piece is based on excerpts from an audio recording of my father giving a testimonial at his church about his father, who was largely absent from his life, for a special father's day service. The text is hand embroidered (by me....this takes forever!) and I painted the images on acrylic on Belgian linen. Using the patchwork quilt skills I learned when I was a kid from my great-grandma "Nanny" Ethel Safrons Dismukes Smiley, I sewed a patchwork border using scraps of vintage fabric and contemporary Hawaiian print fabrics. Below is the full edited text (I just used a few excerpts for the artwork). I'll let that speak for itself in terms of the content of the piece but I was thinking about absence, longing and how voids can create form and propel us to actions that we might not have taken if everything was OK. This is the story of the unintentional gift of an absent namesake.

Saimin Says: A Sansei’s Fathers Day Testimony by Dr. George Kina

Transcribed by Laura Kina August 2011

This testimony was delivered on Father’s Day June 19, 2011 at my parent’s church in Silverdale, Washington U.S.A. My father, Dr. George Kina, is Sansei Uchinanchu (3^rd generation of Okinawan descent). Both his paternal and maternal grandparents emigrated from Okinawa, Japan at the beginning of the 20th century to work in the sugar cane fields on the Big Island of Hawai’i. What follows is a recollection of my father’s imperfect memories of his own father - Kameichi Kina.

Thank you fathers out there who stand by your family, your wife, your kids, because your positive impact on your family is not just on your own family but also on our community. I know that because I was one of those that grew up in a small community where there were actually a lot of good examples, I could look around and see that I could be like that person, or that person – I could pick out what I liked and say, “That’s how I want to be!” While I didn’t have that good example in my own family, I had it in the community.

I want to tell you a story about my father but right off, I want to tell you that although my father started off with a lot of difficulties in his life, started off poorly as a youth and as a father, I just want to say right now – he ended well. On December 4, 1987 he went on to be with the Lord. That’s the beginning and end of the story but there’s a lot in between.

I have a routine at lunchtime. I take about 15-20 minutes for lunch and I always have my bowl of chicken soup and a peanut butter jam sandwich. It just occurred to me that there’s a big connection between eating chicken soup on a daily basis and my father.

I have very little memory about my father - he left the house when I was a sixth grader and when he was at home, he wasn’t home very much. I think as a kid, you don’t remember a lot of things so it may be that there are things that went on with my father that I have no recollection about. I could come up with very little things I can remember my father with and one was eating a bowl of soup at a restaurant. We had a bowl of saimin soup [a Hawai’ian plantation era soft wheat noodle soup served in hot dashi (fish broth) and topped with char sui (sweet pork), garnished with kamaboko (fish cake), choi sum (Chinese cabbage), egg, and green onions]. I remember that it was a memorable thing. It’s weird, isn’t it, that that’s what I would remember in my memory of my father? Maybe that’s why eating chicken soup, right now, is a comfort food for me.

What did my father teach me? He wasn’t a man of a lot of words. We did things together. I remember we worked in the sugar cane field but as far as talking, I can’t remember too much except one thing. He taught me to drive way before I was to even think about driving. He said, “Look to where you wanna go, not where you don’t wanna go.” You know, when you are on a narrow road, if you look to the side line, you look at that and not the car coming toward you….to this day, when I’m driving my car, I think of my dad - just flashes of memory about him. Those are the two highlights in my life with my dad.

My dad wasn’t home much and he left when I was in the sixth grade and we never heard from him again from that time - not a word, not a note, no phone calls, didn’t send us any financial support. Over the years, just the lack of the father being there, there were seeds of opportunities…seeds of negative thoughts, bitterness, disappointment, sense of failure, sense of missing out on an important ingredient in my life, even though there were a lot of good examples.

I could see myself building these negative things in my character and I can remember having conversations with the Lord, over time, complaining about these things (this was when I was still a young person). It’s like the Lord communicated a thought to me, as I was whining and complaining to him about things he says, “Whose your real father?” It was like a sudden insight and an obvious thing. Of course there was only one answer, I said, “You are” and the thought came to me, “So why are you slandering my name? Why are you disrespecting me?” and the next thought that came to me was, “Honor your father.” That’s the fifth commandment - the first five commandments had to do with honoring authority, God, worshiping God, and the fifth one is honoring your father and mother. Give them respect, “Honor your father because I am the Lord, your God. Not because you think he deserves it or not or if he is a good father or not. Honor your father because I am the Lord, your God.”

That insight came at an early age but at the speed of obedience, it took many years to accomplish the insight the Lord gives! I thought I would just ignore things - my father hadn’t been in my life for many years. When it came time for me to graduate from high school. I really felt God compelling me to call my father, to find his number and call him. So I give him a call and I was able to reach him and I said, “Dad, I’m graduating from high school. I’m getting a special honor. I want you to be there” and he says, “Yes, I’ll be there” but he never was there. I never heard from him again from then. He missed different highlights in my life – high school, college, medical school, didn’t hear from him for my marriage or any of our children. But the Lord didn’t leave me off the hook on that.

As one of the things as the son in an Oriental family, it was always understood that somehow, I am responsible for my parents, that ultimately when the need comes - I’m going to take care of them. So in a sense, it was a relief to me that I didn’t have contact with my father at this point - only 50% responsibility left towards my mother! Whenever I would go back to Hawai’i, I would feel the Lord telling me to call my dad. I would call him and visit him. My father wasn’t a man of a lot of words, as I said, so we did meet a few times and had a few greetings but he never said a lot. Maybe he was feeling guilty about failing us and not being what it was supposed to have been but it was pleasant, we just said a few things and parted. That’s how our meeting was. When our fourth child was born I felt the Lord said, “This is an opportunity now to honor your father.” What the Lord wanted me to do was name our son after my father - “Kameichi.”

The last time I saw my father, I visited him in Hawai’i, I was surprised, pleasantly surprised, that when I went into his home the picture of my son was in first place. All of us were behind… background. My son must have been 2-3 years old but I knew when I saw that, we had made a connection, that he had sensed that things were going to be OK and I felt things were going to be OK with us.

My father, I heard, spent the last days of his life knowing the Lord, reading the Bible, praying. He ended well even though things were rough for him, things weren’t that rough for the family. We were taken care of. The Lord has been good to myself, my three sisters, to my father’s grandchildren. His favor has been upon us. God has been good to them and to us. God has been good to my father.

My son just graduated from officer’s candidate school. He is getting started in his career as an Air Force pilot and I told him, “You carry the name of my father ‘Kameichi’ and I am proud of you for what you are, for what you are becoming. I know my father would have wanted to be like you if he had the opportunity and the support.” I thank the Lord that he has been good to my dad, even though he started the way he did and had some set backs, I thank the Lord for that.