Posted in Activism, Community, Identity, Mixed, Swirl, tagged activism, chapter, identity, mixed, organizing, Swirl on August 24, 2011| 4 Comments »
The Swirl team is happy to welcome its newest chapter on board – SwirlStarkville (in Mississippi)! And at its helm, Sheena Gardner (pictured at left).
The establishment of SwirlStarkville comes at a time when an increasing number of individuals are identifying as multiracial in a state which traditionally sees race in black and white. Because the chapter is located in a college town, the organization will focus primarily on serving the student population. (more…)
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Swirl, use your voice! on May 23, 2011| 6 Comments »
We are soliciting content for Swirl’s blog on race. We’re looking for intellectual, creative, politically-minded pieces of writing that challenge the status quo!Posted in Reflection, tagged activism, mixed, race, racism, structural racism, Swirl on October 16, 2009| 10 Comments »
by Jen Chau, originally published at The Time Is Always Right
This is – I think – our favorite game to play when it comes to race. Locate the racist, focus on the racist, blog and tweet the crap out of that racist, and shame that racist as much as possible. The racist shouldn’t be able to carry on life as he knew it. I too hope for change in the person who took a misstep, but I think we are missing the bigger picture. We use magnifying glasses to focus on individual events rather than seeing the connections and the patterns that point to larger societal problems.
Posted in Reflection, tagged activism, race, racism, Swirl on September 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »
We’ve been running an experiment. What happens when you put five people in a room to read, learn, debate and struggle with how to translate our multiracial community into a catalyst for action? (I know what you’re thinking, and no, arm-wrestling was not involved). Five brave SwirlNYC members gave four afternoons of their lives (and then some) to collectively developing an analysis on race, justice, and what it means to do something about it. Led by Jen Chau (Founder and Executive Director of Swirl) and Lynda Turet (former Managing Director of Swirl), we piloted a semester of learning called “SwirlCamp,” meant to serve as a boot camp for Swirl members ready to take their involvement to the next level. Our sessions ran the gamut of exploring structural racism to discussing the impact (or lack thereof) of having a black and multiracial president. We also sharpened our leadership skills through self-reflection and skill-building. Our purpose was simple: how do we make our collective need for community into a tool to change what has impacted us all–racism? (more…)
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged race, Swirl on September 11, 2009| 1 Comment »
Each year, Swirl partners with Loving Day to commemorate the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision legalizing inter-racial marriage in the United States. This year, SwirlPhilly, Swirl’s newest chapter brought the Loving Day celebration to the City of Brotherly Love by hosting a viewing of the Franklin Institute’s RACE: Are We So Different? More than 25 mixed race individuals, couples, and families attended the inaugural event.
