Watch for My Book

Monday, July 18, 2016

Tragedy, Trauma, and Telling Our Kids the Truth



by Sharon H. Chang

On Thursday morning, July 14, I had the honor of talking on-air with Minelle Mahtani -- author of Mixed Race Amnesia and host of Sense of Place at Roundhouse Radio -- about race, tragedy, parenting and our kids. Of course we did this show to engage with a string of recent tragic shootings that have left many reeling: the mass shooting of queer people of color (predominantly Latinx) at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, FL, which resulted in 49 deaths; the highly publicized police shootings which killed two Black men - Alton Sterling and Philando Castile - in Baton Rouge and Minnesota, respectively; and the subsequent mass shooting of police officers in Dallas, TX, at a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest, which resulted in 5 officer deaths. And sadly much more has happened since.

Minelle and I took questions via email, tweet and call-in. Parents and teachers asked, how do we broach this incredibly painful subject of racism and escalating violence with children? It is more and more obvious that we have to as our children pick up and absorb the increasing myriad of racialized messages being delivered by society about these tragedies. We’re seeing, hearing, observing our kids using race and racist words and ideas, and they’re also starting to ask us really tough questions. What is our response? How do we know what’s age appropriate? When do we start? What if we frighten our kids or leave them depressed with hopelessness? How do we find time and space to even begin said conversations when we don’t have a lot of time and space ourselves?

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

YOU'RE INVITED! Raising Mixed Race at Elliott Bay, Seattle WA

http://www.elliottbaybook.com/event/sharon-chang-friends

SO EXCITED to invite you an incredibly special Raising Mixed Race book event at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, WA!!! If you're a Seattle-ite (or can be for the evening) you seriously don't want to miss this interstellar collaboration including book talks, readings, local music, powerhouse Asian Pacific Northwest women writers and contributions from local chefs. Our night will open with a set by super talented local musician Brenda Xu + yummy food samples from Hood Famous Bakeshop and Marination. Next up, I will of course speak and read from Raising Mixed Race. But then it's not over. Following I'm so honored to panel with badass Canadian authors/editors Minelle Mahtani and Brandy Lien Worrall-Soriano for critical conversations on mixedness. There will definitely be time for Q&A ~ and ~ Brenda Xu merchandise + copies of all writers books will be available for sale/signing.

See? Told you. Don't want to miss it...


Elliott Bay Book Company
1521 - 10th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122 
(206) 624-6600

This event is free and open to the public. Doors open 6:30p.

Go to the --> Facebook Event Page: Raising Mixed Race @ Elliot Bay


 

Music / Brenda Xu ~ Ambient/folk artist, Brenda Xu (pronounced “shoo”) has been building a steady following since her arrival on the Seattle music scene a few years ago. The momentum she created with the release of her last album "For The Winter" (2014) has led to two successful western U.S. tours and a recent feature in the MTV show "Awkward." Compared to artists such as Cat Power, Daughter, and Aimee Mann, her sound has been described as "treading the delicate line between washed-out ambient tones and carefully crafted acoustic arrangements." She is currently working on her fourth album and plans to tour the U.S. and Europe this year. http://brendaxu.com/

 
Panel / Minelle Mahtani ~ Minelle is an author, journalist and Associate Professor of Human Geography and Planning, and the Program in Journalism at University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC). She has written two books: Mixed Race Amnesia: Resisting the Romanticization of Multiraciality and Global Mixed Race. She is a former CBC TV journalist, sits on the steering committee of UBC’s journalism school and has won several awards, including a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Award for her contributions to journalism. Minelle is currently on sabbatical from University of Toronto to host the exciting new show 'Sense of Place' at Roundhouse Radio.

 

Panel / Brandy Lien Worrall-Soriano ~ Brandy is editor of the recent anthology Completely Mixed Up: Mixed Heritage Asian North American Writing and Art (2015) and author of What Doesn’t Kill Us (2014), a groundbreaking memoir about growing up in the din of her Vietnamese mother and American father’s trauma from the Vietnam War, and how it related to her breast cancer experience as a young adult. She is also the author of eight collections of poetry and owner/editor of Rabbit Fool Press, a small family-owned-and-operated publishing company based in Vancouver. https://brandyworrall.com/


Videography & Photography / Devon de Leña ~ Devon is a storyteller, filmmaker, and powerful community facilitator. As a mixed-raced filipina/white woman she values the importance of intersectionality and honoring complexity within our stories and movements. She believes in building power through healing, creativity and cultural work. Her vision is to weave stories of identity, resilience and imagination together so that we can cultivate authentic representations of people living at the intersections and fringes of our society. http://www.devondelena.com/

 
Cheesecake / Chera Amlag ~ Chera is a co-founder of the Food & Sh*t monthly pop-ups in Seattle, where diners became enamored with her desserts that blended Filipino flavors with familiar Western desserts. When her ube cheesecake debuted in 2013 it quickly became the most demanded item on the menu leading Chera to grow a branch on the Food & Sh*t tree and the larger Filipino food movement -- the Hood Famous Bakeshop!

 

Sliders & Tacos / Kamala Saxton & Roz Edison ~ In 2009 Marination owners Kamala and Roz decided to run their own business. Big Blue took to the streets in June with a unique Hawaiian-Korean fusion cuisine in tow. Over one million tacos and nearly five incredible years later, Marination has grown into a big aloha family! One truck, one little brick-and-mortar in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, and one beachside restaurant with a full bar, huge patio, and a TO DIE FOR view.