| Volume 2, Issue 2 | June, 1999 |
Table of Contents |
| Welcome Address | |
Dear Friends,
Time sure does fly. Can you believe the summer is here already. It is time for BBQ's, lazy weekends at the beach and long walks in the park. After the Trenton Thunder outing on June 26th 4C: Cross Cultural Couples and Children and IR: InterRacial Life will take our usual break for the summer and will resume regular meetings in September. We hope everyone enjoys this issue of our newsletter because it has some interesting information for all. Have a happy and healthy summer and we will see you soon.
Sincerely,
Lisa, Kelly, Dave and Willete
| Alabama to Consider Ending Ban on Interracial Marriages | |
MONTGOMERY, Alabama (AP, June 1, 1999) -- Alabama voters will
have the opportunity to end the nation's last remaining ban on interracial
marriages. The Alabama Constitution, written in 1901, contains a prohibition
against a black person -- or any descendant of a black person -- marrying a
white person. A proposed amendment that would remove that language was approved
by the state House in April and by the Senate on Tuesday without a dissenting
vote. It now goes before Alabama voters in a statewide election October 12,
along with a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize a state lottery.
"It sends a good message across the nation that Alabama is moving into
the 21st century," said the bill's sponsor, Democratic Rep. Alvin Holmes.
In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Virginia law banning interracial
marriages. Since then, laws such as Alabama's have been unenforceable. South
Carolina voters approved removing an interracial marriage ban from their
constitution in November, and the state Legislature ratified the action in
February. That left Alabama as the only state that retained the remnant of
segregation.
| Television's First Interracial Kiss | |
When was the first interracial kiss on US television, and who
were the participants? This seemingly simple question has sparked a significant
amount of debate. What exactly is meant by interracial? Is Hispanic-white
considered interracial? Does it mean the first black-white kiss? The most famous
show of the 1950s, I Love Lucy, featuring a White actress Lucille Ball
and Hispanic actor Desi Arnaz certainly features the first intercultural kiss on
American television. But using the stricter sense of racial definition, this
represents crossing an cultural, not racial, boundary.
In a 1968 episode of the cult favorite series Star Trek called "Elaan
of Troyious," White actor William Shatner (Capt. Kirk) has a passionate
love scene with a character called the Doleman, played by Asian actress Frances
Nguyen. However, Ms. Nguyen's makeup obscures her racial heritage, giving her
more of a Mediterranean appearance. But, there was no hiding the racial
background of Capt. Kirk’s love interest in another Star Trek episode
that aired several months later. In what is generally accepted as television’s
first interracial kiss, Black actress Nichelle Nicholls (Lt. Uhura) and Mr.
Shatner embrace lips in an episode entitled "Plato's Stepchildren."
Interestingly enough, in Mr. Shatner’s autobiography, he indicates that he and
Ms. Nicholls didn't actually kiss in the take that actually made it to the
screen, it only appeared that they did because of the camera angle.
| Birthday Celebrations (April - June) |
|
Kelly Giblin - April 23rd
Nathan Horn-Mitchem - April 24th
Ed Rasinski - May 6th
Frank Varela - May 9th
Lisa Edwards - May 18th
Allison Crowell - June 18th
Alexis Rasinski - June 18th
Little Ed Rasinski - June 24th
Christina Varela - June 24th
Stephanie Smith - June 30th
If your birthday is in July, August or September, tell us so we can include you in our birthday celebration corner.
| Triple Good News |
|
Congratulations to Charlene Gyemah (our childcare aide),
who graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School this month. She was
accepted to Rutgers in New Brunswick where she plans to pursue her Bachelor's
Degree in the Fall.
Additionally, Congratulations to Lisa Edwards on receiving her MBA in General
Management on May 22, 1999 and Rosemary Varela on receiving her MA in Business
and Government Policy on June 7, 1999. You've Done Good!! Way to Go Ladies!!!!
| Camping Trip |
|
Mark your calendar the camping trip is scheduled for the weekend of August 28th (Note: this is not Labor Day weekend). The location is a family campground in Northwest, NJ. For further information please contact Dave Seibel at (732) 390 - 7316 (after 9pm) or [email protected]
| Happy Anniversary |
|
Frank and Rosemary Varela celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary on April 5th. Congratulations to the love birds.
Tom and Allison Crowell celebrated the anniversary of their marriage on June 15th. Congratulations, too.
4C: Cross Cultural Couples and Children celebrated its 2nd anniversary in May 1999. Two years and still going strong.
| Quarterly Highlights |
|
March 1999
Our featured speaker for the March meeting, Tonya Caesar, was to
have presented a lecture and workshop on the issues facing biracial children.
Unfortunately, Ms. Caesar had to cancel at the last moment due to a family
emergency. She has since been rescheduled to speak at our meeting on September
25, 1999. Luckily, there had recently appeared in the Trenton Times newspaper a
series of articles on race relations, including features on biracial children
and interracial dating/marriage. A synopsis of those articles and others that
had appeared in recent publications was provided to the group, and we then held
an open forum discussion on the issues raised. One of the Times' articles
featured a fairly negative view of a local biracial child's life, focusing on
his problems with self-esteem and identity. 4C founder Lisa Edwards later wrote
a letter published in the Times (a copy of which is included in this newsletter)
expressing the views of group members on the topic and the Times' coverage of
it. Please read that letter for additional information on the group forum.
April 1999
Due to other educational and occupational commitments, and
scheduling conflicts with other community events, the April meeting was
cancelled.
May 1999
In early May 4C members Lisa Edwards, Kelly Giblin, James and
Kelli Coulthard, Lisa Rasinski and their families manned a booth at the
Plainsboro Founder's Day celebration. For the second straight year, the group
sold cookies, brownies, candy, cake, pie, bottled water, ice tea and soda to
raise money for group activities, mailings and other postal expenses, childcare
at meetings, and legal and filing fees. Though most advertising was prohibited,
the event also allowed 4C to raise community awareness about the group, its
mission, and activities. Thanks to those members who sacrificed an entire
Saturday to make this event such a success. Special thanks also goes out to
Wilette Seibel for baking delicious sweet potato pies for the sale and Kelli
Coulthard for those mouth watering chocolate brownies. Those two ladies really
know how to bake. Thank heavens Lisa Edwards got to sample them early on because
both of those items were sold out way before the event ended.
| New Books |
|
InterCultural Marraige
By Dugan Romano
In this insightful book author Dugan Romano examines the impact of cultural differences on marriage and offers practical guidelines on how to deal with the complexities and problems involved. Romano suggest that the joys of an intercultural marriage often result as much from overcoming the obstacles and confronting the challenges as from the adventure of crossing cultures.
Freedom's Child - The Life of a Confederate
General's Black Daughter
By Carrie Allen McCray
Hailed as an essential work by The Washington Post Magazine, Carrie
Allen McCray's Freedom's Child is part historical narrative, part family
memoir, and a totally absorbing journey through which the author comes to terms
with her unique heritage. "Mama never talked about her father," she
writes. "The hush-hush of the times covered the truth like a shroud."
Yet McCray lifts that shroud, revealing a detailed portrait of her beloved
mother, Mary, who was born in the aftermath of the Civil War to a retired
Confederate brigadier general and his servant, a freed slave.
Freedom's Child tells how Mary's father, at the cost of his reputation,
publicly acknowledged her as his daughter, and ensured she received a good
education. Mary went on to become a college graduate and a colleague of Langston
Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois, and James Weldon Johnson.
| New Videos |
|
Black and White
A
young Soviet medical student and an African American building superintendent
fall in love in New York.
Othello
Tradition flaunting characterizations
and gorgeous cinematography highlight this adaptation of Shakespeare classic.
The Affair
A British housewife has an affair with
a black soldier stationed in the countryside during WWII. When her husband
discovers the two in the throes of passion, he assumes his wife is being
raped. Afraid that she will lose her son forever, she confirms the story.
| Future Events |
|
Trip to the Philadelphia Zoo - July 17th
Statewide Multicultural Picnic - August 7th
Annual Holiday Celebration - December 11th
|
This page was last updated on November 18, 1999 |