“This is real life. These are the parts your Black friends don’t tell you, because we exist in the world you create for us in your head.”
I Fear For My Family And Random Black Men I Don’t Know, Because Every Last Hashtag Was Someone’s Baby
‘You’re in the area to buy crack.’ I was alone on the side of the road, my beachball-sized belly hiding under my dress.’: Woman shares encounter with police officer, ‘I felt I didn’t belong’
“The whole situation, I was looking for any other reason for his behaviors outside of race. I didn’t want it to be race related. We never do. Ever.”
‘I clung to fake hope if I didn’t say anything, they’d love me.’: Asian man shares experiences with racism in wake of hate crimes
“One girl who I really had a crush on made the ‘chink eyes’ as a joke, so I played along, did the same thing. She said, ‘You don’t have to do that.’ I went into the bathroom, looked in the mirror at my chink eyes, and cried.”
‘Stay below the radar. Don’t be trouble.’ But I CAN’T stay silent.’: Woman speaks out against Asian hate
“’No trouble,’ ‘Sorry,’ ‘No English,’ ‘I am no trouble,’ phrases we were taught to use to remain invisible, to not be involved, no matter how many insults are thrown our way.”
‘Do you know why your REAL parents didn’t want you?’ They wonder how much I ‘cost.’ Truth is, love has no limits. Family is not confined or defined by blood.’: Transracial adoptee details journey, ‘I wouldn’t change a thing’
“I was left on the street four days after I was born. Somebody I don’t know took me to the police station. ‘Emma, why do your eyes look like that?’ ‘Are those REALLY your sisters?’ I cherish the only family I have ever known. Love knows no boundaries.”
‘Their 10-year-old son went out for a bike ride. Suddenly, police were knocking on their door after reports a black man was trying to break into a house.’: Woman asks others to ‘use your privilege for good’
“The test results said, ‘You are 98% privileged.’ They stared back at me like a red blinking light. The results shouldn’t have been a surprise. I’m white, heterosexual, and was raised by two white, heterosexual parents.”
‘Maybe her shorts are too short, her jeans too tight. Maybe you think her dress is too revealing. What you don’t see is a woman falling apart.’: Woman urges ‘we are all just trying to do our best’
“You deem her unworthy before she even has the chance to speak for herself. She’s not a woman who finally found the courage to be who she is, dress how she wants, stand up for what she believes in. Trying not to let the coldness and cruelty of this world break her. Instead, she gets labeled. Simply because she just exists.”
‘I’ve never imagined myself with a white woman.’ I wasn’t offended, I was honored. He feels safe with me.’: Interracial couple form beautiful blended family
“An older black woman at my church said to me, ‘You two are healers…I can sense it. It is healing you both and it is healing the world.’ Kevin wasn’t the first black man I’d dated, but I was starting to hope he’d be the last.”
‘What grade is your son in?’ I replied, ‘My daughter is in 4th.’: Mom encourages authenticity, ‘She is a girl who wants to be herself’
“My daughter is herself, and for now, prefers clothes in the boy’s section at Old Navy.”
GRIPPING: Photographer captures ‘day in the life’ of a family living in a homeless shelter
“Families are families, they function in much the same ways regardless of where you find them. In the end we are all just trying our best.”
