I learned about Chocolate Me! in the last few days.
It’s about a boy who is teased for having a dark skin tone and curly hair. He confides in his mother that he wishes he could be more like everyone else, and she helps him discover the beauty he holds within him. It sounds like a beautiful story.
I have to say I am intrigued by the book for purely selfish reasons. First, I think Simone and Nadia will enjoy reading and hearing it. Second, I’ve also written a children’s picture book about skin color.
I will definitely pick up a copy of the book and review it. In the meantime, check out this MyBrownBaby story about Chocolate Me! author Taye Diggs, his thoughts on skin color, and the trouble it caused.
Have you read Chocolate Me?
If there is a downside to preferring natural hair, face, and body ingredients, it is this:
One day, you will walk in a beauty store, money in hand, really want to treat yourself to something new, look so much that a saleswoman offers to help you twice, fail to find anything you can’t make on your own, and walk out of the store empty-handed.
Has this happened to you?
I want something pretty for the girls and something awesome for the boys.
Simone, discussing party favors for her birthday.
I didn’t know what to expect from Red Tails. Maybe it would be good, but would it be true?
The movie has come under heavy fire for its Hollywood shine, and it took George Lucas more than 20 years to bring the film to the big screen. Anthony Hemingway directs, and the cast is anchored by Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. and Oscar nominee Terrence Howard.
Red Tails is inspired by the courage of the first African-American aerial combat unit that served during World War II. Training the Tuskegee Airmen began as the “Tuskegee Experiment” and ultimately led to desegregation in the U.S. military in 1948 — 15 years before Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech.
Some have complained about how the film tells such an important story and its well-choreographed aerial fight scenes. Others have objected to an interracial subplot. I understand that some Hollywood magic has to happen and don’t expect to see the truth about historical subjects at the movies. That’s why we have books.
The fight scenes were a little too intense for me, but they weren’t designed for the occasional war movie watcher. As for the love story, it was tender and a sweet distraction from the war. At first, I had a hard time accepting Cuba Gooding Jr. as the head honcho in the field, but I definitely believed Terrance Howard as the colonel fighting with military brass for his men. The other characters developed well, on and off the ground.
The movie clocks in at two hours, and that was a bit long for me. I enjoyed it and will recommend it to my father, who is retired from the military, and anyone else who wants to see a movie inspired by real events. If the applause at the end is any guide, the audience also was delighted with the movie. I, for one, was surprised to see a nearly filled theater for a late morning showing. Perhaps moviegoers can show executives that an all-male black cast can draw legions.
Here is a list of 50 Experiences of Racially Mixed People. It is written by Maria P. P. Root, a clinical psychologist who has written and edited several books about multiracial people.
I have been an unwilling participant in some of these misinformed observations. I have laughed, and I’ve winced. A few of these encounters surfaced in my life long before I married and had children. It is my hope that this list will dwindle and eventually disappear during Simone and Nadia’s lifetime. Check it out.
Simone and Nadia will have a day off from school but not from learning. Enjoy the holiday!
Here’s a real moment with King on the Michael Douglas Show.
Nadia: Daddy, are you going to work?
Daddy: Yes.
Nadia: Are you going to make money?
Daddy: Yes.
Nadia: Can you give it to me?
Nadia, shaking her father down for all of his money.
