TANYA: I have a question in terms of the understanding of what being “biracial” is. And now that it is “presidential” (laughs) and people in this country see a person in power who is of mixed race, what have you seen in terms of the different concept of what being biracial is now compared to when you were growing up, and people not really knowing what “mixed” meant?
FANSHEN: I have to say I’ve kind of come full circle. So you saw some of my identity search and conclusions growing up, and then for a while I was very involved in the mixed community, and proud of being mixed, and I started to see that there was this issue of privilege in that community too, that wasn’t being recognized, and it’s problematic.
One of the things we would do a lot is complain about being asked “What are you?” well, the truth is, that’s a privilege. Because when someone asks you that, they want to be relieved by finding out that you’ve got some white in you, right? And they want to determine where they’re going to put you on a hierarchy. And so I’m more careful about what being mixed means.
Some people that I work with, we have a non-profit called Mixed Roots Stories, and we want to encourage the personal narratives, but within a critical framework. So: understanding history, understanding privilege, understanding that this is all part of an evolutionary process and that if we’re not about doing some good, dismantling of some racism, then that’s not cool. And President Obama publicly stated that on the Census he chose African American. That’s how the world treats him. That’s how he’s seen, and he’s proud of it. So – the biracial folks, and mixed folks, I’m like, ‘yeah, yeah, cool, but just don’t let that determine that you have decided now that you are exclusive of, or better than.
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0:03:45.019,0:03:51.400
2017 in February. I’ll talk about it
a lot as it comes up – so we had an LA
0:03:51.400,0:03:56.340
site committee meeting on Monday at USC,
and it was great. We’re starting to talk
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about who should be invited, Keynote
speakers, how can we really spread the
0:04:00.299,0:04:04.740
word and get the word out more about the
conference. So if you…check it out, there
0:04:04.740,0:04:09.050
are links there if you’re interested, if you want
to hear more about it, let me know and we
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will bring you on board – we’re looking for
volunteers, we’re looking for people who
0:04:13.030,0:04:16.820
are excited about it and I’ll tell you
more later. OK I want to talk a little
0:04:16.820,0:04:23.670
bit about self-care, because I’m not
great at it, but I intend to be, and
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I think it’s important. For me
0:04:27.230,0:04:36.730
self-care is nutrition, exercise and
spiritual health, and so I started at a gym
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Last Monday. Well, I definitely hurt myself
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after the first couple of days, and then
had to take a few days off, but it’s great
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and it’s a women’s gym and I really
appreciate that everyone really
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kind of pushes each other. It’s called Pink Iron here, if you’re in LA check it out and then
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also I’ve got this thing where ok during
the week I am eating healthy meals which
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for me a good balance for me are: a good
amount of protein, lots of vegetables,
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and a tiny bit of grains – a tiny bit of
carbs, so that’s gonna be during
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the week. And then on the weekend I let
myself enjoy myself so I’ll get a mocha,
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which I try not to drink a lot of
caffeine, will get a mocha, have a glass
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of wine, some sweets and enjoy myself.
Chocolate. Chocolate is always a good
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thing. So anyways SELF CARE. What do you
do for self care? I’d love to hear. OK you
0:05:37.540,0:05:41.050
know I like to go see theater as much as
possible,
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and I saw The Mountaintop. It’s playing
at the Matrix theater until April 10 here
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in LA. So if you’re in LA please go see
it. It’s by Katori Hall. It takes place
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the last evening before Martin Luther
King Junior is assassinated, and he gets
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a visit from a woman – I can’t tell you
much more about it to not spoil it, but
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the woman – the character is incredible. I
think she’s one of the strongest, most
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complex and beautifully developed Black
women in theater – who’s specifically
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written as a Black woman – and this woman:
Danielle Truitt plays Ca’Mae and she’s just
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incredible and Larry Bates is also great. He
plays Martin Luther King Jr. Without
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question, though, Daniel Truitt steals
the show. This production is also
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directed by Roger Guenvere Smith. There were not enough people in the
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theater when we went, so PLEASE go see
this. Support them. Spread the word. If
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you’re not in LA, see if anybody’s doing
this show. They’re doing it at the
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Matrix for Black History Month – you don’t
need to only see it on Black History Month,
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you should see it anytime. It’s so good. Oh
my gosh! April 7 through 9, 2016 I’m
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looking at my phone ’cause I want to
read this to you. There is the Black Girl Movement Conference in New York. It’s
being held at Columbia University – which
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is my school!!! I went to Teachers College – yayyy! So, “Black Girl Movement – a national
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conference is a three-day gathering at
Columbia University in New York City to
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focus on Black girls, cis, queer and
trans girls in the United States.
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Bringing together, artists, activists – ARTIVISTS! –
educators, policymakers and Black girl
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leaders themselves. This first national
conference on Black girls seeks to
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address the disadvantages that Black
girls in the United States face while
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creating the political will to publicly
acknowledge their achievements,
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contributions and leadership.” Alright I
know you can read yourselves, but I just…
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I read that and I get excited every time I
read that. So links for everything down
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below. What are your goals? What’s going
on? What have you achieved as Artivists?
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Keep up this great, great, incredible, important
work we do – and wish me luck on this new job.
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and on staying in shape – staying FIT and I’ll talk
to you next week. Bye bye.