Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Berkeley mixed race conference

Last month, I went to a mixed race conference at UC Berkeley. I have been to events like this at my own college but they were always with students from the same school. At this event, there were at least 5 different colleges represented (all of them UC campuses). In total, there were 50-70 people. That probably doesn't sound so big, but it's still significant, if you consider how multiracial identities have been ignored throughout history, compared to non-mixed ethnic identities.

We started the day with some breakfast. Many of us had to drive several hours to get to Berkeley, and it was very early in the morning, so I think most of us appreciated it. And everything was free too. (Including lunch later in the day!).





































After an hour, the conference began with a keynote speaker. He's a professor at UC Santa Barbara who's done work related to mixed-race identity. (I rarely hear about professors who specifically focus on mixed race!).










































And then, we walked to a different part of the campus to attend "workshops," which were basically one-hour lectures or activities with a different topic. We could choose which ones we wanted to go to. There was one about the controversy of word "Hapa," there was one about mixed-race women in the media, one about multiracial college clubs, and some other ones too.




































Then it was lunchtime. With more socializing.




















































After lunch, there was a panel discussion. The topic was about how racial and ethnic data gets collected in America, and how it can affect mixed-race people.




































And finally, the group picture, with all the schools together:



















If you see yourself in any of these pictures and want it taken down, please let me know!


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