I mixed with great thought and measured action, which is helping to create a world where one day people will ask “How are you doing?” before asking “What are you mixed with?

Posted in Excerpts/Quotes on 2015-03-04 16:00Z by Steven

I’m mixed with the bravery of a soldier and the passion of activists. I’m mixed with the rage of a victim and the hope of a survivor. I’m mixed with brilliance of a polymath and the swag of a “hood boy.” I’m mixed with the past and present and my future is as bright as my skin. I’m mixed, because I’m both spiritual and human and my life is both joyous and challenging. I’m mixed with big ideas and the skills to execute them. What am I mixed with you ask? I mixed with great thought and measured action, which is helping to create a world where one day people will ask “How are you doing?” before asking “What are you mixed with?

Christopher “Flood the Drummer®” Norris, “The Question I’m Often Asked as a ‘High Yellow’ Black Man,” The Good Men Project, (February 21, 2015). http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/cnorris-the-question-im-often-asked-as-a-high-yellow-black-man/.

Tags: , , ,

Comments Off on I mixed with great thought and measured action, which is helping to create a world where one day people will ask “How are you doing?” before asking “What are you mixed with?

The Question I’m Often Asked as a ‘High Yellow’ Black Man

Posted in Articles, Autobiography, Media Archive, United States on 2015-03-03 16:40Z by Steven

The Question I’m Often Asked as a ‘High Yellow’ Black Man

The Good Men Project
2015-02-21

Christopher “Flood the Drummer®” Norris

Before I’m even asked my name, people inquire about my race.

Ever since authoring the popular post “You’re Black; So Why Do You Talk White?” I’ve been considering writing a piece about how I often I’m asked by strangers what my race is. But after viewing a video clip yesterday from Bill Duke’s new documentary “Light Girls,“ where women with light complexions share the common experience of being questioned about their race, I decided it was time to tell my story.

For the record, I know I’m black, and many of life’s experiences have reminded me of that. However, many people I’ve encountered, particularly in my early twenties, were convinced otherwise and weren’t afraid to let me know it.

I was a few months shy of age 21 when I left Philadelphia and moved to Austin, Texas. I had been preparing myself for the subtle and blatant racism that a young black kid from the hood like me was going to receive. But all the training in the world couldn’t have prepared me for the level of ignorance that greeted me in corporate America…

Read the entire article here.

Tags: , , , ,

Comments Off on The Question I’m Often Asked as a ‘High Yellow’ Black Man