Conference Presentation & upcoming webinar

Hello, my friends!

Well, I just finished an amazing weekend at the Smith College Women of Color Conference. It was sheer joy for me to co-present with my friend Lori Tharps; this is something we planned to do WAY back in 2010. It's so exciting when a dream is realized!

The title of our topic this time was "Same Family, Different Colors: Changing the Narrative for Society and Ourselves." It was a overview of colorism and color bias in the United States based on  Lori's research (and book of the same title) and my personal narrative as an Japanese-American adoptee and twelve years living in Japan. We had some honest, real conversation (wished there was time for more!) and for a first-time presentation, I was really pleased with everyone's reactions. I will confess: I am especially grateful for the woman who spoke up during the presentation to correct my reference to geishas. It was a classic example of being able to manage intent versus impact: a cultural competency skill learned from Jones & Associates Consulting (see handout circa 2011). I apologized for my impact publicly - and wished I had a chance to follow up individually. If you are reading this, please do reach out!

And the conference also rejuvenated my desire to share my story and, once again, revive this blog. At least for now with this post!

Secondly, I returned home to check my email and I found this alert in my email inbox: a post by Hopscotch Adoptions for an upcoming webinar that I thought compelling enough to share! What I love about this webinar is that it appears to be a moderated panel of adoptee voices -- something I am a BIG advocate for in the conversations around families formed by adoption. Gotta listen to OUR stories, please.

Perspectives on Transracial Adoption
Thursday, May 10 at 9 pm EDT
Estimated 1.5 hours
This webcast is brought to you by ALP in cooperation with Our Children: An Education & Empowerment Series.
Register here

Until next time...

Resurrection...

Photo Credit: http://www.clipartkid.com/images/119/heartrate-heartbeat-tattoo-SREnEk-clipart.png

Hello Adoption Fusion fans,

Well, I'm finally back!

After about a two-and-a-half year hiatus, I'm going to resurrect this blog! A number of things have inspired me to do so:

1. A colleague/fellow Smithie friend of mine has just started a blog. It's been such fun to subscribe and see her posts. I told her that she was an inspiration - and I should start up my blog again. So, here I am.
2. I read a few articles last week on Inc.com about morning productivity, waking at 4 a.m. (#21earlydays) and using that time to work on a project or your passion. I immediately thought of this blog. Note: I am trying out the #21earlydays ONLY on work days. I've accomplished two so far.
3. My work-life situation has shifted quite dramatically in the last two years, and I'm finally able to put this as a priority again!
4. Another adoptee friend of mine posted about her experience recently where she encountered...well, let's just say it...ignorance about transracial adoption. There is still much to be done in the area of awareness and education. This was the reason I started this blog in the first place!. Time to get back to educatin'!
5. Simone Biles, Rio 2016 Olympics and the debate about her "real parents", Enough said.
6. There are still SO many great articles, discussions, workshops, conferences about adoption and transracial adoption. My hope is that this can be a place to collect and share that information!

And so, without further ado, I share with you a September 1 MPR radio show, discussing the decrease in international adoptions and the experience of adoptive families and their children.

Enjoy!

Exciting news: an update

In my earlier post, I mentioned some of the exciting connections I've been making in the adoption world here in Massachusetts. Well, here's the update:

1. On Labor Day 2012 weekend, I was able to present "Think Outside the Box: identity and intersectionality" at Smith College's training for House Diversity Representatives. What a blast - and it was amazing, encouraging and uplifting to connect with other Smithies who are social justice advocates. I'm forever grateful to them for inviting me and allowing me to be a part of their training session to ensure that social justice issues on campus are being addressed.
2. In February 2013, the Adoption Mentoring Program cohort groups met in two sessions to participate in my "Adoption Fusion" workshop. I need to touch base with the folks at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County to get feedback about it. My hope is that everyone was able to learn a little bit more about each other's stories - and about their own identity journey.
3. In April 2013, I presented at the Asian American Footsteps Conference: a high school student conference who identify as Asian, Asian American or mixed-Asian. And I asked to bring my local, Asian adoptee high school friends...who are eager to go and connect with other Asians, of course. And I wasn't alone in my travels to The Pingree School that day: my colleague and two students from my school went with me...eagerly! Kudos to them for meeting me at 6:15 AM (yes, you read that right) to start our road trip...on a Sunday morning!

Stay tuned for more exciting adoption news as we pull into the summer-fall of 2013...some things are brewing behinds the scenes:-)

Exciting news on the horizon...

Hello dear readers,

As my blog analytics tell me, you readers have been faithfully visiting my blog, at least a few hits a day. I can only imagine: you click through from some other site reference or because a Google search led you here...only to find disappointment that I have not posted since March! Mea maxima culpa.

As my faithful friends and readers know, I work in education - but I'm no longer in the classroom. This means that my work schedule goes through the typical ebbs and flows of an academic year, but I also work through the summer. In addition to this, I've been quite involved with our local church youth group. As hard as I try, I have not been able to successfully post regularly during the spring seasons while at my most recent job. Ah, well, there's always Spring 2013.

Nevertheless, there are exciting things happening in my life and the world of adoption: plenty of articles being written and new connections being made around my most recent home in Western Massachusetts.

1. I'm preparing revamping my identity formation presentation to deliver a brief opening keynote at a student diversity training program for Smith College (my alma mater). Very excited to be working with some amazing student leaders and adult leaders in social justice education and diversity.
2. At the invitation and encouragement of a fellow Smithie, I attended a non-profit Board Fair where local non-profits were looking for volunteers and to find potential Board members. While I was there, I met the Director of the Hampshire County Big Brothers Big Sisters (as it turns out, we have at least one friend/colleague in common) who let me know that BBBS has started an adoption mentoring partnership, pairing "little" adoptees with "big" adoptees from the area colleges. Wow! It's so exciting to see this work happening in my own backyard. Stay tuned as to how/what capacity I will be involved with this pioneering program.
3. The program above is made possible through a partnership with the Rudd Adoption Research Program, which has major initiatives throughout the year, including an annual conference (put that on my calendar for next year!). Sad to have missed the 2012 conference - it featured some amazing speakers and well-known professionals in the field of adoption.

So that's what's new and exciting on the horizon. Next up: thoughts on an NYT article my mother sent me...