http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/our-issues/ode-being-blaxican-video
In the article ‘Ode to Being Blaxican’ illustrates the family structure of diverse ethnicities and cultures infused into a new generation of ‘mixed’ babies. Rush Davis is a product of his grandparents, a mixture of races, Mexican and Black. His grandmother Dolores Morado explains the changes in her daily life after marrying her black ‘knight,’ she was warned by her family that she had to be strong to fight against others remarks on her future children. She opens the video saying, “My thing was, be proud of who you are.Black, Brown, it dont matter, you are both” and she instilled in her children and grandchildren to be proud of their cultures. This short clip displays Dolores in her kitchen making a mixture of foods from the traditional African American dish such as fried chicken, corn bread with Mexican nopales dish with tortillas. She explains that she worked hard in showing her future generations that they did not have to identify to one race group. When her family relatives found out she was pregnant by a black man, her response to those who were not fond of her decision, “they can kiss my ass then” she replied to them. Her grandson Rush continues his ode, ” Dolores Morado, the brown goddess that laid our foundation with the Black king, to build bridges of light… her pride, and resistance” shows how essential it was for her to obtain a strong character. This family is an example of the increasing , Blaxican group, that is stuck between two different racial planes but they are able to find the balance between them.
My immediate family has always embraced other ethnicities and the youngest family member is Dominic, my two-year-old cousin who is Mexican and Jamaican. His father, Jon, considers himself Blaxican because his father’s family was Jamaican and his mother was Mexican, making Dominic 2nd generation Blaxican. We had attended the “Blaxican” talk at the Annenberg a couple months back and after the discussion, Jon said that he had similar experiences that the speaker had. He expressed that he was always asked to pick a side and during his high school race riots he decided not to side with either. He said he would have discussions with Dominic as he gets older, to help him realize that being Mexican and African American is perfectly okay and that he can embrace all ethnicities. Dominic will have a unique perspective because he will be raised around a predominantly Mexican family yet he will be educated on the struggles of both his brown and black family lineage. Having a Blaxican family member puts into perspective the ever-changing dynamics of race and family dynamics.