Proud to Be In Between Why Identity is a Superpower

[Music]

so most little kids

are scared of monsters under their beds

but as a biracial kid the scariest thing

for me

was this i mean seriously i cannot tell

you the amount of fear i faced

trying to figure out what box to mark it

was scary for me having to decide

what box i fit in and speaking of boxes

there was another box that i didn’t

quite fit in

and that was a crayon box

i mean seriously do you know how hard it

was trying to match my skin tone

mixing brown and white crayons together

every single time

i had to color myself see as a child i

was limited

because most of the time crayola only

had eight colors to choose from

and i quickly realized i didn’t fit into

that box

but then the first time i saw the

24 account now that’s when i thought

this is it

this right here is my box

but i was disappointed

yet again but then something happened

that made me go absolutely crazy

crayola came out with the 64 count box

and by this time i was sure to find my

skin color

inside the crayon box that the star is

somehow aligned so i could finally color

myself

well guys i was disappointed once more

i mean clearly my life in elementary

school was extremely stressful

but with more research i’m happy to

report that my skin tone is

actually light almond yeah

go figure right for those of you who do

not know

thanks to crayola’s colors of the world

skin tone box

i am happy to report

that my light almond crayon is truly

my crayon

and yes light almond is really the name

of that crayon

you see my life has always been

surrounded around choosing

and figuring out where i fit

and for the longest time i felt like an

outsider

not really knowing where i belonged not

really knowing

what box i fit in always feeling like i

lived somewhere

in between

and growing up i always encountered

comments and questions such as

wow you speak really well you’ve got to

be mixed with white

or of course you can jump high

you’re black or the infamous

can i touch your hair question

now believe me each of those comments

and questions

can be their own ted talk but what i’m

focusing on

is why i felt like an outsider

why didn’t my presence make sense to

anyone

why did i have to choose based off their

expectations

and as i began growing up i realized

that i’m not an outsider

or some anomaly to society or some type

of exotic

animal in fact

i am proud to be in between

and as i started to embrace my

multicultural identity something inside

me

grew a passion and burning desire to

want to help children

who are facing the same hardships i

experienced when i was growing up

whether it was the search for your crea

excuse me whether it was a search for

your

color in the crayon box or whether it’s

figuring out where you fit in

i experienced an immovable feeling of

wanting to lift up the voices

of every child who is at the crossroads

within their own identity

this is when i realized i had a story to

tell

this is why i wrote a children’s book

called proud to be in between

now the goal of this children’s book is

to help children

embrace their multicultural identity

along

with helping parents engage in the

challenging conversations such as race

and ethnicity and throughout the process

of writing this children’s book i

learned that each page

was a trip down memory lane it made me

reminisce how small

and forgotten i felt in a world where my

presence didn’t quite make sense to

people outside my family

it uncovered insecurities i had as a kid

that i didn’t even know i had

but most importantly it taught me that

it’s okay to create your own box one

that is so uniquely you

that only you understand

and i learned that we all have a voice

and every kid

needs to find a way to amplify it for

the entire world

to hear i want my story to help children

living in between fell heard

i want them to understand that in

between is

such a powerful place to be

now hear me out i believe

being biracial is a superpower

yes i said a superpower now

maybe it’s not as cool as being able to

fly like superman or turn big and green

when you’re angry like the hulk

or even shoot lightning out of your

hands like thor

but it does give you the ability to see

the world from many angles you see

being in between has given me a powerful

perspective that encourages both

empathy and individuality

rather than focusing on stereotypes it

has allowed me to see what beyond

beyond what meets the eye because i know

i am more than that

but most of all it provides a level of

empathy that bridges the gaps between

learning and teaching but more

importantly it gave me the ability

to bridge the gaps between both cultures

for example i love that i was able to

listen at the hana music and make them

always with my grandparents

while also being able to watch march

madness and identify with black athletes

but the funny thing is is i didn’t

realize that i was using the

superpower even when i was a kid

you see when i was little i used to

pretend i was

batman and clearly the only way you can

tell the difference

is that i had a 1986 isuzu pup as my

batmobile

i mean i loved how bruce wayne would use

a ton of gadgets to get himself out of

trouble

but my superpower wasn’t a set of cool

gadgets no

in fact it was my ability to code switch

you see i always felt like i had to

switch between being black and

being hispanic a lot like how

bruce wayne felt more comfortable

wearing a mask

and now when i look back at my vigilante

days as a youth i also remember

being much more comfortable wearing a

mask

i had a mask for when i was black and i

had a master when i was hispanic but

in reality it was never about the mask

or even the ability to code switch

instead it’s really the ability to

empathize and share insight to both

cultures

you see empathy and perspective is where

the superpower really lies

when i was little i didn’t have to

choose between the two because i could

navigate

between both my multicultural identity

has given me the ability to be my own

superhero now i can honestly say in

front of you guys that it took me some

time

it did but i am proud

to be in between and throughout the

process i realized that we all search

for belonging and are all probably

in between some sort of identities

ourselves

see being in between is not just about

race

it’s about finding yourself seeing the

bigger picture

learning the larger lessons life has to

offer

it’s about the intersections we all face

when we all explore our

own personal and unique identity

we are all in between and we’re all

trying to make sense of it together

you see for me it is race

but for you it may be something

completely different

you see i don’t have to choose being

black or hispanic and i don’t have to

mark a certain box

living in between gives me the ability

to be myself

realized that i don’t need a crayon to

make sense of who i

am we’re all living in between and that

is what’s special

my book helps kids see themselves

represented in a world where it often

feels like there’s limits

it shows them that each page is theirs

to write in whatever damn color crayon

they want

but honestly the truth is guys

it’s not about the box people try to

place you in

it’s about what you have to offer this

world

and in the end being in between is

my superpower and i will continue to use

my light almond colored crayon to

scratch a line through every single box

that isn’t me thank you

you