CFP and TRA email list

I have created a list for Black/African Adult TRA's on yahoogroups. Please pass this list on to folks you know. The group is an effort to provide resources, community, discussion and news space for Adult Transracial Adoptees (TRA's) across the globe who are African or African descent/Black, mixed- race etc. There are many lists that provide support for Parents of TRA's, but none for adoptees who many times never find support to express their particular strange position in a world obsessed with race. Although our numbers are not as great as say, our Korean brother and sister TRA's, I am convinced we simply need a space that is our own to become more visible. Join us!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/trarepresent/

and

CFP: TRA Represent!
TRA's I'm looking for you! TRA Represent will be a creative and collaborative work representing the voices of Black, African, African American and mixed-race transracial adoptees. If you are or if you know someone who is a TRA, and willing to try to write about their experiences perhaps this is your moment! Poetry, short stories, anecdotes and critical essays – are all acceptable. Themes can include struggles with the development of racial identity, guilt of critiquing a family who raised you, complexity of hyper-racialized living, dreams, stories, plays, reunion stories all welcome. This volume will fill a critical gap in TRA research and literature that has not specifically opened space for the adoptees themselves and hopes to be a contribution to the literature of the African Diaspora in that it focuses on the diversity of experiences that make the diaspora so complex and powerful.

Email submissions to lrollins@berkeley.edu. Deadline September 15, 2006.

Birthdaze

I got a card from G*** for my bday and I've been recieving emails from her as well. The birthday card was nice, but I have to admit it felt a little strange. But it seems like it never stops being strange.

This past weekend I saw my family for the first time since "contact". It was actually a great weekend (except for the car crash, sliding off the mtn at stevens' pass) and it was just a great stabilizer for me, to bring me back down to an emotional grounding that is safe and loving. The biggest thing about my mom and dad is that they are so full of love.

There were the usual questions – "Are they your in-laws?" – "How are you related?" – and my personal favorite – "Are you all on the same check?". (roll my eyes)