"Born a Crime," South Africa's Comedian Trevor Noah on Being Mixed-Race

Today, I am happy to highlight a Mixed-Race comedian I recently discovered online, a man from Southern Africa called Trevor Noah. When you think of where some of the funniest comedians come from, you probably don't think South Africa. Noah is the product of a Caucasian, Swiss father and Black, South African mother during apartheid. He jokes that he was “born a crime” as it was illegal for Whites and Blacks to associate during apartheid. He was born in a time when it was illegal for him to live with his father or be seen holding his mother's hand on the street without fear his parents would be arrested. A lot of successful comedians are known for turning their personal difficulties in life into something to laugh about. With Noah, much of his comedy is based on his Mixed-Race upbringing.

In 2012, Trevor was the first African comedian to ever be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In his 7 minute set (unfortunately the video quality is bad for the first 3 mins) he “KILLED” talking about the difference between Black Americans and Black Africans and his Mixed-Race upbringing.  I am so happy to see  Trevor Noah gain some attention around the world, especially in the U.S. I make no secret in my blog how important it is to me that  people of Mixed-Race in the entertainment business gain attention not just for their craft but also for their Mixed-Race heritage. To help encourage and inspire other Mixed-Race people to achieve their dreams.

Here is a brief clip from “You Laugh But It’s True” a feature length documentary on Trevor Noah and what it was like growing up during apartheid. Check him on on http://www.trevornoah.com/.

Racially Lopsided Superheroes - WE GOT SPIDERMAN NOW!

First of all I need to state that I am late to this news. I can't believe it has taken me more than a year to discover this change. I am usually so focused on Mixed-Race issues that I feel like I should have caught it by now. But, we Mixed-Folks have a Mixed-Race superhero to be proud of.  Miles Morales, a half Black/half Latino teenaged Spiderman.

I am well established geek. I am a film geek, a tech geek (mostly Apple tech), a camera geek, and after 13 years of being in a relationship with a Star Wars geek, I am also one of those too. One area of common geekery that I have only dabbled in from time to time though is comics.

As a kid I was really interested in the X-men, something about the way the mutants had to hide who they were from the rest of the world to be accepted really spoke to a little Mixed-Girl that had to be Japanese on one side of the family or Black while in school. These characters were mutants of course, not necessarily racially diverse but their plight spoke to mine. Every now and then you hear a debate about why there aren't more races and ethnicity represented in the mainstream comic world. Even in the 20-teens, we still see mostly Caucasian superheroes. But, as I mentioned above, I have recently discovered that there was a Multi-Racial reboot of Spiderman in 2011, with a Half Black, Half Latino kid named Miles Morales.

Miles Morales was designed to replace Peter Parker after his death in June of 2010. He follows the basic Spiderman canon by having been bit by a radioactive spider, has an alliterative name, and seems to have all of the basic spidey-fighting skills. There are differences of course, and over time he will exhibit new skills that may or may not be related to his ethnicity such as muscle strength and speed improvements due to fast twitch muscle fibers that are seen most often in Black athletes.

As a person of Mixed-Race, I am ecstatic to find out that there is a Mixed-Race version to an iconic character. I will admit that I would be more excited if a new Mixed-Race character with its own canon could have been created and gotten as famous as Spidey but HEY! It is progress, I am happy with the possible opportunities that could be born of this reboot.

While the race of a superhero may not seem significant in the grand scheme of things, when you only see Caucasian characters with superpowers it can been damaging to people of color on a unconscious level. As a child, I didn't know how to describe what I was feeling. I just remember never seeing a family on TV that looked like mine. But think of the possibilities with this new Mixed-Race character. There was a recent reboot of Spider Man in films in 2012. We could very likely see a Mixed-Race Spiderman franchise. There could be a little Mixed boy or girl watching the Mixed-Race Spiderman movie and thinking "I could be a superhero!"