Oh the Places We Have Gone!

A friend recently asked me “What’s your goal for the book?”

“Goal?” I replied, “just finish writing it!”

Well, maybe it was actually to get it written and published so Sylvia Mendez and I could have the long-told verbal story, written and in our hands! Now that it's been a year since it was available on Amazon, my unofficial book launch date, it’s a good time for me to reflect on The Kindness of Color - Year 1!

Here are a few things I have learned.

We need a NEW NARRATIVE. One of multicultural collaboration and kinship. People are amazed that the story includes so many people of different cultures and backgrounds that come together in hope for justice and a better future. This was not some organized multi-cultural effort, but many individuals “doing the right thing” with helpful hearts of kinship and friendship. If it was possible in the midst of the extreme hardships of World War II, then it’s possible now.

We need MORE AWARENESS OF ALL OF HISTORY. There’s a lot of people who know little or nothing about the Japanese American incarceration during World War II. It was absent from, or a mere sentence or short paragraph, in their history books while growing up. They are eager to learn all of history so we can make sure history DOES NOT repeat itself with injustice and racism to minorities and immigrants.

We have a long way to go to build awareness of Mendez, et al. v. Westminster and the desegregation of California State Schools in 1947, too. People can’t believe this happened in the West, in California, SEVEN years before the Supreme Court’s ruling of Brown v. Board of Education at the national level.

We need a CHANGE OF HEART. The media would say society needs to change our minds and thoughts about racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. That’s true, but I think society really needs a HEART CHANGE! One heart at a time, one after another, until we have hearts that embrace others as equals and human beings as kin. True community begins when we are intentional about getting to know each other as individuals without the stereotypical labels. When we humbly care about others as equals, that’s where real change starts. When we let go of entitlements and open up opportunities fairly and equally, that shows heart change. It’s not enough to just think and talk about it, organize around mantras, we must INDIVIDUALLY believe it in our hearts and live it out with compassionate actions.

We need to hear more COLLABORATIVE TRUE STORIES. I’m really surprised about how many invitations I’ve received to talk about the book! People really want to collaborate across racial and cultural groups, and in many cases, they just don’t know how or are scared to offend others unknowingly. I thought I might speak to a lot of 5th to 12th classes, but in fact, I’ve spoken to more adult groups via United Way, Goodwill Industries, Museum of Tolerance LA, as well as universities and community groups about this multicultural story and how it applies to us today, 75 years later!

We need to ask MORE MEANINGFUL QUESTIONS. I’m watching out for things I might typically say that would be misinterpreted by others as judgmental. When meeting new people, I no longer ask, “where are you from?” “what do you do?” because some might see those questions as my attempt to categorize and judge them based on their answers. For some, “Where are you from?” assumes they are from someplace else, not from here and don’t belong, because of their Asian/Black/Latino face or name. When meeting someone, I say, “tell me about yourself” which has always led to a much more meaningful conversation and I really learn something important about them. I, for one, am so tired of being asked my marital status and how many children I have, because as an older single adult with no children, this question almost always leaves me out of the main conversation of the couples in the room. Let’s focus on really getting to know people by letting them tell us what’s important to them. Trust me, you’ll make a whole lot of new friends this way!

We need to CELEBRATE LITTLE THINGS. This might seem a little trivial, but as a kid, I played library and labeled all my books on a shelf, labeled them with numbers, and made my family library cards to check out books. I even decorated my bulletin board with themes like libraries do. So when a school library in Eureka, CA emailed to ask what the Dewey Decimal System number is for my book, I thought “WOW, I have a book in the Dewey Decimal System now?” I had no idea about how it would be classified. I learned from the librarians at the Santa Ana,CA and San Antonio,TX libraries that it could be classified as either 979.496 W532 MUN or 379.263 MUN 2021. Kind of cool to have TWO Dewey Decimal System numbers - like a childhood dream come true!

Thank you for all your support for The Kindness of Color - Year 1! Join me to continue “cultivating kindness” by sharing the story through the book, e-book, or audiobook.  We have been adding more FREE resources for going deeper into this stories and other stories like it, so check out www.thekindnessofcolor.com.

And there’s more to come! Check back in October about some of what’s coming in year 2!

Cultivating Kindness with YOU,

Janice

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