{"id":5688,"date":"2009-11-03T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-03T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/q-a-michael-james-brown-on-the-other-awareness-project\/"},"modified":"2009-11-03T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-11-03T07:00:00","slug":"q-a-michael-james-brown-on-the-other-awareness-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/q-a-michael-james-brown-on-the-other-awareness-project","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: Michael James Brown On The Other Awareness Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"For more than 6 years, Michael James Brown has been tirelessly working to shift how people think about race and ethnicity. His Other Awareness Project<\/a> brings to light the fact that racial and ethnic self-identification is a choice and, with new information about the science of genetics, he makes a strong case for checking the box that reads ‘other.’ <\/p>\n

He took some time to talk about his recent efforts, and the upcoming workshop at the Immanuel Center For Conscious Living<\/a> taking place this Saturday from 2 – 5 PM. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: You’ve been very busy lately. How come people seem more receptive now? <\/p>\n

Michael<\/strong>: The short answer is the election of Barack Obama. The much longer answer is the election of Barack Obama, and how people receive their news. Most people are still very much swayed by which stories are aired on TV. I also think it has to do with the presentation of my project from a non-angry perspective. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: Well, I’m not sure there’s anything to be angry about, really. You are asking a question about self-identification, right? <\/p>\n

Michael<\/strong>: Correct! I think the place where most people and organizations get it wrong is that are focused on telling other people what they should do, rather than focus on what each person should do for themselves. The Other Awareness Project takes its direction from the fact that the information concerning race and etthnicity you put down on a job application is self-identifying information. You have to fill it in for your self. Not what other people might think it should be. I have had zero arguments in the six years I have done the project. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: You’ve participated in some pretty significant events of late. Talk about the the event in San Diego. <\/p>\n

Michael<\/strong>: In May of 2009, the Other Awareness Project was fortunate enough to be chosen as a workshop presentation at the 22nd Annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education<\/a>. The NCORE conference was attended by more than 2,000 persons representing higher education institutions, agencies, state and national associations, commissions, and foundations concerned with higher education, from 49 of the 50 states. The OAP received good overall ratings. It was a significant milestone to present to leaders from various organizations from around the country. I think that helped validate the project as well. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: You’ve also held workshops recently in Carson. <\/p>\n

Michael<\/strong>: Because Carson Mayor Jim Dear was one of the people interviewed for the documentary, I have been reaching out to organizations in that city to help gain attention for the showing of the project. The Carson Sheriff’s Department has been very helpful in providing information and opportunities in which to speak with people, especially youths in the area. I’m slated to begin a series of presentations for the incoming cadets. I have also spoken with a few community service officers about presenting the OAP at juvenile centers. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: The OAP seems ideally suited to Law Enforcement. How did they respond to the ideas you shared? <\/p>\n

Michael<\/strong>: The OAP is ideally suited for everyone! The project is about self-identification. It is directed towards community-involved, solutions-oriented people. That it! When I talk with members of the police department it is with the understanding that our goals are the same. We are all looking for ways to keep kids out of trouble, off the streets, and focused on accomplishing goals. It’s about focusing more on solving the problem rather than the relative skin color of the people experiencing the problem. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: At least one aspect of the challenge is that most people don’t think about self-identification as a problem at all. I think that many people are comfortable with their racial or ethnic self-identification, and don’t see it as a problem to be solved. Can you talk about that a bit? <\/p>\n

Michael<\/strong>: Well that is the starting point for the OAP. When asked about their race, most people put down what they have always been putting down. My question is: In the face of current scientific, religious, legal information, what are you basing your choice on? I’m not challenging your answer on a personal level. But I am asking how you support it. Do we need this level of name calling going forward? We can talk all day about what everyone has done wrong in the past, but what is the best way of going forward, if we all are getting the chance to vote on it? <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: I guess that, for me personally, I didn’t face this issue until I was given new information about my great grandmother being a full-blooded Native Canadian. I’d always known, intellectually, that I was a mix, but didn’t really question my self-identification until that came to light for me. So, I guess that what I’m trying to get to is that there must be a process of education for people so that they may start to, first, recognize that they’re making a choice and, second, that the choice they’re making may not be supportable by the facts. <\/p>\n

Michael<\/strong>: Which is one reason why it’s called the ‘Other Awareness Project’. It is very much a project to tell people information that in some cases is 180 degrees, or the exact opposite of what they have been hearing for years. If anyone has simply taken a DNA test, of the categories that scientist break data down into, not one person will be all of any one category. In the very first part of the film portion, I traveled around and spoke with people I never met, without any normal pre-production interviews. When asked about their background, everyone has a story of my mom is from this place, my dad is from another place. <\/p>\n

So the question is knowing that people are made of different things, when asked to make one choice about your race, why do you choose the one you choose? I agree there are more people who call themselves ‘white’ in this country, but what is the one thing they all have in common? What makes them a race? <\/p>\n

I have taken a DNA test and I’m 89% Sub Saharran and 11% European, but I also have many stories of having heritage from some of the tribes that were here before Europeans were here. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: So, what would be the ideal solution to this problem? What would it look like, practically? <\/p>\n

Michael<\/strong>: I’m not certain if it is the ideal solution or not, but what the OAP is asking is, if we have been trying to solve or correct real or perceived problems by continuing to use the language created when people first started believing in the concept of races for people, and everything about the concept has been proven false, then why don’t we stop using the words and proceed on a basis of things that we can legally support. Do we need the arbitrary name-calling going forward, and is it solving any problems? Because it’s self-identifying information, each person needs to decide that for themselves. <\/p>\n

The Other Awareness Project doesn’t attempt to answer questions concerning race for anyone. That’s because when they ask you, it is self-identifying information. You have to do it. I can’t tell you how to define yourself. <\/p>\n

The project does attempt to help people reposition their thinking, in light of current information, so they can better answer racial questions for themselves. The bottom line is it is your decision to make. <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: What’s on the schedule after Saturday’s event? <\/p>\n

Michael<\/strong>: I’m giving a special presentation to the Leadership committee of the LBUSD on November 12th. This is the final stage of approval before I give the presentation to all the male academies for the high schools in Long Beach. In February 2010, I will be presenting an academic paper on the Other Awareness Project at the 31st Annual Southwest Texas Popular Culture & American Culture Association<\/a> Conference. (http:\/\/swtxpca.org) <\/p>\n

Sander<\/strong>: I know we’re talking about some fairly heavy stuff here, but one of the things that I really love about the work you do is that you keep things very light, and positive. I think that’s probably your comedy background. <\/p>\n

Michael<\/strong>: It is true. I spent several years as a stand up comic, and I love sitting around and talking with people from different places. That is what I loved the most about being a comic. But I have also been a Director of Operations for a marketing company in New York City, have been on the boards of many charities around the country, and have been a long time volunteer. This project didn’t start as a project to be filmed, but what I’m trying to show is that it is completely possible to talk to people, without attending any lengthy diversity training, have a good time, and come to conclusions about what we as a society need to do to correct our common problems. There a lot of funny people around! <\/p>\n

I really wanted to do the Long Beach show at Immanuel because I love all the different positive programs they have at the center because, a while back, I read a story about how the place was going to have to be demolished or they would have to cutback on their services. I added Rev. Jane Galloway as a friend on Facebook, then asked to come down and meet with her. I liked her right off the bat, and I talked to her about my project. She was enthusiastic, and the rest is history. If you aren’t doing anything on 11\/7, by all means come down to Immanuel and see some of the great programs they are working on! <\/p>\n

—- <\/p>\n

Michael’s presentation is open to everyone, and tickets are available through his website<\/a> for $15. If you purchase tickets before 11\/4\/09, and use the discount code ‘oaplb’, you can save $5 per ticket. Immanuel is located at 3215 E. 3rd Street, between Redondo and Temple.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael James Brown, creator of the Other Awareness Project, is hosting a workshop about racial and ethnic self-identification at Immanuel Center for Conscious Living this Saturday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":70223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5688"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=5688"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}