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Participants Needed: Interracial Relationships Study

When Boston College graduate student Marya Mtshali took the course Politics of Black Sexuality, she noticed a glaring need when it came to research around interracial relationships, particularly those involving Black women and White men:
Marya Mtshali, PhD Student
Department of Sociology
Boston College
"Practically all of the research I came across or found on Google Scholar about interracial couples was about Black men with White women and how Black women were upset by interracial relationships.  I noticed a gap in the literature that I think is important to fill."
And that is exactly what she aims to do through her exploratory sociological study on the experiences of Black female-White male interracial couples. Marya will be using this research for her doctoral thesis and a published article in a peer reviewed journal.  She hopes her research can provide a better overall picture of interracial couples and that the information will add to better understanding of the way race and gender intersect.



So if you are a Black woman in an "intimate" relationship with a White man or a White man in an intimate relationship with a Black woman (for purposes of this study, intimate is defined as being together consistently for at least one year), between the ages of 18 - 65, please consider helping Marya out and volunteering for this study.  Interviews typically last between 1 and 1.5 hours and consist of questions about your demographics, upbringing, dating history, and experiences from your current relationship.  Interviews are taped and stored under password protected files, using pseudonyms and other generic references to minimize the collection of personally identifiable information.  Ideally Marya would like to interview both members of the couple, but participation from both isn't required.

Now, Marya only needs ten couples or participants, but I'm hopefully optimistic that between all of us and the people that we know, we can make sure she has ten and then some.  And in case you're wondering, I'm signed up for my interview next week.

To learn more about Marya and the study visit: http://sites.google.com/site/blackfemalewhitemalestudy/
Although the site includes geographic requirements, as this point Marya is interested in participants regardless of where they live.  If you're interested in participating, email Marya directly at blackfemalewhitemalestudy@gmail.com
I thank you in advance.

The Liebster Blog Award


So, last week I had a comment on the Wedding Nouveau Giveaway Post that upon first glance, appeared to be spam.  But, alas, I took a second look and realized I was actually being presented with the Liebster Blog Award, definitely a first for me.

The purpose of the award is to give visibility to worthy, lesser known blogs with fewer followers.

The rules of accepting and receiving The Liebster Blog Award are:
1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who awarded you.
3. Copy & paste the blog award on your blog
4. Reveal your 5 blog picks.
5. Let them know you choose them by leaving a comment on their blog.

So I'd like to give a shout-out to PushingThirty for presenting me with this award, and my five blog picks are:


  1. Caramels on Maple Street - "adventures of mixed-race parenting in a small New England town"
  2. empatheia - "filled with the musings of a strong and resolved person, who cares deeply about the world and tries to spread light and hope to those who need it most"
  3. Me and The Mexican -  "A gringa (a.k.a. white girl) and a Mexican...... married in holy" matrimony
  4. Our Global Love - "Making an intercultural, interracial, inter-religious relationship work"
  5. The Cocoa Butter Tales - "A peek into the lives of a Korean-American male and an African-American female as they navigate their relationship - 21st century Romeo and Juliet style!"
Enjoy!

Wedding Nouveau Giveaway Winner!

Congrats gypsywoman35! You've woman a complimentary electronic copy of the Fall 2011 issue of Wedding Nouveau.  Enjoy!

My Big, Fat, Racially Segregated Wedding



(This piece is featured in the Fall issue of Wedding Nouveau, "the premiere digital and print-on-demand bridal resource for multi-ethnic weddings and intercultural brides who dream in culture.")


Out of the 365 days of the year, for 364 of them, our wedding DVD collects dust on a bookshelf in our living room.  But every August 19th, my husband and I dust it off, watch and remember the day our family began.

Thick-Blooded

When my husband and I moved to Boston five years ago, the way everyone spoke about the weather implied that after we drove over the Connecticut border we were basically going to freeze to death.  Yes, even though we moved in August.