Hi. I'm Trina-Fatimah Williams. I’ve long been fascinated with the arts of film, writing and photography. Photographs tell a story and memorialize a moment in time. My fascination with photography naturally led me to become a photographer. I specialize in outdoor and natural light photography. Each of us has a story to tell and an opportunity to leave our unique imprint on this World. I believe that my uniqueness (blur-ness) is in-part that I am biracial. My mother is white and my father is black. My parents had a budding relationship in the mid 1960’s and they faced a lot of ridicule, discrimination and hateful treatment in segregated, then riot-torn Detroit. I was born the year of the Detroit riots. My birth during that historical time, helped to fashion my life’s purpose. For many years I was quite shy and hesitant to openly discuss my mixed heritage. As many can relate to, I feared the ridicule, odd questions and found it easy to pretend to blend. A suppressed strength slightly emerged after I became a mom. I quietly, began to blog: http://mixedroots.blogspot.com, I founded MixedRoots™ and then Mixed Roots Movement™. MixedRoots was a concept rooted in my heart and soul since I was a young girl. "Mixed" comes from my biracial heritage, and "Roots" comes from the history of my family name ~ Freeman. My paternal blood line is connected to and rooted to slavery, until distant ancestors became free. It was at that time, that they adopted a name to reflect such freedom ~ FREE MAN. "Movement" relates to moving towards pride in having a mixed-race identity, celebrating the experiences, while enlightening, educating and empowering others about the mixed-race experience. Crossing bridges with positive energy removing the negative spaces that leave gaps between people because of race, religion & culture. A movement towards knowledge of one another, opening the door to friendships and peace In an effort to bridge my bi-racial experience to my love for writing, I turned a frustration into positive energy. I wanted to do something to support and serve the mixed-race community. Growing up, I was frustrated with the television and film industry for not representing the mixed-race family and the personal and social experiences associated with it. I decided to write a book about these experiences. It started as a memoir of sorts to my daughter and flourished into a strong effort to give the mixed-race voice at-large a place to be heard. I began to interview others and the rest is history. We hope this book will help facilitate a change and the mixed race experience will begin to be explored and shared in mainstream media, honestly and without hesitation. But more importantly, I hope the book will serve as an important resource for "mixed & multi" families to get through the challenges until the challenges are no more. There are a few transformative times in my life, yet two standout and one came in 1990 when I spent time as a study abroad student at the University of West Indies, Jamaica. I really liked the arts prior to that experience, but I fell in love with the arts as a result of the cultural experience in Jamaica. That semester I knew I wanted to contribute to the arts as a writer and photographer. While in Jamaica I was often asked by Jamaicans if I was Jamaican. That question baffled me because my complexion is so light and most Jamaicans of color I saw were much darker than I. It wasn’t until I learned that Jamaica’s native son and pride and joy was just like me- a mix of black and white—the legendary Bob Marley. So, then, it all made sense. Even the country’s motto “Out of Many One People”. Wow, they adopted a theme of unity for it’s people and I longed for that sense of unity to replace the polarizing black vs white that infected my hometown & country. The second transformative time and by far the most influential and the one that is the passion and driving force behind my thoughts-turned action was the birth of my daughter. I desperately wanted to find and get involved with an organization that supported the mixed-race family/community and I wasn’t able to find an organization in my area. I had a desire, that my child connect with and relate to everyone, but also have a chance to know others like herself- those who shared a mixed roots heritage. Just like when I was a girl, I tried to bury that desire, but it wouldn't permit me to bury it this time. It stubornly raged on the surface. One day my husband (no doubt, sick to death of my talking about it) said, "you’ve talked about this issue for so long, you’re developing MixedRoots projects, you’re writing a book about the mixed-race experience- so create the organization you wish for" so Mixed Roots Movement™ was born, and it’s my way to celebrate diversity. At Mixed Roots Movement, we strive to create communities that celebrate and respect Multi-Cultural, Multi-Racial & Multi-Religious Diversity and Heritage. Mixed Roots Movement is an association for EVERYONE. While we have a special focus on multiracial, mixed-race, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, inter-racial, trans-racially adopted and multi-religious people and families, we work hard to bring all people together. Your Friend in all things "mixed & multi", T. Fatimah Read More »