The time is always right...

The community I want...

Even though it's after 10pm and I'm full of fried chicken, I am also energized and hopeful. This is always how I feel after a Swirl dinner and I get to talk to others who similarly want to be honest about the flaws in our society, and think about positive ways to confront them. And this is not about getting together to pat ourselves on the back for knowing better. We acknowledge our own shortcomings and biases too. And our own inabilities - at times - to confront the very things that we also question.

Multiracial families: Counted but still misunderstood

In the past couple of years, I have noticed a certain complacency that I never noticed before, in my eleven years of leading Swirl. The same passion and the same excitement around building multiracial communities had faded a bit. In the one year leading up to the Presidential election, we launched five new chapters (the norm had been a chapter every year or every other year). People were excited by the energy created by Obama's campaign, and they were motivated and eager to be a part of creating supportive and inclusive multiracial communities.

A new year...for community

How often do we truly feel seen by others? A part of a community that will hold us in the good times and the bad? I have been reflecting on how rare that feeling has been for me - of true love and acceptance from a community.

"What Are You?"

Originally published at The Brooklyn Historical Society Blog

Today’s guest post is by Jen Chau, founder of Swirl, a multi-ethnic, anti-racist organization that promotes cross-cultural dialogue.  “What are you?” is one of those questions like “Where are you from, I mean from from?” that people pose (sometimes ungracefully) when they are curious about someone’s racial/ethnic identity. What Are You? is also the title of an upcoming event (Monday, September 26th at 7pm), part of the Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations series, hosted here at the Brooklyn Historical Society and co-sponsored by Loving Day.  BHS is learning more about Brooklyn’s overlapping, interweaving communities and we hope you’ll join the conversation here in the comments and at upcoming events.

Back to the beginning

A friend recently asked me about the beginning of Swirl.

I told her how I started it. And why. She interrupted to clarify - she wanted to know how I felt. What specifically I was experiencing when I came up with the idea, when I took the first steps to incorporate, when it all came to fruition. I had to think about this - after all, it was nearly eleven years ago.

Me & Mr. T

I'm sitting at my table. Tea mug next to me, its mossy-colored liquid rippling and sending its tea bag on mini waves to the beat of my laptop typing. Mr. Tea looks on. He's got his classic mean grill going. But he's just serious. And seriously misunderstood.

I'm glad he's here, because so far, the weirdest thing about working "for myself" is the silence.

In the arena...

What am I doing now that I've left my job at New Leaders? I'm going out on my own. I've decided to finally try to make Swirl, my ten year old on-the-side project, my full-time job. I know that if I don't try it now, I will always regret it. I am also hoping to consult on the side until working for Swirl actually supports me financially. I have never tried doing this before. It's new and exciting, but also scary, of course.