Yup! It’s true! We’ve got an incredible line-up of film screenings, readings, workshops and family fun for June 14, 2014. And it’s all free! But registration is strongly encouraged because seating is limited–especially for the Storyteller’s Prize Presentation and Live Show! We can’t wait to see you! Register now! – Heidi Durrow
New Web Series with Singer/Visionary Maya Azucena
I met singer/visionary Maya Azucena almost 15 years ago. We did an indie feature film; she was the lead and I played the villain. We had a lot of fun on the shoot getting to know each other as fellow struggling artists and fellow mixed chicks. Over the years, I saw Maya focus on her music–intensely! And she became a real role model for me in the way I pursued my art. She’s an independent music artist who manages her own career and what an amazing career it is. She travels all over the world performing for thousands and shares her positive messages for healing and uplift.
Maya started a new web series that chronicles her journey as an independent music artist. It’s a wonderful series and a great insight into the hard work of being an artist. I think you’ll like it a lot. I do. So check it out!–Heidi Durrow
Live Event Producer Khanisha Foster on Being Mixed & an Inclusionary Rebel
“Right now we could probably rename 85% of produced American theatre White Dudes, White Dudes, and More White Dudes. This kind of imbalance shuts down both existing audience and potential audience. Those who are not directly affected by this don’t see a need to talk about it. Those of us who are affected are often scared to talk about it. Finding work in the theatre is already difficult; add being a woman, add being a woman of color, add being a transgender person of color (which I am not, but we as allies must rep for each other), add being someone who wants to talk about inequities. Suddenly pointing out the obvious becomes dangerous. This is how a problem that could be easily solved remains.
And yet, here comes my optimism, I believe that innovation in theatre lies in underrepresented voices. In the theatre one of the great fears of representing works by people of color is that you will lose audience. Being Mixed is, by its very nature, inclusionary rebellion. We are made by people who chose love over habit. Perhaps if the theatre took a break from purely habitual creation it would surprise itself.
We don’t create art for singular answers. We have standardized testing for that. We create art to beckon the future and illuminate the past. We create art because parts of ourselves are hidden and we want to be seen. We sit in a theatre to feel connected to other humans. In a movie theatre you lean back to take in the whole picture. At a play, you lean in. You lean in to get closer to the touchable wonder in arms reach. In an art form that is so much about connection, how can we exclude?”–Khanisha Foster Twitter: @khanishafoster
Read the full interview here. Thanks Jacqueline Lawton for this inspired series!–Heidi Durrow
Miss Jessie’s Signs on as Mixed Remixed Festival Sponsor
We are thrilled that Miss Jessie’s, a leader in curly and natural hair care products, is a sponsor of the Mixed Remixed Festival! Miss Jessie’s curly hair products are well-known throughout the hair care industry and are considered the leader in kinks, curly hair and waves. They have been featured in numerous popular publications including O, The Oprah Magazine, Allure, Essence, Lucky, Marie Claire, WWD and Elle, in addition to appearing on NBC’s The Today Show. Celebrity fans include Alicia Keys, Joss Stone, Halle Berry, Keri Hilson, Rhianna and Randy Jackson to name a few. Miss Jessie’s continues to be a market innovator in the naturally curly hair segment and is excited to keep bringing out new products! Learn more at www.missjessies.com. Miss Jessie’s will provide hundreds of festival attendees with their special Multicultural Curl Packets! —Heidi Durrow
Biracial and also Black: A professor’s new take on her identity
“By the time I heard a third student say “I am mixed-race, from a mixed race family,” I had set down my notebook and was perched at the edge of my seat.
“Me, too,” I heard myself say. And with that, I knew that the class would be anything but routine. Until that moment, I had always told a neater story about my identity. I was, simply put, black. And about my mother being white? That had been irrelevant for me and my “one drop rule” generation.” — Professor Martha Jones via CNN Read the full essay here.
Thank you Poets & Writers, Inc.
We are proud to report that the Mixed Remixed Festival is supported by Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation. Poets & Writers, Inc., is the primary source of information, support, and guidance for creative writers. Founded in 1970, it is the nation’s largest nonprofit literary organization serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The national office is located in New York City. The California branch office is based in Los Angeles. Poets & Writers has been invaluable to me personally as an emerging writer and festival producer. Thank you Poets & Writers. Now if you haven’t heard about this resource, it’s time you checked it out www.pw.org!–Heidi Durrow
How Do We Love Bruno Mars?
. . . we can’t count enough ways! If you were a fan before or a new-to-Bruno-Mars kind of person, you have to admit that Bruno Mars 
rocked the house! Mars, who is a “hodgepodge” of ethnicities, was the face of America and the heart of great music and entertainment during the Super Bowl! And then on top of that — the wonderful Cheerios commercial with our favorite make-believe interracial family and the smooth puppy shakedown! We were in Mixed Remixed Festival heaven. If you missed all the fun, then you have to come to the Festival. That’s the kind of wonderful and joyous affirmation you will find for your experience, stories and families! SAVE THE DATE: June 14, 2014 at the Japanese American National Museum in LA.–Heidi Durrow
Submissions Due 1/31/14
Send us your work! Submissions for the Mixed Remixed Festival are due on Friday 1/31/14. We look forward to learning more about your work! www.mixedremixed.org
Mixed Remixed Festival Storyteller’s Prize 2014
We’re excited to present the first annual Mixed Remixed Storyteller’s Prize at the 2014 Festival.
January 22, 2014 (Los Angeles)–Mixed Remixed Festival Storyteller’s Prize Honors Comedy Central’s Hit Comedic Duo Key & Peele and National Book Award Finalist Susan Straight. [pdf].
The Mixed Remixed Festival will present the annual Storyteller’s Prizes to Comedy Central’s hit comedic duo Key & Peele and National Book Award Finalist Susan Straight on June 14, 2014 at 6:30pm at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles, 100 N. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012. The event is free and open to the public. A hosted dessert reception will immediately follow the awards presentation and live performance. The Storyteller’s Prizes will be presented as part of the Festival’s dynamic live performance which features some of the best comedians, musicians and spoken word poets. Reservations—which will open Feb. 14, 2014—are strongly encouraged.
The Storyteller’s Prizes are awarded each year to artists, scholars and activists who have shown a dedication to celebrating and illuminating the Mixed experience.
The 2014 Storyteller’s Prize recipients are:
Comedy Central’s hit comedic duo Key & Peele
Originally hailing from New York, Jordan Peele moved to Chicago, where he performed at both Second City Chicago and ImprovOlympic. Peele then crossed the pond to Amsterdam to work with Boom Chicago Theater, but was lured back to the States by a starring (and Emmy-nominated) role on five seasons of MADtv. Currently, he plays Dr. Brian on Adult Swim’s Children’s Hospital, and has also appeared on TVs RENO 911! and Love Bites. Peele has appeared in such movies as Little Fockers and the upcoming Wanderlust.
Keegan-Michael Key got his start in comedy at Second City Detroit, and later moved on to their Chicago company where he received awards for his writing and performance. While still in Chicago, Key made the jump to TV, starring in Fox’s MADtv for six seasons, and scoring recurring roles on shows like RENO 911! and Gary Unmarried. Key can also be seen on the big screen in movies including Role Models, Due Date, and Just Go With It.
Susan Straight
Susan Straight was born in Riverside and still lives there with her family. She has published seven novels and one middle-grade reader. Highwire Moon was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2001; A Million Nightingales was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2006. Her short stories have appeared in Zoetrope, The Ontario Review, The Oxford American, The Sun, Black Clock, and other magazines. “The Golden Gopher,” from Los Angeles Noir, won the Edgar Award in 2007; “El Ojo de Agua,” from Zoetrope, won an O. Henry Award in 2007. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Reader’s Digest, Family Circle, Salon, The Los Angeles Times, Harpers, The Nation, and other magazines. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to work on Highwire Moon, and a Lannan Prize was an immense help when working on Take One Candle Light a Room.
A Wonderful Story of Mixed Roots: Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being
This was one of my most favorite books of 2013 and it’s now out in paperback. Check out Ruth Ozeki’s most excellent novel, A Tale for the Time Being, about people with mixed roots and mixed cultures & let us know what you think!–Heidi Durrow
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