"Am I black or white or am I American?" "Why don't my eyes look like yours?" "Why do people always call attention to my 'different' hair?" Helping a child understand his mixed racial background can be daunting, especially when, whether out of honest appreciation or mean-spiritedness, peers and strangers alike perceive his features to be "other."Drawing on psychological research and input from more than fifty multiracial families, Does Anybody Else Look Like Me? addresses the special questions and concerns facing such families, explaining how they can best prepare their multiracial children to make their way confidently in our color-conscious world. From the books and toys to use in play with young children, to simple scripts to help them gracefully react to insensitive comments at school, to advice on guiding older children toward an unflappable sense of self, Does Anybody Else Look Like Me? is the first book to outline for parents how, exactly, to deflect the objectifying and discomforting attention multiracial children are likely to receive. Full of powerful stories and expert counsel, it is sure to become the book that both adoptive and birth parents of different races will look to for understanding as they strive to raise their children in a changing world.
Donna Jackson Nakazawa
Donna Jackson Nakazawa
Donna Jackson Nakazawa is a nationally acclaimed researcher, writer and public speaker on health and family issues. She is the author of The Autoimmune Epidemic: Bodies Gone Haywire in a World out of Balance and the Cutting Edge Science that Promises Hope (Touchstone/Simon and Schuster, 2008), an investigation into the reasons behind today's alarming rise in rates of autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, lupus, type 1 diabetes, thyroiditis, and dozens of other autoimmune diseases) in industrialized countries around the world.
In her book and lectures on the autoimmune epidemic, Ms. Nakazawa lays out the mounting evidence showing how our modern lifestyles, chemical-laden environment and twenty-first century diet have created the 'perfect storm' -- the ripest possible conditions -- for this epidemic to take hold. Nakazawa blends personal stories with the latest science to shed light on what we should know and do to halt this epidemic.
Publisher's Weekly says, 'Everyone with a friend or family member with an autoimmune disease will find this a must read.' Booklist calls The Autoimmune Epidemic 'A straight-talking alarum'[a] comprehensive heads up.' And Douglas Kerr, MD/PhD and director of the Johns Hopkins Transverse Myelitis Center says, 'The Autoimmune Epidemic is astounding'It is the kind of book that will scare you. It will make you angry' Reading it is a life-altering event. It needs to be.'
Nakazawa is also the author of Does Anybody Else Look Like Me? A Parent's Guide to Raising Multiracial Children (Perseus, 2003) and is a nationally recognized expert on educational issues affecting multicultural youth. She lectures and runs workshops on 'REFRAMING RACE: Understanding the Developmental Challenges of Multiracial Children in Independent Schools' at schools and conferences nationwide.
As a speaker and workshop leader, Ms. Nakazawa is known for her ability to empower her audience as she explores complex topics with depth, insight and compassion. Highlights of her lecture engagements on 'THE AUTOIMMUNE EPIDEMIC' include:
* Featured speaker, The Congressional Club
* Speaker, Johns Hopkins' 3rd International Rare Neuroimmunologic Disorders Symposium
* Speaker, To Your Health Lecture Series, 92nd Street Y
Highlights of Ms. Nakazawa's lecture engagements on 'REFRAMING RACE' include:
*Keynote speaker, The Association of Independent Schools of New England's (AISNE) Annual Diversity Conference
*Featured speaker, The Association of Independent Maryland Schools (AIMS)
*Keynote speaker, The Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington (AISGW) Annual Diversity Conference
*Top independent schools around the country including Sidwell Friends; Potomac School; Bank Street School; Wilmington Friends and Georgetown Day
Ms. Nakazawa has also been the keynote speaker on women's health issues at:
* The National Association of Female Executives
* The University of Virginia
* St. Luke's Hospital, St. Louis, MO
* The Executive Women's Network
* Advertising Women of New York and other groups
She has taught courses on magazine writing at Harvard University's Radcliffe Publishing Procedures Course and the University of Oklahoma, and has been the recipient of fellowships-in-residence from the Corporation of Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony.
Donna Jackson Nakazawa has appeared on The Today Show, National Public Radio, and ABC News. Her work has been featured on the cover of Parade, in Time, USA Today Weekend, More, Parenting, and Psychology Today. She has been a contributor to The Washington Post, More, Glamour, Working Mother, AARP the Magazine, Redbook, New Woman, Baby Talk and My Generation.
Ms. Nakazawa received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Public Policy from Duke University with honors in 1982 and is a graduate of the Radcliffe Publishing Procedures Program.
