History & Vision:
ME/RG began as a simple idea at one school to address a need: to give voice, agency and representation for those of mixed race/heritage/ethnicity.
I founded it because I didn’t fit in to any one particular club: too light, too dark, not enough of any one heritage and marginalized by all.
An idea, like many, sprung from a refusal to accept the status quo as presented to me: you must choose one.
Despite social pressures to the contrary, we refuse to choose one aspect, one label, of our heritage to the exclusion of another. We choose to celebrate, to venerate and to represent all aspects of ourselves.
We are many, we are not a novelty, and we are not new. We have always been here, since first two diverse groups met, even if we are unheard and unacknowledged in the history books.
Because we are not easily categorized in sound bites or convenient labels, we have been overlooked. Despite, or perhaps because of this, we now awaken to reveal that we bring strength through the diversity that we carry within ourselves. Even if there’s not a box to check on the next form we fill out that fits us- no single specific identity for us - we remain strong and confident, because we proudly choose not to be boxed.
What started as one thing: a way for girls of mixed heritage to have a voice, can instead become a beacon to encompass the diversity within and among all of us:
Diversity of Ethnicity
Of Heritage
Of Race
Of Orientation
Of Gender
Of Identity
Of Economics
Of Ideology
Of Body Morphology
We can be the future - a simple way forward.
I chose the acronym ME/RG because it suggests that we all have a place together on this highway of life - if we are only willing to merge our pace into life's traffic and carve out our niche. Silence wont cut it. We cant be wallflowers, we have to join the race.
We can each choose to merge into the kaleidoscopic flow, gifting our uniqueness to the whole - a sum greater than its parts because, not in spite of our individuality.
Just as importantly, we should not isolate ourselves among those who look/think/believe/act like us, but instead commune among all who value wondrous variety and strive for a better future together.
Avani Haden