Video: Kelly Tsai’s “Black, White, Whatever” Invites Candidates To Acknowledge The Rainbow

We know there are those among us who identify as Latina and Brown. Or White. Or Black. Or Yellowy-Brownish-Red. Or None of the Above. So we thought spoken word artist Kelly Tsai’s poem “Black, White, Whatever” was about, in a way, all of us, too.

There have been several points in both candidate’s campaigns when we’ve wanted to present them with a PowerPoint presentation called “You Don’t Get It,” with helpful slides of Latinos of all different shades, nationalities and economic backgrounds hanging out, being American and whatnot:

One of the moments we remember most vividly, highlighted in this post was when Cuahtemoc Figueroa, the director of Mr. Obama’s Latino vote effort, announced that Latinas would vote for Obama because they would identify with his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, because she “looks Latina.” It just goes to show there’s still a lot of work and conversation needed to help people understand that Latinos are a complicated and diverse group of people who just happen to be taking over the world.

“Black White Whatever” by Kelly Tsai [Feministing]