I see my mixed-race as being part of a broader black experience, or within the African diaspora. I don’t see that as a white experience or an Austrian experience, just because I see myself as a black woman or a black person within a place where it’s predominantly white.

“Well, I’ve always identified myself as black… and mixed kind of simultaneously. But as far as my identity, I see my mixed-race as being part of a broader black experience, or within the African diaspora. I don’t see that as a white experience or an Austrian experience, just because I see myself as a black woman or a black person within a place where it’s predominantly white. So I know that whiteness is not something I’m a part of, even though my mother is white and I have a cultural background as far as my Austrian side. But, to identify as white or solely as mixed without understanding how much my black experience and my blackness plays a part in my life, to me, just personally, I couldn’t do that.” —Annina Chirade

Kim Chakanetsa, “Being ‘Mixed Race’: Kira Lea Dargin and Annina Chirade,” The Conversation on BBC World Service, May 11, 2015. (00:14:20-00:14:38). http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02qm960.

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