Sisteringray
Probationary
Joined: 10 Feb 2008
{Posts: 1 }
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 Posted: Sun 10 Feb 2008 18:44 Post subject: Correcting the Records (About The Topaz Club) |
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I'm Arana, the Founder of The Topaz Club. A friend of mine who is a reader/member at this forum board alerted me to some talk about myself and The Topaz Club. When I saw him (in person) yesterday at a meeting, he told me that some people here were asking about me and why I don't participate anymore at online multiracial communities. I read every thread at this one board, and I see that there is quite a bit of gossip about myself, about the reasons for my founding The Topaz Club. Much of what has been posted here is inaccurate.
I am going to state for the record why I founded The Topaz Club, and tell those of you who are this interested in both TTC and me, what I have been doing with my cyberlife for the past 4 years:
1) I've been busy working with/on The Topaz Club. First off, I founded The Topaz Club because I wanted to create a SISTERHOOD and a SAFE HAVEN for biracial/multiracial women of African/African-American descent, where we can address the key issues about our identities that we normally cannot do in everyday life, or even in other online multiracial communities without being persecuted. I have seen too many online communities fall apart (so far, with the exception of this one, because I know as a FACT that Frank Sweet is not going to tolerate any crap at his site - my hats off to him) over issues about biracial/multiracial women of African/African-American desent. TTC has a clear and a well-defined focus and mission. Its mission and focus is what it is, and it will continue to progress in that direction.
2) I did NOT found TTC because of a 'mother/daughter pair bond' at another online community who didn't recognize me as a multiracial person. My founding of TTC has absolutely NOTHING to do with any nonsense that took place at other online multiracial communities.
3) There never was any such person at TTC known as 'Mul2Stud'. The only moderator at TTC was myself - and only myself. Sure, women have come and gone at TTC, but that is to be expected at any online communities. Right now, our membership numbers are strong - and TTC's online community is very stable.
4) I have spent the last 4 years building up TTC's foundation from its roots. The Yahoo online community is just one leg of TTC's function. Yahoo has served its purpose in being a useful tool for our establishment. I have also spent 4 years building up its membership base. I decide who will be invited to join TTC or not, regardless of how others outside of TTC feel about that. If others want to perceive me and/or TTC as being either *elitist* or *exclusive*, then that's them, but I will do whatever is in the best interests of TTC in order to ensure that TTC's online leg continues to remain safe for all of our sisters.
Upon founding TTC, I already knew that TTC would be received in a good way by some people. TTC has been very well supported by its members and its allies. But I also knew and expected from its conception that others outside of TTC would regard TTC suspiciously - as being another 'blue vein society' kind of 'wanna be sorority', and so on. Also, others on the outside who *feel* excluded (Mul2Stud is a perfect example of this) do/will have criticisms about TTC. And of course, with TTC being of the nature it is, all of the negative stereotypes about its members, our skin tones, our attitudes towards our 'blackness', about being black vs. 'not black' vs. 'wanna be mixed but are not really mixed' all are reactions we have already encountered - both within TTC's circle and outside of it. I'm not surprised that TTC would be - and could be the very match that lights the fire of the race war that the US multiracial community constantly fights.
5) ABOUT TTC'S MEMBERSHIP BASE: TTC currently has about 500 online members. As far as the multiracial representation at TTC is concerned, our multi-racial base is diverse. A great many of the Topaz sisters are First-Generation biracial women (meaning, being of parents of 2 different monoracial groups). A great many of the Topaz sisters are multigenerationally-mixed, as I am. Our MGM sisters are pleased that TTC is friendly towards mixed women from this background. We have sisters that have one parent who is mixed and another parent who is monoracially (white or black). As far as mixed-race ethnicities are concerned, we have sisters who are part Asian (of various ethnic backgrounds), part Hispanic (of various ethnic backgrounds), who are Creole, etc. I'm proud to boast about our diversity there. I personally wouldn't have TTC to be any other way than it is.
-And we all vary in skin tone and features. Even I had commented at a Topaz sister's blogsite about the lightness of our members that "we at TTC are not a sisterhood to celebrate being lightskinned with good hair, we are a sisterhood to celebrate being MIXED'".
5) TTC'S RESUME: TTC has accomplished quite a few goals over the past couple of years. I see in some places that we have a good reputation:
a) The Topaz Club is an Affiliate Member Organization of AMEA (the Association of MultiEthnic Americans, Inc.), and is also a branch group of the Biracial Family Network, Inc., (of which I am currently serving as its Vice-President. The current President of the Biracial Family Network is also an active member of The Topaz Club.) TTC has been featured in 2 articles in the AMEA newsletter, in 2006. TTC was involved in the organization of the Loving Decision Conference, which took place in Chicago last year at Roosevelt University. TTC also sponsored a 'Biracial/Multiracial Women's Panel', which addressed common experiences that biracial/multiracial women of African/African-American descent have faced in their lives at various ages. TTC had its first National Get Together in August, 2006. The Topaz Club was also featured in a podcast at the Mixed Chicks site last summer. Our local TTC branches have occasional dinners and outings around the country. I also have been invited by one of my fellow Topaz sisters to write a preface about race relations in the United States for her upcoming book, and I will be glad to endorse the support of The Topaz Club in that book.
b) TTC now operates as an informal organization. We have just established branches/chapters in various cities around the US. We will also have our next National Get Together in 2009.
[To You Fellas who Flattered Me by putting up my pictures here]: Thank You for your support. I may not speak to you on a regular basis, but that doesn't mean that I've snubbed you or ignored you. 
To those of you who support The Topaz Club, I thank you all for your support.
If any of you have any further questions, concerns, or inquiries about The Topaz Club, please DO NOT engage in further speculative gossip about myself or TTC here at this site or any other online site. You can contact me at TTC's website (http://www.thetopazclub.com/) and at TTC's e-mail address: inquiries@thetopazclub.com.
ARANA (FOUNDER/EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT OF THE TOPAZ CLUB)
http://www.thetopazclub.com/
inquiries@thetopazclub.com[b] |
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