'Mixed in the Six' events provide community, identity for mixed-race Torontonians
The idea for "Mixed and the Six" came from a Tinder date that didn't go exactly as planned.
Haan Palcu-Chang and Gina Oades met through the app, and though they didn't click romantically, the pair soon began talking about their experiences growing up with mixed backgrounds.
Palcu-Chang is Chinese and Romanian, Oades is Caucasian and Filipino, and both are regularly asked about where they are from.
"It is something that people want to discuss at all times," laughed Palcu-Chang on Metro Morning.
From that date, the idea for "Mixed in the Six," an organization that runs events for mixed-race Torontonians, was born.
The goal, said the pair, is to help people like themselves build community and connect with their own unique identities.
Sticking out like a 'sore thumb'
Oades told Metro Morning host Matt Galloway that growing up in Angus, Ontario, "people definitely made me aware that I was different."
"I really wanted to have a sense of community, I felt a bit alone, kind of othered," she said, adding that other Filipinos rarely recognize her as such and she's often asked if she's Latina.
She said that meeting other people who have had similar experiences through Mixed in the Six has been "exciting and really magical."
Palcu-Chang, who grew up Toronto's Beach neighbourhood, said he didn't experience racism growing up, but that he did find himself sliding between his two identities depending on the occasion.
"It was only when I spent the last eight years living in Europe and Asia that I realized I'm not Chinese and I'm not Romanian - I'm very much a Canadian person with a multi-racial background," he said.
Events use art, music, food to bring people together
Since getting started last summer with about 20 people crammed into a living room, Mixed in the Six events have grown rapidly, said Palcu-Chang.
"Our last event a couple months ago was 90 people. This event coming up today is sponsored by Harbourfront Centre and is part of their Multiculturalism Day," he said.
The events are also used as a springboard to raise awareness about issues that affect people from mixed racial backgrounds, for example, the deficit of diversity in the bone marrow registry pool.
"We've done a couple blood marrow registry drives at our events," said Oades.
The rapidly growing numbers of participants, said Palcu-Chang, proves that there is a void to be filled for mixed race people in the city who grew up unsure of where they fit in.
"People need this, and a lot of people didn't know they needed it until they were in that space," he said.
You can find out more about Mixed in the Six events on their Facebook page.
