FOR RELEASE ON April 24, 2019

Contact:

Susan Graham

susangraham@bornbiracialbook.com

www.bornbiracialbook.com

 

Born Biracial is about the birth of a national civil rights movement

 

The White mother of two biracial children, Susan Graham realized her census form required her to pick only one race for her children. Wanting further explanation, she called the Census Bureau. She was put on hold for a very long time while they tried to figure out the answer. They got a supervisor involved. Finally, the United States Census Bureau employee said, “You should put down the race of the mother for your children.”

“But that can’t be right,” Graham answered. “They are not just my race. They are biracial.”

“Well, they can’t be.”

“I beg your pardon, but they are,” Graham replied.

“Not to us,” the man answered.

“Excuse me, but why should they arbitrarily be classified as the mother’s race and not the father’s?”

“Because in cases like this,” he answered in a very hushed voice, “you always know for sure who the mother is, but not the father.” That was in 1990, and it caused Graham to start a national movement to rectify the situation.

Now, with the 2020 Census looming, Susan Graham went after and got the changes her children and children like them need. The emotional memoir of her marriage to a CNN anchor, being a mother to biracial children, divorce, and remarriage are woven into the story. In Born Biracial: How One Mother Took on Race in America, Graham’s sometimes turbulent personal story will make you cheer for the underdog in battles against the government and other minority organizations.

You’ll be touched by the cover comments from baseball Hall of Fame legend Rod Carew, whose daughter died for the lack of a biracial bone marrow donor. The praises by Dr. C .Vasquez and others will make you want to turn the pages and you’ll be hooked from the words of people who stood with Graham over the years and fought the good fight. Interracial families, educational institutions, libraries, and multicultural organizations should all own a copy.

This memoir is the perfect addition to any personal library for Mother’s Day. It is a mother’s story of how she fought for recognition for her children and those like them. A primer for advocates, this book is an important how-to for people who want to bring about change.

Susan Graham is the founder, president, and executive director of Project RACE (Reclassify All Children Equally). Specializing in race/ethnicity and public policy and an advocate for civil rights, Graham has testified before congressional committees in Washington. She has also been published in The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Orlando Sentinel, and in other major newspapers and magazines. Graham is married to Portuguese-American poet Sam Pereira.

Born Biracial (Memories Press, 2019, 240 pages, $14.95 ISBN:978-1-7339088) can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retailers.

***