The terms ''multiracial'' and ''mixed-race'' describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term ''biracial'', which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term ''multiracial'' may encompass biracial people but can also include people with more than two races in their heritage, or also may refer to the origin of more generationally distant genetic admixtures of more than one race in a person's DNA.

The actual incidence of multiracial admixture and heritage is believed to be far higher than is commonly reported, although there is evidence that this is changing as people are becoming more comfortable with revealing personal multiracial heritage. Census records and other studies also show the real number of multiracial individuals to be increasing in the United States along with an increase in marriages across race lines. Other surveys also reflect this trend in many modern nations. The term ''multiracial'' may also be used to refer to groups or populations where individuals of more than one race are counted as a part of a whole group. In this sense of the word, 'multiracial' refers to a racially heterogeneous rather than a homogeneous group or population.

Definitions of multiracial

While defining race is controversial, ''race'' remains a commonly used term for categorization. Insofar as race is defined differently in different cultures, perceptions of multiraciality will naturally be subjective.

According to U.S. sociologist Troy Duster and ethicist Pilar Ossorio:

Some percentage of people who look white will possess genetic markers indicating that a significant majority of their recent ancestors were African. Some percentage of people who look black will possess genetic markers indicating the majority of their recent ancestors were European.

In the United States:

"Many state and local agencies comply with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 1997 revised standards for the collection, tabulation, and presentation of federal data on race and ethnicity. The revised OMB standards identify a minimum of five racial categories: White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. Perhaps, the most significant change for Census 2000 was that respondents were given the option to mark one or more races on the questionnaire to indicate their racial identity. Census 2000 race data are shown for people who reported a race either alone or in combination with one or more other races."

Related terms

In the English-speaking world, many terms for people of various multiracial backgrounds exist, some of which are pejorative or are no longer used. ''Mulato'' and ''mestizo'' are used in Spanish, ''mulato'' and ''mestiço'' in Portuguese and ''mulâtre'' and ''métis'' in French for people of multiracial descent. These terms are also in certain contexts used in the English-speaking world. In Canada, the Métis are a people of mixed white and First Nation descent.

Terms like ''mulatto'' for people of partly African descent and ''mestizo'' for people of partly Native American descent are still used in English , but mostly when referring to the past or to the demography of Latin-America. ''Half-breed'' is a now old-fashioned and pejorative term used for people of partial Native American ancestry. Mestee, once widely used, is now used mostly for members of old mixed-race groups, such as Melungeons, Redbones, Brass Ankles and Mayles. In South Africa, and much of English-speaking southern Africa, the term ''Coloured'' was used to describe a mixed-race person but also Asians not of African descent. While the term is socially accepted, it is becoming an outdated term owing to its apartheid historical significance.

In Latin America, where mixtures are frequently tri-racial, a panoply of terms developed during the colonial period, including terms such as zambo for persons of indigenous-African descent. Charts and diagrams intended to elaborate these terms were common, and the famous Casta Paintings in Mexico and to some extent Peru, sought to illustrate the terms by how people of various blendings might appear. frequently, census categories reflect these ideas, but in modern censuses, for example, in Brazil, all persons of multiracial heritage tend to be thrown into the single category of "pardo".

In English, the terms ''miscegenation'' and ''amalgamation'' have been used for race-mixing. These terms are now often considered offensive and are becoming obsolete. The terms ''mixed-race'', ''biracial'' or ''multiracial'' are becoming generally accepted.

Regions with significant multiracial populations

North America

United States

Multiracial US Americans officially numbered 6.1 million in 2006, or 2.0% of the population. However there is considerable evidence that the actual number is much higher. Prior to the mid-20th century many people hid their multiracial heritage. Consequently many Americans today are multi-racial without knowing it.

In 2010, the number of Americans who checked both "black" and "white" on their census forms was 134 percent higher than it had been a decade earlier.

According to James P. Allen and Eugene Turner from California State University, Northridge, by some calculations in the 2000 Census the actual multiracial population that is part white, by far the largest percentage of the multiracial population, is as follows: the largest part of the white bi-racial population, is white/Native American and Alaskan Native, at 7,015,017, followed by white/black at 737,492, then white/Asian at 727,197, and finally white/Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander at 125,628.

The stigma of a mixed race heritage has decreased significantly in the United States, but is not completely gone. One sign of progress in this area was the election of President Barack Obama, who had a White mother and an African father. People of mixed-race heritage can now be listed in the U.S Census by any combination of races whereas before Americans were required to select from only one category. For example they may now choose more than one race from the following list:

"White" (or "Caucasian"), "Black" (or African American), "Asian", "Native American" or "Alaska Native", "Native Hawaiian", other "Pacific Islander" or "Some other race".

Many mix raced Americans now also use the term biracial. The U.S. has a growing multiracial identity movement, reflective of the lessening stigma and discrimination. Miscegenation or interracial marriage, most notably between whites and blacks, was historically deemed immoral and illegal in most states in the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th century. California and the western US had similar laws to prohibit White-Asian American marriages until 1967 (Loving v. Virginia decision by the US Supreme Court) which overturned all remaining anti-miscegenation laws in the US.

The United States is one of the most racially diverse countries in the world. The American people are mostly multi-ethnic descendants of various immigrant nationalities culturally distinct until assimilation and integration took place, unevenly at at different periods of history, depending on the American region. The "Americanization" of foreign ethnic groups and the inter-racial diversity of millions of Americans is not a new phenomenon but has been a fundamental part of its history, especially on frontiers where different groups of people came together.

The President of the United States, Barack Obama, is a multiracial American, as he is the son of a Luo father from Kenya and a European American mother. While he does acknowledge the heritage of his parents, he identifies as African-American.

Canada

Multiracial Canadians in 2006 officially totaled 1.5% of the population, up from 1.2% in 2001, although, this number may actually be far higher. The official mixed-race population grew by 25% since the previous census. Of these, the most frequent combinations were ''multiple visible minorities'' (for example, people of mixed south Asian and European heritage form the majority specifically in Toronto), followed closely by ''white-black'', ''white-Chinese'', ''white-Arab'', and many other smaller mixes.

During the time of Slavery in the United States a very large but unknown number of American slaves of African descent escaped to Canada, where slavery was illegal, via the underground railroad. Many of these people married in with European-Canadian and Native-Canadian populations, although their precise numbers, and the numbers of their descendants, are not known.

Another 1.2% of Canadians officially are Métis (descendants of a historical population who were partially Aboriginal-- also called "Indian" or "Native American" in other North and South American countries mixed with European, particularly French, English, Scottish, and Irish ethnic groups). Although listed as a single "race" in Canada, the Metis are therefore multi-racial. In particular the Métis population may be far higher than the official numbers state, due to earlier racism causing people to historically hide their mixed heritage. This however is changing although many Canadians may now be unaware of their mixed race heritage, especially those of Métis descent.

This brings Canada to a total "recognized" mixed population of 2.7%, greater by percentage than that of the United Kingdom and the United States.

Latin America

Mestizo is the common word used to describe multiracial people in Latin America, especially people with Native American and Spanish or other European ancestry. Mestizos make up a large portion of Latin Americans comprising a majority in most countries.

In Latin America, racial mixture was officially acknowledged from colonial times. There was official nomenclature for every conceivable mixture present in the various countries. Initially, this classification was used as a type of caste system, where rights and privileges were accorded depending on one's official racial classification. Official caste distinctions were abolished in many countries of the Spanish-speaking Americas as they became independent of Spain. Several terms have remained in common usage.

Race and racial mixture have played a significant role in the politics of many Latin American countries. In most countries, for example Mexico, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Belize, a majority of the population can be described as biracial or multiracial (depending on the country). In Mexico, over 80% of the population is mestizo.

The Mexican philosopher and educator José Vasconcelos authored an essay on the subject, ''La Raza Cósmica'', celebrating racial mixture. Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, who is himself of Spanish, indigenous and African ancestry, has made positive references to the mixed-race ancestry of most Latin Americans from time to time.

Brazil

According to the 2000 official census, 38.5% of Brazilians identified themselves as pardo skin color. That option is normally marked by people that consider themselves multiracial (''mestiço''). The term ''pardo'' is formally used in the official census but is not used by the population. In Brazilian society, most people who are multiracial call themselves ''moreno'': light-''moreno'' or dark-''moreno''. These terms are not considered offensive and focus more on skin color than on ethnicity (it is considered more like other human characteristics such as being short or tall).

The most common multiracial groups are between African and European (''mulato''), and Amerindian and European (''caboclo'' or ''mameluco''). But there are also African and Amerindian (''cafuzo''), and East-Asian (mostly Japanese) and European/other (''ainoko'', or more recently, ''hafu''). All groups are more or less found throughout the whole country. Brazilian multiracials with the following three origins, Amerindian, European and African, performs the majority. It is said today that 89% or even more of the "Pardo" population in Brazil has at least one Amerindian ancestor (most of ''brancos'' or White Brazilian population have some Amerindian and/or African ancestry too and most Brazilians know about national mixed-race huge majority despite of nearly half of country population self-labeled Caucasian appearance at censuses, see Race in Brazil). In Brazil, it is very common for Mulattoes to admit that they do not have any Amerindian ancestry, though studies have found that if a Brazilian multiracial can trace their ancestry to nearly 8 to 9 generations back, they will have at least one Amerindian ancestor from their maternal side of the family, which will explain many of their physical features and characteristics.

Since multiracial relations in Brazilian society have occurred for many generations, some people find it difficult to trace their own ethnic ancestry. Today a majority of mixed-race Brazilians do not really know their ethnic ancestry. Due to their unique features that makes them Brazilian-looking like skin color, lips and nose shape or hair texture, they are only aware that their ancestors were definitely Portuguese, African and/or Amerindian. There is also a high percentage of Brazilians of Jewish descent (10,000,000-30,000,000), mostly found in the northeast of the country who cannot be sure of their ancestry as they descend from the so-called "Crypto-Jews" (Jews who practiced Judaism in secret while outwardly pretending to be Catholics, also called Marranos or New-Christians, often considered Portuguese); according to some sources, 1 out of every 3 families to arrive there from Portugal during the colonization was of Jewish origin. There is a high level of integration between all groups. However, has been existed a great social and economic difference between European descendants (found more among the upper and middle classes) and African, Amerindian and multiracial descendants (found more among the lower classes), what is called Brazilian apartheid.

United Kingdom

In 2000, ''The Sunday Times'' reported that "Britain has the highest rate of interracial relationships in the world" and certainly the UK has the highest rate in the European Union. The 2001 census showed the population of England to be 1.4% mixed-race, compared with 2.7% in Canada and 1.4% in the U.S. estimates of 1.4% in 2002 (see below), although this U.S. figure did not include mixed-race people who had a black parent. Both the US and UK have fewer people identifying as mixed race, however, than Canada. By 2020 the mixed race population is expected to become Britain's largest ethnic minority group with the highest growth rate.

In Britain, many multi-racial people have Caribbean, African or Asian heritage. For example supermodel Naomi Campbell, who has African, Jamaican, and Asian roots. Some, like Formula One driver, Lewis Hamilton, are referred to or describe themselves as 'mixed'.

The 2001 UK Census included a section entitled 'Mixed' to which 1.4% (1.6% by 2005 estimates) of people responded, which was split further into ''White and Black Caribbean, White and Asian, White and Black African'' and ''Other Mixed''. Despite this, 2005 birth records for the country state at least 3.5% of new born babies as mixed race.

Cities/ Regions with notable Multiracial/ Mixed Race populations (England and Wales)

Nottingham – 3.70%

Manchester – 3.23%

London – 3.15%

* Lambeth – 4.83%

Slough – 3.00%

Birmingham – 2.90%

Sheffield – 2.60%

Wolverhampton – 2.70%

Luton – 2.56%

Leicester – 2.30%

Coventry – 2.20%

Liverpool – 2.20%

West Midlands – 2.14%

Bristol – 2.08%

Derby – 2.00%

Gloucester – 2.00%

Cardiff – 1.99%

City of Leeds – 1.80%

Southampton – 1.50%

City of Bradford – 1.40%

North Africa

In North Africa, People of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Egypt are a marriage between Berbers, Mediterranean race,people from Al-Andalus and also some Arabs too.

South Africa

In South Africa, the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act prohibited marriage between whites and non-whites (which were classified as Black, Asian and Coloured). Multiracial South Africans are commonly referred to as coloureds. According to the 2001 South African Census, they are the second largest minority (8.9%) after white South Africans (9.2%).

South Asia

India

Anglo-Indians are the mixed race, which originated in India during the British Raj, or the Colonial period in India. The estimated population of Anglo-Indians is 600,000 worldwide with the majority living in India and the UK.

Burma

As with India, Burma was ruled by the British, from 1826 until 1948. Many European groups vied for control of the country prior to the arrival of the British. Intermarriage and mixed-relationships between these settlers and merchants with the local Burmese population, and subsequently between British colonists and the Burmese created a local Eurasian population, knows as the Anglo-Burmese. This group dominated colonial society and through the early years of independence. Most Anglo-Burmese now reside primarily in Australia, New Zealand and the UK since Burma received her independence in 1948 with an estimated 52,000 left behind in Burma.

Sri Lanka

Due to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean, the island of Sri Lanka has been a confluence for settlers from various parts of the world, which has resulted in the formation of several mixed-race ethnicities in the Island. The most notable mixed race group are the Sri Lankan Moors, who trace their ancestry from Arab traders who settled on the island and intermarried with local women. Today, The Sri Lankan Moors live primarily in urban communities, preserving their Arab-Islamic cultural heritage while adopting many Southern Asian customs.

The Burghers are a Eurasian ethnic group, consisting for the most part of male-line descendants of European colonists from the 16th to 20th centuries (mostly Portuguese, Dutch, German and British) and local women, with some minorities of Swedish, Norwegian, French and Irish.

The Kaffirs are an ethnic group who are partially descended from 16th century Portuguese traders and the African slaves who were brought by them.The Kaffirs spoke a distinctive creole based on Portuguese, the Sri Lanka Kaffir language, now extinct. Their cultural heritage includes the dance styles Kaffringna and Manja, as well as the Portugese Sinhalese, Creole, Afro-Sinhalese varieties.

Southeast Asia

Singapore and Malaysia

According to government statistics, the population of Singapore as of September 2007 was 4.68 million, of whom multiracial people, including Chindians and Eurasians, formed 2.4%.

In Singapore and Malaysia, the majority of inter-ethnic marriages are between Chinese and Indians. The offspring of such marriages are informally known as "Chindian", though the Malaysian government only classifies them by their father's ethnicity. As the majority of these intermarriages usually involve an Indian groom and Chinese bride, the majority of Chindians in Malaysia are usually classified as "Indian" by the Malaysian government. As for the Malays, who are predominantly Muslim, legal restrictions in Malaysia make it uncommon for them to intermarry with either the Indians, who are predominantly Hindu, or the Chinese, who are predominantly Buddhist and Taoist. It is, however, common for Muslims and Arabs in Singapore and Malaysia to take local Malay wives, due to a common Islamic faith.

The Chitty people, in Singapore and the Malacca state of Malaysia, are a Tamil people with considerable Malay descent. This was due to the first Tamil settlers taking local wives, since they did not bring along any of their own women with them.

Philippines

Philippines was a Spanish colony for about 300 years, and then by the Americans when the Spanish was defeated. This is the cause of many mixed race filipinos of filipino-Spanish and filipino-American descent.

After the defeat of Spain during the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Philippines and other remaining Spanish colonies were ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Paris. The Philippines was under U.S. sovereignty until 1946, though occupied by Japan during World War II. In 1946, in the Treaty of Manila, the U.S. Recognized the Republic of the Philippines as an independent nation. Even after 1946, the U.S. maintained a heavy military presence in the Philippines, with as many as 21 U.S. military bases and 100,000 U.S. military personnel stationed there. The bases closed in 1992, leaving behind thousands of Amerasian children. Pearl S. Buck International foundation estimates there are 52,000 Amerasians scattered throughout the Philippines with 5,000 in the Clark area of Angeles.

A genetic study by Stanford University indicates that at least 3.6% of the population are European or of part European descent from both Spanish and American colonization.

In the United States, intermarriage among Filipinos with other races is common. They have the largest number of interracial marriages among Asian immigrant groups, as documented in California. It is also noted that 21.8% of Filipino Americans are of mixed lineage, second among Asian Americans after the Japanese, and is the fastest growing.

Vietnam

Under terms of the Geneva Accords of 1954, departing French troops took thousands of Vietnamese wives and children with them after the First Indochina War. Some 100,000 Eurasians stayed in Vietnam, though after independence from French rule.

New Zealand

Large scale European colonisation and settlement of New Zealand since the 1840s has led to a large racial mixing of them and the local Maori and Pacific populations. There are also smaller poulations of mixed European and Pacific Island people, as well as mixing between white and Asian populations. All of New Zealand's half million Maori can claim some Pakeha parentage. Especially common mixtures are Irish Maori, Scottish Maori and Anglo Maori. Less common are Jewish Maori (Nathan and Benjamin are common Maori surnames) and Dutch Maori (Both mostly since 1950s). Because ones' race and culture in New Zealand is often a form of self identification, actual numbers are hard to gauge. (Statistics New Zealand, Census of Population and Dwellings 2006). In the last census (2006) many New Zealanders refused to state their ethnicity, or claimed multiple ethnicities and 19% chose New Zealander (Source New Zealand Herald 2006). Examples of these people include Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (opera singer) actress Rena Owen and ex Governor General Sir Paul Reeves.

Mixed-race ethnic groups

African-origin

Afro-Arab

Afro-Asian ''mostly native to the Americas and Africa''

Afro-European

Cafres

Coloured Southern African

Creoles of color

Dominica

Griqua

Mulatto

Asian-origin

Afro Asians (African Asians) ''native to Asia, some sub-groups within this demographic are biracial''

Amerasian

Anglo-Indian

Burgher people

Eurasian

Hafu

Hapa

Indo people

Lipka Tatars

Romani people

Siberian peoples

Sri Lankan Moors

Berber/Arab-Origin

Afro-Arab

Berber people

Maghreb people

Moors

Riffian people

Somali people

European-origin

Basters

Black Dutch

Black Irish of the American South

Black Irish of the Caribbean

Black Irish of Ireland

British Mixed

Castizo

Isleños

Eurasian

Rhineland Bastards

Native American-origin

Atlantic Creole

Black Indians

Casta

Caboclo

Cherokee freedmen

Chestnut Ridge people

Cholo

Garifuna

Hapa

Half-breed

Lumbee

Marabou

Melungeon

Mestee

Mestizo

Metis

Métis people (Canada)

Métis people (United States)

Miskito Zambo

Mixed-Bloods

Pardo

Redbone

Zambo

Semitic-Origin

Jews

Habesha people

Tri-Racial-Origin ''*individual members of these groups may instead be biracial''

Atlantic Creole

Brass ankles

Brazilian people

Cuban people

Louisiana Creole people

Melungeon

Puerto Rican people

Redbone ''Possibly Quadri-Racial, or of four races, in some communities''

We-Sorts/Proctors of Southern Maryland

Other types

Creole peoples

Race of the Future

Within Native American Tribal Nations

Many Native American tribes have significant minority populations, or in some cases even majority populations, of people with multi-racial origin. However many of these individuals will identify simply as tribal members of that Nation. Official standards for what degree of blood heritage constitutes a tribal member varies dramatically between different Indian Nations. Some Tribal Nations have strict blood standards and some use standards of cultural identification with a less strict blood standard.

Multiraciality in prehistory

Recent DNA studies have shown that many populations within groups heretofore considered to be of a single race actually have an ancient multi-racial heritage. For example, Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA), 'ethnic' DNA found in high amounts amongst European populations, can also be found in some North African, and Central Asian populations dating back no more than 18,500 years ago (fairly recent in human history), and it is likely that this cross-migration came much later than this—since the 18,500 year number is the estimated time of the very beginning of this Haplogroup, meaning any cross-migrations would likely have come later.

There are also numerous other more recent Afro-European DNA connections in some parts of Europe, especially between North Africa and Southern Europe, although not exclusively so. For example the DNA of Berber peoples (a North African ethnic group) has been found in small but consistent amounts (about 5% on average) in many parts of Ireland, and also Eastern Scandinavia, as well as parts of Spain. Rather than relating to single migrations, these admixtures could possibly be reflective of numerous population influxes, and out-fluxes over long periods of time. Similar, and very complex patterns of interrelationship can be found between some African, Asian, and the Pacific Islander populations as well. If one looks even further back it is well-established that all current modern human populations have recent paleoanthropological origins in Africa, meaning that all races of currently living people have common origins. This widely held theory is called the "Recent African origin of modern humans", which holds to the recent single origin of modern humans in East Africa, and has become the near-consensus view within the scientific community.

See also

Amalgamation

Ethnicity

Interracial Marriage

Melting pot

Miscegenation

Mixed Race Day

Race (classification of human beings)

Race and genetics

Multiethnic

One-drop rule

Origins of Tutsi and Hutu

Passing

Plaçage

Pre-Columbian theories I

Pre-Columbian theories II

Race Traitor

Social Race

William Loren Katz

References

Boeijong

External links

Blended People of America, US-based non-profit organization representing the interests of the mixed race community, founded 2007

Mixed Race UK is a UK-based non-profit organization representing the interests of the mixed race community the UK

THE HAFU PROJECT - A study of half Japanese people, London, Munich, Tokyo based not for profit organisation, "photographs and interviews" project + events program

The Association of MultiEthnic Americans, Inc., founded 1988

MixedChild.com, Online resource for people of mixed heritage, founded 2009

Multiethnic Education Program offering resources and strategies (including videos, publications & trainings) to support mixed race children in educational settings.

MAVIN Foundation, an organization advocating for mixed heritage people and families

Swirl, US-based mixed community, founded in 2000

MOSAIC UK, a UK-based organisation for mixed race families

Turquoise Association, a UK-based organisation celebrating mixed race heritage

The Multiracial Activist: an online activist publication registered with the Library of Congress, focused on multiracial individuals and interracial families since 1997

Brazilian Multiracial Movement, the first Brazilian mixed-race organization, founded in 2001

ProjectRACE, an organization leading the movement for a multiracial classification

People in Harmony UK, founded in 1972

Notable Multiracial People

CNN's Betty Nguyen profiles Kip Fulbeck's Multiracial Project – "Growing Up Hapa"

Asian-Nation Hapa/Multiracial Asian Americans

Intermix, a UK based online presence for mixed-race individuals, their families and carers and those in racially mixed relationships.

Sex and Race in the Black Atlantic The first book to place the self-fashioning of mixed-race individuals in the context of a Black Atlantic

Category:Multiracial affairs Category:Race

ca:Multiracial ko:혼혈 la:Polyphyleticus ja:混血 pt:Multirracial sv:Chino zh:混血兒

{{infobox| bodyclass	geography
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data3	36,314,000
label4	Density
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data7	Spanish, English, French, Dutch and many others
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The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (most of which are enclosed by the sea), and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and North America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America.

Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays. These islands, called the West Indies, generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea. These islands are called the ''West Indies'' because when Christopher Columbus landed there in 1492 he believed that he had reached to the west of The India (The Indian sub-continent).

The region consists of the Antilles, divided into the larger Greater Antilles which bound the sea on the north, the Lesser Antilles on the south and east (including the Leeward Antilles), the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands or the Lucayan Archipelago, which are in fact in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba, not in the Caribbean Sea.

Geopolitically, the West Indies are usually regarded as a subregion of North America and are organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. From January 3, 1958, to May 31, 1962, there was a short-lived country called the Federation of the West Indies composed of ten English-speaking Caribbean territories, all of which were then UK dependencies. The West Indies cricket team continues to represent many of those nations.

Etymology

The region takes its name from that of the Carib, an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of European contact.

Definition

The word "Caribbean" has multiple uses. Its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to slavery, European colonisation and the plantation system.

Physiographically, the Caribbean region consists mainly of the Caribbean Sea to north, bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida, the Northern Atlantic Ocean which lies to the east and northeast, and a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea; the coastline of the continent of South America lies to the south.

Politically, "Caribbean" may be centred on socio-economic groupings found in the region. For example the block known as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) contains both the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Suriname found in South America, along with Belize in Central America as full members. Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands which are found in the Atlantic Ocean are associate members of the Caribbean Community, and the same goes for the Commonwealth of the Bahamas which is a full member of the Caribbean Community.

Alternately the organisation known as the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) consists of almost every nation in the surrounding regions which lie on the Caribbean plus El Salvador which lies solely on the Pacific Ocean. According to the ACS the total population of its member states is some 227 million people.

Geography and climate

The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies. Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin. These islands include Aruba (possessing only minor volcanic features), Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, The Bahamas or Antigua. Others possess rugged towering mountain-ranges like the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Dominica, Montserrat, Saba, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, Saint Thomas, Saint John, Tortola, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Trinidad & Tobago.

The climate of the region is tropical but rainfall varies with elevation, size and water currents (cool upwellings keep the ABC islands arid). Warm, moist tradewinds blow consistently from the east creating rainforest/semidesert divisions on mountainous islands. Occasional northwesterlies affect the northern islands in the winter. The region enjoys year-round sunshine, divided into 'dry' and 'wet' seasons, with the last six months of the year being wetter than the first half.

The waters of the Caribbean Sea host large, migratory schools of fish, turtles, and coral reef formations. The Puerto Rico trench, located on the fringe of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea just to the north of the island of Puerto Rico, is the deepest point in all of the Atlantic Ocean.

Hurricanes, which at times batter the region, usually strike northwards of Grenada, and to the west of Barbados. The principal hurricane belt arcs to northwest of the island of Barbados in the Eastern Caribbean.

The region sits in the line of several major shipping routes with the man-made Panama Canal connecting the western Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean.

Island groups

Lucayan Archipelago (United Kingdom)

Greater Antilles

Hispaniola

(United Kingdom) (U.S. Commonwealth)

Lesser Antilles

Leeward Islands

** Saint Croix

** Saint Thomas

** Saint John

** Water Island

(United Kingdom)

** Tortola

** Virgin Gorda

** Anegada

** Jost Van Dyke

(United Kingdom)

** Antigua

** Barbuda

** Redonda

* Saint Martin

* (French Antilles, France)

* (Kingdom of the Netherlands)

Saba (BES islands, Netherlands)

Sint Eustatius (BES islands, Netherlands)

(French Antilles, France)

** Saint Kitts

** Nevis

(United Kingdom)

(French Antilles, France) including

**les Saintes

**Marie-Galante

**la Désirade

Windward Islands

(French Antilles, France)

** Saint Vincent

** The Grenadines

* Tobago

* Trinidad

Leeward Antilles

(Kingdom of the Netherlands)

(Kingdom of the Netherlands)

Bonaire (BES islands, Netherlands)

Historical groupings

All islands at some point were, and a few still are, colonies of European nations; a few are overseas or dependent territories:

British West Indies/Anglophone Caribbean – Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bay Islands, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Croix (briefly), Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago ''(from 1797)'' and the Turks and Caicos Islands

Danish West Indies – present-day United States Virgin Islands

Dutch West Indies – Aruba, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Virgin Islands, Saint Croix (briefly), Tobago and Bay Islands (briefly)

French West Indies – Anguilla (briefly), Antigua and Barbuda (briefly), Dominica, Dominican Republic (briefly), Grenada, Haiti, Montserrat (briefly), Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius (briefly), Sint Maarten, St. Kitts (briefly), Tobago (briefly), Saint Croix, the current French overseas ''départements'' of Martinique and Guadeloupe (including Marie-Galante, La Désirade and Les Saintes), and the current French overseas collectivities of Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin

Portuguese West Indies – present-day Barbados, known as ''Os Barbados'' in the 16th century when the Portuguese claimed the island en route to Brazil. The Portuguese left Barbados abandoned in 1533, nearly a century prior to the British arrival to the island.

Spanish West Indies – Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic, Haiti'' (until 1609 to France)'', Puerto Rico, Jamaica ''(until 1655 to Great Britain)'', the Cayman Islands'' (until 1670 to Great Britain)'' Trinidad ''(until 1797 to Great Britain)'' and Bay Islands ''(until 1643 to Great Britain)'', coastal islands of Central America (minus Belize), and some Caribbean coastal islands of Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela.

Swedish West Indies – present-day French Saint-Barthélemy and Guadeloupe (briefly).

Courlander West Indies – Tobago ''(until 1691)''

The British West Indies were united by the United Kingdom into a West Indies Federation between 1958 and 1962. The independent countries formerly part of the B.W.I. still have a joint cricket team that competes in Test matches, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. The West Indian cricket team includes the South American nation of Guyana, the only former British colony on that continent.

In addition, these countries share the University of the West Indies as a regional entity. The university consists of three main campuses in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, a smaller campus in the Bahamas and Resident Tutors in other contributing territories such as Trinidad.

Modern day island territories

(British overseas territory) (Constitutional monarchy) (Kingdom of the Netherlands) (Constitutional monarchy) (Constitutional monarchy) (special municipality of the Netherlands) (British overseas territory) (British overseas territory) (Republic) (Kingdom of the Netherlands) (Republic) (Constitutional monarchy) (overseas department of France) including

*les Saintes

*Marie-Galante

*la Désirade

(Republic) (Constitutional monarchy) (overseas department of France) (British overseas territory) (commonwealth of the United States) (special municipality of the Netherlands) (overseas collectivity of France) (Constitutional monarchy) (Constitutional monarchy) (overseas collectivity of France) (Constitutional monarchy) (special municipality of the Netherlands) (Kingdom of the Netherlands) (Republic) (British overseas territory) (territory of the United States)

Continental countries with Caribbean coastlines and islands

* Ambergris Caye

* Belize City

* Big Creek

* Caye Caulker

* Glover's Reef

* Dangriga

* Hicks Cays

* Hopkins

* Lighthouse Reef

* Placencia

* Punta Gorda

* St. George's Caye

* South Water Caye

* Turneffe Islands

* Archipelago of San Andres and Providencia

* Barranquilla

* Cartagena

* Riohacha

* Santa Marta

* Guanaja

* Roatán

* Útila

* Cayos Cochinos

* Swan Islands

* Quintana Roo

** Cancún

** Chetumal

** Cozumel

** Isla Contoy

** Isla Mujeres

* Corn Islands

* Cayos Miskitos

* Pearl Cays

* Kuna Yala Islands (comprising more than 1300 islands)

* Bocas del Toro Archipelago (archipelago with approximately 300 islands)

*Florida Keys

*Navassa Island

* Isla Margarita

*Coche Island

*Cubagua Island

*Los Monjes Archipelago

*Las Aves Archipelago

*Isla Aves

*Los Hermanos Archipelago

*Islas Los Frailes

*Los Roques Archipelago

*La Sola Island

*La Tortuga Island

*La Orchila

*Blanquilla Island

*Los Testigos Islands

*Isla de Patos

*Paraguana

Biodiversity

The Caribbean islands are remarkable for the diversity of their animals, fungi and plants, and have been classified as one of Conservation International's biodiversity hotspots because of their exceptionally diverse terrestrial and marine ecosystems, ranging from montane cloud forests to cactus scrublands. The region also contains about 8% (by surface area) of the world's coral reefs along with extensive seagrass meadows, both of which are frequently found in the shallow marine waters bordering island and continental coasts off the region.

For the fungi, there is a modern checklist based on nearly 90,000 records derived from specimens in reference collections, published accounts and field observations. That checklist includes more than 11250 species of fungi recorded from the region. As its authors note, the work is far from exhaustive, and it is likely that the true total number of fungal species already known from the Caribbean is higher. The true total number of fungal species occurring in the Caribbean, including species not yet recorded, is likely to be far higher, given the generally accepted estimate that only about 7% of all fungi worldwide have so far been discovered. Although the amount of available information is still very small, a first effort has been made to estimate the number of fungal species endemic to some Caribbean islands. For Cuba, 2200 species of fungi have been tentatively identified as possible endemics of the island; for Puerto Rico, the number is 789 species; for the Dominican Republic, the number is 699 species; for Trinidad and Tobago, the number is 407 species.

Many of the ecosystems of the Caribbean islands have been devastated by deforestation, pollution, and human encroachment. The arrival of the first humans is correlated with extinction of giant owls and dwarf ground sloths. The hotspot contains dozens of highly threatened animals (ranging from birds, to mammals and reptiles), fungi and plants. Examples of threatened animals include the Puerto Rican Amazon, two species of solenodon (giant shrews) in Cuba and the Hispaniola island, and the Cuban crocodile.

The region's coral reefs, which contain about 70 species of hard corals and between 500-700 species of reef-associated fishes have undergone rapid decline in ecosystem integrity in recent years, and are considered particularly vulnerable to global warming and ocean acidification.

Demographics

The population of the Caribbean is estimated to have been around 750,000 immediately before European contact, although lower and higher figures are given. After contact, genocide and disease led to a decline in the Amerindian population. From 1500 to 1800 the population rose as slaves arrived from West Africa such as the Kongo, Igbo, Akan, Fon and Yoruba as well as military prisoners and captured slaves from Ireland, who were deported during the Cromwellian reign in England. Immigrants from Britain, Italy. France, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal and Denmark also arrived, although the mortality rate was high for both groups.

The population is estimated to have reached 2.2 million by 1800. Immigrants from India, China, and other countries arrived in the 19th century. After the ending of the Atlantic slave trade, the population increased naturally. The total regional population was estimated at 37.5 million by 2000.

The majority of the Caribbean has populations of mainly Africans in the French Caribbean, Anglophone Caribbean and Dutch Caribbean, there are minorities of mixed-race and European peoples of Dutch, English, French, Italian and Portuguese ancestry. Asians, especially those of Chinese and Indian descent, form a significant minority in the region and also contribute to multiracial communities. All of their ancestors arrived in the 19th century as indentured laborers.

The Spanish-speaking Caribbean have primarily mixed race, African, or European majorities. Puerto Rico and Cuba (largest Caribbean island) have a European majority with a mixture of Spaniards–European, Amerindians, and some West African. One third of Cuba's population is of African descent, with a sizable Mulatto (mixed African–European) population. The Dominican Republic has a largely mixed majority who are primarily descended from West Africans and Spaniards, with some Amerindians.

Larger islands such as Jamaica, have a large African population in addition to a very large mixed race, Chinese, Europeans, Indian, Lebanese, Latin American, and Syrian populations. This is a result of years of importation of slaves and indentured labourers, and migration. Most multi-racial Jamaicans refer to themselves as either mixed race or simply Black. The situation is similar for the Caricom states of Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago has a multi-racial cosmopolitan society due to the arrival of the Africans, Indians, Chinese, Syrians, Lebanese, Native Amerindians and Europeans. This multi-racial mix has created sub-ethnicities that often straddle the boundaries of major ethnicities and include Chindian and Dougla.

Indigenous tribes

Taíno

Kalinago

Ciboney

Ciguayo

Galibi

Garifuna

Igneri

Lucayan

Macorix

Language

Spanish, English, French, Dutch, Haitian Creole and Papiamento are the predominant official languages of various countries in the region, though a handful of unique Creole languages or dialects can also be found from one country to another.

Religion

The largest religious groups in the region are: Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Rastafari, Santería, and Voodoo among others.

Politics

Regionalism

Caribbean societies are very different from other Western societies in terms of size, culture, and degree of mobility of their citizens. The current economic and political problems which the states face individually are common to all Caribbean states. Regional development has contributed to attempts to subdue current problems and avoid projected problems. From a political economic perspective, regionalism serves to make Caribbean states active participants in current international affairs through collective coalitions. In 1973, the first political regionalism in the Caribbean Basin was created by advances of the English-speaking Caribbean nations through the institution known as the Caribbean Common Market and Community (CARICOM).

Certain scholars have argued both for and against generalizing the political structures of the Caribbean. On the one hand the Caribbean states are politically diverse, ranging from communist systems such as Cuba toward more capitalist Westminster-style parliamentary systems as in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Other scholars argue that these differences are superficial, and that they tend to undermine commonalities in the various Caribbean states. Contemporary Caribbean systems seem to reflect a "blending of traditional and modern patterns, yielding hybrid systems that exhibit significant structural variations and divergent constitutional traditions yet ultimately appear to function in similar ways." The political systems of the Caribbean states share similar practices.

The influence of regionalism in the Caribbean is often marginalized. Some scholars believe that regionalism cannot not exist in the Caribbean because each small state is unique. On the other hand, scholars also suggest that there are commonalities amongst the Caribbean nations that suggest regionalism exists. "Proximity as well as historical ties among the Caribbean nations has led to cooperation as well as a desire for collective action." These attempts at regionalization reflect the nations' desires to compete in the international economic system.

Furthermore, a lack of interest from other major states promoted regionalism in the region. In recent years the Caribbean has suffered from a lack of U.S. interest. "With the end of the Cold War, U.S. security and economic interests have been focused on other areas. As a result there has been a significant reduction in U.S. aid and investment to the Caribbean." The lack of international support for these small, relatively poor states, helped regionalism prosper.

Following the Cold War another issue of importance in the Caribbean has been the reduced economic growth of some Caribbean States due to the United States and European Union's allegations of special treatment toward the region by each other.

United States effects on regionalism

The United States under President Bill Clinton launched a challenge in the World Trade Organization against the EU over Europe's preferential program, known as the Lomé Convention, which allowed banana exports from the former colonies of the Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP) to enter Europe cheaply. The World Trade Organization sided in the United States' favour and the beneficial elements of the convention to African, Caribbean and Pacific states has been partially dismantled and replaced by the Cotonou Agreement.

During the US/EU dispute the United States imposed large tariffs on European Union goods (up to 100% on some imports) from the EU in order to pressure Europe to change the agreement with the Caribbean nations in favour of the Cotonou Agreement.

Farmers in the Caribbean have complained of their falling profits and rising costs as the Lomé Convention weakens. Some farmers have faced increased pressure to turn towards the cultivation of illegal drugs, which has a higher profit margin and fills the sizable demand for these illegal drugs in North America and Europe.

European Union effects on regionalism

The European Union has also taken issue with US based taxation extended to US companies via the Caribbean countries. The EU instituted a broad labeling of many nations as tax havens by the France-based OECD. The United States has not been in favor of shutting off the practice yet, mainly due to the higher costs that would be passed on to US companies via taxation. Caribbean countries have largely countered the allegations by the OECD by signing more bilateral information sharing deals with OECD members, thus reducing the dangerous aspects of secrecy, and they have strengthened their legislation against money laundering and on the conditions under which companies can be based in their nations. The Caribbean nations have also started to more closely cooperate in the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force and other instruments to add oversight of the offshore industry.

One of the most important associations that deal with regionalism amongst the nations of the Caribbean Basin has been the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). Proposed by CARICOM in 1992, the ACS soon won the support of the other countries of the region. It was founded in July 1994. The ACS maintains regionalism within the Caribbean on issues which are unique to the Caribbean Basin. Through coalition building, like the ACS and CARICOM, regionalism has become an undeniable part of the politics and economics of the Caribbean. The successes of region-building initiatives are still debated by scholars, yet regionalism remains prevalent throughout the Caribbean.

Regional institutions

Here are some of the bodies that several islands share in collaboration:

Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), Trinidad and Tobago Caribbean Association of National Telecommunication Organizations (CANTO), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Guyana

Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Barbados

Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), Barbados

Caribbean Educators Network, Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC), Saint Lucia

Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), Barbados and Jamaica

Caribbean Food Crop Society

Caribbean Football Union (CFU)

Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), Puerto Rico

Caribbean Initiative (Initiative of the IUCN)

Caribbean Programme for Economic Competitiveness (CPEC), Saint Lucia

Caribbean Regional Environmental Programme (CREP), Barbados Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), Belize Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), Barbados and Dominican Republic Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Barbados

Inter-American Economic Council (IAEC), Washington, D.C.

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Saint Lucia

Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC), Brazil and Uruguay

United Nations - Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Chile and Trinidad and Tobago

University of the West Indies, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago. In addition, the fourth campus, the Open Campus was formed in June 2008 as a result of an amalgamation of the Board for Non-Campus Countries and Distance Educationn, Schools of Continuing Studies, the UWI Distance Education Centres and Tertiary Level Units. The Open Campus has 42 physical sites in 16 Anglophone caribbean countries. West Indies Cricket Board, Antigua and Barbuda

Cuisine

Favorite or national dishes

Anguilla - Rice and Peas and Fish

Antigua and Barbuda - Fungee & Pepperpot

Bahamas - Crack Conch with Peas and Rice

Barbados - Cou-Cou and Flying fish

British Virgin Islands - Fish and fungee

Cayman Islands - Turtle Stew

Colombian Caribbean - Rice with Coconut Milk, arroz con pollo, Sancocho, Arab cuisine due to large Arab immigration

Cuba - Platillo Moros y Cristianos, Ropa Vieja, Yuca, Maduros, Ajiaco

Dominica - Mountain chicken

Dominican Republic - arroz con pollo topped with stewed red kidney beans, pan fried or braised beef, and side dish of green salad or ensalada de coditos, shrimp, empanadas and/or tostones, or the ever popular Dominican dish known as Mangú which is mashed plantains. The ensemble is usually called ''bandera nacional'', which means "national flag", a term equivalent to the Venezuelan ''pabellón criollo''.

Grenada - Oil-Down

Guyana - pepperpot, coookup rice, Roti and curry, methem

Haiti - Griot (Fried pork) served with Du riz a pois or Diri ak Pwa (Rice and beans)

Jamaica - ackee and saltfish, callaloo

Montserrat - Goat Water

Puerto Rico - Arroz con gandules with roasted pork shoulder, arroz con pollo, Mofongo, and Many Fried Food, Commonly made In the Beaches and Coast like, Alcapurrias, bacalaito, piononos.

Saint Kitts and Nevis - Coconut dumplings, Spicy plantain, saltfish, breadfruit

Saint Lucia - Green Bananas & Dried and salted cod

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Roasted Breadfruit & Fried Jackfish

Trinidad and Tobago - Doubles, Roti and Curry, Crab and dumpling, Pelau

United States Virgin Islands - Stewed goat, oxtail or beef, seafood, callaloo, fungee

See also

African diaspora

Anchor coinage

British Afro-Caribbean community

Caribbean Countries

Caribbean English

Caribbean Spanish

History of the Caribbean

Indo-Caribbean

Music of the Caribbean

Piracy in the Caribbean

Politics of the Caribbean

Tourism in Caribbean

NECOBELAC Project

Geography:

Americas (terminology)

Caribbean Sea

Islands of the Caribbean

List of indigenous names ofeastern Caribbean islands

Middle America (Americas)

Mountain peaks of the Caribbean

Organisations:

Caribbean Community

CONCACAF

Council on Hemispheric Affairs

West Indies Federation

References

"Diversity Amid Globalization" 4th edition. Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff.

Further reading

Develtere, Patrick. 1994. "Co-operation and development: With special reference to the experience of the Commonwealth Caribbean" ACCO, ISBN 90-334-3181-5

Gowricharn, Ruben. Caribbean Transnationalism: Migraton, Pluralization, and Social Cohesion. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2006.

Henke, Holger, and Fred Reno, eds. Modern Political Culture in the Caribbean. Kingston: University of West Indies Press, 2003.

Heuman, Gad. The Caribbean: Brief Histories. London: A Hodder Arnold Publication, 2006

Hillman, Richard S., and Thomas J. D'agostino, eds. Understanding the Contemporary Caribbean. London: Lynne Rienner, 2003.

de Kadt, Emanuel, (editor). ''Patterns of foreign influence in the Caribbean'', Oxford University Press, 1972

Knight, Franklin W.. The Modern Caribbean. na: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989.

Kurlansky, Mark. 1992. ''A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny''. Addison-Wesley Publishing. ISBN 0-201-52396-5

Langley, Lester D. The United States and the Caribbean in the Twentieth Century. London: University of Georgia Press, 1989.

Maingot, Anthony P. The United States and the Caribbean: Challenges of an Asymmetrical Relationship. Westview P, 1994.

Ramnarine, Tina K., "Beautiful Cosmos: Performance and Belonging in the Caribbean Diaspora". London, Pluto Press, 2007

Serbin, Andres. "Towards an Association of Caribbean States: Raising Some Awkward Questions." Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs (2004): 1-19. (This scholar has many articles referencing the politics of the Caribbean)

External links

Wikitravel - The Caribbean

Digital Library of the Caribbean

Federal Research Division of the U.S. Library of Congress: Caribbean Islands (1987)

Library of Congress definition of the West Indies

West Indies papers Miscellaneous personal and estate records, 1663–1929, University of Bristol Library Special Collections

LANIC Caribbean country pages

Latineos Latin America, Caribbean, arts and culture

Category:Biodiversity hotspots Category:Regions of the Americas

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name	Kip Fulbeck
birth name	Lawrence Keith Fulbeck
birth date	April 30, 1965
birth place	Fontana, CA
nationality	American
field	Identity Politics, Spoken Word, Video, Slam Poetry, Performance, and Ethnic Studies
training	University of California, San Diego
awards	}}

Kip Fulbeck is an American artist, spoken word performer, filmmaker and author. Fulbeck's work explores identity politics.

His mixed race ethnic background is Cantonese, English, Irish, and Welsh. He is best known for his work addressing Hapa and multiracial identity, and as the creator of The Hapa Project.

Fulbeck attended UCLA, Dartmouth College, and the University of California, San Diego, where he was a four-year NCAA All-American Swimmer and 1988 Athlete of the Year. He earned his MFA from UCSD in 1992.

Art

Fulbeck's artwork includes video, spoken word, photography and slam poetry. He has exhibited and performed in over 20 countries, and has been featured on CNN, MTV, PBS, and ''The Today Show''. He has directed twelve films (including ''Banana Split''; ''Some Questions for 28 Kisses''; ''Sex, Love, & Kung Fu''; and ''Lilo & Me''), published four books, and keynoted scores of conferences and festivals nationwide. He is a prominent speaker on the college circuit.

Much of Fulbeck's work is autobiographical, combining personal stories with political activism, pop culture and stand-up comedy.

Exhibitions

Fulbeck's group and solo exhibition record is expansive. Group exhibitions include the Whitney Museum of American Art ('93 Biennial), Getty Museum (California Video), Science Museum of Minnesota (Race: Are We So Different?), Singapore International Film Festival, Bonn Videonale, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Made in California), World Wide Video Festival, and Sydney International Film Festival. Solo exhibitions include the Japanese American National Museum (2006 & 2010), Space180 Gallery, Ghettogloss Gallery, A/P/A Institute, Invisible NYC Gallery, the University of North Carolina, and the Field Museum.

Influences

Fulbeck studied Visual Arts at the University of California, San Diego with David Antin, Eleanor Antin, Allan Kaprow, Lisa Lowe, Martha Rosler, and Phel Steinmetz.

Published works

Fulbeck's first book, a fictional autobiography entitled ''Paper Bullets'' was published in 2001 by the University of Washington Press. His second, a photographic book entitled ''Part Asian, 100% Hapa'' was published in 2006 by Chronicle Books. It features a foreword by Sean Lennon and an afterword by Paul Spickard. Many of the photographs from this book were featured in a solo show of the same name at the Japanese American National Museum in 2006. The show is currently touring nationally.

''Permanence: Tattoo Portraits'' (also by Chronicle Books) was published in 2008, and features photographic portraits and handwritten personal statements by tattooed individuals from all walks of life including celebrities Margaret Cho, Kat Von D, Slash, Scott Ian, Joan Jett, Tera Patrick, Scott Weiland, Paul Stanley and Jeffrey Sebelia.

Fulbeck's fourth book entitled ''Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids'', was published by Chronicle Books in March 2010, and features a foreword by Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng and an afterword by Cher. An accompanying solo exhibition exhibited at the Japanese American National Museum.

Fulbeck is represented by the Faye Bender Literary Agency.

Teaching

Fulbeck teaches as a Professor of Art at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he initiated and taught the first Spoken Word course ever offered as part of a collegiate art program's core curriculum. He received the UCSB Academic Senate's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009, and has been named an Outstanding Faculty Member four times by the Office of Residential Life. He is also an affiliate faculty in Asian American Studies and Film & Media Studies at UCSB, and has taught as a visiting professor of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Additional activities

Fulbeck is extensively tattooed, and wears the work of Horitaka, Horitomo, and Horiyoshi III. He is also a national champion and world-ranked masters swimmer, ocean lifeguard, and junior lifeguard instructor. In 2010, he was named Athlete of the Year by the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table. He received his black belt in shotokan karate from Steve Ubl. An avid guitar player, he produces videos for the Seymour Duncan company.

References

External links

Kip Fulbeck Artist Site

CNN segment on Kip Fulbeck

CNN's Betty Nguyen interviews Kip Fulbeck about Hapa identity

Kip Fulbeck in the Video Data Bank

"Kip Fulbeck: Part Asian, 100% Hapa" at the Japanese American National Museum

kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa - An Artist's Thoughts

mixedkids.com Project Site

Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:American people of Chinese descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:American film directors of Asian descent Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:University of California, San Diego alumni Category:University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Category:American spoken word artists Category:Multiracial affairs in the United States Category:Slam poets Category:American motivational speakers Category:People from San Bernardino County, California

Sharon Carpenter (born March 2, 1982 in Watford, United Kingdom) is a broadcast journalist who is best known for her work as a news anchor and reporter for Black Entertainment Television and BET International. She was the first British TV personality to represent the networks. Before her on-air position at BET, Carpenter reported for the financial news show ''CBS MarketWatch Weekend''. She began her journalism career as an associate producer for ''UPN 9 News'' and later became a producer for ''BET Nightly News''. Carpenter is a contributing correspondent for ''BBC World News America''.

References

External links

Official Site

Twitter Page

Sharon Carpenter on IMDb

Wyclef Jean interview with Sharon Carpenter, ''BBC World News America''

The Starr Report, The New York Post, April 20, 2009 * "Mind Boggling with Broadcast Journalist, Sharon Carpenter"

Zimbio.com

List of BET VJs

Category:Articles created via the Article Wizard Category:Living people