Growing up as a mixed-race child in 80s London, the narrative that black was bad seeped into the pores of my brown skin. The racism I experienced was rarely overt, that is not the British way, but it was a regular and insistent knocking against my young identity.

I realized with such stunning certainty that I did not live in the myth of the post-Civil Rights America that, for 41 years, I believed I did. It was like the moment that Neo awoke after he was unplugged from the Matrix. I saw the world I lived in for all of its ugliness and cruelty and I was broken.

In months prior, my black colleagues had tried to be subtle about my need for growth, but I hadn’t seen it. I hadn’t wanted to see it.

Though the fervor of the Black Lives Matter movement and the media coverage surrounding it seems to have died down, there is still ample progress that we need to make if we are to ever live up to our namesake: The United States of America.

I like to think that we have evolved or are evolving toward a world in which you come as you are, and who you are is enough. A world in which no one needs to ask you about part of your ethnic origin in order to accept your humanity as a whole.

As a soon-to-be newlywed, rising maternal mortality in the U.S. suddenly seemed very relevant. As a black biracial woman, learning that specifically black maternal mortality was the reason why it was rising - was frightening and still leaves me breathless when I think about it.

Here at Kindred we have vowed to share stories from women of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientations, and so on. But with the current climate of race in America, we thought it extremely important to share stories from women of color in order to better see what life looks like for these women day in and day out. Over the next few weeks you’ll find several stories showcasing what it feels like to be a person of color, or a marginalized minority, in this country.

As a soon-to-be newlywed, rising maternal mortality in the U.S. suddenly seemed very relevant. As a black biracial woman, learning that specifically black maternal mortality was the reason why it was rising - was frightening and still leaves me breathless when I think about it.

Despite interracial relationships becoming increasingly popular, to see a black woman with a white man was not the norm. Going in public places, particularly ones with older people, both black and white, was like living under a microscope.