Enter the World of the brownbaby (a Person of Mixed Race Heritage)

Tiffany Rose of brownbaby.org Tiffany Rose is a brownbaby. What does that mean exactly? It's a term Rose uses to describe a person of mixed race heritage. Coincidentally, it's also the name of her website: brownbaby.org.

"I recently created brownbaby.org largely to facilitate and drive questions about race. I have the unique opportunity to view the world through multiple eyes," says Rose. "In my view, who better to begin conversations about how we view race than those of us who are racially undefined?"

With the election of Barack Obama, the Oscar win by Halle Berry, the golf prowess of Tiger Woods and the chart topping success of Mariah Carey, biracial and multiracial people are rising in prominence in society and becoming more widely accepted. It's the rapidly changing attitude of Americans toward people with varied cultural backgrounds that inspires Rose's vision. While Rose takes special pride in her mixed heritage, she concedes that being a "brownbaby" has not always been easy.

Rose says the term brownbaby comes from a painful episode from her childhood. She was about six years old, in front of her first grade class, when the moniker first reared its head. "I was trying to explain what I was, so I pulled out crayons to show kids what I was. I mixed black and white and got gray," said Rose. She knew that wasn't right so asked her mother for help.

"My mom showed me brown and called me her brown baby girl. That was a way for me to identify my race and when I used it with the other kids they got it.

2008 Deaths

Odetta Holmes
"The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement" was a singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter and activist.
December 31 1930 - December 2 2008.

Ray Tamarra , Getty

Bernie Mac
Comedian, Actor
Oct. 5, 1957 - Aug. 9, 2008.

Isaac Hayes
Singer, songwriter, record producer, composer and actor.
August 20, 1942 - August 10, 2008

Reuters

Miriam Makeba, "Mama Africa"
South African folk singer and anti-apartheid activist.
March 4, 1932 - November 10, 2008.

Reuters

Jennifer Hudson's 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donerson, brother, Jason, and 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, were killed in 2008.

Shakir Stewart
The Island Def Jam executive who became head of the legendary rap label following Jay-Z's departure, killed himself on Nov. 1. He was 34 years old.

Getty

George Carlin
Stand-up comedian, actor and author.
May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008

Getty Images

Madelyn Dunham
Barack Obama's grandmother
October 26, 1922 - Nov 3, 2008.

Getty Images

Levi Stubbs
Oct. 17: The iconic lead singer, second from left, who gave voice to Four Tops classics like "Reach Out I'll Be There" and "Baby I Need Your Loving" died at 72 from complications of cancer and a stroke. Abdul Fakir, far left, is now the sole living member of the original quartet.

Corbis

Dee Dee Warwick
Oct. 18: The soul songstress died after months of declining health. Warwick, the sister of soul legend Dionne, also achieved a great deal of success, both as a solo artist as well as with her sister.

Corbis

Rose, like many other biracial children, feels she's always gone between the worlds, almost being forced to embrace a life where she didn't quite fit in anywhere. She was once left out of a classmate's birthday party in fifth grade because she was black. If that wasn't bad enough, she says her mom used to select both white and black for her ethnicity until the school made her choose just one race.

Rose admits that when she was younger it was a strange existence; going back and forth between two worlds. It was a life where she felt she was always being made to think one race was worse or better than the other; never quite knowing where she belonged.

She says she wondered "Who should I be loyal to? I was always afraid of being too white or too black. Some of my black family members were constantly pointing out my "strange" behavior or what they thought were white characteristics, making my mother seem inferior somehow."

Despite the push and pull between the two drastically different cultures, Rose claims she learned how to adapt; to become whoever she needed to be to make her life easier. She taught herself to walk a fine line between both races and ultimately finding peace with her diverse background.

Still, her lifelong struggle with her identity fueled brownbaby.org and her desire to educate people about biracial individuals.

"Brownbaby.org is about awareness. It's also about empowering people to know who they are and not necessarily letting their race define them. In the end, it's all about the conversation. No change can happen without dialogue," said Rose.

By Branden Cobb, Special to BlackVoices.com

For more information, log on to brownbaby.org