Sonia Smith-Kang
Happy Friday everyone! Today we are highlighting Sonia Smith-Kang. Sonia Smith-Kang is of Mexican American and African American descent. She was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico and identifies as AfroLatina. She is married to a Korean-American husband and has four children, together they live in Los Angeles, California. She is a critical care Registered Nurse, entrepreneur, as well as a writer for multiple social media outlets. On top of this, she serves as President of Multiracial Americans of Southern California. Smith-Kang is a multicultural and multiracial activist and advocate. That’s a lot of amazing things!
Sonia recalls the challenging journey of figuring out her identity as a multiracial person. Growing up, she felt as though she wasn’t Mexican “enough,” Black “enough,” or American “enough.” As a mother, she wants to help her kids embrace their identities. They eat diverse foods, wear special garments, such as hanboks for celebrations, listen to diverse artists and music, as well as learn the language of their ancestors to embrace their own culture and learn about others. Sonia has also intentionally chosen diverse programs for her children and donated diverse dolls and children’s books to their classes.
Mixed Up Clothing is another way Smith-Kang has supported her children in embracing their identities. With Mixed Up Clothing, Sonia ethically sources her fabric from around the world and creates apparel that expresses different cultures and heritages. She wanted to have clothing for her children that would accurately represent their multiracial and multicultural lives. Eventually, she founded her own business around that concept. Sonia has made clothes that say “Black Lives Matter” in response to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as shirts for Hispanic Heritage Month. With COVID 19, she has made over 10,000 medical-grade masks and has donated over 1,000 to essential workers, medical professionals, Brown and Black vulnerable populations, those who have compromised immune systems, and others!
Sonia is the co-founded of MultiCulti Corner, mixed Heritage Day and Culturas. MultiCulti Corner is a community of people with different cultures. There are Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages as well as a YouTube Channel for you to see what it is about! These social media accounts provide educational, celebratory and social news and events about the diverse cultures of our world. Mixed Heritage Day was first celebrated on August 27, 2016 at the Dodgers Stadium. It was also celebrated at the Dodgers Stadium the following year on September 23, 2017. Mixed Heritage Day also has a Facebook page you can check out. Finally, Culturas, according to Sonia is “…Mixed Up Clothing, MultiCulti Corner and Mixed Heritage Day rolled into one.” It is a platform full of content for multicultural people. It also is a place for BIPOC who create, to have a venue to sell their work.
As the multiracial community is multicultural, Sonia Smith-Kang has created great resources for us to connect and utilize! I also love how she intentionally strives to help her children embrace their cultures and learn about others. As she says, let’s learn to be, unapologetically, ourselves.
Madelyn Rempel, Project RACE Kids President
Photo Credit: https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/04/how-to-talk-to-your-kid-about-being-multiracial/