Pearl Gaskins is an award-winning journalist with 12 years of experience interviewing young people and writing about the issues that concern them--from prejudice and peer pressure to divorce and drug abuse. This is her first book. The child of an interracial marriage--her mother is Japanese-American and her father is European-American--Ms. Gaskins created What Are You? as a forum for mixed-race young people to share their experiences, wisdom, and creativity. She also hopes the book will inform and enlighten current and future parents of mixed-race children, facilitate family dialogue about racial differences, and inspire readers of all backgrounds to reject race as a means of dividing and categorizing people. Ms. Gaskins was raised in a military family and lived in many places. She spent her teenage years in Northern California, lived in Hawaii and New York, and now resides in the Chicago area. She has a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley and a master's in journalism from New York University. She has won three awards from the Educational Press Association of America for writing and editing magazine articles for young people. In the early 80s, Ms. Gaskins participated in IPRIDE (Interracial Intercultural Pride), a social and support group for multiracial people and interracial families in Berkeley. She is a member of Hapa Issues Forum. Acknowledgments In creating this book, I had many collaborators. First, I'd like to thank the eighty young people who generously and courageously shared their life stories, poetry, and essays. I couldn't quote all of them, but their input made this a better book. Their enthusiasm sustained me. I am also grateful to the many young people who volunteered to be interviewed, but were not. I'm sorry that I couldn't talk to every one of them. I appreciate their interest in my work and encourage them to look for other forums in which to share their insights and experiences. Many experts shared their valuable knowledge, insights, and wisdom in What Are You. Their work guided my research. Their names are listed on the acknowledgments page of the book. Tracking down the many people I interviewed wouldn't have been possible without the help of Greg Mayeda and Hapa Issues Forum, Charles Byrd and his Interracial Voice online magazine, Rahsaan and Dainie of FAMLEE, Irene Carr of the Association of MultiEthnic Americans (AMEA), and my friends. Finally, I'd like to acknowledge my friend, George Billis, for inviting me and my guests into his art gallery for a book party, and James Marino, my tech guru, for designing and maintaining this Web site. Thanks to all. Pearl Gaskins [Pearl can be reached at pearl@whatareyou.com] If you would like to comment on this book, please email us at comments@whatareyou.com If you have a problem or question about this Web site email the webmaster@whatareyou.com