[Celesyee]

We live in Hawai'i and I am Chinese American, DH is Filipino American, and DS is African American. While Hawai'i is a diverse and welcoming state, there is not a significant AA community here.

IMO culture and ethnicity are related, but are not the same thing. For example, since DH is 3rd generation in Hawai'i he identifies more with the Hawaiiana culture, but retains a strong ethnic pride of his Filipino heritage. DS will be raised and taught about the values of all of our cultures and to stand proud as an AA in addition to respecting other cultures. We plan to do this by introducing and exposing him to foods, traditions, and festivities all our's and other cultures.

As it is already, I cook a great variety of cuisines (Chinese, Indian, American, Mexican, Italian, etc.) Once DS is old enough, I plan to teach him about how such food was created and when (holiday, season, illness) it is historically or usually eaten.

Also, when he's older we plan to return to his birth state to learn more about his birth culture. DS's BF is originally from Trinidad so we do have a few Trinidadian children's story books, music CDs, and history/cultural books. We also plan to visit the San Francisco Bay Area, where I'm originally from and there is a larger AA community, in February during Black History Month and Chinese New Year to participate in cultural festivities.

As far as promoting a strong positive ethnic identity we plan to teach him how to properly care for his skin and hair, complimenting him on his skin tone, hair texture, etc.

Ooops, I'd write more but DS just woke up from his nap.