We have a little more than 50 hours before our Take A Leap Indiegogo Fundraising Campaign ends. We will likely not reach our goal of raising $5500. Yet, we are grateful to those who have contributed thus far and those who wanted to give, but were not in a position to do so. We will be able to use the funds contributed to pay for our China Visas. All remaining Take A Leap expenses that we outlined will be paid for through a combination of personal savings and credit cards.
As is, we will be moving forward from the funding aspect and will concentrate on the experiences of Black Expats. If you notice, I've started to use the term Black more often because we are finding that our audience is beyond African-Americans, but also Black Canadians, Bahamanians, Jamaicans, Afrikaans, and a host of related races. Yet no matter where we go, we're called Black/Negro/Morocha or the like.
I was talking to a Caucasian woman the other day. And she shared with me that she never gave a thought that Blacks may have a different experience than she would in another country. And while I shared with her fundamentally there are many similar experiences, it is also interesting to know that less than 10% of Blacks (at least in America) have a Passport. And in many countries, we are considered a rarity. It is common for some Europeans to never have seen a Black person face to face. Only on TV or Magazines. Thereby, they tend to request taking a picture or to touch our skin or hair.
It is also common place to be stereotyped based on what one sees on TV or read about in Magazines. They think we must be rich to be visiting their country, and that we're related to P Diddy or Oprah! What!! I mean, who thinks like that. Yet, I remember being young in school thinking that there was only Black or White. It wasn't until high school that I found myself friends with "foreigners". Point is, we live in a world now that is a true melting pot.
It reminds me of the phrase commonly used by Pilots when flying on an airplane. "Folks, we've reached our cruising altitude, feel free to move about the cabin." I feel that way about this global world we live in. Feel free to move around country to country. And if you follow the blogs to the right, you'll see they are out there. Moving around. Some for careers. Some for adventure. Some for love. Some to find their purpose. And Take A Leap will be there to share their stories.
If you believe in what we are doing, there is still time to give. And if you don't have anything to give, that's OK. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Keep reading our blog. And share a comment or two. What will it take for you to Take A Leap and travel the world??
I was talking to a Caucasian woman the other day. And she shared with me that she never gave a thought that Blacks may have a different experience than she would in another country. And while I shared with her fundamentally there are many similar experiences, it is also interesting to know that less than 10% of Blacks (at least in America) have a Passport. And in many countries, we are considered a rarity. It is common for some Europeans to never have seen a Black person face to face. Only on TV or Magazines. Thereby, they tend to request taking a picture or to touch our skin or hair.
It is also common place to be stereotyped based on what one sees on TV or read about in Magazines. They think we must be rich to be visiting their country, and that we're related to P Diddy or Oprah! What!! I mean, who thinks like that. Yet, I remember being young in school thinking that there was only Black or White. It wasn't until high school that I found myself friends with "foreigners". Point is, we live in a world now that is a true melting pot.
It reminds me of the phrase commonly used by Pilots when flying on an airplane. "Folks, we've reached our cruising altitude, feel free to move about the cabin." I feel that way about this global world we live in. Feel free to move around country to country. And if you follow the blogs to the right, you'll see they are out there. Moving around. Some for careers. Some for adventure. Some for love. Some to find their purpose. And Take A Leap will be there to share their stories.
If you believe in what we are doing, there is still time to give. And if you don't have anything to give, that's OK. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Keep reading our blog. And share a comment or two. What will it take for you to Take A Leap and travel the world??
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