White men Archives - Page 21 of 21

“I Love Black Women!”

June 19, 2014 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

Adrienne and I enjoyed a great conversation with Mark Custard, a White guy who proudly proclaims, “I love Black women!”

Mark’s a native of Buffalo, NY and has dated Black women almost exclusively since 9^th grade.

He makes some interesting observations – namely, that in his first interracial relationship he didn’t care or pay any attention to the ethnicity of his girlfriend – what he enjoyed was all about how much fun they had and how she made him feel.

Give the podcast a listen.

Good news:

Mark is joining The Swirl World team with a new column, “On Another Note.” He’s also going to join us on some upcoming podcast episodes. Woot! Woot!

To send Mark a friend request on Facebook, click here.

Want to be a guest on the podcast, or know someone who should? Send an email to Podcast@TheSwirlWorld.com.

Be sure to “Like” The Swirl World on Facebook and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. You can also follow us on Sound Cloud or listen to us on Stitcher!

BIG, HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT: The Swirl World Podcast Is LIVE!

June 9, 2014 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

Woot Woot!

The Podcast is here! The podcast is here!

That’s right:

The FIRST iTunes podcast based in the United States devoted strictly and completely to Black women involved in interracial and intercultural relationships!!!

And before we proceed, we want to give a major shout out to interracial married couple Clove and Sherley aka CHO & NILLA of Montreal, Quebec. They’ve been blogging and podcasting from Canada for years, and to our knowledge THEY are the FIRST EVER to do an interracial podcast anywhere, and The Swirl World is the first in the United States. Be sure to go check them out and subscribe to their podcast. We plan to contact them to try to get them on our show. Woot! Woot!

Whew . . . !

OK, let me calm down and fill you in on the launch of The Swirl World Podcast:

The Back Story

Adrienne and I talked about in early 2013, and then decided to make launching a podcast one of our goals for 2014.

Adrienne, Patrick and I have been busy little beavers behind the scenes: Trying to figure podcasting out, inviting guests, recording shows, learning how to edit – you name it, we worked it.

After lots of Skype calls, dropped calls, technical snafus, learning how to work equipment, scheduling issues and changing of our launch dates, we finally got it together.

Whew! *Wipes brow*

The Purpose Of The Podcast

So, why a podcast? We’re glad you asked!

The Swirl World is extremely blessed to have legions of fans on Facebook, Twitter and here on the blog. We’re passionate about everyone – and Black women in particular – living their best life and achieving the happiness and security in relationships they desire. We believe that in order to do this, Black women must expand their dating and marriage options and open their lives up to quality men of all races and ethnicities.

And because we’re so passionate about our cause, we believe a podcast can serve well as an extension of the mediums we already use to promote our message. We want you to hear the passion in our voices and we want to develop deeper relationships with our audience.

With the podcast, our goal is to entertain, inform, educate and inspire you to live your best life. Why? Because Swirling Rocks, that’s why!

Who’s Going To Be On The Show?

We’re going to bring you a broad range of guests – both men and women – to discuss topics of interest to Swirlers. Through interesting, exciting (and often hilarious) conversations, we’re going to engage our guests in subjects concerning:

Dating
Vetting
Marriage
Parenting
Careers
Education
Entrepreneurship
Beauty and Fashion
Lifestyle interests
Physical Health and Wellness
Mental Health

Upcoming guests include Swirl couples, authors, business owners, counselors, well-known interracial bloggers, and educators.

As an added bonus: We’re also going to bring you conversations with Swirling couples who are in the military.

How Do I Access The Podcast?

Run, don’t walk, over to iTunes and SUBSCRIBE!

Here are the steps from Apple on how to find and subscribe to a podcast:

Open iTunes. If you do not have iTunes, download the latest version of iTunes, free.
In the upper-right corner of iTunes, click iTunes Store in the navigation bar.
Click Podcasts in the navigation bar.
In the “Search Store” field, enter “The Swirl World Podcast.” We should pop right up.
When you find us, you can:
- Stream the FREE podcast directly from the store by double-clicking an episode.
- Download a specific episode to your iTunes library by clicking the Free button next to an individual episode.
- Subscribe to the podcast by selecting Subscribe below the cover art on the left of the podcast page. We want you to subscribe because we don’t want you to miss an episode!

To listen to episodes you have downloaded to your iTunes library:

Navigate to Library on the right side of the navigation bar in iTunes.
Select Podcasts from the Library pop-up menu.
Click The Swirl World to see all the episodes.
Double-click an episode to play it.

If you’d prefer to watch a video outlining the steps, here’s one from Hubspot. Just make sure to insert The Swirl World Podcast in your searches.

A link to the podcast on iTunes will also be available in every post and in the sidebar.

Hey! I Wanna Be On The Show – Or I Know Somebody Who Should!

We’re always on the lookout for great people to feature on the podcast. If you have a product, business, skill or a good story to tell, contact us at Podcast@TheSwirlWorld.com. We read and respond to every email.

Put A Face With A Voice

Many of you already know us from Facebook, but just in case you don’t have Facebook, let me introduce The Swirl World Team so you can put a face with the voices you’ll be hearing.

Michelle Matthews Calloway – Lafayette, LA & Dallas, TX

I’m all over the place. If you see a woman with her fingers in a lot of pies, that would be me. Check out the About page to learn more.

Adrienne London Leach – Bridgeport, West Virginia

Adrienne is co-host of the podcast, manager of The Swirl World’s Facebook page and my partner in crime!

Patrick J. Browne – Dublin, Ireland

You’ll hear Patrick’s voice introducing each podcast episode. Patrick is our audio editing guru and technology master. He’s a sweetheart and we love him to pieces.

Mark Custard – Buffalo, NY

Mark will soon launch a new column on the blog entitled, “And On Another Note.” His column (and occasional videos!) will reflect his thoughts, musings and advice on dating Black women gleaned from his personal experiences. A father of two, he’ll also share his thoughts on parenting.

Jeff Lyons – Oxnard, CA

Jeff is also launching a new column on The Swirl World. His column, “Just Ask Jeff,” is designed to answer Black women’s questions about dating, mating and relating to White men. Inbox your questions to us on Facebook or send an email to aswirlgirl@theswirlworld.com.

Michael Miocevich – Perth, Australia

Mike holds the distinction of being the most tenured of the guys on the team. His “Mondays With Mike” column garners LOTS of readers and attention both here and in Australia, his homeland – so much so that he appeared as a guest on a national television show! Mike is extremely prolific and publishes an amazing literary website, 500and50.com.

Follow Mike on Twitter @500and50 and read his blog at 500and50.com, or message him on his 500and50 Facebook page.

Click here to view Mike’s recent appearance on an Australian national television show.

Be Social – Subscribe, Subscribe, Subscribe!

To go to the iTunes podcast, view episodes and subscribe, click here.

Here’s The First Episode – Head Over To iTunes For More!

If you prefer, you can also catch the podcast on Sound Cloud!

Thanks so much for your continued support. We can’t do this without YOU!
Keep Swirling, and remember: Life Is Better – In The Swirl World!™

[jetpack_subscription_form]

To “Like” us on Facebook, click here

To follow Michelle on Twitter, click here

To follow Michelle on Instagram, click here

To network with Michelle on LinkedIn, click here

Who Says White Men Can’t Dance???

January 4, 2013 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway 17 Comments

One of the things I want to learn this year is Zydeco dancing.

This, my friends, is why:

I won’t tell y’all how many times I’ve watched this video. Yes, Home Girl has some great moves – no shade on her.

However.

I am not watching her moves.

(I’m just saying).

Coughs.

Sips some cold water.

Fans.

Clicks video again . . . .

(Hey! Don’t judge me!)

In Southwest Louisiana (also known as Cajun Country), MOST of the men – regardless of race or ethnicity) can dance like this.

This guy has some great moves ~~he just needs a stylist~~.

So, who says White men can’t dance???

I rest my case.

Join in the Fray: Can you . . . . dance?

I’m blogging every day in the month of January in Blogher’s NaBloPoMo Challenge. Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment!

The Hair Thing (Part 1)

March 26, 2011 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway 7 Comments

I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong.

This isn’t about my hair; it’s about his. More specifically, his facial hair – or, in his case, the lack thereof.

It all started very early on during our “getting to know you” phase. One of my friends had sent one of those chain-letter-like e-mails where you read the sender’s responses to a series of questions about his/her tastes and preferences.

After reading the responses you erase them, fill in your own, and then return to send and forward to another friend who, like you, gets a ton of these chain-letter-like e-mails and probably finds them as annoying as you do.

(These e-mails annoy me but I vacillate between deleting them without even reading, or getting an evil pleasure out of filling ‘em out and clicking “forward” to my friends . . . .

Anyway, I thought this would be a good time to click forward . . . directly to SM. I put a spin on it: We’d answer them individually and then go over the responses together.

[Sidebar to the men: Was this a dorky thing to subject a guy to, an e-mail that probably made SM think “Shoot me – NOW!” when it landed in his inbox? Of course! Lucky for me, SM is an easy-going guy and finds humor in almost anything – including humoring me. Am I equally as easy-going and do I humor him? Of course! Do I know how blessed and fortunate I am to have him? Of course! I. Know. That. Did you even have to ask???]

Back to my original point: One of the questions was:

Rank in order of preference: (1) Beard. (2) Mustache. (3) Neither! Ewww!

My response:

(1) Beard. (2) Mustache. (3) Neither! Ewww!

When we got to this question, SM said, “Really???”

“Of course! I think beards are sexy” I said. “Have you ever worn one?”

“Yeah – when I was in college. I think a lot of guys went through that experimental mustache/beard/facial hair stage. I even let my hair grow long.”

I tried to imagine my squeaky-clean-close-shaven SM with a beard and a pony tail. Couldn’t do it.

Instead, I asked, “What do you think about it now? A beard, I mean.”

“Oh, Sure! I’ll grow one so you can see what I look like.”

I grinned at the prospect. SM is already a hunky piece of eye candy, and with a beard?

Somebody better call God – ‘cause He’s missing an angel.

If being gorgeous was a crime, SM would be guilty as charged.

If SM were words on a page, he would be what they call The Fine Print.

If SM . . . No need for E.L.M.O. You get the point. (cheezin)

“Of course, if I have to meet with a client, then the beard comes off.”

SCREECH!

“Huh? Wha?” I asked. “Why???”

“In my line of work it’s just not done. My clients are ultra-conservative so a beard is not a good look.”

I understood, but I was crushed.

I read an article that stated that well over 90% of African American and Hispanic men wear some form of facial hair, be it a mustache or beard. However, Caucasian men fall in the opposite end of the spectrum with less than 10% sporting facial hair – and Asian men even less.

I’m intrigued. Wearing facial hair (or not wearing it) is obviously a cultural thing – but why?

I had to look at the concept of culture a bit more closely.

Hallett states that culture is inclusive of “espoused beliefs, ideologies, stories, myths, rituals, ceremonies, and artifacts.” Nietzsche defines culture as “the unified artistic style in all of the life expressions of a people.”

Other aspects of the definition of culture may be applied to cultures such as those found in Africa. In his landmark book, Non-Western Educational Traditions: Indigenous Approaches to Educational Thought and Practice, Reagan states that culture is “an inextricable and essential component” of an individual’s identity, and the corresponding societal fabric.

So, if all these high-falutin’ definitions are accurate (and I believe they are – they definitely make sense) SM’s not wearing facial hair is just as integral to him as my two brothers’ mustaches are to them.

Realizing that something as small and innocuous as a beard or mustache made a huge statement about ethnic culture was revelatory to me, and I’m so glad it happened in the early stages of our relationship. It caused us to examine each other a bit more closely and not take even the most superficial things for granted, thus enabling us to appreciate each other so much more.

Yes, SM is uber-hawt in a beard (Is it hot in here, or is it just me looking at SM in his beard?). As a matter of fact, he’s uber-hawt with or without one – and I get to drown in all that hawtness either way.

And me? I just got another chain-letter-like e-mail, and I’m forwarding it to SM . . . .

Join in the fray:

(1) Beard. (2) Mustache. (3) Neither?

The Things “You People” Do

January 21, 2011 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway 2 Comments

Yesterday I stopped to pick up a few items at Target. You know – the big box store that markets itself as an upscale place where you can one-stop-shop. The store that does its level best to distance itself from Wal-Mart, its country bumpkin cousin. You know – Wal-Mart – the cousin that is so country and so bumpkin that it has spawned websites such as “People Of Wal-Mart.”

If you’ve ever been fortunate enough to land on the e-mail list of someone who gleefully forwarded photos of these interesting-looking-and-interesting-dressing people, or had the cajónes to visit the site yourself, then I’m sure you understand why Target attempts to distance itself. Hmmm . . . well, unless you’re country and a bumpkin, or better yet, one of the people in the photos . . in which case, I have terribly digressed and need to move on).

Enough!

Let’s

Move

On….

Moving right along . . . .

Come Get Yo Child!

When I got up to the registers I was treated to a fine spectacle. I actually heard him before I saw him – somebody’s 3-4 year old alarming the store with very loud screaming and crying.

You know the kind of “crying” I’m talking about: Not the “Oh! I just fell and hurt myself” or the “Oh! I’m afraid of that man from Wal-Mart” kind of crying, but the I’m- a-bad-little-brat-and-my-Mother-doesn’t-discipline-me-and–I-prove-it-every-time-she-takes-me-out-in-public-around-people-who-are-appalled-at-how-she-allows-me-to-throw-loud-temper-tantrums-and-bite-scream-and-kick-her-to-get-the-toy-or-candy-that-I-want kind of crying.

[A side note: I like to stare down the Mothers of kids like this. After all, since this is the means by which you allow your child to pull your puppet strings and have his/her way – why should I not stare at you until you’re ready to shrivel with embarrassment? Shucks, I want your son/daughter to get whatever it is he or she is screaming about so THEY CAN SHUT UP AND STOP THEIR VERBAL ASSAULT ON MY EARDRUMS].

(looking around for Elmo . . . .)

“How White People Do”

Anyway, I joined the other appalled people in the line just in time to overhear a brief conversation between two ladies who formulate the same Mother/Daughter combo I make when I take my Mom to Target (Mother: wants to shop every aisle = stay in Target a minimum of three hours. Daughter: likes Target but does not like it enough to shop in there for three hours = will do it because she loves her Mother).

Mother (in pretty much the same disapproving tone my Mother would use): “That’s just a sin and a shame before God! Don’t make no sense; a child carrying on like that! Wish I could get my hands on his lil’ bad behind. I tell you what; you wouldn’t even know he was in here.”

Daughter (snorting as she thought about how she would have been picking herself up off the floor of Target’ if she had even remotely dreamed about behaving like that in public or anywhere else): “Hmpf. Mama, you know how White people do. They let their kids carry on like that.”

I snickered to myself in agreement, knowing that if my fiancé had been present I probably would have had a field day. You see, we keep a running tally of what we call “The Things You People Do.”

See, it all started when I first told my Mother about my . . . um . . . Swirl Man.

My Mother (in a wary tone): “Does this mean we’re going to have to watch everything we say around him???”

Me (amused): “No! Y’all can say whatever you like. If we’re all gonna be family, then we’re not going to play the censorship game.”

My Mother (relieved): “Good. We don’t want to have to walk on eggshells around him and worry about what we say.”

Me: “Well, you won’t have to. Everybody can just be themselves and say whatever they want to say. He’ll just have to deal with it – just like I will. He can handle it.”

My Mother: “Well, I hope he doesn’t come here and pick up food with his bare hands instead of using a napkin or something. You know how White people do.”

At that point, the conversation ended . . . because I was laughing too hard.

“The Things ‘You People’ Do”

I waited until we went out to dinner before I told him. Sure enough, The Swirl Man had reached for some of the appetizer we ordered and used his hand instead of a fork. That night, “The Things You People Do” was born.

Fortunately, my guy has a great sense of humor and wasn’t offended in the least. In fact, we wound up having a great discussion about what we’d been taught and what we’d heard about other races. I won’t go into them here because I want you to think about the ones you’ve heard – or even said – down through the years.

So often the images we see on television, in movies, or in the news project certain races and ethnicities in a negative light. I swear it seems like every time the local news interviews witnesses to a crime or neighborhood happening, it’s as if they deliberately seek out individuals who I’ll describe as being “less than polished” or inarticulate.

Get Rid Of The Stereotypes

Sure, talking about “The Things You People Do” is amusing, but it’s hurtful when we allow ourselves to lock races of people into critical, judgmental, and stereotypical boxes.

Stereotypes are crutches that distance people from one another and, if left unchecked, can ultimately generate intolerance and even hate. Instead of resorting to the easy way out and attributing specific characteristics to certain groups of people, let’s keep an open mind and take people just as they are – one person at a time.

How bout we let that be, “The Things We People Do.”

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“I Love Black Women!”

Like this:

Who Says White Men Can’t Dance???

Like this:

The Hair Thing (Part 1)

Like this:

The Things “You People” Do

Come Get Yo Child!

“How White People Do”

“The Things ‘You People’ Do”

Get Rid Of The Stereotypes

Like this:

Be Sociable! Share this:

Like this:

The Back Story

The Purpose Of The Podcast

Who’s Going To Be On The Show?

How Do I Access The Podcast?

Hey! I Wanna Be On The Show – Or I Know Somebody Who Should!

Put A Face With A Voice

Be Social – Subscribe, Subscribe, Subscribe!

Here’s The First Episode – Head Over To iTunes For More!

Be Sociable! Share this:

Like this:

Be Sociable! Share this:

Like this:

Be Sociable! Share this:

Like this:

Come Get Yo Child!

“How White People Do”

“The Things ‘You People’ Do”

Get Rid Of The Stereotypes

Be Sociable! Share this:

Like this:

Are You In?

Thank you!