Swirling: How To Date, Mate, and Relate, Mixing Race, Culture, and Creed

On May 1st, the popular blog about interracial dating targeted to Black women called Beyond Black & White featured a blog post about BGN.  The blog was only 3 months old and already received attention from a fellow BWE (Black Women Empowered) blogsite!  I was flattered and intrigued at the same time, because I absolutely relish at the idea of Black women freely dating outside of their race.

It was from that day forward that I began to peruse the blog almost daily.  There was a book published by BBW creator Christelyn Karazin called Swirling: How To Date, Mate, and Relate, Mixing Race, Culture, and Creed.  She co-authored the book with Janice Rhoshalle LittleJohn.  The book is a simple dating guide for Black women who are interested in going a little deeper into the dating pool rather than waiting for Mr. Right at the shallow end.

Janice Rhoshalle LittleJohn (l.) and Christelyn Karazin (r.)

The authors alternate chapters and list their names at the heading to allow the reader to discern who is writing.  The book has a great balance between providing wit, humor, and embarrassing experiences to market research and factoids about interracial dating.  My favorite chapter in the book is Chapter 9 about The Rules of Flirtation: Knowing When He's Interested.  There are some serious tips about what cues to pick up from a guy when you are on a date.  I had some aha moments when I read through the chapter of the kinds of body language a guy gives off and what each movement may mean.  It's a great way to screen a guy to know if he's interested in you right off the bat and if the second date is even worth it.

I had a personal connection with Janice's story at the very end about her own personal dating experiences and it hit quite close to home.  Much of what she said about her past and her current lifestyle mirrors my recent post about solitude.  I just finished reading the book this evening---so timing couldn't be better.

The book is cute, quirky, humorous, and gives information that provides good tools for women that are looking to find a mate.  This is not an anti-Black or man-hating book.  The authors encourage Black women to date within their own race if that is their preference, but to not dismiss the idea of expanding your horizons if you are still looking for the right guy.

State Street Pictures just picked up the film rights to the book and it is being made into a feature with both authors slated to executive produce the film.  I was a big fan of the film "Something New" and wondered why there has been a lack of films to this sub-culture of interracial women daters to be released in Hollywood.  I look forward to seeing a trend if there ever is one.