Mixed-race Korean adoptee JoYi Rhyss, 51, shares her story of grief and forgiveness. Her pain starts in Korea, where she lived with her Korean mother until age nine, but always aware she might be sent away because her dark skin meant she didn’t belong. Her journey took her to one of the whitest areas of the U.S. — in a rural Minnesota town with Norwegian heritage where she felt othered and desperately wanted to fit in. Rhyss’s journey of self-hatred and survival took her down a sometimes destructive path but she ultimately found how to embrace her Blackness and to accept herself.
Wow!! I needed to hear this today. Thank you for speaking your truth. Come to MN! Let’s talk! I live in Bemidji and travel to the cities often. Would be great to attend a workshop of yours!
I’ll let her know this comment is here. She holds sessions online and they’re free. https://thepracticecenter.org/about
Hi Ashley, thank you so much for listening and taking the time to connect here!! I appreciate that very much. I thought my days of going back to MN were gone but my eldest just moved to Chicago so the midwest is pulling me back!! Then I remember the amazing KAD community in MN and last time I was there we had such a fun, joyful dinner gathering – I would love love love to do that again!! I will definitely plan and communicate that (please connect with me via my website or social! Kaomi and I are hoping to get a group of 6-10 of us together to do a workshop so I hope you can attend, otherwise please sign up when you see a workshop offered on my website. Thanks Ashley, I hope you are taking great care of yourself!