Multiracial activist Ramona Douglass passed away

by Carmen Van Kerckhove

Wow. I just read about it in the Mavin newsletter.

I never met Ramona Douglass, but I know that she was one of the OG’s of the multiracial movement and was one the people who played a crucial role in securing the “check one or more” option on the Census forms.

If any of you would like to share your thoughts or memories, we’d love to hear about them.

From Mavin:

MAVIN Foundation board and staff extend our condolences to the family and friends of Ramona E. Douglass who passed away last week. Ms. Douglass was a civil rights activist for nearly three decades. She was one of the most prominent figures in the multiracial movement in America since its inception. As a U.S. Department of Commerce federal appointee to the 2000 Census Advisory Committee in Washington, D.C., beginning in 1995, she consistently represented multiracial community interests before Congress, the national media, and the Executive Office of the President.

Ms. Douglass was a co-founder of the Association of MultiEthnic Americans (AMEA) and member of the board of directions since its founding in 1988, serving in the capacities of vice president (1988-1994), president (1994-1999), director of media and public relations (2000-2005), and member of the Advisory Council until her death. She authored articles on the mixed race experience, including “The Evolution of the Multiracial Movement,” the second chapter of MAVIN Foundation’s Multiracial Child Resource Book.

She was a senior sales manager and corporate trainer for a medical manufacturing company in California’s San Fernando Valley.

MAVIN Foundation received a message from a friend of Ms. Douglass, reminding us that her deep commitment to working across difference and division to do what was best for mixed heritage people and families was perhaps, the most inspiring part of her impressive legacy.