More About the Authors

Joon Ae Haworth-Kaufka

Joon Ae Haworth-Kaufka (she/they) is a Korean adoptee who was born in Seoul and grew up outside of Detroit. Chapters of her novel-in-progress have been published in Hyphen Magazine, The Work & Response, The Plentitudes, Mochi Magazine, and the Bellevue Literary Review. Her other fiction has been in The Portland Review, Colorado Review, Kartika, WomenArts Quarterly Journal, and more. Her recent adoptee-centered essays have been in Oregon Humanities and Beyond the Margins. She is a co-founder and organizer for the Constellation reading series, VOICES, a BIPOC Adoptee Community, and the now defunct Yeondae. She is a winner of the AWP Intro Journals Award, a 2x Tin House workshop alum, an Anaphora Arts alum, and a 2024 Oregon Humanities storytelling fellow. She lives in Portland, OR.

Connect with Joon Ae on Instagram @joonae.hk // Find Joon Ae on the web here

Nastashia Minto

Nastashia Minto is an award-winning author. Her newest book is A Body Tangled in Time: A Tapestry of Self-Love and Shadow Work. Her first collection, Naked: The Rhythm and Groove of It. The Depth and Length to It, has been featured in many magazines, books, and podcasts. Nastashia is an African American born in South Georgia and raised there by her grandparents. She is an eccentric dream tender who grew up in poverty around drugs, alcohol, and family violence. Her writing offers Minto a way to not only help herself but others as well.

Connect with Nastashia on Instagram @shaminto09 // Find Nastashia on the web here

Susan Devan Harness

Susan Devan Harness is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, a cultural anthropologist, and author of the multiple award winning book Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption. Her experience as an American Indian transracial adoptee has helped to inform the child placement community and beyond of the very real and problematic issues of transracial/interracial adoption. Her interviews have appeared on various media including public radio, podcasts, as well as the TEDxMileHigh Stage. Ms. Harness holds MAs in Anthropology and English, from Colorado State University, where she is an affiliate of the Department of Anthropology and Geography.

Connect with Susan on Instagram @sdharness // Find Susan on the web here

Kit W. Myers

Kit Myers is transracial and transnational adoptee from Hong Kong and grew up in Oregon. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of History & Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at University of California, Merced. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of California, San Diego in ethnic studies and his B.S. in ethnic studies and journalism from the University of Oregon. His book, The Violence of Love: Race, Family, and Adoption in the United States, is published with University of California Press (2025) and is open access. Myers has published journal articles in Adoption Quarterly, Critical Discourse Studies, Adoption & Culture, and Amerasia. He has also written on issues of race and policing. He serves on the executive committee for the Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture and previously served on the leadership team of the Adoption Museum Project. When Myers is not working, he loves spending time with his partner and two kids, being in nature, watching sports, coaching his daughters' soccer teams, and visiting family in Oregon.

Connect with Kit on Instagram @abolish_and_build // Find Kit on the web here

Caroline J. Sumlin

Caroline J. Sumlin is a writer, speaker, and thought leader bringing awareness, healing, and transformation to those desperate to live a life that honors their humanity rather than one that fights against it. Caroline is a Black woman adoptee who lived most of her life crumbling under the pressures of societal and cultural norms, often leading to periods of increased anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. After years of suffering from unescapable burnout, exhaustion, and feelings of worthlessness that led to perfectionism obsession and over-achievement, Caroline got curious as to why every attempt to stop feeling this way wasn’t working. It wasn’t until Caroline began researching white supremacy, out of her curiosity about its development that led to the racism we face today, that Caroline uncovered what was missing in her journey to wholeness all along: a society that was intentionally built to dehumanize and devalue us all. Caroline’s research led her to write her book, We’ll All Be Free: How a Culture of White Supremacy Devalues Us and How We Can Reclaim Our True Worth, where she unpacks how the construction of a racially hierarchical society plays a role in each of us believing the inherent lie that we are not enough, and exactly what to do about it. Caroline is passionate about how history, society, and culture inform our thought patterns, characteristics, and behaviors we have normalized. Through her research, she eagerly shares with her audience how living within a society that was built to dehumanize its constituents through oppression and marginalization has led to a normalized culture of dehumanization for all and how to choose a different way of living.

Connect with Caroline on Instagram @carolinejsumlin // Find Caroline on the web here

About Our Organization

VOICES, a Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Adoptee Community (DBA BIPOC Adoptees), is a grassroots organization dedicated to creating safe, inclusive spaces for BIPOC adoptees, addressing their unique needs through community-building initiatives. Our organization's structure is committed to horizontal leadership and trauma-informed practices. Coalition building is at the heart of our work, demonstrated through partnerships with BIPOC Adoptee professionals and organizations to bridge gaps and expand our collective movement. We center and empower BIPOC adoptee voices, aiming to change the narrative around adoption. We offer culturally affirming spaces that promote connection and well-being, filling the void left by traditional adoptee networks.

As a non-transactional organization, our events are always free to our community. Grounded in our lived experiences as BIPOC adoptees, we maintain a trauma-informed, multi-marginalized focus that bridges the gap for both domestic and international BIPOC adoptees, including adoptees through kinship, same race, and those adoptees who have been part of the child welfare system - creating spaces that honor the complexities of our shared identities.

Learn more about us on the web at www.bipocadoptees.org and connect with on Instagram. If you have any questions, email us at hello@bipocadoptees.org.

VOICES, a BIPOC Adoptee Community is a registered tax-exempt organization under section501(c)(3) of the IRS code. Donations to VOICES are tax deductible. EIN:93-2517170.

BIPOC Adoptees: VOICES, a BIPOC Adoptee Author Reading

By BIPOC Adoptees VOICES

BIPOC Adoptees: VOICES, a BIPOC Adoptee Author Reading

Join us for an evening of reading, conversation and book signing with five BIPOC Adoptee authors!