Joyce Chapman was born in Japan to an African American dad and Japanese mother. Her father, a soldier with the Army, met her mother while stationed in Japan. Joyce’s early years were that of a typically ‘Army brat’ living in various places throughout the world. In June of 1968 when Joyce was twelve, her parents settled in the Pullman neighborhood of Chicago. Pullman was a bit of a shock to Joyce and her brother. They had never lived in a solely black community before.
Read MoreSidney ‘Iking’ Bateman is not only an extraordinary circus artist but also an extraordinary human being. Sidney was born in North St. Louis, an area he describes as worse than Ferguson – the neighborhood brought to national attention by the protests that followed shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer. Sidney is one of eight siblings who grew up doing flips in their back yard – a family tradition he shared with his brothers and uncles.
Read MoreRegina Meirmanova was born to be a circus star. Her father Nourbol, from Kazakhstan, studied at the world-famous Moscow State Circus School. When he graduated in 1980, his first professional gig took him to Orenburg, Russia. There, he met Svetlana, Regina’s mother. As Svetlana tells it, she was working in a store. It was her first day on the job after graduating from college. Nourbol walked in, pointed to her and said, ‘she is the one.’ A year later, they were married and touring the world as circus artists.
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