Third Culture Kid (TCK)

An estimated five percent of the U.S. population grew up in a military family, but there is not one television show dedicated to its subculture. There are no academic studies or museums focusing solely on military children. There is no Military B.R.A.T. or TCK section in your local library.

As people, we’ve developed a psychological preset to categorize individuals based on linguistic pronunciation. We can easily determine a person’s origin by the way they speak a common language. But what happens when we have the mingling of multiple cultures over a period of time?

Hosted by two self-described changemakers from vastly different industries, VOC highlights others doing the work to understand the mindsets, situations and motivations that help them change the world.

Here’s how one working mom designed a location-independent lifestyle for herself and her family.

The result of living a life that straddles borders, cultures and identities can be unresolved grief and emotion that’s trapped within the body. Through a series of poses, yoga can help release such emotion and free a person of past trauma physically and spiritually. A routine yoga practice can also strengthen the mind-body-spirit connection.

In book one of the “What (Race) Are We” series, Ivorian-American Muslim author Papatia Feauxzar introduces readers to Nouredine on his first day of preschool. The boy, an only child, is elated to be around so many other kids — until one of his schoolmates asks him: “What are you!?”

Jâca, a clarinet and guitar duo, is at the forefront of a growing social consciousness in classical music. This Los Angeles-based pair — TCK clarinetist Wesley Ferreira and guitarist Jaxon Williams — aim to perform music at the highest level and move multicultural influences from backstage to center stage.

Ian Gotler co-owns RedShoe, a thriving DJ company in Los Angeles, California, USA. His bread-and-butter may be weddings for superstars like RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan, but Gotler also happens to be one of the most humble creatives in the entertainment business.