The tour really confirmed the practice of passing for me. Even though we studied it in class, I didn’t realize how common it was. The fact that Adam Clayton Powell was able to achieve so much partly due to his complexion really made me see the lengths that Black people had to go to to accomplish anything. It was hard to come to terms with many of our heroes still enjoying light skinned privilege. But much like Irene, Adam married a dark skinned woman to blatantly declare his love for Black people. This tour, oddly, but really brought to life the topics that Passing was discussing and the mindset of Irene.