Watermelon Sushi World

Anime, Hip Hop, Japan And Joe

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:39:00 +0000

With that famous Hip Hapa Homee, Tiger Woods, making the hot-marriage-mess news lately, it’s been a field day for the anti-miscegenation folks. Yet, as Your Hip Hapa read through some readers’ comments left at several websites this week, she was pleasantly surprised that vicious verbal attacks on the Thai African American golfer and his Swedish wife were minimal. Instead, she discovered that the majority of remarks neglected to address the issue of race altogether—whether it was Tiger’s, his wife’s, or the other women’s. Could it be that we’re coming closer to a color-blind world?

Or, is Your Hip Hapa just overly optimistic? Some of the week’s bad news contained stories like the continuing attacks on albinos in Tanzania and how South Korea is dealing with mixies, particularly those of partial Chinese ethnicity.

If you haven’t had a chance to read any of those articles, join our Hip Hapa Homeez group on Facebook. While you’re there, become a member of the Watermelon Sushi Fan page and Networked Blogs for Watermelon Sushi World, too. And, don't forget the t-shirts!

Here at Watermelon Sushi World, we strive to stay on top of topics that are of interest to not only those who consider themselves biracial, blended, first-generation or multi-generation multiracial, hapa, mixed, mulatto or trans-racial adoptees, but also to those of our supporters and those in interracial relationships. U is a part of us!

This week’s featured Hip Hapa Homee is award-winning filmmaker Joe Doughrity whose film, Akira’s Hip Hop Shop, is getting some serious play. If you missed its November 22 airing on BET (which was hosted by the sensational Sanaa Lathan), you can catch a repeat showing on December 5, at 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. Or, consult your BET schedule. Above is a pix of the movie poster and, below, a shot of Joe (former assistant to Boyz n the Hood's John Singleton) at our fab confab in Santa Monica. Check out the links for the film here:

http://www.randomactsofmedia.com

http://www.akirashiphopshop.com

Then, read the Q&A here:

Q: What's a nice African American guy like you doing making films about Japanese folks?

A: Hmmm... Well, I grew up consuming, better yet devouring, Japanese pop-culture as a kid in the Midwest. My favorite TV shows as a kid were Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman). I was also a huge fan of Godzilla. My mother said I used to draw pictures of the big lizard everyday from when I was a young child. By third or fourth grade, these pictures grew more elaborate and came to include other giant monsters such as Mothra and Gamera. I had a group of friends and we'd stage these crazy battle scenes.

When I got older and became a teenager, my obsession only grew. I got even more into Japanese animation and had pen pals who would send me VHS tapes of shows and collected and contributed to fanzines focusing on anime. Eventually, when I started thinking of what I wanted to do with my life, filmmaking became the focus. So naturally, my films reflect my obsessions; which include Japan, comics and how this stuff relates to me as a black man.

Q: How did you get the idea for Akira's Hip Hop Shop?

A: The idea for Akira came to me when I first visited Japan back in 2004. I went on a tour with a bunch of other American anime fans. It seemed wherever we went, there was rap music playing! In cafes, restaurants, clothing boutiques.... Sometimes, there wouldn't be any Americans or gaijin present, but this was the soundtrack/background music for daily Japanese life in Tokyo. I'm sure a lot of Japanese didn't even understand the slang and profanity.

Since I'd dated outside my race a few times and dealt with all that comes with that including scrutiny from family and friends, I started wondering why you didn't see more Asian men who did the same. This led me to do a lot of research in books, online and among my Japanese male friends on the subject. Out of this and flipping through Japanese hip hop magazines like WOOFIN', came the character of Akira Kubota, an expat Japanese guy with a love for old school rap music who had come to America to be involved with the scene.

Q: The characters speak Japanese very well. Were they coached? Do you speak Japanese?

A: No, I don't speak Japanese. Not anywhere fluently anyway! I do know quite a few words and phrases, but that's it.

The characters were coached by my Associate Producer Hitoshi Yoshikawa who's a native Japanese speaker. And, also since James (Kyson Lee) speaks Japanese a lot on the TV show Heroes, he's become quite proficient with the language. But Hitoshi gets the credit for both supervising the native Japanese speakers as well as coaching the non-Japanese characters like Daphne (Emayatzy Corinealdi) who utilize the language in the film.

Q: But James Kyson Lee is not of Japanese ethnicity. Why did you feel he was right in the role of a Japanese man?

A: Actually James is of Korean ancestry. There were many factors that led me to believe he was the right actor for the job. First, he'd actually come to America as an immigrant from Korea as a kid, and I thought that was important that he had that experience. Also, he used to be part of a rap group growing up in Boston so he knew something about the music and being part of a culture as an outsider.

I saw a lot of actors for the role of Akira and, initially, I was adamant about casting a native Japanese or Japanese American actor for the role. I kept saying I didn't want any of that Lou Diamond Phillips stuff where he played Ritchie Valens in La Bamba! But here again, Hitoshi was a great help. I showed him the pilot for Heroes while we were casting without telling him James wasn't Japanese and afterwards he said, "His Japanese.... There's something funny about it." I told him about James' background and after comparing him against the 100% Japanese actors we'd seen, he told me to go with James because (in his words), "Americans don't know the difference anyway."

Q: Akira's Hip Hop Shop does such a nice job of shattering stereotypes. Do you have any idea why people continue to support films that don't?

A: Because it's easy and we're conditioned to accept the status quo. It's easy to eat junk food and not be challenged. I'm convinced a lot of people, especially black moviegoers, unfortunately don't WANT to be challenged when they go to the movies. They want what they're used too.... gangsta rap and 'why can't I find a good man' movies. Certainly those do well at the box office, and something like AHHS or movies like A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy or Medicine for Melancholy are relegated to the art house or (if they're lucky) find a home on DVD.

Q: What other film projects do you have lined up?

A: Well I've got a bunch of stuff I'm working on. There's the feature version of Akira, which I still would like to get made. Also, I've optioned a comic book that I'm really excited about. I can't say much about it, but it does have a black/Asian element, which is very cool. And I've got treatments for a couple of documentaries that I'm excited about, but I need funding. It's a common dilemma--the life of an independent filmmaker.

Q: What's your favorite uniquely Japanese thing?

A: Hmmm, that's a tough one! I love so many things about Nippon! Food, culture, entertainment…can I pick one of each?

I love the custom of exchanging business cards in Japan. I haven't quite learned how to do it Japanese style, but I love watching it!

Food-wise, my favorite Japanese food is okonomiyaki…Japanese pancake stuffed with bacon, onions and all kinds of stuff. I really love how they prepare it in Osaka, which is my favorite place to visit in Japan.

Finally, entertainment-wise I'm a big fan of animator Yoshihiro Tomino, the creator of Mobile Suit Gundam. I love Gundam robots and mythology, especially the 1985 series Zeta Gundam. Tomino is never afraid to kill off his characters and makes some of the darkest space opera ever written. Whenever I watch his stuff, I feel like a 15 year-old kid again.

Arigato gozaimashite, Joe-san. We Hip Hapa Homeez are looking forward to the feature-length version of Akira’s Hip Hop Shop!

Until next week, ja mata ne, from

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Aloha Actress/Hawai'ian Healing

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:55:00 +0000

Aloha no, Hip Hapa Homeez. Pehea ‘oe? Maika, I hope.

One of the most gracious and graceful hip hapas ever, Traion C. Le is also beautiful—both inside and out. Besides being a model, actress, screenplay writer and graphic designer, she also promotes aloha ‘aina spirituality by offering healing via massage therapy in Hawai’i.

As a Honolulu resident, Traion reps so much of what being multiracial is all about. Claiming all of her heritages, she’s equally proud of them all. For sure, her aumakua are pleased.

Check out our island girl in the photo spread here, and the links to her sites below. Our Q&A follows:

www.youtube.com/traion

http://www.myspace.com/traika

www.facebook.com

http://www.modelmayhem.com/491285

Q: What's a nice multiracial girl like you doing in the movies?

A: Aloha! Well, acting found me. I received my first major film and TV feature by word-of-mouth. My first role ever was as a background actor (flash wedding scene) in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The second largest production was for the primetime TV show Lost where I play a camp soldier from 1952. I have been in a couple of Hawai'ian short films also.

Q: What was it like working on Lost?

A: I was pleasantly impressed by the organization, direction and dedication of the production company and crew. Long hours, yet everyone was friendly and we were treated well.

Q: What are you parents’ ethnic backgrounds?

A: My parents’ ethnicities are varied. There's the mutual base culture, African-American, then Irish and East Indian on my father's side.

Q: How did you end up living in Hawai’i?

A: It was a slow progression to the islands. I lived on the east coast all my life of 36 years and sought an exotic adventure based on faith, spiritual healing and a location to set up my massage therapy practice.

Q: You do a lot of spiritual healing work. How does that fit in with what you do as an actor?

A: I believe you can fuse healing throughout any profession because it's all an innate sense of being. I'd hope to share that healing in the entertainment business through presence, touch, prayer and sharing of the healing arts.

Q: You have a lot of love for Japanese culture. Can you explain where that came from?

A: I'd have to say, it stems from living in a multi-cultural, melting-pot locale of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of Arlington, Virginia. Earlier on, in my teens, I loved martial arts movies and learned of the Japanese and other Asian cultures through this medium. Lastly, through college, alternative health vocational school, living in Hawai'i and business, I developed a few close Japanese friendships.

Q: You’re also a musician and dancer. Can you tell us about your music?

A: Currently, I enjoy learning to play the Australian aboriginal wind instrument, the didgeridoo. I would like to learn how to play the Japanese koto! It sounds lovely.

Mahalo nui loa, Traion, for giving us Hip Hapa Homeez a little taste of the islands. For those of you who want to support our Watermelon Sushi film, your purchase of a t-shirt will do just that. Go to http://www.cafepress.com/hapateez. Join our Watermelon Sushi Fan club on Facebook, too. And, you can join our Hip Hapa Homeez group page on Facebook to stay informed about issues affecting all of us in the blendie and mixie world. Follow us on Twitter, too!

A hui hou, I am,

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Family Matters

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:44:00 +0000

Wazzup Hip Hapa Homeez?!?!?!?

With the holidays almost here, now is a good time to think about gifts that would appeal to the multi-culti folks in your life (including yourself, ha ha). By purchasing a Hapa*Teez t-shirt, not only are you supporting our agenda by wearing words proclaiming so, but you’ll also get a rear crawl credit on Watermelon Sushi, the film. Go to http://www.cafepress.com/h apateez and check it out.

Now, if you’re less the fashion-y type and more the reading type, this week’s featured Hip Hapa Homee has a book you might enjoy.

Thomas Brooks is the author of A Wealth of Family: An Adopted Son's International Quest for Heritage, Reunion and Enrichment

[ISBN: 978-0977462933]

Besides winning the National Indie Excellence Book Award for Multicultural Non-Fiction and the USA Book News “Best Books” Award Winner for African-American Studies, his book is also the #1 Amazon Bestseller for Adoption.

To learn more about Thomas, visit the links below and read the Q&A following. And, yeah, that’s Thomas in the pix posted here (I know you didn’t think it was me).

www.AlphaMultimedia.com/PressRoom.htm

www.AlphaMultimedia.com/Speaking.htm

Q: What’s a nice adopted biracial guy like you doing exposing his personal life by writing a book about it?

A: A Wealth of Family is a book that I knew could help people dealing with being multi-ethnic (I don't say biracial since we are all One Human Race) and/or being adopted. The book details how I grew up as the only child of a struggling single mother in inner city Pittsburgh. I was battling ethnic stereotypes at school and searching for a place among my peers. Then, I was told at age eleven that I had been adopted as an infant. I did not know it at the time, but I had actually been born to a white biological mother who had descended from Lithuanian Jews and--like President Barack Obama--a black Kenyan father. Years after that stunning revelation, I escaped the ghetto and traveled to search for my heritage. I found my biological mother in London with my previously unknown British siblings. I then located my biological father and extended family in Nairobi. My international search and the resulting reunions have profoundly affected three families in the United States, England and Kenya.

Q: Now, that you’ve found your entire family, how much of a difference does it make in your daily life?

A: I grew up as an only child in my adopted family, and now I have seven siblings (four that grew up in Europe, and three that grew up in Kenya). I am in touch with my siblings all of the time. I connect with my European siblings in person about once per year. I have enabled one of my Kenyan siblings to get her bachelor’s and master’s degrees here in America. I am now working on enabling another Kenyan sibling to do the same. I am so happy to be the "big brother" for seven people, now grown up and scattered all over the world.

Q: What was it like meeting your birth mother?

A: The first night we met in person, Dorothy and I stayed up until 4 a.m. in an all-night diner, drinking tea and talking, even though she suffered from jet lag and I had to go to work the next day. As I expected, the reunion meant a great deal to me in terms of my journey to discover more about my identity and heritage. But I am convinced the reunion meant even more to Dorothy. For her, the process was exciting, healing and, at times, painful and disturbing. She had to relive all of the memories of family and societal pressures associated with giving birth to a black baby in the 1960’s. She had to deal with the memories of letting me go. That first week together stirred in her a lot of memories, doubts and feelings, many of which were not altogether comfortable for her. The reunion greatly accelerated her healing process.

Q: What was it like meeting your birth father?

A: It was wonderful to meet my birth father in Nairobi Kenya and to finally have a tangible connection to my African heritage. Eventually, I was able to travel with him to my family's home village in rural western Kenya. Upon my arrival, the entire village seemed to be waiting for me, about five hundred people. There was singing and dancing. Everyone was touching my face, skin, beard, and hair since they viewed me as being an mzungu, the Kiswahili word for a European or white person. Light-skinned, wavy-haired Westerners did not come through this remote village every day. In spite of my difference in skin color, I was accepted fully by everyone in the village. Kenyan Africans seem to have almost no notion of ethnic discrimination, despite a history that includes British colonialism. It felt wonderful, and it was truly a grand scene. It was similar to Alex Haley's experience at his African family’s village in Roots.

Q: Transracial adoptees haven’t always been encouraged to own their racial heritages, e.g., Koreans adopted by Americans. Are you resentful about not having access to your Lithuanian Jewish and Kenyan cultures for so long?

A: No, life is too short for resentment and regrets. I believe in making things happen, which is why I searched for my ethnic heritage starting when I was 25 years old. My quest was rewarded when I found the rich history of my families. Just to give one example, my great-grandfather, a Lithuanian Jew named David Rittenburg, barely survived religious persecution in 1886. While he and two other brothers were gone on a supply run, their parents and the trio’s ten other siblings who stayed behind were murdered by Orthodox Russians. It was a religiously motivated pogrom, an organized and officially encouraged massacre and violent persecution, against Jews. For much of the century, young Orthodox Russians were taught to hate the Jews because they viewed Jews to be Jesus Christ’s killers. The Orthodox Russians were inflamed against the Jews living in the area, feeling that these Jews had no true loving ties with Mother Russia. When the three brothers returned home to the scene of the carnage that engulfed their home, they knew they were alone. The three brothers managed to survive thanks only to some Gentile families who acted as kind of an “Underground Railroad”. For many years, my great-grandfather bounced from family to family all over Europe. By the time he reached America as an immigrant, he knew 13 different languages. He eventually graduated with an engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and later used his language skills on Ellis Island as an employee of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Q: Having gone through such a tumultuous time to bring together all your family members, how do you raise your own children?

A: My children value the heritage from all three of my families. As a result of my adoption and the reunion, they actually have five grandparents, so it is really cool for my kids. My children visit with and regularly interact with members of all three of my extended families.

Q: Do you have any other books in the works?

A: Since launching A Wealth of Family, I have started doing a number of paid speaking engagements with large companies and also with high schools and universities. The Q&A sessions that follow these engagements give me a great opportunity to interact with people on issues related to families and to cultural diversity. The topic of diversity is extremely timely. So, I am already gathering data and working on my next two books. I have plans for a book tentatively titled The Joy of Search. It will be about the happy adoption and reunion stories of others. I also am working on a book on successful parenting that I should have out in a little over a year. My books will continue to be non-fiction, and deal with strengthening families and multiculturalism.

Thank you, Thomas, for sharing with us how much your family matters. If any of you Hip Hapa Homeez out there have a tale to tell, hollah at hiphapa@comcast.net

Remember to join our Hip Hapa Homeez group, Watermelon Sushi fan page and Watermelon Sushi World Networked Blogs on Facebook. And, watermelonsushi is on Twitter, too.

Until next time, like Maurice Bishop said: “Forward ever, backward never.”

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

A Free And Open Sky

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:51:00 +0000

Have you ever felt like the people who cycle into your life come predestined? I feel that way often, and I love it. I'm always amazed when someone casually checks out my blog, drops a comment, and then ends up becoming my friend.

This week’s Hip Hapa Homee is such a person. Sky Obercam is a prolific Bay Area writer who’s written for The Source, Bossip, Format Mag and Clutch. She first sent me a link to a blog she wrote about “bumblebees”—a term she uses to describe black women and Asian men relationships. Curious, I contacted her and discovered that she had a wealth of information to share about her own interracial marriage. Besides, we’re both working on erotic fiction featuring multiracial characters. And, Sky happens to be the name of one of my characters. Predestined, I say.

That’s Sky in the pix above, right, and below, left.

Q: What’s a nice African American girl like you doing in an interracial marriage with a Caucasian guy?

A: Well, simply put, I met my Mr. Right at the tender age of 22. We actually met at this excellent bar/lounge in Philly (which is no longer in existence) called Wilhelmina’s via two mutual friends. I was immediately smitten. There was just something about his energy. The fact that he was a bona fide hottie didn’t hurt either! Long story shortened (which is no easy feat for me--ha!), I downed my drink, and probably everyone else’s sitting at the table (memory is naturally a little fuzzy), and cornered him as he ordered another drink at the bar. I was always such an aggressive chica--but when it was time to ask him to pony up the digits, I realized I had nothing to write with, so I had to remember his number. The fact that I was able to do so despite having damaged so many brain cells was a pretty good sign that it was meant to be.

David and I were an item for seven years before we actually married. We faced many obstacles along the way, too. Some were characteristic of young adulthood. Some were typical of the usual challenges interracial couples face. We grew up, basically, and learned how to cope with the racial limitations of those around us. The best part is that our families have finally grown close, moving beyond the tension of the past and forward with love and respect. I feel blessed that our son is surrounded by such a loving family.

Q: What do you hope for your biracial son as he grows up?

A: I’ve spent a brief amount of time living abroad, and one of the things I noticed was that biracialism (of the black and white kind) is not viewed as a guaranteed life of torment or some sh*t. Nothing good comes from estranged cultural identities. I get why it’s so prevalent here, and other places that have apartheid-like roots, but we’ve got to evolve. That does not mean putting one on a pedestal above the other, but openly accepting one’s entire self, free of guilt. You can’t embrace one hand and deny the existence of other, you know? David is German and Italian, and I’m what some refer to as an MGM (multi-generation multi-racial) African American, so our son is truly a citizen of the Earth. What I hope for Raffi is that he grows up feeling secure, resisting imposed fragmentation and embracing his total self.

Q: You have an interesting family. Please discuss.

A: My parents had me later in life, which wasn’t common back in the 70’s, particularly since I was their only child. My mom was born in 1940, my dad in ’36, and I often felt they instilled a lot of values reflective of an earlier time. My aunt and grandfather were an integral part of my early childhood as well.

In terms of my background, I think of it as a patchwork of oppositional forces in some ways. I was raised in West Philly, not far from 52^nd Street; so, in other words, the ‘hood. I never knew if it was my family’s influence over me, or my stubborn free spirit, that always put me at odds with my surroundings.

My mother’s family is pretty homogenous, but my father’s is reflective of that portion of West Virginia African Americans who have significant Native American and Scots Irish lineage. My husband thinks my dad looks like Lou Diamond Phillips--hee hee. Anyway, despite his appearance, he’s the most conscious black person I know. He was affiliated with the Black Panthers at some point in his life. He spoke jive and lived the life--so to speak. Conversely, his parents came from an era where brown skin was looked down on.

I’ve always been a bit eccentric--never really feeling at home in any of my surroundings. I got a lot of heat for “talking white”, “listening to white music", not concerning myself too much with urban fashion trends of the day, and being light-skinned. You know, kids find every excuse in the book to vilify each other. Anyway, after getting raked over the coals in public schools, my folks decided to put me into a private Quaker school. So, I went from being the white girl, to THE black girl--the brunt of thinly veiled hostility from the teachers and getting ignored by all the boys.

So, I guess you could say I was this sushi eating, Tears for Fears loving girl from the ‘hood who viewed the world from a quasi Black Nationalist perspective. There was a loneliness to the disparities, but there was beauty, too. I sometimes see my childhood as fertilizer for the garden that is now my life (cheesey but true!).

Q: You’re such an accomplished writer. Tell us about your work.

A: I’ve been writing creatively since I was a kid really. I never thought I could make a living out of it—o.k., I was really always just afraid to try. That all changed when I got pregnant with my son Raffi. My husband and I agreed that I’d stay home with the baby until he was old enough for preschool. It was then that I decided that I would dedicate myself to the craft, and make a living out of it no matter what. So, I just started writing, and sending out pitches to various mags and stuff. When Raffi was about five months old, I got a gig writing with a high profile gossip blog. It was then that I realized I loved comedy writing.

Eventually, I moved on to focus on freelance writing. I really wanted to challenge myself. I was able to write some travel pieces for The Source, as well as features and news for Format Magazine. Most notably, I joined the team at Clutch Magazine, which has been a dream come true for me. There’s really nothing out there quite like Clutch, and I love the opportunity to help create a space where folks who are totally underrepresented have a chance to connect, share, and grow.

I also co-founded Visual Culture with my husband David, but he is the true inspiration behind it. He’s a graphic designer, but more than that. He’s a true artist with a passionately progressive outlook. It started out just being an artful design blog that explored various aspects of graphic design. Since its launch though, it’s become a resource that encompasses not only design, but strives to raise awareness of social and environmental issues and, as we say, cultivate discussion, inspire, and inform.

In terms of fiction, I’m in the process of completing a short story. I’m resistant to labels, but I guess it could fall under “Multicultural Erotica”. I think of it, however, as “Life with Details”--hee hee hee.

Q: You recently interviewed actress Sophie Okonedo who has Nigerian and white English heritage. What did you learn about her mixed-race life?

A: It was great speaking with her, but I was at a disadvantage because our conference call connection sucked and she could barely hear me. I was actually told ahead of time that she was not open to speaking of her private life, so my attempts to really explore that subject was a bit thwarted. She was really sweet and fascinating to speak with though.

Q: You used to write for The Source. Are you a hip-hop aficionado?

A: I probably have one of the most eclectic music tastes of anyone I know. I have to admit that I’m not a fan of modern mainstream hip-hop. The industry has robbed it of its soul--for real. I don’t listen to any hip-hop prior to 1997, or so.

Thank you, Sky! Your name suits someone as free and open as you.

Here are links to some of Sky’s work:

http://www.clutchmagonline.com/

http://www.oberholtzer-creative.com/visualculture/

Hey, Hip Hapa Homeez, we now number over 1,100 on our Facebook Group page! The support you’ve shown is phenomenal, but don’t forget to join our Watermelon Sushi Fan page so you can stay up-to-date on our film. Every t-shirt purchase helps move the film forward and gets you a rear crawl credit, too. What better gift to give for the holidays? Check it out here:

http://www.cafepress.com/hapateez

Until next week when the next Hip Hapa Homee cycles through my life, I bid you a fond farewell.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Are Hip Hapa Homeez Obsolete?

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:10:00 +0000

Yo, Hip Hapa Homeez!

Welcome back to Watermelon Sushi World, your planet for discussion of all things pertaining to biracials, blendies, FGM’s, hapas, MGM’s, mixies, mulattos, multiracials and transracial adoptees. Did we leave anyone out? Or, are we all obsolete anyway?

This week’s featured Hip Hapa Homee, Michael James Brown, thinks so. He's about to dissect everything we’ve been about since our inception. Or, so it seems. Let’s give the brother some page time so he can explain. Here’s the intro to his show:

“More involved than just your personal association with whatever arbitrary and undefined ‘racial’ name you call yourself, the Other Awareness Project is a thought-provoking, humorous mixture of film documentary, stand-up comedy, and audience discussion that looks into what I think is the continued incorrect categorization of people into ‘racial’ groups by skin color and other arbitrary things, in light of everything we know scientifically, legally, religiously, just about any way you want to look at it.”

Fair enough. Or, is it? btw, that’s Your Hip Hapa in the poster that Michael created for his upcoming Seattle show on December 11, and that’s him in the photo below. Michael also has shows planned for Long Beach on November 7 and for San Diego on November 14. Check out these links for more info:

http://www.otherawarenessproject.com

http://www.youtube.com/OAProject

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28769086765

http://www.otherawarenessproject.com/OAP_mediakit.pdf

Q: What is a nice allegedly African American guy like you doing telling folks there is no such thing as race?

A: Separate and apart from whatever arbitrary and undefined name I might call myself, the Other Awareness starts with this sentence: Homo sapiens is the only non-extinct species of its genus, Homo. There were other Homo species, all of which are now extinct. From a scientific viewpoint, there is no such thing as separate races for people. I think you have to throw out a lot of information from people much smarter than I am to even continue to have a racial discussion. I’m just a small cog in the wheel.

Q: How old were you when you thought about race for the first time?

A: I would say, like most people, I have always thought about race and my relative skin color since birth. The reason is simple. I was born in America. America is the country that puts the most emphasis on it. Everything in America was distributed based on color, and it still is today.

Q: Reportedly, the Census collects information to help government distribute money where it’s most needed based on race groups. In 2000, for the first time, mixed-race people were allowed to choose more than one group identity, which upset some black organizations that interrupted it as money walking out the door. Any comments?

A: Well, I can see their point in that it is kind of like changing the rules in the middle of the game. But I think that focuses on the smaller objective of who controls the money. I think the greater focus should be on the money getting to the right areas. What does it really matter what arbitrary name the people who are being helped call themselves? The important thing is to address the need, and stay focused on the goal.

Q: How does having a comedy background help you get such a serious message across?

A: I’m not certain that it does. For the most part, the people being interviewed didn’t know I was a stand-up comic. Volume I of the project has a lot of funny moments, but is meant to focus on the current information available and logical parts of the discussion. Volume 2, when it is completed, will be the funnier, more closer related to the regular stand-up part of the project. I had to create the foundation first!

Q: Why is your Other Awareness Project guaranteed to be only 95% guilt and anger free? What about the other 5%?

A: The project isn’t guaranteed to be 95% guilt and anger free. What I mean with the 95% guilt and anger free statement is when viewed the correct way using information, some sort of logic, and maybe throwing in some history, most people who attend the project will see that they don’t have a lot to be guilty or angry about. The project is about going forward, not back at the things you can’t change.

Q: What type of audiences do you attract?

A: I get all types of responses from all types of people. I made the film portion of the project to show everyone that they are essentially saying the same thing. I have received only one email that I would consider to be hateful, and I think it was sent in jest. I have never had an “upset” person. Since the project is about self-identification, I don’t really argue with anyone. This project attracts the people I want to attract; intelligent, funny, community-minded solutions-oriented people. Many people tell me that I have put into words what they were thinking or feeling.

Q: Where do you see “race issues” going another decade from now?

A: Since I think the whole discussion is media and agenda driven, and some people will continue to belabor dead points, I think the people who want to keep talking about race will. The people who don’t, won’t. It’s up to you. With the Other Awareness Project, I’m looking for the people who are done with the whole conversation concerning race and what it means, etc.

So, Hip Hapa Homeez, does that mean we are done with our job educating the general public about our particular racial and/or cultural identities? You tell me. Hollah at hiphapa@comcast.net

Here’s the usual message from our sponsors: Join our Hip Hapa Homeez Group page on Facebook. Join our Watermelon Sushi Fan page on Facebook. Purchase a Hapa*Teez t-shirt to support our Watermelon Sushi film.

And, keep on keepin’ on because, Hip Hapa Homeez, I HAPA'n to think we’re still relevant.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Halito, And A History Lesson

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:23:00 +0000

Halito, and welcome to the tribal drum circle all you Hip Hapa Homeez! This week’s featured Hip Hapa Homee is Boe Bvshgolawa Many Knives Glasschild--a musician, shaman and yogi with roots in the Blackfeet, Cherokee and Chocktaw Nations. To the left is how he looked when we met about 12 years ago in Los Angeles. Check out that baaaaad Mohawk! Below, is a photo of Boe today in his favorite yoga asana and surrounded by his instruments.

Q: What’s a nice Native slash African American guy like you doing teaching yoga in Flint Michigan?

A: I started taking yoga in 1998. After a lady pulled her SUV across LaBrea Boulevard and stopped in my lane, I slammed on the brakes of my motorcycle. My front tire hit her tire. I braced my arms, so I didn’t get hurt. But I had a very stiff back.

As an actor, I had a commercial to do, but when I got up I couldn’t move from my waist to my shoulders. I put my chest on the gas tank, used my hands to pull my legs over, pushed myself upright and rode to the gig. I took yoga for relief.

Later, I met my wife-to-be who was into yoga. When she got pregnant, we went to prenatal yoga. Then, I started realizing that I was enhancing my spirituality through yoga. Yoga also made me aware of not abusing the body. I used to smoke so much pot that my gums started receding. All of a sudden, it didn’t make sense to do that to my body anymore.

Q: Who are your parents, and how did they meet?

A: My father is black, Cherokee and Blackfeet. My mother was black and Choctaw. They met in 1953 in West Texas. My mother married my father to get out of the house. My father’s father was Blackfeet and Cherokee, and abandoned by his father. He was raised in a black environment in the South with "yes, ma’m; no, ma’m", and stuff like that. His name was Chief.

My father’s father, my father, my oldest son and I all rode motorcycles.

Q: Your maternal grandmother was a big influence on you. Describe her.

A: She was full-blooded Choctaw and died of cancer in 1966 when I was 10. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1944, she went and got a case of beer to celebrate. She was anti-American because when she was a young girl, they put her in school and beat her whenever she spoke Choctaw. So, she made sure we learned Choctaw.

She was born in 1896 and married my grandfather in 1928. My grandfather who was born in 1894 had Chickasaw blood, too, but his parents died and by 1906, he was on his own.

My grandmother had my mother when she was in her 40’s. When I was born, she wanted to name me Hiawatha, but conceded to Boe. In the Choctaw language Chinchinabebo is the translation for Hiawatha, and the Muskogee word is the militant name Bvshgolawa. Many Knives refers to a tool, not a weapon.

My grandmother was very pro-Choctaw. Up until she died, she spoke the language. She used to tell me that her brother would take a knife and kill white people at picnic grounds in Okalahoma. She was very much full of hatred. But she liked black people. Her husband, Nelson, was black.

Our people were originally from Mississippi, but Andrew Jackson gathered Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw and put them on the Trail of Tears. We relocated in one of ten counties of Oklahoma of the Choctaw Nation.

Q: Did you go to powwows?

A: My grandmother didn’t like powwows. She said they were b.s.--that the federal government allowed us to ‘play Indian’. She thought we should get together whenever we want, not when the government said we could.

She was the Amistad of Native American culture--outspoken, radical and very much respected. Grandfather followed behind her. Everyone had this high level of awareness of her, except her daughter.

My grandmother didn’t like pets and said it was like black slavery. She thought that animals should not be sold because you cannot put a value on its spirit.

My father left when I was three because my grandmother stabbed him in the leg with a knife. I saw him again when I was 43 in 1999, and discovered that he was in Michigan.

Q: What was your mother like?

A: She was born in 1933 and never acclimated to the Chocktaw Nation so she did not get along with my grandmother. She was more integrated into the American way. She grew up in the Lucille Ball era and grew away from Indian things. She dressed and wore her hair like Lucille Ball.

Q: You’ve lived in Texas, Los Angeles, Mississippi and Michigan. You get around!

A: I was born in Midland Texas, about 18 miles from the biggest meteor crater to strike North America in 1/4 million years. Around 18, I left. My mother got me addicted to California because she would go out there. I went to Los Angeles in 1975 and stayed until 2002.

Texas was so racial. I got elected safety patrol, but the white kids didn’t like me crossing them. I grew up in the same city as George Bush. It was so biased, and my grandmother was so radical. I don’t how she picked that place.

I used to love to go to Oklahoma. We had relatives that didn’t speak English. They didn’t want to be assimilated by force and wanted to stay where they were. They were empathetic towards Latinos not speaking English.

I’m enrolled in the Choctaw Nation, and a card-carrying Indian. I have my CDIB--Certified Degree of Indian Blood. In 1900, at the turn of the century, the government rounded up Indians like cattle, sold their land and gave them CDIB’s. White Americans don’t have to carry a card saying that they have so much Irish blood, etc. But if you want benefits from the Red Nation, you have to have a CDIB card for free medical and dental.

In March 2003, I moved to Mississippi. The sign says, “Set your clock back 20 years.” I thought it was a joke. It should have said "25". The first interracial prom took place in 2005. The greatest thing that happened in Mississippi was rap music because it got black and white people united. It means white people finally got some good music to dance to.

I taught yoga classes in a Catholic church. I drove 56 miles one-way because it was the only place I could find liberal enough. By the time I left 2 1/2 years later, I was teaching yoga in a funeral home.

In Flint, it took about a month or two to open some doors. I started teaching freebies. The first time I tried to go into the real world, I didn’t know that black men didn’t teach white ladies. I had to break the door open. Now, I have my choice of where I can teach.

Q: What styles of yoga do you teach?

A: I’ve studied Kundalini, Hatha and Qigong, and have Pilates certification. Some days, I teach up to five classes. The thing is that people will pay to drink beer, but not to learn yoga. If you want to do it free, come by my house.

If you want to be babied, you came to the wrong place. I had a lady of 65 doing handstands. A black coach came to class and backed out because these old ladies were outdoing him. If you use props, you’re not working hard enough. I can tell if you don’t stretch at home. People love their comfort zone. I say, push yourself. Eventually, you’ll get flexible.

I bring my daughter, 11, and son, 8, to class. Since my wife Brenda’s father is black and Cherokee, my kids got that Native black thing goin’ on.

Q: How did you get into music?

A: Music was my total focus. I decided I would make it in rock-n-roll until later in my career I realized I was wasting my time. The truth was rock-n-roll is a very biased genre of music. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that I really saw the racism. Rock-n-roll was borrowed and re-labeled, and blacks had a hard time getting into something they started.

Eventually, I started seeing that it was not about being a good musician, but about being a white musician. Growing up, I was a little bit blinded to what was going on. We would jam our a** off, but we couldn’t get a show. It’s really a racist industry.

I had seen the racism but, once I really acknowledged it, my combative nature wanted to come forth. One thing about yoga, it took a lot of anger out of me. Now, I look for a higher consciousness and vibration.

Thank you Boe for sharing the history lessons.

On another note, here are some links sent by AllPeople Gifts. After viewing them, let me know what you think. I wasn’t entirely sure if they were for real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDAayFuIXvY

http://www.youtube.com/user/AverageNegro#p/u/10/oUfS2iaxwMg

http://www.youtube.com/user/AverageNegro#p/u/12/xBJe9NZ7dWo

http://www.youtube.com/user/AverageNegro#p/u/8/r0jPASWiMjQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCNrZDf8a9Y&feature=related

Meanwhile, you know the drill. Join our Hip Hapa Homeez group and Watermelon Sushi Fan pages on Facebook, and follow watermelonsushi on Twitter. Remember, we have Hapa*Teez t-shirts for you and a rear crawl credit on our film if you make a purchase.

See you next week when I shall once again proclaim myself to be,

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Cool, Like Jade

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:07:00 +0000

Hey, Hip Hapa Homeez! Welcome back. We are now 1,000 strong and growing daily. Although these numbers speak well for us, they’re especially gratifying as a reflection of the many folks in our group who don’t consider themselves to be mixed-race, but support our agenda anyway. Without them, we biracials, blendies, FGM’s, hapas, MGM’s, mixies, mulattos, multiracials, and transracial adoptees would have a much harder road to navigate—like driving through a strange city without GPS. Can I get a shout-out to all of our Hip Hapa Homeez in da houze?!?

Believe it or not, I met this week’s featured Hip Hapa Homee through Twitter. When I visited Jade Keller’s blog, I was blown away by her stunning photography, her comical discussions about food, and her intense interest in literature. That’s Jade in the photo to the left and below.

Take a peek at her links, and then check out the Q&A that follows:

Tasting Grace: http://jadekeller.com.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/JadeKeller

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jadekeller

Q: What’s a nice multiracial girl like you doing with such an eclectic blog?

A: My blog is an extension of my love for writing and for sharing ideas with others. It’s a collection of my thoughts, dreams, desires, worries, and fears…all the things I’m thinking about. I find the written word is my favorite mode of communication. I recently discovered just how much I love writing as I’ve just finished writing my first novel and, through this website, I can keep the words flowing. I love that I can put my thoughts out there, and find others thinking about the same things. Even though we may have vastly different perspectives, it makes me feel we have things to share anyway.

Q: What are your parents’ ethnic backgrounds, how did they meet, and why were you born in Mississippi?

A: My mother was born and raised in Thailand. My father comes from a Norwegian family, but was raised in South Africa. They both emigrated to the U.S. to pursue higher education, and they met at UC Santa Barbara while my dad worked on his PhD and my mom worked on her master’s degree. Unfortunately, times were tough in those days and the only job my father could get after finishing his doctorate was at the University of Mississippi. So they moved there, and that is where I was born. But since my mother was an Asian woman, she could not get a decent job there. They would call her in for interviews and as soon as she walked in the door, they would take one look at her and tell her the position was already filled. If they did interview her, they would express doubt that she could effectively manage an office of men despite her credentials. My parents eventually decided they would be better off on welfare in California than staying any longer in Mississippi. Thankfully, once arriving in California, the job prospects turned around for the better for both my parents.

Q: Does your novel, Fatima in Corinth, involve any multiracial characters?

A: Fatima in Corinth does in fact involve a multiracial character. Fatima is the daughter of a woman from Persia (the ancient Indus region) and a traveling merchant father from ancient Syria. Her mother had died at childbirth, leaving Fatima and her father to travel the world alone together, selling wares and goods. The story opens with Fatima and her father sailing to ancient Greece (or Hellas). When they arrive in Corinth, thieves murder her father and she is taken in as a slave girl. She befriends young, heroic Aeneas, and the two share their ideas on religion, honor, duty and love. But the shrewd, calculating Istran, consumed by jealousy, tries everything to keep Fatima in her rightful place. As she tries to navigate the delicate balance of forging her own identity and freedom in a foreign culture, Fatima is caught in a power struggle, threatening her very survival. In the end, she must choose between surrender and being true to herself, regardless of the cost. It’s a novel about choosing between fitting in and being true to yourself; it’s about choosing between family and friends, between honoring the past and making your own place in the world.

Q: You’re a grad student majoring in Political Science. How do you see race playing a role in politics, particularly now that there is a biracial president?

A: Our country has a very bloody and marred past when it comes to race relations--slavery of African Americans, sending Japanese Americans to internment camps, continued denigration of Hispanic immigrants, anti-Arab sentiments especially post 9-11, the list continues. Even people we now consider white (for example, Irish and Italian people) were once considered non-white and were cast out because of it. We have a very strong history of seeking to exclude others--ironic for a nation of immigrants. While, in a way, we made many important leaps forward through the civil rights movement in trying to promote legal equality, race remains a very strong barrier against equality and unity in this nation. And I think things have gotten…I don’t want to say harder…but perhaps less straightforward, or more complex for race relations since the civil rights movement (the same is true for women’s rights). People have become complacent. They think the race issue has been “dealt with already”. They don’t see that racism now rears its ugly head in much more subtle ways, much more insidious ways that are harder to counter because they are masked. For example, Obama’s opponents hate him for his policies, yes, and they can hide behind that. But the opposition has acquired a manic tinge to it, hovering ever so close to extremism and violence, that times now are downright scary. I think his biracial background fuels this extreme hate – that, and certain members of the news media actively persecuting him and inciting such rage. You can see it on the attacks regarding the legitimacy of his citizenship, the repeated rumors/lies about him being Muslim, and the way the opposition keeps likening his name to Osama bin Laden. They’ve stopped caring whether our country succeeds so long as they can help make sure he fails. This country would be very different indeed if we were not so consumed by issues of race.

Q: You’re also an artist and photographer who is passionate about Burning Man. How do you meld your mixed-race experiences with your love for creativity?

A: I would say my mixed-race experiences actually drive my creative efforts. I think most of what I try to explore, learn, and say come from the fact that I have such a multi-faceted background and from growing up where I could understand the perspective of those around me, but still feel totally separate from it. It gave me a sense of what it means to be different, even to the point of alienation – and yet to find those universal truths that bind us all. I don’t mean to say I have any answers at all; merely that this is what I try to explore and express in my writing. It’s interesting you mention Burning Man as the prelude to this question, because Burning Man celebrates precisely this: our unique and beautiful individuality coalescing towards a higher expression of humanity.

Q: You take some great photos for your blog. Are you a professional photographer?

A: No, I was an art major in college (specializing in painting), but that’s the extent of my artistic endeavors. I use the photos to add interest to my blog and to play around with words juxtaposed against imagery. But I’ve never been formally trained as a photographer or anything. It’s my husband who is the professional. So if I need any tips, I just ask him.

Q: You love to blog about food, and Thai food has become hugely popular in the U.S. Any idea why?

A: I’m probably biased in this, considering that I grew up with Thai food. In my house, spaghetti was pretty exotic, while stir-fries and curries were the usual fare. I think Thai food has such a lure because it combines so many different flavors: salty, sweet, sour, spicy, etc. Many other ethnic foods tend to focus on very similar combinations of flavors, but Thai food has a lot of variety. Plus really good Thai food relies on super fresh ingredients, allowing for healthy choices, and it is totally customizable for different diets, so it makes it easier for vegans or others on special diets to still have yummy options.

Q: You’ve said your mother didn’t make a concerted effort to teach you the Thai language, but did she raise as if you were Thai?

A: I’m not sure my mom consciously raised me as if I were Thai, but there are definite values and perspectives that we both share that I would say are more Thai than American. For example, deference towards elders and towards authority runs quite strong in me. For the longest time, I could never argue with my parents because it was such a sign of disrespect. To this day I find it difficult to argue with others, especially if they are angry and yelling and talking over one another. I much prefer to discuss things calmly and coolly, with each person waiting their turn to speak; and so I tend to also keep my anger and temper buried much deeper under the surface when it does get provoked. Food is also deeply important to me. I place great importance in family (and friends) collecting together around the dinner table and sharing food and conversation together every night. I view the making and preparation of food as an art in itself, and the sharing of food as a deeply soulful experience. I also have a habit of taking off my shoes when I enter the home, and I believe smiles and an accepting attitude towards others will go a long way towards soothing tensions.

Thank you for those cool words, cool lady Jade.

The big news this week was the story of a Justice of Peace in Louisiana who refused to marry an interracial couple based on, get this, his certainty that their mixed-race offspring wouldn’t be accepted by either side. Now, how this justice is so sure about that is really moot since what he did was illegal. Still, it’s interesting to note that there are still folks out there who believe they can make decisions for others based merely on their own opinions.

If you want to read the article, go to the Hip Hapa Homeez group page on Facebook. While you’re there, join the Watermelon Sushi Fan page where we post updates about our film. Remember, we still have Hapa*Teez t-shirts for you and if you make a purchase, let us know so we spell your name right in the rear crawl credits. And, don’t forget to tweet us on Twitter. You may just end up being our next featured Hip Hapa Homee.

Until we meet again, I cooly remain…

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Aaron Woolfolk And Danny Glover's Big Adventure In Japan

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:06:00 +0000

Konichi-wa and Habari Gani, Hip Hapa Homeez!

Welcome back to Watermelon Sushi World where we share our multicultural stories. If you’ve got a tale you’d like to communicate, please contact us at hiphapa@comcast.net

This week’s Hip Hapa Homee is filmmaker Aaron Woolfolk, in the photo here directing actors Bennet Guillory and Danny Glover in his latest film The Harimaya Bridge. The photo at the end of the blog is a scene from the film. Check out the trailer below for a glimpse of this drama about an African American man who travels to Japan where his son has died.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V62zX90PS5w

Q: What’s a nice African American California guy like you doing making a film about cross-cultural issues in Japan?

A: Over the course of the production there were days when I would ask myself that very question. I guess it goes back to me going to Japan on the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program after I got out of college. Then, I returned to the U.S. and went to graduate film school. At that time, I started to think about how I could establish a career as a filmmaker and what could make me stand out. I had loved my experience in Japan. And, it was still very much a part of my life. I was often going back to visit. So, I thought that, film-wise, maybe I could do something concerning Japan.

I started thinking about and writing The Harimaya Bridge in film school. But I knew I had to show that me, one day, making a feature film in rural Japan wasn’t a crazy idea. So for my thesis project I wrote and directed two short films in Japan: the comedy Eki (The Station) and the drama Kuroi Hitsuji (Black Sheep). Those shorts were very successful in terms of exposure and awards, and that started me on my way.

Also, I was born and raised in Oakland, California. Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco were my stomping grounds growing up. That’s a very multicultural environment. In college at the University of California at Berkeley, one of my majors was Ethnic Studies. So this kind of stuff has always been a part of my life.

Q: You taught English in rural Japan—not a big city like Tokyo. Were people there accepting of you as a black American?

A: On the JET Program I was placed in Kochi Prefecture, which is a very rural place. I lived in a town of 30,000 people. I taught in schools in really remote towns and villages. This was back in the early 90’s, and for 99% of the people there I was the first black person they had ever seen in the flesh. It was quite an experience--being the focus of everyone all the time. The reaction you’d get simply by walking down the street; literally causing traffic accidents because a driver can’t believe what it is he’s seeing—you--so much so that, while he’s staring, he forgets his car is still in motion. Stuff like that.

Peoples’ reaction to me being black was interesting. I’d often get comments like, “You must be a fantastic dancer”, “You must be really good in basketball”, or “Show me your best slam dunk”. I’d walk into a club with friends and the place would literally stop--just completely stop--because everyone expected me to get on the dance floor and perform a miracle. Or, I’d have junior high school basketball coaches that had been coaching for years who assumed that I could teach their students more about the game than they could. A lot of things I just had to laugh at.

But here’s the thing: Most of the people saying and doing such things didn’t mean to insult me. They had no context for their words and actions doing so. They were simply going by images of blacks that had been imported to Japan by western media for decades. I always kept this in mind. And, I figured that my presence there was an opportunity to break down those kinds of stereotypes. And indeed, most people were very kind, helpful, and really happy to have me around. Sure, there were some knuckleheads, but there are people like that everywhere. Overall, it was a wonderful experience. I loved it. And I made so many friends. A lot of them remain among my closest friends to this day.

Q: How much did being fluent in Japanese help in making The Harimaya Bridge?

A: Thankfully hardly any because my Japanese is horrible! I can definitely get around, and I can have easy conversations with people in social settings. But when it comes to doing business, forget it. Too risky. And on the set, things were moving so fast, and the Japanese was being spoken so fast, it was difficult for me to keep up. I used some Japanese. But there were also translators to help bridge the communication gap, and it went fine.

I think what ultimately made The Harimaya Bridge happen was a combination of several things, among them: 1) my passion for the project and never giving up on it over the years, 2) people loving the script, 3) my short films, 4) Danny Glover being attached as an actor and executive producer, 5) a lot of the people on board, including producer Ko Mori and executive producer Naoshi Yoda, 6) my long relationship with Japan, and 7) my attitude towards Japan. That last point, I can’t stress enough how important that is. The head of the studio that provided most of the film’s financing told me he really liked the respect I had towards Japan, its people, history, culture, etc. And he liked how it showed in the script. Actually, I’d gone into writing the script wanting to avoid stuff you commonly find in western movies about non-western places--subtle, and many times not-so-subtle, messages about supremacy of western values, culture, religion, methods, etc. I’ve always hated that kind of imperial arrogance in movies, in foreign policy, and in the practices of some foreigners I’ve encountered in Japan and other places. So I wanted The Harimaya Bridge to avoid that. People in the movie industry there recognized that, and it definitely made a difference in them getting behind the film and me as the director. It’s not that I was pandering or anything. People who know me will tell you that is how I’ve always looked at the world. So, the folks in Japan appreciated my attitude and how it showed up in my work.

Q: Just from viewing the trailer, it appears your film has a strong Japanese sensibility.

A: From the very beginnings of this project I was inspired by the pastoral Japanese films I saw when I first got into international cinema as a youth. Movies like Kurosawa’s Ikiru (To Live) and Ozu’s Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story). I love those films. They changed me as a person. So, for me, The Harimaya Bridge has always been a kind of homage to them.

I also had in mind that I was making a film for a Japanese audience as well as an American one. I’d actually experimented with this--playing to dual audiences--when I made my short films Eki and Kuroi Hitsuji. I wanted to make a film in which American audiences would recognize elements of what they’re used to in American movies, and in which Japanese audiences would recognize elements that they’re used to in Japanese movies.

And, it’s funny. The Harimaya Bridge had a nationwide theatrical release in Japan during the summer and, prior to its opening, I spent five weeks traveling the country doing press, attending preview screenings, doing promotional events, etc. There was a lot of love for the film. Several people said they couldn’t believe it was written and directed by someone who isn’t Japanese. A lot of critics said, “Wow, you made a Japanese film!” Many people--both moviegoers and journalists--said to me some variation of, “You’re an American, but you must have a Japanese soul.” And, a lot of people thanked me for making a film that shows Japanese as real, normal, everyday people and not the usual stereotypes they see from Hollywood movies. I also got quite a few people saying how refreshing it was to see such a drama with African American characters. Such comments always brought a smile to my face. So I’m really glad I took the approach towards making the film that I did.

Q: You include scenes with statues of Sakamoto Ryoma, an important Japanese historical figure. How much do you know about Japanese culture and history?

A: Sakamoto Ryoma was a samurai who sought to overthrow Japan’s feudal system and was assassinated in Kyoto in 1867. I think Ryoma was really cool. All the things he did, and the lasting impact he had on a nation by his death at age 32! Hell, when I was 32...

But my knowledge of him is due to my connection to Kochi Prefecture. Ryoma was born and raised in Kochi, so he is a huge point of pride for the people there. Being in Kochi, you can’t help but learn about him and his historical role in Japan. His image is everywhere. Everyone wants to tell you his story. Everyone refers to him by his given name—Ryoma--as if they personally knew him. He’s just so ingrained in the soul and spirit of Kochi. And, there is the famous statue of him at Katsurahama Beach, which appears in the film. Actually, several images of him appear throughout The Harimaya Bridge beginning with the opening credits. It’s said that the men in Kochi aspire to be like Ryoma and the women in Kochi seek a man like Ryoma. Actually, he’s popular all over Japan...one of the country’s more beloved historical figures.

As for me being knowledgeable about Japan, I always tell people that I most certainly am not an expert on Japan or anything like that. For me to think I am would be delusional on my part and an insult to folks in Japan. Rather, I think I’ve spent enough time there that I have a perspective on Japan, one that I hoped folks there would be interested in seeing. Kind of like how many of my favorite movies about America and American life are by non-American filmmakers who have spent enough time here to have a legitimate perspective on the U.S.

Q: What was it like having both Japanese and African American cast members on the set? Were there any obvious clashes in acting methods due to cultural differences?

A: It was wonderful! There was so much sharing and give-and-take over the course of the production. Here you had two groups of actors who came from two different acting traditions, and two different approaches to the craft. There was a lot of curiosity and discussion. “How do actors do such-and-such in Japan?” “Why don’t actors do such-and-such in America?” It was really fascinating to see. There were some clashes in acting methods, but it wasn’t really disruptive. We just worked it out. And in the end, things came together beautifully.

There are some deep issues that are addressed in The Harimaya Bridge. It was interesting talking to the actors about them. I’d usually start the discussions, and then I’d go silent and let the actors talk to each other. There was a lot of honesty and sharing and frank talk. And then they’d use that and put it into their performances. There was also a lot of fun, a lot of laughter.

Lead actor Ben Guillory told me it was the best professional experience of his career. And he’s been doing this for nearly 40 years. So when he told me that, I was like, “Wow!”

Q: Does Danny Glover speak Japanese in the film?

A: He doesn’t because his character does not need to speak it, although we did bring him over to Japan to shoot scenes there. He really loved it, and the people loved him. The cast and crew taught him a few words and phrases in Japanese. People in Kochi were thrilled by that. Danny’s a really kind person who enjoys giving people a good memory. Now there are several folks in rural Japan with photos who say to anyone who will listen, “That’s me with Danny Glover. He said hello to me in Japanese.”

Q: Will you be making more films in Japan?

A: I definitely want to make American movies. In fact, the project I’m working on now is set in the U.S. in the deep south. At the same time, I’ve always had a deep love and reverence for international cinema. It was always a dream of mine to be a filmmaker who could make movies in America and overseas. As it turned out, I ended up living and working in Japan, and that led to me having an ongoing relationship with that country. And that led to me being able to make my first feature film. I’d love to make more films in Japan in the future. But I always remind myself that it’s one thing to make a single feature film, as difficult as that is. But it’s something else altogether to make a career out of this. So, at this point I’m not really thinking so much about, “How many films can I make in Japan as opposed to America?” Right now I’m just focused on trying to get a second film off the ground.

Arigato gozaimashita, Aaron. Okay, Hip Hapa Homeez, while The Harimaya Bridge recently ended its theatrical run in Japan, it will be released on DVD there on December 11. And, for those of you stateside, the film is currently on the film festival circuit and will be released theatrically in the United States next spring. If you’re on Oahu, check out the screening October 16 and19 at HIFF. And, if you’re in SoCal, go to the San Diego Asian Film Festival for screenings on October 24 and 26.

Speaking of Afros and Asians together, here’s a shout-out to Sky Obercam, co-founder of Visual Culture blog, and editor of Clutch Magazine, for sending this timely link about a blasian couple—Gabrielle Union and John Cho on a TV series. She calls it bumblebee lovin’:

http://clutchmagonline.com/newsgossipinfo/bumble-bee-lovin%E2%80%99/

Until next week, here are the usual messages from our sponsors:

Buy a Hapa* Teez t-shirt and support our film. Be sure we get your name if you make purchase so we can give you a rear crawl credit.

Join the Hip Hapa Homeez group page on Facebook where we post relevant info about biracials, blasians, blendies, FGM’s, hapas, MGM’s, mixies, mulattos, multiracials and transracial adoptees. Did we leave anyone out?

And, while you’re on Facebook, join our Watermelon Sushi Fan page where we keep you updated with news of our film—like our latest line-up of Associate Producers Roni Wheeler, Pearl, Jr. and Derrick Holmes.

Finally, follow watermelonsushi on Twitter where we have been posting dialogue from the Watermelon Sushi script.

In multi-culti solidarity, I am,

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Taking A Chance

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:57:00 +0000

Big-ups to you Hip Hapa Homeez and Watermelon Sushi Fans for your continued love. This week’s Hip Hapa Homee is Chance, in the photo, who solemnly hosts an interactive website about being mixed. Check it out here: http://www.mgmix.com; then, read the Q&A below. This is some serious stuff, and sure to invite controversy!

Q: What’s a nice multiracial guy like you doing moderating MGmix.com?

A: MGmix is a multiracial website for biracials and multi-generation mixed people. It caters to biracials, and the issues and views that affect them in society. At the same time, there are many people who are not biracial but are multi-generation mixed. But, due to the "One Drop Rule", the majority of them have been labeled "black" and raised black/African American. Those of the multi-generation mixed, who could pass for white or another race, could escape this fate if they wanted.

The website also deals with topics about other mixed-race groups like Creoles, and mixed-race ethnic history from other countries. MGmix deals with biracialism, and the study of mixed-race people who are not biracial, but are also mixed. It's good that biracials get to know a little history about other biracials of the past who contributed to America politically, economically, religiously, and fought for the rights of blacks and mixed-race people.

I wanted to make MGmix a site that does not limit itself to one type of topic. That is why you find articles and commentaries on many subjects from biracialism, multi-generation mixed, Creoles, international mixed, politics, economics, religion, celebrities, music, etc. The more diverse topics you have, the more interesting the site. And, seldom will you have people getting bored because the same old subject is always posted. Variety is unity.

Q: What was your motivation for creating this site?

A: I visited many other multiracial websites, and I noticed that there were some things lacking in some of them--not all, just some. I noticed that some did not have a section for readers to leave comments, so there could be no feedback. When there is no opportunity for feedback, it discourages readers and they don’t return frequently. Then, there are some biracial and multiracial sites that have a forum which allows feedback. Now, having a forum is very good, but many readers don’t want to participate in a forum all the time. I also noticed that some biracial and multiracial sites were not updated frequently. I have seen posted articles sitting on the front page of some sites for over a year.

At some sites, there were many biracials who felt dissatisfied for various reasons--one of them was that some biracials felt they were being unfairly labeled "anti-black" because they disagreed with blacks pushing the “One Drop Rule”. Any type of criticism of blacks about certain issues would sometimes be met with an accusation of being "anti-black". Other biracials and some blacks would make these allegations against other biracials. Some were anti-black and many others were not--they were just stating observations they had made; like blacks frequently pushing the "One Drop Rule".

I felt that there were not enough websites out there for biracials and other multi-generation mixed people, and this lack of other sites forced people to have to settle for sites that were already well-known. So I decided to create a site for biracials that would welcome multi-generation mixed people, Creoles, monoracials, and supporters who were interested. I remember feeling a deep sorrow at times for many mixed-race people at other sites because of their being criticized just because they spoke the truth about certain things.

Q: But there's no personal information about you on your site. Who are you?

A: I’m not biracial; I’m a multi-generation mixed person. My ancestry on both my father and mother’s side of the family are mixed. On my father’s side there is black and white, on my mother’s side there is black, white, and Native American. I was raised by my mother, and she always said we were mixed and that is what stuck with me. She didn't talk constantly about race and ethnicity, but when the subject came up she would say we were mixed.

Now, some African Americans, biracials, and other people say it does not count if you have white and other ancestry from the past. I say this, I have never seen a black ancestor yet you call me black (African American). So if I have never seen a white, black, or Native American ancestor, then I guess that leaves the slate open for me to label myself. Notice people don’t challenge Latinos (who are multi-generation mixed) about their mixed ancestry. Many Latinos have never seen a white ancestor from Spain nor a Native Aztec, Mayan, or Inca ancestor. Many Latinos claim to be white even though they are visibly mixed, and they have that right even though they have never met a white ancestor. You are what you are, especially if it is visible and people take notice of it. Therefore, it counts.

For me, a mulatto is a person with one black parent and one white parent or a person who is mixed with black and white ancestry--especially if it is visible. Also phenotype (physical appearance), if a debate breaks out about whether some light-skinned African American is to be considered mulatto or not. The deciding factor that doesn't lie is physical appearance. Therefore, mulatto is also a physical appearance. Many biracials who are not born light-skinned have verified that often they are seen as "just black". Many light-skinned African Americans can verify that they are often asked by other African Americans and people from other ethnic groups what they are mixed with. This proves that phenotype carries more weight than just being biracial. So, when a person says they are mulatto, you should ask what type--biracial mulatto or multi-generation mulatto. I’m sure some biracials find it shocking to see many mixed-race, light-skinned African Americans walking around without them being directly biracial. Especially, those biracials who are darker than the multi-generation mixed-race person.

If the mixed-race ancestry of multi-generation mixed Africa Americans didn’t count, then why is it that they, in some situations, are chosen over darker African Americans simply because they look "less black" and more mixed? Obviously, the choosers are seeing something other than black. If mixed-race ancestry didn’t count, then why do people take notice of hair texture; blue, green, hazel eyes; light skin; soft European features, and features of other ethnic groups one is mixed with? If mixed-race ancestry didn’t count, then why do many light-skinned African Americans and Creoles have to defend themselves from accusations by darker skinned blacks and other people who claim that light-skinned African Americans and Creoles think they are better because they are mixed? This proves that people recognize differences.

Q : How has your racial make-up affected your life?

A: From my life experiences, people go by how you look more than anything. I did not know that I was considered black until the third grade. I was sitting in class one day at school, and another third grade teacher came into the classroom and spoke with my teacher, then left. My teacher stood up and said there was a black kid running around on the playground with his head down chasing other kids. He had something crawling in his hair and they found out it was lice. So the teacher wanted all of her black students to stand up and form a line.

There were white students in the class, but since the boy with lice was black I guess she felt it was better to check the black kids’ hair instead. I did not get up. I felt fearful because I knew that I was mixed with black, but I didn’t look like a black kid with dark black skin or caramel brown skin. For me, black was a color. I have yellowish brown skin. I knew I was not white either because I didn’t look like them in color. I was the only yellow kid in the room; none of the others looked like me. I felt afraid and very scared because I wasn’t sure what I was because I didn’t fit in either the black or white group in appearance.

I stood up and continued to stand just looking at all the black kids lined up until my teacher looked at me, called my name, and said 'come on'. I felt a relief not because I saw myself as black, but because the pressure of not knowing was gone. At least I was put somewhere and this took the fear away, and the fear of worrying that the other kids were going to start staring at me. I have experienced racism from other black kids growing up because I was lighter and some kids liked me a lot because I was lighter. I could pick up on these things as a kid. Some adults and kids would make compliments about my skin color. Being a light-skinned boy at times was tough, and at times very rewarding because I could tell people felt a little comfortable with me because of it.

As an adult, the same factors played themselves out with certain darker and sometimes caramel brown skin blacks creating problems for me for being lighter. Being lighter, I noticed that black females seen to find me a little more attractive--not all, but many. This is because of the white ancestry showing up or some other non-black ancestry that is visible. But when I am among other females from other ethnic backgrounds, some of them find the black ancestry more attractive. Some employers feel a little more comfortable with you if you are light-skinned, too. Being mixed-race and having all of these wonderful and interesting experiences constantly reminds me that I’m seen as mixed and not "black only" all the time. If you have to defend it, then it is a part of you.

Q: Briefly explain the FGM v. MGM battle.

A: An FGM is a first-generation mixed-race person, meaning a biracial. MGM is a multi-generation mixed-race person, meaning the person is mixed in their ancestry but are not biracial. Some biracials, but not all, get angry when they see someone who is not biracial being labeled as mixed. They feel that it should only be them being labeled as mixed. One of reasons for this is that they feel that people who are not biracial, and are being labeled as mixed, actually helps keep biracials seen as black. But they fail to understand that if you don’t look black by America’s standards, then you don’t have to worry about it. They seem to hold a special anger towards light-skinned African Americans because they look mixed; and, some even more mixed than some biracials. I noticed that it is mainly biracials who can’t pass for white or another race that are the most hostile.

Light-skinned African Americans are the result of biracials and multi-generation mulattos who married into the black race. Matter of fact, this is the origin of the white ancestry among African Americans in general regardless of their phenotype and skin color. Biracials look like African Americans because African Americans are already mixed. Biracials who can pass for white or another ethnicity look like those multi-generation mixed African Americans who could pass for white or another race.

An example is former Senator Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. who looked like a white man with some Native American ancestry. Powell was not biracial. Walter White had an octoroon phenotype, and even walked among whites down South to investigate lynchings that had happened to blacks. He looked totally white, and this is why he could walk among whites to investigate the lynchings. Walter White was not biracial. He was the president of the NAACP for 20 years. W.E.B. Dubois was not biracial, but notice in many books and articles written about him, or mentioning him, that he was called black and mulatto.

Powell and White were MGM’s. Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington were biracial, but Powell and White both could pass for white. Powell once joined a white fraternity while in college, and they later did a background check and discovered that he was labeled "Negro". He was then told that his membersmembership had been revoked by the white fraternity at his college. All of these men, whether they were FGM or MGM, helped African Americans progress.

Q: What's the difference between being African American and black?

A: African American is an ethnic group. Ethnic groups are made up of culture not phenotype, while black is more of a description of a phenotype (physical appearance). Many people around the world are black, but not everybody is an African American. African Americans descend from the survivors of American slavery. Those black and mixed-race slaves who came out of slavery are the survivors, even though some blacks and mixed-race were already free before slavery.

Q: What do you think of Obama and his racial identification?

A: Barack Obama is not by birth an African American according to what America considers to be African American. Neither one of his parents descend from black American slaves. This not being an African American by birth actually benefits him and played a role in why he was elected president. I feel he likes being a part of the African American ethnicity, and at the same time he understands his uniqueness of not being born as one. This forms his personality, and helps him view things more with an open mind because he did not have a black parent to pass along to him black anger at whites. He was raised by his white mother and her family in Hawai'i, so he understands that ethnic group. At the same time, he realizes he is seen as black and, before he became a famous politician, he was treated accordingly. Obama has related some of his experiences with racism. He's mentioned that, because of being black, how hard it was for him to get a cab.

Obama is biracial/mixed-race, and I feel he is very proud of that. He sees himself as mixed-race, white and black, and, therefore, an internationalist who can touch all people around the world. His father Barack Obama, Sr. was Muslim, and he himself has studied Islam, the Jewish Talmud, and the Bible.

Believe it or not, Obama is a part of the new mulatto elite, and it’s not by choice either. African Americans helped get him elected as president. They saw hope in him. The mulatto elite will continue as long as African Americans continue to not be able to get past certain problems that they have created for themselves; obstacles like lingering racism, the lingering effects of white social discrimination in all spheres of society, police brutality, etc.

W.E.B. Dubois spoke of a talented tenth, and Obama is one. African Americans, especially the darker ones, have often looked at the talented tenth as elitist. If they were like every other African American, they would not be able to help very much. The talented tenth is the result of a person making efforts to educate themselves and help African Americans and humanity in general regardless of ethnic background. The problem that has been noted by some African Americans is that many of these talented men have always been mixed-race, light-skinned or biracial, and this is why the tenth was seen as elitist.

Many multi-generation mixed men and biracials who helped African Americans progress education-wise, politically, and economically saw themselves as mixed-race. This, no doubt, played a role in influencing their personalities and behaviors. Like Obama, they were seen as black yet not "officially black" but more from a mixed-race group. Any group should be grateful that there are men who think outside the box and have a more open mind which leads to new ideas about how to go about accomplishing something. Barack Obama enjoys being biracial and enjoys being an adopted member of the African American ethnic group. By becoming president, he has helped bring attention to multiracial awareness. This interest and awareness will continue to grow nationally and internationally.

Q: Have race relations improved with his election?

A: Race relations improve with time. Just look at how bad race relations were just 45 years ago in the 1960s, and worse the farther you go back in time. The success of the Civil Rights movement helped destroy legalized segregation and race relations improved a lot. The country and the world are becoming more mixed racially and culturally, and this is a very good thing. There is a lot we can learn from each other, contributing our genetics and culture into one mixed world. I want to leave some footprints in the sand by contributing what I can and by doing my part.

Wow! That was a lot of information, and we thank Chance for sharing. Tune in again next week for another featured Hip Hapa Homee, and if you have something to unload hollah at hiphapa@comcast.net

For those of you who have purchased a Hapa*Teez t-shirt, please contact us with the correct spelling of your name for your rear crawl credit. And for those of you who haven't yet bought one, we are working on new designs especially for men and children. Sign up for our newsletter at the link above to stay updated.

As always, you can join our Hip Hapa Homeez group and Watermelon Sushi Fan page on Facebook. And, you can follow us on Twitter.

Until next time, I am...

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Poetic Powwows

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:34:00 +0000

Yo! Check out who’s in the Hip Hapa Homeez house this week. None other than Asani Winfrey Charles--who may or may not be related to Your Hip Hapa. I first met Asani when she lived in Long Beach, and I in Santa Monica. Contacting me to inquire whether we might be kin to each other (and Oprah), Asani emailed me a lengthy story about the Winfrey clan. Somewhere in our conversation, we discovered that we both knew the rapper Miwa Lyric. Eventually, the three of us met for dinner and have been in each other’s worlds ever since. That’s Asani in the photos, above and below.

A poet, a high school English teacher, a wife and a mother, Asani defines her writing style as “eclectically narrative”. Her childhood, steeped in multiculturalism, is reflected in her work which has been published in Ahani: Indigenous American Poetry, Yellow Medicine Review, and the forthcoming I Was Indian, edited by Susan DeerCloud.

Asani has also released a spoken word CD called Word Songs for Grandmas. Darrell Blackbear, Sr. of The Bear Claw Singers joins her on several pieces, which they refer to as recording "poetry over powwow".

When she’s not teaching or writing, Asani dances Southern Women's Cloth at powwows. A resident of Texas, her dream is to buy an RV and travel the powwow trail from coast to coast with her family.

View Asani’s links below, then check out what she has to say in the Q&A following:

http://www.myspace.com/asanicharles

http://www.pw.org/content/asani_charles

http://heyokamagazine.com/heyoka_magazine.31.asani_charles.htm

Q: How did a nice mixed-race girl like you end up being a poetess?

A: I was exposed to poetry at a very young age. I remember my mother reading me classic fairy tales and Nikki Giovanni (as early as 6 or 7 years-old) before I went to bed. The cover of Grimm's Fairy Tales scared me so I would ask her to read Nikki instead. Then, one day in second grade, we were asked to write a poem about spring. I did, and my mother still brags about my first piece, The Trees Are Here.

Q: What are your parents’ ethnicities, and what did each teach you about their cultures?

A: Both of my parents are “redblack” mixedbloods with a little extra for flavor. My mother is Choctaw, black and Louisiana French, and my father is Chickasaw, black and English. I guess I was raised black, but our concept of blackness was quite different than most families, I think. Both parents grew up outside of Oklahoma, so their parents infused a lot of Indian ways in their rearing without saying it was so. My maternal grandmother told me our ancestors were Indian as well as black, but nothing else was said (outside of one of our matriarchal aunts who I took for being senile). I saw my maternal great grandmother, my only full African roots, as the cornerstone of the family and that was that. My father's mother was very quiet about her people and didn't share anything with me until I was an adult.

Q: How much does your poetry reflect your multiracial heritage?

A: I believe poetry is life in print, so my poetry reflects my life and all its facets. I see multiple ideas and themes running through my work. Multiracialism or multiculturalism appears a lot, as well as politics and verses about nature.

Q: How do your three children identify racially?

A: My three children are interesting. They share the same father, my husband, but he too comes from more than one root, so all three kids are unique in coloring and appearance. They each identify as both Indian and black, but are realistic about how society perceives them.

Q: As both a mother and a teacher, how do you present multiracial issues to your classroom and at home?

A: My kids are raised to be culturally aware of their heritages and of others. They appreciate diversity and are taught to never marginalize cultures. My students are not that fortunate, so I am a huge proponent of multicultural education. For many students, I am the first Indian they've ever met, so I use the classroom to dispel myths and lies, and incorporate multicultural literature to broaden students' knowledge about people from different cultural perspectives.

Q: What do you think is the biggest misunderstanding between African Americans and Native Americans?

A: The biggest misunderstanding is also the saddest, and that is that too many African Americans have little or no knowledge of American Indians at all. One would think that with our marginalized history, African Americans would appreciate Indians' shared struggles, but the knowledge just isn't there, so the oppressed oppress others. About African Americans, many American Indians assume blacks simply have their hands out like whites or white "wannabees". Some of that assumption is based on true experiences, but it is not the norm. Indians don't realize that African Americans have had family histories erased due to slavery, so often blacks are not looking for tribal benefits but a real sense of family history.

Q: How long have you been dancing at powwows? Personally, I’ve attended them in California, Hawai’i and Washington State so I’m curious to know if you have a favorite.

A: I have been dancing about 13 years now. I now realize I was spoiled in California. Across Indian Country, powwow season runs from March to mid-September, but dances in Southern California are pretty consistent each weekend and close by. North Texas is a different story. We have a few local powwows, but the rest are a bit of a drive. As for favorites, I have to go with Cal State Long Beach and my alma mater, UCLA.

Thank you, Asani for sharing your fascinating family history and love for culture. If you’re a Hip Hapa Homee with an interesting tale, hollah at hiphapa@comcast.net

Meanwhile, here’s an article and a YouTube clip about a Chinese African American woman living in Shanghai who some Chinese claim shouldn’t be considered Chinese at all even though she was born and raised in China:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090925/wl_time/08599192558900

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTExNzMwNDk2.html

I also read a piece in Parade Magazine last weekend about Caucasian actor Pernell Roberts who rose to fame as the eldest son of Ben Cartwright on the TV series Bonanza. He was the fearless son, one of three, who always dressed in black. Well, unbeknownst to Your Hip Hapa, Roberts was also a civil rights activist who marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Reportedly, he left the show because he felt NBC was racist for allowing white actors to play minority characters--like Marlo Thomas acting as a Chinese woman. Actor Victor Sen Yung played Hop Sing, the Cartwright’s loyal Chinese cook, but I didn’t read anything specific about Roberts’ feelings over Yung’s subservient role probably because it was a reality for Chinese during that time in the West. For Roberts, the highly rated Bonanza was, well, a bonanza. So, for him to walk away over the way people of color were portrayed was monumental. Here’s a shout-out to Pernell Roberts!

Finally to Hip Hapa Homeez’ Number One Fan, Ms. Paulette T., thank you for this link:

http://books.google.com/books?id=9d9FC -gcWaAC&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89&dq=magnus+morner+race+chart&source=bl&ots=rLOvL-yqRE&sig=cDfRRjVuZEb3r5MG3Lik3Fan91E&hl=en&ei=8yG0SsDTApG-sgO8u6yeDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#v=onepage&q=&f=false

As always, big ups to all of you Hip Hapa Homeez for your continued support. We especially appreciate your purchases of our Hapa*Teez t-shirts. Don’t forget to contact us when you buy one so we can add your name to our list of credits for the Watermelon Sushi film. And, remember we’re on Facebook where you can join our Watermelon Sushi Fan Page and Hip Hapa Homeez group, and on Twitter where you can follow lines of dialogue from our Watermelon Sushi script. And, that list of Ning sites I promised last week is being compiled even as we read and write.

Until next Wednesday, I am...

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Peace Loving Brides Of War

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:35:00 +0000

Shortly after World War II, American GI’s married the girlfriends they’d met in the countries where they were sent to fight. A lot of those wives came from the losing side of the war—most notably Germany and Japan--although two of my best friends in high school had mothers from Austria and France.

The term “war bride” was used to describe those ladies who essentially married men who invaded their nations. Personally, I like to say that my Japanese mother never married a war so why is she labeled as the wife of one?

While the difficulties of growing up biracial are significant, having a foreign parent is no piece of cake either. As the white American children at our school carried tin lunch boxes adorned with popular cartoon figures, my sister and I endured the humiliation of oblong leatherette lunch bags embroidered with a Japanese crest. Trust me, it was so not cool to display Japanese symbols back in the day when people still freely spouted the word “Jap”. For my sister and me, our mother’s foreign-ness was cause for shame. Today, of course, we feel lucky to have had such a loving okasan inundating us with her rich culture. But for a child singled out because of a foreign parent, being unique among her peers was not necessarily welcomed.

This week’s Hip Hapa Homee was such a child, too. Meet Michele Thomas, aka Belgian War Baby, whose photo appears above. Michele created and manages a website dedicated to war brides. Check it out; then, read our interview with her, below:

http://www.geocities.com/us_warbrides/

Q: What’s a nice half-Belgian girl like you doing with a website about World War II war brides?

A: I became interested in war brides back in the 1980’s when I asked my mother, a lady I met one day in the supermarket who was also Belgian, and her friend (a war bride from France) to have lunch. At the time I was living in Northern Louisiana and didn’t know of anyone there who talked like my mom. Each war bride brought along her daughter, so there were seven of us. We daughters heard stories about our mothers that we had never heard before. It was very interesting. I knew I had to learn more about these strong women who did not speak English yet married American GI’s and left their families behind to start new lives.

Q: When did you start collecting these women’s stories?

A: I started my website in 1999, and my first answered questionnaire and stories from strangers started at that time.

Q: What is the most unusual story you’ve heard from a WWII war bride?

A: There are so many! It’s amazing to me that some of the brides would leave children behind in orphanages or with family members. Some women were also married when they had affairs with good-looking GI’s and ended up giving their children away. There are also stories about women being abandoned after arriving in the U.S.--the U.S. had given these women a one-way ticket here.

Q: What was it like for your mother to experience war as a civilian in Belgium?

A: It was very hard because the Germans were in her homeland. Her father was taken prisoner for awhile, and she was also questioned by the SS for being a spy. She was a high school girl on a field trip to the Atlantic Ocean and bought a red, white and blue nautical scarf as a souvenir. The SS took her in, and her father had to convince them that she had only purchased a souvenir. She was so scared. It was hard for her seeing so many friends disappear or put in prisons.

And, like most war brides, she met my father at a dance.

Q: I’ve said before that white Americans with foreign mothers share similar experiences with people of color. While it’s true that you could blend easier into the mainstream than me, culturally, you’re still different. In what ways did your mother bring you up differently from the average American kid?

A: One of the biggest things is the fact that we were not prejudiced. My mother and father were divorced in 1949, and my mother’s parents and brother moved to the U.S. out of fear of the Germans. This was the second time the Germans took over Belgium. I grew up in what I call “my own United Nations”. My mother’s friends were all Europeans from France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany and Poland. When we had a picnic, people would stare at us. The young men would be playing soccer--considered a strange game back then. We dressed differently, ate different foods, and would speak in another language others didn’t understand. I often heard Americans say, “Go back to where you came from.”

Q: What are the WWII war bride reunions like?

A: They’re wonderful! These ladies, mostly in their late 80’s, are full of life. They love to tell jokes--many dirty ones. They love to sing and dance. We are interviewing these women on DVD. Their stories are so sad, yet so funny. I love listening to them. They are so strong. A common thread among them is, “We made our choices and now we have to live with them.”

Q: You and I are who we are because of war. Are you a dove or hawk?

A: Gee, that’s a hard question. I guess a little of both. I’m very easygoing, but I will fight for myself and others who are treated badly because of what life gave them at the start. Judge me for me. I don’t care for people who can’t get past their own childhoods. After all, you had no control as a child but once you’re an adult it is up to you how you live your life. Hey, and no one calls me a “dumb foreigner” anymore.

Merci beaucoups, Madame Michele, for your dedication to our WWII war bride mothers! Your commitment and devotion are appreciated.

I also asked Michele about white English women who were forced by the British government to put their half black children fathered by African American GI’s in orphanages. Michele sent this interesting article in response:

http://www.blackpresence.co.uk/2009/03/the-african-mission-liverpool-england-1940s/

If any of you Hip Hapa Homeez are in the area, please note that the World War II War Brides Reunion will be held in San Francisco from September 30 through Oct 4 at the Double Tree Airport Hotel. This event is open to all war brides and their families. If you can't stay for its entirety, then just stop by to see what's going on. You’ll find a lively group of people who enjoy having a great time. The “My Story” section of the reunion will be on Tuesday from 2 pm to 6 pm, and ladies are invited to tell their stories. They will be taped and a DVD will be made. Last year’s DVD was a wonderful success, according to Michele.

Here’s a timely article about filmmakers who plan to document Japanese war brides:

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/ohio/x265522455/Faculty-members-filming-documentary-about-Japanese-war-brides

Until next week, please remember to join our Facebook group, Hip Hapa Homeez, and our Watermelon Sushi Fan page, too. Follow watermelonsushi on Twitter, check out the film at http://www.watermelonsushi.com, and our t-shirts at http://www.cafepress.com/hapateez

Next week, I’ll add a list of all the Ning sites where Watermelon Sushi can also be viewed.

Bonne nuit mes amis et amants!

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Marcus Patrick-Patrick Marcus, Mixed Raw Vegan Movie Star

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:50:00 +0000

Cheerio to all you Hip Hapa Homeez! This week, British actor Patrick Marcus Osborne joins us to reveal more than just his buffo bod. Check out Marcus Patrick in the photos and at the link below, and then read what he has to say about his life as a multiracial raw vegan. Deep!

http://www.marcus-patrick.com

Q: What’s a nice mixed-race guy like you doing showing off his abs and pecs?

A: I used to run around my house naked as a kid. My parents were very liberal so it was always considered a fun thing that my sister and I would run around the house naked for fun!

Q: What led you to become a raw vegan, and why are you such a strong advocate of that lifestyle?

A: I actually said a prayer to God/The Universe that I was no good to Earth if I had to sing or rap negative songs, become an egomaniacal actor, sell products I don't believe in, or fight men in competitions. I asked God/The Universe to use me as a vessel for helping humanity and do with me what was needed. It was this prayer that turned me vegan and, later, raw. Once I studied the medical data on it, I saw that it was really the healthiest way one can live. I also gained many other spiritual benefits of heightened sensitivity, awareness and even the intuition that many would think--along with this whole paragraph--sounds crazy, unless they themselves cross the spiritual path.

Q: What are your parents’ ethnicities, and how did they meet?

A: Mother is Jamaican, Cuban and Cherokee. My father is English, Irish, and French. My dad was always obsessed with black women. He would draw them as a kid with an Afro hairstyle. He is a great artist. He always wanted the strongest woman for the strongest kids he said, and he had decided the black race was the strongest. I came out pretty strong so maybe he had a good plan. He was a deejay at the university. My mom came to England from Jamaica to study nursing. They met at a university dance and the rest is a long book filled with lots of drama. Ha!

Q: How did growing up mixed affect your life?

A: It wasn't easy at first. I was rejected by both blacks and whites. I was teased, called jungle boy, light-skinned pretty boy, red boy, gollywog, and monkey boy. I actually began to pray that God might make a hole to swallow me up and take me away when I was eight. Then I began to appreciate what I had going for me--strength and speed. I ran chasing butterflies in the grass fields and gained a love of life. Once I hit mid-teens, my strength had become such an asset that I was the British Tae Kwon Do champion. This title helped gain me lots of popularity at school. Now I was the "it kid". It felt very bizarre. I began to study humans from this point on. Why would we be so fickle? I asked myself. I am the same child that they didn't like a few years ago, but now that I was a champion and could physically beat them in a fight, they respect me? It made for a sad reality observation.

Q: As an actor and model, has being multiracial ever helped or hindered your career?

A: I'm sure we all know being “mixed” means being black, and black roles are far fewer than white roles in Hollywood. I just take what God gives me and if he just gave me the role of Jesus (in a new film), he blessed me real well, didn't he?

Q: You have such a powerful aura along with incredibly good looks that jumps out from the screen, yet you remain humble and approachable. How do you manage to do that and be in show business at the same time?

A: I have studied a lot. The more one studies, the more one finds that humility is required to learn. One must read up on the masters with books everyday. There is still so much to learn. Wisdom and humility go in tandem. I am wise and I am humble in order to stay wise. If I were to become arrogant, my wisdom would soon leave me. Show business has shifted from the days when art ruled. Now it's ego ruling art. Celebrity comes from the two words “celebration” and “humanity” merged into one. A celebrity is a celebration of humanity. Not many of today’s celebrities know this and take the role seriously. They are often too focused on some lie their publicist cooked up.

Q: You call yourself a “Noble Warrior of God”. What do you mean by that?

A: My birth name means "Noble Warrior of God". Patrick Marcus Osborne. Look it up. I began looking up names after I found out that our names have meanings and shape who we are. So, I looked mine up and there it was, staring me in the face as to why I may have been such a truth seeker my whole life. God and truth are one. God means truth. Truth means God. I have always had a dislike of bullturd. If I see politicians lie, it is always irritating and there are so many pockets of society built on lies, delusions and people coddling each other that it's okay to be dysfunctional because we are all a mess together. Well, I feel that we as a race can be in truth/God. On my travels around the world, I have seen so many culture trends, good and bad, all different. The one thing I know about us as humans is that we all want love, truth, wisdom and function. We once had it on the planet. There is evidence to show this in some of the fantastic landmarks. It's up to us to search deep inside and ask, "How brave am I to be truthful, sensitive, loving, caring, of myself and fellow man/womankind?" Well, I can say I am brave ‘til my end. So I am "Noble Warrior of God".

Thank you, Sir Patrick Marcus Osborne for baring your body, heart, mind and soul.

Hey, Hip Hapa Homeez, don’t forget we feature a new profile every week so keep coming back to check us out. And, if you’d like to be interviewed, drop us an email at hiphapa@comcast.net

Remember our film website at http://www.watermelonsushi.com. And, we’re still accepting headshots to post on our Watermelon Sushi Fan page on Facebook. Sign up to join it and our Hip Hapa Homeez group page there, too. You don’t have to be multiracial to be a part of us. We need our supporters, too! Hip Hapa Homeez is where we post links to stories about multi-culti folks and other race issues.

You can also follow Watermelon Sushi on Twitter where we’ve been tweeting bits of dialogue from our film script. Finally, all sales of our t-shirts help finance our film, so stop by http://www.cafepress.com/hapateez and get one. Be sure to contact us if you make a purchase to ensure you get your rear crawl credit.

That’s all she wrote for now. Until next week, I am...

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Marvelous Miwa Lyric, Again!

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:17:00 +0000

This week’s Hip Hapa Homee is a long-time acquaintance of Your Hip Hapa. I like to refer to her as The Marvelous Miwa Lyric because she really is something to marvel at. A clothing designer, music producer, performer, rapper, songwriter and more, Miwa is also immensely popular—especially in Los Angeles where she currently resides. We first met because of the proliferation of emails she sent me marketing herself. Surely, I thought, anyone believing so strongly in her own skills was well worth knowing. And, I was right. Friend the friendly Miwa Lyric on Facebook or MySpace. That’s her in the photo here taken by Suzisusana.

Q: What's a nice Nissei (second-generation Japanese American) girl like you doing rapping?

A: I don't really like to be categorized as nice, or categorized at all, cause I am not really "nice". I just love music and through my childhood struggles, music is the one thing that kept me alive, literally.

Q: When did you know for sure that you wanted a career in music?

A: At the age of five.

Q: How have black audiences responded to you compared to Asian or more racially mixed ones?

A: It's rather recent that I perform in front of Asian audiences. When I first started about 12 years ago, there were not many Asians in the audience or in hiphop in general. A lot of Asian women come up to me and tell me that I inspire them to chase after their dreams--knowing the odds of me being Asian and female in hiphop. A lot of black audiences usually give me a blank look when I approach the stage. Then, when I start, they just roar up with smiles and claps. It's always a good feeling! Overall, I get a lot of surprised reactions from everyone because most people think I'm gonna go up on stage to sing, then when I start rapping they just flip out.

Q: Lately, hiphop is everywhere. It may have started out with black gangs in New York, but now even Japanese Ainu (Indigenous) are rapping. Do you think the art form is played out because it’s no longer quote, unquote, pure?

A: I feel like hiphop that calls itself hiphop nowadays has lost its message of the struggle, the movement. It seems like the newer generations have forgotten the past and where hiphop and just history in general comes from. But then again, those who are passing it down need to educate the young ones as well. Me, being in between the new school and old school, I hope to connect that. I think the new music now is a new type of hiphop but it is definitely not the "real" or "original" hiphop that it used to be.

Q: You have such a huge following in L.A. Can you explain why your fans are so devoted to you?

A: Well first off, I am different--something new and, like I mentioned earlier, I was against all odds, which gives people hope that maybe they can go after what they always wanted to try (not just music, but everything in general) but were afraid to. But I think, overall, it’s because I speak from my heart. Everything I write about are things that I want to address because of my experiences and my own personal struggles. Many can relate and those who can't, see a new perspective. I feel that whether people love me or hate me, I bring words that people can ponder about.

Q: Recently, you've been appearing in Japan. How did it feel to perform for people who look like you, but who are so different at the same time?

A: It was an amazing and scary experience. Scary because I have always heard that they don't react like us Americans do, but I proved that wrong. They were bobbing their heads and had their hands up! They showed me that music definitely connects people worldwide!

Q: Your parents don't seem like typical Japanese parents because they allow you and your sister (a fashion designer) to fully express your art. Do you have any thoughts on that?

A: I guess since they are not typical I really wouldn't know what typical defines! But my folks are both artists, and they lived the times through the war. They’ve both seen different parts of the world (dad lived in New York, mom in England), and my dad struggled through poverty and losing his parents at a young age so he never got to go to high school. My mom was definitely a "new age woman", the type of lady that escapes the "norm" and how women shouldn’t be able to do what they want. My dad was always very supportive of my music, but my mom was not. She told me that I had to prove to her that I wanted it, and I proved it to her.

Indeed you have, Marvelous Miwa Lyric. For more info on Miwa, check out the sites below:

http://www.miwalyric.com

http://www.miwakayama.com

http:// www.soulawear.com

http://www.cdbaby.net/miwalyric

http://www.itunes.com

If you Hip Hapa Homeez haven’t already, you should check out the video below. Can you believe it? After all the information educating folks about the nonsense of being color struck, here comes this travesty. I feel like I was just transported back to the plantation or something.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/09/09/sidner.india.white.skin.cnn

Anyway, please keep your comments and emails coming. A special shout-out to my girl, Mary no-last-name-please, for continuing to stay so involved with this blog.

Remember to join our Hip Hapa Homeez group on Facebook and our Watermelon Sushi fan page, too. We’re also trying to tweet on Twitter as much as we can (honestly, we forget with all the things we have to do). And, we still have those t-shirts.

Until next week, I am…

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Un Certain Regard

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:03:00 +0000

Can I just tell you how warm and fuzzy I'm feeling these days as our Hip Hapa Homeez Facebook group page swells to nearly 800 members, and our Watermelon Sushi Fan page pushes towards 500? You guys rock!

Your support grows us, so mad love to you all. Remember, our Hapa*Teez t-shirts are still available for you. Also, visit our Watermelon Sushi website for more info about our film. And, Watermelon Sushi is now on Twitter, so tweet us!

Tonight's featured Hip Hapa Homee is Juliette Fairley--pictured above--, an actor, writer and performance artist. Read about her at the links below, and then enjoy the interview. And, if you're an HHH with something to say, hollah at hiphapa@comcast.net and we'll showcase you on this blog, too.

http://www.mulatto.me

http://www.juliettefairley.info

http://pro.imdb.com/name/nm2592879/

http://www.dailyceleb.com/ximagi/search.php?u=&people%5B%5D=juliette+fairley&full%5B%5D=&sort=date&date_created_before=&date_created_after=&headline%5B%5D=&city=&state=&country=&object=&byline=&objects%5B%5D=&caption%5B%5D=

Q: What's a nice multiracial girl like you doing onstage revealing your life for the whole world to see?

A: This revenge is fitting for all of the wrongs I suffered at the hands of my interracial parents. My blond haired, blue-eyed mother is terrified at what people will think of her and her French family back in Paris. My father, on the other hand, a descendant of slaves in North Carolina, says, "I ain't got nothin' to hide. I know where I came from and, hell, it's the truth." So, it's therapeutic for me to process my background and my parents' experiences in front of a theatre full of strangers. I like to pull people into the fray of my life!

Q: I always understood the word mulatto to be a derogatory term referred to mixed-race slaves. How did it become resurrected as a positive expression?

A: I don't know if it's positive yet, but it sure does sell theatre tickets. The producers deliberately chose to use the word mulatto because it's controversial and will sell tickets. Besides, I like to do things differently and nobody has had the nerve yet to come out with a show called Mulatto.

Q: Who is Afro, European, or French in your family and how did they meet?

A: That's what the show is about. You'll have to see the play. Short answers is that my mom is French white and my father is Afro from North Carolina.

Q: What was it like working with Spike Lee?

A: He's a maverick. I admire his courage and tenacity. It was a good experience. He is a professional. The media has portrayed him as an angry black man, but when I worked with him he was polite and pleasant.

Q: How hard was it to make Mulatto's Dilemma set in the 1920's?

A: I had to order posters from the 1920's and I hired a painter to paint the portrait that is revealed in the second half of the show. I also had my flapper girl costume hand made by a seamstress in Harlem. She was 75 years old. I spent a lot of time tracking down the long cigarette holder that one of my characters, Loretta Jones, smokes. I found it in a thrift shop in the east village of Manhattan.

Q: In The Making of a Mulatto, you once again turn to history (Nazism in France) to get your point across. Is there a reason why?

A: Growing up, I heard a lot about the Nazis from my French grandmother. She was born in 1909 and lived through the Nazi occupation of France. I also heard a lot about slavery and Jim Crow from my father. So, I have a unique view on history and life. The point is that fascists spend a lot of time scheming on how to keep the races apart, but the insanity of fascism causes the races to run toward each other out of terror.

Q: You've racked up a lot of awards including Best Actress for the Exchange Award. How do you think you'll top yourself?

A: I'm a candidate for a Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award this fall 2009, and for a Beverly Hills Hollywood NAACP Award in 2010.

Merci beaucoups, Mademoiselle Juliette! Your dazzling energy is so intense that all I can say is bon nuit and bonne chance.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

P.S. Here are more links where you can view Juliette. Also, additional performances have been scheduled for September 13 and 27.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STwdtpCJwsM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIyUsLfWpME

Born In Japan, But Made In America

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:28:00 +0000

Big-ups and shout-outs to all you Hip Hapa Homeez for keepin' it real with your comments and emails. We love hearing from you so keep on keepin' on. Remember, if you're an actor, we still want your headshot for our Watermelon Sushi fan page on Facebook. And, join our Hip Hapa Homeez group while you're cruisin' Facebook. Plus, don't forget Hapa*Teez t-shirts for you, your family and friends. Every purchase helps support our Watermelon Sushi film and earns you a rear crawl credit, too. Be a big shot film producer while looking like a hot, haute, hip hapa homee!

Speaking of, this week's featured HHH is award-winning filmmaker Katsumi "Tim" Nagae of Ann Arbor Michigan. Originally from Fukuoka Japan, Tim came to America for school and liked it here so much that he stayed. That's him in the photo above tweaking some knobs in the studio and with Austin, below, the subject of one of his films.

First, check out these links to Tim's films, then join us in the Q&A following.

Austin's Movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FShuvD8MGGY&feature=channel_page

Haley and Madonna

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQUt7x70vU4&feature=channel_page

Q: Tim-san, what's a nice Japanese guy like you doing making documentary films in America?

A: Thank you for describing me as "a nice Japanese guy", but I try to be as friendly as possible in terms of communicating with others. In order to make documentaries, I have to meet lots of different kinds of people to interview them. It's my job to make them feel comfortable with me. Also, the fact that I'm an international person definitely helps. For example, Haley and Madonna is about the Miss America pageant--which is very much an American thing. When I started this project, I didn't know anything about beauty pageants because I didn't grow up in this country. So, I didn't have a bias against pageants like a typically liberal person does, and it worked out well for me.

Q: You're known for tackling difficult subjects like autism and physical disabilities. Why do those topics interest you?

A: To be honest, I didn't really choose the topics of autism and physical disabilities. The subjects, Austin and Haley, are interesting individuals who happen to be affected with those disabilities. Both movies are not really about their disabilities, but about themselves. However, I'm glad I underscored those issues which makes the subjects much more interesting and significant. I believe those movies have contributed to public awareness of disability issues. If Austin's Movie was about a talented boy photographer without autism, I don't think it would've gotten so much attention.

Q: How does Japanese and American documentary filmmaking differ?

A: Since I learned how to make films and videos in America, I don't know much about Japanese documentaries. In general, filmmaking in Japan is not as business-oriented as in America. So many Japanese filmmakers try to create their own styles. For example, some directors use

only long shots for everything (like Michelangelo Antonioni's films) no matter what kind of movie they're making. This "I'm an artist" attitude somewhat works out, especially for independent filmmakers, but it also makes it hard for them to produce "everybody's cup of tea" movies. On the other hand, many American mainstream moviemakers and companies take extra efforts to make movies that don't bore the audience. Those movies are fast with a lot of cuts, keeping the audience's constant attention, but many are over exaggerated and make us think, "What's the point of this movie?" I go to movies probably 30 to 40 times a year, and enjoy them. But I wonder how many movies I can honestly call "good".

Also, because of public accessibility to computers and digital video technology, moviemaking is much easier than it used to be. Everybody can make movies now, especially documentaries. Even a movie about next-door neighbors may draw enormous attention if made right. Haley and Austin were just kids in your neighborhood before their movies came out. I feel good about contributing to the discovery of these very interesting individuals who, I believe, should be acknowledged in the community. This is the true mission of an independent filmmaker.

Q: Your next documentary is about an African American artist who went to Nagasaki shortly after the atomic bomb was dropped. How will you tell his story?

A: My purpose in making this film is not to point out who has the responsibility for the atomic bombs. Who is right or who is wrong is not the issue here, but Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be accepted as a tragic event that happened in human history. However, I do know many people will be upset with this movie so I have to be ready for that. But I also hope many people will look at it as a must-see "American movie" and change their views on war and humanity.

Q: A lot of people think that Japanese are intolerant and prejudiced against other ethnicities. True?

A: Where did you get that idea? If you go to Japan, you'll be surprised to find an intense eclecticism of cultures from around the world. Modern Japanese love American movies, pop music and ethnic food. They love major league baseball, too. Japanese have traditionally been very good at accepting other cultures, interpreting them in their own way, and re-inventing something new for themselves. Unfortunately, it's true that some people--especially in the countryside--are prejudiced against other ethnicities, particularly Koreans, Chinese or other Asian people. But things have been better, especially after Korean television drama became hugely popular in Japan. I wasn't in Japan then, but I heard there are fewer racists than there used to be.

Q: What is the most significant Japanese thing you've had to give up since moving to the U.S.?

A: Japanese people are always concerned about their own position, power and authority. For example, my brother who is only three years older is always arrogant with me only because he's older. I have to call him "Brother" yet he calls me by my first name. He can tell me what to do by demanding, "Do that". Nobody thinks that's rude. But I can only ask him to do something by asking, "Can you do that for me?" If I tell him, "Do that", it will be considered breaking a cultural rule. At work, in both Japan and the U.S., you have to show respect to your boss. But in the U.S., once you leave work, it's up to you to ignore or be friends with the boss outside of your workplace. That's not acceptable in Japan. In my opinion, it's much more stressful to live with Japanese culture than in the U.S. I don't have to follow Japanese customs as long as I live in this country, which is healthier for me.

Q: Can you envision a time in the world when race will not matter?

A: That's a hard question, but I would say race should matter in a positive way. Each culture, whether Japanese, Asian, black, Hispanic or white, has its own cultural heritage that should be treasured by everybody--which means people should respect each other. You may think this is an elitist and overly idealistic answer, but I don't think it's necessary for me to twist my comments over racial issues here.

If I may share my strange idea, I'd say if we found some creatures living outside of this planet, whether or not we saw them as friends or enemies, we'd consider all human beings as one group of creatures and race wouldn't matter anymore. Then, we would stop fighting wars.

Peace, Tim-san! Domo arrigato gozaimashite for sharing. For you budding filmmakers, contact Tim here:

http://www.youtube.com/TimNagae

Until next week, when we present another multi-culti Hip Hapa Homee,

I am...

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Jamaica Mi Proud For Wayne Chin

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:33:00 +0000

Greetin's Hip Hapa Homeez! I'm feelin' irie tonight hangin' out here with all my Jamaican friends. Roots, come forward!

Recently, the lovely Corene Antoinette posted some intriguing video clips at her blog called Jamaica Mi Proud. Corene is all about her island culture, so check her out here:

http://www.coreneantoinette.blogspot.com/

When I saw her piece about Jamaican musician Wayne Chin, photo above, I knew I had to feature him as a Hip Hapa Homee. Born in Spanish Town, the biracial Chin grew up in Harbour View and moved to New York in 1980. Today, he's a radio host, sound engineer, singer, songwriter and music producer.

Q: What's a nice multiracial Jamaican guy like you doing fielding questions about being Hawai'ian or Puerto Rican?

A: I have been asked that question many times. About 90% of the time, I am mistaken for Hawai'ian and, a few times, Puerto Rican. But my answer--as always--is, "I'm a Jamaican". As all Jamaican people, we don't categorize ourselves as Chinese Jamaican, African Jamaican, Caucasian Jamaican, or Other. We are just plain Jamaican.

Q: Why do so many people not realize the great numbers of Asians living in the Caribbean?

A: Probably because we are just Jamaican or Caribbean, and we never felt the need to be categorized.

Q: How did your family end up in Jamaica?

A: Well, as for my mother's side, we all know how the slaves came to Jamdown (Jamaica), and my father's side was from Chinese people trying to run from persecution back in the days of the Communist regime.

Q: Have you retained any of your father's Chinese culture?

A: Only the food and the lust for life. LOL!

Q: How long have you been involved with music, and what are some of the things you do with it?

A: Well, from the age of self-recognition, you know, I walked and talked and sang. But, as we all know, the world seems to think that music is only for the youth. So nowadays, I only produce a few artists. I also write, engineer and remember the good old days of touring. LOL. However, I am about to reintroduce myself to the world with a new album with my group CHINAFRICA, and also my lover's rock group, Foreign Intrigue. I am the lead singer for both.

Q: What's your day job at the United Nations?

A: I am a sound engineer.

Q: How has having a multicultural background helped you at the U.N. where you're surrounded by so many different ethnicities?

A: I never thought about that. I guess that music and people of inner beauty just take up all my thoughts.

T'anks, mon, for sharing. To learn more about Wayne, check him out at Corene's blog or at his mySpace page:

http://www.coreneantoinette.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-06-18T10%3A30%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7

http://www.myspace.com/waynechin

Personally, I was surprised to discover large populations of both China and India descended people in the Caribbean. But when one stops to consider that those two countries have the most people on the planet, it makes sense. Besides, a lot of Asians came as indentured servants to European colonizers who also brought African slaves to islands previously populated by Indigenous tribes like Arawak and Taino. The West Indies is definitely a melting pot!

Hey, here's a big, fat shout-out to all of you who have joined our Hip Hapa Homeez group and our Watermelon Sushi fan page on Facebook. Both communities are growing daily, and we're excited to keep you updated with the latest info about multiracial folks as well as news about our film. Remember, we still have Hapa*Teez t-shirts for you, too. And, don't forget to follow us on Twitter where we post dialogue from the Watermelon Sushi script.

Until next week, when I'll feature another Hip Hapa Homee, remember that I will always be...

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Natives Matter With Native Matters

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:50:00 +0000

Hey to all you Hip Hapa Homeez and Watermelon Sushi fans! Welcome back to Watermelon Sushi World where we're featuring another Hip Hapa Homee.

This week, meet Vanessa Girard better known as Dr. Ness, the author of a book for Native American and multiracial teens called High School Survival Guide.

Q: Dr. Ness, how did a nice girl like you end up with a Honduran Mayan Indian father and a black, white, French and Cherokee mother?

A: My father worked on a ship that delivered mahogany from Belize (formerly Honduras) to the United States. He was in port in New Orleans and my mother was hanging out with her cousin at a hotel cafeteria. Her cousin's wife, Della, saw my dad sitting at the counter. She introduced them and gave him my mom's phone number.

Q: How did you experience all those unique cultures while growing up?

A: We moved from a neighborhood that was predominantly black (with a large mixture of medium to dark-skinned Creoles) to one where we lived across the street from whites and our next-door neighbors were light-skinned Creoles who could have passed for white. Our ethnic makeup was a secret; my grandmother refused to talk about it other than to say we were not black. My father could barely speak English when he came to the states and married my mother. He was 22; my mom was 14. Unfortunately, when she was pregnant with my brother, child number six, my father walked away and never looked back. I was four-years old at the time, and none of us was allowed to ask why or if he was coming back. So, the only culture I know is the Creole culture of foods like gumbo, jambalaya, bread pudding, and stuffed peppers; strict Catholicism; dancing the second line; and jazz and zydeco music.

Q: What do you know about the Mayan Calendar and the significance of 2012?

A: I only learned of my Mayan heritage within the past year, so I am not familiar with any of it.

Q: How did you end up working with the Pima Indians in Arizona?

A: I had quit my job as a high school English teacher after six years--five of which included advising both school publications and a life of constant deadlines and fundraisers. I substitute taught for a year after that and became desperate to get back to "work". My daughter is a born athlete. She played basketball with a Pima who asked her if she would be interested in teaching on the reservation. She had a bachelor's degree, but not in teaching. She replied, "No, but I know someone who would!" I got the job as an English teacher at the alternative school, grades 7-12. The structure was a joke. There was no discipline policy. I would send a disruptive student to the office only to have the student return saying the office said they did not know what they were supposed to do with him. There was no bell to alert the end of classes so teachers would let students out of class arbitrarily and the students would go around banging on classroom doors, scaring the crap out of everyone and disrupting the lessons. And, the buses arrived at the school anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes late! I was ready to resign when the tribal Education Director offered me a promotion to Dean of Students. I got the school organized and the students on track and was promoted, in the next six months, to Community Educator--which took me out of the school and into the community.

Q: Where did you get the idea of writing High School Survival Guide?

A: The Tribal Education Department was comprised of several divisions that offered resources to every age group except K-12 students. As community educator, I redefined my role and began meeting with the K-12 administrators on the reservation. We assessed needs and formed strategies on how to best help the students succeed. I wrote proposals and attained funds from tribal leaders to implement all the programs that were suggested by these professionals. But, in 2006, 50% of our freshmen failed at one of the local high schools. Every suggestion I made to the middle school administrators to prevent this from happening again was shot down as unfeasible, so I wrote the book because I realized that these students were culturally and socially unprepared for high school environments off the reservation.

My multi-ethnicity, combined with my work with this Native American tribe, sparked a compulsion in me to understand cultures and identity, so I entered the doctoral program at the University of Phoenix and studied diversity and leadership. It was an amazing experience! I performed a qualitative phenomenological study because this, in my mind, was the only way to get to the essence of the issue. I was fortunate enough to interview 20 diverse leaders comprised of four Hispanics, four Asians, three whites, three blacks, three Native Americans and three Creoles. The themes that arose were self-esteem, identity, stereotyping, perception and oppression. Lessons were learned for each theme that directly applied to the problems my students were experiencing, so I used the findings from my study as the foundation for the book.

I lost my job because I refused to submit the book as a work product, which would have limited it to that tribe. I wanted to help as many students as possible. I wrote the book on my own time; it did not belong to the tribe.

Q: What was the worst incident you experienced as a teenager attributable to your multiracial heritage?

A: My African American brother-in-law used to tease us all the time, telling us we "didn't have a flag". We would eventually begin to cry, saying it wasn't our fault, and he would immediately apologize and say it was cool--that we could "ride the fence" and be whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. I didn't get it; I just wanted to belong. He wasn't being mean; he just loved to tease--it's a guy thing. He was great!

Throughout my developmental years, I experienced deep, underlying resentment from black females who looked at me with venom and felt compelled to tell me I was black no matter what we were talking about. And, they would say it accusingly, as an insult.

I'd like to add that I have attended many mono-ethnic conferences and have always felt welcomed, except for one: at an African American Women's Conference. I attended it with a white woman. The black women smiled at her and glared at me.

Q: You've been an English teacher, dean of students, assistant director of education, dean of academics, and now you're a consultant for diversity and leadership. Is there one role you've enjoyed more than the others?

A: They all had their places and I enjoyed each one because with each I felt like I made a difference--which is what teaching is all about! I guess I'm a born educator. I'm enjoying writing. This is the next step to my ultimate calling. I want to reach the masses and impact them positively; to instill healthy self-esteem and well-being in all people, but especially people of color and, particularly those of mixed races; and, most especially, the young people!

Q: Dr. Ness is a cute way to use your name. How did you come up with such a clever way to identify yourself?

A: We southerners have a habit of shortening first names as a term of endearment. I don't like to be called "Vanessa" because it seems formal and "cold". Friends and family have always shortened my name in various ways: Ness, Nessa, V, Van. After I earned my doctoral degree, being called Dr. Girard was weird and, again, a bit formal. I wanted something catchy, easy and still "me". When I tried to get a personalized license plate, DrNess was the only combo that was available and it stuck!

Thank you, Dr. Ness for your insights. Check out our girl in the pix above, and her website at: http://www.drness.info

The prolific Dr. Ness has also written a screenplay about two princesses--one black and the other Creole. Her goal is to get it onscreen within a year so if you're a producer with an interest, please visit Dr. Ness' website for more info.

Now, on to some other mixie news: I'm sure some of you receive the Ikea catalogue. Besides selling some really cool, cheap furniture, these guys tend to be politically progressive, too--that is, judging by the models used in their advertisements.

For instance, turn to page 21 and tell me what you see. Does that look like a light-skinned man of African descent sitting with his laptop while his biracial son plays piano and his white wife strums a guitar? Could be. But, unfortunately, all three are sitting so far from each other that it's hard to say. That, plus the father looks like an accountant or something else serious while the mother is a mismatched hippie flower child. So, are they a family or just three neighbors having an impromptu jam session? Ikea, talk to me!

One thing I like about this outfit is their boldness in presenting single folks as consumers. Of course, singles are probably their best demographic. Still, how refreshing to see two different individual males on pages 119 and 129 both messing around in the kitchen!

Finally, on page 363, there's what appears to be an interracial couple working on some floor plans. While the black woman hovers over her laptop, the white man marks on some drawings. Both look happy, but not exactly in the throes of romance. There's still a little space between them on the couch so it's difficult to say if they live together or just work together.

In any case, Ikea, thank you for recognizing diversity.

Hey, over at our Watermelon Sushi Fan Page on Facebook, we're still collecting headshots. If you'd like to be involved, please join the Fan Page and send your headshot to watermelonsushi@comcast.net

Our Hip Hapa Homeez group on Facebook is growing, too. There, we post links, photos and videos that are relevant to the mixed-race experience. Remember, you don't have to be multiracial to join us--just supportive.

And, don't forget to check out our film and Hapa*Teez t-shirts, too.

Until next week, I am devoted to being...

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Magnificent, Multi-talented, Mother Terumi Todd

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:55:00 +0000

Greetings to all my Hip Hapa Homeez! Mahalo nui loa for continuing to grow our Hip Hapa Homeez Facebook Group and Watermelon Sushi Facebook Fan Page. If you haven't joined us yet, please do. And, check out our film, Watermelon Sushi, and Hapa*Teez t-shirts, too!

Our guest this week is Terumi Todd whom I first became aware of while watching Yohei Suzuki's documentary, Our Pride. A film about two Atlanta families with Japanese mothers and black fathers, it focuses mostly on their adult biracial children. But whenever Terumi appears onscreen, her magnetism easily captivates the audience. Larger than life, Terumi is optimistic, funny and charismatic. Imagine, if you will, a multi-talented immigrant artist who speaks English with a Southern Ebonics Japanese flavor. A mix of many cultures, Terumi is that fascinating blend of East meeting West.

Q: What's a nice Japanese girl like you doing being an artist in America?

A: After graduating from Kitasato University in Tokyo with a B.S. in medical technology, I came to America to go to school. But in between I got married, had a kid, and did other stuff. I wanted to be an architect, but my parents wanted me to be a medical technologist. I always wanted to come to America. It was always in the back of my plans some kind of way to get here. I wanted to stay for a little while, but I got married and that changed the whole plan.

In Japan, in high school and in middle school, I joined art clubs, dance clubs, a Hawai'ian band...you name it. I always had a background in art.

Q: You have so many creative interests--visual art, photography, acting, singing, dancing, sewing and quilting, playing guitar and ukulele--is there any one pursuit you prefer over the other?

A: Today, it may be art. Tomorrow, it may be singing. But usually, everything is a part of my life. I paint with music on. I used to do Japanese dance in church. I can't really take one from the other.

Q: Before you came to this country, were you aware of how black people were treated here--especially in the South?

A: After graduating from college in Japan, I worked for one year in a clinic research lab run by the American Army. There, I had contact with both black and white Americans in a military setting. I spoke some English and got to know some Americans before deciding to come to America.

The first place I went to was San Francisco. I came to Atlanta in 1975. That was just a couple of years after they still had "for white" and "for colored" signs. Our family moved to a community outside of Atlanta where we were maybe one or two of the first minorities to move into that area. Many white people (consequently) left. That's when I noticed that something was not quite right. But I married a man who was a doctor so he was given a different status (from other blacks). Because of his position, (white people) treated me differently.

Q: How did being a part of Yohei's documentary change your life?

A: We've shown twice in the Atlanta area. Both times it was a packed house. One screening was at the art center where I worked. A lot of people wanted to purchase the DVD. The second time, we showed it at a black museum--APEX, the African American Panoramic Experience museum. We had a very good response.

Sometimes people see me and remember me from the film. They ask if it's going to be shown again. We've met a few mixed-race young ladies that stuck around and talked to us. My son is in their age group. Maybe we can expand the story to include the (biracial) female side (in a future documentary).

Q: What does your Japanese family think about how your life in America turned out?

A: My immediate family includes three sons who live here in Georgia and three stepchildren in Atlanta. Two girls live in California. I don't have any brothers or sisters, and my parents passed away 11 years ago. I'm very fortunate that so many women I befriend adopt me into their family so I have an extended family. Many of them are African Americans. I call them my sisters. All of them support me. All of them are glad to see me active in different things. Out of different cultures, I embrace American culture--especially African American culture.

Q: What one thing do you miss the most about Japan?

A: I miss a lot--like real Japanese food. I was laughing because of the young lady you featured a few weeks ago, the African American sushi chef. We have a lot of Japanese restaurants here run by Koreans with Mexican chefs trying to make sushi. It's not sushi. There are only a few Japanese chefs here compared to San Francisco or Los Angeles.

I've only been back home to Japan once. After I got divorced, I found my cousin on my father's side. I've lived in Atlanta for 35 years--longer than I ever lived in Japan.

Q: Career-wise, where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

A: I do it all, but I hope to be able to concentrate on visual art. There's nothing stopping me. Ten years from now I'll be 74. When I hit 50, people asked, 'Aren't you going to retire now?' There's no such thing as retired for visual art people. When I stop is when I die.

Arrigato gozaimasu, Terumi-san!

In the link, below, you can see Terumi with a student she taught at summer camp last year.

http://www.artsdouglas.org

By clicking her name in the next link, you can view Terumi's artwork.

http://www.uspacegallery.com

And, finally, some of her artwork is featured in this current show.

http://www.artsclayton.org/gallery

In the photo at the top of the page, Terumi poses with her three sons. In the one below, she performs in the play Carmen J.

As always, it's been a pleasure introducing you to a Hip Hapa Homee who advocates a cross-cultural perspective. Please stay tuned to meet more who will share their stories of life in a Watermelon Sushi World and beyond. Hey, any kimchee and mashed potatoes out there? How about some chow mein on white bread? Hollah!

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

What's A Nice White Guy Doing Breaking Down Color Barriers?

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:53:00 +0000

Big ups to all you Hip Hapa Homeez who continue to support our Watermelon Sushi World blog, our Watermelon Sushi film, our Hapa*Teez t-shirts, our Hip Hapa Homeez Facebook group and our Watermelon Sushi Facebook fan page. On the serious tip, we couldn't do any of this without you.

This week's featured Hip Hapa Homee is Jaz Dorsey, in the photo here. FULL DISCLOSURE: Jaz is a Watermelon Sushi Associate Producer. He's also the co-founder of AAPEX, the African American Playwrights Exchange, and has been involved with every aspect of theatrical production since he was a young 'un growing up in the South.

Q: Jaz, what's a nice white guy like you doing involved with so many black arts organizations?

A: Art is the DNA of species' memory and let's face it--the b.s. that African Americans have had to endure makes for some pretty passionate and powerful material. As a dramaturg, my mission is to locate, promote, present and preserve the most important dramatic literature of my day. Given the obstacles faced by black playwrights, you've got to figure things are pretty daunting, which is a shame, because I have a stack of astounding scripts piled next to my desk and I'm doing everything I can to see that those scripts don't just sit in a stack next to my desk.

I also live in Nashville, which has one of the most dynamic African American theater communities in the country. We also have a superior film festival, The International Black Film Festival of Nashville. I respond to what inspires me.

Q: When did you write your first play, and what was it about?

A: I wrote my first play, Cafe Escargot, after I got fired from a restaurant job. It was about a waiter who gets fired and comes back in drag as a food critic. It was also a satire of Atlanta society. It finally got a real production in New York in 1994, and had a cult following which was a blast and great for my sex life.

Q: What was it like having your first play produced?

A: The first of my plays to get produced was Alice In America. There was an Atlanta production in 1987, and I invited the Lewis Carrol Society of North America to it. They couldn't come, but invited me to present the play the following year in New York for their annual convention. I mounted the production by telephone from Atlanta, showed up for opening night and began a New York adventure which continues to this day. So all in all, it was pretty awesome.

Q: You're known for your unconditional support of women in the creative arts. Can you explain why?

A: Women get stuff done.

My strategy for producing is to find a great script with a serious leading lady role. Then I find my leading lady, give her the script and pretty much get out of her way. Fine actresses usually have an entourage of fellow artists who are ready to get behind an artist they admire.

But beyond that, I come from a major Southern aristocratic matriarchy. I barely remember seeing any men during my childhood, and all the good advice I ever got came from women.

Also, when I worked in Student Dining at Vanderbilt, I was pretty much the only white male on a staff of mostly black women, many of them grandmothers who were raising children and grandchildren, doing the job, covering the billls and dealing with the drama. They were meticulous and demanding, and absoutely wonderful to me. They tolerated my lectures on theater over the sandwich line to future lawyers, doctors and engineers.

Q: Do you think black playwrights are getting produced more now as opposed to 10 years ago?

A: More, but not enough and not in the proper way. The writers I'm working with don't care to be on the chittlin' circuit, thank you very much.

Q: Can you envision a time when producers will just produce material without thinking about racial demographics?

A: I could envision such a thing if I thought there were such things as producers. Producers are a myth. You have to get up off your a** and produce yourself and you have to build your own audience one by one.

Now if you mean, do I think regional theaters will ever get there, I doubt it. Boards of Directors are far too nervous. The obligatory Black History Month play, of course. Good for the grant writing.

If I get where I'm trying to go, that may change. The plays I want to produce--Nathan Ross Freeman's Hannah Elias, Mike Oatman's The Chittlin Thief, Merrill Jones' Mrs. Streeter and Ben Marshall's The Balcony Goat--could all set racial demographics on its ear.

Q: Did you grow up to be what you always wanted to be?

A: You'll have to wait until I grow up for me to answer that one. My generation is in no hurry to grow up. It's all those LSD flashbacks.

Thank you, Jaz, for all you do. You're an amazing Hip Hapa Homee with a heart of gold. If any of you readers would like to contact Jaz, you can find him here:

http://www.africanamericanplaywrightsexchange.blogspot.com

Stay tuned to read about more cross-cultural folks in the weeks ahead. Meanwhile, here's an interesting thought. Last week, as I flipped through a Macy's circular, my eyes paused on one of the female models. As I checked out her cafe au lait skin, green eyes, and wavy brown hair, I wondered if she was biracial. While I was thrilled to see a model of unidentifiable ethnicity in a major publication, I also wondered if she was chosen because she was simply more palatable to some than a darker-skinned, more black African-looking sister. I know, I know. I'm being nit-picky, but the thought crossed my mind so I thought I'd put the question to you. Do you think the growth of multiracial communities is going to take away from other racial minority groups? If a major department store or fashion designer had to choose between a brown-skinned, black African identified model or a light-skinned, green-eyed, wavy-haired one in order to meet an unwritten EEO rule, which do you think they would pick and why?

Again, my HHH's, thanks for hollahing. We appreciate your cards, letters and emails. Remember we're still collecting headshots for the Watermelon Sushi fan page on Facebook. And, of course, we still have Hapa*Teez t-shirts for you.

Until next time, I promise I am and will always be...

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Angry, Asian, Adoptee, Activist, Artist

watermelonsushi@comcast.net (Yayoi Lena Winfrey) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:48:00 +0000

Welcome back, Hip Hapa Homeez!

This week’s guest is transracial adoptee Yun-Sook Kim Navarre (pictured here). A Los Angeles resident since 2006, Yun-Sook was raised in Detroit and attended grad school at San Francisco State University in 2002. Although she’s an outspoken spoken-word artist and community activist, her proudest accomplishment is being a loving mother to her six-year old daughter.

Q: How did a nice Korean girl like you end up being adopted?

A: Due to that time period (1970’s), politics, history and economy, I will never know. My adoptive parents were white, but I had a Filipino brother and a Native American sister who were foster kids. I was like 5 or 6 when they turned 18 and left home. Thank god, I had them! We were all people of color and had to look out for each other. There were no Asian people, let alone integrated neighborhoods, then.

Q: How did your adoptive parents choose you?

A: My family wanted a white American kid, but white American kids are hard to come by. White women have abortions or keep their babies, or else their kids are wait-listed. My adoptive dad couldn’t have any more kids. So, they became foster parents so they could be more eligible for international adoption. They had no other choice because they couldn’t reproduce.

Q: You don’t think they chose you because they wanted you?

A: You’re not adopting by choice or to give the kid a home. It’s not like an alternative, but more like a default. And, if you adopt internationally, you’re damn sure never going to get that kid reunited with her birth family again. You’re in the clear.

I was an international adoption worker in Detroit in the late 1990’s. Black males are the cheapest kids. Do you know how many black males are in foster care? They’re never going to get adopted. White Americans will bend over backwards to get a passport, income verification, and immunizations to get a precious white Russian kid.

If you want a kid, you want a kid. Why does race matter? There are still undercover racists and imperialists. If you’re so cool, why not adopt a kid from Brazil or Africa? Why a little China doll? Because they’re what Americans thinks are smart and easy. Cool adoptive parents will adopt black males because they know adoption is about the kid, not about the parent.

Q: How much do you know about Korean culture?

A: I live in Koreatown (Los Angeles) where we have a large Korean population, but I always had a Korean culture. At 16, I started working in a Korean store selling handbags and beauty supplies. I went to Korea in 1998, and lived there in 2000. I was looking for my birth parents, volunteering and helping other Korean adoptees find their parents. I also taught English.

A lot of adoptive parents don’t want their kids to know how fun and developed Korea is, but it’s like Tokyo on crack. The clubs are opened until 5 in the morning. I think the parents want their kids to have this Westernized notion, to keep Korea exoticized. They feel threatened. They don’t want to lose their kids to the Korean community.

Q: What are your duties as a community activist?

A: I talk at camps and schools. I’m considered “the angry one, the crazy one, self-destructive”, but I’m a good advocate and activist.

I tell the kids about how much they’re programmed to love their master. ‘See that cute dog in the window?' their adoptive parents might’ve said. It’s a little bit ingrained in our Asian blood to be grateful. You’re supposed to think if you hadn’t been adopted, ‘Oh, I would’ve been an orphan. I would‘ve been a prostitute.’

Q: How long have you been a spoken word artist?

A: Since 1998, my work has been performed and published in Korea, and in black and Korean adoptee communities. I haven’t really broken out in the mainstream. I do a lot of hiphop festivals, and “angry women of color” and Korean adoptee events. I continue to be loud, proud and radical because I’m tired of us Asians being relegated to food and martial arts.

Q: How has your childhood impacted the way you raise your daughter?

A: 1. Exposure to art and culture. 2. Know yourself and love yourself. 3. The world is yours, really.

I hope that I can be in the position that allows her to be whatever she wants to be, and not have the pressure to choose a major or study something specific. If she wants to be an art brat, she can be an art brat. If she wants to join the circus, she can join the circus. I hope to be middle-class or upper middle-class so she can do her thing and not be like me--practical and holding it down.

Thank you for sharing, Yun!

Watch for Yun’s most recent project, Black Pearl Greetings, coming soon. Featuring her writing, it’s a personalized video greeting service offering irreverent videotaped cards you’ll never find at Hallmark.

You can also connect with Yun on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter through her user name: seoulflower

In case you missed these on the Hip Hapa Homeez Facebook page, here are some links to a couple of interesting articles:

After reading this one, I wondered how conflicted Lena Horne must’ve been over her MGM (multi-generational multi-racial) heritage:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/books/review/Simon-t.html?scp=2&sq=lena%20horne&st=cse

And, here’s a story about a beauty pageant in Cote d’Ivoire that encourages African women not to bleach their skin—a major problem in the area:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8148719.stm

Finally, an article I wrote about mixies for OneBrownGirl a few weeks ago:

http://www.onebrowngirl.com/page.php?pageno=bgw5

Hey Hip Hapa Homeez, keep coming back for more interviews with intriguing multi-culti personalities. And, don’t forget the film at http://www.watermelonsushi.com and the Hapa*Teez t-shirts at http://www.cafepress.com/hapateez

Join our Facebook group, Hip Hapa Homeez, and our Fan Page for Watermelon Sushi. We’re on Twitter now, too, so follow us for updates! User name: WatermelonSushi

Until soon, I am…

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi