Peace Loving Brides Of War

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

Un Certain Regard

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

Natives Matter With Native Matters

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

War! What Is It Good For? Absolutely, Uh, Something!

Earlier, I wrote about the tensions between Japanese in Nippon v. the J/A's (Japanese Americans) in the U.S. Even though I slammed Mr. Sulu for his snide remarks about how I pronounced my name, I didn't mean to make light of the issue of Nipponese v. J/A's. Certainly, there is much to be said about the suffering on both sides.

J/A's languished behind the barbed wire of interment camps and were separated from family and friends, lost careers, property, and--most important of all in Asian culture--face. The Japanese in Nippon, also lost face along with millions of innocent lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were destroyed by American atomic bombs. My own mother, living in Tokyo at the time, often found herself racing towards a bomb shelter to avoid the constant rain of B52 bombs dropped by Americans. One day, she arrived at work only to find her office in shambles; completely demolished by bombing.

No one ever really wins a war. The devastation comes not only in the loss of lives, but also in the deeply psychological pain that often lingers following the trauma of war.

But if there's any kind of light at the end of the tunnel to be celebrated, it's the births of thousands of mixed-race babies who would've never been born had it not been for a war somewhere. So, war can be a kind of cultural bridge, too.

Who would've ever thought that an African American man from the South, whose ancestors were brought in chains from a place he has no recollection of, would end up marrying a Japanese woman whose own sad personal history made her eligible to move to America? And, who would've ever thought that a spirited and artistic Japanese woman would marry a man who should've been considered a representative of the enemy of her people?

But it happened. And, it happened to many others like my parents. It happened to Germans and Italians, too. One of my best friends in high school had a French mother and Swedish American soldier father who had met his bride while he was stationed in Europe. Another had an Austrian mother and Caucasian American father. War brides are what they called these women, but they were so much more. They were brave souls who struggled to recover from the devastation of war and, if that meant marrying a stranger from a strange land, whether or not love fit into the equation, so be it. I'm sure most of those women loved the men they ended up with, but who among us can say how we would behave romantically after losing our families, friends, countries, and even our hope.

About 3/4's of the kids I knew while our family lived at Ft. Lewis were either Japanese and black or Japanese and Caucasian, and German and black or German and Caucasian. Quite frankly, if it hadn't been for a war, I wouldn't be me.

Still, it's too bad that it takes a war to bring some folks together. Perhaps in the future, people will make an effort to not segregate into tribes and, in the words of Bob Marley, "Spread out! Spread out!"

Cool runnin's, ya'll.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

P.S. That's me and Moms, above, with her bike in Tokyo many moons ago.