A Birthday, A Senior Loving Teen, A Faux Pas, And A Mall Cop

Congratulations are in order here, folks. Thank you. Hey, I made it through another birthday! But since my SanDisk memory card reader decided to malfunction (how timely--one year and an expired warranty later), I can't download my party pix. So, I won't waste any time writing about the festivities you weren't invited to. I don't want to rub your face in how much fun you missed and not be able to share with you the images of me partying with my senior parents and their spoiled brat dog.

Speaking of seniors, two weeks ago on NHK's Nodojiman (Japanese amateur singing contest), a teenage girl appeared on the show along with her grandmother. As the two held hands, they sang a song. But I forgot to ask my mother what the song was about. I was so awestruck that a teenager not only didn't mind being seen with her grandparent on international television, but was proudly holding her hand, too. I kept imagining the show being American Idol or something, and I couldn't. Are you kidding me? No American kid would be caught on TV performing with an elderly relative. What is it with our society that makes aging such a horrific event that women race to get face lifts and men stock up on Viagra as soon as the wrinkles and gray hair appear? Isn't aging a natural process in other societies where the elderly are actually looked up to as being wiser or something? In our culture, it seems like we want to hide our old folks. Yes, I am sensitive to this issue especially since I've acquired another birthday. Sob! Still, the image of that young girl and her grandmother singing together was so sweet that I just had to take a photo. But it's another one you won't be seeing tonight.

As I've mentioned many times, I just love receiving your emails and Facebook Friends requests. Keep them coming. This week, I got an interesting message from Mary who is also Japanese and African American. After reading my last week's post, Mary experienced her own "huh?" moment with a monoracial friend. Here's what Mary had to say:

"I thought about you last night and your experiences with the monoracial white man who told you that your name didn't sound Japanese. There is someone in my life who I'm trying to tolerate and be friends with. He's white--half German, half American. Even with a law degree and a Masters in psychology, my friend Eric said the stupidest thing to me. As we were watching television, we noticed a biracial boy on the show.

I told Eric, 'Aw, he's really cute!'

Eric responded, 'I hate biracial people.'

Stunned, I said, 'Thanks a lot, Eric!'

He replied, 'Well, you're not biracial because you're half black and half Japanese. That's all the same race. There are only two races--white people and everyone else.'

Mary went on to write, "How does one argue with an idiot without becoming one?"

I'm sorry, Mary, but as you know from reading this blog I have no answers--just lots of questions. It's truly amazing how misinformed people are, but even more amazing is their sense of entitlement to tell you--a mixed-race person--exactly what you are. I mean, who put these people in charge?

Somewhere during the existence of humans, someone decided that the word biracial means that you are half black and half white. Then, some others decided that the word hapa means that you are half Asian and half white. It's crazy, I know. In my dictionary, biracial means someone who is of two races period, while hapa is the Hawai'ian mispronunciation of the English word 'half'. But back to Eric's declaration that there are only two races--white and everyone else. I'm stunned myself, Mary. I mean, does Eric think he hailed from Whiteland? And, why does he hate biracial people anyway? If any of you readers have comments, please leave them here.

On another note, it seems that today's mainstream movies are casually introducing the idea of mixed-race families to the public. Recently, I saw Mall Cop (don't ask) and was surprised that the protagonist was a monoracial Caucasian who lived with his white mother and his Latina daughter. It turns out, ha ha, that the mother was an illegal alien who only wanted her green card. So, she married the mall cop, birthed a daughter, and split. Somehow, this was a big family joke and a picture of the mother on a burro, I believe, was supposed to make us hysterically roll around in the aisles whenever they showed it. I found it kind of sad, really. Couldn't the writer have created a Latina who was not the stereotyped alien lusting for a green card? Couldn't she have been a successful business entrepreneur who decided to dump her mall cop hubby because he was such a loser? Jeez. Think, people, think! You're writers. Write creatively!

Speaking of writing creatively and films, we're still accepting submissions for Watermelon Sushi. If you'd like to audition for our producers in Los Angeles in June, please get your reels, resumes and headshots to us ASAP. You can find all the details, including breakdowns, on the Hip Hapa Homeez group page at Facebook. While you're there, please join us. With mixed-race notables like Jasmine Guy, Lonette McGee and Rain Pryor as members, you'll be in good company. Not to mention Kool Mo Dee, Professor Griff, Biz Markie and Ghostface Killah!

The pix I've posted are all from birthdays long gone. At the very top QBwoy hosted my birthday party at his reggae club in Hollywood. Beneath that one, QBwoy hosted another one of my birthday parties in Santa Monica where Mikki joined us. The other three photos are all from the same birthday party at Siam Place restaurant in Santa Monica. From left to right: Lisa, me, Karen. Next pix: Cat, me, Kristina. And lastly, Chi, me, and Cat.

Until next week, I remain Your old...

Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Insults Or Ignorance?

Honestly, the amount of insults hurled toward me by monoracial folks lately seem to be growing exponentially. It makes me wonder if something's been added to the drinking water.

Last week, I wrote about two people who attributed my ability to earn good grades and academic achievement to my "Asian side". In both instances, I was flabbergasted by their thoughtless remarks.

Well, there's more. Earlier this month, I attended a monthly get together of artists, writers and other creatives. Walking in late, I spotted a friend at the large table so I sat across from her. During lunch, most of the attendees chatted with others they knew, too. But towards the end, a couple got up to leave when the Caucasian man suddenly leaned over to introduce himself. As always when speaking to Westerners, I spoke my name with clearly enunciated syllables. I watched as the man visibly wrestled with a question gnawing at him.

"Where's that from?" he said, before changing his query to, "What kind of name is that?"

Warily, I answered, "Japanese."

Most of the time, the response I get when I reply with that answer is, "Really? You don't look all Japanese."

So, that's what I was prepared for when, instead, the man looked at me intently. "That doesn't sound like a Japanese name," he told me with an air of authority. "It has too many consonants. Most Japanese names start with a K or M," he added.

Incredulous, I looked over at my friend sitting across from me but she, herself a monoracial Caucasian, said nothing.

"Actually, a lot of Japanese names start with Y," I replied. "My mother's name is Yuriko, her mother's name is Yone, and..." I trailed off as I realized that I had no obligation to explain anything to this stranger who already thought he knew it all anyway.

Since he had the nerve, basically, to let me know that he knew more about Japanese culture than I did, I wanted to respond with something really flip, like; "Tom? What kind of name is that? Is it English, because most English names have two or more syllables so your name should be Thomas, shouldn't it?" Alas, I'm a peaceful type who doesn't like confrontation so I just smiled weakly. After the man left, I leaned in to tell my friend how insulted I felt, but it was too loud in the restaurant and she didn't seem to grasp my agitation.

Then, last night on a thread that I was a participant of, one of the women became upset over some of my stated opinions. In a final hurrah, not only did she call me the "B" word, but also flung at me her conviction that I was a coward who hid behind, quote, "all that ridiculous hip hapa stuff". Ridiculous? Since she's a monoracial African American, I had to wonder what she had against mixed-race folks.

On to better news. The producers of Watermelon Sushi in our Tokyo office are revving up for more action so keep checking back for updates. Meanwhile, calling all talent, get your submissions to us by visiting the Hip Hapa Homeez group page on Facebook. There, you can read the breakdowns and get the address to send your headshots, resumes and DVD's. And if you sign up to join us, you'll be in a group that includes luminaries like Todd Bridges, Kool Mo Dee, Professor Griff, Jasmine Guy, Oran Juice Jones, Patti LaBelle, MC Lyte, Biz Markie, Lonette McKee, Bern Nadette Stanis, and more. We're about to get real serious here, folks.

Finally, it appears that haru (spring) has arrived. Check out the pix of sakura (cherry blossoms) in my 'hood, above.

Funny, that my mom likes to make gohan (rice) with ume (plum) which turns the rice a little pink. I started calling it sakura gohan. At the left is a pix of the sakura norimaki we recently ate.

And, below is a photo of my Mom cutting her birthday cake last week. Notice her red eyes caused by haru allergies. As for her age, well...if you're that interested, please drop me a line at hiphapa@comcast.net

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Where Are The Extraterrestrials Of Color?

This week I attended a press screening for the film Knowing starring Nicholas Cage as an MIT professor with a young son. Because his wife died recently, the prof has taken to drinking a lot while pondering the meaning of life. He even lectures his students about the randomness of it all.

The movie opens fifty years earlier as elementary school children each contribute a piece of artwork to a time capsule. All the students are happily coloring and drawing, but one girl is obsessively writing rows and rows of numbers. What does it mean? I'm not going to give away the plot in case you plan to see this movie, but I will reveal that it involves the world coming to an end and "good" aliens rescuing "the chosen". And, just who are these chosen? Out of the billions of folks on planet earth, the lucky two that the aliens save happen to be the granddaughter of the little girl who wrote all those crazy numbers fifty years previous, and the professor's son.

Of course, the two children (who we assume will be the Adam and Eve of the new world) are mono-racial Caucasians. And, so are the aliens. In the scenes that take place 50 years earlier, it's historically accurate to show an all-white school. And later, most of the crowd scenes correctly feature various ethnicities. But as far as the aliens being portrayed by four white actors, three of them male, all I can say is why? This lack of colored folks as extraterrestrials bothered me so much that I posted the question on Facebook: Why are there no aliens of color in American films? Besides Brother From Another Planet, I couldn't think of any others. Several of my friends, however, came up with names like Damon Wayans in Earth Girls Are Easy and Louis Gossett, Jr. in Enemy Mine. There was mention of Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones in Star Wars, and Whoopi Goldberg in Star Trek, too. Still, the names of actors of color were rare. Besides, all the ones mentioned were black, and my question was meant to address all people of color including Asians, Indigenous folks, Latinos, and even biracial people.

Are we to assume, based on the film Knowing, that there are no people of color in the future? How does that compute when people of color dominate the world population right now? What happens to all of us then? If anything, futuristic films should heavily feature the Chinese.

One thought that persists in engaging my mind is that extraterrestrials are, in Hollywood's eyes, synonymous with superior intelligence. After all, they manage to find their way to Earth while earthlings haven't, so far, visited other planets. Is there some subtle message emitting from Tinsel Town that says people of color aren't smart enough to be a part of the future? Of course, a progressive director like John Sayles, often flips the script. Thus, the irreverent Brother From Another Planet.

I've been so disturbed by this lack of colored aliens issue that I vow to write a script about space creates of various hues, especially biracial ones. That's how I see the future, don't you? With so much race mixing going on these days, multiracial people are bound to be the dominant majority some day. So, why not aliens?

Meanwhile, friends, fans and family, we're still casting for Watermelon Sushi, we're still selling Hapa*Teez t-shirts to finance the film, and we're still recruiting members for our Facebook group called Hip Hapa Homeez. Join us today. Where else can you have rapper Kool Mo Dee as your Veep and group members like MC Lyte and Patti LaBelle?

Speaking of aliens, that's my sister and me in the pix above on a subway train in Tokyo. Note the flash of light around my head. Could it be my aura, or my alien antennae emerging?

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Marvelous Miwa Lyric

Can you stand to read yet another hapa birthday blog? Among my many friends and acquaintances, it seems, I can count lots of spring babies.

One special child is the marvelous Miwa Lyric who shares my birthday--only she was born several decades after me. In spite of her tender age, Miwa is wise and filled with the kind of compassion that is available to others only as they grow older. But Miwa seems to have been born that way. She's a writer, a rapper, a social activist and, she even designs clothes. Wait! Am I talking about her or me? Actually, my social activism is limited to talking a lot about what should be done, and my rapping--well, let's not discuss. But when it comes to demonstrating concern for those who suffer from injustice, with Miwa, there's the walk and the talk, and the two of them go together.

I was first introduced to Miwa, several years ago, via email blasts sent to me about her performance dates. I later found out that Miwa, herself, was sending them. How she stumbled upon my email address I don't know, nor do I care, because I became so entranced by what she had to say about art and politics. Although I haven't been able to see as many of her shows as I would like to, what I have seen has impressed me as they have others. Miwa has a HUGE fan base, mostly in LA, but also internationally. Right now, she's in Japan.

A few weeks after Miwa began emailing me, I received another email from a young woman named Asani Winfrey who wondered if we were related. That's legit. Even Oprah's cousins have contacted me about that possibility. Asani, who is of duel heritage (Chickasaw and black), has a famous father, a musician named Toddy, who ended up living in Japan. As for Asani (here's the irony of all ironies)--her husband is a music producer who produced Miwa's first CD's when she was still with a group! None of the three of us knew any of these connections existed until we continued to communicate with each other and it all came out.

On top of it all, Asani's birthday is May 6 (two days after Miwa's and mine) so one year Miwa threw the mother of all parties at the Jazz Club in J-town, L.A. Hundreds of people turned up, Miwa performed along with some of her hiphop students, her sushi chef father made fresh sushi, and I shot video of the entire event. Someday, I'll post a clip on the Internet for everyone to see.

Meanwhile, I just wanted to shout out to my special little friend, the marvelous Miwa Lyric. Here's her site:

http://www.thesoulasystem.com

And, that's her in the pix above with me and Chuck D following a Culver City studio taping of Kool Mo Dee's TV show, I Am Hiphop, last year.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

P.S. Thank you again to Cassie and Doris for the wonderful gifts and that yoga card. You two are something else!

Hapa*Teez Hits Cyberspace!

At last! After months of delays, my Watermelon Sushi store is finally opened for business and my Hapa*Teez t-shirts are for sale. Just for you, I've created three designs splayed across the top of several styles of t's all using the word hapa.

Now, about that word that some communities like to claim as their own. Personally, I feel that it belongs to all of us blendies. Originally, the Hawai'ians used it to mean "half" as in a measurement. And, it was traditionally linked with the word haole--a combination of ha (life's breath) and ole (nothing); literally, "he without breath". You see, the first Europeans arriving on the scene looked much too pale to the Natives to contain any ha or life's breath, and because they didn't prostrate themselves before the King and expel their last ha as was the custom, the Hawai'ians figured they had none. Thus, haole. And, please, don't mispronounce it by saying howlie as if you're referring to a wolf or something. Instead, try "hah" "oh" "leh". Ah, much better.

As Europeans began marrying Hawai'ians, their offspring were called hapa haole--half European. Then, with the arrival of East Asians, even more intermarrying occurred. Soon, Native Hawai'ians could boast few among them as being pure blood. The hapa haole phrase then became more applicable to those who were half Asian and half white.

Like I said, I use hapa to describe anyone who is biracial. Half is half of any race as far as I'm concerned.

So, please check out my store at: http://www.cafepress.com/hapateez

I know some of the prices are a bit much, but believe me my commission is not. On a serious tip, I hope my Hapa*Teez t's grow so huge in popularity that I'll be able to finance my feature film this year. If that's the case, I'll give an onscreen credit to all of you who buy them.

Another project I'm currently working on is a short documentary about hapas. So, if you're biracial and have a story to share onscreen, contact me at watermelonsushi@comcast.net

And, here's a shout-out to my SWIRL girl, Jen Chau. You can read her blog at jenchau.typepad.com/thetimeisalwaysright or check out www.swirlinc.org to connect with the largest mixed-race organization on Planet Earth!

Next up, Mia G updates the www.watermelonsushi.com website with new photos of Kool Mo Dee and Chuck D at Studio 52 in LA where we watched Mo Dee tape his new TV pilot, iamhiphop.com this past November.

And, I'll keep you posted about that newspaper article featuring hapas (including yours truly) that should be published this weekend.

Alafia!

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi