Watermelon Sushi World: Mexican

Wednesday, April 01, 2015

Meet Mexipina Mentor, Christina Torres

Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez!

As always, Your Hip Hapa thanks you for your loving support. Since Facebook deleted all inactive accounts, the numbers for our Watermelon Sushi fans has plunged. Please “like” our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/watermelonsushi and help build us up again.

Christina Torres

Your Hip Hapa is so grateful for your continued views of our links at the bottom of this post. And, please tell your family, friends and multicultural community organizations to join us here every other month to read about our featured Hip Hapa Homee.

This bi-month, we’d like to introduce you to educator Christina Torres. Here’s her story:

Q: Who are you parents and how did they meet?

A: My Mexican father and Filipina mother met at the University of Southern California.

mother, father, daughter

Q: What was it like growing up?

A: Growing up was tough.

I’ve written about it here: http://www.tolerance.org/blog/why-teaching-about-social-justice-matters

and here: https://teachrunwrite.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/the-paradox-of-high-expectations/.

I was at a mostly white school, so that was hard.

in Hawai'i

Q: Now that you live in Hawai’i, how different is it from your former residence in Southern California?

A: I'm way more accepted here than in SoCal. In L.A., there was also lot of racial profiling that affected me. Here in Hawai'i, everyone is mixed and in interracial relationships, which helps a lot. Still it's hard.

Q: What inspired you to become an educator?

A: I wrote about that here:

http://rance.org/blog/why-teaching-about-social-justice-matters

But some of it was also the realization that kids who shared my racial background, but grew up a half an hour away, had received an education that lacked a number of opportunities that mine had. I realized I had to do something about it.

Q: How do you guide your students when it comes to developing multicultural awareness?

A: I make it a point to consistently bring up conversations around race with my students. I've actually already written a paper on facing stereotypes and biases with my students to discuss race issues.

Q: As an educator, how do you see things changing for multiracial people? Or, do you?

A: I think that as interracial relationships become more common and race issues become more prevalent, we'll move towards a world where these issues are discussed more, and multiracial people will have more representation. I think we have a LONG way to go, however.

Q: What other ways are you active with the multicultural movement?

A: I'm part of the #educolor collective:

bit.ly/EduColorTwitter

and talk about mixed-race issues.

Mahalo nui loa, Christina!

Hey, Hip Hapa Homeez, until we meet again on June 3, we wish you a HAPA Spring. Remember to check us out at these sites:

Watermelon Sushi film

http://www.watermelonsushi.com

Watermelon Sushi on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/watermelonsushi

Watermelon Sushi World Networked Blogs on Facebook

http://www.networkedblogs.com/blog/watermelon_sushi_world

Hapa*Teez on YouTube

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

Hapa*Teez on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/hapateez

Hapa*Teez on Café Press

http://www.cafepress.com/hapateez

War Brides of Japan v.2 on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNSEUkT2N4E&feature=plcp

War Brides of Japan on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnJkujn1iek&feature=colike

War Brides of Japan on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/WarBridesOfJapan

Yayoi Lena Winfrey fan page on Facebook (sorry, but Your Hip Hapa can’t add any more friends to her regular profile page)

https://www.facebook.com/yayoilenawinfreyfanpage

Twitter

https://twitter.com/watermelonsushi

And, remember to join our Hip Hapa Homeez group on Facebook to read the most intriguing articles and comments about the multicultural community.

buy a HapaTeez t-shirt like this one!

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Blackanese Boy

Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez!

Blackanese Boy, Ramon

This month’s featured Hip Hapa Homee is Ramon Calhoun who just published his novel, Blacknese Boy. Read what Ramon has to say about being multiracial and a writer, below. Here’s the url to his book:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H0OSV6Y

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

A: My father is black American and my mother is Japanese American (sansei). Supposedly they met while at the Monterey Jazz festival in the 1960's. They then moved in together in San Francisco and were basically hippies; mom had super long hair, and dad had a big Afro.

Q: Where and how did you grow up?

A: I grew up in San Francisco, and was raised primarily by my mother and my Japanese American family. I went to a Japanese bilingual school from grades 1-5, and also was involved in a Japanese American Cub and Boy Scout troop (located in Japantown) as a child, up into my teens. I also spent time in the country, near Lodi, the central part of California, where my grandparents on my mother's side lived.

My parents separated when I was a child. My father wasn't around that much; he led a bohemian life, so would pop in and out on occasion. My close friends and peers growing up were either Japanese American, or mixed Japanese.

Ramon with his mother

Q: How do you identify, and how did you first shape your identity?

A: I identify as mixed, as Blackanese. My identity as a child was shaped by many factors and influences: my mother, my relatives, my classmates, and then society and culture. I first identified as Japanese as a child. As I got older, my identity changed and switched and evolved. At various times in my life, I identified as Mexican, black, Indian, Filipino, Hawaiian and Mediterranean. It was challenging because there weren't any fellow Blasians around me, nor in popular culture. I was always the ONLY one. Now, as an adult, I fully embrace both my black and Japanese American heritages, and am proud to be Blackanese!

motivated

Q: What motivated you to write about your experiences and put them in a novel?

A: I was motivated to write about my experience because I'm a writer/artist, first and foremost, and wanted to express something that is deeply felt by me. I wanted to use my experience as the basis for the main character and create a work of fiction. Also, there are no novels out there that have Blackanese people as their main characters. There's a hole out there when it comes to stories about Blasians, and so I wanted to address that. I want to read about such characters, and I want to have such characters out in the world for people to read about. It's such a diverse, complex country, and all our stories should be read/heard.

Q: There are lots of mixed-race forums now compared to 10 years ago. What advice do you have for mixies who want to follow in your shoes and write fiction about multiracial folks?

A: Go for it! I hope that many more mixed folk will write stories and novels. It doesn't have to be about being multi-racial per se, but just having us out there, as writers and artists in the public eye, is a positive thing. I think people should write about what they feel strongly about, whatever the topic or story. Writing about being mixed isn't easy, at least for me it isn't. But I want to continue writing about this (and other topics) because I feel so strongly about it. It truly is in my blood!

fellow Blasians, Ramon with artist/poet Sabrena Taylor

Q: It's unusual to see a mixed-race man write a book about being mixed although we've seen lots of published material from women. To what do you attribute that?

A: I guess that's true. Not sure why that is because there's many male black American writers, and male Latino writers, who write about race and ethnicity. I think it has to do with my passion for bringing my story and what it's like being Blackanese into the world. I want other people to read about it, to have some understanding of the complexities and challenges of being mixed like that. I want people to know that people like me exist, and to put us Blasians on the map so to speak.

Also, my father is a poet. His name is Conyus Calhoun. He's been published. I probably inherited the love of the word from him. Though he was hardly around, his love of jazz and poetry is something that stayed with me.

Ramon with friend, Calvert

Q: What's next?

A: This novel is self-published, without any professional marketing or advertising, so there won't be any signings or book tours or anything like that--unless by some miracle it gains a wider audience and reaches a national attention. But I don't think that's going to happen.

I'm currently working on some short stories. I'm very excited about them, as the writing is a bit different from the novel. They're not so strongly based on reality. When they're ready to be published, I'll submit them and see what happens. I feel very strongly about them.

I have another novel in the back of my head. I'll start writing that probably in a year or two. I already have ideas about it. I'm really looking forward to starting this, and to see what comes out.

Ramon at Tomales Bay

Arrigatou gozaimasu and thank you, Ramon. Hip Hapa Homeez, you can learn more about people like Blackanese Boy by joining and frequenting our Facebook group page—Hip Hapa Homeez. Please, also check out the following links: