Wednesday, December 02, 2015

Pop Idol Moon Prince: Jun Leo

Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez.

Moon Prince Jun Leo


For our last blog entry of this year, we have an especially sweet treat for you to savor. Our hip hapa homee for this bi-month is the incredibly kawaii and talented Jun Leo Mirzat, aka Jun Leo Xi, aka Prince Jun Leo, but best known as Moon Prince. Your Hip Hapa first became aware of this extraordinarily gifted artist when we became Facebook friends in 2010 and he was shooting a series of videos about mixed-race folks in England. Since then, we’ve watched his career blow up all over Asia. But let him tell his story in his own words:






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

A: My mother is of Chinese-Uyghur descent and my father is of Italian descent. They met in a town just outside of London. Funny story, actually. My mother was putting her washing out in the garden to dry when suddenly the washing line collapsed. My father was visiting his brother who lived next door to my mother. He vaulted over the fence to aid my mother in picking up her washing, which probably included her panties, ha ha. At that time, my mother had two other children, my elder brother and sister from her previous marriage with a British man of English and South African descent. After my parents got married, along came me!


Q: You left England for a music career in Japan. What inspired you to move to another country?

A: Well, during high school I was made fun of for my Asian features. Other kids would make fun and pull their eyes up to replicate Asian eyes. I was around the age of 11 at that time. Before that, I’d never really thought about race very much. 

Now when people criticize me for me, I don’t tend to back down. I tend to push further and make that point a plus, rather than a negative. I then started to discover Chinese pop. From that, I also found J-pop and K-pop which both had a reasonable following in the East.


When searching for J-pop, one of the first artists I came across was Ayumi Hamasaki, who is still one of my favorite Japanese artists. Through Japanese music I then discovered Japanese street fashions and subcultures such as ‘Gyaru, Gyaruo’, ‘Visual Kei’ and others. It just felt like a part of who I am, which needed to be conveyed in the way I dress. It was just a way of expressing how I felt inside and a way to feel stronger.

So from about the age of 13, I was flicking through a magazine called ‘Gothic & Lolita Bible’ where I discovered a male model called Riku who had a soft androgynous look I felt I could relate to. From then, I wanted to become a model in Japan for street fashion magazines.

After that, I discovered Leah Dizon. She was born in Las Vegas to a half-Filipino half-Chinese father and a mother of French descent. She became an idol in Japan with a successful pop career. Since she was another hapa born in the West and moved to Japan to be a star, she became my idol and made my dreams feel possible.

So from then on, I wanted to become a singer the most--but an all around ‘entertainer’.

A lot of people assume I had rich parents and that’s how I ended up in Japan. I grew up with a single mother working several cleaning jobs to put food on our table. We never went without and she gave me some amazing values I am grateful to have been taught. But we never had a lot of money. I left school and went to a community college to study fashion. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do aside from my career in Japan. If ever asked what I wanted to do with my life, that’s the only thing I could think of. Of course, people doubted me and mocked me. I may not be the best selling artist in Japan...yet, but here I am, ha ha.

I then got a job in fashion retail, which was horrible, but that’s another story. I stuck at that job, and it’s not a time I look back at fondly. After that, I managed to get a nicer job in the same field but in central London. I’m one who likes to be busy and in a place with lots of people. So I was far happier working in central London. I worked there for just over a year, saving money to move to Japan.

After that I had a strange feeling that it wouldn’t be long before I moved to Japan. In Winter 2013, I was contacted by a music production manager who worked in the Kansai region in Japan. We then began to talk and he was interested in working with me.

In Summer 2014, one of my managers at my retail job broke the news to me they were going to be possibly dropping a few people in a month’s time and I was one of those people. They had kept me on a temporary contract, which they would just renew every month or two. Which was just the company’s way of saving money. By this time, my Japan plans where pretty much fixed. So, I just lost interest in the job. I had worked some long, stressful hours, being pressured to do overtime when I didn’t need the extra money or want to do it. So, it was more about the moral of it, they where just going to casually drop me.

Since I didn’t really need the job anymore, I started taking extra breaks, ha ha. Going for extra cups of tea and such. But one morning, I just decided to not go in. If they weren’t possibly firing me, I would have done the procedure properly. They did, however, send me a letter that ‘could lead to dismissal’ which obviously if I wasn’t coming into work, I wasn’t going to be going in so they could fire me. But I guess that was all the procedures they have to go through with.

I used that time to see my family and friends. My grandfather had passed away a short while prior to leaving, which was hard to deal with. I went to his funeral just 3 days before leaving the country. I then had to pack my life into a suitcase for an exciting, scary and uncertain future. 

Q: Do you speak Japanese?

A: When I came here, I could speak very little Japanese. It was tough at first because I felt a little lonely, not being able to express myself well with no English speakers where I was. But I learned Japanese through survival. I picked up a lot very fast. Although now I am not fluent, I can hold a conversation without too much struggle. I’ve had a few times where people haven’t realized I wasn’t born here which is a compliment to my accent, ha ha. But I’ve still got a long way to go before I can say I’m fluent.

Q: What do you find the most interesting about living in another country?

A: I guess, the fact I live in another country doesn’t really cross my mind too much. Although I was born in the U.K., I never felt I belonged to the U.K. It’s just another place on this planet I have a connection with. I feel extremely comfortable in Japan for the most part.

I definitely appreciate the safety of Japan. I don’t worry about walking alone at night. Just like every country, Japan isn’t perfect. But as far as I know, Japan is the place for me and it’s perfect for me.






Q: You have huge fan bases in Europe and Asia. Are you looking to North America to repeat the same?

A: I honestly don’t feel like I have a huge following yet. But I appreciate every last follower. Their support means so much to me.

I’m not really looking to be mainstream in the West at all. Although lately I’ve gained quite a few followers in China, Japan is where I want to gain success. I would love to one day perform in North America and various places, possibly at anime conventions. That would be real fun!

(Editor’s Note: Moon Prince, we wish you would have performed at the Anime Matsuri at the Honolulu Convention Center last weekend!)


Q: How many albums have you released so far? How would you categorize your music?

A: I haven’t released an album yet. I actually just finished recording for my first mini-album! I’m also working on some free work I want to release online. 

It’s hard to categorize my music. I don’t want to stick to one genre. I want to experiment, but I don’t want my music to become a blur. I want everything I release to feel like a ‘Jun Leo song’. I am very particular with how I want to be presented. The current set of songs are all J-pop, there are some with an electric dance feel to them. But there is a variety on there! My current music producer is extremely talented and has done such a great job with the production. I am really excited to release my first CD!  





Q: Are you doing anything else—like acting or otherwise performing in Japan?

A: I am actually! I model! In early November, I modeled for Japanese brand Ayymatsuura in Seoul, Korea. In December I am walking the catwalk for the same brand in Osaka!











I have also been trained in the Japanese art form of ‘nihon buyo’. I have performed at several stages in Nara.





Q: What are some links to your work?

A: I have released several previews of songs that will be featured on my mini-album. They have yet to be completely mixed and mastered, so these are rough copies of the final product.

Jun Leo - Last Fantasy


Jun Leo - Make It Move


Domo arrigatou gozaimasu, Moon Prince! You are so destined for greatness!


Dear Hip Hapa Homeez, please remember to check out our usual links, as well:

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

Also, please consider joining our Hip Hapa Homeez group on Facebook where we post articles and share discussions about everything blendie, mixie, hapa, interracial, transracial and more!

Until we cross cyber paths again in 2016, I am

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi




Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Hip-A-Teez Hapa-Teez

Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez!

This bi-month, Your Hip Hapa is giving you the silent treatment. That is, there is no interview with any multiethnic, transracially adopted, interracially involved or culture crossing person. Instead, enjoy the photo gallery below, all about our line of Hapa-Teez t-shirts. 

welcome to Hapawood
and, enjoy the Hapa Life!
one Hapa Nation...





a Watermelon Sushi kind of girl...

for Blasians and others...



Buy a shirt and support a film. Find out how by reading these links:

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

And, remember you can get interactive by joining our Hip Hapa Homeez group on Facebook.


Until December, when we return with an exclusive interview with erotic mixed-race author Libra Libre,

I Am Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Wednesday, August 05, 2015

The Humankind-ness Of Sarah Moriguchi Ross

Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez!

Over the years, Watermelon Sushi World has featured people of all cultures, ethnicities and races. Whether they were mixed, transracially adopted, interracially involved or crossing cultures, they have taken us along on some incredible journeys, and we’ve learned a lot. This bi-month’s Hip Hapa Homee also adds to our multi-culti education by showcasing her family—hopefully, a model for what future families might look like. Read the post below and see if you agree:

Q: Sarah Moriguchi Ross, who are your parents, and how did they meet?

Sarah (right) officiant at Golden Gate Park wedding, 1969
A: My parents met in San Francisco where I was born. My dad had just come out of the Army and WWII, and headed west from Hartford Connecticut. My mom had been working in Louisville Kentucky in the war industry doing draftsman work for airplane building plans. She is from Charleston West Virginia. They met at a boarding house they both resided in.

My dad is German (on his dad's side) and Irish (born in Irish free state) on his mom's side. He was the oldest of eight. My mother is English (on her dad's side) and Native American (Seminole) on her mother's side. I was considered white, although when I was old enough to ask about identity, my parents would say I was a “Heinz 57”. Back in the day, this was a mustard blend that was marketed. My aunt told me about my Seminole heritage much later in life. I was informed that my grandmother, my mother's mother, was adopted and that the county court house burned down with all the records.

Sarah as USPS mail carrier, 1969
Q: What was it like growing up?

A: Growing up in San Francisco, I was fortunately able to interact with many people of different ethnic backgrounds. Being raised white, the conflict I encountered was with my parents over my choice of friends. At 14, my first boyfriend, Fred, was 16 and the oldest of five kids in a multiracial--we used the term interracial back in the day--family of German and Japanese parents. Toshiro (Fred’s dad) was a Nisei soldier who fought in WWII in Germany. He married Josephine (Fred’s mother) who was a young German woman who survived the war. They came to San Francisco and sent for Fred when he was 4, and he got entry into America. He was born in Munich in 1946.

Fred and I married and divorced young. We had two children. I moved to Oregon in 1973 pregnant and with two children—and, single. In 1975, my friend Randy and I started a relationship that resulted in marriage and produced four children. We also raised some of his children. Altogether, we are the parents of ten. I gave birth to seven children. Two are inter-ethnic and five are interracial (multiracial). Randy's three are: one African-American and two multiracial. He is African-American, or a more common term “black”. He is the oldest of three brothers from Los Angeles. We have been together for 39 years.

Sarah (3rd from left, top row) with husband Randy, their four children, and two of hers with her ex-husband
Q: What inspired you to create H.O.N.E.Y., Inc.? (Honoring Our New Ethnic Youth?)


A: Raising our kids of color in a mostly white area presented some concerns--discrimination, mistreatment and lack of role models who looked like them, or even similar to them. The clincher was when they heard us talking about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and they were like, “who?” We knew if we did not do something for them, as well as the community, the situation/area would remain backwards. So, in 1983, before the day was declared a holiday (1986), we planned a big family-friendly celebration for Dr. King’s birthday. We had a petition on the wall to create the day as a holiday. When we finished with the event, we realized that our group of friends and volunteers were a multiracial mix of parents with mixed-race children. Then, we started to organize ourselves to discuss our concerns and our children's identity development. We agreed that combining our efforts to form an organization was a good direction, and incorporated in 1985.

top row: Lela Ross (Sundancer), Karen (Moriguchi) Phelps, Sarah, Randy, Fred Moriguchi, Niyah Ross
bottom row: Maurice Ross, Ayanna Moriguchi, Tumasi Ross

Q: What are some of your group's goals?

A: Our group goals are dual in essence: support interracial families and create a racially harmonious environment. We held programs for children and many adults sat on advisory boards to provide feedback to the larger community. I remember this one instance when I was at a city planning meeting and advocating for black people on the topic of naming a park after Martin Luther King, Jr. The city planner looked at me in complete seriousness and said, “I didn't know any black people lived here.” This was the early 1980's. 

The goal statement from our Facebook group, Honoring Our New Ethnic Youth H.O.N.E.Y. Inc., was founded in 1983 in Eugene Oregon. This non-profit was formed with the goal of providing support and advocacy for the enhancement and acceptance of multiracial persons and their families. The organization’s premise is that in order for the healthy development of interracial families to thrive, it is important that racial harmony be attained by our society. Therefore, through education, Honey strives to create a well-established multicultural community. Our programs and projects reflect these fundamentals. Typically, we still hold celebrations for MLK Day and Loving Day in a family-friendly style. We had a Saturday program for 20 years called Culture Club. Now, it is more of a playgroup and held less frequently.

Q: Some of us are aware that Eugene Oregon is considered a politically radical community, but is it a particularly mixed-race city?

A: Eugene's second biggest “ethnic group” is comprised of persons who are two or more races. This figure is not inclusive of persons who are inter-ethnic, i.e., white and Latino. Our largest ethnic group is Latino. Some data is still a challenge. An old friend once said, “The black University of Oregon football players sure do pepper up the place.” He was a “blue blood” originally from Chicago. I think that meant a light-skinned black person.

I make my own observations about our mixed-race populations. Over the years, the demographics have changed statistically and visibly. When my children attended school in the 1980's, they were the only children of color in their class. Now, as my grandchildren attend school, there are many children of color and, often, they are multiracial. Children of color and mixed-race kids are less isolated now in the school institutions. Therefore, there seemed to be less need for our program, Culture Club. Yes, there are black and brown environments here. But there is no neighborhood that is defined by a particular ethnic group other than white. Upper classes live in the hills and lower classes in flat lands. We have a huge population of homeless people and families. Honey families are a mix of low income and average income folks. The 1,200 black people on the census tend to be middle-class or greater. The five or six thousand of two or more races are a variety of income backgrounds.

Q: Oregon once had a “no blacks allowed” law, yet today, the Pacific Northwest is known as a progressive/liberal region. Any thoughts on that?

Sarah, at center with long white hair,
doing Tai Chi on Loving Day
June 21, 2015 

at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park
A: Yes, that is why the area is mostly white. It was called the exclusion law. When the state was formed in 1859, there was a vote to determine if this would be a slave state. They voted against slavery and for exclusion. This excluded people of African descent, Chinese, Hawaiian and Malays. That law was discontinued in 1926. If I were a ruler of this Oregon land, I would say immigration should only be granted to People of Color for an indeterminate number of years until the racial balance was achieved. Exceptions only to family members. A total fantasy, I know. White supremacists nationwide want to make Oregon a white homeland, and there are many white Oregonians who resist this, also due to their liberal progressive nature. However, when it comes to exclusion, groups still practice various ways to stick to their own kind. My kind is human kind, thank you. A good book on this state history is called, “Peculiar Paradise, A History of Blacks in Oregon.” 1980 Laughlin, (I think). When I read the book in 1989, it really made me realize why this area is like it is. A big “ah hah!”

Q: Since you are so invested in youth and tomorrow's citizens, you must be optimistic about the future.

A: I am not a person with her head in the sand. I know what is going on and it is all very concerning and upsetting. But, yes, to say I am optimistic is true. We have big problems and they can be solved. But division only makes matters worse. Divide and conquer is very effective, and we all need to counter these divisions--put our heads together and create peace, life and love.

Mahalo, Sarah. Dear Hip Hapa Homeez, please consider visiting these links:

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

And join our Hip Hapa Homeez group on Facebook where we interact with you through comments on postings of articles like the one above.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi



Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Asian American Adoptee Activist: Simone Labony Labbance

Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez!
Simone


Welcome back to our Watermelon Sushi World. Meet this bi-month’s featured hip hapa homee, Simone Labony Labbance.


A transracial/transnational adoptee, Simone is a recent graduate of Wellesley College where she studied Asian American Studies and Music. Recently, Simone completed a capstone for her Asian American Studies major, which culminated in a full-length lecture examining the relationship between AAPI admissions at elite colleges and race-based admission practices. Simone was also president of Wellesley Asian Alliance, the only pan-Asian racial justice student organization on campus. Currently, she’s job-hunting in the Boston area and hoping for something in AAPI Advocacy. In the meantime, she also has a part-time job at EMW BookstoreIs that busy enough for you, hip hapa homeez? No? Well, here’s more from this active activist:

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

A: My parents are Kathie and Bob. They have the most generic white names of the ‘50s! They are both racially white. My mother is of mixed European descent, but I think mostly English. My father was very Italian (biological last name of Maestro), but he was adopted into a Hungarian family, hence my last name: Labbance.

I have an older brother, who is also adopted, and his story influences mine, so I’ll touch on it briefly. He was adopted from an orphanage in Kolkata (many people still use the British name of Calcutta). My parents chose India due to interest in the culture and because it was a country known for having relatively smooth adoption processes at the time. When my parents went to adopt a second child, they had two hopes.

1. to adopt a girl, so they could have “one of each”;
2. to adopt from the same orphanage or at least the same region of India, so my brother and I would share a culture.

We’re both Bengali, and as you’ve probably at least heard, India is a very diverse country from food to culture/language and even terrain/ecosystem.

My brother and I are both from the International Mission of Hope (IMH) in Kolkata, but it almost didn’t turn out that way! IMH was hurting financially when my parents adopted my brother. So they grouped together with many other expectant parents to hold a fundraiser. My parents ran an eclectic restaurant and cooked a huge Indian meal. One mother, an artist, painted a backdrop for the dinner featuring a scene from India, I believe…but I’m not entirely sure because I wasn’t there or alive! My brother successfully made it over to our family in large part due to that fundraiser. Yet during the interim year or two between the time my brother left IMH and the time my parents would file for a second adoption, IMH looked as though it was closing, or at least was not in the position to match children and families. So my parents were forced to look elsewhere in India. They were recommended to a place in the southern part of the country. But before that adoption was close to being ready (and definitely not paired), IMH started to accept applications for adoption again. Because I was the second child my parents had adopted from that particular orphanage, the orphanage let them choose the sex of the child. They, of course, chose a girl and ended up with me!

My mother’s first image of me was via fax (yes, back in the days of fax machines)! She tells a great story of holding her breath while watching me appear, feet first, her new daughter, Labony. I arrived at Logan International Airport a few months later in the fall.

Simone with Chinese adoptee
Q: How did you grow up?

A: Ha ha--definitely not in an ethnically diverse neighborhood. I grew up in rural Vermont, the second whitest state in the USA. There was little cultural opportunity, but my parents worked really hard to provide whatever they could for us in that regard. My first home was located in the epitome of backwoods Vermont with only a few children (if that!) in each grade and not a single other person of color in the entire local community. (Unless of course you count my brother!)

So we moved to Central Vermont, which could offer a community with other POC, but most importantly, other children of color. Many of these children were also adopted, and we shared a particularly meaningful connection. Central Vermont also had easy access to Burlington, Vermont’s hub of cultural diversity.

My mother brought me to Indian music and dance performances, as well as international festivals and events for Hindu holidays. At some point in my junior high years, my mother and I attended a Bharatanatyam* (Hindustani classical dance) performance. Through members of the crowd, we discovered there was a massi**, who worked in my orphanage in India, present that night, too! (I’m so grateful for the small community in Vermont at times like these!) She is an amazing person, and we still keep in touch on occasion today. The massi, now Auntie-ji, invited me to her house, spoke Bangla around me (though I’m sorry to say I haven’t picked it up), taught me how to cook desi food, and wholly welcomed me into her Bengali home and community without a second thought. I also met one of the main dancers of the evening and began taking Bharatanatyam lessons in Burlington on a regular basis. (A big thanks to my mother for driving me for an hour there, waiting throughout the lesson, paying for private lessons, and then driving me home.)

Simone plays sitar
When I was fourteen, my father indulged my wish for a sitar. I took sporadic lessons throughout high school, as I had to go all the way to Portland Maine to meet with my teacher. I already had a strong musical background through piano lessons as a young child, and flute lessons starting in fourth grade. While this was clearly European classical music with completely different theory, notes, scales, everything, it did offer a base from which to work. I was very passionate about linking my activism with music. This was especially possible when addressing cross-cultural communication and international relationships.

Simone with Big Bang Bhangra Brass Band (B5)
playing Bangra Jazz fusion
I composed pieces for the sitar and European chamber ensembles. The musicians often came from a variety of backgrounds. My favorite musician to play with was Bolivian American. The piece of music I composed that expresses this most is Me Shanti, or into peace. The first-stage version is still posted on my MySpace musician page, since that was the in platform of the time. This composition was selected to open the United Nation’s International Day of Peace ceremony in 2009 as a musical representation of a world in conflict engaging in cross-cultural dialogue and eventually moving into a state of positive peace. The musicians were from three different continents (including myself). Those who performed were of South Asian, Latin@, and Mediterranean descent to further convey the message.

Since I haven’t produced new music since high school (and the days of MySpace), I haven’t felt the need to move to SoundCloud or anything else. I hope to have a page up within a year with some new pieces though! I’ve learned a lot in my music courses at Wellesley that I want to apply.

Simone's collage for justice
While Vermont is very racially hegemonic, there are pockets of non-whites and cultural experiences if you know where to look. I was very fortunate to grow up with those experiences made available to me.

Q: What was like being a child in New England?

A: As I mentioned previously, there were other people of color and other transracial (and transnational) adoptees in the greater Vermont community. My parents met many parents of transracial transnational adoptees, and maintained close friendships. Their friends’ children tended to be the same age as my brother and me, and even occasionally from the same orphanage! This was a great support growing up. We shared concerns with one another and processed our individual experiences together. Though to a certain extent, it did seem natural to be adopted and to be a different race than my parents, because those were the experiences I was surrounded by.

WWA poster designed by Simone

At college, it was quite different and definitely more difficult! I attended Wellesley College outside of Boston, and our campus was approximately 30% AAPI including international students. Most students of Asian descent at Wellesley are not adopted, speak their mother tongue pretty fluently, and had a much stronger vocabulary for discussions around race, culture, and ethnicity than I did. It was intimidating to arrive at Wellesley, but I also felt most at home with other students who identified as AAPI. No one knew I was adopted just by looking at me, and a few people even thought I was an Indian International student. I was told by other Indians that I gave off a certain vibe that led them to believe this and, according to them, was able to hold my own in discussions of Indian culture.

Q: Do you have the same passion for golf as your late father?

A: I actually quite dislike golf! The only reason I hold any fondness for the sport (now) is because my father loved it so much. He was well respected in the field as a historian and writer. My father fell off a bridge (on a golf course, of course!) and was paralyzed from the neck down when I was still in elementary school. He died in 2004, just after my fifteenth birthday, of ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease. Now that he’s gone, I like hearing golf tournaments on in the background (though I’d never actually sit down and watch). The sound is comforting and reminds me of him.

I would say our mutual passions fall into the category of history, politics, and writing. He was very liberal and used to write incredibly out-there articles under a fake name for a publication in England about Americans. I’m probably more like him than I realize, but it’s hard to tell when your strongest memories of your father are of his illness. My main memories, besides the painful ones relating to his own suffering, are of his laughter and sense of humor, his strength through great adversity. The most useful lesson I learned from both my parents was personal strength during difficult times. I also learned that strength takes on many faces and how to use multiple types of strength to endure life’s hardships.
playing flute in the Himalayas

Q: Have you returned to India, or connected with any relatives there?

A: There is no information on my birth family, so nothing there. But I have returned to India. I studied abroad at an alternative school in India my senior year of high school. This is where I really developed my Bengali American cultural identity. At this school, there were roughly a combined total of 10 American and Canadian students and approximately 30-40 Indian students. I was the only Indian westerner and soon discovered I didn’t fully fit in with either group of students. I wasn’t Indian in the sense that I didn’t grow up in the country and still required a fair amount of help with certain interactions, especially because my Hindi is quite poor. Yet I wasn’t white American. I understood certain cultural etiquettes and was often treated by Indians (students and community members) as though I had never left the country! It was an interesting experience trying to balance the pieces of my identity that fit into both worlds all while trying to remain true to myself as an individual. My experience could not be corroborated with or related to by anyone else in the campus vicinity.

WAA film festival poster
Q: Do you believe that Indian culture is inherent in you, or do you think culture is something that's learned?

A: I believe both. I don’t think one’s culture is inborn, but I think certain people inherently feel more connected to the culture of their heritage. Many personal traits are deep-rooted and even natural, evident at birth. I don’t believe in the “babies are a blank slate” thing. For example, I would also consider myself inherently political and compassionate. I have always been very aware of the world and cared deeply for others. (Perhaps this is what led me to pursue activism!) Even when I was in my first years of elementary school, I would draw posters about current issues and hang them up around school in attempt educate my peers about topics that called for intellectual and moral consideration.


with friend Suh, stepsinging
With regard to culture, part of me definitely has always shown a strong interest in my South Asian heritage and culture. But this was fostered and reinforced by a variety of experiences. I don’t believe that the opposite of inherently feeling Bengali is having to learn the culture. The two are closely linked. If I am interested in my culture from birth, this will lead me to learn about my culture and further my knowledge of it by seeking out experiences that will educate me about my culture. This isn’t an exclusive relationship either! Someone who has shown absolutely no interest in their culture for their entire life could suddenly decide it’s something they want to learn more about and pursue that knowledge without having felt an inherent connection to their roots.

at the Iraqi Youth Leadership Exchange Program


Q: You are so active in your beliefs. Where do you think that comes from?

A: As I said before, I have always shown a strong level of conscientiousness with regard to global issues and exhibited concern with the future of the world and its inhabitants—people and animals alike, although my work does center around racial justice (humans).

Thank you, Simone, for sharing!

Your Hip Hapa,
Yayoi

*Bharatanatyam: Hindustani Classical Dance, also known as temple dancing. These dances are for the gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon. There are many different styles of Hindustani temple dancing. Bharatanatyam is from Tamil Nadu in the south.

**Massi means caretaker such as an Auntie or someone else of significance…more than, say, a high school babysitter!



Want more, Hip Hapa Homeez? Then, please check out these links:

Watermelon Sushi film
Watermelon Sushi on Facebook
Watermelon Sushi World Networked Blogs on Facebook
Hapa*Teez on YouTube
Hapa*Teez on Facebook
Hapa*Teez on Café Press
War Brides of Japan v.2 on YouTube
War Brides of Japan on YouTube
War Brides of Japan on Facebook
Yayoi Lena Winfrey fan page on Facebook (sorry, but Your Hip Hapa can’t add any more friends to her regular profile page)
Twitter
Don't forget to join our Hip Hapa Homeez group on Facebook where we post articles and comments about the multicultural community.