Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez!
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a hip hapa homee |
Hey, hip hapa homee, what are your New Year’s resolutions? Are any of them centered around issues of importance to BIPOC and, especially, us mixies?
Since Your Hip Hapa began this blog in 2006 (and really moved forward with it in 2008), so much has changed in our Watermelon Sushi World.
In the old days, we rarely saw any outed multiracial images onscreen, in books, or anywhere public. There may have been actors who were mixed in real life, but they were often forced to play mono-racial characters. Except for a few pioneering films that addressed the issue of being mixed, the topic was mostly ignored.
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| Watermelon Sushi the Movie by B.R. Winfrey |
But 2008 brought a biracial president of the U.S. into the public arena. Although he was “one-dropped” by most media, he also quietly stood apart from issues of ethnic identity. Despite having a white mother, Obama was considered to be a black man by the majority, and he went with it.
Still, there has been so much progress on the planet in the 15 years that we’ve been publishing this blog. We can hardly wait to see what’s coming next. Maybe soon, we might even stop writing this blog because, hopefully, the world will reach a point where there will be no reason to bring light to BIPOC and mixie-related topics.
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| featured family in Watermelon Sushi the Movie |
Meanwhile, our goal for 2022 is to produce two films. One is in homage to a Japanese war bride married to an African American soldier. Her fantastic life includes her work as an artist, dancer, chef, and so much more.
Our second film is also a documentary. With major “arrigatous” and “mahalos” to VeganFlix for their generous grant, we are producing a short about Indigenous who were likely vegan before being colonized.
Here’s our VeganFlix interview:
https://veganflix.com/interview-with-2021-veganflix-video-seed-grant-recipient-yayoi-l-winfrey/
Additionally, we’re finally releasing some of our fiction. One will be a collection of short stories all featuring BIPOC, multicultural, mixed-race and interracially involved characters. Another is a novel about a multi-generational mixed-race family living in the Caribbean in the midst of race-based political turmoil.
2022 promises excitement, so please stay tuned!
Watermelon Sushi Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/WatermelonSushi/featured
www.watermelonsushi.com
War Brides of Japan Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPemluw0stoTsx8yvz2tCrg
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| making War Brides of Japan |
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| dir. Yayoi with war bride daughter, Diana Portugal |
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| dir. Yayoi with war bride daughter, Roleta |
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| dir. Yayoi with war bride daughter, Yoshi |
Starwheels Productions website:
https://yourhiphapa.wixsite.com/starwheels
A HAPA New Year to you!
Your Hip Hapa,
Yayoi
