Rockin' And Rollin' With The Bots

Greetin’s, Hip Hapa Homeez! Welcome back to Watermelon Sushi World. Your Hip Hapa missed you last week, but she’s making up for it by introducing you to TWO righteously talented guests this week.

The pix above and below are of The Bots, Afro-Caribbean-Asian brothers and Cali cuties with their own band. After you read the Q&A, check out their links below. Aren’t they precious? Thank you, Renee Tecco of Sweet Rice Chronicles for the heads up.

Respect, respect.

Q: What are two nice, mixed-race boys like you doing in a band named The Bots?

A: Well, we thought the name was catchy. It’s not short for robots and is not associated with robots. We used robots on our first album to go with the theme.

Q: How did you get your exotic birth names?

A: Our mother and father are Rastafarians and took our names out of the Holy Bible. Anaiah is 13. His name means ‘Jehovah has answered’. Mikaiah is 16. His name means ‘Who is like unto Jehovah’.

Q: Where and how did your Chinese father and Afro-Caribbean mother meet?

A: Our parents met at The Rastafarian Organization of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. It’s the same religious organization Bob Marley was a member of. Our dad said he made a beeline for our mom when he first laid eyes on her. They exchanged numbers and, you know the rest.

Q: What kind of lifestyle does your family have?

A: We were raised with both cultures. We are not fluent in Chinese, but it’s spoken by our grandparents and we understand most of it. We have not been to Carnival, but we are aware of it. Our mom was raised in the states.

Q: How would you describe your sound?

A: Rock and indie rock.

Q: What! No reggae?

A: It takes a couple of people to play reggae. We do play around with it, though.

Q: How did you choose your instruments?

A: We play multiple instruments, and over seven instruments each. They were the only reasonable things to play in a rock and roll band, so we decided Mikaiah should play guitar and Anaiah drums.

Q: Who writes your songs, and who decides what you’re going to play?

A: We write all of our songs, and Anaiah decides which songs to play when we perform.

Q: Do you two always get along even when you’re not playing music?

A: Yes, we get along because our parents would not have it any other way. We love each other very much. Of course, we sometimes argue like brothers do, but it’s quickly quashed.

Q: Was your album “Self-Titled Album” released on July 25 as planned?

A: Not officially, but it began to stream on the Internet last summer in July.

Q: How often do you rehearse, and when do you get your homework done?

A: We rehearse mostly on the weekends, both days, and when we sometimes squeeze time in on the weekdays after we are done with homework. We are required by our parents to bring home all A's and B's, and we do get good grades. When we are not doing homework, we write as we are working on our next album.

Q: It looks like your schools (Glendale High School and Roosevelt Middle School) have been very supportive of your music education. How important is it to get an early start?

A: Important because you can get better with time.

Q: Who are your favorite musical artists?

A: We like Attic Monkey, Arcade Fire, Bad Brains, A7X, and Yeah Yeah Yeah's just to name a few. There are too many to mention.

*********

Here are The Bots’ upcoming gigs, shows, and tours:

Emergenza Festival at The Joint, Beverly Hills, April 2

The Strange on Melrose, April 7

Glendale (battle of the bands), April 17

Afro Punk Tour, June 25 (three weeks)

Warped Tour, August 11-15

The Bots Official Website:

http://thebotsband.com

The Bots Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bots/93384124079?ref=mf

The Bots MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/thebotsband

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/haiakim

Afro Punk:

http://afropunk.ning.com/profile/TheBots

IMRadio:

http://www.imradio.com/?f=artists_view&id=4894

Vans Warped Tour 2010 – THE BOTS Profile:

http://www.vanswarpedtour.com/warpedtour/band.asp?xid=24343

Irie. While you’re checking out The Bots’ links and things, don’t forget to become a Watermelon Sushi film fan on Facebook. As long as you’re cruisin’ there, go to the Hip Hapa Homeez Group page and join to stay updated on the latest news about blendies, hapas, interracial adoptees, and mixies. Buy a Hapa*Teez t-shirt and not only earn a rear crawl credit on the Watermelon Sushi film, but see your photo on the Hip Hapa Homeez Group page in weekly rotation. If you’ve made a purchase, contact us so we can give you your prize.

Until two weeks from now, I promise to always be

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Sweet Rice Chronicles

1,000 lashes with a wet udon noodle for me! I totally spaced and forgot to mention this lovely site I ran into last week. For the "black mothers of blasian, black and Asian children", this blog is an information outlet filled with book and film reviews (including Watermelon Sushi) featuring Afro-Asians. Big up to Renee Tecco and her editors!

http://sweetricechronicles.wordpress.com/

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

What Blend Of Mixed-Race Person Are You?

Are there any particular blends of mixed-race people that have it harder than other biracial folks? I'm just wondering because I peeped in tonight on The Study of Racialism forum, and was surprised to discover the intensity of replies to statements posted there. Most of the folks commenting referred to themselves as mulattos. Obviously, they were part black and part white, but not necessarily exactly half of each. A lot of them had a beef with the black community calling them race traitors if they chose to claim their European side. They also had issues with whites whom they accused of "One Drop Ruling" them. That is, calling them black when only one parent was--a la Halle Berry and Barack Obama. One woman, who described herself as "light-skinned", wrote about being immediately classified as black whenever she told any Caucasian that she was mixed.

Anyway, take a look at the site and add your comments to the controversy. I think Obama is a typical example of what happens with biracial children of one black and one white parent. That good ole One Drop Rule rears its head and you're forced to deny your own parent. I mean, he grew up with his white mother. She must've influenced him more than anyone else on earth. Yet, he knew instinctively that Euro-Americans as a group would never accept him as one of theirs so he forged a black male identity on his own. That's enough to make me want to vote for him right there. I mean, do you know how hard it is growing up a black male and without a father to boot?

As for us AfroAsians, the picture is definitely different--but not necessarily easier or better. Back in the day, I found it extremely difficult to relate to the Asian American community. In spite of my mother teaching me Japanese language and culture, I wasn't accepted as being Asian, and I didn't care either. But after I became involved with APA's via my writing for Asian community newspapers, I learned that young folks (and some older ones) didn't have the same prejudices as their parents did. btw, that's me and Naila in the photo above. She's also Japanese and black, and we met in Seattle a few years ago. The last I heard she was at Harvard Law School, but I've lost track. Naila, if you're out there, hollah at your girl!

It's really interesting when you think about it--the lighter-skinned group worldwide somehow is the one that always possesses the status to reject the darker group. There was a time (pre-1980's) when most whites looked down their noses at Asians. And, Asians, in turn, dissed black folks. So who did that leave for black people to put down?

I don't care what you look like, if you tell black folks that you are one of them and you hang around long enough, they will accept you as family. Check out the white valedictorian for Moorehouse's recent graduating class. From what I understand, the man claims he grew up in black communities, had mostly black girlfriends, and feels more comfortable around blacks than his own people. He even turned down Columbia in favor of hangin' with the homeboyz.

By the way, that's one of my favorite films--Hangin' With The Homeboys. My sister turned me on to it quite some time ago, and I highly recommend it. It's the story of four guys--two Latinos, two blacks--who hang out in NYC one night. The film does an excellent job touching on some race issues without being heavy-handed about it. A very young John Leguizamo stars as a lovesick youngster infatuated with a porn star working nights at the supermarket.

Ah, but I digress.

Meanwhile, across the globe, we see the caste system in effect in India where lighter skin and Aryan features are touted in Bollywood flicks yet no tight-haired brown-skinned folks ever star in those movies and we know India is filled with them. So, just when did this dark-skinned thing start, and why? Since when did the abundance, or lack of, melanin become the measuring stick for what is good and desirable, and what isn't, in a human being?

Okay. That's enough. I don't want to make me crazy here so I'll just bid you oyasuminasai.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Emancipating Emails

Aloha All!

It may appear as if I'm tearing my hair out, but I'm actually holding my head for joy.

Why? Because today I received several emancipating emails. That is, emails that addressed the mixed-race agenda with the type of dialogue that I find freedom-inducing. One email (from an interested observer of hapa life; thank you, Michael!) offered up a comprehensive list of films about mixed-race folks available at UC Berkeley. Here's the link:

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/mixedracevid.html

The list of mostly documentaries is quite extensive and filled with one-time projects by filmmakers that I haven't heard about since their single effort. Mixed-race issues are tough subjects to get financed. I can attest to that, having watched my Watermelon Sushi film project stall at the gate time and again over the past 9 years.

Recently, I read that Halle Berry is working on a new movie about a mixed-race woman who has a psycho "white" side, or it could've been her "black" side attacking her "white side". Whatever. Big surprise--not--how Hollywood still views the "tragic mulatto". Didn't you know that biracial people are never emotionally healthy or normal? Not according to the studios.

Speaking of mulatto, I personally find the word disturbing but I know that some racially-mixed black and white folks are resurrecting it as if flinging it back to the originators--much like how the "n" word is used in some instances. More power. Since I'm not of that particular mix, it's not my place to tell ya'll what to call yourselves. However, an interesting topic being discussed at The Study of Racialism website is called "Honk for Mulattos", which also ended up in my mailbox today. It seems one commenter was quite upset at seeing postings like "I Brake for Mulattos". It's an interesting subject, so check it out at:

http://onedroprule.org/viewtopic.php?p=38796#38796

And, finally, a reader of this blog (thank you, One Creative Soul!) suggested a site where a list of mixed-race celebrities was posted. Upon closer inspection, I noted there were few AfroAsians in the group, and I immediately thought of some who could've been posted but weren't. Whenever I get a moment (and you, too), I plan to contact the publisher to have more names added. Here's the link:

http://www.blackflix.com/articles/multiracial.htm

btw, has Vin Diesel ever 'fessed up about his blend?

Mahalo nui loa to all of you who continue to show your support for mixed-race folks everywhere. Aloha no!

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Welcome To Watermelon Sushi World!

Greetings and salutations to all you blendies of Asian and black ethnicities, as well as to all who share our world. Here at Watermelon Sushi World, we can feel free to express our thoughts and feelings about our mixed-race lives. This will also be the place where we can keep updated on the development of our feature film, Watermelon Sushi. Please return often to check out what AfroAsians have to say, or to see what's going with our flick.

Alafia!

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi