Macs And Mestizos

Aloha Hip Hapa Homeez,

It’s a sad news day as we remember Steve Jobs and his monumental contributions to computer technology. I know that I, for one, am grateful for my iMac and MacBook Pro. It should be noted that technically (pun intended), Mr. Jobs was hapa as his biological father was of Syrian descent and his birth mother was Caucasian American. Add to it, the fact that he was also adopted; presumably by white Americans--making him a transracial adoptee.

In any case, Your Hip Hapa salutes the spirit that was (multiethnic identity or not) Steve Jobs.

This month’s featured Hip Hapa Homeez is James Daniel Lopez, a frequent contributor to the Facebook group Hip Hapa Homeez. Besides regularly posting interesting links to information and clips about multiethnic experiences, James often takes the initiative to respond to any group members who asks questions.

Along with these photos of James, please enjoy the Q&A below:

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

A: My parents, Luis and Diana, both came from Mexican-American families in Los Angeles. Ethnically, I identify as Mexican-American, Chicano, Latino, Hispanic/Hispano, American, and Mexican—altogether, and depending on the context I’m speaking of. But probably more than anything, I’m an American, both in the U.S. sense as well as simply being a citizen of the Americas. 

“Racially,” however, I identify as “mestizo” (mixed), or “mestizo-moreno” as a nod to Mexico’s African heritage (as well as my own). 

Q: How did you grow up?

A: I was raised for most of my life in South Central Los Angeles, which is where I still live. 

Q: How did you become so involved with multi-ethnic issues? 

A: That’s complicated, but I’ll try to answer as concisely as possible. I was informed at a young age, through my family as well as through history books at school, that being of Mexican heritage generally meant having a strong mixture of Spanish and Native American roots. But this was over-simplistic, as I found, upon doing my own research, that there were actually several ethnic roots that contributed significantly to the Mexican gene pool and culture, as well as Latin American culture as a whole. Also, as I got older, my phenotype began to change significantly, leading me to be visibly perceived by many people as having roots from various backgrounds, sometimes mistakenly so. 

And to top it all off, I was raised in an English-speaking household in an area of Los Angeles which had both a large Mexican-descended population and a large African-American population; because of this, I absorbed many cultural influences from the local African-Americans as well as my Mexican heritage and the cultural fabric of “Greater America.” 

Q: What propels you to be so active on the Hip Hapa Homeez Facebook group page?

A: I tend to gravitate towards various groups and websites that either study and/or celebrate mixed roots (both ancestral and cultural). I’m a fan of pluralism and multiculturalism in general, and as I celebrate these things and seek to understand them as a whole, I think its just fitting that I tend to align myself with organizations and individuals who do the same. 

Q: How do you see multi-ethnic communities evolving--are we all on the same page?

A: Well, I really think that depends on the context, mainly the specific society as well as the cultural climate of that particular society. Here in the U.S., I think there is a growing awareness of just how “mixed” America really is as well as an increasing appreciation for that mixture. I also think that the acceptance of mixed “racial” and multicultural self-identification is on the rise, but I still think we have a long way to go until it is fully accepted. 

Q: What do you feel is the biggest obstacle between multi-ethnic people and the so-called mono-racial community?

A: In the U.S., I think the biggest problem is that these communities don’t really understand each other. The Racial Integrity Act of 1924 did A LOT of widespread damage to our social fabric, as it not only helped ensure that “mixed” marriages were illegal, but it also rendered mixed “racial”/ethnic heritages virtually invisible to many people in the United States. I think it is largely because of this that the idea of being of mixed ancestry and claiming an identity that refuses to choose or favor one of those ancestries in particular is virtually inconceivable to many individuals—sadly, this includes many people who are themselves of mixed ancestry. 

Q: Do you think that humans will move beyond racial, or even cultural, identification some day?

A: I really cannot say for certain. I think historically, in virtually any and every society, people have always found ways to divide and separate themselves from one another. But I also think that awareness and acceptance of multiple lineages is becoming much more prevalent today in many societies around the world. Also, as time progresses, we seem to be becoming global citizens (as opposed to simply national citizens), so anything is possible really. 

Mucho gracias, Senior Lopez, for your informative insight.

If our readers haven’t already done so, please join us at our Facebook group Hip Hapa Homeez where you can engage in meaningful dialogue about anything dealing with multi-ethnicity, transracial adoptions and crossing cultures. You can also “like” our Watermelon Sushi Fan page, which supports our Watermelon Sushi film. And, we have a Hapa*Teez t-shirt Fan page, too! The t-shirts, themselves, are available at Café Press.

And, we’re still running our Cousin Oprah Campaign via Twitter. Here’s the link to the HUB page and the "twitition".

http://watermelonsushi.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Get-Oprah-To-Executive-Produce-My-Movie

http://twitition.com/gneyv

Mad love and props to the folks at the African American Playwrights Exchange for bestowing the Trailblazers Award on Your Hip Hapa. Please support this great organization!

http://africanamericanplaywrightsexchange.blogspot.com/2011/09/yayoi-winfrey-wins-first-aapex.html

Until next month, I am and always will be

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Hip, Hapa, Palooza!!!

What’s HAPA-nin’, Hip Hapa Homeez?

If you’re a supporter of great causes, here’s one for you. We’ve just created a HUB page for our Watermelon Sushi film with links to a “twitition” via Twitter to get Your Hip Hapa’s cousin Oprah to executive produce our movie. Although we’d still like to make Watermelon Sushi an indie flick, we need production dollars. And, Oprah--with her big heart and sharp eye for charitable missions--can make that happen. So, please, take a moment to check out these links:

http://watermelonsushi.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Get-Oprah-To-Executive-Produce-My-Movie

http://twitition.com/gneyv

Hey, can you believe that Hapa-palooza is finally here? 

Check it out: http://hapapalooza.ca/ 

While it’s the first one, we do hope to see many more in the future. Vancouver British Columbia is hosting, and there couldn’t be a better place for spotlighting diversity. We’ve always loved that city for its international flavor and focus on the arts. If you’re attending the festival, drop us a line at yourhiphapa@me.com. We plan to stop by this weekend, so maybe we can connect with you there!

Meanwhile, enjoy these interviews with two of Canada’s hippest hapas. Anna Ling Kaye is the co-founder of Hapa-palooza while Rema Tavares blogs about being mixed in Canada. 

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

A: My mother is Taiwanese, and my father Jewish-American. They met in Taipei, at a time when most Taiwanese associated Americans with U.S. Marines and G.I.’s. Her family was not amused by their union. Nor were they any happier to find out he was not a G.I., rather an anti-establishment quasi-hippy. Many of Mom's immediate family wouldn't speak to her for years afterwards: one of her sisters didn't talk to her for 8 years. My father's side, however, was thrilled. To this day, they can't get enough of Mom's Chinese cooking!

Q: Where did you grow up, and what was your upbringing like?

A: I was brought up bi-lingual, mostly as an American in Asia. Most of my childhood was spent in Asia (China, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong and more), where I was considered a foreigner anyway. In 1997, I had a high school "year abroad" in New Jersey. This was the year that Time Magazine came out with the cover of the "Future Face of America", an amalgamation of the average demographic of the U.S. I was so excited. I did a directed reading that resulted in a paper about mixed culture. That was pretty much the biggest project I did about being mixed until the idea for Hapa-palooza came around.

Q: How did it come around?

A: Todd Wong organized a "Gung Hapa Fat Choy" banquet as part of his Gung Haggis Fat Choy series. I met Jeff Chiba Stearns and a number of other mixed movers and shakers, and we decided to get a festival going for Vancouver's 125th anniversary. The Asian Canadian Writer's Workshop, which Todd and I sit on the board of, voted to submit a formal grant application for the festival. We feel very honoured and stoked that the City of Vancouver thought this was a good way to demonstrate it's 125th anniversary!  

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with this event?

A: My biggest hope is to build community and provide role models for the next generation of mixed kids. No matter what one's roots are, I hope Hapa-palooza will provide some tools or ideas for how to honor and express one's identity. I also hope everyone who comes to the event has a great time!

Q: What will be some of the highlights of the festival?

A: Every event at Hapa-palooza is pretty exciting to me! The Sir James Douglas Mix-a-lot Cabaret is a gathering of incredibly talented and interesting artists in an intimate space, including butoh dance from Kokoro Dance and First Nations hiphop from the gals at First Ladies Crew. The reading panel featuring award-winning writer Fred Wah is looking to be very popular. Jeff Chiba Stearns is putting together an incredible film night and actors' panel. And the piece de resistance is, of course, September 10th, when we have two music stages (one of which is an 18-and-under performer stage), an interactive art exhibition, and a community fair. Full details are up at www.hapapalooza.com.

Q: Do you feel that mixed-race issues in Canada are similar to, or different from, those elsewhere in the world?

A: It is certainly significant to us that Hapa-palooza is a festival funded by a City of Vancouver 125th anniversary grant. This speaks to an atmosphere of respect and honour towards people who identify as mixed-race, which is really significant to many of us. Many of the artists we've contacted have responded with relief ("finally, a festival of one's own!") or disbelief ("about time!") or amusement ("it's the first time I've been asked to play in a festival because I'm mixed!").

Q: What will future Hapa-paloozas be like?

A: The seeds of what will happen are already sown. We are more tapped into the international network of mixed communities now, and this is something that is only going to grow. Our current goal is to have Hapa-palooza be an annual event in Vancouver, but we are also open to what the community demands of us. It might be that the festival needs to occur nationally or internationally. It's going to be exciting to see who comes to the festival this week, and it will be beautiful to see all these amazing artists and community organizers connected.

Thank you, Anna. And, now, let’s hear from Rema.

Rema Tavares 

Q: What was it like being mixed in Ottawa?

A: My father is of African and Sephardi Jewish descent from Jamaica. Just for some background, the Sephardi Jews come from Spain/Portugal (hence my Portuguese last name) and have been in Jamaica since the early 1500’s. My mother, on the other hand, is mostly Irish Canadian, but also has some Italian and English roots.

Growing up mixed in Ottawa was a strange experience for me. I started out in a very small, homogenous town of roughly 1,000 people just outside of the city, and often felt disconnected from the community. While I wasn't mature enough to fully understand the various factors that played into that disconnect, I recall being very aware that I was the only one of "my kind", whatever that was. When I was older and moved into the city, I was disappointed to find that I didn't really find the haven of belonging that I thought I would. It was a painful realization for me that none of my various "parts" really saw me as a member of their community.

I now live in Toronto, one of the most multiracial cities in the world, and still find myself having trouble with what it means to be mixed at times. This is what motivated me to create Mixed in Canada, so that other mixed people across Canada could have a place to call "home". This has been a very rewarding experience for me, and I have never been more proud to be mixed.

Q: Are you attending Hapa-palooza?

A: Sure am!

Q: What do you feel you’ll gain from it?

A: As far as I am aware, this is the first mixed-race-themed event in Canada, so it is important for me that I attend and support it in any way I can. Race is an extremely delicate subject in Canada, as many Canadians are very wary of offending others and, therefore, generally avoid the subject. While I have always appreciated how sensitive Canadians can be, it also means that a lot of important conversations aren't had, and we all lose from the lack of communication. Along those lines, the Canadian mixed-race community is growing exponentially and needs to have a voice. Fortunately, Hapa-palooza is bringing the mixed-race experience front and center in a very positive way, providing an outlet for that voice. It is my hope that along with Mixed in Canada and other such platforms, this event will create a safe space for constructive dialogue about what it means to be multi-racial in Canada, as it has never been more relevant.

Here are Rema’s links:

Website: www.Mixed-Me.ca

Facebook: www.facebook.com/MixedInCanada

Twitter: @Mixed_Me_CA

Oh, you clever Canadians, you!

Remember, Hip Hapa Homeez, read our HUB post and sign our “twitition” to get Oprah onboard with Watermelon Sushi. You can also "like" our Watermelon Sushi and Hapa*Teez fan pages on Facebook and join our Hip Hapa Homeez group page where we enjoy the deepest discussions about multi-ethnic, transracially adopted, interracially coupled and cross-cultural communities. Don’t miss out; join us today.

Until we meet at Hip Hapa-palooza, I am

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

One Brown Girl: One Diverse World

Hey, Hip Hapa Homeez! If you’ve been reading Watermelon Sushi World for any length of time, then you must know that enka singer Jero is a hero of mine. If you’re not familiar, Jero’s mother is Japanese and African American, and her mother (Jero’s grandmother) taught her grandson to speak Japanese and sing enka--a traditional Japanese style of blues that originated as agitprop during the Meiji period in Japan. As time would have it, enka lyrics later transitioned into love songs. What Jero has done as a young, mostly black man from Philly is to turn attention back onto a form of music most Japanese youth, unfortunately, have no interest in. Very few new Japanese artists these days sing enka and it is seriously in danger of dying. Koukai!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enka

Jero on Kohaku Uta Gassen, NHK

Anyway, Jero will be performing at UC Berkeley next month at the Hapa Japan Conference, which will focus on mixed Japanese. Open to the public, the event will be held April 8 and 9 and is organized by Professor Duncan Ryuken Williams. For more information, email dunryu@gmail.com and be sure to stay tuned for my report following the conference.

Tracey Friley

With people like Jero on the planet, our world is becoming more diverse all the time. It’s always exciting to connect with those who advocate cross-cultural exchanges and Tracey Friley is one such person. 

Check out her One Brown Girl website here:

www.OneBrownGirl.com then, read about her below.

Q: Tracey, you connect with people all over the planet. Where do you get your incredible sense of worldliness? Did you grow up with parents who encouraged travel or crossing cultures?

A: Wow. I like being called worldly! I don’t remember a time when I didn’t travel, really. As a child, it was with my family, but I don’t remember specifically being encouraged to cross cultures. It has always been a way of life to get to know people from anywhere and everywhere no matter what their cultural background is. In fact, the less like me people are, the more I want to know about them. It’s just a way of life.

One Brown Girl travels the globe...

Q: What's the most interesting cultural tidbit you've discovered in your travels?

A: I don’t know how interesting it is, but I’ve come to realize that people are the same wherever you go. Some are good, some are bad. It doesn’t matter what culture they’re from. The only difference is the location.

Q: One of your website’s surveys shows that 54% of your readers would marry someone from a different religion. Do you think we're becoming more tolerant, overall? 

A: I would like to think so. Of course, you can hear the intolerant a lot louder than you hear the tolerant, so it’s hard to tell sometimes. I do think that most young people are more culturally tolerant and accepting than the previous generation.

Q: However, by the same token, another poll indicates that 32% versus 29% of your readers feel that racism will never end. Comments? 

A: That’s a hard question to answer and very thought-provoking. Racism is so prevalent on a global scale that it’s hard to imagine that it’ll ever end sometimes. 

Q: Your One Brown Girl products are incredibly relevant and popular. Do you design them yourself?

A: Thanks! Yes, the designs are all original. I'm a creative with no graphic artist abilities, so I take what’s in my brain and work with a brilliant (and patient) graphic artist who makes One Brown Girl come to life.  She is a caricature modeled after me…and you…and all of the other Brown Girls out there in the world.  

beautiful Brown Girls make a pyramid

Q: Tell us about some of your activities for Brown Girls. 

A: Right now, I own and operate a two-year old travel and learning adventure camp program for girls 11-16 nationwide, that is very important to me: 

http://obgadventurecamps.com/ 

In fact, the idea for my program can be found on Oprah’s Angel Network. I also operate a niche concierge service for adults that travel to Paris every November. I just love Paris! I have tons of ideas for the OBG brand, but I have more ideas than I have the (wo)manpower or time to implement right now, so I’m staying committed to activities that directly give women and girls a world view…for now.

Brown Girls chillin'...playin' it by ear...

Q: What’s next? 

A: I just want the cross-cultural dialogue to continue. I want to keep blogging and celebrating culture and inspire others to learn about others. I want to empower and inspire Brown Girls to feel good about the skin they’re in by reiterating interesting cultural facts and sharing travel and culture stories. I’ve got a unique thing going on in that I’m not just celebrating one cultural or ethnic group. It takes a lot of time to get people to buy into something they don’t typically do; so, most of the time, I’m just playing it by ear anyway.

Thank you, Tracey!

Well, Hip Hapa Homeez there’s a lot of excitement on the horizon. Our internet show, Sexy Voices of Hollywood, was created to financially support the production of our Watermelon Sushi film, and S.V.O.H. just launched its 10^th show with distribution by Sony! You can support the film by supporting the show at www.youtube.com/sexyvoiceshollywood or by joining the S.V.O.H. event and/or fan pages. Meanwhile, there are some funky things going on at Facebook. The Hip Hapa Homeez group can’t seem to invite new members, so if you’re on Facebook, please go to the page and sign up. This is where we post news about multiracial communities, transracial adoptees and those who cross cultures. Of course, if you join the Watermelon Sushi Fan page (can that still even be done, Mr. Z.?), we will love you to death. And, by making a Hapa*Teez t-shirt purchase you'll get your name in the rear crawl credits of the film. Btw, if you’ve bought a t-shirt in the past, please get in touch with us so we can have the correct spelling of your name. Just drop us an email: hapateez@me.com Apologies for our scarce and anemic tweets, but we do promise to follow you if you follow us: http://twitter.com/watermelonsushi or http://twitter.com/sexyvoices

cutie Cassie in her Hapa*Teez t-shirt

Until we meet again, I am now and forever…

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

MultiCulti Mario: American Artist And Haitian Hunk

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou, Hip Hapa Homeez! In case you’re not familiar, that’s literally Happy, Year, New in Hawai’ian. Hawai’ians also gave us the word “hapa”, which is the way they pronounced the English word “half”. Along with “haole”, meaning “he without sacred breath” or “non-Hawai’ian”, "hapa" was used in reference to Hawai’ians of mixed blood. Thus, "hapa haole", or "half non-Hawai’ian".

Hey, welcome back to Watermelon Sushi World! We’ve missed you. Here we are in a brand new year with a brand new interviewee.

Remember our last featured guest, Pei Ju Chou? Because she emigrated to the U.S. as a teen, she often felt as if she had one foot in two worlds—Taiwan's and America's. So, Pei created a documentary—Stuck on the Boat—featuring the stories of “1.5 generation” children.

Like Pei, this month’s featured guest--Mario Louis--also arrived on the shores of the U.S. as a teenager. Besides being a prolific rapper and music producer, Mario also served in the U.S. military and is preparing to tour with To the Fallen Records.

To Mario, we say, “Bonn Ane”--Haitian Creole for Happy New Year! Check out the Haitian hunk in the pix above and below, and follow him at these links:

www.quietgunz.com

www.facebook.com/quietgunz

http://twitter.com/quietgunz

Here’s Mario’s story:

Q: Lately, Haiti has been in the news for its tragedies, but it can't be all bad. What city were you born in, and what was it like living there?

A: I was born in the L'artibonite section of Haiti. My dad left for the States a week later, and then mom moved back to the capital, Port-au-Prince, when I was three months old.

Growing up in Port-au-Prince was rough, but it was beautiful. Despite all the struggles and political unrest, it was my home sweet home. It's the kind of place where you expect anything to happen at anytime. Nothing surprises you after awhile, and then life goes on.

Q: How old were you when you left, and what was it like leaving and coming to America?

A: I left Haiti at 15. It was painful. It was kinda like mixed feelings. I was happy to be reunited with my dad and to know a better life and opportunities were waiting ahead, but it was painful leaving it all behind. My family, my friends, my neighborhood.

Q: Why do you think that so many African Americans, and Americans of other ethnicities, know little about the Haitian Revolution and its significance to the history of black liberation?

A: The Haitian Revolution took place in the late 1700's and ended in 1804 with the African slaves in Haiti defeating the French army. The same way the Internet is popular in our time today, slavery was the biggest business around the globe back in those times. It was a conflict of interest for the American government to deal with the free Africans in Haiti, when every African in the United States was still enslaved. The last thing they wanted was for African Americans to be inspired to start another "Haitian Revolution" in their own backyards.

Q: How many languages do you speak, and what are they?

A: I speak four languages. Haitian Creole, being my first, was spoken at home and in the streets. Then, French, which was always on TV, media, books, and spoken in school with the teachers.  Both Spanish and English were mandatory in junior high school, but I had already learned a lot of Spanish since my dad’s side of the family lived near the Dominican Republic border. English was the last one I picked up.

Q: What were the hardest and easiest things to adjust to after you moved to the U.S.?

A: Everything was hard moving to New York. It was basically starting your life all over again. Here, I come from Haiti, where everyone knew me and I knew everyone. Then, I wake up one day and nobody knows anything about me or cares to know. It was hard to communicate with peers in school at first. It was a big change, and the hardest part was accepting that change and adapting to it day by day. So nothing was easy really easy, but it didn't take me too long to adjust because I was never shy to ask questions or make mistakes.

Q: What led you to join the U.S. military and how long were you in it?

A: I was just looking for avenues after high school. Many of my close friends were getting involved in the streets and I was watching some of them go to jail. Others were being deported back to Haiti. I wanted to go play college basketball, but couldn't get into the schools I wanted. So that's when I joined the Marines. But right before I went in, I got accepted into UMES in Maryland. I still had the option of walking away from my military contract at that point, but I chose to stay in the reserve for six years after boot camp. It's still one of my proudest accomplishments to date.

Q: Tell us about your music--how did you get started and what’s going on with your career now?

A: I used to listen to a lot of reggae when I was a kid and that's how I learned my first song structures and how to rhyme. Then, my cousin introduced me to rap and I started hearing AZ, Nas, and Xzibit. After I moved to the States, I started writing my own stuff in high school and people used to be amazed. I remember one time somebody had my notebook and, for like a whole day, my rhymes were being passed around the school and people were coming to me like, "Yo, you always quiet, but I ain’t know you rapped. You nice wit it, son."

When I went away in the military, every down time we got turned into a freestyle session. In college, I started doing talent shows and performed on military bases. But it was all a hobby. When I wanted to get serious with it, I realized it was costing too much to buy beats. So I learned how to make them myself. Then, recording was costing me money. So, I bought all the basic equipment and taught myself how to record. I was so addicted to the whole process that I acted as if I were a record label on foot. I got into graphic design and created my CD covers and flyers. I then released my first project "Silent, but Deadly" in late 2007. I sold it out of my trunk, online and received lots of offers from DJ's, promoters, and semi-pro basketball leagues to perform.

As of now, I'm getting ready to release "Trigga Muscle: a Tribute to the Troops and Fallen Warriors". One of the singles recently got released on a compilation through To the Fallen Records, which is an independent label distributed through Universal Music Group/Fontana. They've helped me reach a larger audience and are preparing to tour various military bases.

Merci beaucoups, Mario. Wow! Four languages, a prolific musician, and cutie-pie to boot.

Hey, Hip Hapa Homeez, as you may know Sexy Voices of Hollywood (SVOH) was launched as an Internet edutainment show to help finance the Watermelon Sushi film. You can listen to it every other Wednesday on YouTube or any number of Internet channels. You can also “like” the SVOH Fan page on Facebook and sign up on the SVOH Event page to stay tuned for upcoming shows. You can also purchase an SVOH t-shirt, follow SVOH on Twitter, or friend SVOH on MySpace. Sexy Voices of Hollywood is everywhere!

Don’t forget, you can also show your support for Watermelon Sushi World by joining our Hip Hapa Homeez group page where we post news about multiethnic communities, transracial adoptees and multiculti moments. And, you can “like” our Watermelon Sushi fan page, follow our impromptu tweets on Twitter, or buy a HapaTeez t-shirt on Café Press—where every purchase will earn you a rear crawl credit on the film, so be sure we have the correct spelling of your name.

No matter how you show us your love, HHH, we love you back.

For now, Watermelon Sushi World moves to a monthly format. Look for us on the first Wednesday of each month. Until next time, may I be the first to remind you, I am and will always be…

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi