Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez!
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| your hip hapa |
A serious question: Do you think that the mixed-race agenda has become obsolete?
Recently, a Moderator posted an article on Hip Hapa Homeez, a Facebook group that is for “…anyone who is biracial, blended, mestizo, mixed-race, multiethnic, transracially adopted, or who crosses cultures…”
The posted video featured a young mixed Asian-white man complaining about not being accepted by both sides of his family.
Yawn.
Seriously. I wondered how long this particular complaint has been around because about 25 years ago, I began writing for a plethora of publications that featured stories about the so-called “mixed-race experience”.
You might remember some of them—the pioneering Mavin magazine started by a young Korean-Irish American man in Seattle.
There was also a fabulous internet website out of New York called SWIRL.
Additionally, there were group get togethers galore on campuses, museums and other venues.
I believe the first mixed-race conference I attended was Hapa Issues Forum in Northridge. What an eye opener!
Later, I organized a panel for one of the annual Mixed Chicks Film and Literary Festivals in Los Angeles. That event featured numerous books and movies by and about mixed-race folks.
One year, I traveled to Berkeley for the Hapa Japan Conference festivities where nearly every participant was half Japanese.
There seemed to be so much electricity in the air back in those days. We were all exploring our newly discovered mixed-race identities, and we were excited to share them with the world.
But over the years, it seems that we have moved on. Perhaps most mixed-race people no longer feel the need to search for validation of their identity. In fact, the young man in the video referenced above struck me as being outdated. It’s as if being mixed-race now is so common that it’s no longer a "thing".
Soon this blog, which was started in 2007, will also go the way of the dinosaur—which is not a bad thing. It just shows that we’ve progressed to no longer needing to proclaim our mixed-race heritages now that there are so many of us.
If you check out previous blog posts, you will note that there were many interviews with mixed-race actors, artists, authors, chefs, dancers, filmmakers, musicians and more. But these days, not many are promoting products exclusively for the mixed-race community.
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| Yayoi Clan Art banner |
However, we at Watermelon Sushi World are still promoting ours. You can check us out on Redbubble and TeePublic where we offer buttons, mouse pads, phone covers posters, stickers and t-shirts.
Most of our current artwork is based on two of our films—"Tokyo Lily" and "Watermelon Sushi".
Meanwhile, our “War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory” films are still available on Gumroad:
https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/
War Brides of Japan website
War Brides of Japan on Youtube
War Brides of Japan on Facebook
And, recently, we learned that two of our photos will participate in the Smithsonian Japanese war brides traveling exhibit:
https://www.sites.si.edu/s/topic/0TO4z000000nTALGA2/japanese-war-brides-across-a-wide-divide
Additionally, we are the lucky recipients of a “spark” grant to complete a film about veganism called “What’s on your Palate?”
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| What's on Your Palate? |
Stay with us, kids, and have a very HAPA new year!
Your Hip Hapa,
Yayoi
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