"It’s okay not to know everything about Japanese culture and not to be embarrassed by that, because everyday I am trying to learn how to embrace and honor that part of me."
Hapa Voice shared a link.
"So often when we talk about Asians in media, people don’t distinguish between Asian and Asian-American content—they’re very different, and that’s not to place a higher value on one or the other. It’s just to give an awareness to people that to lump us together as the same story is reductive to our experience."
"It was definitely interesting growing up with fried chicken and grits with my mom’s family, plus adobo and lumpia on my dad’s side...Moving to the Seattle area 10 years ago was a great turning point for me–I was surrounded by all types of people, and grew to be more comfortable being mixed."
"Do people ask where you’re from? That’s great. Let ‘em know. Don’t assume they’re otherizing you. Why are you upset that someone wants to place you? They’ve just never seen someone who looks like you, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they think you’re un-American."
"How do you know you’re a Third Thing? For me, after the world got stuffed with Muslim iconography I didn’t recognize but was lumped into, I knew. You know because you’ve been squeezed into a category that may technically be true but still doesn’t fit right."
"I feel accepted as who I am (and what am I) in New Zealand without question, whereas in Japan it felt as though I was always being defined as a gaijin..."
"I spent 3 years living and working in Thailand as a primary school teacher, where I was able to fully embrace my Thai side, learning the language, soaking in the culture and spending time with my family."
"I’ve never lived in Senegal, I feel strange saying I’m from there. Then again, I don’t feel very Finnish either, as I’ve lived abroad for most of my life."
People Get Real About Multiracial Identity In This Powerful Video
"In conversations with strangers, I find I'm really talking to my daughters; what I say could end up being what they say in situations where they're on their own, and I want to equip them well."
"I celebrate Chinese New Year, Mid Autumn Festival, Christmas, New Year, Easter and the holidays of both Hong Kong and Australia."
"I dislike it when stuffy people think it’s rude to talk about ethnicity and culture. The differences exist and if they’re not acknowledged, tensions can rise and people can feel excluded or disrespected. It’s healthy to talk about race and ethnicity."
