Stream "Blasian" for FREE on Amazon

Blasian, Michael Yo, presents his uniquely personal comedy on his debut stand up special, "Blasian." In this special, he discusses growing up half Black and Asian in Houston, TX. Check it out for free on Amazon Prime!

Kamala Harris for President!

A post about Kamala Devi Harris is long overdue. Harris was elected US Senator for California in 2016, becoming only the second female African American to serve in the Senate and the first ever South Asian to serve. On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2019 (January 21), she announced her campaign to run for the Democratic nomination for the President of the United States in the 2020 election!

Kamala Harris was born to a Tamil Indian mother (Shyamala Gopalan) and a Jamaican father (Donald Harris) in Oakland, California. Both of her parents were immigrants. Her mother immigrated to the US from Chennai in 1960, and her father immigrated from Jamaica in 1961. She grew up going to a black Baptist church and a Hindu temple. The family lived in Berkeley, California. After her parents divorced, she and her sister, Maya, moved to Montreal, Québec, Canada with their mother. Harris returned to the United States to attend Howard University, where she became an Alpha Kappa Alpha. She moved back to California to earn her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Side note: Maya Lakshmi Harris is also an accomplished lawyer and is a political analyst for MSNBC. She was one of Hillary Clinton's senior policy advisors during her 2016 presidential campaign. She is currently campaign chairwoman for her sister's campaign for president.

She was the first African American and first woman yo serve as Attorney General of the state of California, and she is now vying to be the first Indian and first African American woman to serve as President of the United States!

Find out ore about Senator Harris at https://www.harris.senate.gov. Support her campaign at https://kamalaharris.org.

Michael Yo on "Blasian" Tour

Michael Yo is the first and only blasian comic, and he's currently on tour!

Michael with his parents

Michael was raised in Texas, where he got started on radio.  He then got recruited by Miami's #1 station, Y100.  He did that for years before getting an offer from E!. He moved to Los Angeles and was a correspondent on Extra and E! News. He has appeared on The Insider and The Talk on CBS, as well as The Wendy Williams Show. Then Chelsea Handler (of Chelsea Lately) dared him to do stand-up. Fellow half Asian, Jo Koy (Filipino/European American), has been his comic mentor. They even did a podcast (The Michael Yo & Jo Koy Show) together for a few years.

"[Jo] told me that I had great stories about my parents and that is where comedy comes from, real life. Not about people writing jokes but what really happened in your life. Growing up in the situation I am from, that is automatic comedy. Having [an Asian] mom, we all know Asian moms and how they say the craziest things no matter who is around and it can sound racist at times. But they don't think it is racist and they are just honest people, you know what I mean" So, I talk about the crazy things my mom says about other people." 

Michael doesn't like kimchi (김치) and doesn't speak Korean, and he didn't really connect with his Asian side until he started doing stand-up.

"I can honestly say that stand-up has really made me connect more than I ever have because telling the stories about my mom. My stand-up is all about my dad, my mom, how I grew up, dealing with racism, and finding my identity. So, the whole show is about that. Me and my mom have always been super close, and I feel that telling these stories, Asian people are starting to come out and relate to it. I find it weird because I didn't connect to it while I was going through it, but it is more that I'm connecting to it now."

"Blasian", his new comedy tour about growing up biracial, started in San Francisco on December 31, 2018. It was released on digital and on-demand platforms on November 27th and is available on iTunes and GooglePlay. His tour continues in Sacramento on January 11, 2019. 

Michael is an actor, stand-up comedian, and television host. Currently, he is a co-host on the Bravo series, Play by Play, and hosts The Michael Yo Show on Sirius XM's Entertainment Weekly. The Michael Yo Show premiered on September 4th via satellite on channel 105 through the SiriusXM app.

Selected Sources
* Houston Chronicle, "Houston-born comic Michael Yo releases special about growing up biracial", November 1, 2018.
* HalfKorean.com: An online community for mixed-race Koreans, "Interview with Michael Yo", August, 16, 2013. 

Photos courtesy of Michael Yo/Metro Public Relations.

Blasians Defined has MOVED

After 7 years on Blogger, the Blasians Defined blog is now posting at blasiansdefined.wordpress.com.

All of the previous blog posts from the beginning of Blasians Defined in January 2012 have been added to the new Word Press site.

Posts for Blasians Defined will continue to appear on both sites - blasiansdefined.blogspot.com and blasiansdefined.wordpress.com - to support this transitional period. However, do join us on the WordPress site for the latest Blasians Defined content.

Thank you for following our blog. You can also connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Blasian Named MVP of Maui Invitational

Rui Hachimura, the son of a Beninese father and Japanese mother, has exploded on the college basketball scene. Gonzaga University - known for seeking international talent for its athletic teams - first discovered Hachimura during the 2014 FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Under-17 Basketball World Cup in Dubai. He also led his high school, Meisei High School, to the All-Japan High School Tournament title. Now he is the best player on the No. 3 NCAA basketball team.

Hachimura grew up in Toyoma, a coastal town about a five-hour drive west of Tokyo. He was often questioned about his Japaneseness. Now he is easily mistaken for African American but experienced confusion due to his inability to speak English. Prior to attending Gonzaga, he had been to the US only once for a family trip to New York when he was 12 years old, and he didn't speak any English. Now, in his Junior year, he is a fluent English speaker. This is no small feat, as English is extremely difficult for Japanese native speakers to learn.

He was Most Valuable Player of the Maui Jim Invitational All-Tournament. Gonzaga beat Duke 89-87 in the championship game. He averaged 22.7 points and 6 rebounds in 3 games.

He is the 5th Japanese-born player to play Division I Men's Basketball, and he is the 1st Japanese native to play in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. He is projected to be a 1st Round NBA Draft Pick in 2019. Should that happen, he would be the 2nd Japanese-born player to ever play in the NBA. The 1st was Yuta Tabuse in 2004, but he only played for the Phoenix Suns for 3 months before he was cut from the team. There have been several Japanese-American basketball players, starting in 1947 with Wataru Misaka (who was first introduced on Blasians Defined in 2012 in the post "Asians & Basketball"). After Misaka, there wasn't another Asian player for 40 years (although there was a Blasian player selected in 1978, Raymond Townsend). 

Selected Sources:
* Gonzaga Bulletin, "Gonzaga's Rui Hachimura is Gonzaga's X factor", February 21, 2018.
* ESPN, "The Education of Gonzaga's Rui Hachimura", November 16, 2018.
* Sports Illustrated, "Rui Hachimura Is Thriving as Japan and Gonzaga's Best Hope for Basketball Glory", November 27, 2018.

Blasian Comedian to Star in Autobiographical Sitcom

A TV show, inspired by Michael Yo's life, co-written by and starring comedian Michael Yo, is being developed. The self-proclaimed "Half-Black Brother with a Korean Mother", Michael Yo, was born "Michael Yo Simmons" to a Korean mom and an African American dad with a PhD in Nuclear Physics. 

The untitled comedy centers on a young couple's life that is made more complicated when the guy's over-achieving African American, PhD scientist/ex-Military father and scheming Asian mother show up to help them take care of their newborn baby and adjust to their new surroundings. Yo married Claire Elise Schreiner on February 14, 2016 and recently became a father to Oliver Yo Simmons. He came up with the idea for the family comedy when his parents visited to help with their new grandchild. Yo will also be an executive producer for the show.

Selected Sources:
* Deadline, "Michael Yo To Star In Autobiographical Family Comedy In Works At Fox", November 5, 2018.
* Coming Soon, "Michael Yo Developing Autobiographical Sitcom for FOX", November 6, 2018.

Blasian Featured in Netflix Show

The first ten episodes of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was released on October 26th. The series is centered on Sabrina Spellman, a half-witch half-mortal. I'm a huge Netflix fan and was super intrigued by the trailer for this new show. In the trailer, I spotted a diverse group of witches in black dresses with lace collars. A brunette and redhead led by a brown-skinned beauty, they are the Weird Sisters, a trio of witches who have developed a sisterhood forged in their bond as orphans. In the trailer, the leader of the Weird Sisters, Prudence Night tells Sabrina, "You're gonna die, half-breed." This seems ironic when you realize that two of the actresses portraying the Weird Sisters are actually half-Korean. Adeline Rudolph (the brunette) is German-Korean, and Tati Gabrielle (the leader) is Korean-African American. 

Tati Gabrielle (birth name: Tatiana Gabrielle Hobson) was raised by her Korean American mother. Her father, a former basketball player from Ohio, is involved in the entertainment industry as a director and producer. She modelled as a child and graduated high school with a 3.7 GPA. She majored in Drama and French at Spelman College. She moved to Los Angeles and earned roles in the CW's The 100, Hulu's Freakish, and TBS's Tarantula. She was cast as Prudence in March 2018. 

Tati's mom was adopted from Korea and raised in Virginia by an African American family. She raised Tati to stay connected to her Asian roots, and the diverse Bay Area of California was a great environment for a mixed kid. Now Tati's starring in a show that is being lauded for its ethnic, racial, and sexual diversity. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is arguably one of the most strongly feminist television shows today, with women fighting against dominating patriarchal leaders in both the mortal and witch worlds.  

A Christmas special episode, A Midwinter's Tale, will be released on December 14th, and the second part of the first season is scheduled for release on April 5, 2019. Experience Tati Gabrielle's fierceness in this spellbinding  show!

Selected Sources:
* Mochi Magazine, "Actress Tati Gabrielle on Girl Power and Finding Identity", October 12, 2018.
* Status Magazine, "Tati Gabrielle Unveils the Magic of her Artistic Journey", October 1, 2018.