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.

Naomi Osaka Wins U.S. Open

In October of 2015, Blasians Defined featured Naomi Osaka as the WTA Rising Stars Invitational Champion. Since then, Naomi was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2016. She had a breakout year, making it to the 3rd round of all of the Grand Slam tournaments that she played in 2016 (Australian Open, French Open & US Open). The WTA Newcomer of the Year award is decided through votes submitted by members of the media and fans, with initial nominees chosen by the WTA based on players’ achievements throughout the year. Naomi was the 1st Japanese player to ever win the award.

And now Naomi has just won the 2018 US Open! She is the 1st Japanese woman to contest a Grand Slam singles final and the 1st Japanese Grand Slam singles champion. (It is believed she is also the 1st Haitian Grand Slam champion.) Now ranked in the top 10, she is the highest ranked Japanese player in history. 

Naomi's parents, Tamaki Osaka (from Hokkaido, Japan) and Leonard Maxime Francois (born in Haiti, raised in New York), met when her father was visiting Hokkaido while he was attending college in New York. Naomi and her sister, Mari (also a professional tennis player) were both born in Osaka, Japan.  The girls were given their mother's maiden name for practical reasons when the family lived in Japan.

Naomi with her parents and sister

Naomi has dual American and Japanese citizenship. Although the girls were largely raised in the United States, their parents decided that their daughters would represent Japan. Osaka's parents have said that, "We made the decision that Naomi would represent Japan at an early age. She was born in Osaka and was brought up in a household of Japanese and Haitian culture. Quite simply, Naomi and her sister, Mari, have always felt Japanese so that was our only rationale. It was never a financially motivated decision nor were we ever swayed either way by any national federation."

Her Haitian grandparents only spoke to her in Haitian Creole because they did not know English, while her mother spoke to her in Japanese. Her sister, Mari, speaks almost fluent Japanese. While Naomi can understand Japanese, she is not very confident to speak the language. At press conferences, she can take questions in Japanese but usually answers in English.

Some fans feel like her black identity is being erased. However, Naomi has repeatedly reminded reporters that she is Japanese and Haitian.

Selected sources:

* The Wall Street Journal, "Naomi Osaka: The Tennis Star Who Was Overlooked by Everyone", September 12, 2018.

* The Washington Post, "Japanese, Haitian, and now a Grand Slam winner: Naomi Osaka’s historic journey to the U.S. Open", September 10, 2018. 

* The New York Times Magazine, "Naomi Osaka’s Breakthrough Game", August 23, 2018.

* YonexUSA, "Naomi Osaka Named 2016 WTA Newcomer of the Year", October 24, 2016.

Blasian Makes Top 10 of Miss Universe

Ariana Mamiko Miyamoto (宮本・エリアナ・磨美子) was born in Nagasaki to a Japanese mother and an African American father (Bryant Stanfield). Her father met her mother while stationed in Sasebo with the United States Navy. Her parents married but divorced when Ariana was an infant. 

Ariana as a child with her mom

Ariana as a teen with her dad and half-sibling

In 2015, Ariana won Miss Nagasaki and went on to represent her prefecture in the Miss Universe Japan pageant. She was crowned Miss Universe Japan 2015 in March. She is the 1st hāfu to win the pageant. Upon her selection, she faced criticism for not appearing to be Japanese. There were comments that her face was too "gaijin", literally "outside person". Ariana is a Japanese citizen, born and raised in Japan and fluent in the Japanese language. She identified as Japanese and even holds a 5th degree mastery of Japanese calligraphy. Ariana wants to represent the new face of Japan. "International marriages are happening. There will be [more] biracial children. I want them to be as accepted in Japan as they would be in the U.S. I want society to get used to that idea."

Miss Nagasaki 2015 

Miss Japan 2015

When Ariana was 13, she moved to Arkansas with her father to attend two years of high school in the United States. As a child in Japan, she was often called "kurombo", the Japanese equivalent to the N-word. She says she felt normal for the first time in Arkansas, although she was still treated as a foreigner. In the US, she came to speak of , while in Japan, she still calls herself hāfu (biracial in Japanese). As Miss Japan, she presents herself as an ethnically mixed Japanese person.

Ariana went on to compete in Miss Universe 2015 in December, where she made it to the Top 10. Having represented Japan globally, reigning as the 1st half black Miss Japan, she serves as a role model for multiracial Japanese people and challenges the idea what it means to be Japanese.

Selected Sources:

* CBS News, "Beauty queen brings light to Japan's racial issues", April 13, 2015.

* New York Times, "Biracial Beauty Queen Challenges Japan's Self-Image," May 29, 2015.

* NBC News, "The First Multiracial Miss Universe Japan Has Been Crowned", March 17, 2015.

Blasian Wins WTA Rising Stars Invitational

Naomi Osaka is the WTA Rising Stars Invitational Champion. The WTA Rising Stars Invitational is a showcase event in Singapore that brings together 4 WTA Rising Stars age 23 and under through a fan vote to compete alongside the best of the best at the WTA Finals.

Born in Osaka, Japan to a Haitian father (Leonard Francois) and Japanese mother (Tamaki), Naomi was raised in the United States and speaks very little Japanese, but she has always played tennis under the Japanese flag. Her father registered Naomi with the Japanese Tennis Association, rather than the United States Tennis Association, due to her dual passport. Her diverse background and strong tennis skills could make Naomi the next big thing in tennis.

WTA Tennis, "Osaka Wins WTA Rising Stars International", October 25, 2015.

Titi Branch, Blasian Co-Founder of Miss Jessie's, Dead at 45

The blasian community is mourning the loss of one of its hair care inspirations.  Titi Cree Branch, one of the co-founders of the natural hair care line, Miss Jessie's, died on December 4, 2014.  Born June 10, 1969, Titi died in what online media publication NV Magazine is calling an apparent suicide due to asphyxia.  She was 45 years old.  Titi is survived by her parents, sister, and nephew. 

Titi

The daughters of an African American father and a Japanese American mother, Titi and Miko Branch launched Miss Jessie's in 2004 with a mission to meet the needs of women with textured hair.  Miss Jessie's products are on the shelves of Target, CVS, Duane Reade, and Walgreens.  The salon and the curly hair care products were named for their paternal grandmother, Jessie Branch. 

Miko shared a moving video tribute to celebrate and honor the life of Titi.  The video includes family photos of the sisters as Stevie Wonder’s As plays in the background.

To learn more about the Branch sisters and Miss Jessie's, check out Miko Branch's book, Miss Jessie's: Creating a Successful Business from Scratch -- Naturally.

Blasian Photoshopped Across the Globe

The Before & After project was release by Esther Honig in June of 2014.  In this original project, Honig asked the world to define beauty by sending an un-retouched photo of her head and shoulders to 25 countries with the simple instruction - "Make me beautiful."  The results were a peek into the idea of beauty through different cultures.  Fellow journalist Priscilla Yuki Wilson followed up on Honig's project, replicating it with her own photo, While Honig is of European descent, Wilson is biracial with a Japanese mother and an African American father.  Wilson received edited photos from 18 countries.  The alterations varied from lightening her skin to emphasising different aspects of her features.

Original Photo by Che Landon.

Below is the description of Before & After Part Two from Priscilla Yuki Wilson's personal website.

The question of "what are you?" regularly influences how I experience the world.  It serves as a reminder that I am living in a  culture that's still adjusting to my kind of face.  Growing up my Japanese mother would often tell me to wear sunblock and to stay out of the sun to avoid getting "too dark".  Being that my father is black, this paradox always troubled me because I was clearly a product of a radical racial union.  In these subtle ways I was taught that my natural self did not comply with conventional standards set forth by society, saying fairer skin is better, straighter hair is more attractive, and that skinny tastes good.  For that reason I decided to carry out a reproduction of the project Before & After because I wanted to see how a face like mine would be transformed on the digital surgical table. 

As in the original project I approached each photoshop aficionado with the request to "make me beautiful."  Similarly I utilised the international freelancing platform, which has allowed me to contract nearly 30 individuals from more than 25 countries. 

In contrast to Honig's results, where her face became a canvas to express more than a dozen contrasting beauty standards, I found that my face actually challenged the application of photoshop in this instance.  As a biracial woman there is no standard of beauty or mild that can easily fit my face.

This photoshop experiment, like Honig's, revealed the different views of beauty around the world, verifying that a universal concept of beauty does not exist.

View all of Wilson's altered photos on her website.  For more information about the original "Before & After" project, go to Esther Honig's personal website.

First Blasian Contestant on AsNTM2

Marie Nakagawa with the flags of Senegal & Japan

Season 2 of Asia's Next Top Model featured blasian contestant, Marie Nakagawa, of Japan.  Born to a Senegalese father and a Japanese mother, Marie has often been mistaken for a non-Japanese due to her mixed heritage.  She was often bullied by her peers during her childhood in Tokyo.  In her Intro video for AsNTM, Marie discusses the difficulties she experienced as a blasian child in Japan.

Filmed in Malaysia, Asia's Next Top Model (cycle 2) premiered on January 8, 2014 on STAR World Asia and Fox Asia.  Sixteen women from across the Asia-Pacific region participated in the televised contest.  prior to her elimination.  Marie was in the bottom 3 in Episode 2 and was the first to be given a second chance.  She was the first call out, selected for best photo in Episode 4, Episode 7, and Episode 8.

Episode 4: The Girl That Embraces Change

Episode 7: The Girl Who is in the Spotlight

Episode 8: The Girl Who Makes a Splash

Marie posted the following on her Facebook page on January 22, 2014, discussing her desire to help Japan recognize the diversity of beauty.

"Japan really needs to realize that FASHION should be equal to any races and I'm hoping that Japanese fashion industry will be more open mind to those colored race as well. Trust me, I am giving my all to change Japan for all those young girls looking up to Japanese Fashion Industry Which They only Have Either white or light Skin tone Damn too skinny and cute Eyes Big Girls That says and Represent and Being told as the definition of World's Standard BEAUTY" Which IS Totally not. Their only to BE Admire.
We Live in Japan, but we ALSO Live in the World.
non of US in the World IS Same. We all Have Different skin color, we all have different eye color hair colors and everything and WE ALL DIFFERENT that's exactly why we should accept the beauty each other and we NEVER EVER have to set the definition of beauty by skin color or the size of the eyes or big teeth Small teeth skinny or Chubby or whatever the reason Stupid Which we should Never Compared to and by Judges.
DIFFERENT AND WE ALL BEAUTIFUL IN OUR OWN WAYS."

The Newest Blasian Reality TV Star...

Dina Ruiz Eastwood!

Dina Eastwood began starring in a reality television series on the E! network about her life called Mrs. Eastwood & Company in May of 2012.  The show focuses on the lives of Dina, wife of actor/director Clint Eastwood, and their daughters, Francesca and Morgan.  Mrs. Eastwood manages the six-person a cappella group Overtone, who also live with the Eastwoods in their Carmel-by-the-Sea, California mansion.  The season finale aired on July 23rd.

Television news anchor Dina Ruiz* was assigned an interview with Clint Eastwood in 1993.  Three years later, the couple married in a surprise private ceremony planned by the groom.  Following the birth of the couple's daughter, Morgan, in 1996, Dina left her anchor spot at KSBW-TV.

While in South Africa with her husband for the filming of Invictus, Dina discovered Overtone.  The group sang the soundtrack for the 2009 film.  Dina was so impressed by their talent and potential that she relocated the entire sextet to California and has been managing them ever since.   

In the Spring 2007 issue of Carmel Magazine, Dina spoke about growing up multiracial. –
" I was the darkest kid at my elementary school.  I used to get called 'nigger' in grade school.  I had a real problem with my looks until I was about 20.  Now everyone is mixed.  It's no big deal.  My dad is black and Japanese.  And my mom's Irish, German and English."

LEFT: Dina's dad, Michael
RIGHT: Dina's mom, Mary Lou

* Although Dina's family name is Hispanic, she is not Hispanic at all.  Dina's father was adopted by a Portuguese American / Puerto Rican family named Ruiz.

Selected Sources:
* E! Online, "Mrs. Eastwood & Company".
* Dina Eastwood, Twitter.
* Carmel Magazine, "The Simple Things: Dina Eastwood Prefers Substance Over Style", Spring 2007.

Blasian Olympians Worldwide

Ding Hui
Volleyball
CHINA

In April 2009, the Chinese Volleyball Team announced the 18 members of the men's national volleyball team for the 2012 Summer Olympics.  Among them was Ding Hui, the 1st black athlete on a Chinese national team.  While Ding is the 1st mixed-race athlete to play on a national team, a number of foreign players play in China’s professional football and basketball leagues, and foreign coaches have worked with China’s national teams.

Nicknamed "Xiao Hei" or "Little Black", by his team mates, Ding Hui is the son of a South African father and a Chinese mother.  A native of the east China city of Hangzhou, he speaks Mandarin and the Hangzhou dialect.  He is a Chinese national and was raised by his single mother, Yu Jianxiu.  Ding never met his father, who left China before he was born.

Ding Hui's selection has stirred up some racial prejudices among his countrymen.  Commentators have noted that he has a "pleasant and perky nature" and is talented at "singing and dancing".  On Chinese internet forums, he has been lauded for the "whiteness" of his teeth and the "athleticism of his genes".

China's black population is tiny.  However, the black population is growing rapidly.  One predominately African suburb in the southern city of Guangzhou is referred to as "Chocolate City".  Since 2003, when China started pouring investments into Africa, there has been a significant movement of Africans in the opposite direction.   Hopefully, as China's population becomes more diverse, future minority athletes will be recognized for their skills and performance, rather than their heritage. 

Chletzie Lee
Figure Skating

AUSTRALIA

Chletzie was named to the Australian team, competing as one of the youngest Australians on the 2010 Winter Olympic team at the age of 16.  At the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, she qualified 18th in the short program, scoring 52.16 (her career personal best score), and finished in 20th place overall.  She is working towards a spot in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Her father is Chinese and was born in Bangladesh, and her mother was born and raised in Louisiana and is African American. 

Yvonne Kanazawa (金沢 イボンヌ)
Track & Field
JAPAN

Although Yvonne Kanazawa grew up in Sacramento and trained and coached at California State University, she competed for Japan.  "I was born in Japan.  My mom is Japanese.  So, I have Japanese citizenship only.  I'm not a dual-citizenship person.  So, I had no choice but to compete for Japan, and it worked out pretty well," Kanazawa said.

Yvonne is an 8-time national champion in the 100-meter hurdles with 6 records to her name.  In 1996, she became the first female sprinter in 32 years to make an Olympic team in Japan.  A Japanese record holder, she again competed for Japan at the 2000 Olympics.  She was a semi-finalist at the Summer Olympics in Sydney and retired from competition in 2004.

Selected Sources: 
* Wall Street Journal: China, "China Welcomes Chinese-African Player to National Team", April 14, 2009.
* Cheltzie Lee, Official website.
* Yvonne Kanazawa, The Study of Racialism.

Blasian Americans at the 2012 Olympics

As we celebrate the beginning of the Games of the XXX Olympiad, let us recognize the blasians representing Team USA in London this summer. 

CONGRATS TO LIA, KYLA, & PAIGE – Blasian Olympic medalists for Team USA!

Lia Neal

Swimming 

Lia with her parents, Siu & Rome

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lia’s father, Jerome, is African American, and her mother, Siu, is from Hong Kong.  At age 17, she is the 2nd woman of African descent to make the US Olympic swim team.

 

Lia competed in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay at the 2012 Summer Olympics.  She won the bronze medal on Saturday, July 28, with Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy, and Allison Schmitt, behind Australia and the Netherlands.  The team finished with a total time of 3:34:24, an American record.

To learn more about Olympic medalist, Lia Neal, go to her official website. 

Kyla Ross
Gymnastics

Kyla with her parents, Kiana & Jason

 












Kyla was born in Honolulu, Hawai'i and currently lives in Aliso Viejo, California.  Her father, Jason, is Japanese and Black, and her mother, Kiana, is of Filipino and Puerto Rican descent.  Her look reflects the multi-racialism of Hawaii.  "We call it the quadruple effect," says her father.

Kyla earned the 2nd-highest score on the uneven bars at the 2012 Olympic trials.  Nicknamed “Mighty Mouse,” Ross, 15, is the youngest person on Team USA’s gymnastics roster.  According to the Olympic format, each team selects 3 gymnasts for each of the 4 apparatuses in the final – balance beam, uneven bars, vault, and floor.  Kyla performed on the beam and the uneven bars.  On Tuesday, July 31, the US women captured the gold medal with an overall score of 183.596.

To learn more about Olympic medalist, Kyla Ross, go to her official website.

UPDATED
Tuesday, July 31, 2012 

Paige McPherson
Taekwondo

A native of Sturgis, South Dakota, Paige currently resides in Miami, Florida.  Born in Abilene, Texas, she was adopted when she was just 4 days old.  Her parents also adopted children from South Korea and Saint Lucia.  Paige is half Filipino and half African American (with a little Spanish and Japanese on her Asian side), and she likes to call herself "Blasian".

Paige is looking forward to her first Olympics after defeating 2004 silver medalist Nia Abdallah to earn a spot on the 2012 roster.  Nicknamed "McFierce", she is the youngest member of the US national team, having just graduated high school in January 2009.

Since turning 18, Paige has sought to connect with her biological roots.  She has an older brother, who she has already met.  She also has a half-brother and a half-sister, and she has spoken to her biological mother.  Paige plans to meet all of them after the Olympics. 

Paige represented the USA in the 67 kg women's taekwondo event. In the preliminary round, Paige secured a surprise defeat over Sarah Stevenson of Team Great Britain, 5-1.  She went on to win a bronze medal by defeating Franka Anić of Slovenia 8-3.

UPDATED
Saturday, August 11, 2012 

Selected Sources:
* New America Media, "Asian American Athletes Represent U.S. at 2012 Olympics", July 25, 2012.
* Mas TaeKwonDo, "Paige McPherson hopes to bring home a gold medal", July 25, 2012.
* The Epoch Times, "Lia Neal, Olympic Star Rising from Brooklyn", July 5, 2012.
* The Madeleine Brand Show, "SoCal gymnast Kyla Ross brings poise, nerves of steel to London Olympics", July 11, 2012.

Blasian Olympic Medalists

Bryan Clay 
Track & Field

Bryan Ezra Tsumoru Clay - often referred to as the "World's Greatest Athlete" - was born to a Japanese mother (Michele Ishimoto) and African American father (Greg Clay) and raised in Hawaii. He won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and went on to win the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Bryan is among the very few decathletes to hold 2 Olympic medals.

Bryan had his eyes set on a third. He had hoped to become the only decathlete to win 3 Olympic medals.  Bryan Clay - the reigning Olympic decathlon gold medalist - was eliminated from the London Games after stumbling in the 110-meter hurdles at the U.S. track trials on Saturday, June 23, 2012. 

To see him in action, check out this Olympic highlights video of Bryan Clay.

Peter Westbrook
Fencing

The 1st Blasian American Olympian was Peter Westbrook.  The child of an African American father (Ulysses) and a Japanese mother (Mariko), Peter was harassed by other children because of his mixed race.  His mother paid him $5 to attend local fencing classes.  She wanted to divert his attention to a sport that was similar to the style of Samurai fighting that she was familiar with in Japan. 

Peter Westbrook was a member of 6 American Olympic teams – 1976 in Montreal, 1980 (US boycott of Moscow games), 1984 in Los Angeles, 1988 in Seoul, 1992 in Barcelona, and 1996 in Atlanta.  He won the bronze medal in Individual Sabre at the 1984 Olympics.  In 1992, he was selected to serve as flag bearer for the closing ceremonies, an honor conferred by a vote of that year’s Olympians.  He was the oldest member of the fencing team at the 1996 Olympics.

One of the first prominent biracial fencers and the first African American to medal in fencing, Peter began the Peter Westbrook Foundation in 1991.  The Foundation provides inner city children with access to fencing and works to guide them away from gang activity.  It is hailed as one of the most successful inner city sports programs in the country.

To learn about Peter Westbrook and his not-for-profit organization, visit www.PeterWestbrook.org.

UPDATED
Sunday, July 29, 2012 

Blasians in the Congo

In the 1970s, the Japanese had operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) to invest in mining projects in the mineral rich region of Katanga.  This area is known for its abundant deposits of copper and cobalt.  According to the US Geological Survey, the Katanga province in the south of Congo contains 4% of the world's copper and 1/3 of its cobalt reserves. 

Over a 10-year period, more than 1,000 Japanese miners worked in Zaire.  The Japanese businessmen had relationships with native Congolese women.  Some of these relationships resulted in children.  Most of the mixed race progeny died soon after birth.  It is said that Japanese taboos led to the children being poisoned in the local mining hospital or sometimes even killed by the fathers themselves.  This practice forced many native Katangan women to hide their half-Japanese children.  To protect their children, they did not give birth in the hospital and raised their children in rural, remote areas.  Thus, many of the surviving children of these Japanese/Congolese relationships do not have birth certificates.  The survivors have formed an association and are now seeking compensation and closure from both the Congolese and Japanese governments.  

 

Today, the Chinese run the furnaces where minerals are processed.  The Congolese government granted mineral concessions in Katanga province to a consortium of Chinese companies in 2008.  Six billion US dollars was invested in the construction and rehabilitation of roads and the construction of two hospitals and universities.  An additional three billion US dollars was invested in mining operations.  Approximately 90% of Katanga's processing plants are owned by Chinese nationals. 

As another Asian country capitalizes on the wealth and riches of this small African nation, there exists the possibility of mixed race relationships and the potential of another generation of blasians in the Congo.  Hopefully, they will have a happier story to share.

For more about mixed race people in the Congo, check out the FRANCE 24 story on "Katanga's forgotten people".

Blasian Reality TV Stars

Lou Jing – who gained fame as a reality show contestant in China – got me thinking about Blasians on reality TV.  There haven't been that many.  While Asians are rare, half Asians are few and far between.  Half-African American, half Asian reality stars are even more infrequent.  There have been 3 blasian reality stars – Melissa Howard, Lisa Wu, and Kimora Lee.

Melissa on Real World (2000) and with her daughter (2011)

Melissa Howard (Filipino-African American) became the 1st blasian reality star in 2000 on MTV's Real World: New Orleans.  She went on to appear in other reality TV shows, including Real World / Road Rules Challenge and Battle of the Network Reality Stars.  Now Melissa Beck, she is married to Glassjaw guitarist, Justin Beck, and has a daughter, Shalom Mazie.

Melissa's parents – Maurice "Shorty" & Narcisa "Mercy" – at the MTV Studios

Lisa Wu appeared in the first two seasons (2008-2009) of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.  Her mother is of Afro-Caribbean descent, and her father is Chinese.  

Lisa Wu's parents

Previously married to R&B singer Keith Sweat, she was married to NFL linebacker Ed Hartwell, while on the show.  They divorced in 2011.

Lisa Wu and her sons Jordan, Justin, & EJ

Kimora Lee – better known as a model and former wife of Russell Simmons – has starred in the reality television series, Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, since 2007.  The most famous blasian reality star, she details her daily life with her three children and her husband, model/actor Djimon Hounsou.  

Kimora and her mother, Kyoko Perkins

With a Korean-born Japanese mother and an African American father, Kimora was often a target of bullying and teasing as a child because of her height (5'10" by age 10) and her mixed heritage.  Her mom enrolled her in modeling classes when she was 11 years old, and Kimora was discovered at the age of 13.  

Kimora married mogul, Russell Simmons, in 1998.  They officially separated in 2006.  She has been with Djimon Hounsou, a Benin-born Oscar-nominated actor, since 2007.

Kimora and her children, Kenzo, Ming, & Aoki

While there are many who view reality TV as a less-esteemed genre of television, it can be an excellent platform to share varying perspectives and provides exposure to different types of people and ethnicities.  Reality television is a unique opportunity to potentially see and connect with people who have similar stories.

Selected Sources:
* Melissa Beck, tumblr.
* The Real Housewives of Atlanta, "Lisa Wu Hartwell".
* Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, "Kimora Lee Simmons".

Blasian Singers in Asia

I was recently reflecting on a trip to Shanghai and remembered the story of Lou Jing, the black-Chinese young woman who appeared on a talent show in China in 2009. Her appearance on a popular Chinese television show was a subject of much debate. Jing appeared on "Go! Oriental Angel" for 2 months, and though the show nicknamed her "Chocolate Angel" and "Black Pearl", she and her mother received constant negative criticism.

Jing's Chinese mother had a relationship with an African American man, to whom she was not married. Lou Jing has never met her father. Raised in Shanghai, she is fluent in Mandarin and Shanghainese and identifies as Shanghainese. After receiving hurtful comments online following her television appearances, she questions her place in China. One post read, "Ugh. Yellow people and black people mixed together is very gross."

Lou Jing and her mother

This situation shows how far behind China is in moving beyond its monocultural ideal image of itself. As China emerges as a world power, it is vital that its people open up their minds to the multicultural contexts that exist in other countries and that is also slowly becoming a reality in China. The lack of awareness in the comments directed toward Lou Jing clearly demonstrates the long way that China has to go to better interact and understand the diversity beyond its borders.

While China is struggling to deal with this mixed race person in their midst, neighboring countries, Japan and Korea, have already been coping with public figures with black ancestry for some time now. A very popular singer in Japan right now, who happens to be blasian, is Crystal Kay. She's actually black and Korean, like Yoon Mirae (Tasha Reid), who is successful in Korea. While it's not easy being biracial - especially half black - in Asia, it used to be a lot more difficult. In Korea, Insooni helped pave the way.

Yoon Mirae

Crystal Kay

Born to an African American father and Korean mother in 1957, Kim Insoon was born soon after the Korean War. In the 1960s, multiracial Koreans were an extremely new phenomenon and suffered extreme discrimination. Insooni began performing in the late 1970s, receiving more attention for her appearance than her talent. She has now been making music for over 30 years.

Insooni is a musical legend in Korea, and the difficult situations she experienced as a biracial person in a monoracial country served her well. Mixed race Koreans have become much more common, but Insooni's childhood must have been indescribably tough. Compared to being black in Korea, the trying times and insensitive criticism of the entertainment world surely seemed simple to endure.

Kim Insoon at 15 years old (1972)

Insooni's success has made the possibility of a career in the public sphere a realistic goal in Korea and serves as an excellent example across East Asia. She's a hero for blasians across the ocean too.

INSOONI

  
Selected Sources: 
* NPR, "Mixed-Race TV Contestant Ignites Debate in China", November 11, 2009.
* CNN World, "TV talent show exposes China's race issue", December 21, 2009. 
* Connections (Pearl S. Buck International newsletter), "Coming Full Circle With Korean Singer Insooni and Daughter Jasmine", Fall/Winter 2011.