hapa rules!

I just have to take a minute to give a huge shout out to Mike and Nancy who sent me the most amazing gift today. part asian • 100% hapa is an inspired creation by kip fulbeck. It's a 262 page book of portraits of "hapas" and their corresponding, hand-written answers to the question, "What are you?"

For those of you who don't know what "hapa" is, it's described on kip's website redsushi.com as: "Once a derogatory label derived from the Hawaiian word for “half,” Hapa has since been embraced as a term of pride by many whose mixed racial heritage includes Asian or Pacific Island descent."

Being a hapa myself (dad's Korean, mom's Irish/Scottish) and growing up as a child in the 60s-70s, I never dreamed I would see a book like this! And you know what? My reaction was something I neither expected, nor could control. I cried. I even laughed at myself for crying . . . while crying.

Now I don't particularly view myself as being a "wounded individual" for having experienced racism in my life -- or for never fitting in as one race or the other. I've always marched to the BWWONG of my own gong -- so to speak. And besides, my parents always, always told my sisters and me to be proud of who we are. I guess my reaction to opening this book and immediately knowing the language Kip used, seeing the faces of my fellow tribe of hapas and reading their quirky, insightful, poetic answers to the question, "What are you?" touched the core of ME and who I AM.

Yeah, I guess that's why I cried. Seeing the faces of my fellow tribe of hapas and knowing I can finally tick one box.

Now I realize I started this blog to "blab" or "blag" about cookiechang.com and cookie's crumz and all the art projects I've been working on and everything you can buy at cookiechang.etsy.com . . . so I'm going to wrap this up by reminding you why there's a cookie chang in the first place. It's nothing mind-blowing or earth-shattering. I just liked the name. And because "cookie" and "chang" go together like, well, Irish and Korean!

Anyway, one last little plug for this book . . . even if you aren't hapa, you're gonna know one. BUY THIS BOOK for yourself or the hapa in your life! They're on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk and I'm sure at plenty of local bookstores.

I loved this grrl'z answer to "What are you?"

"I am a monster! Raa! And I have a pet dragon (quail). Well . . . I'm actually a Pepsi Twist. No. I'm a dark, dark black hole that sucks the universe. I'm an alien! (With pink sneakers!!)
PINK POWER"

hapa rules!!!!!