Allie Hodgepodge

When I was growing up, there was no Derek Jeter or Tiger Woods or Mariah Carey or Halle Berry.  And there certainly was no Barack Obama.  I grew up privileged and sheltered, so I would never complain about my upbringing, but there were certainly times when it was difficult being biracial in a world where everyone else seemed to have a label to call their own.  Some of the issues were simply confusing -- like wondering which box to check on a form, black or white?  Others were painful -- like having to explain why you don't look like your mother.  

The heaviest part, though, the part that never goes away, is that the only reflection you ever see of yourself is the one looking back at you from the bathroom mirror.  The people you see on television, the people in your geometry class, your best friends, and even the people in your family might look like each other, but they certainly don't look like you.

For my children, it will be different.  They'll grow up with biracial role models in the sporting world, pop culture, and even the White House, for crying out loud.  But perhaps the coolest thing we've come across recently has been Amy Hodgepodge, the main character in a series of books written by Kim Wayans and her husband Kevin Knotts.  Amy's mother is Asian, and her father is half-black and half-white, just like Alison's parents.  

I first heard about Miss Hodgepodge while listening to the Mixed Chicks Chat, a cool podcast about the biracial experience.  The authors were being interviewed, and as soon as I heard what they were writing about, I clicked over to AmyHodgepodge.com and who do you think I saw?  My own daughter, starring in her own series of books.  Doubt me?  See for yourself.

Alison has read and loved all of the books, and although we have only talked a bit about the main character's ethnic background, she knows that the two of them are cut from the same cloth.  Mainly, though, she likes that when she picks up the book she sees a version of herself on the cover, something I never experienced as a child.

Several weeks ago Alison was lucky enough to meet Kim Wayans and Kevin Knott at the L.A. Times Festival of Books.  We were able to spend some time chatting with the authors, and I thanked them both for giving my children something I didn't really know I needed but never had.  A funny thing happened while we were talking.  People looked at Alison and saw the character from the books.  Their publicist took one look and said, "Oh my gosh -- she looks just like Amy!" and then quickly snapped a photo that you can see as part of a slideshow on their website.  (Here's one I took a bit later.)

There are lots of things that we do as parents to help our children grow up to be confident in who they are, but it can be difficult to know how to handle the questions about who we are or where we come from.  When I was growing up I had one friend who was half-Indian and another who was half-Chinese, and that was about it.   Alison has several biracial friends, and a book that seems to have been written about her, so I'm hoping things will be easier for her.

(By the way, my friends the Mixed Chicks are running a celebration of the mixed experience, the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival, held this weekend, June 12-13, at the Japanese American Museum in downtown Los Angeles.  If you're interested, be sure to check it out -- you might even run into Allie Hodgepodge.)

Comments

[Cynthia]

Wow the similarities are too uncanny. It’s like they saw your family on the street one day and decided to write a book. Hmmm, “Copyright Infringement”? :)

My son is 1/2 Black, 1/4 Filipino, and 1/4 Puerto Rican. Which also includes a mixture of Chinese, Spaniard, French, Cuban, and Caribbean Indian if you really want to get technical. The effects of being multi racial seemed to have surfaced in waves throughout his life, from questions to “Why can’t I have spiky hair like John?”, or him identifying himself with only one race in particular, while denying another. But now he embraces his mixed heritage with pride and views it more as a blessing than a burden. His mixture of friends is now vast in race and gender as well, but from time to time he does come across people that can be a bit brazen in their comments. The sad part is, most of these people are relatives. I sometimes argue with him, (In a literal sense, because he is now 13 and it comes with the territory, trust me you’ll be getting that soon enough too) that he needs to defend himself, because I can only fight so many battles for him. He is working on it and getting better with time.

Your daughter is beautiful by the way, I am going to give you my son’s number so in about 20 years from now maybe she can call......Oh wait, what was the title of your blog again?