There was some point in my life that I realized that other kids did not eat chicken adobo or have a Lolo or hear stories about the land of the Philippines, so distant yet so close in the descriptions of the flavors and sounds. But I was also stuck in a middle ground, hearing people casually throw out jokes with Asian American’s being the point of laughter. I would hear people say “you are white” as if I didn’t know the pigmentation of my skin is indeed white and as a challenge as if I had to prove that my Lolo came from the Philippines. I am still exploring this place I stand in, being white and being Filipina. Advocating for my people and learning my history and actively dismantling white supremacy and recognizing my role as a white person.

My name is Breanne and I am made up of my family and friends and places I have been.

Current ponderings include navigating the balance between the worlds of being culturally Filipina and being white, and what does it mean/what is the process of developing other white people to understand their own racial identity and culture of being white.

(from the “About Me” page for a blog I kept as part of a Evergreen program called “Asian/American: Pop Cultural Crosscurrents”)