Filipino | Grenadian

Photo credit: provided by subject - selfie

I am half Filipino and half Grenadian. I identify as Christian and heterosexual. My Mother is from a northern village in the Philippines and my Father is from a small island in the Caribbean called Grenada (north of Trinidad and Tobago). My parents met in the 1980’s when they immigrated to Toronto, Canada.

My parents managed combining their cultures very well to be honest. Both of their cultures are very different in almost every way – but they still found similarities. They are both previously colonized island nations with lots of European influences (Spanish in the Philippines and English/French in Grenada). They use some of the same ingredients in their food and have a lot of the same strong family ties and values.

Interracial relationships have challenges like all others – but the advantages and the ability to adopt and love a new culture as your own is invaluable. The only way that my culture has affected my choice in partners is that they would need to be able to appreciate that I am mixed-race and encourage the intermingling of cultures.

I have had many positive experiences being mixed – surprising people when I can speak the language, talking to other similarly mixed-race children who maybe aren’t in touch with their cultures, etc. But one of the earliest memories I have is growing up, you often didn’t see a check box on surveys labelled ‘Mixed-Race’ – so I would draw my own check box and label it ‘Mixed’. As a child that used to make me free very liberated. It allowed me to somehow influence and help ensure that others viewed my ethnicity in the same way that I viewed it - as something that doesn’t fit into just one box.

One thing that I did struggle with was the fact that there was no where in the world where everyone looked like me. I was always going to be looked at as different at home in the Philippines and at home in Grenada. This has made me deeply appreciate larger urban centres (Toronto, New York, London, Paris, Sydney, etc.) where everyone is different, and for that reason the same.

I am very connected to both – I speak (conversationally) my Mother’s native Filipino dialect and eat/cook the food very regularly. I also eat/cook Caribbean food very regularly and am an avid listener of Caribbean music. I participate in Caribbean carnivals every year and proudly wear my Grenadian flag. I have been travelling to both countries since I was child and have been lucky enough to travel as an adult. I think travelling to your home country as an adult with siblings, cousins or friends is very important. Growing up, we saw the version of home that our parents yearned for – but that isn’t all there is. Travelling home as an adult gives you a very different appreciation for your culture and your country.

Growing up I didn’t struggle with my identity – my parents both have very strong identities and taught my brother and I to be comfortable in our own skin. And I think I will continue to be that way. Thankfully, I work for large multi-national company based in New York that is at the forefront of inclusivity.

If I had the opportunity to be reborn I would return exactly as I am – I love being mixed-race and wouldn’t change it for the world.