Book Description from the Front Cover Flap

Hapas will recognize this question as one they hear again and again. Originally 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. Hapas number in the millions and permeate popular film, television, print, music, and sports-yet mainstream Hapa awareness remains minimal at best.

Award-winning film director, artist, and professor Kip Fulbeck conceived The Hapa Project as a forum for Hapas to answer the question in their own words. Their responses are gathered together in Part Asian, 100% Hapa, along with simple head-on portraits, offering a profound statement of Hapa identity. Steering clear of the exoticism so often associated with multiraciality, Fulbeck strives to photograph his subjects as they really are, minus the trappings of everyday life-the clothing and jewelry and makeup. The individuals pictured here look directly at the camera and at the viewer, presenting themselves to the world; a reality that will no longer be ignored.

A book of intimacy, beauty, and powerful self-expression, Part Asian, 100% Hapa is the book Fulbeck says he always wished he had growing up. An introduction to the rest of the world and an affirmation for Hapas themselves, it offers a new perspective on the ever-growing Hapa population.

Definition From the Back Cover

Comments from Back Cover

"Finally my ethnic mix has resonance beyond a Dick Cavett joke (Q: "What's the problem with eating German-Chinese food?" A: "A half-hour later, you're hungry for power.") Spending some time with the wonderful faces of 100% Hapa was like, for the first time in my life, coming home and finding my tribe. Suddenly I felt normal and all the non-Hapa's of the world seemed "odd!" In a nice way, though. We won't be mean about it... because even though we have our own fabulous book now, smugly gloating is not in our semi-modest, semi-Asian way."
-Sandra Tsing Loh, writer and NPR correspondent

"A very timely book . . . funny, touching, and sexy!"
-Asia Carrera, actress

Background on Contributors

Sean Lennon is a musician; he lives in New York City.

Paul Spickard is the author of a dozen books, including Mixed Blood: Intermarriage and Ethnic Identity in Twentieth-Century America and Race and Nation: Ethnic Systems in the Modern World. He teaches ethnic studies and history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the father of Naomi and Daniel Spickard.