Tag: biracial

MiRan Powell was born in Texas in 1964 to a Korean mother and a white father. At the time of her and her sister’s birth, anti-miscegenation laws were still in effect across parts of the United States. She recalls how their dual heritage brought them grief and confusion throughout childhood. Hoping her daughters would better assimilate into American society, her mother did not teach her Korean beyond a few folk songs. Because her maternal relatives lived in North Korea, she was never able to meet them. The stories her mother told of Korea felt like little more than fairy tales.

In her career as an actress, MiRan has played a wide range of characters, including a British heiress, Japanese maiden, and a Greek Princess. However, regardless of the roles she was cast in, MiRan tells us that her goal was always to just become “the best actress that she could be.” On stage, she has had to find and command a confidence she hoped she possessed as a child while navigating the anxieties of her identity. She has since transformed this confidence into a sense of responsibility, advocating for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Michael Hurt identifies as a visual sociologist, melding his draw towards street fashion and photography with his passion for observation and studies in race and gender. With a mixed background, his mother Korean, father African American, Michael’s interest in identity started early, carrying him through his academic years, eventually bringing him to live and work in Korea since the 1990s.

Alex Pryor was born in DC, grew up in Maryland, and spent many Sundays in Virginia. Being half Black and half Korean, Alex describes his story as “perpetually on a bridge” – often having felt lonely and the need to fit in. When he entered college and joined a group for mixed-race students, it gave him an insight into where he belonged and the tools to understand race, ethnicity, culture, and nationality. Living in Korea has always been a dream, and now that he’s been living there since 2020, it’s been a liberating experience to navigate life on his own terms.

Janet Russell was a military kid born in Germany to a Korean mother and a Belizean father. She didn’t grow up seeing any Koreans around her, and since she was more acquainted with her father’s family, they told her that she was Black and needed to identify with her father’s race. So she lived her life identifying as Black.

Now as a student at the University of Houston, Kwon Teimchaiyapoom recalls her childhood as a restaurant kid. Kwon being half Thai / half Korean, was brought up in a Western household; never feeling connected to either culture except through the food her family served in their restaurant. It wasn’t until recently, when her parents’ divorce became finalized, that Kwon began to see a shift in her mother, who began to immerse herself into the Korean community of Houston. Seeing her mother make kimchi every week and watching more Korean television sparked a reflection within Kwon herself, to begin her own search for identity. As Kwon continues navigating her place in the world, she hopes to unravel more about herself and her roots.

Hope Sacco grew up in Baltimore, Maryland to a Korean American adoptee mother and a white father. She attended a high school with very little Asian representation which drove her to search for community outreach opportunities in the Asian community.

Chris Packard was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio to a Korean mother and American father. He recalls growing up with a true rural Midwestern life filled with baseball and bicycle rides but also vivid memories of helping his mother run her small businesses – something he considers a defining part in his childhood.

Get to know more about our sticker contest’s 1st place winner, Shashi Arnold! Interviewed by our intern, Emma Park.

Mandy Hwang was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma by an American father and Korean mother. She grew up feeling “perfectly half-Korean” thanks to her parents’ efforts to help her feel comfortable in her own skin, especially her father. Mandy moved to Korea with the intention of working in the K-pop industry but after taking a teaching job, she realized this was the career she wanted to pursue. Living and working in Korea has helped her feel more in-tune with her Korean identity and recognize that Korean culture is very different from Korean American culture. For Mandy, being half-Korean is a significant part of her identity and means having the best of both American and Korean culture. She believes that it is important for future generations of Korean Americans to not only be familiar with their Korean heritage, but also to make it their own.