The art of cosplay is not the art of getting hit on

November 3rd, 2011

04:16 PM ET

Yaya Han, left, cosplaying as Mulan and Riki cosplaying as Snow White.

Cosplay is a mainstay of the modern fan convention. In popular culture, it is practically a synonym for "fan convention."

Eye-popping, physics-defying costumes thrill and amaze fans of Japanese video games, anime and manga by bringing their favorite characters to life, and is itself the ultimate expression of fandom, according to Yaya Han, an Atlanta-based cosplayer who has had a high profile in the cosplay comunity for the last 12 years.

"To me it's an unlimited creative outlet," Han said. "Before I was a cosplayer, I was a fan artist. I would draw my favorite characters and sell the pieces at art auctions."

"But once I discovered cosplay, it was like, 'I don't have to draw my favorite characters, I can become my favorite characters.'"

The cosplay community, by and large, create their own costumes, she said. Developing sewing, painting, sculpting, jewelry-making and wig-styling skills is part of this fan-base homage to Japanese entertainment.

And yet, when seen outside the context of fandom, cosplay is not always seen as the result of skilled craftsmanship. Han said that many reporters have asked her questions that confuse her practice with LARPing. Recently, cosplay has been portrayed in the media as being more about cleavage and snagging dates with wide-eyed fanboys.

While Han admitted many entertainment companies are hiring "booth babes" - models who are dressed like cosplayers to draw attention at fan conventions - she stressed that true cosplayers see that as a dilution of the art. In stark contrast, today's fan convention organizers respect cosplay to the point that they often set aside money specifically to fly masterful cosplayers to the convention as special guests and panelists.

But articles from New York Post and Men's Fitness, gave Han and fellow cosplayer Riki (who also goes by Riddle1) pause.

"At New York Comic Con, I was interviewed by the New York Post," Han said. "I was wearing Amber from 'Sucker Punch.' It was a costume that I made and spent a lot of time and money on, but the guy just saw me in an outfit where my cleavage was showing and I was wearing bloomers and chaps and my butt was showing."

A New York Post photographer asked to take Han's photo for an upcoming article, and a writer interviewed her on the spot.

“I talked about making costumes, the passion behind it, the calendar, why we’re doing this. That it’s an art form that can really put people on the right paths in their lives - it can put somebody who had no direction before on a path to wanting to pursue a career in fashion or costume design just through cosplay," Han said.

But she was disappointed when the article came out, because, "he was concentrating on quotes about girls getting hit on and girls wearing skimpy outfits. and then there was a big picture of me accompanying the article," Han said.

Riki pointed to a recent article on the Men's Fitness website about New York Comic Con that was as much of a surprise to the cosplay community.

"It starts out by saying New York Comic Con is a place where you can go and not be bullied. Then the article proceeds to post images of people in costume who maybe are not in the best shape and proceeds to make fun of all of them," Riki said.

"What’s a real shame is, I was at New York and there were a lot of amazingly fit people and they didn’t bother to take a picture of them. They just go for the geeks," Riki said. "You see them making fun of geeks because they feel like we’re easy fodder cause we’re not going to fight back."

The Men's Fitness article was taken down after negative reaction. Jordan Burchette, author or the article and digital site director for American Media, which runs the Men's Fitness website, said the article was published October 15 and was taken down October 24 because of the persistent complaints from a "small group determined to make themselves heard," Burchette said.

When CNN asked Burchette to elaborate, he said he always thought costuming and cosplay was cool, but that this was designed to be "a humor piece" and that he didn't feel he was bullying anyone. He addressed the incident on his own website.

The popular portrayal of cosplayers inspired Han and Riki to dress as Disney Princesses at a recent photo shoot at Turner Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. They wanted to show that cosplay includes all kinds of costumes.

"It’s not just that we’re artists and we put our artwork out there," Han said. "We make the outfits, we put it on, we put our bodies out there, we put our faces out there for the world to judge," she said. "We both wanted to show that it doesn’t always have to be about sexy costumes. you don’t always have to have your cleavage out. you can still have a fun time cosplaying and show something you made yourself."

That and the fact that Disney princesses happen to be an immensity popular topic for cosplayers, even though they are not of Japanese descent. Han dressed as "Mulan" and Riki dressed as "Snow White" for the photo shoot.

Disney princeses are their own genre, said Han. "Cosplayers love Disney princesses. We all grew up with them. We identify with one or more princesses."

And not just straightforward princesses: zombie Disney princesses, superhero Disney princesses, sexy Disney princesses and steampunk Disney princesses are costumes cosplayers dream up and create for conventions.

"A lot of people bring their families to conventions," Riki said, "so the kids might not know 'Earth 2 powergirl' but they’ll know a Disney princess when they see it."

"That’s the thing I enjoy about being Snow White. I can wear the sexy costumes and guys will want photos with me but I still get elated when children come up to me and they think I’m the princess and they talk to me and they tell me about their day, they tell me everything that they’re wearing, and I have a fifteen minute conversation with kids! It’s just a really great feeling."

Another great feeling for Riki is the pride and gratitude she feels for the "Cosplay for a Cause" calendar she spearheaded. It's a 2012 calendar featuring some of the best-known cosplayers in never-before seen photos of Japanese-origin characters.

She had the idea to create a charity cosplay calendar last March when a massive earthquake and tsunami hit parts of Japan.

"It’s sort of the first of its kind. The cosplay community is kind of tight but I haven’t heard of a lot of cosplayers coming together to do something for charity," Riki said. "I first contacted Yaya, she is a well-known name in the cosplay community, and if she were part of it a lot of other people would think, ‘hey, this is legit, on the up-and-up.’" And they did.

Riki and Yaya's calendar features cosplayers from Russia, Singapore, Brazil, Italy, Canada and the US. The collectible value of this kind of calendar is what Riki and Han hoped would make it popular with cosplay and Japanese-origin entertainment fans.

Additionally, comic book artists for Marvel and DC contributed unique illustrations for each page of the calendar, making the finished product truly one-of-a-kind.

Thanks to pre-orders and fan convention sales over the last year, Riki and Han are nearly sold out of the calendars. They're saving two calendars, signed by every cosplayer involved (and which traveled around the world in order to end up that way) to auction off in December. All the proceeds they make from the calendar will go towards the Japan Red Cross.

"So many of us, we love these things that come from Japan. We play the video games every day, we read the manga, people watch the cartoons, they absolutely love it," Han said. "It’s a passion of theirs. And for us to be able to give something back to the country that created all of this, that was the main focus. I think the calendar has been a success because people do want to donate and they want to support this cause."

source: http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com

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Cano Cristales

An explosion of natural color known as "the river that ran away from paradise" 

   A unique biological wonder, Caño Cristales has been referred as the "river of five colors," "the river that ran away from paradise," and "the most beautiful river in the world."

For most of the year, Caño Cristales is indistinguishable from any other river: a bed of rocks covered in dull green mosses are visible below a cool, clear current.

However, for a brief period of time every year, the river blossoms in a vibrant explosion of colors. During the short span between the wet and dry seasons, when the water level is just right, a unique species of plant that lines the river floor called Macarenia clavigera turns a brilliant red. It is offset by splotches of yellow and green sand, blue water, and a thousand shades in between.

This only happens for a brief period in between seasons. During Colombia's wet season, the water flows too fast and deep, obscuring the bottom of the river and denying the Macarenia clavigera the sun that it needs to turn red. During the dry season there is not enough water to support the dazzling array of life in the river. But for a few weeks from September through November, the river transforms into a veritable living rainbow.

Caño Cristales is located in a remote, isolated area not easily accessible by road. Adventurous tourists can now fly into the nearby town of La Macarena. From there it is a short trip into "Serrania de la Macarena," the national park in which Caño Cristales is located.

The site was effectively closed to tourists for several years because of guerrilla activity in the region along with concerns about the impact of unregulated tourist traffic. It was reopened to visitors in 2009, and today there are several Colombian Tourist Agencies that will fly travelers to La Macarena. From there, they must make their way to the river site on horseback (or donkeyback) and by foot as part of a guided tour. Visitors are not permitted to stay overnight or cook.

source : atlasobscura

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Life and death under Syria's military onslaught

March 10, 2012 -- Updated 1459 GMT (2259 HKT)

Editor's note: Watch the full documentary "72 Hours Under Fire" on CNN International on Saturday at 4 a.m., 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. and Sunday at 6 a.m., and on CNN U.S. on Sunday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. and Monday at 2 a.m. (All times Eastern)

(CNN) -- Intense black smoke billowing from the flames of an oil fire blocks out the sun. A teenage mom with a one-day-old baby seeks shelter in a dimly-lit basement from a barrage of missiles and shells.

Incoming fire smashes through the wall of a house being used as an unofficial media center in Homs, the city that is the focus of anti-regime protests and Syrian efforts to silence them.

The horror of enduring the all-out assault by the Syrian military is brought vividly to life in a CNN documentary airing this weekend.

With the help of local activists, a CNN crew was smuggled into Homs, moving from house to house as the Syrian army fired missiles and tank shells.

For more than a year President Bashar al-Assad's military had used brutal force to put down the uprising.

Across Syria, protesters demanded change -- chanting "down with the regime" but it was Homs -- and especially the neighborhood of Baba Amr -- that became the epicenter.

Even CNN correspondent Arwa Damon, with her vast experience of reporting from war zones, had reservations about the high-risk job. She said: "I actually wrote a letter home the first time, to my family. And I went to see some very close friends as well, just in case."

She was joined by Neil Hallsworth, a veteran cameraman who has worked in Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel, and Tim Crockett, a former special forces officer to handle security and who would also become an unofficial stills photographer.

Just getting into Homs was an ordeal that took five days for what would normally be a two-hour drive.

Damon said: "It involves a fairly elaborate process of being moved through farmlands, back roads, trying to avoid the government, ending up in various safe houses. And at every single leg, every single stop, you have a different person who's responsible to move you on to the next one, someone who knows the details of the lay of the land around you to ensure that they can actually get you through from one point to another."

For the thousands trapped in Baba Amr, the route was their only lifeline and CNN agreed to keep it secret.

In Homs, there was no frontline meaning there was also nowhere that could be called safe.

Damon said: "It [seems] mostly deserted, most of the buildings have sustained some sort of damage. And then you'll see a kid peek their head out from a doorway, or you'll see a man walking in the street carrying an A.K."

Some of the most constant fire has been on Baba Amr where people are killed or wounded daily, and where two doctors -- and one of those was a dentist -- are fighting against the odds to help the casualties.

In a makeshift clinic there was a man with head injuries from shrapnel, another whose leg injury was most likely going to lead to an amputation.

The medics say the Syrian military regards the clinic as a target so they have set up in numerous temporary houses around Baba Amr, each with patients and with the doctors moving between them.

But snipers posted on rooftops above the rubble-littered streets made even the shortest of trips treacherous.

Mosques put out messages before the bombardment started, telling people to not live on the upper floors, to try to stay away from windows, and to try to find protective rooms, inside their homes.

In basements used as bunkers, civilians pray the next bomb will miss their home and their loved ones. In one of these bunkers, the CNN crew met a teenager who had given birth the day before.

Her daughter Fatimah was the face of innocence amid the hell of Homs. Her father does not know she's been born. He left the shelter to get supplies a month ago and has not made it back. And her gran trembled as she explained how two other relatives died.

Virtually everyone in the shelter -- about 300 people -- had similar horrific stories of violent death.

And it was easy to learn how death could come arbitrarily and suddenly in Homs and how survival was as much luck as anything else.

Working in a home that had become an unofficial media center for the few Western journalists that have made it into Homs, a rocket slammed into the building just two floors up.

Also in Baba Amr was Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin who would be killed alongside French photographer Remi Ochlik just a few days later.

Throughout Baba Amr, word was spreading that a ground offensive by the Syrian military was imminent.

And for CNN it was becoming too dangerous to let Damon, Hallsworth and Crockett stay.

Damon said: "It is fundamentally unfair that we live in a world where we can go film this, report on it, and leave, knowing that the people we've left behind's suffering is going to continue. Feeling as if we should've done more, we could've done more."

Hundreds of civilians are believed to have died in the siege of Baba Amr. At least three activists involved in getting video out of Baba Amr have been killed.

At the end of February, the Syrian military broke the resistance of Baba Amr. Opposition activists claim the military carried out summary executions.

Regime forces continue to bombard other areas that oppose Assad's rule.

source: http://edition.cnn.com

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Romney wins three states; Gingrich and Santorum also triumph

By Paul Steinhauser and Tom Cohen, CNN

March 7, 2012 -- Updated 0231 GMT (1031 HKT)

Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum all were able to claim Super Tuesday victories.

Columbus, Ohio (CNN) -- Mitt Romney will win three states in Super Tuesday primaries, while Rick Santorum will win in Tennessee and Oklahoma and Newt Gingrich grabbed a vital triumph in Georgia, CNN projected.

Santorum's victories showed his continuing strength among conservative voters, while Gingrich's win in the state that sent him to Congress allows him to keep his campaign going.

The Santorum victories also hurt Gingrich's Southern strategy after the former House speaker's triumphs in South Carolina and now Georgia, which both border Tennessee.

Super Tuesday results

Romney, meanwhile, easily won as expected in Virginia, Vermont and Massachusetts, the state where he served as governor and considers home.

The early results from contests in 10 states that put 419 delegates up for grabs were expected, based on polls and the fact that two of the candidates -- Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul -- weren't on the Virginia ballot.

For Gingrich, who represented Georgia's sixth congressional district for two decades, the victory provided a new boost after a string of defeats since his only other primary triumph in South Carolina.

"Thank you Georgia! It is gratifying to win my home state so decisively to launch our March Momentum," Gingrich said Tuesday night in a Twitter post.

"There's lots of bunny rabbits that run through," Gingrich later told supporters in Georgia. "I'm the tortoise."

A Gingrich campaign source also told CNN on condition of not being identified that the former House speaker will become the third GOP candidate to get Secret Service protection starting Wednesday. Romney and Santorum already have that protection.

Super Tuesday live blog

Romney entered Super Tuesday off of three wins last week and a growing lead in the delegate count toward the 1,144 needed to secure the nomination to face President Barack Obama in November.

In excerpts of his planned remarks to supporters later Tuesday night in Boston, Romney focused on Obama in trying to sound like the presumptive nominee.

Citing unemployment that remains above 8%, Romney will say the figure is just an "inconvenient statistic" in the eyes of the Obama administration.

"But those numbers are more than data on a spreadsheet; they are worried families and anxious faces," Romney will say, according to the excerpts. " And tonight, I'd like to say to each of them: You have not been forgotten. We will not leave you behind. Our campaign is on the move. And real change is finally on the way,"

Romney also will signal a continued battle for his campaign.

"Tonight we've taken one more step toward restoring the promise of America," he will say, according to the excerpts. "Tomorrow we wake up and we start again. And the next day we do the same. And so it will go, day by day, step by step, door to door, heart to heart."

Tuesday was the biggest single day of the primary season, and included showdowns in several states that will determine the ability of Santorum, Gingrich and Paul to blunt Romney's momentum toward what many believe will be his inevitable nomination.

Before Tuesday, Romney had accumulated 207 delegates to 86 for Santorum, 46 for Paul and 39 for Gingrich, according to CNN estimates.

Georgia had the most delegates up for grabs on Tuesday with 76, but Ohio, because of its status as a crucial battleground state in the general election, is considered the main prize.

Delegate tracker | delegate calculator

Early results showed Romney and Santorum running almost event. A CNN/ORC International poll released Monday indicates that Ohio was a dead heat between Romney and Santorum, with each grabbing 32% of likely GOP primary voters. Gingrich was at 14% and Paul was at 11%.

Surveys released a week earlier suggested Santorum led Romney, but they were conducted before Romney's victories in Arizona and his native Michigan on February 28, followed by winning the Washington state caucuses on Saturday.

A leading GOP strategist thinks if Romney does well across the board on Tuesday night, he could come close to locking up his bid for the nomination.

"Even a come-from-behind win in Ohio won't give Romney the momentum he needs to put this race away, but Romney could seal this deal Tuesday if he takes not only Ohio, but Tennessee," said CNN contributor Alex Castellanos.

"If Romney demonstrates he can win in the South, GOP establishment and conservative voters will rally around him and money for his opponents would begin to dry up," added Castellanos, who was a top media adviser for Romney's 2008 nomination bid but who is not taking sides this cycle. "The real test Tuesday is this: Can Romney win not only in Ohio but in the South?"

County-level results in Ohio

Romney's campaign was bolstered by endorsements from leading conservatives this week including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn and former Attorney General John Ashcroft.

The endorsements indicated a growing push in the Republican Party to show Romney can win the trust of conservatives, despite concerns that he is too moderate.

Thanks to a sweep of contests in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri on February 7, Santorum went from a long-shot candidate to a co-frontrunner, but going into Super Tuesday he hadn't had a victory since.

"Simply put, he needs to stop the bleeding after three straight losses by winning several states of his own -- including the big one in Ohio," said Gentry Collins, a former political director for the Republican National Committee and the Republican Governors Association.

Santorum and Gingrich were not on the ballot in Virginia because they failed to get enough signatures to qualify, and Santorum was not eligible to win some delegates in Ohio because his campaign failed to file required paperwork in some congressional districts and didn't submit a full list of delegates in others.

"If Santorum wins one or two, but fewer than Romney and the narrative becomes his campaign was too inept to make the Virginia ballot or several districts in Ohio, he's in trouble," said Collins, who ran Romney's 2008 operation but is neutral this time. "Remember, Republicans are hungry for a winner against Obama. If the stench of incompetence sticks to him, he's toast."

Paul has focused his efforts on winning delegates in the caucus states of Idaho, North Dakota and Alaska so that he can wield influence at the Republican convention in August.

Here is a state-by-state breakdown:

* Alaska is holding caucuses from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. ET. There are 24 delegates at stake, to be allocated on a proportional basis.

* Georgia held a primary, with polls closing at 7 p.m. ET. There are 76 delegates at stake, allocated on a proportional basis.

Georgia results | Georgia exit polls

* Idaho is holding caucuses beginning at 9 p.m. ET. There are 32 delegates at stake, to be allocated on a proportional basis.

* Massachusetts held a primary, with polls closing at 8 p.m. ET. There are 38 delegates at stake, to be allocated on a proportional basis.

Massachusetts results | Massachusetts exit polls

* North Dakota is holding caucuses from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET. There are 28 delegates at state, to be allocated on a proportional basis.

* Ohio held a primary, with polls closing at 7:30 p.m. ET. There are 63 delegates at stake, to be awarded on a proportional basis.

Ohio results | Ohio exit polls

* Oklahoma is holding a primary, with polls closing at 8 p.m. ET. There are 40 delegates at stake, to be allocated on a proportional basis.

Oklahoma results | Oklahoma exit polls

* Tennessee held a primary, with polls closing at 8 p.m. ET. There are 55 delegates at stake, to be awarded on a proportional basis.

* Vermont held a primary, with polls closing at 7 p.m. ET. There are 17 delegates at stake, to be awarded on a proportional basis.

Vermont results | Vermont exit polls

* Virginia held primary, with polls closing at 7 p.m. There are 46 delegates at stake, to be allocated on a proportional basis.

Virginia results | Virginia exit polls

source: http://edition.cnn.com

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Perempuan Ini Bangkit dari Mati

TEMPO.CO – Min, 4 Mar 2012

TEMPO.CO , Jakarta - Li Xiufeng, perempuan Cina berusia 95 tahun ini, telah membuat para tetangganya tertegun. Enam hari lalu Xiufeng ditemukan meninggal dunia, lalu jenazahnya diletakkan di dalam peti mati.

Xiufeng ditemukan dalam keadaan sudah tidak bergerak dan tidak bernapas di tempat tidurnya, dua minggu setelah lansia ini tersandung dan menderita cedera kepala di rumahnya di Beiliu, Provinsi Guangxi. Tetangga yang menemukannya dalam keadaan demikian pun memikirkan hal terburuk telah terjadi: Xiufeng telah meninggal dunia.


Peti mati pun disiapkan. Tubuh Xiufeng yang telah tak bernyawa ditidurkan di dalam peti mati di rumahnya dalam keadaan tak bersegel, sesuai dengan tradisi Cina, supaya para teman dan kerabat bisa memberi penghormatan terakhir.


Tapi sehari sebelum pemakaman, tetangganya melihat peti mati itu dalam keadaan kosong. Setelah mencari-cari, mereka menemukan lansia itu sedang memasak di dapur.


Chen Qingwang, 60 tahun, adalah tetangga yang menemukan Xiufeng sudah tak bernyawa. Menurut Qingwang, saat melihat tubuh Xiufeng tak bergerak dan tak bernapas, ia telah mencoba membuat lansia itu bangun. Ia memanggil-manggil nama Xiufeng dan mengguncang-guncang tubuhnya. Qingwang juga sempat memberi pernapasan buatan, tapi Xiufeng tak bereaksi.


"Saya pikir dia sudah meninggal, tapi memang tubuhnya tidak dingin dan kaku," kata Qingwang.


Xiufeng tinggal sendirian di rumahnya. Jadi, Qingwang dan anaknyalah yang menyiapkan upacara pemakaman. Xiufeng telah berada di peti mati selama dua hari sebelum "bangkit".


"Kami sangat terkejut dan segera minta tetangga-tetangga lain untuk minta tolong," kata Qingwang.


Apa kata Xiufeng, yang "bangkit" dari peti mati kemudian memasak di dapurnya? "Sepertinya saya tidur dalam waktu yang lama. Waktu bangun, saya merasa sangat lapar. Makanya saya memasak sesuatu untuk makan," ujarnya.


Menurut ahli medis, Xiufeng mengalami kematian yang tak nyata, yaitu ketika seseorang telah tak bernapas, tapi tubuh mereka masih hangat.


"Syukurlah ada tradisi penghormatan jenazah beberapa hari sebelum pemakaman, Xiufeng bisa diselamatkan," katanya.


DAILYMAIL I NIEKE INDRIETTA

source: http://www.tempo.co/

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'Amerasians' in the Philippines fight for recognition

By Sunshine Lichauco de Leon, for CNN

March 4, 2012 -- Updated 0206 GMT (1006 HKT)

Many Amerasian children were stigmatized for being illegitimate and for being the children of women in prostitution.

Manila, Philippines (CNN) -- When Susie Lopez, 43, was a little girl she would run outside her home in Angeles City, near the U.S. Clark Airbase in the Philippines, every time she heard a plane fly by."I would say 'bye bye, Dad' because the only thing I knew about my father was my dad was riding a plane," she recalls.

The daughter of an American naval pilot and a Filipino mother, Lopez is one of an estimated 52,000 "Amerasians" fathered by American military servicemen during the decades the U.S. Navy and Air Force had bases in the Philippines.

The majority of their mothers worked as bar girls in the area's thriving "rest and recreation" industry, where soldiers were their regular clients. When the American military left the bases in the early 1990s, these children were left behind.

On March 4, in honor of International Amerasian Day, a group of 60 Filipino Amerasians from the cities surrounding former bases will celebrate in a special way. Their "100 Letters to our Fathers" campaign will see the group - whose members range from teenage to those in their 50s - reach out with messages of love and hope to fathers almost all of them never knew. Many of the handwritten letters will be read aloud and will be accompanied by their photos and a short video showing conditions Amerasians have faced.

All will be available on a new website, with the goal of bringing the issues of Filipino Amerasians in the Philippines from the sidelines to the surface.

Left without fathers, many of these Amerasians were also abandoned by their mothers, who were often unable to care for them. The majority of children were raised in extreme poverty by family members or guardians, with little access to social services, and suffered from a lack of identity and intense discrimination.

They were stigmatized for being illegitimate and for being the children of prostitutes. Amerasians fathered by African American soldiers say they suffered the most extreme prejudice.

Brenda Moreno, 44, does not know the name of her African-American father or her mother. She does not know where she belongs.

She remembers a childhood where she hid at home because she looked different. "They see my color and my hair and they tease me 'negra'. I am always crying because I don't feel good. I tell them when I grow up I am going to change my blood so I am going to be white," she recalls.

Anthony Dizon, 28, says living with constant discrimination taught him to fight. "When I walk on the streets people look at you from head to toe and make a face... Or they say 'hey nigger, come here' and then they punch me," he says.

Many are unable to finish school -- either due to financial problems, or out of frustration. Mark Gilbore, 24, only finished third grade. "I was always bullied in school because of my color... And they accuse you of doing something just because you are different," he says.

Moreno feels caught in a vicious cycle: "I can't find a good job because I can't go to school. I am just always working as a housemaid," she says, "How can I change my life? I am just trying my best."

This feeling of helplessness often extends to the workplace. Dizon says he was even refused a job at a supermarket: "They told me they can't hire me because I am black...I feel so bad, so hurt. Why don't they give me an opportunity?"

Dondie Moore, 22, a second -generation Amerasian, feels the Philippines government has forgotten about them: "We don't have any laws. We don't have any rights. They look at us as if we are aliens.

"I can't find a job to continue my life."

Alex Magno, Professor of Political Science at University of the Philippines, explains that this racial prejudice is deeply-rooted, but was strengthened by the country's colonial past.

"We long ago considered the Malayo-Polynesian tribes superior and the Negrito tribes inferior," he says. "Hispanic culture merely reinforced that prejudice with its Eurocentric paradigm. Superimpose Hollywood. The standard of beauty is fair skin, tall nose, straight hair.

Growing up with such a lack of acceptance and economic hardship has taken an emotional and psychological toll on many.

According to a three-year study conducted by Dr. Peter Kutschera, Director of the Philippine Amerasian Research Institute in Angeles City, "we have a severely socioeconomically impaired population, especially among Africans, who contend with serious physical and mental stress issues, including homelessness, alcohol and drug abuse."

Having faced rejection on so many levels, many Amerasians consider themselves half American and long to be recognized, if not by their fathers, then by the U.S. government.

But current legislation does not make it easy to become a citizen.

Although the United States Congress passed the Amerasian Immigration Act of 1982, which gave preferential immigration status to Amerasian children born in Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos during the Vietnam War, it does not include those born in the Philippines. Filipino Amerasians can only become citizens if their father claims them.

According to Kutschera's research, one reason for this exclusion is the belief that Amerasians in the Philippines suffered much less discrimination than in those countries.

Some Amerasians are children of a "steady bar fine" relationship. "This meant an American paid for you. You just took care of him during that time he was there," said Alma Bulawan, President of Buklod, a group that works with former prostitutes and their families. "He stays at your home, you cook and clean. Its like a steady live in partner."

Dizon is one of them. He is part of a minority that knows their father's name, yet he has no paperwork to back up any claims. But he has not given up his search.

"I would tell him I love him and ask why he left me since birth," he says. "I will ask him why he abandoned me. I am black American. Every day I am thinking I want to go to USA or Africa because I feel I belong there. People have the same skin color."

But Shane Jackson, 19, considers herself lucky.

As a "white Amerasian", she has faced much less discrimination, and after a five-year search, recently found her father by using the Internet.

"It's the feeling that you're complete," she says. "The fact that he didn't deny me -- it is one great accomplishment. " But she explains that for those who may never find their fathers, having citizenship will at least make them feel they belong somewhere.

Past attempts for the American government's help have had little success.

In 1993, mothers of Amerasians and their children filed a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. government, asking for $68 million to care for 8,600 Amerasian children living in the town next to a former naval base.

"We wanted the American government to support the Amerasian children," Bulawan said. "We asked for money for food, shelter, education and health."

According to Father Shay Cullen, President of PREDA Foundation, the case was closed after the court decided most of the women were engaged in prostitution, which is an illegal activity and therefore could not be the basis for any legal claim.

But the thousands of Amerasian children represented in that class action suit are now young adults. They have formed United Philippines Amerasians -- a loose network of formal and informal communities of Amerasians who plan to work on creating a national advocacy. They hope to reach out to Amerasians all over the Philippines, coordinate community-level projects, and develop support programs.

Jackson says, "I'm just hoping that my generation has the chance to go to school. I hope the treatment of the people will change. I hope they will accept us, that we are Amerasians.

"We deserve to work. We deserve to be in any government institutions. We deserve everything. We're all humans."

source: http://edition.cnn.com

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