being mixed race + learning to love myself

Being Mixed Race and learning to love myself has been an ongoing process ever since I was a child. And it’s one that I feel the need to open up about now, now more than ever.

Hi there, it’s just Chris today ??

Today’s video is from my own perspective and lived experience as a Mixed, Multiracial individual. It’s about the power of misidentification. It’s about the privilege I personally have of passing in a White society. And it’s about two lessons I’ve learned through embracing the skin I was born in.

I proudly identify as a Mixed/ Multiracial, Chinese and Asian American. My name is Chris Lin. My surname, ‘Lin,’ meaning, ‘Forest,’ dates all the way back to China in the 1100s B.C.

For those of you who have been misidentified — from Race, to Gender, Sexual Orientation, Ethnicity, Religion, Ableness, and So On — I just want you to know that I wholeheartedly see you. I feel for you. The power of identification lives with us. I’ve learned that, “it’s not up to us to change the minds of others. But, to change our ability to strongly, confidently identify ourselves, by ourselves.”

Great privilege comes with being Mixed and Multiracial, with more privilege handed to those who pass in a White society. And that fact is not lost on me.

When someone misidentifies us, though, the very act of misidentification chips away at our souls, our heritage, our hearts. The very fabric of what makes us, us. It’s unique to our lived experience as Mixed, Multiracial human beings, and we alone feel its power.

This is a first step, in a lifetime of steps. One that I’m taking to be more vulnerable and open about my identity.

I love you all deeply. Thank you for watching this video.

This is my path to being Mixed Race and learning to love myself.

Catch up on ‘our NYC home tour’ video (here), our comeback video to YouTube right before that (here), and every other video we’ve ever posted to YouTube ??

Love,
Chris