Okay so a little bit of backstory is needed:
I'm half white and half Chinese, and I was born in Shanghai back in 2007, when there weren't very many black people in China, and I had never really met anyone who wasn't white or Chinese until I moved to America at the age of two. However, my parents DID watch the news, where soon-to-be president Barack Obama was constantly getting air-time, more than enough for him to be seared into baby me's mind.
When I was about one, my parents decided that we would fly to America for Thanksgiving so my dad could see his family and I could meet my grandparents. This was my first time leaving China, and on the plane, I got super excited because I thought I saw the newly elected president of the United States, Barack Obama, sitting a few aisles away from me. I screamed out Obama's name a few times, trying to get his attention.
Except, of course, it wasn't Obama πππ It was just some random black guy, and I had never known anyone outside of my race before besides seeing Obama on the TV. Thankfully, the guy was chill about it, and gave me a fist bump! My parents still tell me this story all the time (I do, too).
2d ago
Related Recs
here are 3 of my most exciting pieces of lore:
1) my dad was in the south tower on 9/11 and he made it out, but was still in the building when the plane hit. the plane went through his office window, but he was already evacuating and on around the 40th floor when the plane hit
2) my paternal grandfather (jewish) was born in austria but his family moved to milan in β33/34 when hitler came into power. in β44 when the nazis occupied northern italy, his family escaped into the mountains northeast of milan near bergamo (he was about 13 or 14 years old at this point). his family helped smuggle guns to the partisans since they could speak german with an austrian accent and bypass nazi checkpoints. my grandfather had to shoot a fascist at one checkpoint going wrong, and so at 14 he joined the partisans full-on and lived with them until the war ended. i have a bunch of photos from his time with the partisans (attached some). apparently the group he was specifically with was led by this kinda crazy guy who threatened the security of the whole partisan operations, so he was actually killed by other communist partisans. a few years ago i found a man who researches this exact group in bergamo, and now i have an 80 yr old italian pen-pal who published some photos of my grandfather in his book.
3) my maternal grandfather was orphaned really young in cuba and was really poor. he met my grandmother when he saw her riding her bike down the street and instantly fell in love with her (yes, just like cinema paradiso). she was really rich and her family hated him, so he would wait outside her window just to see her. eventually they get married and have my eldest uncle (because love always perseveres). this part of the story is fuzzy, but i believe he got into some gambling issues and so my grandmothers family shipped him to the US (probably with hopes of getting rid of him for good). but he began to build a life for his family there. then the revolution happened and he continued to go back and forth, but then castro put in the policy that children born in cuba had to stay, so they moved to nyc permanently. but my grandfather loved castro, as most cubans did. so my family is not part of the typical exile cuban-american demographic, which i always found fascinating.
Feb 19, 2024
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I was introduced to her once at some function because I liked "making videos" and she told me he helped start Funimation and asked "have you heard of it?" lmao YES I HAVE
Apr 11, 2024
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My family is ridiculously tiny - there are 5 of us with our last name. My stepdadβs nephew just emigrated from Ukraine and is living with my parents and I just got to meet him! I have a cousin now!! He seems cool!!
Jun 8, 2025
Top Recs from @Cocamide
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The originals good but the The Raincoats cover is soooo good it's crazy... Also the Michael Cera Palin version of if it makes you happy is amazing and seeing it live in 2022 when they were opening for Weatherday was crazy even though I didn't know who they were yet!
2d ago
2d ago
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Honestly, this entire album has strong fall vibes (itβs my favorite album ever and I highly recommend it!) but this song in particular is just sooooo fall to me. https://youtu.be/Y6Ll9qHcQ08?si=roEUfEmGWWPeEZ_N
1d ago