Hi, I’m Charlene, and I’m proud to be half Black and half Filipino.
My Father is Black, and my mother is Filipino (from Southern Leyte).
I was born and raised in VA, and remember that when I went to the Philippines when I was really young, being mixed wasn’t a big deal for me.
My mother really didn’t talk about her culture or anything (even though she has a heavy accent) and my friends didn’t know I was mixed, they thought I was Native American.
But when I was old enough to go back to the Philippines (at 8) I totally loved it there, and after that we went EVERY summer. I’ve graduated high school here in the states, now I will attend college in the Philippines.
I spent 18 years in the US, now its time to spend the rest with my other culture. Plus my boyfriend is full Filipino from the province of where my mother is from :)
Always learn from your cultures, because you might love them.
Hapa Voice 
Beautiful story, I totally agree with embracing your own culture(s).
I’m Half Chinese half English / French, grew up in a white family in a white community, knowing nothing about being Asian descent back then even though subliminally I felt I was ‘different’ to everyone else and didn’t understand why I would get called the C word. I had blonde hair and big green eyes when I was a kid, now I have monolids and prefer to dye my hair jet black.
I’ve been with my lovely boyfriend for over a year and had never been happier, he has brought alot of confidence out in me especially when it comes to embracing my Chinese heritage, and he has a little half white niece so he understands what it can be like not being accepted in a white community and an Asian community. He’s full Chinese, and we enjoy sharing our knowledge of the culture we share and one day I will be visiting China for the first time !
Wonderful! Good luck to you and your boyfriend in the Philippines :)