1000% Me Documentary Shines a Needed Light on Mixed-Race Experiences

Mixed Asian Media - May 11, 2023

By Lauren Lola

The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most diverse places in the United States. However, even when growing up here, I have undoubtedly experienced many challenges that other mixed-race people can relate to. From people second guessing my racial background to being asked “What are you?” one too many times, it’s been hard to navigate, especially in a time when discussions about being mixed-race were far and few.

That’s why it brought me an immense amount of joy to learn about the documentary, 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed, where director W. Kamau Bell sits down with today’s generation of Bay Area mixed children (including his own daughters), their families, as well as mixed teens and adults about what their experiences with race have been like.

Very quickly, it is evident how self-assured these kids are when talking about their mixed backgrounds. They are thoughtful and very smart, and when you see the interviews with their parents and other family members, it’s apparent where they get that intelligence from.

It’s also noteworthy of Bell to feature people of a wide range of mixed backgrounds. I’ve noticed how when it comes to more mainstream attempts at discussions and/or portrayals about mixed-race identity, it seems that the general focus is usually on people who are part white, even though not all mixed-race people are that. In fact, a majority of the kids featured in 1000% Me are part Black, which lends itself well to much needed conversations about being Black in America that the documentary also tackles.

A handful of the kids are also part Asian, and for most of them, they aren’t even East Asian. Take Myles for instance, who is Black and Filipino American, as he speaks of how he would work together with his lola (Tagalog for grandma) to compete in Filipino cookoffs. (You’ll hear more from Myles and his older brother, Georgio, in a separate piece about what it was like participating in the documentary.)

It’s also enlightening to see the different family dynamics presented throughout the film. From half-siblings to same-sex parents, the film shows not only how there’s not always one way of identifying racially, but also that there’s no one way of being a family.

Most of the kids had their parents featured in 1000% Me with them, which provides additional insight to their lived experiences. Discussions regarding interracial couples and mixed-race identities more often than not tend to be intertwined, and for understandable reasons. However, it did feel at times like there was too much focus on the parents and not enough on the kids. For the sake of what the title implies, it would have benefited the documentary more to have the focus remain a little longer on the latter.

While the film broadens the experience of mixed-race identity beyond childhood, again, it didn’t feel as focused as it could have been. For example, Kaylin is the daughter of parents who are also both mixed-race and Black, and she talks about the unique challenges that she has dealt with. While we get to see her bond with her uncle quite a bit about their respective experiences, I wish the focus could have been on her a little longer.

1000% Me plays out primarily as a series of profiles on each featured individual or family. While that is all fine and good and makes it easy to follow, it would have been nice to see the kids interact and hang out with each other. There are more mixed-race kids out there than ever before, and to see more interaction among them would have likely added to the sense of healing as one of the parents describes.

Overall, 1000% Me is a documentary noteworthy for highlighting the experiences of mixed-race identity from the up-and-coming generation. It’s thoughtful, it’s funny, and it doesn’t shy away from tough topics and questions. It’s a recommendable film, both for non-mixed people to watch and learn, and also for mixed people like myself who didn’t have these kinds of conversations growing up.

Lauren Lola is an author, freelance writer, playwright, and screenwriter from the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the author of the novels, An Absolute Mind and A Moment’s Worth, as well as the upcoming graphic novel, Dasig. She has written plays that have been produced both virtually and in-person for theatre groups on the West Coast of the United States, and has penned the short films, “Breath of Writing” and “Interview with an Aswang.” Aside from Mixed Asian Media, Lauren has also had writing featured on The Nerds of Color, CAAMedia, PBS, YOMYOMF, and other outlets and publications.

You can find Lauren on Twitter and Instagram @akolaurenlola and on her website, www.lolabythebay.wordpress.com.