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Binitay means “Hanged”

James Beni Ronde foundling report

Binitay means “Hanged.” When I was found, the report said, “The child when found, was placed inside a plastic bag hanged on a banana palm…when the founder… who was pasturing her carabao within the vicinity heard the cry of the baby. “

James Beni Ronde foundling report
James Beni Ronde foundling report

Twenty-three years later, I hope to travel back to the Philippines to find my birth parents and to reconnect with my foster family. It has been two decades. It’s time.

Behind the name. 

People ask, especially Filipinos, why Binitay?  Why did you choose that name for your documentary?  Well it is my foreshadowing of where I had received my middle name and where I came from.  Within my stowed away adoption papers laid secrets of my life prior to my adoption.  The orphanage had given me the middle name “Beni” in short of the Tagalog word “binitay”, which means hanged, described in the photo clip above.

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I invite you to join me on the rest of this journey to reach back as I move forward.

–> Visit my Kickstarter campaign at http://kck.st/filipinoadoptee

–> Join our Facebook community at http://www.facebook.com/binitaydocumentary

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Binitay: Journey of a Filipino Adoptee

James Beni Wilson of Binitay: Journey of a Filipino Adoptee

My name is James Beni Wilson, and I am a Filipino adoptee. My dream is to create a documentary that will share my journey with you. I will travel to the Philippines for the very first time in 20 years to search for my birth family and reconnect with my foster family.

In the documentary, I hope to express the importance of ethnic/cultural spaces and how I have utilized these spaces to reconcile my identities as a person of color/Filipino/Asian American.

James Beni Wilson of Binitay: Journey of a Filipino Adoptee
James Beni Wilson photo on adoption papers

To raise funds for the documentary and trip, I have created a Kickstarter campaign (which is a website where people submit projects for fundraising). This fundraiser using KICKSTARTER.com is an all-or-nothing project. If I do not raise enough funds for this in the next 17 days (until July 10th 8pm Eastern) it will be unsuccessful and no funds will be contributed to my documentary. If I reach my goal, I’ll receive all the funds contributed, and will be able to start the documentary.

From a small 3-year-old adoptee in rural Michigan, to a board member of the the Philippine American Community Center of Michigan (PACCM) where I facilitate an inter-generational class known as “Filipino Youth Initiative,” and as the Chair of the Youth Committee for the Council of Asian Pacific Americans (CAPA), I have learned a lot about being American and being Filipino.

I invite you to join me on the rest of this journey to reach back as I move forward. Visit http://kck.st/filipinoadoptee