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Sino ako? “Who am I?”

"James Beni Ronde" etched in crayon by foster family member named "Yami".
“James Beni Ronde” etched in crayon by foster family member named “Yami”.

 

Who am I?  Well before, I was born without a name or identity.  I was given the name James Beni Ronde by the DSW RSCC of Cebu, Philippines.

 

 

 

 

 

James Beni Wilson, June 2013
James Beni Wilson, June 2013

Who am I now?  I’m an ordinary college kid just like many of you.  I wake up to a nice cup of hot coffee every morning which is the best part of waking up.Coffee is my drug, keeps me sane and also unites me with friends, family and colleagues.  As you can see the background in my picture, my profile picture was taken at Starbucks.  I also like to support local coffee shops as well.

 

 

 

 

Leche Flan

 

 

I enjoy cooking but only as a hobby.  I’ve learned how to cook various Filipino foods in my past 6 years of being en-cultured among Filipinos.  My best dish which I’ve altered a bit to my own taste and made my own was my friend’s grandmother’s recipe, Lola Berenguer.

 

During off campus hours, on Sundays, I facilitate a class known as Filipino Youth Initiative.   It’s a class that was founded under Filipino American National Historical Society Michigan Chapter.  It uses a two sided trans-formative learning style where both the facilitator and the mentees engage in dialogue about aspects of the history of Filipinos in America via visual and audio media, self reflection, and oral history where they interview their family members to tell their life stories.

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One of my mentees, Georgina.

 

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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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The last memory of my Filipino “souls” on Philippine Soil

My first shoes. They still have dried Philippine soil on the bottom
My first shoes. They still have dried Philippine soil on the bottom

From my souls of my shoes are the remnants of old Philippine soil from when I had last set foot.

I was three and a half years old when I was last in the Philippines.  The old memory of confusion is blurred by flashes of a camera, the bright Eastern Sun blinding me, and the cement buildings and dirty streets where my footprints last print.  People challenge how I still remember that last day, but I describe it to my adoptive mother (my mom now), and she affirms every moment I reminiscence.

I recall those cement buildings standing tall against the sunlight.  I remember the streets and the fatigue from walking about with my foster parents at that time.

Tatay Pepeng, Ate Dagoy, Mama Nor and me.
Tatay Pepeng, Ate Dagoy, Mama Nor and me.

 

 

My last moment with them before my transitioning into a new family.  A permanent one promised by the Philippine government.   A new home.

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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 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