Anne Trent - G4m3r W1feling of D00m!

I don’t think about my race very much these days because I’m focused on gaming, technology, and geeking out. When I do have to think about my race it’s mostly in the context of my family usually tainted by some bad memories or the fact that I feel discriminated in some way related to the color of my skin and the shape of my eyes. I don’t want to have to think about my race or my cultural background with any negative perspective, so I’ve been trying to fill my life with good things and happy experiences with being Filipino.

Music plays a big part of that appreciation process. Two Filipino performers that I admire for their talent are apl.de.ap (prouned as “APPLE-DEE-AP” aka Allan Pineda Lindo Jr. from the The Black Eyed Peas) and Charice (aka Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco; A Filipina recording artist and actress who rose to popularity through YouTube).

Apl was born to a Filipino mother and an African-American father. His father, a U.S. airman stationed at Clark Air Base, abandoned the family shortly after his birth; his mother raised him and his six younger siblings as a single mother. At age 14 he was adopted by an American family and, as adult grew to fame with will.i.am under the The Black Eyed Peas. Coming from the Philippines to America, his whole goal was to support his family and to have a better living situation. He later went back to help his family in Pampanga.

Charice was born in Laguna, Philippines. After barely escaping her violent father, Charice was raised by her single mother. To help support her family she began to enter singing contests at age seven, from town fiestas in various provinces to singing competitions on TV. She is said to have competed in almost a hundred such contests. It was not until 2007 that she gained worldwide recognition after an avid supporter under the username FalseVoice, started posting a series of her performance videos on YouTube. These videos received over 15 million hits. And, yes she was in the TV show Glee.