She's the child of a deaf mother, he's mixed race. Together they create music addressing ableism and racism
Half/Asian with Amy the CODA performs songs in both English and sign language
"We both know the love that we got is real. We work hard to get where we need to be."
The chorus from Amy Braun and Ian Griffiths's new song So It's Easy reflects the duo's triumphant feeling in transforming their traumas from ableism and racism into music.
Braun, the child of a deaf mother and a hearing father, and Griffiths, who was born to a Hong Kong Chinese mother and a British father, formed Half/Asian with Amy the CODA in 2019 — a two-person band in Nelson, B.C., with the aim of starting conversations about inclusion and diversity. CODA stands for "child of deaf adults."
"People feel more comfortable asking me because I'm mixed," Griffiths told guest host Alya Ramadan on CBC's Daybreak South. "They couldn't actually ask a deaf person certain questions, but they do feel comfortable speaking to that intermediary person."
"It's this in-between ground where we're in this unique position where we can act as the bridge."
The pair has been touring across British Columbia and Alberta following the relaxation of pandemic restrictions last year. On stage, Griffiths would sing the songs in English, while Braun would dance and interpret the lyrics in sign language.
WATCH | Half/Asian with Amy the CODA's interview on Daybreak North in August 2021
'Reconnecting to the language that formed my life'
Braun learned Pidgin Sign English (PSE) — a combination of American Sign Language (ASL) vocabulary and English grammar — as a first language from her mother. As a teenager, she was hired by the school district to interpret for her mother, an educational assistant at a high school in Olds, Alta.
Similar to the situation depicted in the Oscar-winning movie CODA, there wasn't much understanding from schoolmates and the local community about her family during the '90s, Braun says.
As an adult, she says she hadn't seen any deaf person in the audience during her seven years working in the music industry — until she started performing in sign language as part of the duo.
She says it's a healing experience being able to do art performances with her native language, especially after losing proficiency from working in a profession that isn't entirely welcoming to the deaf community.
"It's really a reclamation of language, and me reconnecting to the language that formed my life and made me who I am," Braun said.
Calling out anti-Asian racism
Griffiths says it is a "cathartic" experience to call out anti-Asian racism through his songs. In Chinese, Japanese, which he wrote in March 2020, for instance, he documents the incidents he experienced over the past decade as a half-Chinese man in B.C. and Alberta.
Thanks to conversations with his mother early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Griffiths says he finally had the time to reflect on the privilege he had been living with as a white-passing person, as well as the discrimination he and his mother have experienced as Asians.
"People automatically assume that my dad is Canadian because he's got the right colour of skin, while people assume that my mother, who is a university professor, isn't.
"There's racism just randomly that happens to me on the street, and so that permeates itself through my subconscious and therefore into my music," Griffiths said.
WATCH | Half/Asian and Amy the CODA perform Chinese, Japanese
Praise from family and audiences
Braun and Griffiths say their mothers are proud of their achievements, and that they've received warm reception from audiences in the past.
"I had one deaf person coming to a show and she was so excited, because for the first time in her life she had lyrics stuck into her head, and because she was never understanding the lyrics with just regular music acts where there isn't sign language involved," Braun said.
She also has something new to offer to hearing audiences: starting this month, she will also perform using her voice, in addition to performing in sign language, after several months of vocal training.
Half/Asian with Amy the CODA has been scheduled for seven music festivals in B.C., Alberta and Ontario throughout the summer, including the Ignite the Arts Festival in Penticton, B.C., this weekend.
With files from Daybreak South and The Early Edition