tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32202607007568606472024-03-17T23:03:02.920-04:00theBlaaagThe Blaaaghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09626254435375851523noreply@blogger.comBlogger525125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-22707569045267451472011-04-19T01:42:00.000-04:002011-04-19T01:42:02.348-04:00theBlaaag: Now on Tumblr<span></span>In keeping up with the latest and hippest technology, theblaaag has now moved onto Tumblr! Connect to the link below to keep up to date with theBlaaag!!<br />
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Cheers!Ai-Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03822462238245930100noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-85252966289752496452011-03-26T22:49:00.003-04:002011-03-26T23:06:28.709-04:00Asian-Americans in AsiaThis entry was <span style="font-weight: bold;">not</span> prompted by this <a href="http://www.8asians.com/2011/03/22/do-asians-hate-asian-americans/">8asian.com</a> article.<br /><br />----<br /><br />Hello BlAAAg,<br /><br />I’m Belle, former (current?) co-Event Adviser of AAA, throwing random entries onto BlAAAG, currently at University of Hong Kong (following in the footsteps of our former Event Adviser, Annie). I may be making snarky remarks as an Asian American expat in Hong Kong, but first, this entire time has been really confusing, and I’m having the identity crisis that never really hit me during puberty.<br /><br />On face value (<span style="font-style: italic;">prima facie</span>!), Hong Kong seems to have two groups of people: expats and locals. Expats may be seen as ranging from non-Chinese people who were born in Hong Kong to migrant domestic workers and i-bankers to international students at university for the semester. Locals are generally seen (not defined) as Chinese people in Hong Kong; I make this “not defined” caveat because now knowing more about Hong Kong, it is very clear that HK identity is as muddled as the American identity. How do those non-Chinese who grew up in Hong Kong see their own identities? Are Mainlanders who migrate/immigrate to HK Hongkongers? If not, can they claim the identity? How long must they live in HK before becoming Hongkongers? Are Mainlanders whose parents’ permanent residency in HK grants them HK permanent residency make them Hongkongers? What I am having the hardest time grasping is where do I fit into all of this: What about HK-Chinese-Americans/British/Canadians/etc.?<br /><br />I’m technically an expat. I’ve been an American all my life. I’ve never been to China or Hong Kong before studying here (it is my first time out of the U.S. and it slightly disappoints me that I can’t use my “never been there, can’t go back” line anymore). My English is far superior to my Cantonese, and my written Chinese and Pǔtōnghuà skills are basically non-existent. Honestly, with the minimal language training I’ve had, the only reason why I’m surviving in Hong Kong is the English language the Brits left behind. But no matter how American I may be (whatever “American” means), hardly anyone will believe I’m not an HKer at first glance. Sure, the second I open my mouth and my terribly accented (I’ve been told) Cantonese comes out, the cashier may know I’m a foreigner, but without that badge, they don’t believe my expat-ness. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not proud of my terrible Cantonese - I wish I spoke the language flawlessly, but my Cantonese has turned into a symbol of my foreigner identity here.<br /><br />I feel that I am walking in the gray space between the expat world and local world. Let me explain. I believe that on an individual level, someone like me, Asian on the outside and (Asian-)American on the inside, would have no problem traveling in the expat world and local world: I can enjoy Soho (expat capital) as much as Shatin or Wan Chai. But what gray space I am speaking of is how society views me, how other people view me and accept me into their world. It seems like I will never be able to fully assimilate into the expat world, as I have an Asian face, but I would never be accepted into the local culture either because I have a foreign concept of the world with a language deficiency to boot. The constant microaggressions come from both sides: the looks that ask: why is this Chinese girl pretending she fits in with us or pretending she’s an expat, how come she can’t speak Chinese even though she is Chinese, how come she can speak Cantonese even though she’s American, why does she choose to speak English? With these preconceived notions, it seems that I can’t exactly fit into one or the other groups. If I am not welcome in either group, I am not sure where I am supposed to fit in.<br /><br />I’m not sure what conclusions I wanted to draw from this reflection. After all, my exploration or aimlessly wandering in this gray space is nothing compared to the everyday and institutional discrimination non-Chinese people face, especially the discrimination endured by Filipina, Thai, Indonesian domestic workers. I do not know if other East Asian Americans are facing the same microaggressions or have the same thoughts. I guess what I’m wondering is where am I supposed to fit in? Must I prove to everyone in that group (if it’s not the gray area) every time of why I identify with them? But why should I have to? How do I avoid the hostility (from both sides)? Or maybe, do I have the best of both worlds: the mobility to move around, the privilege of acting as an in between, etc.?<br /><br />P.S. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fun Facts</span><br /><br />Fun Fact 1: In the 1800s, free-state California used Hong Kong as an example of why Chinese immigration should be limited. During that time, Hong Kong Chinese still employed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mui_Tsai"><span style="font-style: italic;">muitsai</span></a>s (young girls bought by wealthy families to first, serve the family, and then usually, becoming a concubine to a son of the family). California implored that if the British could not stop Chinese people from owning slaves, how will California limit slavery when the Chinese immigrate with their <span style="font-style: italic;">muitsai</span>s?<br /><br />Fun Fact 2: Some American universities (but not Columbia) warn their students not to participate in or observe Hong Kong protests, due to possible future ramifications. Never mind the fact Hong Kong Basic Law (mini-constitution) grants the right to protest Hong Kong affairs, and most protests in Hong Kong are state-sanctioned (all protests must have a permit from the government in order to proceed).<br /><br />Fun Fact 3: Hong Kong, along with Mainland, participated in <a href="http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6406883/The-1905-anti-American-boycott.html">an Anti-American boycott</a> in the 1905 to protest the unfair treatment of a Chinese immigrant in Massachusetts. After immigration officials raided a home of many immigrants, they arrested a man who was living in the U.S. legally without allowing him to show them his proper paperwork. He was later deported due to this incident. The man’s suicide in front of the American consulate in Shanghai sparked the protest.<br /><br />Tags: firstworldproblems, firstworldguiltUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-25266718389952062282011-03-05T00:39:00.001-05:002011-03-06T02:04:38.809-05:00Who the &%#$ knows about Asian American issues?I've been reflecting on my time here at Columbia, thinking about the existence of Asian American ideas and activism on this campus, and the effectiveness of the Columbia University Asian American Alliance as a whole. Do we base effectiveness on awareness, education, community service, activism, how many people show up to our events, getting a large membership? It's always easy to say an organization doesn't do enough, but it's also so easy to say that an organization can only do so much with the resources it has. Many AAA members are doing wonderful things, including <a href="http://boycottsaigongrill.blogspot.com/">picketing at Saigon Grill against sweatshop labor and exploitation</a>, creating Asian American sexuality workshops, and creating teach-ins on Asian American Studies.<br />
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But the fact is that people just don't know about Asian American issues.<br />
<div>Part of it is that people are unclear about the term. As we broached in our last general meeting, "What the !%$@ is an Asian American?", the mere identity "Asian American" can span from descendants of peoples as far 'east' as the Middle East and as far 'west' as Hawaii. This is part of why Asian Americans in general have not really mobilized in recent years: there are so many groups defined under the umbrella term. Asian Americans are much more diverse, making the political term less effective than terms like "Black," which has a stronger historical context and shared experience in America.<br />
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One could say that Asian Americans have done plenty well here in the United States, that there aren't many negative stereotypes about Asians (good at math? yay!), that Asians have become a very much accepted race in the United States. There are plenty of health disparities, especially in Hepatitis B cases (who knew those were even a problem with this in the United States?) and cervical cancer rates. <a href="http://www.pacificcitizen.org/site/details/tabid/55/selectmoduleid/373/ArticleID/490/reftab/36/Default.aspx">Asian American women 15-24 lead in the highest suicide rate among all ethnic groups</a>, and APAs are more likely to commit suicide than the "average American." But who the hell knows about these issues? Yes, there are many students out there who know about the transcontinental railroad, Japanese (and Chinese, and anyone who looked Japanese) internment, but less know about the colonization of Asian lands through U.S. imperialism and the fetishization that has resulted, the enslavement of Asian peoples as coolies all over the world, etc. etc.<br />
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These issues seem so far removed from our contemporary reality as Asian Americans. Fact is, when many of us are seen as a 'model minority' it may seem like we don't have issues. That, to say the least, has been extremely frustrating to face, both at Columbia and in general.</div><div>I know I, for one, was only brought into Asian American issues because of a hate crime my family was connected to. I want to share with y'all a piece of an email I sent to a (great!) Asian American and Ethnic Studies professor, Gary Okihiro, who's helped a lot as I conceptualize Asian American issues (I was fortunate enough to take his class before I sent him this: take an Asian American Studies class, y'all!):</div><div><blockquote><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">So when I was six, my mother told me that a relative of mine was really famous somewhere and that he had died. I had no idea who this man was, and casting off my mother as sensationalist, I proceeded to eat my dinner. Later, when I was twelve or thirteen, I was watching a PBS documentary about the Chinese in America, and </span><b>a moment came on when the doc. started mentioning a pan-Asian movement that begun in the eighties, and I felt empowered. The screen kept plastering a picture of a man who had been killed and where this movement started. My mother came into the room, proceeded to point at the screen, and told me, "Yeah, you're related to him." I found out that man was Vincent Chin.</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Lily Chin was my maternal grandmother's sister, making Vincent Chin my mother's adopted cousin. [...] I've been struck by how little my family speaks about him; I think the whole family has just tried to put that past behind us and move on, and I think there's some sadness that the case never really went anywhere. </span></div></blockquote>I've always been sad but proud to say I'm related to <a href="http://www.asianweek.com/061397/feature.html">a man who, as a martyr, started a pan-Asian American movement that hasn't been matched since the 1980s</a>. But at the same time, I wish I didn't have to be related to a martyr in order to be interested in these issues. Indeed, the documentary <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQivEXrnjNM&feature=player_embedded">Vincent Who?</a> shows just how little our young generation knows about Vincent Chin-or, really, many general Asian American issues. These things still exist: just look at <a href="http://www.apaforprogress.org/another-deliveryman-killed-why-its-not-just-simple-robbery">cases of Asian deliverymen being killed</a>, the <a href="http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/10/14/seven-students-assaulted-near-campus">2008 assaults on Columbia students, of whom five were Asian</a>, and all the people who are discriminated against after 9/11 for looking un-American or terrorists. Don't get me started on the perpetual foreigner myth.<br />
<div><div>As I leave Columbia this year, I can't help but think that many people are stuck in complacency. I feel like so little know what Asian American issues are out there. People can hold up other causes, of course, but so little is mentioned about Asian American issues.<br />
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All of this information and experience I've gathered stirs anger in me. I know I'm not the only one who's had <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/11/olympicsbasketball.olympics20081">kids pull their eyes back at me</a> or random streetwalkers say "ching chong cheeeee" to me on the streets. It is with this anger that I teach first-grade students how to navigate this biased and racist world. It fuels me. Does it fuel others? I hope so. There's too much in this world to be angry about, and we have to turn that into something. For now, we have to show people that these issues actually matter. I don't want to be preaching to the choir all my life, now.</div></div></div>Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07073135922506898416noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-34125602239239560922011-02-25T16:49:00.002-05:002011-02-25T21:00:34.290-05:00Our Men and Women in UniformLast weekend (February 18th to 20th), I attended the 2011 ECAASU at UMass-Amherst, and while I met some wonderful new friends, the underlying messages that I took away from those two days were conflicting. As many of you might have heard, ECAASU has been taking large sponsorships from the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, CIA, and TSA. While, understandably, a conference as large as this needs this level of funding to function, the way in which the conference was ultimately carried out bothered me.<br />
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Grassroots organizations that were born out of oppression have been historically known to disregard military sponsorship in the name of ideology (citation needed but I do not have). And the history of ECAASU, as relayed by the poignant speech made by Professor Vijay Prashad, is embedded in minority empowerment and suck it to the big man attitude (citation also needed that I do not have). An organization such as this should not be accepting money from an oppressive institution such as that of the American military that ignite wars around the world. But, perhaps, as argued by many, it is time we allow military involvement, for inclusion of the brave men and women who fought so that we can have this discussion in the first place. Inclusion, as stated by the ECAASU national board, is what ECAASU strives to achieve.<br />
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Inclusion is a valid point, and I am far from wanting to exclude the participation of the Asian American brothers and sisters who serve in the military to protect the freedom and democracy that we take for granted. However, the argument here is not about the individual military personnels, but the ideological conflicts between the oppressive military and a grassroots campaign born because we were just so fed up with oppression.<br />
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I agree that the military establishes our place in our current global society. Without the military, we as Americans would not be enjoying the privileges that we so take for granted. I do not want to antagonize the brave men and women who risk their lives daily so that I can be blogging right now. I understand why such a large chunk (perhaps way too large of a chunk) of our national budget should go to the military. (Though, if I might add, the military really needs to stop throwing money away at dictators and political conflicts we have no right to partake in.) The military is as far from perfect as our society is from equality, but as things are today, I appreciate our leverage, I appreciate that we can have these conversations and discussions and accusations against our military.<br />
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However, there is a right time and right place for everything. A weekend that was suppose to be about Asian American empowerment, fight against oppression, and the progression of the AA movement, became a recruitement camp for the Navy and Coast Guard. A ceremony that was suppose to teach young Asian Americans about how they can become leaders in their own right, how they can help to mobilize the movement, became about how as a Coast Guard, you will have amazing stories to tell your grandchildren. Perhaps that was not the intended result the ECAASU planning board had wanted, but that does not change how that weekend played out.<br />
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I want to conclude by thanking our men and women in uniform for their dedication and sacrifice. They are our heroes, no matter how we look at it. As the older sister of a teenager brother who wanted to join the Marines because he believed it was a great way of paying for college, I want to save the discussion of the relationship between the military and American minorities for a later time. For now, I am glad we are now having serious discussions about corporate/military sponsorships.Ai-Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03822462238245930100noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-65402890473382006092011-02-03T19:58:00.000-05:002011-02-03T19:58:48.514-05:00HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!Thank you all for stopping by! Wishing you all a great new RABBIT year!Ai-Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03822462238245930100noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-46741270830650216812011-01-10T23:24:00.002-05:002011-01-11T01:04:55.745-05:00MY Chinese Parents<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Recently, a WSJ article titled “<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_lifeStyle#articleTabs%3Darticle">Why Chinese Mothers are <st1:city><st1:place>Superior</st1:place></st1:city></a>,” by Amy Chua, has stirred discussions across forums and social websites. (On my facebook page alone, I saw several arguments brewing.) It was skewed, insane, and yet authoritative. Here there was this highly successful woman, an Ivy League graduate, and a professional, who is giving her account of how she, this authentic Chinese mother, understands how to produce successful children using her “superior ways”. She had data: “<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that ‘stressing academic success is not good for children’ or that ‘parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun.’ By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way,” she has results (read: her talented daughters), and she was willing to share. But she made me feel uncomfortable with her generalizing statements and manipulative techniques (predominantly because WSJ is making it sound like it’s coming from this <u>authoritative</u> Law professor, hey she must totally know what she’s talking about). While trying to read through her article, I wanted to jump in and help her daughter Lulu, and I thought of how insane she makes all Chinese mothers sound. However, Amy Chua did make me reflect upon my own upbringing, (as if I haven’t done that enough already after going through medical school applications), and how I was raised. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">I come from a low-income immigrant family. My mother worked in a sweat-shop for most of her early years in the U.S, and my father was in construction. They worked long hours everyday, 364 days a year (one day rest for the Lunar New Year, I guess), and every single penny of their hard earned wage disappears at the end of the month. So typical was my story of being that eldest daughter, filial and hard working, who took care of her younger brother, took care of family finances, immigration issues, and eventually went on to attend a prestigious school to discover the cure for AIDS, all because of my Chinese mother who pushed me…WAIT, what?! No. That didn’t happen, and while I do take credit for writing checks for our monthly bills and translating our immigration papers, I didn’t make it to Harvard, I didn’t discover a cure for AIDS, I am not hardworking (well okay, I am hardworking when I’m not indulging in kdramas, sleeping, or staring at some blank space), and my mother hardly had the time to sit down with me to work through thousand page SAT drills. But I didn’t turn out a complete failure, did I? According to the model minority standards, I might have. (Darn it Mother, why didn’t you beat more math into me?) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Too often, was I rejected from scholarships because I didn’t work with a Nobel Prize winner in some stem cell research (but I should’ve because I am that brilliant Chinese immigrant). Too often, was I not featured on the front page of the Tsing Dao Times (the popular Chinese newspaper) for not winning a full ride to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, or MIT because I fought against all odds and succeeded with my innate brilliance. And quite frequently as a teenager, I hated my mother for not being THAT Chinese mother. She was un-educated, and her feet always hurt. She didn’t understand how to read my report cards, and she never attended any PTA meetings. She was too unChinese, and I once blamed her for my inability to compete against kids who had parents driving them to violin practices, to expensive tutoring, and to whatever else they didn’t drive me to. They held me back. I had a strict </span></span><st1:time hour="17" minute="0"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">5pm</span></span></st1:time><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> curfew in High School, and oftentimes couldn’t attend late night band practice, golf tournaments, and school plays. Sleepovers were out of the question, and video games too, but that was because my dad couldn’t trust anyone and we couldn’t afford video games. And I really did believe this while growing up. No matter where I was in life, I felt I wasn’t good enough, and not because of pressure from my family, but pressure from American society. I couldn’t ever feel happy with where I was, because I felt I could have done better, because I’m supposed to. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">While I was going through the medical school application process, I felt so insecure about the brevity of my resume. I felt so self-conscious about the leadership positions that were expected of me. I wasn’t president of all 300+ clubs at </span></span><st1:place><st1:placename><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Columbia</span></span></st1:placename><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><st1:placetype><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">University</span></span></st1:placetype></st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">, and goddamn it, I don’t play an instrument to the level of some Julliard graduate. (Because if Chua’s 7 year old daughter can play the violin, so should I right? Especially since my mother was straight from the mainland.) My GPA was okay, but why couldn’t I achieve that 4.3 (because Columbia/Barnard offered A+’s). My MCAT score was okay, but definitely far from the perfect 45. I have failed at being “Chinese.” I couldn’t compete, and while I do make fun of it here, I feel these have become real expectations of us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">Amy Chua’s article perpetuates this Model Minority that I so hate. Her “authority” instills in the minds of those unfamiliar with “Chinese Mothering” ideas that we (those we were raised by Chinese mother—first generation immigrants) should all be beyond amazing. (AND why is the entire process of nurturing a child called “mothering,” where’s the damn “father” word, ugh, I must go talk to Beck Young about this.) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">But I ask: when is it my time to shine? This amateur flutist, this bad singer-song writer, and this perhaps a bit above mediocre think-tank? Like I was telling my friend Hadley when we were dinner-ing the other night, I feel content with where I am, and I think that’s okay. I love my parents for who they are and how they have given me space to create my own self ("own self"... sounds redundant, is that grammatical edible?). We are not all amazing, and I think that’s just OKAY. And lady (Amy Chua), if you want to be a psycho mom, do so, but don’t instill in society ideas of where we come from and what we must do. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #d35900; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;">[23:11] Ai-Lin:</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #d35900; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 6.5pt;">damn; why didn't i have a mother like amy chua</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"><br />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #0163b3; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;">[23:12] Michael Dea:</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #0163b3; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #004080; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">omg....seriously</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"><br />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #0163b3; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;">[23:12] Michael Dea:</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #0163b3; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #004080; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">you would have been in harvard</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"><br />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #0163b3; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;">[23:12] Michael Dea:</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #0163b3; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #004080; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">or yale</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"><br />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #d35900; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;">[23:13] Ai-Lin : </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 6.5pt;">but seriously, her article perpetuates a societal stereotype</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"><br />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #d35900; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;">[23:14] Ai-Lin :</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #d35900; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 6.5pt;">dude; all them white ppl gonna think we're all smart</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"><br />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #d35900; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;">[23:14] Ai-Lin :</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #d35900; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 6.5pt;">and it makes it harder for me to get into med school</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"><br />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #d35900; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;">[23:14] Ai-Lin :</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #d35900; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 6.5pt;">cause they expect me to play violin like that woman's daughter</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"><br />
</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #0163b3; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;">[23:14] Michael Dea:</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #0163b3; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 6.5pt;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #004080; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">that is true lol</span></span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Ai-Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03822462238245930100noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-65204412911807942822010-12-03T10:13:00.000-05:002010-12-03T10:13:05.765-05:00Microaggressions, a new project by two former BlaaagersHey all! This is former co-editor David back from the dead.<br />
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This week, I started the <a href="http://microaggressions.tumblr.com/">Microaggressions tumblr</a> with former Blaaager Vivian. We originally wanted to collect the little incidents and anecdotes in our lives that make our Asian American and intersected experiences marginalized. Then we had the idea to put it up on tumblr and collect submissions.<br />
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An email and a Twitter account later, this was born. We've had shoutouts on <a href="http://jezebel.com/5703532/exposing-prejudice-one-post-at-a-time">Jezebel</a> and <a href="http://bit.ly/gXApZ1">Racialicious</a>. And now, our very own Asian American Alliance blog.<br />
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Please send it to your friends and loved ones! Submit posts you have encountered yourself!Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842442516934247038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-16577059155257393702010-11-24T21:55:00.001-05:002010-12-06T13:35:37.214-05:00Statement of Solidarity with Steve Li<div><strong>Who is Steve Li? </strong></div><div><span>Steve Li is currently being detained in Arizona for immediate deportation. On September 15, 2010, ICE (Immigration Customs and Enforcement) raided Steve’s home and arrested his family. Steve is ethnically Chinese but was born in Peru and was brought to the United States when he was just 11 years old. Steve was not even aware of his immigration situation until the raid. Now he has been detained for over a month and is set for deportation to Peru any day now. He has no family or friends in Peru and would be homeless upon arrival. He is a warm and loving person and all he wants to do is finish school at the City College of San Francisco and pursue nursing. He qualifies as a DREAM Act student. </span></div><div>For more information, read <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/14/BAP01GC2FP.DTL&tsp=1">this article</a>.</div><br /><div><strong>What can you do to help Steve?</strong></div><div><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/bringstevehome">Sign the petition! </a></strong></div><div><strong>Call</strong>: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director, John Morton<br />ICE Office: (202) 282-8495, if voicemail box full, call live line (202) 732-3000Script: “Hi, I’m calling to leave a message of support for Shing Ma “Steve” Li A#076-143-010 who is scheduled to be deported on Monday. Steve is pursuing a degree in nursing and he is an asset to our community. I ask that John Morton please step in and defer his deportation, thank you.” </div><br /><div><strong><a href="http://hardboiled.berkeley.edu/2010/11/13/statement-of-solidarity-with-steve-li/">Statement of Solidarity with Steve Li</a></strong></div><div>We, the concerned members of UC Berkeley’s Asian American student community, condemn the isolation, detention and potential deportation of City College of San Francisco student Steve Li and urge elected officials to amend this injustice.On September 15, 2010, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials apprehended Steve Li, a 20 year-old nursing student at City College. Li, who was born in Peru, is currently being held alone in Arizona and awaiting deportation to his birth country. His parents were since released and are awaiting potential deportation to China; however, ICE officials have neglected to explicate why Li was separated from his family. Li’s story is simply one of the expected 400,000 deportations that will be occurring this fiscal year, almost 10 percent over the Bush administration’s 2008 total.</div><div> While it is legally correct that the Li family broke the law in illicitly staying in San Francisco, their story illustrates that the law itself is inherently broken. Until his arrest, Li was unaware of his illegal status and simply attempting to live the tale of hard work and perseverance indoctrinated into every American. Li’s family did in fact previously attempt to gain documentation, but their petition for political asylum was denied in 2003 and in 2004. This case is a testament to the fractured immigration system that, on a quotidian basis, deals out inhumane treatment to a racialized underclass–including the prized “model minority” of stratified American society.<br />As Asian Americans and students at Berkeley, however, we do not aim to advocate for Li because he is a disempowered individual. Our outrage is predicated by the fact that Li is a student just like us and could have been anyone in our communities. According to a report by the University of California Office of the President, Asian/Pacific Islander students constitute 40-44% of undocumented students in the UC system. For obvious reasons, undocumented students of any race typically do not put their illegal statuses up for exhibition. Though we may not know who among our friends and classmates are next, we do know that unjust institutional factors constantly threaten members of our community whose struggles are most invisible.<br />It is imperative to recognize that Li’s case is not a historical juggernaut for our community. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act barred the immigration of Chinese nationals to the U.S., emerging as the first conspicuously racist exclusive immigration law in this nation’s history. The California Alien Land Act of 1913 prohibited Asians already in the country (referred to as “aliens ineligible for citizenship”) from owning property. Given that the first anti-immigrant laws targeted Asian Americans over a century ago and that we are about to deport an Asian American for a crime he didn’t even realize he committed, it is blatantly incorrect to say that we have learned from our past and that our history of facing discrimination is over. It is for this reason that we denounce the detention of Steve Li and urge elected officials to stand up against it, for our communities, and for our future.<br />Signed,<br />[APAC] Asian Pacific American Coalition<br /><a href="mailto:ucbapac@gmail.com">ucbapac@gmail.com</a><br />[hb] hardboiled asian/pacific american newsmagazine<br /><a href="http://hardboiled.berkeley.edu/">hardboiled.berkeley.edu</a><br />[PASS] Pilipino Academic Student Services<br /><a href="http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/%7Epass/">http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~pass/</a><br />[REACH!] Asian/Pacific Islander Recruitment/Retention Center<br /><a href="http://reach.berkeley.edu/">http://reach.berkeley.edu/</a><br />[SASC] Southeast Asian Student Coalition<br /><a href="http://sasc.berkeley.edu/">sasc.berkeley.edu</a><br /></div>and in solidarity,<br />Columbia University Asian American Alliance<br /><a href="http://www.aaacolumbia.org/">www.aaacolumbia.org</a><br /><div><strong>Why Columbia’s AAA is standing in solidarity with UC Berkeley Asian American student groups? </strong></div><div>This is simply because UC Berkeley responded a bit urgently than Columbia AAA did and it is necessary that this statement is released as soon as possible. Columbia AAA is also currently in the process of writing a statement in hopes to have other student groups on campus and on the East Coast to sign on it.</div><div> </div><div>(Compiled and edited by Belle Yan) </div>Ai-Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03822462238245930100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-42452795480791906922010-10-05T03:02:00.004-04:002010-10-07T02:20:30.923-04:00Reaction PostNot that you should ever read <a href="http://bwog.com/2010/10/04/expect-a-decision-on-barnard-greek-life-recognition-by-december">Bwog</a> comments, since they are as informative and placating as <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/comments/view?f=/g/a/2010/10/07/apop100710.DTL&plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey%3a172729fa-2f81-4079-97f8-2fc40253a60d">SFGate comments</a>, but here is one on the Town Hall on Barnard's recognition of sororities:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Anonymous</span><br /><br />Two arguments:<br /><br />1)<br />Clearly, IGC shouldn’t get money or be allowed to distribute money for members of sororities who are Barnard students and do not pay the appropriate fees.<br /><br />If this means that sororities stop allowing Barnard students, so be it.<br />If this means Barnard starts charging students more for the fund, so be it.<br /><br />2)<br />As a male CC student, I would only be okay with my money funding Barnard girls if I had received my quota of drunk Barnard-sorority sister sex. But I haven’t. So see above.<br /></blockquote><br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Anonymous</span><br />Sad, Sad, Sad Asian<br /></blockquote><br /><br />Without passing judgment on the first comment, sarcasm or not, why must every guy who cannot get a girl be Asian? It was unprovoked, there was no conversation about race on the whole page, it's simply a comment that came out of nowhere.<br /><br />Uh. WTF?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-46962630278146082362010-09-30T01:24:00.000-04:002010-09-30T01:24:53.883-04:00Failed Dream? And a Rally for SanitySeptember has failed to pass the Dream Act in Congress. The <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.729:">Dream Act</a> is legislation that would have enabled children who were brought to the United States by their illegal parents to gain a path to citizenship if they entered college or the military after high school. Many of these children have grown up accustomed to calling the U.S their home. It just doesn't make any sense to deport 'Americans' out to a country foreign to them, losing valuable contributing citizens of our society. As an immigrant myself, I am disappointed at the turn out of this long awaited legislation.<br />
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Why is there such a bitter anti-immigrant sentiment amongst our legislative sectors? Have we forgotten that even the Forefathers that carved the backbones of the American Constitution were descendants of immigrants? Have we forgotten that outside of the rightful Native Americans that are wrongfully quarantined in reservations we are all descendants of immigrants? Immigrants work backbreaking hours day in and day out, tending to crop fields, cleaning your toilets, working in unruly conditions for meager wages, at jobs Americans find dirty and degrading. How are they taking YOUR jobs.<br />
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Has America gone <a href="http://www.rallytorestoresanity.com/">insane</a>?Ai-Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03822462238245930100noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-48775485193534014812010-08-20T14:54:00.001-04:002010-08-20T15:23:16.956-04:00Where have we been?<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Dear reader(s),</span></span><br />
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</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I hope your summers have been well. Amidst the sunshines, </span></span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Moscow</span></span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> heat waves, and flood in </span></span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Pakistan</span></span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, I want to thank you again for tuning in with us here at theblaaag. So the question still remains, 'Where are our editors?' As the previous update mentioned, David and Marilla were seniors the last time this editor's corner was updated. And one-plus year later, the two founders have graduated from the </span></span></span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Columbia</span></span></span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> undergraduate community and are probably doing something to better the world. A few months ago, both submitted Blaaag Senior Wisdom pieces, which I hope you will be interested in reading. (</span></span><a href="http://theblaaag.blogspot.com/2010/05/blaaag-wisdom-marilla-li.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Marilla's</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://theblaaag.blogspot.com/2010/05/blaaag-wisdom-david-zhou.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">David's</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">). As your new moderators, Annie and I hope to keep the site updated while still maintaining the original styles and formatting our previous editors created. Please check out our new </span></span><a href="http://theblaaag.blogspot.com/2007/09/blaaag-staff.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">staff</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> page and see who's posting today!</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Stay tuned.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Ai-Lin</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div></span></div>Marillahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15880912947615458456noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-36016322201671326552010-07-28T19:33:00.002-04:002010-07-28T20:12:51.480-04:00Link Roundup<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/us/29arizona.html?hp">Judge Blocks Parts of Arizona's Immigration Law</a> (NY Times)<br />The big news of the day. Any celebrating is of course, a bit premature - what is horrible about SB 1070 is not just its content but that it merely formalizes a lot of practices and anti-immigrant, anti-Latino/a sentiment that has been ongoing and will continue for quite some time.<br /><br /><a href="http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Afghan_War_Diary,_2004-2010">Afghan War Diary, 2004 - 2010</a> (WikiLeaks)<br />An overwhelming amount of classified information relating to the current war in Afghanistan. The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/world/war-logs.html">New York Times</a>, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/afghanistan-the-war-logs">The Guardian</a>, and <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,708314,00.html">Der Spiegel</a> all have their own features analyzing the leak. If you are generally terribly pessimistic about US military operations there won't be a whole lot to surprise you but it's still a fascinating read. Just as fascinating is WikiLeaks as an organization itself - the New Yorker has an excellent profile on its founder <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/06/07/100607fa_fact_khatchadourian">Julian Assange</a>. This is also a good companion to the domestically focused <a href="http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/">Top Secret America</a> feature over at the Washington Post from last week.<br /><br /><a href="http://clutchmagonline.com/lifeculture/feature/essence-hires-white-fashion-director-leaves-loyal-readers-asking-why/">Essence Hires White Fashion Director, Leaves Loyal Readers Asking Why</a> (Clutch Magazine)<br />I don't have much to add, other than that it's depressing that I should even have to say that the idea of a "post-racial" America is ridiculous, but here we are again.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/nyregion/21deport.html?_r=1&hp">Court's Leniency Ruling Is Too Late for Deportees</a> (NY Times)<br />Given AAA's involvement with the Qing Wu case (big what up to Annie and Belle!) this article sounds pretty familiar. This quote struck me in particular though - "the Obama administration...is on track to deport a record 400,000 people this fiscal year."Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05960106479805250607noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-351675445178329712010-07-23T17:23:00.006-04:002010-07-23T18:21:05.018-04:00Beating that Dead Horse: On Media RepresentationThere's been a lot of things to get <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/07/21/sherrod">angry</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/01/us/20100501-oil-spill-tracker.html">upset,</a> and <a href="http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/">disturbed</a> by recently (actually, always), but I figured I'd ease into blogging with a slightly more accessible topic.<br /><br />APA media representation increasingly seems to be the defining cause for mainstream, neoliberal APA youth activism; a development that I'm not exactly thrilled by. Yes, yes, the whitewashing of The Last Airbender is frustrating, but when the battle lines are drawn this narrowly it becomes easy to slip into highly problematic positive/negative, good/bad image binaries that tend to exclude just as much as they include. It causes victories to be as narrowly defined as the kid in Up and the latest role John Cho is cast in. There's a lot more to be said about this, but I'll save that for a more lengthy, theoretical post later on.<br /><br />Despite all of my serious misgivings with media representation politics, I still can't help but smile at this quote from a <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/07/jeremy-lin-and-k-town-i-will-follow/60317/">recent post</a> by Atlantic blogger and Vassar professor Hua Hsu on basketball player <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Lin">Jeremy Lin</a> and the upcoming reality show <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/48844429.html?page=4">K-Town</a>:<br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>As someone who grew up seeing very few Asian Americans on television, I still find myself mystified, even thrilled, whenever I come across one, even if <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YKr68TG9Co&feature=related">my views on media representation have softened</a>. There's something irrationally and inexplicably bemusing about these moments.<br /></blockquote>I really couldn't put it more perfectly. Sometimes it's easy for me to forget that when I was a Chinese kid growing up in an overwhelmingly white, Midwestern suburb, I was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trini_Kwan">yellow Power Ranger</a> for Halloween (seriously) and <a href="http://epguides.com/MysteryFilesofShelbyWoo/cast.jpg">Shelby Woo</a>, not Nancy Drew, was my hero. And it's easy for me to gloss over my brief but strange obsession with the children's show <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni_Hao,_Kai-Lan">Ni Hao Kai-Lan</a>, where I'd camp out on the couch, utterly fascinated that there was someone on Nick Jr. speaking Mandarin and eating noodles. Of course, this isn't to say that my viewing practices are in spite of politics or separate from them (the show isn't so much targeted at APA children as it is a response to the increasing "utility" of Mandarin proficiency, Kai-Lan lives with her stoic yeye because...obviously), but that the combination makes for a surreal, complicated, and yet highly enthralling experience.<br /><br />All of this is to say - I am so fucking excited for K-Town.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05960106479805250607noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-1979190132152895862010-07-06T13:11:00.000-04:002010-07-06T13:11:25.065-04:00Asians against Asians in AmericaI was at the bank today when a woman barged through the doors wailing. Be it that I live in a Chinese bubble, everyone in the bank, the tellers, managers, customers, were all Chinese [American]. The woman had apparently withdrawn 2300 dollars in cash from Chase bank and wanted to transfer it to another bank. She left the vicinity and returned thereafter because the teller at the other bank claimed that the bills in her hands were counterfeit. The woman was frantic and threatening the teller at Chase that she'd call the police. The teller, oblivious to the woman in front of her, continued with her work and pointed her towards the manager. The customers on the line, including myself, were shaken. How can a big brand name bank give out fake bills? The woman approached the bank manager, and was ignored. The manager continued with her phone call and did not move from her seat even after she had hung up, completely ignoring the woman waiting in front of her desk. The woman began to scream, yelling injustices in two Chinese dialects. Go ahead, call the cops, the manager said, not once raising her voice. <br />
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I was appalled and stared at the scenario before leaving the bank. I forget sometimes how different things function in Brooklyn, compared to the comfortable Upper West Side (Manhattan) services that I've grown to spoil myself with while away at school. I obviously do not know the whole story, and my portrayal of the events may or may not have been accurate, but it reminds me of how differently we treat one another because of our shared heritage, or lack thereof. In this case, it seems in my neighborhood at least, Asians treat "Americans" much more respectfully than their fellow Asians. In restaurants, banks, bookstores, and all kinds of shops, I've witness the odd tendencies and injustices that Asians commit against one another. The bank manager knew the customer could not speak English, and regardless of her incessant threats that she'll dial 911, we all know the woman would not have been able to communicate her woes to the operator. The manager was right that nothing can be done about the bills. The woman had left the bank and no one knew if she could have swapped the fifties before returning. However, the complete lack of professionalism the manager displayed makes my head drop in agony. Had this woman been an "American," would the manager have acted differently? Had this woman known English, would the manager at least have the decency to glance at the complaint. Why is it that when Asian Americans provide service to fellow Asian(s) [Americans], we observe such a discrepancy? Why do we kiss-ass whites while downplaying others?<br />
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I've always hated it when people tell me that Asian Americans lack the unity that is necessary for a movement. I resented it because a part of me knew it was true. Behind the model minority myths, and the stereotypes, we're so torn between those [Asian Americans] who believe that we can rise in American society as we are now, and others who realize that we need the political empowerment to justify our existence as just Americans. While we do boast high percentages of our population in professional careers, (e.g, doctors, lawyers, etc), I feel we are a long way from social progress in that sense. While many professionals acknowledge, embrace, and attributes parts of their success their backgrounds, many do not.<br />
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Recently, I've also become quite angry about the 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' <a href="http://racebending.com/">casting issue</a>. Many have called us racists for opposing an all white cast when the producers and the director have stated repeatedly that they only picked the best persons for the job. However, they fail to see the real issue. There are so many talented Asian American actors out there, and rarely do we see an opportunity open up for them on the big screen. Most of the scripts written in Hollywood do not call for an Asian lead, but I feel Avatar had that potential. The discussion then becomes an argument over whether the main protagonist of the series was indeed Asian. Many feel because of the ambiguity of anime, the characters can be anything. Well then, my argument still holds. Never can an ethnic minority play a white man's role, so when an ambiguous role comes along, why won't you give the Asian man a chance?<br />
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Well in the end, the movie was a flop and I'm quite tired from bickering with people on these forums. Why are we targeting a single movie? Why do we not put more Asian Americans in power in the movie industry to increase our own representation?... But as it turns out, Asian Americans hold a good number of seats in the industry.<br />
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Quoting from <a href="http://youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily.com/hollywood-and-asians-do-we-really-need-more-asian-americans-in-positions-of-power/">Hollywood and Asians: Do we really need more Asian Americans In Positions of Power</a>?:<br />
"We're our own worst enemies....We're taught to assimilate, to not make waves, to be followers. Maybe once we're allowed into that exclusive club, we wait to fit in so badly that we don't want to give the impression that we're favoring "our own," sometimes to the point of going in the opposite direction and making an effort to reject our community."<br />
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Maybe I'm going too far with this, but it does set up for quite a bit of discussion.Ai-Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03822462238245930100noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-27661599137355239602010-05-27T23:35:00.002-04:002010-05-28T00:02:13.498-04:00GOP's Bright New Idea-- Americas Speaking OutOh, the Grand Old Party. They have provided me with so many great hours of pure entertainment. Recently, they have launched a new site titled 'America's Speaking Out' intended to 'connect' the public with congress so that the national law makers can understand what America truly wants. Obviously, the republicans have no concept of internet trolls and forum gunners. The website has been getting tens of thousands of views within hours, showing us that America is definitely speaking out. So what do Americans really want? <div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">1. </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:#333333">"Sometimes when I get to the bottom of the yogurt cup, the shape makes it harder to get the last bites. I tried using both a spoon and a fork, with some luck. I think Yoplait should redesign their package so it's easier to get to the bottom of the yogurt."</span></span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:#333333">2. “W</span><span style="color:black">e should make english the official language of the </span></span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black">US</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black"> and stop spending tax dollars on translations for mexicans! if english is good enough for baby jesus, its good enough for Americans”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black">3. </span><span style="color:#333333">"<a href="http://www.americaspeakingout.com/questions/2571/make-iphones-available-through-verizon-at-amp-t-has-fairly-poor-service-and-coverage-and-a-lot-of-americans-would-love" style="border-style:initial;border-color:initial;outline-width: initial; outline-style: none;outline-color: initial;background-image:initial;background-attachment: initial;background-origin: initial;background-clip: initial;border-width:initial; border-color:initial;background-position:initial initial;background-repeat: initial initial"><span style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-color: windowtext; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-left-color: windowtext; border-top-width: 1pt; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Make iPhones available through Verizon</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-top-color: windowtext; border-right-color: windowtext; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-left-color: windowtext; border-top-width: 1pt; border-right-width: 1pt; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-width: 1pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; ">!</span></a> AT&T has fairly poor service and coverage, and a lot of Americans would love to own an iPhone but would not sign up with AT&T."</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:#333333">4. “</span><span style="color:black">eliminating minimum wage laws will allow companies to hire many more Americans for just a fraction of the price. If Mexicans can work for 2$ an hour, so can we</span>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black">5. “</span><span style="color:#3F3222">I'm so sick of evolutionists peddling their anti christ agenda. Leading Christian scientists have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the Jews buried the dinosaur fossils back in the 1920s.</span>”</span><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>LOL!! </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>And now, without further ado, I would like to share with you all a website presented to us by the GOP. ENJOY!! </o:p></p></div><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">http://www.americaspeakingout.com</span></b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Summer! </div><div>Ai-Lin </div></div></div>Ai-Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03822462238245930100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-43847443790366162672010-05-15T23:11:00.001-04:002010-06-06T20:13:51.236-04:00Blaaag Wisdom: Marilla Li<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 13px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">1. Name<br />
Marilla Li<br />
<br />
2. Plans after graduation<br />
Concrete goals include: Full-time gig doing Health Education at Charles B. Wang Community Health Center down in Chinatown; film production and outreach for THE LINE campaign (<a href="http://www.whereisyourline.org/" style="color: #5c4520;" target="_blank">www.whereisyourline.org</a>); submitting a short fiction piece that never seems to get done, will never get funded, and may not even see a single film festival. </span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">Loftier, less attainable goals include: Studying for the GREs, implementing better sex and health ed programs in schools, obtaining an MPH and an MA in film, blogging (with David?), and generally continuing to spread awareness on all issues concerned with gender, sexuality, and health.</span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">3. Favorite hang out spot(s) on campus</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">Zanny's, Max Soha, SIPA Lehman Library, the Columbia University Equipment Room (no one ever notices it's there until they have to go), the Well-Woman Office (119 Reid Hall), all parts of the Diana (Despite the uproar about the APAAM flyers, you should know that Barnard students--maybe not faculty and administrators--embrace it as "the Vag" too), and finally, the recesses of my questionable sanity.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">4. Things you wish you knew earlier in your college career</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">That coalition building is one of the most difficult and necessary things to implement in a college campus; that every peer and authority deserves more credit than received; that it's your own choice to produce commitment and consistency in your work; that our identities exist in a "multiplicity"; that it's better to communicate frustration and anxiety than to feign normalcy; and that despite being validated by esteemed institutions like Barnard or Columbia, one can't ever lay claim to knowing or understanding anything.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">5. If you had the power, how would you remedy the current oil 'spill'? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">First, I would educate myself on what is happening over at the Gulf. Second, I would try to educate others about what is happening through different media outlets, while simultaneously spreading consciousness about the positions of power that these different outlets have (e.g. <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/o/oil_spills/gulf_of_mexico_2010/" style="color: #5c4520;" target="_blank">http://topics.nytimes.com/top/<wbr></wbr>reference/timestopics/<wbr></wbr>subjects/o/oil_spills/gulf_of_<wbr></wbr>mexico_2010/</a>). Third, I would build an archive of these different resources and critically examine the ways that the information is being transmitted. Rather than accept information as it is, readers and viewers should always be critical. Who is transmitting this information? What stake do they have in discussing the oil spill? What other countries have experienced or are currently experiencing a similar situation? Have we heard about those other incidents or not, and why? This unfolds not only the networks of power that underpin the incidents leading up to the oil spill, but also what media is doing to negotiate and mediate those networks.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">6. Additional comments</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">You always have the power.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;"></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"></span>Ai-Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03822462238245930100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-41501768524474637262010-05-15T16:17:00.002-04:002010-05-15T16:20:06.863-04:00Blaaag Wisdom: David Zhou<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 16px; font-family:arial;font-size:small;"><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 13px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; ">1. Name: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;">David Zhou</span></div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 13px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; ">2. Plans after graduation: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;">Flying places, biking places, workin' on my knowledgez! Aka traveling and more school.</span></div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 13px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; ">3. Favorite hang out spot(s) on campus: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;">Any room in which you can see the sunset over New Jersey. Any kitchen where friends convene to cook.</span></div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 13px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; ">4. Things you wish you knew earlier in your college career: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;">How incredible the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=113054595398079&index=1" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(92, 69, 32); ">consent orientation training + program</a> is, how to use student power effectively, and the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNM5HW13_O8" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(92, 69, 32); ">glory of Beyoncé Knowles</a>.</span></div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 13px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; ">5. If you had the power, how would you remedy the current oil 'spill'? <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;">That's a big "if". I want to bankrupt BP, but I want a lot of things.</span></div><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 13px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; ">6. Additional comments: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;">(1) Listen to people, critically. (2) Be open to ideas, but never take them for granted. (3) Lastly, while there is no substitute for being a kind human being, you don't have to be nice to do good. Trouble the water. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was short, sweet and - hey - <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://hardboiled.berkeley.edu/issues/106/106.pdf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(92, 69, 32); ">written in a student magazine</a><span style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:13px;"><i><span style="font-style: normal; ">:</span> </i></span>"<span style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:13px;">Pick fights. Those are my two words of advice to future generations... (1) Pick (2) Fights."</span></span></div></span>Ai-Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03822462238245930100noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-17684250466898564962010-05-12T03:00:00.003-04:002010-05-15T16:23:02.643-04:00Congratulations to all our SENIORSDear Readers, <div><br /></div><div>It is May 12th, 3:15am. I want to take this moment to congratulate all the seniors that will be completing their undergraduate careers. I want to thank all of you for making a difference on and off campus during your time in college. No one can ever sum up the memories you all have helped us create in mere words. For this, thank you. </div><div><br /></div><div>However, before you graduate, I hope you'll also take some time to give us some words of wisdom.</div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:small;"><div>The questions are as follows: </div><div><br /></div><div>1. Name</div><div>2. Plans after graduation</div><div>3. Favorite hang out spot(s) on campus</div><div>4. Things you wish you knew earlier in your college career</div><div>5. If you had the power, how would you remedy the current oil 'spill'? </div><div>6. Additional comments</div></span><div> </div><div><br /></div><div>-Ai-Lin </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Ai-Linhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03822462238245930100noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-22353406167533437372010-02-06T03:08:00.000-05:002010-02-06T03:08:25.753-05:00As-Am Health Disparities Panel: This Friday!Hey everyone! I just wanted to say a quick shout-out about an event that's coming up: an Asian American Health Disparities Panel! Hosted by AAA, the event's happening next Friday, the 12th, at 7:30pm in the Satow Room in Lerner! As posted on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=167768429963&ref=ts">the Facebook event page (linked here)</a>:<br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Health disparities are NEVER on the Asian American agenda, even though the average American household spends over 15% of its income on health care.<br />
<br />
We will grow to comprise over 5% of the American population in the upcoming years and yet the Asian American voice is one of the most neglected minority voices in the United States. Health disparities are a hush-hush topic that households try to avoid, and the lack of sufficient national research studies done to support the present Asian American population is a cause for concern. Our main goal with the panel is to try to stir that sentiment, that voice!, to hope and encourage more studies done in this field.<br />
<br />
The panelists include Ms. Alexandra Belcher, Dr. Ming-Der Chang, Dr. Shobha Krishnan, Dr. Dennis Yi-Shin Kuo, and Director Rebecca Sze.</span></blockquote>Everyone on the board is really excited about this: we'll be exploring issues like cervical cancer and Hep-B rates, mental health, health care access, and stereotypes that may perpetuate these issues. Come on over, and bring your friends! This should be very interesting.<br />
<br />
=) AnnieAnniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07073135922506898416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-28464402015872088462010-01-15T01:28:00.001-05:002010-01-15T01:33:06.461-05:00Welcome to a New Year, folks!Hey, loyal readers of the blog! I know I'm late (two weeks late now, to be precise) to call out the New Year, but just wanted to say that as a new semester approaches, we at the BLAAAG and on the Asian American Alliance surely want to wish you all a good year! We will be quite busy, and with a whole lot of resolutions for 2010 (blogging more, anyone?). We will be getting ready for ECAASU soon, holding different panels such as an Asian American Health Disparities panel, holding our second Crossroads conference for Asian American high-schoolers, and much more! And I'm back from Hong Kong, ready to start a fresh semester at Columbia, as will other contributors to the site. Keep it moving! (And soon, we'll be able to say Happy New Year once again: the Lunar New Year, that is! It falls on Valentine's Day this year.)Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07073135922506898416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-82169353471694072942009-10-21T12:36:00.003-04:002009-10-21T12:45:27.852-04:00Shifting languages: problematic?Hey, this is Annie from all the way from Hong Kong. Yes, I am abroad, as a former AAA member asked my good friend and Barnard VP for AAA, Ai-Lin today. But wanted to bring forth <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/nyregion/22chinese.html?_r=1&ref=global-home">an article that hit the front page of the NYTimes Page today. This has been happening for years: Mandarin is eclipsing Cantonese as the dominant spoken language in Chinatown!</a> An influx in the Mandarin-speaking population as well as an increasing interest in learning the Mandarin language have shifted demographics. Cantonese, for those who are unfamiliar with Chinese languages, is a dialect of Souther China; Mandarin is the official language of China, and the two are quite different dialects. While the written characters are the same for the most part, the dialects are such that a Cantonese speaker may not understand a Mandarin speaker, and vice versa. In addition, many of those in Chinatown are Taishan speakers: Taishan is a dialect of Cantonese which Cantonese speakers may not understand!<br />
<br />
Now why am I concerned? Part of it is a personal reason; Chinatown is where I was born and raised, and still consider home today. I've grown up using my broken Cantonese/Taishanese to buy groceries, wander around, talk to my parents, etc. Put in context, my parents are Taishanese, and speak Cantonese. My mother speaks a bit of Mandarin, while I believe my dad does not understand it at all. As the article mentions, historically it was Cantonese speakers who immigrated to this country and made lives here. Chinatown, especially, is a place where one can make friends, connections, a living, and generally have all you need-- without learning another language. We've seen problems at the voting polls because of language barriers and limited resources (side note: you all should consider helping AALDEF on Election Day with its Poll Voting Survey! more information is linked). This already underrepresented group (albeit increasing in awareness and political clout) is beginning to be alienated from its home, Chinatown!<br />
<br />
And it's not just a problem in Chinatown; this has worldwide implications for whole groups of people who've lived their lives with only one language. In Hong Kong already, there are schooling shifts to teaching Mandarin and English, as Cantonese is not as widely used, primarily only used in Southern China. (The Chinese dept. at the University of Hong Kong, on a side note, only teaches beginning Cantonese to exchange students, while Mandarin is available through an intermediate level). Now I am not saying demographic shifts or the teaching of different languages are a bad thing; Chinatown was once a Jewish and Italian neighborhood, and I understand completely the role of cultural diffusion. What I am saying is that something needs to be done to make sure these communities are not alienated and eventually endangered or exploited. This is especially applicable to the Asian-American community, which has such a diverse number of languages. I understand it may be inevitable that Chinatown shifts in languages as more Mandarin speakers arrive in America, but yeah, I'll be helping my dad translate throughout. I just hope that if and when Chinatown and other places like it change, as is inevitable, that others will be helping those like my dad, my fellow Chinatown-ers and those beyond its limits.Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07073135922506898416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-53848868542822916262009-10-12T14:52:00.001-04:002009-10-12T14:53:42.394-04:00Survey on racial microaggressions<div class="gmail_quote"> <div><span style="font-style: italic;">Please help out by filling out this survey!</span><br /></div></div><blockquote><div class="gmail_quote"><div>Hi,</div> <div> </div> <div>As a PhD student in counseling psychology at Columbia University, I am currently working on my dissertation regarding the Asian American experience with racial microaggression (a contemporary form of racism). I was wondering if it would be possible to send out the survey link/following email through your listserv/blog or post it on your website?</div> <div> <div> <div><br />Survey link:<br /><a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ejZ2mHdOih8PuAUYMz5yoA_3d_3d" target="_blank">https://www.surveymonkey.com/<wbr>s.aspx?sm=<wbr>ejZ2mHdOih8PuAUYMz5yoA_3d_3d</a></div> <div> </div></div> <div> <div>Thanks for helping to further research on racism against Asian Americans!</div> <div><br />Annie </div><span style="color:#888888;"> <div> </div></span></div></div></div> <div>------------------------------<wbr>------------------------------<wbr>------------------------------<wbr>------------------------------<wbr>-------</div> <div>Dear Asian American participant,<br /><br />As a PhD student in counseling psychology, I am currently recruiting Asian American participants for a study on experience with racial microaggression. The data collected will assist researchers and educators in understanding how Asian Americans experience modern forms of racial discrimination. </div> <div><br />Your participation is completely voluntary and confidential. There is minimal to no physical or psychological risk involved in this study. The survey should take about 20 minutes.<br /></div> <div> <div>Survey link:<br /><a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ejZ2mHdOih8PuAUYMz5yoA_3d_3d" target="_blank">https://www.surveymonkey.com/<wbr>s.aspx?sm=<wbr>ejZ2mHdOih8PuAUYMz5yoA_3d_3d</a></div> <div> </div></div> <div>Please forward this survey link to as many of your Asian American friends/family/colleagues/<wbr>listservs as you can and ask them to forward this on.<br />If you have any questions about the survey/research, feel free to email me at <a href="mailto:ail2103@columbia.edu" target="_blank">ail2103@columbia.edu</a>.</div> <div> </div> <div>Thanks in advance!<br /></div><span style="color:#888888;"> <div>Annie</div></span></blockquote><span style="color:#888888;"><div></div></span>Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842442516934247038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-8583694927679108332009-10-08T12:33:00.004-04:002009-10-08T12:52:37.199-04:00Amazian Am Varun GulatiI am utterly stunned and captured by Varun Gulati's (SEAS '10) response to a column posted in the Spec by Rajat Roy. In his column, Roy <a href="http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/09/30/spreading-culture-around">makes some strong criticisms</a> regarding the existence of "cultural" groups on Columbia's campus, and how they can sometimes be too insular to merit their funding.<br /><blockquote><p>Race was, is, and always will be a divisive issue on this campus. However, we have created a new word that doesn’t spark as much controversy but means essentially the same thing to the layman (and yes, even though we are Columbia students, we, for the most part, are still laymen). This word has some truly nefarious implications, and at Columbia, we have seen how big an issue it can be.<br /></p><p>This word is—“Culture.” </p> <p>I am not joking. “Culture” is causing more harm than good at Columbia. Let me clarify—culture in and of itself is inherently good. Every person needs to be cultured and be exposed to other cultures. However, Columbia does “Culture” in a way that only hurts the overall community. It wouldn’t cost that much in terms of man-hours or money to rectify this situation. In fact, changing this could increase the amount of money available to all students. </p></blockquote><p></p>And Gulati <a href="http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/10/07/letter-editor">puts him into perspective</a>.<br /><p></p><blockquote><p>From the explicit identification as “cultural” within each constitution, cultural groups under the Activities Board at Columbia received only 4.4 percent of student life fees for clubs, the equivalent of less than $7 from each undergraduate. Especially in recent years, these groups have made extraordinary efforts to create collaborative programs and outreach to the entire Columbia community with little funding, contrary to the insinuation that an organization’s “worth” is entirely dependent on its funding. </p> <p>Through five major cultural showcases in the 2008-2009 academic year, nearly 3,000 students, families, professors, administrators, and New Yorkers were given a glimpse into the communities that make up the diverse cultural fabric of Columbia University. The real problem here is not the lack of open cultural events, but the unawareness and apathy towards these hundreds of events. Ultimately, this causes the perpetuation of repulsively ignorant statements, including “’Culture’ is really a definition of insularism where people of the same group can meet and hook up.” </p> <p>Bigoted generalizations such as these inappropriately dismiss the genuine interest of the thousands of students who engage in events thrown by the cultural organizations, none of which are exclusive in membership or attendance. <span style="font-weight: bold;">To label these groups’ funding needs as unworthy or their intentions as incestuous is oppressive and insensitive. </span>[emphasis mine]<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p></blockquote><p></p>Though Roy does give examples of "cultural" groups that, in his view, make good use of their funding allocations, I can't view as legitimate the argument that "insular" groups don't deserve their funding. What kind of campus culture would we have if we could only experience the "cultures" of those who could successfully market and sell them to their peers? Shouldn't we also value the groups whose priority is to support constituencies that experience a lack of resources or representation?Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842442516934247038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-2436719280688417562009-10-02T15:22:00.000-04:002009-10-02T15:22:18.335-04:00Update; John Liu wins runoff election for NYC ComptrollerHey, all: this is Annie, all the way from Hong Kong catching you up on the latest news. It still baffles me somehow to see so many Asians in office here in Hong Kong, as I'm generally not used to the sight back in New York or in America in general. I'm taking a class here called "Hong Kong and the World," which is all about Hong Kong's role in this globalizing world; it's been really interesting so far. I recently got to hear Margaret Ng, Legislative Councillor, speak about rule of law over here in Hong Kong and the ever-confusing Chinese influence on Hong Kong (well, at least to me: I have a lot to learn). But enough about Hong Kong. Here's the real news:<br />
<br />
I found out via multiple Facebook postings/statuses/etc. that John Liu recently won his runoff election against David Yassky (as the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/nyregion/30elect.html?scp=2&sq=john%20liu&st=cse">Times reports</a>)! While the poll sites were pretty empty on the 29th (as is typically the case for runoffs), Liu won convincingly, beating Yassky 56-44, and will face Joseph Mendola in November to become Comptroller, the equivalent of the city's accountant. Although Liu's rival for Comptroller, Joseph Mendola, is a Columbia Law School graduate himself, I'm sure the Columbia Blaaag crew would agree with me that it'd be much more interesting to see NYC's first Asian council member become NYC's first Asian-American comptroller. Congrats, Liu! (Although a <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/10/02/2009-10-02_gluttons_liu_and_fidler_shooin_candidates_are_gaming_the_campaign_finance_system.html">Daily News editorial</a> doesn't seem so quick to congratulate him or his campaign financing)Anniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07073135922506898416noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3220260700756860647.post-22977152634291534662009-10-02T13:20:00.011-04:002009-10-03T15:03:23.186-04:00Columbia Named "Best College/University for AAPI Students"<img src="http://www.apaforprogress.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-node-view/columbia.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-blog-node-view imagecache-default imagecache-blog-node-view_default" width="400" height="245" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Hey everyone! This is Laura, AAA's current political chair. I know this post is coming a little late, but I just wanted to officially announce that Columbia has been named one of ten best colleges/universities for AAPI students by <a href="http://www.apaforprogress.org/">Asian Pacific Americans for Progress</a> (APAP)!!!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">On September 24th, APAP, in association with</span><a href="http://www.angryasianman.com/angry.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"> Angry Asian Man</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">, recognized Columbia for "holding the institution accountable to its campus community and getting active in the surrounding community to make a difference." Columbia's student activism, including 2007's hunger strike, the campaign for worker's rights at Saigon Grill, and action regarding an arrest of a Korean student marked with racial slurs are highlighted. The post also mentions Columbia students' work with AALDEF and AAA's AAPI high school leadership conference, Crossroads.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">A huge thanks to everyone who nominated us! I feel extremely lucky to be AAA's political chair at a university with such strong commitments to student activism and community service.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">You can check out the article </span><a href="http://www.apaforprogress.org/best-colleges-aapi-students-columbia-university"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"> and </span><a href="http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/09/best-colleges-and-universities-for-aapi_24.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Other colleges/universities recognized include Dartmouth College, UCLA, University of Southern California, Oberlin College, University of Massachusetts at Boston, UPENN, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Loyola Marymount University, and Pitzer College.</span></div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05105266946863309721noreply@blogger.com1