Check out this documentary premiering Nov. 10th at the Queens Film Festival. Tea & Justice is about Asian American women in the NYPD, breaking stereotypes and changing the field of law enforcement in this city. Looks fantastic.

What happens when you let a group of crazy, politically-conscious bloggers loose into the free world. Or downtown.

(The amber liquid is apple juice.)

Happy four day weekend everyone!

Great advice from spoken word artist "Ivycat aka La Chinita aka the Eternal Birthday Girl aka Ivy Le"... What not to ask an Asian-American woman in a bar

1) Where are you really from? "I really am from Texas, and I don't care where your Asian ex-girlfriend was really from, either."

2) Do you ... speak any other languages? "Nice try. Unless we're having a deep conversation about linguistics while the maitre d' decants our Malbec, stop asking me where I'm really from."

3) Ching chang chong? "I actually do speak a few languages, but I don't understand Bigot. I'd tell you what I usually say to this question, but you can't print it."

4) You know I love Asian women? "Yeah, Buttercup, I could tell you were sexually objectifying me due to my race from the parking lot. You know, your fortune cookie says I will never sleep with you?"

5) What are you? "I have no words to reply, only drinks to throw."

Taken from this dubiously Fallout Central-like site. (Listen to the spoken word poem! "I'm not Korean, but I speak fluent Fuck you!")

An ostentatiously large placard with a banner of the Community Principles Initiative was up on Low Plaza today...


Some questions: who created the CPI? Was it brought about by recent incidents of hate, or rather upsets with so-called community principles (i.e. Minutemen and "academic freedom")? Hate is still occurring on a near daily basis, and a sign of mainstream solidarity from those who can't see the problems is truly insufficient. I can't help but say that this statement from "the community" really cannot do much to change any kind of campus climate if it's unbacked by any meaningful kind of reform.

Our chair remarked that there were few other student of color groups at this board today. If any of us want real change, I think we can see why.

Among the signatures on the board, there were those from student governing boards, deans and public safety, student groups, fraternities/sororities; so along with our omnipresent chair, I signed the thing also... (And in retrospect, the regret I'm feeling for having lent support to something so ultimately inconsequential is pretty enormous.)

If you really want to see change on this campus, support the ad hoc coalition and see that these demands are met. Read about them here. They cover four areas of necessary change: Administrative Reform, Ethnic Studies, the Manhattanville Expansion, and the Core Curriculum. Take a real stand.

Yes.










Hiro got some action... by far the most important part of Monday's episode. That's all I've got to say! Read the rest of my Racialicious recap here.

We're back! And back from an awesome night of knowledge-gathering...



Wish we could get this sort of attendance at an AAA event...

"Beyond Beats and Rhymes", which brought together tonight distinguished guests such as Talib Kweli, Piper Anderson, Lumumba Bandele, La Bruja, and Tim'm West (as well as our very own Bryan Mercer, honorary PC member!) was smashing success. Sixty minutes of documentary film and sharing truth with an all-star panel of hip-hop and spoken word artists... events don't get much better than this.

What did we take away? Among all of the complaints in contemporary America about misogyny, homophobia, and violence in the world of rap, very is little is talked about masculinity in communities of color. For the first time, these qualities in hip-hop are deconstructed not as the faults of a culture but the effects of persistently being on the short end of the power stick. (Think: What would you do if a highway built by your city destroyed your neighborhood? Disenfranchised by your country? How would you assert yourself?)

Of course, the dynamics of this pressured identity associated with assertion and virility plays out differently in Asian American communities, but the logic is absolutely the same - the gangs in schools and ethnic enclaves, domestic violence against wives and children, and overcompensation against constant emasculation... all the effects of similar issues. Think about it.

P.S. There was another hip-hop related event tonight at NYU - the Magnetic North concert. I'm not sure who on The Blaaag went, but I doubt it could have been anything less than spectacular.

The official statement from JWBS:

Nail Salon Workers Announce Groundbreaking Victory!

Federal Court Rules Unanimously in Favor of Workers’ Claims Against Employer for Retaliation, Failure to Pay Overtime

This Tuesday, a group of nail salon workers, supporters, national women’s groups and elected officials will rally and announce their victory in a major battle against 167 Nail Plaza and 68 Nail Plaza salons. In March 2005, Susan Do Yea Kim was fired by Nail Plaza owners Dong Rim Park and Mou San Rim for simply requesting regular break times during the day.

On Friday, October 26, 2007, a jury for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled unanimously in favor of Ms. Kim, charging Nail Plaza for retaliatory firing and failure to pay overtime. Do Yea Kim and two of her co-workers were together awarded a total of over $200,000 in backpay and punitive damages, as well as reinstatement to their former positions.

The Nail Plaza workers are the first group of nail salon workers in the country to publicly stand up and expose the beauty industry's rampant labor violations, and the serious health effects of their prolonged exposure to toxic nail chemicals. The Nail Plaza workers, who have been picketing for the past 6 months, has also inspired elected officials, women and labor organizations, and medical experts to join together with JWBS to launch a Nail Salon Workers Network to call for greater changes in the largely unregulated nail salon industry.

---

An abridged version of Anthony Han's Facebook message:

To all concerned peoples!

It is an exciting time indeed. Susan fought the Boss and she won! She won $40,000 to $50,000 more than she was entitled to. This is a pivotal moment in the history of labor movements with Susan's victory being the first in the nail salon industry. The result of Susan's victory could as momentous as the acts of Rosa Parks during the civil rights movement.

Despite her lawyers trying to push her to accept the lowest settlement, she continued and fought further for the justice of all working people.

Although her case has been won, we are still closing in on our larger goal. Many other nail salon workers are still facing sweatshop conditions-- poisonous toxic chemicals in the air, no breaks (even to use the bathroom ), and illegally low wages.

Quite a step since The Blaaag's last coverage, wouldn't you agree?

Note: This is not the official statement of the Justice Will Be Served! campaign.

Daniel Dae Kim earned himself a shiny DUI early Thursday morning. Read all about it here (... and here, here, here, here, here, and here). I sincerely hope he doesn't get killed off.

Here's some nice advice:



Also, check out this article on how sleep might yield unique cognitive abilities that don't appear when you're awake. Basically, don't follow Ben Manibag and snort coke to stay up and recite random vocabulary words.

Lastly, here's an article on another noose incident which took the front page of the Metro today. (Copycat effect? Hmm...)

(Thanks to Laura for the Gothamist article)