NAM EthnoBlog tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2008-12-16://18 2010-03-16T19:20:17Z Movable Type Enterprise 4.31-en Kiss Me I'm Irish. Kiss Me I'm Italian! Kiss Me I'm Chinese? tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.2070 2010-03-16T19:15:04Z 2010-03-16T19:20:17Z Frances Kai-Hwa Wang http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=160
I attended Catholic schools in Los Angeles, and all the Bishops at the time, the ones who set the calendars for all the Catholic schools in the Archdiocese, were Irish. Thus St. Patrick’s Day was always a school holiday. Always. Along with Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday and All Saint’s Day.

Then our school got a young new principal, Sister Nathaniel. She was Italian American, with dark brown bangs peeking out of her white habit, a matter-of-fact way of speaking and a brisk, efficient stride. She declared that since St. Joseph’s Day (March 19) was about the same time as St. Patrick’s Day (March 17), we would celebrate both saints’ days together.]]>
That year our St. Patrick’s - St. Joseph’s Day celebration included Irish jigs with bright plaid scarves pinned over the shoulder, a spaghetti dinner fundraiser and a Mexican hat dance, too (we also had a large hispanic American population). Not bad for the 1970s.

When my family later moved to northern California where the Bishops were not all Irish, I was surprised to discover that St. Patrick’s Day was not always a school holiday, that St. Patrick was not the most important saint. (When I graduated from Catholic high school and entered the secular world, I was really surprised to discover that St. Patrick’s Day had become a drinking day rather than a holy day.)

Still, on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone wore green and all the Irish-American students wore their bright and cheery “Kiss Me I’m Irish” T-shirts.

At other times, the Italian-American students wore their red white and green “Kiss Me I’m Italian” T-shirts.

However, no one ever wore a “Kiss Me I’m Mexican” or “Kiss Me I’m Polish” or “Kiss Me I’m Chinese” T-shirt. Those did not even exist. We were not necessarily ashamed of our ethnicities; it just did not occur to us to be proud of them, and there were no ready-made gifts and knickknacks to buy in the mainstream Miles Kimball and Lillian Vernon and Harriet Carter mail-order catalogs to prove it. (Thank goodness, actually.) If there was no stuff to buy, obviously no one else thought it was important, either.

Instead, everyone else had ethnic jokes. “Did you hear the one about the …”

When I was a kid, I used to love collecting stickers, and I once found a sticker of the Taiwan flag somewhere. I was excited to stick it on the back bumper of my father’s old Dodge Dart. He stopped me. He said it could be dangerous because it would identify us, and people who did not like Taiwan or China might damage the car or harm us.

I still wrestle with the fear of being too public. Essayist Richard Rodriguez writes eloquently about our private and public selves, our private and public languages. When my oldest daughter was in preschool, she wanted to wear a Chinese qi pao for school pictures one year. My automatic instinctual reaction was to say no. Chinese clothes (and language and food) were private, for home, not for parading out in public where other ("normal") people might see and take offense.

Then I realized what the message of that would be. I took a deep breath, and I let her wear her pride to school.

]]> What's On Your Reading List This Month? tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.2040 2010-03-08T16:40:01Z 2010-03-08T18:18:35Z Frances Kai-Hwa Wang http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=160 I Love Yous are for White People," a story about growing up poor and Vietnamese American in Los Angeles dodging gangs, alcohol and an abusive father. It was a tough read but a sobering reminder that many Asian Americans do not fit neatly into the model minority stereotype.

Now I am reading Bich Minh Nguyen’s memoir, "Stealing Buddah’s Dinner," this year’s Michigan Humanities Council’s Great Michigan Read, about growing up Vietnamese American in suburban Grand Rapids and her fixation on American food.

Both writers ache to belong to the world around them.
]]> Asian-American literature or women’s studies class. They “get” these stories because they often see the similarities to their own lives; they appreciate the humor; they love the food; they know the characters; and they are able to use these stories to gather strength to face their own challenges.

I am always pleased to “catch them” reading off my bookshelf and even more pleased when they retell me the stories in the books they are reading. Who needs social networking when books can be used the same way?

I recently received an e-mail from a Caucasian reader in Pennsylvania whose gifted 7-year-old daughter would rather be normal than smart. We think we have come such a long way; her father struggles to convince her that there are lots of other smart kids around the world who do well in math, yet this 7-year-old girl already knows.

The ache to be normal does not necessarily follow lines of color or culture or class.

Books are one way to expand the definition of normal beyond that presented in the mainstream. Through books, we can peer into another world, appreciate another point of view, find resonance where we did not expect it.

Yet, statistically, there are many more books written with boys as active main characters than girls. Think Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, even Harry Potter. Girls are the supporting characters, the cheerleaders to the boys’ heroics, the victims to be rescued by the boys’ daring. Hermione Granger is a great, smart, strong, fully developed character, but the book is not named after her, is it? Neither is it named after Cho Chang, or Parvati or Padma Patil.

We need to curate our stories. For example, it really bugs me that both Sleeping Beauty and Snow White spend most of their respective stories asleep, waiting for the Handsome Prince to rescue them with a kiss (Isn’t that called date rape these days?), after which they up and marry him. Little Mermaid takes one look at the unconscious nearly drowned Handsome Prince and forsakes her family and identity as a mermaid to follow him onto land. Rapunzel agrees to marry the very first man she ever meets (a Handsome Prince, naturally) during their first conversation. Curious George is a good little monkey, but Pandora and Goldilocks are both punished for being curious in the same way.

So in our home, somehow, the fairy tales always come out, “And after the beautiful princess and handsome prince got to know each other really well, became best friends, and finished graduate school, then they decided to get married.”

March is both National Reading Month and National Women’s History Month.

]]> Protests, Tension Unite UC Students tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.2038 2010-03-06T14:55:05Z 2010-03-06T15:05:21Z The past weeks have seen chaos in the form of social change spread like wildfire across the University of California campuses. A dance party turned riot at UC Berkeley last Thursday. Students are still recovering from a slew of racially... Elena Kadvany http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=201 incidents. Hundreds of UC students lobbied legislators in Sacramento for funding on Monday (and five were arrested).

But in the midst of all the uncertainty and disorder, something exciting is happening at the UC campuses. Although the budget cuts are a threat to the future, and the highly publicized racial incidents unimaginably worse, the passionate solidarity emerging among students is as unexpected as it is empowering. A community has been born in protest. United by crisis, cross-campus student activist movements are standing up to defend public education.]]> Reclaim UC, has an extremely professional and organized website with eloquent descriptions of what they’re fighting for and how they’re doing it.

“Our goal is to empower ourselves (students, workers, faculty, community) to take control of our educational institutions so they reflect our values and serve our needs. Our means are radical intervention and direct action. We believe direct action is an original and necessary component of our movement, and our intention is to duplicate, intensify, export and expand these tactics... because they work.”
 
Lauren McDonnell, an International Economics major in the honors program at UCLA, took issue with the system’s class registration system. Post-budget cuts, her major has been cut and honors students are no longer given priority for classes. Her triathlon team’s funding has been significantly decreased. Every day she walks by a construction site where four new dorms are being built to accommodate…whom?

Certainly not the 2,300 would-be freshman students cut from fall enrollment.

Students of all socioeconomic backgrounds are hit by the budget cuts. Whether you’re on a full academic scholarship or can pay tuition without financial aid, your daily, and future, life is affected. You’re forced to choose a different major. You can’t get help at the UCLA tutoring center because it’s closed. Library hours are cut. You can’t afford the fee increases, so you finish the year at a community college.

But with students banding together, the protests on UC campuses are taking on an even larger significance.

The Huffington Post recently created “HuffPost College,” a new section that features university publications and news commentary, is a great resource for up-to-date (even live) information, pictures, and videos of the protests.

For information straight from the campuses, http://utotherescue.blogspot.com/ is worth checking out.]]> Don't Give in to Donor Fatigue tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.2029 2010-03-04T00:11:29Z 2010-03-04T00:15:14Z When the Indian Ocean earthquake and its subsequent tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of people in 2004, relief donations from around the world totaled $1.3 billion. Less than a year later, Hurricane Katrina devastated a massive portion of the East... Nadia Prupis http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=198
Five years later, the same charities find themselves in the same situation. January's cataclysmic earthquake in Haiti prompted swift and massive relief responses around the world; at last count, donations exceeded $528 million. Then, about six weeks later, in what should have been the calm after the storm, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Maule Region of Chile. More than two million survivors found themselves homeless, injured, or evacuated.

The death toll climbed past 795 within three days. According to NASA research scientist Richard Gross, the movement was powerful enough to move the Earth's figure axis by three inches and shorten days by 1.26 microseconds. And in the aftermath, after just having proven that charity was alive and well around the globe, most of us—including many world leaders and relief organizations—did little more than stay seated, look around at each other, and say, “Huh?”

]]>
But it's been three days since the earthquake in Chile, and there are only ten relief organizations set up there now. On March 1, American Red Cross response team leader Apu Patel told the Washington Post that they have no immediate plans to set up $10 text message fundraising efforts. And social media tools like Twitter, which have been monumentally helpful in the past to rally relief efforts, saw a number of users expressing their compassion through empathetic statements like, “Ah, man, Chile now? You mean I have to donate again?” and “As if my days didn't already feel too short, now they actually are shorter... courtesy of the Chile quake.”

Where are the efforts we witnessed in January? Where are the donations, the declarations of solidarity, the celebrity telethons, the sepia-toned commercials with images of crying children? It's true that Chile's infrastructure, stable economy, and preparation plans helped save them for complete destruction, but this can't stand as a logical explanation of our relative apathy. Early estimates show that the damage may cost tens of billions of dollars. There may only be ten charities making the effort, but that still means that there are ten charities making the effort.

Those of us who weren't swallowed by a tsunami in 2004 were willing to give to the countries affected by the Indian Ocean disaster. Those of who weren't waiting for rooftop rescue in 2005 gave what we could to survivors of Hurricane Katrina. And when we didn't fall through the cracks in Haiti, we turned our attention to them. Now, those of us left standing on dry and stable land still have an obligation to the millions of affected survivors in Chile. Don't give in to donor fatigue.

Visit www.charitynavigator.org to decide which of the ten charities is worth ten dollars.
]]> Winter Olympians of color: American Like Us tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.2025 2010-03-01T16:59:08Z 2010-03-01T19:39:48Z Frances Kai-Hwa Wang http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=160 Michelle Kwan compete for the gold.

C was planning to invite Michelle to her upcoming 7th birthday party, an ice skating party at Buhr Park. M loved the video clip of Michelle eating dinner with her family—using the same bowls and chopsticks that we did. For them, Michelle was an admired “older sister” that they looked up to. None of the other first-grade girls really knew who Michelle Kwan even was, but after two weeks of hearing about Michelle Kwan every day in class and at soccer, every girl in that class stayed up late that final night of the Olympics to watch Michelle Kwan’s bittersweet final performance.]]> Apolo Ohno crashed onto the scene with such a flurry of energy and style that we could not help but be transfixed by this hunky hapa “older brother” and the story of his dad’s tough love to keep him out of trouble. We laughed at the images of women fans and even Gov. Gary Locke sporting electrical tape soul patches in his honor. Add on the stories of speedskater Derek Parra who as the first Mexican-American Winter Olympian broke both world and American records, and bobsledder Vonetta Flowers who became the first African American to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics, and we were complete converts.

During the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, then 2-year-old Little Brother skated around and around our family room with Apolo Ohno and jumped off the couch with mogul skier Toby Dawson. This year, we read bedtime stories about the first Asian Pacific American Olympic gold medalists—swimmer Duke Kahanamoku (1912, 1920, 1924, 1932) and diver Sammy Lee (1948, 1952).

These Olympians of color look like us, face the same challenges as us, inspire us. They are Americans, but Americans like us.

When a national network news site cheers “American beats Kwan,” we know that hurt. When Toby Dawson talks about the bonds formed at Heritage Camps, we have been to those cultural camps. When we read about how Duke Kahanamoku struggled with the cold water and cold weather in his thin Hawaiian clothes, we have worn those same thin (Made in Taiwan) clothes and felt the shame of our parents’ frugality as sharply as the cold. When we hear of the sacrifices parents made for their children and the food these Olympians miss most while training away from home, that is our story, too.

So much prejudice is based upon how our bodies look, assumed inferior because they are smaller or shorter or darker. Yet these Olympians of color show that our bodies work just fine, thank you very much.

This pride goes to bursting when other Americans like ice dancers (and University of Michigan students) Meryl Davis and Charlie White show respect and care toward our cultures. They worked with an Indian dance teacher (Anuja Rajendra, BollyFit), watched Bollywood films, created costumes from clothes bought at an Indian boutique, even got the hand gestures and eye movements down. The Indian and Indian-American communities loved it. They did not just make stuff up (like Russian ice dancers Domnina and Shabalin whose gaudy brownface costumes and inaccurate and insensitive appropriation of sacred dance offended Australian aboriginal leaders).

Just as speedskater J.R. Celski revealed an enormously proud tattoo combining both Filipino and Polish flags when he took off his shirt, the Olympics can also reveal who we are underneath.]]> Chinese Lunar New Year Feasting and Family tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.2017 2010-02-22T16:53:54Z 2010-02-22T16:58:33Z Frances Kai-Hwa Wang http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=160 Chinese Lunar New Year celebration is gathering the whole extended family together for a big feast on New Year’s Eve.

Just as Thanksgiving has certain special foods that must be eaten like turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes with marshmallows, Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve also features special food that must be eaten, each dish imbued with meaning and good wishes for the new year. A whole fish is served because the Chinese word for fish sounds like “more than enough” (and one must leave leftovers so there will be “plenty” “left over” in the new year).
]]>
The only problem is we are always so busy at Chinese or Lunar New Year’s time (imagine celebrating both Thanksgiving and Christmas together without any days off work or school), and our relatives are all so far away that the children and I never quite get around to having a proper dinner on the proper day. We scramble for the moment. Sometimes we spread it out and cook one Chinese New Year’s dish a day for a week (lame).

Sometimes we invite friends over to make dumplings (last year we misplaced the flour). Sometimes we are so tired and hungry that we are grateful somebody thought to order pepperoni pizza backstage after yet another big Lunar New Year’s performance (desperate). Sometimes we are treated to dinner after a performance, but it is not the same eating the right foods with the wrong people (strangers). We would rather eat the wrong foods warm and relaxed and surrounded by friends. The main thing is to be together as a family.

This year, during New Year’s Day (Losar) services at Jewel Heart Tibetan Buddhist Temple, 6-year-old Little Brother, restless from the long service, found some other restless boys with whom to play. They had so much fun tearing around the temple, sliding across hardwood floors in their socks, playing Legos, catapulting Webkins through the air, jumping from prayer cushion to prayer cushion like frogs playing hopscotch on lily pads.

After a worrisome quiet, I find the children gathered around a large table in the temple kitchen, perched on high stools, eating sweetly spiced rice and sipping juice with Auntie Dolma and Uncle Ujjen. The kids are all so cute lined up in their bright orange and gold and blue Tibetan silk shirts and dresses.

With the chanting in the temple filtering in through speakers into the kitchen, I pull up a stool and have some rice and butter tea with them. I guess all their ages correctly. They tell me what schools they go to. One has a science fair in the afternoon. I relish this moment sitting quietly in the kitchen, chanting in one ear, children’s laughter in the other, a simple bowl of rice and a cup of tea, my children at my side. This feels right. Happy new year.]]> Report: Katrina Evacuees Didn't Increase Crime tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.2016 2010-02-22T16:46:56Z 2010-02-22T16:50:59Z Leticia Miranda http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=197 (From Mira Leti)

Just after Katrina hit, police deparments in neighboring “host” cities — San Antonio, Phoenix and Houston — accused survivors of bringing crime into their communities.

However, a recent study published in the Journal of Criminal Justice showed that in Phoenix and Houston there was only a modest increase in murders with San Antonio showing no increase. None of the cities saw a hike in auto theft or assaults, which would be more likely crimes done by those who lost everything in the hurricane.

Sean P. Varano, lead author of the study and assistant professor in criminal justice at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, said to the Houston Chronicle:

“Houston, San Antonio, Phoenix … all had pre-existing crime problems they have been struggling with for generations to correct. To say they created a tremendous spike in the crime problem appears to be an overstatement. To say a group came in to a place like Houston and created a crime problem seems to be passing the buck,” Varano said.


]]> The report doesn’t include if there was an increase in arrests after New Orleans residents fled to these neighboring states. According to the study, 240,000 evacuees fled to Houston, TX, while 30,000 fled to San Antonio, TX and 6,000 to Phoenix, AZ. Did these cities see a spike in arrests of Black residents? Or was there an increase in the number of times police pulled over Black drivers? I’d love to read that report.

Until then, it’s important these myths are dispelled by cold hard facts.]]> Continually SMH at UCSD tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.2015 2010-02-22T16:41:42Z 2010-02-22T16:52:19Z Ninoy Brown http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=180  (From FOBBDeep)

While attending UCSD, there were more than a few WTF/”that’s racist!” moments experienced. And it appears to continue with a fraternty’s “Compton Cookout” themed bbq:

“UCSD party mocks Black History Month”

A weekend party that involved University of California San Diego students and mocked Black History Month has drawn the ire of black students and prompted a condemnation sent to all students and faculty by the chancellor.

An invitation to the “Compton Cookout” event urged participants to wear chains, don cheap clothes and speak very loudly, according to wording circulated by outraged students and verified by campus administrators.

As a guide for girls attending the event, the invitation read, “For those of you who are unfamiliar with ghetto chicks-Ghetto chicks usually have gold teeth, start fights and drama, and wear cheap clothes…”

Read on

]]> click here.

From a student run “satire” newspaper that intentionally published offensive and racist material and incited tension with the student of color organizations to fliers using images of KKK and lynchings to “joke” about pledging a fraternity, among an array of incidents, UCSD always brought out the angry minority within me.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that these things continue to persist when the UC system continues to have one of the lowest minority enrollments in the nation.

]]> Vallejo Teen Violence is Cry for Help tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.2000 2010-02-15T02:43:01Z 2010-02-15T02:46:03Z It was recently reported that a 47-year-old Vallejo Department of public works employee of Suisun City was robbed and assaulted by three juveniles. One struck the employee before the other two juveniles approached and knocked him down and stole his... NAM Youth Communications Team http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=165 recently reported that a 47-year-old Vallejo Department of public works employee of Suisun City was robbed and assaulted by three juveniles. One struck the employee before the other two juveniles approached and knocked him down and stole his wallet.

A crowd of students standing across the street at Britton’s Mini Market from the incident witnessed the attack; police hope to review the surveillance cameras to identify the suspects.

The employee was treated at Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center for a chipped jawbone, a minor break to his collarbone and a cut lip.

It’s crazy nowadays what people will do for a dollar. It’s also kind of scary knowing you could get robbed and assaulted even at work. Reading this article it made me wonder what kinds of households were the kids come from. It made me wonder about what has happened in their lives to make them feel they have to assault and rob different people.

]]>
I feel that that alone should be an eye opener for the city to build more resource spots for juveniles and young adults. Great resources would be more after school programs, or even more job training programs that get youth ready to take that real step of independence by obtaining employment.

There aren’t enough programs that keep youth busy, or mentors who help them reach goals they thought weren’t possible. It seems as if there aren’t enough leaders around to set good examples so the youth do just about anything to get what they want, that includes being violent.

But this story interested me mostly because I could relate to it.

I say this because I was once in the same position of these youth. I’ve robbed and assaulted someone before -- and gotten caught. I didn’t get anything out of it except a mark in central booking. Coming from a rough environment, I’ve seen a lot of violence, assaults, and robberies. I use to think that was the only way to survive until I went to jail and realized there was more to life than always taking what I thought was the easy way out but later found it was the hardest.

-- Sherry Blunt



Baby Baghdad

In the past week V-town has been quite active lately, with reports of homicides, stabbings, gun busting, and mob attacks on a gas station. In the gas station incident, the person who videotaped this act of violence wants to turn in every one who was apart of this beating.

Even though it seems like that Vallejo is a baby Baghdad, the city has plans to step up their crime fighting efforts. There are fewer police lurking the streets due to budget cutbacks. The city will be getting help from neighboring Solano County Sheriffs department. Advocates for youth services say they want to help the youngster of Vallejo.

The 15-year-old boy who allegedly shot an ice cream vendor shocked the other young ones, even me. People are getting shot over ice cream.

Without youth services like Omega Boys and Girls Club, a community organization in San Francisco, youth and family services in Vallejo seem out in the cold. The work load might be too much for them handle made --maybe someone should step up and help?

Personally I think with the youth just need opportunities to work or programs that will keep them busy. Nine times out of ten young people get into trouble because they don't have anything to do. Knowing that your neighborhood is known for violent acts could possibly scare some people, or just force more violence.

-- Young Dave]]> Discovering the meaning in Chinese New Year's celebrations tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.1997 2010-02-15T02:17:38Z 2010-02-15T02:31:43Z I never even heard of Chinese New Year until I was already 12 years old. We had recently moved from Los Angeles to San Jose, and I had just started attending Saturday morning Chinese School for the first time. One... Frances Kai-Hwa Wang http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=160 Chinese New Year until I was already 12 years old. We had recently moved from Los Angeles to San Jose, and I had just started attending Saturday morning Chinese School for the first time. One of our lessons was about Chinese New Year stories and customs. Of course, being only 12, I was most interested in the tradition of red envelopes, which contain gifts of money. I went home demanding to know why my brother and I had never before received red envelopes, and insisted on years of back pay.]]>
Every year after that, I would ask my parents what they were planning for Chinese New Year, and the usual response was, "Oh, I don’t even know when it is. I’ll have to check the Chinese calendar." If I was home, and insistent, then they would cook a meal and invite some relatives over; if not, then they would forget. They were modern Chinese who did not need these old world superstitions. But I did.

I did not really know much about Chinese New Year traditions, just bits and pieces - a big dinner, red clothes, clean the house, a whole fish, but don’t finish eating the fish (although everyone always does). I did not understand why you did these things — something to do with luck and good fortune in the coming year, but everything Chinese has something to do with luck and good fortune.

Then I grew up and my children started going to Chinese School, and together we were entranced by the stories we heard — about scaring away the monster, Nian, with firecrackers and red clothes; about how the 12 animals of the zodiac were chosen; about la-pa zhou. The children made toy fire crackers with toilet paper rolls, cut out the character for spring and pasted it upside down on a red square, and dressed up as red fire crackers for the Chinese School pageant. It was the first time I had heard these stories and done these activities as well. The details were beginning to be filled in. We read and we studied and we listened and we cooked until we had a comprehensive, rather than accidental, understanding of Chinese New Year and what it all meant. I could finally see how the pieces fit together.

That was when I stopped pining for what I never had. Even though a lot was learned from books, the traditions came alive for us when we did them. We had one formal and ultra-traditional Chinese New Year when my oldest two children were 4 and 2. Once that was over with, we could relax, adapt, and create something new and meaningful that fit our family each year. Sometimes we were too busy to make dumplings or to have people over for dinner; sometimes we celebrated on a different day, and we certainly have never managed to clean the house on time. Chinese New Year has become our anchor that holds us poised between our family’s past and who we want to be in our community’s future.

Chinese New Year’s Day will be on Feb. 14 this year.]]> Saving Mexico One Can of Sun Spray At A Time tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.1998 2010-02-14T02:23:41Z 2010-02-15T02:29:53Z For Jennifer Aniston, turning 41 meant helping out Mexico by sunbathing herself at the Palmilla resort in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California.One might go broke at this posh resort where rooms run $9,000 a night. But money is just money... Leticia Miranda http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=197
One might go broke at this posh resort where rooms run $9,000 a night. But money is just money when you’re trying to save Mexico.


]]> “[Gerard] said to me, ’You come to Mexico all the time and Mexico is really hurting right now because of the swine flu and the drug trafficking and all of this sort of stuff but it’s not all of Mexico,’” she explained.

“These people survive on us coming down and spending money and coming here to these beautiful places. It sort of made sense to sort of say ‘Hey, let’s help out Mexico,’” continued Aniston.

And so they did.

The group of A-list celebrities sunbathed, gossiped, people watched and took advantage of the range of bar options and restaurants the resort had to offer.

Someone should direct her east to the Caribbean. She can post up at a resort in Haiti and maybe save them from another political or natural disaster.

(Via Mira Leti)
]]> A Dream Realized tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.1999 2010-02-11T02:34:15Z 2010-02-15T02:40:38Z Ninoy Brown http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=180
(Via FOBBDeep)

]]> dream.jpg 

This Friday had it’s elements of mourning for a legend lost way before his time, not to mention the sadness felt for Akil, Dream’s son, who recently lost his mother, Nikki Sellers, to breast cancer. Fortunately for Akil, he has a strong community of folks who want to ensure that his future shines bright.

Around midnight of this night, the host of the night made an announcement that inspired the crowd that came to support Dream and his seed: February 17 was officially declared by the city of Oakland as Dream Day.

How fresh is that? A person once considered a “vandal” becomes recognized by a city for the contributions to the community and has a day recognized for him.

Dream Day is actualized.

More: Complex Mag - The Dream Lives



]]> Raising confident daughters of color while not forgetting Obama is black tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.1988 2010-02-08T16:35:39Z 2010-02-19T15:43:58Z Frances Kai-Hwa Wang http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=160
The class was an eye-opener, not just in how to raise my girls, but also in understanding my own Chinese American childhood. I had no memory of dealing with a lot of the issues the instructor talked about as being so important to preadolescent girls, such as friendships and physical appearances.

At first I thought that I must have been just so low on the social totem pole, because of race and nerdiness, that I had given up hope of competing in those arenas. Then I found a Wellesley study of Boston middle-school girls’ self-esteem along racial and ethnic lines and discovered that girls of different ethnic backgrounds based their sense of self-esteem on different factors. It made perfect sense once somebody said it out loud.




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So I began to think about how to raise my girls as strong and confident Asian-American girls, with respect for Asian culture, tools for succeeding in American culture, and how to have fun with both. I read them stories with strong Asian-American girl heroines, I taught them to read the media and critique stereotypical portrayals of all sorts, I introduced them to role models both famous and local, I helped them see alternative beauty standards, I taught them to speak up, and I prepared them for sexism from both sides. They learned how to stand up for themselves and how to do it in a nuanced way that both Asians and Americans can accept (like code-switching).

They are now so strong, confident, and proud that I pity the poor boy who tries to date any of them one day. He will never be able to get away with anything.

Then Chris Matthews forgot President Obama was black for an hour.

Ta-Nehisi Coates writes for the Atlantic:
“In fact, Chris Matthews didn't forget Barack Obama was black. Chris Matthews forgot that Chris Matthews was white….It's white people's responsibility to make themselves postracial, not the president's. Whatever my disagreements with him (Obama), the fact is that he is brilliant. That he is black and brilliant is pleasant but unsurprising to me. I've known very brilliant, very black people all my life.”

In Jon Stewart’s hysterical response to Chris Matthews’ remark, African American Wyatt Cenac plays out all the hidden stereotypes he “forgot” about Caucasians, African Americans, Jews, Asians (“not sexy Asian, math Asian”), even lesbian Irish gym teachers (whoa, that is a lot of stereotypes in one).

From the other side of the remark, I sometimes forget I am Asian too. I look out at the world and cannot see what people see when they look back at me. I think that I am just me. I get lulled into complacency thinking that because we are speaking the same language, that we actually understand each other. I forget that I do not know other people’s hidden assumptions and stereotypes until things go awry. I worry that despite my girls’ confidence and eloquence, the filter of preconceptions will always distort how people perceive them.]]> CBS, WTF? tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.1983 2010-02-05T05:58:12Z 2010-02-09T15:23:53Z In 2004, CBS rejected would-be Superbowl Sunday ads from the United Church of Christ, with a message of tolerance, and from MoveOn.org, with a criticism of then-President George W. Bush. At the time, the network claimed that its policies prohibit... Nadia Prupis http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=198
In 2010, CBS changed its anti-advocacy policy just in time to accept a Super Bowl Sunday ad from the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, with an overtly pro-life message, featuring Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow on the one day this year that renders him conveniently and undeniably relevant.

Although it hasn't aired yet, the 30-second commercial is said to feature Tim Tebow and his mother Pam, as she explains her choice—notice the keyword—not to end her difficult pregnancy in 1987, despite her doctor's advice. Today her son is a healthy, talented, award-winning athlete. And that's truly a happy ending for them.

For them.
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And in addition to that, politically motivated commercials are simply out of place on Super Bowl Sunday. As CBS' own sports columnist Gregg Doyel explained so eloquently, “All of it offends me. Pro-life, pro-choice... you name it, then please shove the whole conversation into a bad of dirty socks and eject it into outer space. Maybe some satellite for Fox news or MSNBC will bump into it. Fine. Let those people talk about it. But leave my football alone.”

All of these rational arguments, as well as the fact that Tim Tebow isn't even a professional football player yet, apparently means nothing to Focus on the Family. They don't care about logic—only rhetoric. In context, their wholly inappropriate message essentially translates to, “Ladies: In a world where your choices are respected and legal, you might be depriving the Super Bowl of a potential athlete, and that's what really matters.”

Of course, Pam and Tim Tebow have the right to tactlessly evangelize their political and religious beliefs as much as they want. But the recent revelation that CBS and Focus on the Family actually collaborated on the script for the commercial betrays CBS' claim that they just changed their policies because of “industry norms.” It means that the network is deliberately throwing its weight behind a one-sided political agenda, while making a calculated effort to reject ads with opposing views.

To put this in perspective, the 2004 commercial for the United Church of Christ, turned down by CBS at the time for being “too controversial,” showed a gay couple, a young black girl, and a Hispanic man turned away by bouncers outside of a church. The commercial ended with the message, “Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we.” Meanwhile, as conservative news outlet The New American points out, “CBS indicated that under its current policy, the church ad would have made the cut for this year's Super Bowl.” So why did CBS continue turn down commercials with more liberal messages this year, like the humorous ad promoting gay dating website ManCrunch.com, which shows two men watching the Super Bowl—and, okay, making out—together? Is the 90-million-person Super Bowl audience so collectively delicate and naïve as to believe there are no gay athletes or gay sports fans, and needs to be protected from this potentially shocking information?

Perhaps the most troubling significance of all isn't the commercial's content. With the recent Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, corporations are no longer banned from buying advertisements and contributing to political campaigns—so the final and truly disturbing question is, will this Focus on the Family commercial, with its explicit and biased message, eventually become the norm and not the outrageous exception?



]]> Colin Powell, We Ask But You Still Don't Tell tag:ethnoblog.newamericamedia.org,2010://18.1982 2010-02-04T22:36:00Z 2010-02-04T22:40:50Z Sandip Roy http://publisher.namx.org/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=18&id=54
Robert Gates said the Pentagon is preparing to repeal the law.
Adm. Mike Mullen got a lot of press for his comments that it is his “personal belief” that lifting the ban is the “right thing to do.”

Now Colin Powell has added his voice to the chorus. “Attitudes and circumstances have changed,” Powell said. They certainly have in the 17 years that have passed since he had opposed it.
]]> Now the United States is finally catching up.

Powell said, “We’ve have a lot of experience watching what other nations have done.” Really? On this issue and this issue only America needs to follow while others lead? I thought President Obama in his State of the Union said “I do not accept second place for the United States of America.”

I guess gay rights isn’t in the same ball park as green tech.

But what is aggravating is that Colin Powell who had helped scuttle Bill Clinton’s promise to end the gay ban in the military said in his eminently reassuring way that it’s OK now because there is increased “acceptance of gays and lesbians in society.”

Did it make it all right then to drum gays and lesbians out of the military or force them to lie about their orientation just because society was not as “accepting” then?

I am glad that Powell now thinks its OK. Better late than never. But I am wondering what he really thought then. Has he changed his attitude towards homosexuality which he once called “a behavioral characteristic”? Has Powell had a change of heart or is he merely glad the great unwashed masses have had a change of attitude? Did he always believe this way but was waiting (quietly) for society to catch up? Would he ever admit he was plain wrong like the mayor of San Diego Jerry Sanders did when he reversed his stance on same sex marriage?

Colin Powell is a respected figure in politics because he has so often stayed above the fray. His endorsement of Obama, when it came, carried weight. On this issue a mea culpa would have been appreciated. It’s not that much to expect for 17 years of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the hundreds of lives that were upended in a morass of lies and accusations.

Dear Colin Powell, those discharged soldiers do ask, please do tell.]]>