Cover inspired by red bean buns that I want to eat
Hi - note that this newsletter might get a little confusing because of the switch between first and second-person pronouns. Both of us choose to write in "I" and "we" interchangeably without identifying which specific person is writing each segment. This is both intentional and a result of a fairly informal writing process. We will specify the different writers when it's relevant, but for the most part, we're going to continue using both because the choice between the two doesn't make a material difference in the meaning and the reality of what we say.
Prompt: What are you doing to make your immediate community around you more just and equal?
Personal notes: Recently, I've been thinking about interactions of the AAPI community when it comes to issues like police violence, especially in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake, the fact that Breonna Taylor's killers still haven't been arrested, and ongoing protests. On one hand, I know there's a large portion of the community who is active and on the ground trying to prompt changes, but on the other hand, there's also a large number who remain silent and fairly in the "law and order" camp on these issues. I don't really know the point I'm trying to get at here, but it does feel rather pointless to be stressing over small things and writing about Asian American issues in a newsletter while all this is going on. In one of our first issues, we wrote about the AAPI community and support for the BLM movement, and I'm thinking about that right now and how to be better allies for change. That said, updates and later thoughts to come, but for now: continue calling for the arrest of Breonna Taylor's killers and demand justice for Jacob Blake.
Also for all those people on the Gulf Coast and those moving back to school right now, stay safe, please.
<3 Melinda and Jamie
News!
📺 The Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj is canceled on Netflix ☹️ After 6 seasons, totaling 39 episodes, the iconic show is ending. Reflecting in an interview, Minhaj said that it was a "no brainer" to work with Netflix so that (1) he didn't have to be in the late-night talk show world and (2) he could speak to a global audience. It seems like its cancellation wasn't a huge surprise since talk shows on Netflix are known to end and not work as well, maybe due to financial reasons? Anyhow, we're grateful that he's brought to light and discussed so many important topics and new stories in a funny and approachable way... hopefully we see the Patriot Act's "different kind of angry" soon. :')
🗨️ Tony Pham, who came to the US as a Vietnamese refugee in 1975, tapped to lead Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This comes amid criticisms for the agency's detention centers and policies during COVIC-19 and condemnation and policy proposals to stop the increasing deportation of Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian refugees.
🔬NYPD creates task force to stop hate crimes against Asian Americans - On August 28th, the NYPD announced the creation of a 25 person task force to communicate with victims and to investigate and respond to rises in COVID-19 related hate and bias incidents.
📉 Asian Americans have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. In early August, McKinsey published a study that, among many other things re: COVID-19's effect on Asian Americans, showed that Asian American unemployment rates increased by >450% from February to June 2020, "revealing a greater rate of increase than that of other racial groups." The report highlighted how historically seeing Asian Americans as a monolith and as a "model minority" has led people to overlook the fact that within the 20 million Asian people in the U.S., there are many marginalized communities!! (I really hope people who read the report remember this.)
Among some concerning realities for Asian Americans during COVID-19... in San Francisco, "Asian Americans accounted for 13.7 percent of cases but 52 percent of deaths," while in Nevada, Asian Americans are dying at >twice the rate of white Americans. In 72% of essential occupations in the healthcare field, Asian Americans exceeded their percentage of the U.S. population (which is ~ 6% right now). Asian Americans are overrepresented in some of the hardest-hit industries of small biz—overall, there's 1 Asian-owned business per 6 Asian adults, compared with the U.S. average of 1 per 8.4 adults. But, they have less chance to obtain PPP compared to other racial groups due to fewer existing relationships with a mainstream bank and, of course, the language barrier. Sigh well, at least the PPP offers forms in 7 languages (still not comprehensive though)—none of the four options from the U.S. Small Business Administration even have Asian translations on their websites.
Anyhow, I'll stop listing—there are so many telling statistics, important data visualizations, and bites of historical context that you should really check out in this report!
Our minor musings on Kamala Harris
This is our brain dump and reactions. If it feels unpolished, it's supposed to. If there are parts you agree or disagree with or something you would like to respond to, please email and let us know. We really would like to hear your thoughts and welcome other people's input.
I have been putting off writing this section for two weeks because there are a lot of thoughts that are asking to be articulated, but I'm unsure if I have the right words to do so. Anyways, here it goes: On August 11, 2020, Kamala Harris, currently the junior senator for California, was picked to be (at the time) presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden's vice presidential running mate. Since then, my group chats (and twitter feed) have gone back and forth between "omg the first Black and Indian bi-racial VP nom 👑" to "omg Kamala the cop 🚓" to "谁?" (translation: "who?").
Previously, we did a spotlight on Kamala Harris (and Tammy Duckworth) as potential nominations for the VP spot, intentionally putting the writing there in a positive light. Even when we were writing that section, however, there were thoughts and concerns drifting around about her record and her platforms, positions, and history.
TLDR Prosecutorial Record
Kamala's practices and decisions as the California Attorney General, SF District Attorney, and prosecutor are at the center of the discussion on her record, especially when police violence has become a major point in public debates. This article summarizes it better than we ever could. TLDR - despite her rhetoric to address racial disparities in incarceration, oppose the death penalty, and push for criminal justice reform - her past efforts have often fallen short of being a "progressive prosecutor". Prime highlights include the withholding of a corrupt lab tech's cocaine habit (which resulted in the dismissal of 600+ cases), supporting laws that disproportionately target low-income parents of color for elementary school truancy, a rather slow-to-change attitude towards addressing the root causes of crime, defending the death penalty in court, and failure to support policies like marijuana legalization and thorough investigations of police shootings, and the cases of George Gage and Kevin Cooper.
Understanding the "tough on crime" era of the 80s and 90s - a time where an overwhelming majority of people, including many of those in her own department, supported punitive measures and harsh sentencing - leads me to think that it was a complicated balancing act between people pushing for more progressive change and stakeholders closer to the right. Her conflicting policies fall in line with the center push for moderation, and it's probably important to note that at the time, she was considered more progressive than many of her counterparts. The question I'm grappling with is - is that enough? Does context justify mistakes? More and more, I'm understanding that incremental policy changes do make a difference (I think) - but there are also real people whose lives are affected (and ended) by the slow pace of progress. It's not like there weren't progressives at the time calling for her to change her policies, but would she have gotten to the position of power she was in by following them more closely? My gut says no, but I want to believe that it could have been done.
A convo on Representation vs. Policy
The day after the announcement that she'd be Biden's VP mate, I saw a Tweet by Nabela Noor:
I think this captures how I felt too and leads to a conversation on representation versus policy. There's no question that this is a big first for women-of-color, especially for Black and South Asian women. For a lot of us, when we think of "politician" or "lawmaker," the default image is still that of an old white man. This will take centuries to undo... Right now, it's possible to celebrate representation, the milestone that a woman-of-color has reached a place in politics that no woman-of-color has done before, and at the same time, not celebrate all of her policies.
re: Agree that representation is super important - especially when I'm thinking about my own place as a minority in some spaces/industries/positions. Though, I really hope it won't take centuries to undo... There was this one Teen Vogue article that I thought was good on this. I'll link it here.
I was quite overwhelmed by the cacophony happening online in the first few days after—I wanted to feel proud alongside Black and Asian women for this new achievement, but I also recognized how we had to hold her accountable for her past actions and expect more from her. Of course, the implications of her being chosen is quite complex, and there is a lot to dig into, be critical of, and stay aware of. I won't be able to get to all of these implications but here are just a few things.
re: We're not going to get into Kamala's policies that in-depth, but if you want a good resource, check this out.
An overlooked part of her identity
Asian American women have noticed that the media and news outlets often fail to mention Harris' Indian-American identity, which stings especially since there are few South Asian women in politics. "It was frustrating to see a New York Times announcement about 'the first Black woman vice-presidential candidate,' says Seher Chowdhury, 24, who identifies as South Asian."
re: Hmm... This hits a little different to me on the erasure of Kamala's bi-racial identity. I literally remember writing the part about Kamala a few weeks ago and having like .5 of an article talking about her Indian-American heritage. I recall that she never really leaned into talking about identity, and I think that for her it is a fact that even though she is part Indian-American, she is perceived first as a Black woman. Idk… I don't think we're super qualified to talk about this/this is not our experience, but it does feel quite uncomfortable that there are feelings of animosity between minority groups on this.
Anti-blackness in Asian Communities
But, some are pointing out that it's sort of problematic if the Indian community only really celebrates her Indian heritage, as "it is an erasure that feeds anti-Blackness and the model minority myth." I'm glad that with her nomination and especially in the past few months, we are reminded of how important it is to really listen to the stories from Afro-Asian folks who have faced anti-Blackness in their Asian families/communities. The topic of colorism is also really relevant here, and I guess Harris being light-skinned is also something to reckon with... For example, this Pew Research study shows that multiracial adults who were perceived as white were less likely to have experienced discrimination.
Caste
Her nomination might also "activate all the basic upper caste South Asian energy." While I don't know enough on the topic of caste, I saw that Harris' mother had said, "we are Brahmins, that is the top caste." Her mother was raised in a "Tamil Brahmin family, which likely afforded her the Indian equivalent of white privilege." I get why there's criticism around this... Harris comes from a lot of privilege and in a way, seems to uphold this restrictive/unequal system.
re: This is interesting actually and not something that I thought about before. I don't really know how to put this well into words, but here a couple of posts from my Twitter feed that made me think:
Model Minority
Harris seems to "upend" the Asian American model minority stereotype, though. Unlike Andrew Yang, who leaned into this model minority stereotype (sigh), she didn't fit to the expected image of an Asian American. Her mixed-race identity already challenges the notion of "Asian" in the U.S. (which tends to be the image of an East Asian person) and reminds us about the history and coalition between the Asian and Black communities. Inspired by her parents, who were active in the civil rights movement, Harris did not embody the meek and quiet characteristics expected of Asian women.
re: We are probably going to write a piece on Andrew Yang soon-ish because there are a lot of Thoughts there. Kamala's parents are really interesting - read about them here.
Lingering Thoughts
Lingering thoughts from Melinda: I'm happy about the historical significance of Harris' position. I get why it is hard to be super optimistic about the Biden/Harris ticket and just American overall right now. I'm def quite agitated by so many things that are happening... I want to learn more about the ways "we" (ourselves and people closer to her in government) can hold Harris accountable. Of course, change doesn't just happen at her level; it's everyone around us day-to-day, people in local office, people at all levels in government, in companies, in our institutions. I want to do a better job understanding how all those forces of influence work and how I see myself in them. Even if we are disappointed in her past, we can learn about what was wrong and take action to embody the change we want to see in her in ourselves too. I'm not sure what that looks like exactly, and I don't intend to sound super self-righteous, but briefly, that's how I'm thinking about things. Too much negativity is going to get me down—I want to see the fight moving forward! 🙂
Lingering thoughts from Jamie: I agree with Melinda on a lot of these things, but I think I take a bit more of a pessimistic view. There's a large discussion among some of my friends about write-ins and having to choose between the "lesser of two evils". I personally disagree with that but it does raise questions for me - will Biden/Harris be responsive to change? Will they actually be held responsible? But, then again, is large scale systemic change even feasible? "Realistic"? Unsure. Who are we to even have a back and forth about this? Even writing this, I keep questioning myself on whether or not this discussion itself is even productive... 🙂
Small Feelings
A week of many small and large feelings:
I wonder if there are Asian American mentorship programs outside of college
I want to know a sense of where other people's parent(s) are with personal boundaries. I've been having a couple of communication issues in this regard, and at times I think I'm justified but I know there may be a cultural/generational difference. It's incredibly frustrating on my end, but I'm trying to see their side and I wish they were putting forth the same effort.
My mom recently got into gardening and grew her first cucumber. She shared it all over WeChat even though it kind of looked like a mouse
💡S P O T L I G H T💡
Anderson .Paak
Multi-Instrumentalist, Rapper, Producer, Songwriter
Source: Yahoo Sports
So lately I've been REALLY jamming to Anderson .Paak. He just came out with the single "CUT EM IN". He's just... so good. He mixes rap, R&B, soul, and groove (which I really like).
As for his background, he was born in California in 1986 as Brandon Paak Anderson. His mother, the daughter of a South Korean mother and an African-American soldier who met during the Korean War, was adopted by an American family from LA. When he was really young, he saw his father attack his mother and get arrested, after which he never saw him. His mother also got arrested for fraud when he was a senior in high school. (He had a pretty turbulent life...) Growing up, he played the drums, started producing music in his bedroom, and at one point worked on a marijuana farm, after which he became homeless.
Right around that time, in 2011, he started working on his first album (and was already married to a South Korean musician). Only in 2014 did he debut as "Anderson Paak" with the album Venice and perform on 6 songs in Dr. Dre's 2015 album. In 2016, he performed with the Free Nationals on NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert series, which ended up being the most popular concert in the series. He's gone on to create such amazing music. His second album, Malibu, also came out in 2016 and was described as "a seamless tsunami of soul-stirring, body-shaking, infectious and deeply-personal songs" (agreed—his most popular song "Come Down" is from this album). Recently, he's won Grammy awards for Best Rap Performance (2019), R&B Album (2020: for Ventura, his fourth album), and R&B Performance (2020). 😍 Also, pls check out the lyrics of his song “Lockdown” ...yes the people are rising.
Chef's Specials
🎥 I watched Lucky Grandma this weekend—it's available online in a way that supports local theaters, which is cool. The premise is interesting, and it's mainly an action/thriller/comedy. The main actress Tsai Chin, who is 86 years old, is quite great (and has an interesting life story/career). To me, the movie was sort of a "character study" of her, more so than an in-depth story...
📚 After a long adult fantasy novel binge, I recently got into reading YA novels. Came across this book Emergency Contact by Mary Choi, bought it last week, and am excited to read it when I get back to campus. Seems to be an interesting take on digital communication (quarantine mood...). Will lyk how it goes, but if anyone has read it before please let's talk!
🌱 The SEAD Project (Southeast Asian Diaspora) is a cool org that is offering beginner language classes in Hmong, Khmer, Lao, and Viet. :) Pretty cool.
Events
August 27, 4pm ET: Asian Americans: A Conversation On the Philadelphia Experience. “In this panel conversation moderated by the Board Chair of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, learn about Asian American and Pacific Islander communities that emigrated to the Philadelphia region and the unique narratives that exist only here.”
August 27, 5:30pm ET: A Virtual Cooking Class with Nom Wah (“Tonight's menu will include crafting Nom Wah's scrumptious Rice Rolls and Roast Pork Buns.”)
August 27, 7:30pm ET: A cool panel of South Asian women on the ups and downs of raising capital during COVID-19.
August 28-29, 8-11pm ET: Dance to the Polls by the 2020 Project: it’s “a virtual dance workshop series to get out the vote and share dance community experiences from AAPI and Black performers.” RSVP at bit.ly/dancetothepolls