Inspired by: mont lin maya, a traditional Burmese street snack
Hello! We're back after taking a break last week. Hope everyone is safe and practicing social distancing. First, we want to note the momentous step of Kamala being elected as the VP - our experience is that representation does matter, and it's absolutely huge that we have a black and Indian woman in the second-highest office in the country. Congrats to all other AAPI candidates and newly (or re)elected officials. That's it for politics (more to come eventually but NOT today).
We - and a ton of people we've talked to - have been feeling a little burnt out towards the end of the year, so we wanted to dedicate the majority of this newsletter to showcasing some interesting news, cultural pieces, and artistic works that may have gone under-recognized in the past few weeks.
No prompt, but this is a reminder to correct your posture.
You May Have Missed
📚 If you remember a while back, there was a case brought by Students for Fair Admissions against Harvard around their race-conscious admissions policies that purportedly discriminated against Asian Americans. Federal courts ruled in favor of Harvard, and the plaintiffs appealed. This week, the federal appeals court upheld the lower court decision that Harvard doesn't intentionally discriminate. Given the likelihood of further appeals, the case is not over, but it's an important one to monitor, especially with the DoJ-Yale lawsuit around a similar issue.
❣️ "Worldwide, South Asians account for 60% of all heart disease cases even though they make up only a quarter of the planet's population". (😮!) Reports over the past few years find that South Asian Americans are at higher risk of heart disease, stressing high blood pressure, diabetes, genetics, and diet as contributing factors. Calls for more research and funding are increasing to understand why and how to better mitigate the risks.
🦠 As COVID cases continue to rise, we wanted to say to PUT ON A MASK AND STAY INDOORS if u can. Also, wanted to note that Filipino nurses alone make up 28% of the nursing population, and we really should be listening to healthcare workers and their concerns going into the winter. Be safe!
🥟 Cecilia Chiang died at the age of 100. In 1961, she opened the Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco, which "introduced American diners to the richness and variety of authentic Chinese cuisine". If you have a minute, please give the story a read - she had a really fascinating life.
Chef's Specials
🐚 The Sea Women of South Korea (haenyeo) A photo gallery of women on the island of Jeju who make their living by "harvesting seafood by hand from the ocean floor". No tech gear, only wetsuits. Super short - take a look!
❓ The Politics of Indian Punk (we can't read this bc paywall but a good friend sent to be shared)
📺 Susan Lieu wrote this one-woman show called "140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother" that evoked a lot of complex emotions... here's the 1-minute trailer (i saw the virtual screening)
🥘 At a virtual event, I heard Priya Krishna share her drive to create equity in the food space, which reminded me of how in August, she had quit Bon Appetit's Test Kitchen.
The Culture Section
Also, for the record, we have literally 0 emotions these days! It's been a super up and down week for both of us. WAITING for Thanksgiving to finally get a break.
On the last day of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, I got to watch the Animated Shorts program for just $3! I video called a friend while watching (hi Charles), and it was fun to share thoughts as we watched each one 🙂 Not all of the films (in general) are available online openly, but below I've included the few I did find in full online and some trailers for the others. Honestly, animation amazes me... how do they do it... bruh same
So yes, re: seeing such films in full in the future - I did some searching and although it seems like the 2020 Asian American film festivals around the country are over, keep your eye out for more next year - all the big cities seem to have them (Philly, NYC, Boston, Seattle, D.C. San Diego, LA, etc.) And I'm guessing a lot of them will still be virtual, so we can still watch from afar! I wish I had made time earlier to watch more of the films from PAAFF... they all looked great.
In the Shadow of the Pines - Directed by Anne Koizumi
"Filmmaker Anne Koizumi explores the childhood shame she felt about her Japanese immigrant father, who worked as a janitor at her school." As you can already tell from the description, this one hit the emotions... also it looked like she used stop motion or something with real objects so that was cool. This was one of my favorites. Here it is in full:
The Kitchlets - Directed by Clarisse Chua
"What happens when house spirits depend on our well-being to survive?" The little house spirits gave me Spirited Away vibes. This one was really interesting and relatable... how your pos/neg emotions literally manifest around you. It's in full below (should link to 55:26).
Passage - Directed by Asavari Kumar
"An Indian woman in pursuit of the American dream, revisits her immigration journey." First, the animation is amazing! Second, I am in awe of the Asavari - she used to be the Artist in Residence at Adobe and now runs her own design studio. I was sad to not find this in full.. she created this film "as a response to the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Trump’s America." Trailer below - I'm hopeful you'll find her film at another film festival soon.
Yuan Yuan and the Hollow Monster - Directed by Catherine Chen
"Eight-year-old Yuan Yuan is determined to protect her newest pet, a tiny turtle named Lucy, at all costs—even if it means chasing down a massive hurricane called the Hollow Monster." This one was sort of funny because (1) I watched tons of Monkey King when I was a toddler and probably tried to embody his vibes at some point (2) the dad's heeding. The animation/story was cute 🙂Trailer below.
Small Feelings
I've been listening to "Holy" by Justin Bieber and Chance the Rapper for 3 days straight, and it's low-key really good. Realizing that almost every I know wants a nose job (what's that about?).
Trying to talk in a more "eloquent" way because I think I come off as very young when I speak... What are you all working on?
I wonder what AAPI communities/families think about composting.
We had a conversation about the fact that almost everyone we know is in some sort of quarantine relationship. hah.
Also, for the record, we have literally 0 emotions these days! It's been a super up and down week for both of us. WAITING for Thanksgiving to finally get a break.
✨ Spotlight: Kim Ng ✨
Source: The Coin Flyp
Of course, you've heard about her - literally all over the news.
Kim was the first of 5 daughters (!!) born to parents of Chinese descent. While she was in NY for elementary/middle school, she moved to New Jersey (woo) for high school, during which she played tennis and softball.
During all 4 years of college (1986-1990) at the University of Chicago, she played softball. After graduating with a degree in public policy, she started as an intern for the Chicago White Sox. (I'm wondering if she dealt with any backlash from her parents... especially since she is the oldest child!)
A year later (1991), when she was hired full-time by the Chicago White Sox, she had the role of "special projects analyst." Now, she's the first woman and Asian-American General Manager (GM of the Miami Marlins). She was most recently MLB's VP of Operations and used to be the Assistant GM of the LA Dodgers and NY Yankees.
In an interview, Kim had said, "As we see female world leaders, CEOs, secretaries of state, there's no reason that there shouldn't be a woman general manager." Although I'm not well versed in the sports industry, it's obvious that she had to be super persistent and badass to get this role in such a male-dominated space. Only last month did MLB have its first female coach (Alyssa Nakken).
Political Stuff Buried at the Bottom
👀 AAPI and Latinx voters in Georgia (s/o to Stacey Abrams who will never read this newsletter but wow big props for what she did with voter turnout).
👀 Nikil Saval won his election for Philly District 1, making him the first South Asian American elected to PA State Senate (local elections r important 🥺).
👀 A pretty enlightening profile of 12 Asian American voters in swing states like Pennsylvania.
Events
Thursday, November 19 5 PM PST: (ZOOM LINK) Building AAPI Power with 20/20 Hindsight: Post-Election Analysis and Impact, with Karthick Ramakrishnan, Founder and CEO of AAPI Data, Lian Cheun, Executive Director of Khmer Girls in Action (KGA), Tavae Samuelu, Executive Director of Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC), Sara Sadhwani, Professor of Politics at Pomona College, and Nancy Yap