Cover this week inspired by the one-skillet garam masala chicken thighs and saffron rice by Sohla El-Waylly. Sohla is a Bengali-American chef based out of NY and was one of my favs from Bon Appetit, and I’m excited to see where she’s going now that she’s off on her own! Check her life update in this article!
Wtf how is it literally almost the end of October? … ANYWAYS, thank you so much for reading this! We really try to put together some good content and have really loved learning about AAPI things through this process. If you have a sec to give us some feedback, that would be wonderfully appreciated! Link here to a google form.
Prompts are back for this week, and this is unrelated to the newsletter specifically, but I just started this mindfulness nutrition thing (excited but scared) and wanted to pose this Q for everyone out there:
What is your relationship with food? Is it something you’re happy with? Something you want to change? How has it evolved over time?
<3 Jamie and Melinda
News
🏙 Some Philly news for ya - Last week, Nancy Nguyen, co-founder and director of VietLEAD (a Southeast Asian immigrant rights group) was arrested on trespassing charges after protesting the ICE director Tony Pham and the department's human rights abuses. Writing for the Inquirer, she discusses her arrest, the community efforts for her release, and the interaction with ICE and the Philadelphia Police Department.
🇵🇭 Anthony Ocampo, a sociology professor, said that "an uncomfortable truth I've avoided these past four years is that I love people who love this president [Trump]." So, on Oct. 4, he went to a Filipinos for Trump rally to better understand the Filipino conservatives in his community. Note, Filipinos are slightly more liberal and less conservative than the average Asian-American voter, but not by much.
Source: Joseph Cipriano on Colorlines.com
The rally took place in an upper-class Asian neighborhood in West Covina, California. Marc Ang, the organizer, started the rally by saying, "I don’t see any white supremacists here. I am a proud nonracist." Beforehand, Ocampo spoke with attendees: "An elderly Filipino man who said he admires Trump’s business acumen. ...A daughter of a Filipino immigrant and U.S. navy veteran who takes pride that her family came 'the legal way.' ...Several Filipina Catholic women concerned most about abolishing abortion rights." Ocampo noticed that the conversations here were different from what's in his social media (e.g. topic of Trump's $750 taxes, his getting coronavirus, his "unhinged debate"—they did not come up in the rally.) This piece was quite interesting—recommend y'all to read it in full.
🔥 For Vietnamese Americans, the Trump vs. Biden race "inflames old wounds." While some claim that Biden "worshipped China" and "opposed taking in refugees after the Vietnam War," others, like the folks behind VietFactCheck, say that Trump strengthened China and that Biden had "complicated but ultimately critical positions" on China and "welcomed refugees." These debates speak to how this election is again bringing up old wounds on war, a "repressive communist regime", and a bitterness towards China, which once occupied Vietnam. Although they won't sway the election, it seems that 48% of Vietnamese Americans supported the president while 36% favored Biden. What's interesting to consider is that "Trump’s Vietnamese-American supporters tend to see a distinction between themselves and immigrants who come here illegally" though Trump is limiting legally admitted refugees...
📚 On the Ballot in CA - Prop 16 would restore race-conscious decision in public education (ie. affirmative action). Supported by a number of Asian legislative organizations, one of the overlooked effects of the proposal would be to support under-resourced AAPIs in community colleges.
😧 FYI - There are majorly devastating floods going on in Vietnam right now.
Moving Chef's Specials up top
👯♀️ US Representatives Grace Meng (NY6) and Judy Chu (CA27) offer an endorsement of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, touching on anti-Asian discrimination amid COVID, business ownership, and healthcare.
🏀 Oh boy, I wish I knew sports, but an interesting article about Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat head coach) on the experience of being an Asian coach in the NBA and trying to create a network within the industry.
👔 Robert Lee was one of the last operators of Chinese hand laundries in NY. After fleeing to Hong Kong after the rise of the CCP, he immigrated to the US with his family. There, he opened up Sun's Laundry, which he ran until it recently shut down because of COVID-19 ( ☹️ ). I really loved this article tbh - always wondered why there were so many laundromats, and the history is so fascinating.
Source: NBC
🔌 This is 100% a plug to follow our Spotify playlist, but also check out this ~asian lofi ~ mix while you're at it. My fav is "Sail Away" by Meister Lampe.
Culture + Spotlight ✨
I only started following the artist Yumi Sakugawa on Instagram recently, but her posts speak to me! Her style and black-and-white aesthetic captured my attention as well. The post that got me initially was this one (below). I thought, wow, do I really feel safe enough now to let it all out? I'm not sure. I'm not sure if I can summon that inner light immediately...
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CF0OW7Yg0am/
I definitely have been thinking more about this one... all the defensive strategies that I still employ. Do I need to continue to shield myself like this?
Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFymn_0gJdF/
I wonder why she chose bunnies 🤔 Now for her bio... Yumi is so cool! She grew up in Orange County, CA and went to UCLA, where she was a part of the longest-running Asian-American theater company in the U.S. and began creating comics. She graduated with a fine arts degree in 2007.
Her comics "explore the trials and tribulations of human interaction" and are sometimes noted to be "eerie and wondrous" (which I like). Her work often appears in feminist magazines (yay!). She's written and illustrated some really cool books (a recent book "explores the possibilities of a not-so-distant future where fashion can be intergenerational, Asian American, divine feminine, environmentally conscious, community building, ancestor worshipping, and possibly bring you closer to enlightenment.")
Her book Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One With the Universe was considered by NPR's Book Concierge as one of "2014's Great Reads" and basically provides "self-help in comic book form." The title might sound eh to some, but I think she's quite a thoughtful and reflective creator, so I would buy a copy 🙂 She also writes a newsletter called "the yumiverse" and has exhibited in the Japanese American National Museum and Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building and has many cool art awards.
Anyhow, she was recently interviewed in the "Feeling Asian" podcast, and although I haven't listened in full, I want to! Recently, she seems to have run some workshops on emotional healing for Asian Americans, which I appreciate :) You can check out her Instagram here.
My fav is this one. Just vibes no stress :’)
✨ (No) S P O T L I G H T (only emoji) ✨
Small Feelings
Jamie: OK so I ordered my absentee ballot from Georgia back in AUGUST and have called the election office like 3 times because it never arrived at my house in Philly. The ballot was supposed to ship out on Sept 21, and they finally located it. The office sent it to my parents’ house instead of the address I requested it to, and my parents just ... didn't tell me? Anyways, they mailed it out to me last week, and it still hasn't gotten here. On top of that, even though I explicitly told the election office NOT to send me another ballot, they went ahead and sent one to my parents' house again (again still not the right address) this week. My mom priority shipped that one to me yesterday so hopefully it gets in, but even then, I'm pretty annoyed and a little worried about which one will actually be counted.
Also, I love country music lmao
Events 📅
Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7pm ET (today): Q&A with the founder of the South Asian Queer + Trans Collective, Fabliha Anbar, on The Cosmos Instagram Live. She's 21 years old 😮
Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 9pm ET (today): Q&A with the voice actors and filmmakers behind Over the Moon (which comes out on Netflix on Friday). RSVP here
Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6pm ET: Election Watch 2020: Gen Z's Potential Impact
Saturday, Oct. 24 at 4pm ET: Islamophobia At The Intersections: IG Live hosted by SouthAsians4BlackLives and TheBrownHijabi