This week's illustration is an ode to garlic
Good afternoon we are all tired.
No official prompt for today because everyone has enough to do as is. The only question to think about - what do you to help yourself process all the shit in your life and/or prevent burnout?
Love ,
Jamie and Melinda
đ„ș Also, if you like this / think anyone would be interested, please feel free to share or ask people to sign up at aroundthetable.substack.com. Big thanks :â)
News
đ Our queen Naomi Osaka won the U.S. Open for the second time! Throughout the U.S. Open, she wore seven face masks that featured names of Black folks who were killed in incidents of police brutality and systemic racism: Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, and Elijah McClain. Naomi, who is Japanese and Haitian, leveraged her platform and sent a powerful message, emphasizing that "I feel like the point is to make people to start talking." We are so proud of her and admire her. đ (If you recall she was one of our first spotlights!)
đ Dawn Wooten, a nurse who had worked for ICE stepped forward to file a whistleblower complaint with the Government Accountability Project and Project South. In the 27-page complaint, she shared what she knew about the horrific practice of hysterectomies being performed on women at an immigration detention center in Georgia without their full consent. FYI: a hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus (let's save the convo of how hysterectomies are given to women in the U.S. way too much for another day...) In the complaint, one woman said, "It was like they're experimenting with our bodies."
Sadly, this practice is nothing new in the U.S. As Pelosi said, this "disturbing situation recalls some of the darkest moments of our nation's history, from the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks, to the horror of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, to the forced sterilizations of Black women..." An example of this awful history can be seen in California, which has a great Latinx and Asian population: from 1909 to 1979, more than 20,000 women and men in California were sterilized. California's eugenics programs "were driven in part by anti-Asian and anti-Mexican prejudice." đą
âïžÂ  9/11/2001: On the 19th anniversary of this tragedy, we remember those who lost their lives on that day, and we grapple with the effects of the attack and our responses. While a lot of us don't clearly remember what the day was like, we're learning about the aftermath more and more as we get older.
Source:Â Volkan Furuncu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images on ABC News
In this piece published in 9/11/2020, we learned that the Rutgers Center for Security, Race, and Rights found that of the 175 Muslim civil rights cases filed since 2001, only 17% of claims reached trial. Anti-Muslim discrimination cases continue to face a lot of barriers in the U.S. judicial system (check out the article for some examples), while "the rate of documented anti-Muslim attacks remains high." (In the year after 9/11, anti-Muslim hate crimes increased 17-fold, and today, incidents have not reduced to pre-9/11 numbers.)
Furthermore, according to a Brown University study released on 9/8/2020, in the post-9/11 wars pursued by the U.S., an estimated 37 million people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Philippines, Libya, and Somalia **have been displaced. "**An estimated 770,000 to 801,000 civilians and combatants, on all sides," have died in the wars since U.S. forces began fighting in the first five countries listed above.
(Last note: I also didn't know about the stories of Betty Ong, a flight attendant, and Zack Zeng, an assistant treasurer at the Bank of New York, who both died while helping to save lives during the attacks.)
đŁïžÂ USC Professor resigns from course over the use of Chinese expression that sounds like a slur. While teaching a class on communications and filler words, Professor Greg Patton, in describing the Chinese filler word for "that" éŁäžȘ(nĂšige), faced complaints from MBA students that the phrase (pronounced phonetically) sounded similar a racially derogatory slur. Such complaints resulted in his suspension from the course and prompted controversy over Chinese social media. You can read more about it here, but this is something that I've been thinking since a friend texted me about this a couple of days ago.
Source:Â YouTube/Reuters via MSN
On one hand, my gut feeling wants to say that it was a simple miscommunication of a filler word that people use for "um". In the case of the USC professor, I am having trouble grappling with the suspension and removal from the course, partially because it is a term me and my family and the broader Mandarin-speaking population use regularly and innocently in everyday conversation. However, I have 0 concept of what is it like to experience such a racially derogatory term, and I can understand the shock of such a word in the classroom and how the non-acknowledgment of what the sound brings up may trigger for people. I think, especially if you are teaching a course on communication (in the context of different cultures), it warrants a discussion on the meaning and interpretation of the terms you use. To some extent, I see it similarly to the use of a swastika symbol in South Asian religious practices - yes, it means something different on paper and, to a certain population, it symbolizes good luck. But, that does not negate that the actual use and implied meaning of the word is a very different and dangerous reminder of atrocities against the Jewish community. I don't know? Is that a valid comparison? Also, what concerns me is the discourse that deepens divides between Chinese and Black communities, especially the rhetoric within many circles that ridicules the students who filed complaints. If you have thoughts, please let us know we'd love to hear them.
Culture
The news section was longer than usual, and I think people are always finding it difficult to read large chunks of text... SO we're going to try something different by linking this video we found interesting.
This week, I went to get a COVID test (it's negative!), and I'm stuck with an increased appreciation for the healthcare workers. Later, I watched this video and was surprised to learn that there is so much history with imperialism, migration, and current international and domestic policies that contribute to the state and shortage of Filipino nurses. Definitely check it out! It's only 11 mins!
Small Feelings
Now that school is in full swing, I'm finding myself more and more frustrated and overwhelmed with online classes. The lack of interpersonal connection, weird formatting, and hours of Zoom classes really make it hard to participate and process the information. I'm trying hard to finish all the readings and be a good student, but every class has 5 Canvas assignments "due" each week without deadlines, and none of the students actually know what's due. Asynchronous classes have doubled the hours of required coursework, and I know that professors are trying their best to make it a meaningful experience, but it's difficult to convey feedback when I am confused or lost. It's also so so hard to focus and find meaning in course concepts knowing everything else that is going on in the world right now. The silver lining in a lot of this is that I'm taking many of my classes pass / fail and have the benefit of living with my roommates, who I love and appreciate dearly.
đĄS P O T L I G H TđĄ
Source:Â NME
Riz Ahmed
Actor, Rapper, Activist
With the Emmys on Sunday, I realized that Riz is the first man of Asian descent and the first Muslim to win an Emmy for acting! Also, I realize he's technically not American, but I thought he'd be cool to feature still.
Rizwan Ahmed was born to Pakistani parents, of Muhajir background, in London. He went to Oxford and studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics; it was during his time in college that he got more involved in underground music and rap battles. As he won some notable rap battle competitions, he went on to acting school. Originally getting noticed from several independent films, he later played roles in some really notable films and series, including Jason Bourne, Rogue One (from Star Wars), Nightcrawler, and The Night Of (for which he won the Emmy for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie").
Aside from great acting, his political rap is quite cool: his social-commentary track called "Post-9/11 Blues" became widespread around the internetâhe then started his own record label to release the song officially in 2006 and other albums thereafter. In 2014, he became a part of Swet Shop Boys, an Indian America/British-Pakistani hip hop group, in which he's known as Riz MC. As Riz MC, he rapped in the iconic Hamilton Mixtape song and music video, "Immigrants", which won an MTV Video Music Award (The phrase "immigrantsâwe get the job done" is probably what people most remember). In 2017, he was one of Time 100's most influential people in the world! Anyhow, this recent New Yorker interview with him was a good read to see what he's been thinking about and doing recently (reflections on his heritage and social issues in his work, etc.)
Chef's Specials
đ Itâs not too early to think of the holidays right... A Sugar and Spice Holiday, a Lifetime movie written by Vietnamese American Eirene Donohue about an Asian American family in Maine, comes out in December! It stars Tzi Ma, Jacky Lai, and Tony Giroux.
đŁ âThe Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to approve renaming a street "Kala Bagai Way" after a South Asian immigrant who was discriminated against in Berkeley.â (KQED)
Events
Tuesday, Sept. 22:Â ZUKO TUESDAY: The Vote 2020 Project is presenting a live two-hour virtual event led by the voice actor of Zuko, Dante Basco. It's free! RSVPÂ here.