APAture 2008 Event: Speak Out! social commentary

Today on September 20, 2008, I attended the event Speak Out! at Manilatown Heritage Foundation near Chinatown. This event is part of Kearny Street Workshop’s APAture, celebrating and displaying Asian Pacific American heritage to everyone. This was one of the most interesting events that I have ever attended in my life. It was the very first poetry slam that I went to and I found that it was really amazing.

Basically this Speak Out! event featured selected participants of Youth Speaks and adult writers who gathered together at this event to share pieces of their writing. All the Youth Speaks participants who spoke at the event are all of different ethnicities of Asian American culture and grew up and lived in different environments around the Bay Area. They all submitted their pieces of poetry and all were chosen by APAture to have the special opportunity to share their own voice in poetry at this event. Each youth participant read out two poems. One poem was dedicated to where they lived or the environment that they grew up in and the other was dedicated to an abstract idea that they feel passionate about, including justice and racism. Each had their own special means of expressing their feelings and actions for their poetry, whether or not they sang or they danced.

The adult poets were just as talented as the youth were. They were more professional in expressing their poetry and getting their ideas across to everyone. They did not talk about much about themselves but more about the larger ideas that affect us today, including religion and education. Even so, their message got across to everyone who listened to them, which I know is an important aspect of poetry and writing.

Listening is not one of my best aspects, but today I was all ears for the poetry that these people astounded me with. I was thinking, “Oh wow, how do they come up with this stuff? I could never do that.” Well I could, but then it won’t turn out to be as good as the ones that I heard today. I mean, I am talking about youth that are about my age producing pieces of work that display important messages about society and culture today. I visualized scenes from East Oakland and Korea and felt like I saw moms being beaten by their husbands and children getting killed from a stray bullet. The words were that powerful. It was very personal for them because they were talking about their own experiences from their own lives. What they spoke was what they went through, and they wanted people like me who were in the audience to understand and appreciate what they put out there by their body language, emotions, and their voice. I had a great sense of pride for them for being advocates for what they believed in and represented. It takes lots of courage to go up to the microphone and show who they were. Even though they stumbled with their words and actions at times, it does not matter because the focus is not on what goes wrong in the performance, but rather what is being said and what message is being sent out there for everyone to know about.

What also made this event unique is the diversity represented by the people who went up to the microphone today and contributed a piece of themselves as literary artists. There were some presenters who are of mixed races and some who come from areas that are misrepresented in Asian American culture. All had something to say about their culture and had similar and different ideas that they strongly believed in. There are not many Asian Americans who take part of the literary movement, but what I saw and heard today convinced me to believe that the literary movement is going to soon have a very significant change. As I listened to these speakers, I could relate and agree to the many ideas that they put out there. What they said about many ideas, including racism, justice, and education was all very true. I understood what they were going through because the same things have happened to me and I had embraced the same, effected feelings that they had.

My first poetry slam was an awesome experience. It felt great for me to take some time out to listen to what others had to say about their own culture and society. Experiencing culture does not have to be just walking around and looking at aspects of culture but it can come in many forms, such as the form that I got to witness today: the language of speaking and poetry. You learn a lot about culture in so many different ways and you also learn when you least expect it.

Reactions to APA group presentations

Our Asian American Culture class did group presentations on the main Asian American culture groups present in society today: Filipino Americans, Chinese Americans, Cambodian Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Japanese Americans, and Korean Americans. Even though I had a general idea about some of aspects about the common Asian American culture groups like Chinese Americans and Vietnamese Americans, it was interesting to learn about the other Asian American groups and to also build upon information that I already knew about Asian American culture groups. For Vietnamese Americans, I already knew about the common dishes, history, and holidays that Vietnamese Americans typically celebrate, but I did not know that there are numerous religions that exist in Vietnam. The Vietnamese practice religions such as Buddhism, Daoism, and Catholicism. This is very interesting because I am part Vietnamese, and the only religion that I have ever associated with was Buddhism. I thought that Daoism was limited to China and that Catholicism was more of a religious practice that was found in Europe. However, I learned that religions can cross borders and be practiced by a variety of people.

As a Chinese American, I am very familiar with the background and aspects of Chinese American culture. However, even though I am very knowledgeable about Chinese American culture, I do not know much about the small details and facts. One fact that really surprised me in a Chinese American group presentation was that the majority of the Chinese food that I have eaten for my whole entire life is not truly Chinese. Rather, it is Chinese food that was Americanized. I learned that any food that is fried is not Chinese because the Chinese use fresh food, like live fish and live chicken. That means that Panda Express is not giving anyone a taste of China with its popular menu of fried rice, fried noodles, and orange chicken. None of those foods are Chinese at all. They have American aspects combined with them. Fortune cookies are not Chinese either. Americans created the fortune cookie. I found this really shocking because for so long I believed that the Chinese cuisine that my parents made for me to eat was Chinese, not Chinese American.

The Cambodian American group's presentation intensified me the most. I knew nothing about Cambodian Americans until the group gave their presentation. I was struck by the fact that a large genocide took place in which many Cambodians were held prisoner in somber-looking cells and were executed in massive numbers. It never occurred to me that such a large genocide would have such drastic effects on Cambodians. The YouTube video that the group showed depicted enough graphics to prove that the genocide was an important part of Cambodian history that would never be forgotten. I have heard of the genocide of Jews and people of Darfur, but this signigicant Cambodian genocide is not known by many. However, it is important to realize that this genocide occurred and affected so many Cambodians that we learn and understand history.

These series of Asian American culture group presentations gave me new insights into each of the common Asian American groups. I realize that each culture is similar and different in many ways, but each culture has its own unique place in Asian American culture. Since there are so many Asian American cultures that set them apart from each other, I say that there is not just one Asian American culture but many. However, they are all put under one label for us to recognize that they all represent Asian America.

Hyphen Magazine- Space Issue: (___) for President

Everyone knows that the year 2008 is very important. Besides the spectacular Beijing Olympics, the year 2008 is the year when all Americans elect our new president. I am very happy, like many of you probably are, that Bush is finally getting out of office. I mean, how terrible was he during his years as president? Anyways, shifting away from the subject about Bush, this year’s presidential election is very unique. It has never included such a wide variety of candidates. There’s Barack Obama, who’s the first African American to run for president and Hillary Clinton, the first woman to run for president (updated: Hillary Clinton is not running for president. She lost the Democratic party nomination to Barack Obama). For the Democratic Party, it’s a very special presidental election indeed. If the Democrats win, then United States history will be revolutionized forever. However, even when the focus is on the main running candidates for president Barack Obama and John McCain, there is one group that is left out of the picture: Asian Americans.

Throughout United States history, Asian Americans have had little participation in politics. From my point of view I see that Asian Americans are more focused on going about their daily lives and have little time to devote to politics. Many Asian Americans do not even bother with politics or they simply do not care. There are reasons for this matter. A number of Asian Americans do not speak or understand English and think that they have little voice in government. We are a small minority group outnumbered by other groups such as African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Asian Americans are often ignored in the media in regard to politics. However, the good news is that the face of Asian Americans in politics is changing.

More Asian Americans are getting involved in politics. Even though the change is slow, it is happening. There are many dedicated Asian Americans who are now involved in government and politics and many more are soon to come. Some prime figures include Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor and John Chiang, California State Controller. Other figures that are rising in the levels of government include Wilma Chan and Mike Honda. It is a possibility in the future that there will be more Asian Americans on the government board of California and in the federal government. These politicians are strong and believe in what they fight for and represent. If they advance to the next level, they will make a great change in society and in Asian American culture. Soon Asian Americans will not be obscured in the area of politics. Asian Americans will not have to feel a sense of shame of misrepresentation in politics and having their thoughts and voices be heard.

Letter to the Editor, Harry Mok

Hi Harry,

I really enjoyed your article “Across Asian Middle America” (The Road Trip Issue). It was interesting to read about the lives of Asian Americans who grew up and lived in places where there wasn’t a strong Asian American culture present. I know that it must be tough to live in an environment where there aren’t many people of your own culture that you can relate to. You feel lost and uncomfortable. However, it was inspiring to know how the people in the article overcame their circumstances. Their experiences fueled their appreciation and pride for their own culture.

Sincerely,

Cindy Luu
San Francisco
SFSU ETHS 210

Filipino Parents, oh my gulay!

Have any of your parents (or Filipino “family members”) ever talked about you in Tagalog (or any other dialect) right in front of you?! I mean, they’ve been doing it since I can remember. They take some sort of sick pleasure in doing that. When I was little I never knew what they were all talking about so it wasn’t a big deal to me, but now that I do understand Tagalog, they still do it! They talk to all my other “aunties and uncles” about inappropriate things. About me and my boyfriend’s fights they manage to hear about, how I lashed back at them the other week about going out, or just other personal stuff which are pretty embarrassing. I mean, come on! What gets to me the most is about college and my future, and let me stress the word MY! Everyone asks my parents, “Oh what is Gelline taking?” They reply, “Business Administration, but she doesn’t really know what she wants.” And they laugh about it and continue discussing careers they wish I would to pursue. It’s kinda a slap in the face because I know they talk about it in a specific tone I may only recognize as MOCKING, but why in front of me THROUGH other people, and WHY IN TAGALOG? This passive aggression runs through hella generations before me because I observe the same guilt talk from my grandparents toward my parents and so on. I know this may not be just a Filipino thing, but I mean... Filipinos are such emotion, non-aggressive and expressive people (Most although from my experience). Seriously, all I see is them taking the easy way out – not expressing their opinions, keeping it to themselves; whether it has to do with how they feel about one of their family member’s decisions or whatnot. They don’t like to have one-on-one conversations, they criticize passively. I guess the knowledge of voicing out, I learned and practiced as an American... Being STRONGLY OPINIONATED and open to other people’s feelings. That’s why I guess I clash with my parents and a lot of my Filipino friends do also. Does it have to do anything with being the third generation? Honestly, It’s funny how this topic circles all back to the importance of family relationships, closeness, and bonds because despite all the somewhat shit talking... Filipinos are so closely knit - Blood families connected with other non-blood families and establishing a hold as strong as blood. I guess this act of passive aggression is just a quirk because I know in the end, the good outweighs the bad. I know there’s a couple more pet peeves I have about our cultural and Filipino parents in general (like strictness) haha but I’ll save that till next time. <3

What does Asian American mean to you?

Well, I’m gonna be honest. I have no idea what Asian American Culture means... Its kinda like, I’m full Filipino and I don’t even really know what’s up with my culture. Like when Independence Day is or like, our certain superstitions and customs, I really don’t even know the backdrop to those kinna things. It’s really on me though, because even though neither of my family members taught me about the Filipino culture and even though teachers weren’t up to the challenge of teaching Filipino history, I could’ve done something about it and educate myself. And I guess that’s how it is now a days... I can go up to anyone and just ask them the history of their heritage and I bet you a lot won’t be able to give me the answer. I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong... But I have yet to BE proven wrong you know. I guess it’s just the western movement. Everyone’s caught up in the American dream that everything is just "Americanized" cuz that’s the reality and the ‘hype’.. Fuck the hype man, it sucks that everything got so fusionized that we don’t know what the original ingredients are... I mean, don’t get me twisted its cool that mixing different cultures and people together is happening. it’s just that we lost sight of where we all come from and I don’t really like that. Let’s try to keep culture alive... And not just by celebrating it but moreover by gaining the knowledge as to why we're celebrating... and acknowledging how beautiful it is. EMBRACE EVERY SINGLE CULTURE!

But if I had to give a straight “ANSWER THE QUESTION” based opinion on what Asian American means to me, I’d have to basically say inspiration leaders.. family, friends, determination, dignified, .. all those things combined into one identity. From my knowledge, I heard boundless stories of the struggle to get to America and I learned how focused these Asian Americans were to try and reach this goal of getting to America JUST TO LIVE. And not only was it a struggle to get here, but a struggle to stay here. With racisim thrown into the picture, with culture shock, with finding jobs that were limited due to qualifications, etc… to me, I have such respect for this “Asian- American” identity, which we (the Asian-American race) all hold within ourselves, even if we didn’t personally experience these things because somewhere in our blood line has.


*First published on personal blog; xanga.com/x3_gelline on sept 4 2008. Copied &extended here on blogspot (=

Letter to the Editor

Dear Hyphen,

I'm glad that there's a culture-enriched magazine like yours that accurately portrays contemporary Asian Americans. Before reading your article, "Life After 9/11," I was ignorant of the xenophobia many Asians—most notably South Asians—faced in the aftermath of September 11. Stephen Funk's story about his experience with the Marines gave me insight to the discrimination within the military; I didn't think that such blatant racism still existed within the armed forces of the United States. Another thing I discovered from the article is the deportation of Cambodian refugees. I find it appalling that the US is sending them back to Cambodia—after settling and creating a life here—because of a war they have nothing to do with. Thank you for letting them have a voice in your magazine.

Sincerely,
Katrina Lui
San Francisco, CA
ETHS 210 @ SFSU

What's Hyphen-ing?

Dear Harry Mok,

I love how Hyphen has its own unique voice. All the writers' personalities really show through their writing, making the magazine an interesting read. I like how the writers incorporate little details about being Asian American into their articles, so the reader gets a better understanding of the Asian American family because there are not a lot of great depictions of Asian American families in the media. The ones usually being shown over and over are of traditional families, and no one realizes that there are different types of Asian American families and that we can be modern! Thanks for all your (and the staff's) hard work into making this magazine stand out.

--Stephanie Yu
San Francisco, CA
ETHS 210

Letter to Hyphen Magazine

Dear Harry Mok,

As I read your article about "Commercial Success," your first two sentences explained it all "Something Odd has been happening... Asian Americans in commercials" and it is something I noticed too. Honestly, what are the odds of seeing an Asian American on television? I would say very slim, but I too noticed that slowly more and more Asian Americans are in commercials or bill board ads. I rarely watch commercials. When they come on I usually start channel surfing, but I remember one day when the Home Depot commercial about getting new cabinets aired I couldn't help but watch it. I remember saying to my sister, "hey look, Asians and not only one, but three of them!" It caught me by surprise that an Asian American family was actually on TV and for once it was not about "kung-fu fighter or garden-variety geisha girl." After reading this article, I had the urge to watch television to count the number of commercials with Asian Americans. It makes me wonder why the sudden change? Does allowing Asian American to be in commercials stand for a sign of acceptance into society? What message is being portrayed by having Asians Americans in TV ads? We won't know, but as it says at the end of your article " perhaps one day we will reach a point when Asian Americans on the tube will have become so common that we won't even care." I would like to see that day come.

Jaimie Lui
San Francisco, CA
ETHS 210

Dear Harry Mok, the editor in chief of Hyphen Magazine

Never in my life was I so intrigued in a magazine filled with so many words! Not only were these words insightful, but hilarious and inspirational. Thank you so much for the article, "Postcards From the Middle" in your Road Trip Issue. These short stories written by the actual protagonists themselves add a sense of reality and truthfulness to the paragraphs I read. It touches upon segregation in the 1980s, raw scenic corridors of migrated Asian families, and making the best of what was given; subjects I never had first hand experiences with, but still felt the mixed emotions that were being portrayed. Surprisingly, one particular story dealt with the choice of erasing their Asian culture and choosing to replace it with another (black or white in this situation). I have to say, this concept upsetted me, the lifestyle of limited culture takes away the knowledge of a whole other part of the world. I think that culture is essential, and it should be shared and embraced by all. That is what your magazine has opened my eyes to. Although there were many spelling and grammatical errors, they never tarnished the eloquent material of Hyphen.

- Gelline Mejia
Elk Grove, Ca
Ethics 210

My letter to the editor of Hyphen Magazine.

Dear Harry Mok (Editor in Chief of Hyphen Magazine)

I’m a huge magazine lover and I was ecstatic when I found out that Hyphen magazine is devoted to getting information about Asian American culture out there for people to read. The layout, articles, and writing style are very fresh and fun to read. Also, thanks for the “Commercial Success” article in the Road Trip Issue. It’s really great to hear that Asian Americans are appearing in commercials, especially those who aren’t portraying the typical stereotypes. Hopefully we can slowly but surely work our way into television shows too. Keep up the excellent work and I can’t wait for the next issue!

Sharon Lee

San Francisco, CA

ETHS 210

[and to anyone that hasn't heard of Hyphen magazine, it's a non profit mag that is all about Asian American culture - so check it out. www.hyphenmagazine.com]