This week, News Hour is dedicating a whole series on China, including this segment which focuses on the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. I’ve been to Shanghai only once, back in 2002 and I remember seeing billboards for this event. I wouldn’t be surprised if Shanghai has quadrupled (or more) in size since I last visited! China has spent over TWICE the amount they did on the city than they did in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics! The United States almost didn’t have a pavilion there, since U.S. government policy prohibits direct funding for such events. But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opened her rolodex and helped raise over $60 million for the United States to be represented at the Fair. Most of the visitors of the World Expo will be local Chinese residents, making up an estimated 95% of all attendees. With all the grandeur and the incredible crowds of the exhibits, I’m tempted to make another trip to Asia to check out the World Expo myself.
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Ever wonder how some Chinese buildings have managed to last hundreds of years through earthquakes and the onslaught of time? Saw the answer in this Slashdot article: sticky rice! As detailed here, sticky rice is not only tasty, but when added to mortar, a starchy compound called amylopectin in the sticky rice gives the mortar superior strength and mechanical properties.
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- Intermarriage is slowing among Hispanics and Asians. (WSJ)
- Asian Hip-Hop group Far East Movement are the opening DJs for Kelis and Robyn’s US Tour. (Idolator)
- A male Asian Porn Star was stabbed to death by his on-set co-star on Monday. (LA Weekly)
- Japanese people love Lady Gaga. [8A tumblr]
Today, June 2nd, marks the birthday of Beau Sia, one of the biggest role models in my life. To me, this particular individual is bigger than any celebrity in terms of hi’s importance in shaping who I am today. While there are many other influential figures in my life, Beau Sia helped me set my path in what I wanted to do with my life and for that, I would like to wish him a happy birthday and to talk about the significance of this man’s work.
For those who are unfamiliar with Beau Sia, he is an American spoken poet of Chinese/Filipino descent who was born in Ohio and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He is known for being a fierce advocate for the APA community as well as a wickedly talented spoken poet. He was one of the first to respond to Rosie O’Donnell’s “ching chong” jokes on The View several years ago, as well as headlining an awesome PSA on APA Heritage Month.
I first came across Beau Sia three years ago in college when a good friend of mine showed me a YouTube clip of a Def Jam spoken poetry performance. My friend told me that this particular poet reminded him of me and that I would definitely enjoy it. Intrigued, I immediately checked it out. The title of the piece is called “Give Me A Chance” and marks the very first spoken poem I’ve heard.
“Where are you from?” It’s the most dreaded question of all questions. Well, it is right after “How do you pronounce your name?” but we already discussed that topic earlier.The question is usually posed as an introduction to learn more about each other with good intentions, but it stings as much as a cutting insult. It instantly isolates you from the interviewer, who has clearly placed a barrier of differences between the two of you. In some ways, being asked this question is akin to receiving a warm embrace from a new friend, who mutters under their breath that you really don’t belong here.
Am I being too sensitive about this question? Perhaps, and it’s not an issue that I lose sleep over. I can count the number of times I’ve been asked this on a single hand, yet I still remember each instance, whether it was waiting for the swings at my elementary school playground or sitting in the chair at a hair salon in Rhode Island. I’ve answered the question differently each time, from proudly stating “JAPAN!!!” during my innocent days or “Where are you from?” after a particularly invigorating Asian American studies class to even a lazy “Los Angeles, what about you?” in my current jaded mentality.
Moustafa Bayoumi wrote an opinion piece for CNN that stated, “the question ‘Where are you from?’ may help others locate me, but it will never describe me.” Yet, as much as I agree with his idea, I still have pride over where I did come from. My paternal great grandfather gambled his way to the United States back in the early 1900′s and while my mother’s side of the family were 100% Japanese until she decided to move to Southern California–which made World War II history lessons more interesting, knowing that my family had fought on both sides of the Pacific. In some ways, my family background does help describe who I am today.
So, where are the rest of the 8Asians writers from? They took this opportunity to reveal where they’re from, their approach in dealing with the question, where people assume they’re from or their actual family history and journeys.
I grew up in Manhattan Beach, California. When I was younger, we were low-to-middle income. The racial makeup of the city is nearly 80% White, so there wasn’t too much ethnic diversity as far as that goes. It’s not really a metropolitan city either, so there wasn’t much to do as a kid except kick it at the beach, skate, or surf.
I moved to Palos Verdes when I was nine years old. From that point on, I experienced more of the suburban lifestyle. You know how it is with high society: It was all about getting a great job after receiving a high school/college education. Now I’m starting to see a lot of our conservative-minded youth pursue endeavors other than studying (music, film, sports), and although they aren’t exactly lucrative career paths, I encourage these kids who want to do alternative things in the world.
How does this all tie into where I’m from? As an Asian American growing up in a mostly White community, I definitely felt like an outsider. Throughout the years, I’ve learned to make the best out of that situation, and I’ve come out a much stronger person for it.
I was born at the Chinese General Hospital, which is technically in Manila I guess, but I’ve always claimed being from Quezon City, Philippines where I lived my first year of life before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area.
I vaguely recollect elementary school kids thinking I was Chinese. As I got older in school, everyone realized that Filipinos were very represented in student government, choir, band, and color guard. In the Philippines, people have thought I was Thai or only half -Filipino. In Cambodia, people think I’m Cambodian until they hear me speak English well, then they realize I’m Filipino.
Last night while channel surfing, I came across the second season premiere of ABC’s new reality TV show, True Beauty. The overall premise of the show’s competition is to find a contestant who represents both outer and inner beauty, as secretly judged by Vanessa Minnillo, Carson Kressley and Beth Ostrosky Stern. In typical reality TV fashion, the participants must go through a series of challenges with hidden cameras to catch all of their true “inside” ugliness.
This season, the contestants believe they are competing to be the spokesperson and model for the “Face of Vegas.“ New Jersey’s Amy Schmoldt, who works as a model/bartender, is the sole Asian American contestant, as described here on her official bio page.
Amy was adopted from Korea as an infant and grew up with Caucasian parents in New Jersey. Although she doesn’t identify with the Asian culture, she describes herself as an “outrageously beautiful Asian girl”. Amy believes that her exotic look and “all American personality” is the perfect combination to appeal to the masses as the Face of Vegas. Amy loves to shop, gossip and look in the mirror. Amy admits that her mouth gets her in trouble and says that her father calls her blonde because she tends to act a little ditzy. Amy is constantly in trouble for giving dirty looks, but she claims it is just the way her face naturally is. She admits to being oblivious to most things around her.
Amy is definitely not your “model minority” –pun intended! Having watched the intro of all the other contestants, the people on True Beauty seem pretty superficial and are probably train wrecks waiting to happen in real life.
Three years ago, 8Asians contributor Akrypti pretty much laid out the foundation & history of Blacklava and offered her rather “colorful” opinions about the Asian American clothing company.
As a good friend and collaborator with Ryan Suda, I felt that it was necessary to do a piece on him from my own perspective in order to get the full effect of what Blacklava was really about. Several of you may view him as the guy who stands behind the booth at many major events trying to hustle and sell t-shirts, but I see him as somebody that has always been true to the cause and has never strayed away from his passion. He spends countless hours in his warehouse working solely to create fresh branding ideas to promote Asian American artists, notable causes, and nonprofit organizations.
In this video, you will find out straight from the source how the company originated, as well as what it meant for Ryan to start a name brand that revolved around Asian American themes. When you see what Blacklava is all about, hopefully you’ll understand that it isn’t just a clothing company, but also a highly valuable resource to our community.
I want to give a special thanks to artist/actress Karin Anna Cheung (and her Pomeranian Chihuahua, “Roxy”) for volunteering her time to make a cameo and also to the Blacklava interns, Edward Hong (our very own 8asians contributor) and Nga Truong for helping me film this piece.
Please visit the improved www.blacklava.net and support your local AA artists by purchasing some of their merchandise!
I am all for various food items placed on sticks, but I am having mixed feelings about the Sushi Popper. At first, I thought this was a failed Saturday Night Live skit, but this is an actual item for purchase. Once I got over the frenzied/dizzying video clip, disturbing “push-and-eat” imagery of raw food items and the potential stomach malfunctions this may cause, I am intrigued enough to try it. Who’s with me on this?!
EDITORS NOTE: The opinions in this blog post are not necessarily shared by 8Asians.com or other bloggers that post on this blog.
On May 31st, I was informed by Tanzila Ahmed of Sepia Mutiny that a major protest was going down at the Los Angeles Israeli consulate on that very day. This protest came as a result of the Israeli military raid on a Gaza humanitarian vessel that left at least nine passengers dead and many more wounded. Immediately after the incident, protests sparked all over the world to denounce the Israeli government’s actions against the Mavi Marmara ship that contained pro-Palestinian activists on board.
Even though I’m passionate about social justice activism, I have never participated in a protest before — I needed to know what the experience was like. When I got there around 4pm, it was slow at first but less than half an hour later, people were rushing in to join the protest, cop cars were circling around like nervous bees, and passing cars were honking in support of the protest (and others who yelled out obscenities against it.) It was an exhilarating experience to be in the thick of it all and to be surrounded by so many passionate people from all religious sects and ethnicities who stood together in solidarity. The sight of so many different people banded together over this matter made me calmly smile, and I got to meet a lot of great people from the Answer LA and the Al-Awda coalitions that organized the demonstration and it was great to gain a little perspective on those who want to put an end to the Israeli occupation in Gaza.
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APA Events
Feb 9: (Los Angeles, CA) East West Players presents THREE YEAR SWIM CLUB
Feb 9: (Los Angeles, CA) OR (Orphan Relief): China Care Bruin’s 4th Annual Awareness Night
Feb 10: (Los Angeles, CA) CAUSE: Women in Power Annual Luncheon
Feb 15: (Seattle, WA) Pork Filled Players Enter The Year of the Dragon Spam*O*Rama
Feb 16: Adam WarRock and Kirby Krackle: West Cost Tour Dates!!!
Feb 16: (New York, NY) Amar Chitra Katha: Monica Ferrell, Chitra Ganesh, Keshni Kashyap, and Himanshu “Heems” Suri of Das Racist
Feb 17: (Los Angeles, CA) All My Sons- Feb 18: (San Francisco, CA) NAAAP-SF Lunar New Year Gala 2012
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