So, i'm really sorry for having fallen behind in posting. I was going to post last night but when i got back my computer's internet wasn't working. But enough excuses, i'll just make up for it.

First things first, Jen i felt like your group did a really good job with your presentation on a gesture life. It really opened my eyes to aspects of the novel that i didn't notice at first. It was extremely insightful. But now as i'm reading my country versus me, they are definitely not the same kind of book. I do like how from the very beginning the book is interesting and real. Its a refreshing change from the creative fiction of a gesture life. The story is the kind that you only have really seen on tv or in movies, but it really happens. It really is a sad tale, of misconceptions and deceit. But I won't talk more about it until after the groups present because I don't want to spoil the book for people seeing as not all of us have read as far into the book as others.

And Laurie, I do agree with what you have to say about all this "political stuff" because it really is pertenant to us all. We are not only the student body of Berkeley but we are the embodiment of the school itself--we are the personality, essense, and voice. So its only natural we have a say in the goings-on here and it should be seriously listened to and taken into consideration. I honestly had no idea of what was going on at all if it wasn't for my friend Lisa or the very active and passionate filipino community. I really was totally ignorant of this all before and didn't really want to change that. But now that i know some stuff, i know i can't just stand by and watch things happen. I'm not saying i'm going to become super active but i will lend support. It really is better than doing nothing at all.

So does anyone know what they're writing about for their second paper? I was thinking about writing about america is in the heart because its the one that i've enjoyed the most so far and we didn't get to write about it for the first paper becuase we barely got finished with the book by the time the drafts were due. I think i'll have a somewhat hard time remembering some details but i think i took good enough notes in my book and from class to put together a better paper than my first one. i was thinking about writing about Carlo as a nomad as a means to provide i home for not only himself but the filipino community. or, possibly, that life really does move on because it has to where i would focus mostly on the 3 brothers in america (amado,macario, and carlo). i don't know, i think i'm having the reverse problem as i did with namesake because i'm thinking about a lot of topics and themes for my paper and can't seem to pick one. But i still have the fear that i'll choose to write about something that won't make it between the 6-8 page limit because of such a restrictive thesis. I'm planning on starting it really soon, either today or tomorrow. I also hope that we talk about the exam coming up more because i know that it'll include character quote identification for sure but what else? That's the hard part of having eams on reading on multiple novels because there is just sooo much content. i'm a little worried but i figured that as long as i read the books, i should be okay. Its just that is is soooo much to remember at a drop of the hat, especially in a test situation and i sometimes have a hard time with memory recall.


Well, I'm ready to talk about not-so-serious stuff now--mainly the guest speakers from Hyphen magazine. It was a pretty good use of our classtime to talk to them, it wasn't only out of the normal routine but it also was really interesting. if you think about it, there is only one truly asian american magazine left out there because majority of the periodicals are based on ethnicity, which is very specific to one race of man. an asian american magazine combines the issues, lifestyles, etc. of a collection of races. We all might be different races, but we are also all asian. When they asked "who identifies themselves as asian american", i didn't raise my hand because i've always identified myself as filipino american. But it is true that even though we all don't look alike and share the culture and history, we aren't that much different. If majority of the American population and government refers to us all as asian american, we should remember that if we get grouped together, we all should stick together as well. When an ignorant white man sees any asian american, he doesn't refer to them according to their race but "asian". They don't even always include the american, even though we are american and asian at the same time. Stereotypes for asians are pretty much put under the same umbrella, no matter how different they are from what you really are. Such as calling an asian a "chink" (hopefully no gets offended, i'm only using this an example) to anyone of southeast asian decent fail to realize that we have normal, of not bigger eyes. That statement about asians also fails to recognize those of indian and middle-eastern decent as asian, enen though they are. I know it is impossible to prevent generalizations, nevertheless false stereotypes. It is just so annoying sometimes.

-Precious

i feel like i'm always rambling

Jenn, I don't get it either. It's really discouraging when there are so many talented Asian Americans in the arts who are not recognized as they should be. It is upsetting that in order for some films to be shown and to gain popularity, there has to even be an Asian American Film Festival, you know what I mean? Why can't Asian Americans just be in the media, without the pretense of them being Asian American? I know that many Asian Americans are discouraged by their parents from even pursuing such dreams of becoming actors or actresses. They are pushed toward more 'productive' and money-making work. Still, culture and family pressures are not the only reasons for such underrepresentation of our communities in the media. There's definitely something wrong in the media itself that is preventing Asian Americans from gaining exposure. And I believe that there is a demand for Asian Americans too, so that argument cannot be made either. I just don't get it. Fortunately, we're gaining some ground, especially since JABBAWOCKEEZ WON!!! Yay! … Kaba should've been in the finals, but … let's not get into that.

So ... I don't really know what else to write about, but I feel like this is a forum for me to voice my opinions about things that are going on on our campus. There are so many things that happen that affect the student population yet a lot of us don't know what's going on. Let me know if it makes you guys feel uncomfortable talking about all this really... political (for lack of a better word) stuff, but let's fight the model minority stereotype!! Anyway, so as I've announced in class, I'm part of the Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN). Berkeley's PCN is the longest running culture show on campus and the second longest running PCN in the nation, second to that SFSU. It's a show that exhibits Pilipino culture in both the traditional sense and the Pilipino American sense. But even more than that, it's a space for our community's voices to be heard. Through PCN we are able to educate our own community and other communities about issues that are important to us. In addition, the process of PCN builds a sense of community among the participants. We spend HOURS preparing for this show, dedicating much of our days to PCN. As you can tell, it's something important to us.

PCN costs A LOT of money, and we all put much effort into raising as much money as we can. However, every year we request money from the ASUC to help fund the show. This year, we asked for $3000. After spending literally HOURS in Senate Chambers, this amount went down to $2500, then $2000, and eventually was settled on $1500. This was extremely controversial, as MORE money was allocated to other student organizations, such as fraternities and sororities. We could not understand how our own student government would not support us. The only advocates we seemed to have were the CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights and a Valid Education) senators. I realized the importance of having people who represented my beliefs in not only the student government but the national and state governments. Thus … in a shameless attempt at campaigning … I’M VOTING CALSERVE!!! YAY!!! Elections are April 8 to 10. Ask me if you have any questions!! :D

Asian Americans Artists

Last week, Laurie wrote about something that’s related to Asian American issues and I thought that that was interesting so I thought that I’d write something like that this week. On March 15, one week ago, San Francisco’s Japan Town held their annual Asian American film festival. Since I’m in APATH (Asian Pacific American Theme House) program, we have to do a certain amount of community services and so this was one of them that were available. When we arrived there, people were already there. The performers on stage were playing the traditional Japanese drums. There were traditional dancing, singing, instrument playing, hip-hop, and other performances from Asian Americans. It was refreshing to see all these talented Asian Americans on stage. One particular performance that got my attention was a hip-hop street break dancing group. I’ve seen a lot of Asian performers that are really, really good at dancing hip hop in Asia but not really in America, probably because they are not so much exposed here. After seeing them dance, I got to thinking: why don’t we see more Asian Americans appear in the media when they clearly have the talent, despite the various stereotypes that Asians can’t dance or are not performers. I mean the dance competition America’s Best Dance Crew proves otherwise. It shows that we do have the talent but did not have the opportunity in the media to showcase it.
On this topic, it reminds me of this magazine I got from the film festival. On one of the stands was a pile of KoreAm, a Korean American magazine. I don’t know if you guys know this, but the stars in Korea are really making it big now in Asia, including singers, dancers, and actors/actresses (Korean dramas). What’s interesting is that a lot of these stars are actually Korean Americans that couldn’t make it here in the U.S. On the cover of the magazine is Tim Hwang, a famous Korean American singer (that’s what actually caught my eye to the magazine). Inside the magazine, they actually have 5 pages dedicated to talking about how hard it is for Asian Americans to succeed in America today. Quoted from the magazine, “there was no market for Asian American artists, so…many star hopefuls fled to Korea for greater opportunities.” You guys have heard of American Idol right? Paul Kim, a Korean American, “was told numerous times that he would have been signed right away if he wasn’t Asian.” He was told that they loved his music but there’s no way to market him. I find that really disturbing. It really sucks that Asian Americans are viewed that way. I think that many Asian Americans would love to have Asian American idols to look up to, like they have in Asia. But because Asian Americans never get the opportunity, we don’t see them in the media often. Korean Americans such as Tim Hwang, Brian Joo (Fly to the Sky), Danny Im (1Tym), and Micky Park (DBSK) are all Korean Americans who are wonderful performers and I feel really bad that they have to go to Asia to become famous. I know a lot of Americans here actually view these Asian stars as idols, and so I wonder, why can’t the American media try to develop Asian American performers here? Right now, Korean stars are actually trying to break into the American media. Korean producer JYP is bringing Rain (Bi), Wonder Girls, and various Korean artists to perform in a U.S. tour with American artists R.Kelly, Outkast, and Will Smith attending and performing with them. They are also writing songs and singing with these Korean and Korean American stars. The magazine also states that the reason why Asian Americans didn’t make it because American producers think that even though Asian American artists may have the look, style, and moves, the producers haven’t heard that “hit crossover song yet”. To me, I think that if these artists are given a chance, they can really succeed. I don’t expect them to be successful instantly, but like any other artists, they can work their way up; but this won’t happen unless given the opportunity. I’m frustrated at the fact that America is known as the land of opportunities, and yet, Asian American artists are not given opportunities.

Jennifer Yeung

thx

thx laurie for the reminder!!!

REMINDER

GIRLS DON'T FORGET TO SIGN WITH YOUR NAMES SO WE KNOW WHO POSTED!!

A Gesture Life theme

Hey girls!

Interesting topics on journals this week! Laurie, I totally agree with you on the fact that, based on your descriptions, the Chancellor really wanted to avoid the question. It’s ridiculous! I can’t believe that he threatened to leave the meeting and tried to use women’s basketball as an excuse. How can a game be more important than discussing about the multicultural center. He did not act respectful at all. I liked how you relate this back to A Gesture Life. By coming to the meeting, he was only making a gesture and had no resolution to solve the problem. It’s ok Laurie! Never give up trying right?
So let’s talk about A Gesture Life. I’ll admit. After I read this book, I didn’t quite understand the theme or the importance. I finally got a better glimpse of the book after I’ve looked over the book again and discussed it with my group mates. After we started talking, ideas seemed to flow through me. I got to discover themes, ideas, and concepts of the book that I never even thought about before. By the end of our discussion, I enjoyed the book much more. So in class, there was a classmate that asked about the theme of the whole book.
In class, I told her that the theme is probably Doc. Hata’s sense of duty to everyone: his parents, Kkutaeh, Sunny, Mary Burns, and the Hickeys. To his adopted parents, he felt that he had this sense of duty or responsibility to carry out the noble name. To Kkutaeh, instead of true love, his feelings towards her were probably more of sympathy and responsibility. He wanted to save her more than love her. When he couldn’t save her, he transferred all these feelings to his adopted daughter, Sunny. He wanted to give her things that he wasn’t able to give to Kkutaeh. But he thought these materialistic things would replace the love that Sunny actually needed and wanted. This is one of the reasons why his relationship with Sunny didn’t work out. He couldn’t see that what she needed was love from her father and not a grand house or a great neighborhood. For Mary Burns, what she wanted was not his sworn love for her. She does not want him to see her as a responsibility. But because Hata lives a life of gestures, he couldn’t see that or didn’t understand why that was bad. Even with the Hickeys, which have no real “relationship” with him, he still feels a sense of duty towards them. Even though he sold them the shop, he feels the need to help them out. Throughout his life, he’s been living a life of gestures.
Besides this theme, there’s also many other subthemes. Another one is the theme of “never failing if never trying”. I think Hata is afraid of failure and would rather not try than taking a chance of failing. What do you guys think? This book, I admit, takes a longer time to digest. I hoped you guys liked the presentation though. I hope we helped in further understanding the book. Good luck with the essays!!

Jennifer

an act of frustration

So I know we have just finished reading A Gesture Life, and I normally would write about my thoughts on the novel, but I feel like there are more important things happening on our campus concerning the Asian American community and all communities of color. Like it was said in the presentation today, I feel like A Gesture Life pointed to the fact that we cannot just live our life in gestures, that there is more to our everyday occurrences than politeness and propriety. We as human beings must do what we want and need to do rather than what we should do and what is expected of us. We cannot merely stand back and allow the most important things in life pass us by. In light of this, I just need to express my feelings and inform whoever reads this about what has been going on in my life, in my community, and on this campus.

Last Monday, I went to a meeting for the bridges coalition, a coalition of the multicultural recruitment and retention centers on campus. It was between the students and the chancellor Birgeneau. It was supposed to discuss what’s going on with the Multicultural Center. And yet … the Chancellor refused to talk about it. After a few questions regarding the topic, he firmly stated that he did not want to talk about it, that he would not talk about it. He said that we weren’t going to talk about it anymore because he wanted to move on to other topics. I could feel the tension start building in the room, and within myself. How could he–someone who was invited to our meeting–tell us what we were to talk about? Several students attempted to voice their frustration and the reasons why they wanted to discuss the topic, but this only angered the chancellor. He threatened to leave the meeting, stating that the women’s basketball game was starting at 730, as if the needs of our community were less important than an athletic game. When another comment was made about the Multicultural Center, the chancellor got out of his seat and almost walked out of Heller, as a student was talking. He said that he wanted to talk instead about undocumented students, those who are often neglected and overlooked. Yet, the students sitting in that room are neglected and overlooked. And his attempt to walk out demonstrated just that. He said that “respect is a two way street” but he refused to listen to the voice of the students, a voice he claims is valuable and significant to the university. Eventually, he sat back down, and the conversation turned to what the chancellor wanted to talk about. He discussed undocumented students and the need to overturn prop 209. But the manner in which he spoke of these issues was if the people in that room did not understand the magnitude of it all. As if they had not been working countless hours, days, weeks, months, years, toward these goals. He was preaching to a crowd that already knew what he was talking about and more. Simply put, I felt like the entire meeting was basically bullshit. And that the chancellor needs to realize that this is the students’ university, not his, despite his many claims at working for us. I do not discredit any of the work that he has done to improve the university, but his handling of the situation has almost negated everything in my mind of what he has done.

If I can relate this to the novel in any way, I can say that the chancellor’s meeting with the coalition was a mere gesture. He did not seem to want to be there nor care to hear what the students had to say. His presence (or lack thereof) was more insulting than if he had never met with us at all.

On AGL now...

Well, i have to admit that i was having a pretty hard time reading A Gesture Life. I couldn't seem to sit down (and awake) long enough to read it. I actually started it like 2 weeks ago but this week i realized i wasn't as far into it as i should've been. then on class on wednesday we watched this interesting documentary on the korean comfort women. i have to admit that i never heard about them until wednesday. the video was really touching, i don't know how i would could continue to live on after that kind of extremely traumatizing experience! i was so insulted on behalf of the entire female race. they were tricked under false pretenses to 'volunteer', either by their families or to make money for their family, for the war and were turned into sex slaves. to think that this kind of thing could happen! besides the insult that the government couldn't find anything truely productive for women to do during the war, like help in the medical center of in the factories (as they initially thought), it was outrightly morally wrong. to degrade the humanity of any individual, much less a young girl, is soooo wrong. they had so much life to live still, they were only children. they were subjected to 20-30 visits per night in the comfort houses; it didn't matter if their vaginas were swollen or bleeding, the japanese soldiers just needed to put their dicks into something in order to relieve themselves. be like real men and fucking abstain then. for the japanese government to believe that the whims of there soldiers were that important as enough justification to forever damage a fellow human being is ridiculous! there is NEVER a reason to rape, not to mention do it repeatedly, anyone of their body, dignity, and life! i am entirely for the korean comfort women who are seeking a formal apology, they don't really care about the money. they just want the world to know the injustice that they went through and for the japanese government to admit to their mistakes because that is what they rightly deserve. as seen through the video, the women who survived the comfort houses and the war continued to live a hard life. they got sick, they couldn't have chidren because of the abuse, they couldn't get married to any man after such experience with men in war, they couldn't find anyone to truly relate to their experiences. they were alone and unhappy. however, they deserve to feel loved and protected after such trauma but the scarring is soo deep that it forever altered their life and their outlook on life. i feel so much empathy for them because no should've had to undergo that. so after that video, and christine telling us that that is basically what the novel is about, i suddenly grew excited to read it. that day i read 100 pages in one sitting. they way that lee talked about the issue from a different perspective in the seemingly mundane novel was genius. i hope you guys liked it too. but if christine didn't show us that video, i probably wouldn't have realized that feat of the novel.

Isn't it ironic?

The film we watched concerning Asian American males in the media was interesting and educational. I had not really thought about the issues they discussed. The film highlighted the perceived inability of Asian American men to play romantic leads or strong male characters. Because American culture does not necessarily see these men in this light, there is a lack of representation in television and on screen. The film recognized that in order for more Asian American actors to gain representation, writers and producers must create roles for them to portray. Many writers picture their characters as a certain type, and Asian American males normally do not fit into those roles. Thus, the solution would be for writers to either create characters without any particular ethnicity in mind or to create characters for Asian American men specifically. In class, a classmate argued that the lack of demand for Asian American actors and actresses in the media is the reason for the lack of their representation. However, I do not see this as a valid argument. How is this demand calculated? Who says that there is no demand? Another argument made was that the Asian American community composes a small portion of the United States population. Therefore, there is no extreme need for their representation. However, the same argument can be made for other ethnicities that are still portrayed in the media. Just because the Asian American group is so small does not mean that they do not deserve representation.

I was somewhat disappointed that the film only addressed Asian American actors and not actresses. I understand that the problems affecting Asian American actresses are different in some aspect, and covering both genders would require more work. However, I feel that we should recognize that while actresses of our communities may be seen as more acceptable and represented, there are still not enough of them in the media. I would like to see or read more about Asian American actresses. It is ironic that in our class that is dominated by a female population we watched a female directed toward the males. However, I do recognize that both Asian American actors and actresses face similar struggles.

Dao, I totally feel you. One of my best friends is an amazing singer, and since we were younger, she’s aspired to move people with her voice. Her parents, though, were not so supportive. She’s taken so many steps to get her to her goal, but she questions herself constantly because of the influence of her parents. They don’t understand how much talent and potential she truly has. What is ironic is that the majority of Filipino culture has to do with performing—singing, acting, dancing; we just love to perform. Parents pride themselves at having talented children, yet they discourage them from actually doing something meaningful with their talents. It’s all about stability and MAKING MONEY. Our parents came here to give us better lives filled with opportunity. And yet, these opportunities to make change through the media are completely discouraged by the older generations.

-Laurie Bailon

*sorry this is late!! i was having computer problems yesterday.

When I was little, I wanted to be an actress

And deep down, I think sometimes I still have that aspiration. Sometimes when I was little, I would watch teen dramas and reenact them with my stuffed animals and dolls. I'm sure a lot of us did this... or at least I hope so. When I was 11, I told my mother that I wanted to be an actress and be in movies and become an international star, world-renown. My mother laughed. She told me that I was destined to do something more important with my life, something more worth my time. I grew up with parents who tried to hammer the word "DOCTOR, DOCTOR, DOCTOR" in my head all throughout high school. I'm sure a lot of Asian American kids have lived through a similar experience.

One of the main reasons why I think there aren't enough Asians in American film is that many of us grew up in a household that held very little patience for thinking outside of the norm. We were fostered by a culture that does not allow for "radical" ideas such as dating as a teenager or wearing a short skirt on a sunny day, much less becoming an actor/actress, a career which has no guarantees of a stable income.

I'm not afraid to admit that my parents really did influence me. They discouraged me so much from wanting to go into acting because it would "make no money" that I started to believe it and believed less in myself. I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, haha.

I think because Asians have witnessed some pretty bad times, to say the least, they feel that their coming to America is a chance for them to start over and they wouldn't want to waste it doing things like acting when they could be doing something more prestigious like being a doctor or lawyer.

As for the discussion on Friday, I was sick so I did not attend class but a friend told me about the debate you guys had between the directors, the actors, and the audience. I'm sad I missed it but if I were there, here's what I would have said:

As a director: There really aren't parts for Asians that would appeal to an audience. As a director, I would be worried about making money. The general American audience has already formed an ideal stereotype for Asians as nerds or as kungfu experts. Think about it this way: If it were the other way around and Americans were trying to get into the Asian film business, wouldn't it be weird too?

As an actor: We can't make any money. No one will hire us. No one sees our potential. This sucks.

As the audience: We have already formed an opinion about Asians... they're too smart for their own good and they're hard-working people. A lot of them wouldn't waste time in the film business anyway, no harm done.

Oh, and here is another thought. I had no idea that white people ever tried to portray Asians in film. How ridiculous is that?! Seriously, I was appalled. And also insulted.

-Dao Nguyen

More on the AsAms on screen...

Well I have to say that i definitely found that film very informative and it did bring to light things i never really noticed. Like i always enjoyed seeing Asian Americans on screen, just in any type of role. But now i see how 2D these roles are, like the kung fu artist and nerds, and it kind of ruins my past impressions of these movies and tv shows. I remember seeing my first kung fu/martial arts movie, jackie chan in the drunken master with my dad and thinking that it was soooo cool. From then on, i avidly watched these movies but there never was any other kind of movie that highlighted the asian american as a kung fu film did. I was simply oblivious to it. As i got older, I began watching filipino movies made by filipinos in tagalog and even though they had action movies resembling kung fu and action films made in western civization, they also made dramas and comedies (basically films in every genre). Through these movies and soap operas, i realized how talented and 3-dimensional an asian actor/actress is. Asians have talent too, some were just such amazing performers that i don't really have words to describe them. Then I began seeing a trend of Asian American, more specifially Filipino-Americans, leaving the U.S. to become entertainers in their native homelands where there family originated from but not necessarily where they were born. These talented actors, actresses, performers, etc. are flowing out of the U.S. because of how it is especially hard for an Asian American to make it in their home country, America. We need to create better and more opportunities for our kind to find work and prove how talented and worthy they are for the spotlight. We need to create a demand for them so that more roles for them become available and hopefully they will be able to leave the stereotypical roles that we've grown accustomed to seeing them in. Then once we've created a demand for them, we must continue to support them so that they can continue to grow and evolve. Basically let's create a justified hype for Asian Americans, make them visible to the public eye.

Another thing i wanted to talk about this week was how much i enjoyed our dicussion in class on friday because, even though we strayed from the subject matter, the format actually began to feel like a real discussion. We might have not really talked about what we were supposed to talk about, the discussion got most of the class involved unlike how it usually is with the same students participating and the ackward silences. Did anyone notice that we didn't have to resort to pre-prepared discussion questions because we had so many students actively particpating. I really just wanted to point that out because that was something i especially liked about this week in class. If i could choose, i would like all our discussions to be like that because we were actually really and truly discussing. Hopefully i wasn't the only one that enjoyed it.

-Precious

Asian Americans on the Big Screen

Hey everybody~

I thought the film that we watched this week is really interesting. I’ve thought a lot about this topic of Asian Americans in the film industry because in our APATH (Asian/Pacific American Theme House) program seminar we also talked about this. We watched “Better Luck Tomorrow” by Justin Lin, a movie about these Asian American teenagers. This film is very different other movies because the entire main cast is Asian and these characters break from the typical stereotypes. Our program invited Justin Lin and several of the cast to talk about the movie and why they wanted to make this film. One of the major reasons why Lin wanted to make this film, even when this is a low budget film, was not just to break the Asian American stereotype (because that was not really his intention of the film). He made this film to show that Asians can also act well and to give acting opportunities to Asians. Also, in the film, he shows a “different” side of Asian Americans. Because society already has a set image of how an Asian American is supposed to act, this movie shocked quite a lot of people. In the beginning of the film, it shows him memorizing SAT vocabulary, being shy about asking this girl to a dance, studying for biology, and other “typical” Asian American activities. But as the film progresses, you see the main character not only smokes, has sex, carries a gun around, but commits a murder. Justin Lin told us that at the end of the film, an angry old, white man stood up and yelled at him, asking why he would direct a film that was so degrading to Asian American, stating that “this is not the way an Asian American is supposed to act.” Another audience countered back and said “who gave you the right to say how an Asian American is supposed to act.” This really spoke to me. It made me realize that society already has a set mind about how we’re supposed to act. They think of us as passive, and that’s why it was such a shock for them to see an Asian American commit murder or to act in any other way besides as a model minority. Actually, the film kind of shocked me too. I guess through the TV shows and movies that I’ve watched, it’s hard for me to imagine an Asian American doing that. But later, I realized that this film depicts the truth. Just because we’re Asian Americans and considered the model minority, this doesn’t mean we aren’t violent or that we don’t commit crimes. I’ve watched a lot of Asian TV shows and movies ever since I was young and I never found it weird to see crazy, psychotic Asians killing others or getting revenge. So it surprised me that I found it weird when I saw this Asian American doing something like that. This made me realize that, growing up in an American society, where the media is a big part of my life, I’ve been accustomed to certain things. I really want to break out of that mind set. I really think there are a lot of good Asian American actors and actresses that need a chance to be on screen. They just need the opportunity. Isn’t America the land of opportunities? Asian Americans should not be held. I want future generations to not feel weird or surprised to see an Asian American doing roles that are not stereotypical. The reason why the audience is not demanding Asian Americans to be on screen is because there is no advertising of Asian Americans actors/actresses. If they see something with potential, they may want more of that later on. Examples I can think of are the Kaba Modern and JabbaWockeeZ from America’s Next Dance Crew. The reason why many people think Asian Americans can’t dance is mostly because they’ve never SEEN them dance. So this show really exposes the audience to some Asian American talents besides school work.

-Jennifer Y.

Asian political passivity.

I don't really have anything specific I want to blog about this week. I think it's interesting that we discussed the topic of Asian passivity in class last week. It's definitely apparent, especially in the political aspect and perhaps, the most important aspect. I am personally very attached to my political values and not just because I am a political science major but because it's important for us to hold onto our democratic way of government and to perpetuate the ideas that the forefathers of this country meant for everyone to have.
It's definitely true that Asians are more politically passive than others and I think this stems from their culture. I think most Asians would rather be on the sidelines than to be involved in the game. Isn't that why we barely have any Asians representing us in government? I think we were taught from a younger age to protect ourselves, even if that means keeping quiet. I've seen this evident especially in Asian women.
A few weeks ago, I was interning for the Hillary Clinton campaign making calls on behalf of the campaign headquarters to garner support for her as a presidential candidate in the California primary. I was assigned to a middle-aged Asian women, all registered Democrats, demographic to target. I noticed a trend. Whenever their husbands would pick up, they would not let me speak to their wives. Why was this? Their husbands were either Obama supporters or not tolerating of a woman running for office.
Of course there's a sense of domination on the part of the Asian males in relationships sometimes and I find that it's really pathetic that even though they seem to have such a "strong" opinion on a woman running, a lot of them don't even show up to the polls to vote for their male candidate.
It's sad that not more Asians are politically active on the national scale but I am glad that at least here on the UC Berkeley campus, we have clubs like API or the APA to prove that Asians can make a difference. It's just got to start somewhere.
How is everyone's final draft of the first essay coming along? I am a little nervous about turning this in because I feel like I am missing something very important, I just don't know what it is. I appreciate all of the feedback I got from you guys from my last post, it is really helping me out in what I am going to include in my essay. I'm glad I got to see it from your perspectives! All of your essay ideas sound great and I am excited to read them in class when we do revisions!

Keep on truckin',

Dao Nguyen

Such a touchy subject with me

I'm so glad that we actually had a discussion today about issues that actually affect us. The only problem I had was that it was the same people actually discussing. The whole concept of passivity in regards to Asian Americans was somewhat proven in the class on Friday, unfortunately. I know that there are some people who don't know what to say or feel like they don't know enough to say anything, but that might be the problem in and of itself. Our course is about giving voice to our community, yet the people who are empowered to do so are not. I understand that there are times when you can pick and choose your battles, pick and choose when to speak or not, but the space that we have in our Asian Am class is a privilege. Our families sacrificed so much so that we will have a better life, so that we will be given the right to speak up and speak out. And it just frustrates me when people don't live up to that. I apologize if I have offended you, but I am not sorry for stating my opinions.

Another thing I would like to point out is that we were talking about the Asian American community as though it was one cohesive unit, as if everyone was the same. However, our community is heterogeneous and diverse within itself, with so many different ethnicities and types of people. This experiences and circumstances of each group are different. I remember Chia-Chi saying that the API (Asian Pacific Islander) community on our campus composes 42 percent of the entire student population, and that many can see this as a sign that we are doing well, that we are in fact this “model minority.” However, if you look at the different ethnic groups within that category, there are greater numbers of certain groups than others. Many groups are underrepresented at this university.

Last semester, the Count Me In Campaign addressed this issue. The campaign sought to disaggregate the API category on the UC application. Previously the application included the categories for the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Indian populations, while those Asian Americans who did not identify as those were categorized as “Other Asians.” This ignored the diversity within the Asian American community. The language used seemed to imply that Asian Americans who are not of the recognized communities are incapable of obtaining higher education. Studies show that the Southeast Asian community is less likely to enter into institutions of higher education due to socioeconomic status. Still, the University of California should encourage members of those disadvantaged communities to apply. The Count Me In Campaign had three objectives: 1) enhance UC Admission policy to include data collection on students of Bangladeshi, Cambodian, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, and Thai backgrounds; 2) separate Pacific Islander into a new racial category within admissions; and 3) provide financial support for outreach projects that specifically target AAPI groups facing severe educational inequity. The campaign was a success, with thousands of the API community showing support. The new UC application will include Asian categories of Chinese, Taiwanese, Asian Indian, Pakistani, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Hmong, Thai, Cambodian, Laotian, Bangladeshi, Indonesian, Malaysian, Sri Lankan and other Asian applicants.
Pacific Islander categories will include Native Hawaiian, Guamanian/Chamorro, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian and others.

I have a lot more to add to the discussion that we had on Friday, but … I’ll save that for another time. As you can tell, I am one Asian American who will not let my voice go unheard.

<3

Laurie Bailon

About the model minority

Well i did enjoy our discussion in class about America is in the Heart because i really liked the book and what it represented. In the book, i felt like we deviated from the idea of us as a model minority because we disrupted the peace, stood up for what we believed in, and refused to give up. It's very similar to what the black panthers and other such groups did to start the civil rights movement to bring to light the issues - discrimination, violence, etc. - that they were facing for over a hundred years and now had the fuel within them to fight it all. That is actually what America is about, right? We are one of the newest countries in the world, at least compared to Europe and some Asian countries, so it still is being molded into the America we will become and be remembered as always. It makes sense that we all as a collective have our imput because we make up America. As for the popular opinion that we are the model minority, as I said during discussion, we just pick our battles. Imagine the upheaval that would befall our country if every member of society rebelled over every little thing that upset them. And i think the asian-american community has recognized this. Why would we reall get that upset about the smallest things. I think we also have surpassed the bitterness towards our hardships in this country through our perseverence and hard work. But that doesn't mean we'll ever forget - that way that can never happen to us again. I just don't agree that we are the model minority though. If you look through Asian history, there have been too many years of violence within the nation between people of the same race - over power, wealth, etc. - just like in any other nation. We're really not that different from any other race in that aspect, we can fight as dirty as any other race. It feels like everyone just underestimates us. As for the glass/bamboo ceiling, i find these concepts completely ridiculous even though i know that they most likely true. I know i may naive but i actually never heard about this until this semester. I can't help but feel irritated and angry about this because every one knows (since we've proven it through our years of hard work) that we are very capable and reliable as a race. We do our work right and efficiently, and we shouldn't be confined to just being 'the worker' because what if we get tired of it. Companies will lose out on thousands of skilled (at what they do even if it isn't qualified as skilled labor) able-bodied workers and i don't think they could stand such a thing. You just should treat people right and fairly, even though i know this is not the case. It sucks and we need to show America what we can do until we get it through their thick skull how valuable we are. In reality no ceiling, floor, or wall can really confine us when we set our mind to it and refuse to give up. Let's break this stupid ceiling because its just ridiculous!

-Precious

P.S. sorry for just rambling on but this just gets me soooo heated. ugh!