“The Diverse Face of Asians and Pacific Islanders in Los Angeles County”, released by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and the United Way, is available online.
What I'm hoping to do is to change the culture, change how we interact with black males. To the extent we can succeed, perhaps the model can be used by others.
- Edison O. Jackson, President, Medgar Evers College from New York Times front page article "Colleges Struggle to Help Black Men Stay Enrolled" December 30, 2003
from the article...
some of the most challenging obstacles facing black men in college today are:
Poor education before college
Low expectations from teachers and others
Lack of black male role models
Dropout rate from high schools
Their own low aspirations
as for AWNW (Adub), we ought to commission ourselves to the occupations of encouragers, facilitators, and catalysts for others' improvement and for social change.
program director's meeting yesterday was very productive. we realized that we definitely need to talk to a lawyer and an accountant. forms, forms, forms!
next steps: obtaining an EIN obtaining business licenses deciding on a board of directors
i'm excited and i'm really really really looking foward to getting certified in diversity training!!!
I had an interesting conversation w/one of my cousin's yesterday.
Just to give you some background info on her: she's 24, born and brought up in India, currently enrolled in a PhD program for chemistry at U of Pittsburgh, she's been in the U.S for only 3 months, most of the people she interacts w/are her professors and classmates she knew from college in India.
Me: Have you made any new friends?
Cuz: Not really. I've mostly been hanging out w/my Indian friends. I have met a few Native Americans, though.
Me: Native Americans?
Cuz: Oh...umm...what do you call U.S. citizens?
Me: Oh, you mean "Americans"? "Native Americans" are Indians
Cuz: Oh, so Native Americans are "Red" Indians?
Me:Aye! You shouldn't use the term "Red" when referring to an Indian or Native American. It's degrading word.
Cuz: Really?! That's how we referred to them in school and in our books. Okay, so what do I call Chinese or Japanese or an Indian, like yourself, born in the U.S?
Me: Either call us "American" or "Asian-American".
Cuz: Goodness! So many terms. I think I need some type of reference book to read up on. I hope I haven't insulted anyone since I've been here.
Me:laughs Don't worry about it. It's all a learning process. Just give it some time. But please make an effort to meet people outside of your Indian circle. This is a chance for you to learn from other cultures and meet some great people.
Cuz: I know. I've already decided to hang out w/my friends less and meet more people.
"People are like laundry. The whites are usually with the white. The colors are usually with the colors. And both are being separated by the Asians." - AA
i was doing my usual stroll around barnes & noble today when i came across the cultural studies section. i was suprised to see an admirable subsection of indian literature. then it came to me. most of these books were about native americans, not indians. ok, what the fuck.
isn't that...wrong? fuck columbus. erikson found north america first. he da man.
another encouraging evening. praise god. so, the theme of this year's cipher was identity. i don't know how that EN Flow cat fit in the show, but whatever. his performance incited feelings of disgust and embarassment... yo, dude, you cannot flow. tsk, tsk. ew. okay, moving on... so, salem high school's FACS was extraordinary, especially their last piece inspired by Stomp. fantastic and unique way of depicting the multiple waves of filipino american immigrants arriving in the US over centuries.. awesome! marco... marvelous. 'nuff said. godchild's intermittent moments of spoken word were entertaining and enlightening. ahhhh... SLANT! pardon my ghetto vernacular: they was off the shizzle fo' hizzle my nizzle!
on SLANT: what astounded me most... was their creative and novel storytelling abilities. their pieces were informative and provocative. utilizing various mediums, they composed a performance that touched the mind and heart. i wonder how emulating their multi-layer delivery of asian american history would fare in the classroom setting (for AWNW). man... first, music... second, visual art... third, performance art and theatre... goodness, is AWNW blessed or what????
the fact that all of these talented artists have sought these present avenues to express their emotions about their own histories and asian american history in general... i find that the need for AWNW is growing ever more apparent. what's significant to understand is that these artists are not only conveying anger, pain, and sadness from the actual historical events... but, their works consistently speak a lamentation of having learned this history and culture through sources outside of our american educational institutions.
yes, yes... we have a storytelling tradition... passing down morsels of previous lives over generations... but, when these voices die... who shall speak for them? and, guess who i think should...
it still kills me to think about last week .. when my mother told me "your going back to yourself jillian!!" and meant it in a bad way... it felt like she was judging me for doing what i want and not telling her right away... i'm fucking 22 years old...is there any way we can make our immigrant-parents/families more aware and understanding of the american culture their children is and has been growing up in??? it kills to think that they don't realize i've given up a lot of my 'life' for them... i feel like they're holding me down.. and just when i'm about to break free, soon something else swoops down and farts in my face.. it's bullshit sometimes.. am i making sense?
upon arriving to the dollar store... this lil black boy looks at me and pulls the corner of his eyes and starts to chant ching chong chang... initially i was offended but i laughed and patted his head... replying... arent u juss a cute thing... and told him that wasnt a nice thing to do to people he doesnt know... and walked off... he looked surprise and ran to his mother...
normally... i would have given him and his mother a piece of my mind... goin on and on about how im not chinese and blah blah... but i figured if got defensive then that would defeat the whole AWNW purpose...i mean did i do the rite thing???
sad