Some more to say on this as I've been at ground zero around so much of this - but this is good news and welcome news:
In a stunning decision that shook police and protesters alike, the officer who fatally shot Philando Castile was charged with manslaughter in his death — likely the first Minnesota officer in modern memory charged for such an incident.
“Unreasonable fear cannot justify the use of deadly force,” Ramsey County attorney John Choi said Wednesday during a news conference in which he announced he was charging St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez, 28, with second-degree manslaughter for Castile’s death, and with two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm for endangering the two other people in Castile’s car.
“My conscience tells me it would be wrong for me to ask a grand jury to make this decision when I know in my heart what needs to be done … In order to achieve justice, we must be willing to do the right thing.”
Helicopters - can you stop buzzing me at some point please?
There's that piece in me that knows Trump can't do everything he's said on the campaign trail - to what extent I don't know though.
But I feel like I want to prosper in spite of him now - not just survive - but prosper. Use every tool I have to achieve as much success as I can - and then know that I'll probably land somewhere in the middle.
I'm okay with that because I still have to move forward. I can't be left standing frozen in terror. I won't accept defeat like that.
If you have the means to do it - I say by all means - rise up and protest the election of this leader because it is our right to peacefully protest our nation's laws and processes. It is our right to speak up against the tyrannies that aren't inclusive of all Americans in this country - and that's what this election has done - and it's unavoidable.
A rift in our consciousness as Americans cannot and should not be subdued because these are the very same chasms that created the foundation for this country and have moved it along to a better nation.
As we grow we must fight. Just as the founders of this country spoke to create a better place to live - so must we now as the keepers of this country, as the catalysts for change, to face those same fears that they did and do whatever it is that we can - on a collective and individual level - to right the wrongs our our society.
We must continue to push back to the archaic mindsets that let this happen.
We must show the country what will happen if Trump and Washington set out to actually try and implement their racist and xenophobic pathways.
At the end of the day, one take away from this election is that no matter how good your data collection methods are - you're not getting anything if it's not the right data.
If you can't get to the data.
If the data you are analyzing is hidden in secrecy because people's racism won't let that data out of the box - they don't want it to be shown on an individual level.
But now we know because racism can't be hidden - it shows itself eventually.
And while the individual data for the outlook wasn't the full dataset - we've collected the data we need to know because of how this election turned out - we understand now, from a collective level that you can say whatever it is you want Old White Men and Women.
But we know - we know what's in your hearts, we know how you want this world to turn out.
This is a short post - but like many others - I thought we'd be talking about the first woman President of the United States - but in reality, our nation, albeit not by the popular vote (and we need to think about changing the electorate system in our country - because this is now the second time this has happened from a Democratic POV) - just elected a celebrity TV star who's rhetoric has been racist, xenophobic, and misogynistic - and on those coattails - the House and Senate is paved with red.
HURRY! HBO "APA VISIONARIES" CLOSES NOV. 7
If you were already hard at work (or just getting started) on your submission to HBO's digital filmmaking competition, "HBO APA Visionaries," then you better hurry...the competition closes on Nov. 7, 2016. "HBO APA Visionaries," dedicated to showcasing emerging APA film directors with unique perspectives of the Asian Pacific & Pacific Islander experience, will showcase the winners at the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
FINAL CALL FOR LAAPFF 2017 ENTRIES NOV. 25
ATTENTION FILMMAKERS! The Final Deadline for feature-length and short films by and/or about Asian Pacific and Asian international artists for the 2017 edition of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is coming up on Nov. 25.
The good folks down at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) have put together an awesome list of ALL the Asian American and Pacific Islander candidates running for office - so good.
Around here, trick-or-treat just ended. Or so we think. Actually, there’s one more trick: the Senate.
Everyone’s up in arms over this Comey/email thing. As I suggested would be the case, it’s not affecting the Presidential race in any meaningful way. That cake is baked. However, like any good thriller, there’s a fake ending – the election next Tuesday. After that comes actual governing.
You know NPR - sometimes you're good - and I understand - you just want to do good and be the public radio station that you can be - and true there are local programs - but sometimes I just can't help but think you need to normalize more POC versus having them just talk about "POC things" - know what I'm saying?
Good interview down at the Korea Times at entrepreneurs Cecilia Hae-jin Lee and Angela Bong-ah Lee on their new restaurant and Korean cuisine.
Q: How did you first settle on bibimbap among Korean recipes?
Cecilia Lee: I had an idea to start a build-your-own bibimbap restaurant about six years ago. At that time, I heard CJ Foods would be starting a restaurant called Bibigo with a similar concept, so I thought there was no way I could compete, so I didn't pursue the idea at that time. However, my passion for Korean food and idea to have a Korean restaurant in America's fast-casual food space would not leave me. After I met Angela, I felt like I finally had a partner I could trust to move my idea forward. I think bibimbap is one of the best ways to introduce Korean cuisine to those who've never tried it.
Angela Lee: When Cecilia suggested that I be a partner for a fast casual restaurant, I thought it was a great idea. Bibimbap in my opinion is one of the traditional foods that has not been changed since coming to America. We kept the flavors traditional, but added California options such as kale. As a community nutritionist for over nine years, it was very important to me that customers get options — providing options is a great way to introduce new flavors, especially different vegetables and vegetable preparations.
I'm not a die-hard comics guy but I do like what I've liked and that'll be great when this comes out with the issue written by Greg Pak. I'm just going to have to pick this up just because you know?
Some words:
“They had me with Hulk’s hair. We’re kindred spirits,” Lin said. “It is an honor and a cool opportunity to become part of the Amadeus Cho, ‘Totally Awesome Hulk’ storyline. Additionally, I think it’s great that Marvel is making real efforts to add diversity to its superheroes and their origin stories.”
I guess I could talk about all the work that's been done behind the scenes by a lot of community members, some of who I know to help Adam Crasper not get deported.
I could talk about the Adoptee Citizenship Act where so much work has been done to hopefully overturn archaic laws to give citizenship to so many people who are rightly citizens.
But at the end of the day though - I think I'll just say this:
What the fuck is wrong with you America? I mean I know what the fuck is wrong with you, but can you at some time stop molesting the children?
And by children, I mean children who are now adults who came to this country not by their own volition, and by molesting, I mean not affording them the same laws as everyone else.
Because what the fuck would you call it?
Basically America, you're just raping adults - and let me tell you - I've been fucked too many times by this system - too many of my friends have been fucked by the system.
Adam Crasper - he's one of many that deserves the right to exist in the country that helped facilitate the transfer of brown and black kids.
Brown and black kids that were "good" enough - or at least perceived to be "good" enough - to live in America - but that's the rub right?
America says good enough as children - but fuck you as an adult.
America says fuck you for everything you're going to be outside of a little Asian prince or princess that can't be the image of the colonial thinking that backed those decisions in the first place.
Deport Adam Crasper?
Deport me too MF's.
Take me back to my homeland so I can say fuck you from afar with both middle fingers.
In fact America - why don't you just deport every single immigrant that came to this country no matter how they got here.
Oh wait - that wouldn't be right?
That would be unconstitutional?
But not for adopted Asian Americans - that shit has been and always will be fucked up - it's like having a RETURN CARD at your disposal - except it's for human lives.
And that's what this all is isn't it?
The commodification of human parts - human pieces that can be bought, sold, and returned at any MF given time.
Give everything - and then take it away.
Not even a chance to make something better. Not even a chance to make shit happen.
America - fuck you for this one and for everything that surrounds it - the laws, the mindsets, the way you go about fucking and raping the minds and bodies of everyone involved.
A few days ago, I and four other Brown Asians criticized the New York Times for their disregard of the Brown Asian community in a recent video outlining Asian Americans’ experiences of racism. The video outlined the familiar stories of Asian Americans experiencing racist statements in their workplaces and from strangers out in public. But only one of the interviewees talked about the Filipino American experience and none of them spoke of being South Asian.
And yeah - it is Filipino American History Month...
And I feel them.
'Cause you know - Big Slanty's Southeast Asian American.
Sometimes we just down at the bottom - well at least perceived to be - even if we get in the conversation.
Everyone has heard of the Fox News segment which started a slew of videos and hashtags on being Asian American and the racism that we face - and apparently some orgs went on down to Fox News and had a sit down.
This doesn't surprise me:
Ron Kim, a New York state assemblyman in attendance, told The Post that a representative from ‘‘The O’Reilly Factor’’ and a senior representative from the news side of the channel attended the meeting. Together they played a ‘‘good cop, bad cop’’ routine, said Kim [...] As far as overall impressions go, Kim came away thinking that the two Fox News reps ‘‘didn’t understand the gravity of the situation.’’ He said that the group presented the men with the open letter, and that they were ‘‘taken aback’’ by the display.
I give them kudos for trying - at the same time I kind of think of it like an intervention where no one's really paying attention and the person you went to have the intervention for is just waiting for you to leave.
The slantyapolis/seftre blog has served millions of views trying to help in its own way, to give voice to the Asian and Asian American community, as well as document it, over the last 18 years. Sometimes op-ed, sometimes straight news, sometimes off the beaten path--the continued impetus remains that there's power in sharing voices and in sharing your own voice and reflecting that back into the communities you belong to.
If you're looking for the 2008 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).
2007 In Review Posts
If you're looking for the 2007 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).
