#asianamerican

Recognized as one of the most popular Asian face in the slam poetry community, Alex Luu is a poet who has created poems with thousands of Youtube hits. As the founder of USC Spoken Words Club, he is actively involved in the renowned Def Poetry, USC Slam Poetry, and USC Spoken Words Club. As modern day technology goes, while he was driving his car in the depths of LA traffic, and I was sitting in my dorm room overlooking Washington Square Park in NYC, we “sat down” to chat via Skype about his poetry inspiration and story.  

Q: What does slam poetry do?

For me, the function of slam poetry is to tell my personal truth/story/narrative. It is to speak on behalf of people who don’t have the privilege as I do. It is to speak my culture, civilization and history.

Q: Why did you choose to do spoken word?

I actually wanted to be a rapper [laughes] but I didn’t find talent in that. Then I found spoken word. To me, poetry is the cleanest form of expression. It is someone deliberately giving truth to the audience. When I first started, I wrote about love, personal relationships and mental illnesses. It was a process of understanding myself.

Q: Why did you invest yourself in this particular niche market of slam poetry?

I never had the idea of hitting a niche market. I did it because this median [of poetry] offered such a raw, honest emotion. But there are definitely some poets who go up on stage and share problematic poetry, because these poets are using stories that don’t belong to them. For example, when a white poet attempts to talk about black oppression, he/she is talking about racism that he/she has never understood nor experienced. Another example, there was a poet who talked about her sister’s mental issue; she could be exaggerating it or claiming victimhood. And it is obvious and easy to tell if the story belongs to you. This kind of reclamation poetry, where a lot of people say “you can’t write about that topic unless you have been traumatized” is harmful for poetry culture. People are too constrained into this characterization of suffering artists. There are also honest poets whose performance is raw and genuinely happy. The slam poetry circle is a safe space where everyone is innocent till proven guilty, nobody will doubt you until you give them reasons to. To put it simply, all poetry is true.”

Q: Poetry is so personal and different; how would you justify making it into a competition?

Slam poetry competitions provide a space where poets from all over the world come to be vulnerable and tell their stories. It provides a way to voice their stories. Like a dance competition, judge’s opinion is subjective. How they allocate the points is completely different. There is no way to quantify in any medium. But competition brings a great side, when people think of slam competition, they will think too much of it as a battle. Yes, people are in it to win it, but they are willing to give it up to people who deserve to be on stage, too. It is a privilege and honor to be on stage. Competition is also a great platform to connect and create networks, which could lead to collaboration.

Q: Who is your biggest inspiration?

Beau Sia. He’s the first Asian American spoken word artist I saw on Def Poetry Jam. I have never seen an Asian man being that loud and proud on stage. He is the confirmation of Asian existence on stage. Additionally, my coach introduced me to Gee Yamasawa. He is a rapper and a spoken words artist. My coach said that he sees parallel between Gee and I, which I am very flattered about.”

Q: What are you working on currently?

Currently, I am working on a group piece about Asian masculinity issues. It is inspired by the toxic masculinity from my father’s side. I am working with Jessica Roma, who will be telling the story from a girl’s perspective while I tell the story from a guy’s perspective. In the past I’ve written poems that have touched on a lot of different topics, many were group pieces. The poems that seem to really speak to the audience more are topics on Asian identity (“The Letter”, “Time Talks”, “Intro”) and white washing (“Hollywood”). 

Q: Why are you quitting competition?

It is a lot of work… And I am still learning how to be a slam poet. I want to spend the next two years building my poetry skills, focusing on the artistry and continuing pushing poetry at USC. I founded the first spoken word group in USC 2 years ago. We host weekly poetry workshop where I am the one who teaches it. We find guys for different gigs and venues and expose people to the art of spoken words.

Q: How do you make sure you don’t twist the story or the voice?

It depends on what story you pick upon. For example, me as an Asian man can speak on behalf of an immigrant dad. I did not personally experience the immigration. I’m not talking about their story as my own oppression, but speaking as a witness of what my father has gone through. There is a nuance to the perspectives.

Q: What poets would you recommend to the readers of Generasian and poets?

I definitely recommend poets to look up poets of color like Danez Smith andPaul Tran. Slam poetry originated from a person of color, yet sadly it’s being overcome by white poets. Too often we see white poets that are dominating the scene. If the poets want to diverse their stories, they need to look up diverse stories. 

Q: How do you explain the black dominance in slam poetry?

Black people are prominent and powerful in this circle. However, even with black poets the most viewed poems on Youtube are mostly 200,000. But if you look up popular white poets like Neal. He gets a couple million. And Sierra K gets a couple million as well.This depends on who are the people looking for poetry videos on Youtube. The majority of the audience is white. And they tend to find stories that are relatable, stories told by white poets. There is a huge difference in terms of viewership. Poets of color are being overshadowed by white poets because more audience tend to watch videos of white poets. From a business standpoint, it comes down to the rest of the society, we can only change so little of the society. We can put 80% color 20% white online, society still value more relatable topics, but regular poetry that white poets can cater to. The society needs to be more accepting of the fact that people of color are just as great as white poets. They are just as talented, and deserve to be praised.

Q: What does the future of Asian Americans in the poetry scene look like?

Same as anyone who wants to pursue the art role, Asian artists should be able to pursue whatever they want to do. We can tell the Asian people to talk about whatever they want to talk about, not necessarily just in slam poetry. I just wish for more Asian people in art in general. Like in the entertainment industry, we can be romantic leads, a hot boyfriend without cultural reference. I hope that we can be Asians who simply exist. 

My mother’s homemade Chinese cuisine is always the best, unless it was for lunch. Somehow, packing it in a lunch box and bringing it to school just diminishes it’s value and makes it weird. Yes, WEIRD, as my classmates would describe: the weird shaped dumplings that my mother would hand make from scratch, the weird colored noodles that she would stay up to prepare the night before, the weird smelling fried rice that she would carefully cook for just the right amount of time… While everyone else was enjoying their pepperoni pizza or cheese burger, talking happily amongst each other, I always sat in the corner, where no one would pay attention. 

“Eww is that dog food?”

“No you can’t sit with us.”

…

I hated being the girl with the weird food. The more my classmates commented on my food, the worse it tasted, as if others’ glares on my lunch could transform the food from delicacy to trash. I begged my mom to pack me something else. I told her the food was horrible. I begged for her to sign me up for school lunch. She was confused, thinking that I disliked her cooking, but also seeing me gorge down dinner like it was the best thing on earth, which it was. She didn’t question me, but agreed to my request.

Finally, I got the same plates as everyone else. I got the same food as everyone else. And I got to sit at the same table with everyone else. School lunch was so much better! It looked better, it smelled better, and it tasted better. I could finally eat the burnt bread, the unevenly heated frozen pizza, the artificially flavored meatballs. I thought I was the luckiest kid on earth.

Until now… 

Time flies and in a blink of an eye, I am not an elementary school kid anymore. I’ve set off to college, away from my family, to a new place where I would have to be on my own. Only now, do I realize that the most precious meal, is the lunch box that my mother would pack. Not only do I miss the delicious food, it is also the taste of home, of family. 

I longed for my mother’s cooking, for the taste of home. I tried to replicate her dishes, but they will never be as half as good. I want to yell at my seven-year-old self, to make my younger self realize what a luxury it was to eat the “weird” food.

Sometimes my friends bring meals from their home to school after breaks or holidays, and we would all gather around to admire how delicious the food is. Despite not being a cuisine we’ve ever seen or even heard of before, the strong flavor and rich taste always leads to “MMMMs” and food dances. It’s different, not weird, it’s distinct and unique.

Instead of running away from what other’s may perceive as “weird”, we should all embrace our identity, our culture, our family traditions, before it’s too late. And as outsiders, we should stop judging what we may not understand. The world is a diverse place, and let’s all help keep it that way.

This post was inspired by the video created by NBC Asian America. 

Compiled by Asians4BlackLives primarily based on research by AATimeline,VietUnityandSEARAC

From January 19-25, 2019, impacted communities, social justice and advocacy organizations, and other allies across the country will launch a national week of action to stand with Southeast Asian American communities as they continue to be terrorized by policies of mass incarceration and deportation. This week of action, which spans 15 cities across the country, is on the heels of one of the largest Southeast Asian deportation flights in United States history and coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In honor of Dr. King’s memory, we call on our country to remember the three evils—racism, militarism and poverty—that continue to devastate and divide Southeast Asian, Black and Brown communities: bit.ly/SEAAWeekofAction

The timeline below was developed to help the public learn about the connection between US imperialism and war in Southeast Asian and the current struggle of Southeast Asian immigrant and refugee communities against deportations. A downloadable PDF version is available which can be folded into a mini-zine.

1953

The U.S. provides military aid to France to suppress Vietnam freedom fighters, helping France maintain Vietnam as its colony.

1961

U.S. involvement in the “Secret War” in Laos deepens. U.S. presence in Laos aids its military presence in Vietnam. The CIA recruits Hmong and other ethnic minority groups living in Laos to guerilla units fighting for the Royal Lao Government. Details of this war were not disclosed to the public, and were often completely denied.

1963

A U.S.-approved military coup overthrows President Ngô Đình Diệmin of Vietnam.

1965

President Lyndon B. Johnson deploys American combat troops to Vietnam. Domestic demonstrations against the U.S. war in Vietnam begin.

1964-73

The U.S. drops more than 2.5 million tons of ordnance on Laos over the course of 580,000 bombing missions. This is equal to a planeload of bombs every 8 minutes, 24-hours a day, for 9 years.

1965-1973

The U.S. drops 2,756,941 tons of ordnance on Cambodia. This is more than the Allies dropped in the entirety of World War II. Information about the first four years of bombing was not made public until 2000.

1968

My Lai Massacre – US soldiers kill as many as 504 Vietnamese civilians including 119 children & 27 elderly.

1973

The U.S. & North Vietnam sign a ceasefire agreement.

The U.S. withdraws troops from Laos.

1975

The U.S. War in Vietnam comes to an end.

U.S. war and military presence in Southeast Asia leads to the rise of oppressive governments in both Cambodia & Laos. After a 5-year civil war in Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge captures the capital city of Phnom Penh and a genocide of 1-3 million people begins in Cambodia.

The U.S. authorizes the entry of 130,000 evacuees from Vietnam, Cambodia, & Laos.

1978

A second wave of refugees begin to leave Vietnam, many by sea. Journeys by boat are dangerous and many refugees don’t survive the trip. Many countries become unwilling to accept refugees.

1979

The UN establishes the Orderly Departure Program to deal with various waves of refugees leaving Southeast Asia. The U.S. becomes the largest country of second asylum. People continued to leave their homelands as a result of the U.S. War in Vietnam through the early 1990s.

1980

U.S. Congress passes the Refugee Act.

1987

In California the Creation of the Gang Reporting Evaluation & Tracking database heightens the profiling and flagging youth of color as gang members.

1980s-1990s

Many Southeast Asian refugees resettle in already underserved neighborhoods and must compete for low-wage jobs or face unemployment. Many lack access to health care, mental health services, and support for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The rise of the school to prison pipeline: over-stretched public schools with inadequate resources lead to disengagement and dropouts with youth then being pushed into violence and juvenile detention facilities with few pathways to return to school.

1994

A national report finds that more than 30 percent of all Southeast Asian households in the US depend on welfare for survival. Among Cambodian and Laotian communities in California, the percentage of those on welfare reaches 77 percent.

The state of California passes Proposition 187, denying undocumented immigrants public services like education & healthcare.

The state of California passes Proposition 184, Three Strikes Sentencing Initiative, the nation’s toughest mandatory sentencing law.

U.S. Congress passes the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, the largest crime bill in the history of the U.S. It provided for 100,000 new police officers, $9.7 billion in funding for prisons, $1.2 billion for border control, deportations, asylum reform and a tracking center for immigrants with convictions., $1.8 billion to reimburse states for incarceration of immigrants who also had convictions. . It also expedited deportation for immigrants who are not lawful permanent residents and who are convicted of aggravated felonies.

1996

U.S. Congress passes the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a welfare reform bill. Immigrants who were on welfare were immediately removed if they were in the US for less than 5 years. Only immigrants who have been in the US for over 5 years can receive welfare.

U.S. Congress passes the Illegal Immigration Reform & Immigrant Responsibility Act, setting mandatory detention and deportation laws that apply retroactively, making refugees and lawful permanent residents vulnerable to deportation. Forms of immigration relief previously available to people with convictions are eliminated. It also eliminates judicial review for cases.

2001

U.S. Congress passes the USA Patriot Act after September 11th, ushering in a new era of racial profiling, immigrant detentions, and deportations.

2002

First repatriation agreement between U.S. and Cambodia for Cambodia to accept deportees.

2008

The U.S. signs an agreement with Vietnam not to deport Vietnamese immigrants who entered the U.S. before July 12, 1995.

2017

The U.S. sanctions visas for Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar to pressure them to accept deportees.

2018

The U.S. goes back on its 2008 agreement with Vietnam in an attempt to deport more Vietnamese people.

More than 110 Cambodian people are deported in the calendar year, the highest number in U.S. history. 750+ Cambodian, 200+ Laotian, and 550+Vietnamese community members have been deported since 2002.

Additional sources:  Legacies of War. “Secret War in Laos.” Legacies of War, legaciesofwar.org/about-laos/secret-war-laos/;  Taylor Owen. “Bombs Over Cambodia.” The Walrus, thewalrus.ca/2006-10-history/; Ashley Dunn. “Southeast Asians Highly Dependent on Welfare in U.S.” The New York Times archive, https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/19/us/southeast-asians-highly-dependent-on-welfare-in-us.html.

ALT

ALT

Born in San Francisco, Carlos Villa (1936 – 2013), was an Asian-American of Filipino descent. He once described himself as “a Filipino not born in the Philippines—I am an American, not fully accepted because I am a Filipino in America.” 

Villa’s work explored cultural diversity and identity. He lived in Los Angeles and New York in the 1960s, but returned to San Francisco in 1969. There he began teaching art and became involved with multicultural activism. 

Image 1: “Tatu”, 1969, ink on itec print, 22”x 18”

Image 2: Black and white photograph of Carlos Villa by Irene Poon, 1997

Leading the way : Asian American artists of the older generation
Photographic portraits and biographical sketches by Irene Poon ; [introduction by Paul Karlstrom ; foreword by Nanying Stella Wong ; historical essay by Lorraine Dong].
Poon, Irene. 
Wenham, Mass. : Gordon College, 2001.
108 p. : ill. (some col.), ports. ; 31 cm.
“The creativity and careers of the pioneering artists featured in this publication is the subject of a ground-breaking exhibition at Gordon College. Selected art works and Irene Poon’s photographic portraits of these senior Asian American artists provide an insightful introduction to the Asian American artists who led the way in the decades of the 30s through the 60s. Many of these artists continue to be productive in the 21st century.”–BOOK JACKET.
English
2001
HOLLIS number: 990087693250203941

Rep. Royce’s Rowland Heights, CA office offers internship opportunities for motivated individuals. These internships are highly selective, yet offer participants a first-hand look at the American legislative and political process. Interns are given a wide variety of tasks and leave with a greater, more practical understanding of the legislative branch of government. Interns do research, attend hearings, answer phones, read mail, and so much more. These unpaid positions are available throughout the school year and summer months. Use the following link to find out more and learn how to apply:

Rowland Heights, CA Office Internships

It wouldn’t be a queer blog if I didn’t talk a little bit about masculinity. Spending the last several years in Christian spaces, there wasn’t any room for queer voices. Let’s dive into some of the times where my masculinity was formed.

Childhood

Throughout childhood, there is an unspoken social order about how boys should play with boys and girls should play with girls. I don’t ever recall playing with boys during recess. My shyness and disinterest in sports meant I gravitated towards activities typically attributed to girls, such as jump rope, picking flowers, and holding hands with girls. I found it extremely unfun to play a game that was explicitly based on one’s physical strength and skill. How are athletically challenged kids supposed to feel good about themselves when playing sports during recess or P.E.? It wasn’t until high school that I actually got “physical education.” The teachers there taught me how to exercise at my own pace, and how to make an exercise plan.

American schools aren’t the best places for introverts. The loudest kids usually get the most attention, and the teacher spends more time quieting the loud ones than encouraging the quiet ones. I don’t know if you teacher did this at your school, but when the she takes us on field trips she would always ask us to stand/sit in “boy-girl order”. That means if we’re standing in line at the petting zoo or something, we have to alternate genders so that we “behave.” I get that it is one method of creating “order” and calming kids down, but how does that even apply to me? I couldn’t socialize with boys on the soccer field, and I can’t socialize with boys with this “boy-girl” rule. How am I supposed to learn how to socialize with them? Why can’t there be a time when the boys can sit down and have an emotional or intellectual conversation?

If you’re a parent reading this, please don’t encourage your feminine son to do more “masculine” things. It’s like encouraging a parrot to swim, when you could be teaching him how to fly. “Feminine” boys have so much to contribute to society. Empathy, level-headedness, understanding, thoughtfulness, patience. The world needs more men like that. 

What I mean is, don’t use this as a weapon to attack the “gay childhood” experience. Don’t search for answers to why “kids turn out gay.” Accept their circumstance and learn how to nurture them as they are.

Adolescence

Gender segregation had an impact on my puberty years. By then, it was even more shameful to have opposite-gender friends (most boys were starting to think about girls). So I finally made my group of “guy” friends. We only really bonded through video games, but that was it.

It always seemed like the “masculine” guys at school had sailor mouths, and I never associated myself with that culture. That made it easier for me to start going to church in high school. I still had a tough time socializing in church, but it was slightly easier than at school. I also finally made male “best friends” in high school. One was a dancer and one was an art student. The former turned out to be gay in college (though looking back I think my gaydar was horrible).

Late teens

My first time feeling fully accepted as a person was in a Christian fellowship in college. Guys and girls alike welcomed and accepted me. I could finally have emotional and intellectual conversations with people. I was also finally invited to my first ever male-only event. This was hugely important to me, since I never ever felt comfortable in male-only settings. Especially something like this with over 50 guys. I was expecting it to be uncomfortable, but it was strangely satisfying. It seems like since most of these guys were Asian American, we could all identify in our fragile masculinity and strengthen our bond through culture.

I started using words like “dude” and “bro.” I started receiving those words as well. It’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, I’m excited to have my gender affirmed by masculine guys. On the other hand, I feel an immense pressure to gender-perform in front of them. As in “act more masculine” and “hide my femininity.” On the plus side, I learned more about physical touch between men. My church in college had a very touchy male population, and I greatly appreciated what I learned from them.

Adulthood

Still, men have a lot of work to learn how to be emotionally vulnerable. I came out to 7 people my first two years in college. 6 of them were girls. Because I could only feel emotionally vulnerable around girls and not men, I relied on my female friends and family to give me the support I needed to come out.

My last comment is a bit tricky to put into words. Let me just recount the story. I was hanging with some Christian friends on campus, when suddenly a pack of shirtless male swimmers walk by. Immediately, one of my male peers points them out to one of my female peers. Let’s just call them John and Jane. These two peers aren’t close friends or anything - John just turned to the nearest girl in our group and started teasing her.

But teasing her about what? I want to break this down. Was John really just teasing Jane about liking guys? What if Jane wasn’t into guys? Would John have done the same to me if he knew I were into guys? Was John in essence making fun of Jane’s sexuality? Was he making fun of her femininity? Why must John point out someone else’s femininity? Was John so insecure in his sexuality that he had to deflect his shame onto the nearest androphile? Why couldn’t John just face his insecure masculinity and just appreciate the male body? Why not just make a comment about the male form and not be afraid to come off as gay? Women can call other women pretty, but men can’t point out other attractive things about other men? 

I’m just getting started on this conversation, but I sure many of you have better ways to process your inner thoughts on masculinity. Let’s not limit ourselves to what we think a man shouldbe. Dare to think what a man couldbe.