Matthew 2:2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
Matthew 27:37 And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Mark 15:26 The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Mark 15:32 Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.
Luke 24:1-8 NIV 24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8Then they remembered his words.
John 20:19-20 NLT 19 That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!
1 Corinthians 15:20 NLT 20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
Revelation 1:18 NLT 18 I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.
Mark 16:5-7 NIV 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 1 Corinthians 15:20-22NLT
Image description: On the deck of an aircraft carrier, silhouetted against sunlight reflected on the sea, a crowd of people gather around a simple cross.
In this dream it was also Easter Sunday. I dont like church, don’t like nothing to do with it except the singing I don’t go unless I’m forced, so this dream is already off to a weird start. Instead of being bored and sitting around I get the desire to go to church. Not my home church or a small church I want to see the happenings on Easter hats, suits, and dresses. First one but it was too small and filled, plus their entrance was in the front. So I dipped before anyone could see me.
The next church it’s bigger I’ve been there before. It’s an amalgamation of church’s I’ve been to. It’s a small mega church. They have open seats in the back on the side I come in on but it’s too empty so I walk to the other side and take up the small last bench still not close enough to the churchgoers to be anonymous so I move up and an maybe one semi-empty pew behind the major crowd. I’m late the pastor (Bishop Eddie Long, with the Jheri curl) is in the middle of his sermon. I just sit listening, when I’m approached by someone smiling offering me all kinds of stuff, food, books, pamphlets, etc. in grocery bags as a welcome. I try to refuse but they won’t go so I keep it. They go away. I begin a light panic as I’m trying to follow along with the scripture, but I’ve forgotten the order of books, so soon as I find the verse he’s on to the next and I’m back surfing. I get bored of the sermon (like in real life) so I pull out my phone, not to use but just in case I want to surf Twitter, setting it beside me the screen is on playing a video. Instead of cutting if off I just let it play but I cut the volume to nil so I can just look at it occasionally. As I’m doing this they stand. I’m still sitting. I look up to see a guy with a very creepy smile smiling at me he then begins shaking his head, slowly, smile still on. He can see my phone over the pew, he was like 2 rows ahead. They sit back down and the Bishop continues, a smiling mid 40-50s aged woman comes over and asks me to cut off my phone. I’m trying to tell her I am when she reaches for it a minor tustle ensues, smile never fades eye contact unbroken. I get her off me. The churchgoers around me are unphased. A smiling Mother approaches and she too tries to take my phone. I fight her off. Nothing dramatic just pulliing and whisperd arguing. After that I’m ready to go but I don’t.
A short time later, someone smiling comes to me offering new member forms I refuse them. They say, “Okay, here comes [name forgotten] you’ll like their papers more.” I nod uncomfortably with a closed mouth smile. So and so is coming from the front I can see her walking across from the choirstand. She has a sort of Sammy Davis Jr, my back hurts kind of jaunty walk. She gets to me hands me two lottery ticket like flyers to fill out. I begin to fill one out and realize it’s a choir job. I laugh and tell her I don’t need that. She creepily laugh agrees and takes it. The other, a job application for something not to do with church. It’s very weird, I fill it out anyway. She does the scratch off portion before handing me back the form with the bottom missing. Nothing ever come of it.
Finally, it’s benediction time! I stand. For some reason there are a couple false starts. A guy I can’t tell if he came from the pulpit or the pews, begins realizes he messed up, pulls his collar clears his throat say, “Whoops, that’s not it”. He starts again, this time the bishop interrupts going to his lectern he gives the man a look, the man nervously leaves the pulpit. Bishop does the benediction but it’s not a prayer. The church just harmonizes “Amen” (iykyk).
Ready to leave, grocery bags in hand I head for the door. Now located at the front (dream architecture). As I’m leaving I see a bishop from my churches sister church. We say hello. But he’s different, smiling creepily, he is also a bishop at his own church and has a reputation for wanting to be the only one in charge so why is he here and during an Easter morning service, no less? He invites me to dine with them. Uneasy, I lie telling him I can’t because I must meet my family for Easter dinner. Before I pass him he says. “They’re buffet style. We’re table and plate style people” (I kinda of know what he’s implying, but also what the hell does that mean?) During the service I could see white tableclothed tables with small vases with a singular red flower. I get past him and am heading toward the exit when again dream architecture takes over and it’s through a cafeteria. Imagine a darker kitschy foodlife in Chicago’s Water Tower Place. As I’m going trying not to get distracted by the abundance of choice and people getting their Easter dinners or chefs much too happy behind wallof of streaming glass. I spot my mother. What’s weird is she told me she was going to church, definitely not this one, so I take a picture of her and text her, ‘I thought you were going to [church name]“, with the photo attached. I’m concerned because she looks like her normal self, but is wearing one of those creepy smiles, I can see it reflected in the glass window as she’s "buying” her food. I make it out I put the bags in my car. For some reason I decide to check out the cafeteria. I re-enter and stop by a dessert stand closest to the door. It’s “closed” all the lights are on but dim, desserts are on display but no one’s behind the counter or in line. I continue to look at the beautiful sweets on display when I decide to by some to take home. As I’m eyeing the case I bump into one of those life-size French chef statues, I finally perk up to see I entered at the exit side and the start of the line is roped off with a chalk board sign not reading closed but a list of desserts. I turn to leave but there behind the once barren counter is the real French chef standing silent watching me creepy smile on display. I begin to apologize for my intrusion. He begins speaking but I never hear what he says or find out if my mother’s been converted to this creepy cult. I tried to stay asleep but I had to pee.
It’s one of those dreams I hope to have again to discover more about.
Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store, Though foolishly he lost the same, Decaying more and more, Till he became Most poore: With thee O let me rise As larks, harmoniously, And sing this day thy victories: Then shall the fall further the flight in me.
My tender age in sorrow did beginne And still with sicknesses and shame. Thou didst so punish sinne, That I became Most thinne. With thee Let me combine, And feel thy victorie: For, if I imp my wing on thine, Affliction shall advance the flight in me.
The Resurrection of Christ, Juan Correa de Vivar (1510-1566)
There’s a PR push to celebrate the new romance between Chelsea Handler and Filipino American comedian Jo Koy. But Handler has a history of being racist and using her dating life with men of color as a shield from facing repercussions—and Koy seems happy to let her do it again.
Handler used this tactic in the Black community. Her response to backlash was to create content that talks around her racism without truly addressing it—and still profit from it. Ironically her “acknowledgement” of anti-Black racism is how I got exposed to her anti-Asian racism.
In 2016’s Chelsea Does Racism, Handler claims to be “egalitarian” with her jokes about race. But it’s clear she’s made choices on which groups to appear empathetic to and which groups she feels safe to dismiss with a laugh—such as Asian men. And she’s unapologetic about it.
Fast forward to Handler and Koy’s media tour touting themselves as a power couple. This matters because Jo Koy is currently being celebrated as major Fil-Am rep with his soon-to-be released studio film, Easter Sunday. Proudly pairing with an anti-Asian racist sends a message.
Jo Koy was not only the most frequent guest on her past show over the years (meaning he knows who she is), but invited her to play a role in Easter Sunday. This serves to rehabilitate her image, bring her into Fil-Am/AsAm spaces and let her profit from it.
Handler’s recent IG video says it all: She wants a Kardashian empire, where Filipinos are swapped in for Black people as accessories to her whiteness. She’s talking like a textbook sexpat yet repeatedly describes Filipinos and Black people as infiltrators.
Jo Koy’s decision to partner with Handler makes more sense knowing he’s guilty of peddling anti-Asian stereotypes too. In one special, Koy publicly body shames his son—ignoring his pleas not to. This is the same special that got Steven Spielberg to greenlight Easter Sunday.
You can guess the elevator pitch for Easter Sunday: “Think Crazy Rich Asians, but take out the rich so they’re just crazy.” White-mixed Asians like Jo Koy are granted more humanity than monoracial Fil-Ams due to the legacy of colonization, and Koy seems to be leaning into that.
For ex, AsAm Chloe Bennet—who’s half-white like Jo Koy—proudly defended Logan Paul after he mocked and exploited a dead Japanese man. Yet Bennet is centered in campaigns about anti-Asian hate. Asians who hurt their community aren’t punished by white Hollywood—they’re rewarded.
Back to the film Easter Sunday, there are no Fil-Ams credited on the creative team. I’m all for pan-Asian progress, but not at the expense of specific ethnic groups. It’s the first studio film to center on a Filipino American family. This pattern of erasing Fil-Ams in AsAm spaces needs to stop too.
Overall, Easter Sunday is supposed to be a “first,” but with so much racism embedded in its creation, I don’t feel like celebrating. The idea of seeing either Jo Koy or Chelsea Handler on a red carpet for a major Fil-Am milestone is awful. It’s a win for them—not us.
