SUMMER INTERNSHIP The Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) is a national non-profit, non-partisan and grassroots organization founded in 2001. APAPA was established with the primary mission of empowering Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Americans in civic and public affairs through education, active participation, and leadership development. APAPA developed voter registration events, internships, scholarships, voter education forums, leadership, and networking programs designed specifically for the education, betterment, and advancement of the API community. The APAPA-Southern California Region (APAPA-SCR) was established eight years ago to serve the SoCal community. The SCR currently has five chapters (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Gabriel, Youth, and Orange County). APAPA-SCR along with the Los Angeles Chapter, San Gabriel Chapter, and Orange County Chapter are awarding a number of leadership and summer internship positions for current Asian and Pacific Islander college and graduate school students. The purpose of the internship is to help students better understand California state and local government and to develop future leaders in the API community. Each intern must spend a minimum of 50 hours in the assigned office between July 6 – August 14, 2015, working for a local/state legislator, congress member, or constitutional officer in Southern California. Upon completion of the internship, each intern will be awarded a $500 scholarship. There is also a week-long, all-expense-paid study-tour to Northern California to work and play together national and international student leaders from many other partner organizations. We would like to invite your students to apply for this comprehensive leadership program. With our positive experience working with your students in the past, we are going to give favorable considerations for your student leaders. We appreciate your help dispersing the application information. The internship application form can be found at APAPA website: http://apapa.org/scc/tp-apapa-scc.aspx or download directly from: http://apapa.org/scc/pdf/APAPA-SCR_internship_appl_2015.pdf
“Carved jade adorned their heads and hung from their necks and cloak. And in those carvings were the shapes of nature found around them and great figures from their history; craftsman, warriors, chieftains and heroes.”
Haven’t drawn these characters in a while. Little painting focusing on their jade-work. Also, is anyone even still using this app anymore? lol
Even before there was Ghost in the Shell, there was LUCY. Admittedly, it was pretty much agreed that LUCY was a crappy movie all round, but I only had to suffer the trailer to know that it was not for me. It opens with ScarJo kidnapped by Taiwanese mafia type, before she gives the bad boys the ass kicking they deserve. Asian mafia/triad/gang is a western media trope hollywood falls upon time and again. But what really got me was when ScarJo escaped, she was shouting “Do you speak English?” and then shooting Taiwanese who didn’t. Sure, maybe it was another triad baddie, but WTF ever. The fact that Hollywood did not see the heavily racist overtones of this opening scene is unsurprising… and infuriating.
So in one of the first major Hollywood movies where my birth city is featured on the big screen, ScarJo is shown gunning down Taiwanese men and demanding that they speak English. *insert appropriate RAGE gif here*
I joke that I write All Asian All the Time. But it’s not really a joke if it’s true, is it? WANT is my first near-future thriller set in Taipei with a cast composed entirely of Asian and Pacific Islander characters, and a Taiwanese hero featured prominently on the cover.
WANT is the first YA set in Taiwan I am aware of released by a bigger US publisher, and definitely the first YA SF. The cover art was designed by the amazing Jason Chan, and my audio book is narrated by Chinese American actor Roger Yeh. I had requested an Asian voice actor and my awesome audio book publisher honored that request! You can listen to a sample of Roger’s fantastic narration here.
It hasn’t been an easy journey. Publishing is a rough business, period, but when you’re insisting on writing novels with basically entire Asian casts, your story is seen as too niche, an outlier. Asian Americans have been othered in western media from the beginning, and it comes as no surprise this was also the case in young adult novels.
There is no greater compliment for me as a writer than to have a reader tell me they could see my books made into a movie, but also probably nothing as heartbreaking. I know my narratives are too western for Asia and too Asian for the west to garner interest from film or dramatic rights. It would be too much of a risk, too big of a leap. As Americans, we’ll accept immigrant stories from Asian Americans (and not much else), we’ll admire and ogle the “exotic” Asian backdrops, costumes, customs, culture, and women. But Asian faces will still be relegated to the background as side characters to provide some “authenticity” and lend to the Asian ambiance.
These are not the stories I write, friends. And I will continue to put Asian protagonists at the forefront of all of my stories. I celebrate each publication as a triumph, and my heart is lifted by the young Asian American creators and storytellers I see rising to tell their own tales—to bring to life what we personally never got to see as young readers.
WANT releases June 13th and can be purchased (mostly) where all books are sold. Or you can order through my favorite indie Mysterious Galaxy Books to receive signed and personalized copies (while supporting indie, woohoo!) and I’ll include gorgeous art swag by Jason Chan and myself.
I’m so thrilled to share WANT with you, readers. I hope you fall in love with these characters and Taipei as much as I love them.
Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow), which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by the American Library Association’s Booklist and one of 2009′s best Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror by VOYA; SerpentineandSacrifice(Month9Books), which were both Junior Library Guild selections and received starred reviews from School Library Journal andKirkus, respectively; and WANT (Simon Pulse), also a Junior Library Guild selection, is a near-future thriller set in Taipei. She is the cofounder of Diversity in YA with Malinda Lo and on the advisory board of We Need Diverse Books. Cindy is also a Chinese brush-painting student of over a decade. Learn more about her books and art at http://cindypon.com.
This November, 18MR’s Campaigner Laura Li and I (Bianca Nozaki-Nasser) were welcomed by the Kia’i at Mauna Kea. As Asian Americans, we were honored to be able to support and lift up the Kānaka Maoli’s fight to protect this sacred place.
It’s been five months since the Kia’i (Kānaka Maoli protectors) set up camp to defend the sacred Hawaiian mountain, Mauna Kea. Since then, hundreds of Kānaka Maoli have set up a pu’uhonua (place of refuge) on the Mauna Kea access road complete with food, shelter, and provisions. Organizers have founded Pu‘uhuluhulu University to offer de-colonial education, and kūpuna continue to hold space for ceremony, song, dance, and announcements–all while blocking construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.
ABOVE: View of the pu’uhonua from Puʻu Huluhulu by Bianca Nozaki-Nasser
After weeks of emails, texts, and calls Laura and I arrived on Day 114 of the protest to finally meet Yvonne “Von” Mahelona, a young activist who supports logistics coordination for Pu’uhonua o Pu’uhuluhulu. Von has been at the Mauna since July and spends her time making sure each station is stocked with necessary supplies, keeping everyone fed, healthy and warm, and working the information and welcome booth. She orients folks coming into the pu’uhonua for the first time, educates tourists, receives donations, and answers any questions people have about the pu’uhonua.
ABOVE: Yvonne “Von” Mahelona by Bianca Nozaki-Nasser
Upon arrival, we learned that the Kia’i commits to the mountain three times a day at 8 am, 12 pm, and 5 pm through ceremony. Driven by “Aloha ʻĀina”, which literally means “love of the land,” ceremony is held on the access road and is full of singing, dancing, and palpable reverence for the land and one another. On the day we visited, ceremony was led by Aunty Pua Case, a life long water protector and movement leader. Near the ceremony’s end we were invited alongside other comrades, friends, and visitors to join and learn hula dances.
As Aunty Pua closed the ceremony she told us:
“WE ARE THE GUARDIANS WHO STAND TALL AS MOUNTAINS, UNSHAKABLE. WE ARE THE PROTECTORS OF THE MOUNTAIN MAUNA KEA AND WE WILL RISE LIKE A MIGHTY WAVE.”
After morning ceremony each person broke away to attend to a task, from organizing written statements for the next day’s hearing to teaching hula. Everyone at the pu’uhonua moves with purpose.
ABOVE: Hula lessons held on the Mauna Kea access road by Bianca Nozaki-Nasser
Throughout the pu’uhonua we saw rules of conduct, one among them “BE PONO.” Pono, while having 83 English translations available online, we are told generally means to “be good.” Von explains to us that the Mauna Kea movement practices “kapu aloha always.” Kapu aloha is an evolving code of conduct of the Kanaka Maoli. It is expressed politically through non-violent direct action and ceremonially through behavioral conduct in alignment with Kanaka Maoli cultural practices and notions of the sacred.
ABOVE: Presley Keʻalaanuhea Ah Mook Sang, Chancellor of Pu'uhuluhulu University by Bianca Nozaki-Nasser
During our day on the Mauna, we were able to see what is often lost in mainstream media coverage and online reshares. Their protest is not an occupation, it is a reclamation. It is led by Kānaka Maoli, not “locals.” It is intergenerational. It is led by women. It brings people from all over the world to the Mauna. What we were able to witness on the Mauna was not just the resistance of Kanaka Maoli protecting their sacred land, but the incredible power of Indigenous self-governance. It is a movement dedicated to healing the traumas of colonialism and genocide.
ABOVE: Jacinto Kaleo Zulueta, protector residing at the Mauna by Bianca Nozaki-Nasser
Through social media, we have been able to watch the continued denial of Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination over land use in real-time. Mauna Kea is a precedent-setting movement that will not only determine the future of the Mauna but will impact the future of land usage which respects, preserves and honors Indigenous people and their history, culture, and environmental justice leadership.
ABOVE: Makanalani Gomes, protector working on logistics and events/programming at the Mauna by Bianca Nozaki-Nasser
Momentum around this issue has been building for decades, however this year the combination of the tireless work of Kānaka Maoli and social media networks has allowed the movement to protect Mauna Kea to grow from a locally known issue to an international story. With this in mind, we asked Aunty Pua: what does the Mauna need from all of us standing in solidarity with them? Her answer was that whether you are Kānaka Maoli, Indigenous, or non-Native, your energy is important in supporting the preservation of the Mauna. Here are some ways that you can help support:
Support organizations on the frontlines. The current cost of propane alone for the pu’uhonua is $1100 a week. This effort is completely volunteer-run and funded. The movement of the Mauna has created three places for folks to donate funds that directly support their work:
It is absolutely crucial that Kānaka Maoli gain recognition and that the call to protect Mauna Kea accelerates. Sharing updates from people on the ground continues to be important, as we know major news outlets often do not represent the views or needs of those on the front lines. Sharing helps to keep this a relevant call to action for us all. You can follow the hashtags and accounts associated with the Kia’i and share their content:
From Mauna Kea to #NoDAPL and beyond, it is critically important that as Asian Americans we stand together to protect Indigenous sovereignty. Laura and I, and the entire 18MR team are sincerely grateful to everyone on the Mauna for welcoming us, teaching us, and sharing their sacred space.
