UAASO

UAASO Ladies at UniPro Summit

Once again UAASO has attended another conference! Fellow member Diana and I went to the Pilipino American Unity for Progress (UniPro)’s 2nd annual UniPro Summit at NYU. The featured keynote speaker was Jose Antonio Vargas, a Filipino journalist and activist for the immigration and LGBT communities.

There was designated time for networking with fellow attendees and a wide ranged choice of panels/workshops, even beautiful cultural performances by Mga Anak ni Inang Daigdig! The theme was Pilipino Renaissance. Some definitions that I got from this movement: unity, self sufficiency, giving back globally, achievement, self determination, embracing the spirit of the Philippines.

Some points I learned throughout the conference:
★ Identities can be based on ethnicity, gender, and geographic location; they evolve over time and should not be determined by anyone but yourself. You are not less of anything because someone says so.  
★ The Filipino formative experience can come at any time in one’s life and from any event- a country remniscient of the Philippines, visitng the Philippines, family stories, joining communities and on or off campus organizations, etc.
★ We should not be passive when people use microaggressions, but re-educate them. Challenge your authentic voice to be heard against the current of the dominant discourse. It’s not how you fit into the dominant discourse, but how the dominant discourse fits into you. Be okay with creating your own standards of success and support one another’s endeavors.
★ The Filipino Renaissance is in transition; it is your civic duty as the contemporary generation to keep the renaissance alive for the future generation as a legacy, mainly by participating in the community and supporting it.
★ Be passionate about what you do in order to excel. Success is not necessarily taught in school, but school gives you the tools to succeed. Follow your bliss, be authentic!
★ In the world of sports, foreign born and foreign descent players of the PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) like the Segal brothers faced a lot of resentment and legal complications due to a debate in their citizenship. The “PhilAms”, “PhilSHAMs”, or ”imports” were seen as a threat to the native Filipinos, allegedly stealing their athletic opportunities. The senate had a difficult time defining what makes one Filipino in legal terms, having moments of blatant hypocrisy. After the community moved on from these matters, they were able to deal with Arnold Clavio’s statement against the Filipino soccer team, the Azcals, in an clearer manner. Clavio’s statement had stirred controversy and racial issues. 

I recommend this conference to anyone who is interested in understanding the facets of Filipino and Filipino-American culture. You will meet humorous, informative speakers that are sure to inspire you to be active in the community! Kitakits~ (See you soon~)

-Ashley, Secretary

(Source: unipronow.org)

see you all next year UAASO!

have a great summer  =)

UAASO Ladies at NYCAASC

Today was a great step for UAASO, because a good amount of the beautiful ladies in UAASO attended the 6th Annual New York City Asian American Student Conference (NYCAASC, pronounced nigh-sack). The keynote and special guest speaker was Phil Yu, also known as Asian American culture blogger Angry Asian Man of angryasianman.com. (For me it was great to see him in person, knowing he is the reason I was able to be in touch with Asian American current events.)

It was great to attend three workshop/panels of various fields of interest, as well as having the chance to mingle with other college and high school students. Although I felt it was a little difficult to network in between panels, lunch, and the awesome talent show (featuring the funniest emcee ever Jen Kwok), I think reaching out to other people and putting UAASO’s name out there has helped build potential bridges. This experience makes me eager to visit more conferences in the area and spread UAASO’s name even further. It also helps you step out of your comfort zone and gets you to meet new people of all backgrounds and fields.

I definitely recommend this conference to anyone interested in exploring Asian American experiences and seeking inspiration for activism. There were a good range of topics (I even found a topic just for me featuring graphic novel cartoonists), and it was a great turnout of about 600-650 this year. Hope to see you next year!

-Ashley, Culture Chair 

(Source: nycaasc.com)

World’s Fair

April 19, 2012

AA Squared (Asian Americans on Affirmative Action)

Did you or someone you know ever experience the following?

- Lying or choosing not to disclose your race/ethnicity on an application
- Feeling that your acceptance into/rejection from an institution was due to your race/ethnicity
- Taking ethnicity into account for the sake of leveling the playing field and equal representation

Either way, chances are you have been involved in the system of affirmative action.

John F. Kennedy coined the phrase in his order for federal contractors to “take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” -Now.org

Despite the call to disregard race/ethnicity, debators for and against affirmative action tend to bring up just that as their reason to be in favor of or oppose it.  

What is one way in which affirmative action affects the Asian American community, a minority in the United States? For one thing, some employed Asian Americans have reported higher incomes than other minorities and even the majorities, earning Asian Americans the double-edged title “model minority” over time. While higher income usually means success and achievement, the downside is the major neglect of those from the Asian American community who fall into the unemployed, homeless and/or low-income category. Perhaps those in the aforementioned category do not easily get enough financial or welfare assistance if at all as in this real life example:

“All too often, low-income, underserved Asian American youth remain invisible. Their needs and struggles are hidden by the myth that Asian Americans do not need help, which all too often results in policies and practices leading to benign neglect.”- Asian American LEAD

The same can be said about education: Some Asian Americans accepted into educational institutions might report higher test scores or test taking abilities, but those who are below average might not be getting the help that they deserve.

Also it seems that because of the “model minority” effect, the Asian American community was not sufficicently represented or considered in public national surveys regarding affirmative action from gallup polls, as if implying that other minorities (and the majority) had more to gain from or be affected by the intentions of equal opportunity that supposedly come with affirmative action.  

You may or may not have a view on affirmative action- to those that do, your position on it may be for, against, or somewhere in the middle of it. It is something to think about because how affirmative action is enforced now (and how it could be enforced in the future) could affect various communities (for better and/or worse). 

Ashley, Culture Chair

(Source: now.org, aalead.org)

Tandoori Pizza and Sushi Burgers- a Surprise

Before Connecting Across Cultures advertised their “Tandoori Pizza and Sushi Burger” event for APIHM (Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month), I had always wanted to go ever since a member of UAASO (Diana) told me about it. She explained that Connecting Across Cultures was a weekly meet-up and discussion session for students from all backgrounds, including the international students. I was intrigued and definitely wanted to go sometime.

Thus, since they were having an event on April 5th for APIHM, what better opporunity did I have than that day? In addition, I really wanted to try out a “tandoori pizza” and “sushi burger”. So, with permission from our UAASO President, a few of the members and I went to visit.

It was quite interesting. We started off by discussing initial assumptions one may make based on apperance and phenotype. In lieu of traditional introductions, we played a game of guessing each other’s nationalities/ethnicities.  

One of the stories mentioned by the facilitator of the group (an on-campus psychologist who is quite a free spirit!) that intrigued me was the story of her friend, a 4th or 5th generation American of Japanese descent from California. When people would ask her “Where are you from?” she would respond “America.” Then she would get the “where are you from from?” and “where are you really from?” questions. Since she has an Asian phenotype, people expect (or in this case, desperately want) her to say “I’m from Japan.” The implications behind this whole situation is, what does it mean to be American then? If you can’t accept “American” as the identity of an American who looks Asian, then what is an American supposed to look like for people to be satisfied with “American” as the answer?

Turns out the reason she would not identify as Asian American or Japanese American is because she, her parents, her grand parents, and her great grandparents all were born and grew up in California. She never went to Japan and she does not speak Japanese. She said that to identify herself as Japanese-American would be inauthentic. Would a 4th/5th generation Japanese American still be considered Japanese American? I would say so, but she does not think so. In the end, there’s the way people see you and the way you see yourself; these two identities do not always have to agree.

We also discused how over time, how we identify ourselves can evolve or change. For example, the facilitator’s identity went from Indian, to Asian, to South Asian, to Asian American, to Indian American.

In the end, it turns out the “tandoori pizza and sushi burgers” were not an invitation to come eat food- it was actually a title symbolilzing bi-culturalism. But while our stomachs may have been disappointed from the lack of this food mix, our minds were stimulated by the conversation. We met very interesting young women from various nationalities and identities and we had a great time sharing some of our personal experiences involving identity.

Connecting Across Cultures welcomes people of all backgrounds to meet new people and share with others. Whether you’re a regular, an occasional, or a one time visitor, I recommend attending! They meet every Thursday from 3 to 4 at the Drop-In Center.

Ashley, Culture Chair

Come to the 9th annual UAASO Formal

Congratulations to the new E-board

The 2012 - 2013 e-board will consist of the following members:

* Last names were kept off for privacy and safety.

Senior: Carlos

Historian: Kody

Culture Chair: Kristin

Dance Chair: Cassandra

Public Relations Chair: Godwin

Events Coordinator: Marie

Treasurer: Natasha

Secretary: Ashley

Vice President: Binh

President: Melissa

03/21 Game Recap

On Wednesday, March 21st, I decided to try out a game in lieu of a discussion. The game was essentially hangman without drawing a hung man. Instead, a sad face was drawn and the game was thus renamed SADFACE.

Three teams attempted to figure out the words (the category was famous Asian Americans) while also giving three facts about the person(s) once the name was figured out.

Out of the many names I wrote down, the three (technically four) people’s names I picked were George Takei, Margaret Cho, and Alex and Maia Shibutani.

The game was both a hit and miss- on the one hand, the groups played by the rules and one member was exceptionally good at naming facts about the people I listed (@vividimprints). On the other hand, it was difficult to get the attention of the teams whose rounds weren’t up.

However, at this time I am happy to say that in this experimetation of new ideas to present culture to the members (through discussions, polls, workshops, icebreaker games, etc.) I am learning something from the members just as they are (hopefully) learning something from me. I hope that the future Culture Chair of UAASO, whoever s/he may be, can learn from my experiences and chisle out their own, better ways of sharing Asian American culture.

Ashley, Culture Chair

02/22 Discussion Recap

Last meeting we had a discussion about Jeremy Lin, an Asian American basketball player of Chinese and Taiwnese descent from the New York Knicks who has been getting a lot of media attention in light of his recent rise and winning (or as the fans would say “Linning”) streak.

We went into a brief background, and discussed the hardships he has had to face as a minority basketball player. Spectarors and players alike would jeer at him for his ethnicity. There were some specific incidences that played into the stereotype of Asian Americans. In one instance, Jeremy Lin was in a Pro-Am (professional-amateur) court and one of the people there told him that they were not playing volleyball, but basketball. In another incident, Lin was confused for a staff person at the game. And, in a third instance, one of the jeers he would hear during his game was “Orchestra is on the other side of campus.”

Some interesting facts about Lin, a Harvard graduate, would hold Bible studies on campus, and one can see his devotion to God in his quotes, and even on his Twitter account. He has also been in YouTube videos alongside Asian American YouTube celebrity users nigahiga and kevjumba. Lin’s YouTube and Twitter accounts are jlin7. He was also voted top eight influential Chinese Americans on Vivid magazine.

As a skillful basketball player and minority in the basketball scene, Jeremy Lin has become a role model for the Asian American community, and he himself hopes to break the stereotype and show that one can succeed in whatever field they wish if they put in the effort without having to worry what background one is. The hype and praise he is getting and his story are comparable to those of Tiger Woods when he came into the golf scene and of Eninem when he came into the rap scene.

We also discussed the Jeremy Lin effect, as coined by the Wong brothers YouTube video. In part two of their video, it shows how an Asian American girl who would never dream of dating an Asian American guy suddenly falls for one after seeing how Jeremy Lin does not portray the typical image of a scrawny geek.

In real life, we have seen the Jeremy Lin effect take place during the ESPN incidents of “Chink in the armor”. Regardless of it being an idiomatic expression similar to “Achille’s heel”, we cannot help but observe that they are using this phrase in an insensitive manner. How can they expect us not to see that the phrase contains the word “chink”, the very word that has been used as a racial slur against people of Asian descent? This is why ESPN acted quickly in attempt to correct the matter.

We commend Jeremy Lin for his recent success and hope that he keeps on doing his best in the future.

Many thanks to everyone who participated and helped me make the discussion possible!

Sources: Wikipedia article on Jeremy Lin, ESPN, Jeremy Lin’s Twitter and Youtube Account, Jeremy Lin Effect Part 2 Video by Wong Brothers 

- Ashley, Culture Chair