Oh HELL No Betty Brown.

Down in Texas, people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent often have problems voting and other forms of identification because they may have a legal transliterated name and then a common English name that is used on their driver’s license on school registrations. Rep. Betty Brown, a North Texas legislator recently offered a perfect solution suggesting that "Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.” The GREAT Betty Brown defended her comments by saying it was "an attempt to overcome problems with identifying Asian names for voting purposes."

To overcome these problems, the genuis Brown suggested that " Asian-Americans should find a way to make their names more accessible. Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?”

And comments from Brown to Ramey Ko, who is a representative of the Organizations of Chinese Americans, "“Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”

Now Brown's spokesman Jordan Berry said Brown was not making a racially motivated comment but was trying to resolve an identification problem. Berry also said that Democrats are trying to blow Brown’s comments out of proportion saying "they want this to just be about race."

You can find this great story here: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6365320.html

Now a few words for Betty Brown...

Mrs. Brown as a person of Asian descent with an Asian name, I am highly offended by your comments. Now what you may think is a simple solution turns out to be an ignorant solution. Because for one, you want all Asian-Americans to find a way to make our names more accessible. Your reason and I am quoting "Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?” Mrs. Brown, correct me if I am wrong, although the names are intrepreted as "Asian" the word itself is still in English. And I have a perfect solution to your little problem here, see if you listened in elementary school and studied your phonics, you would learn how to utilize your vowels correctly and the pronounications of these name would not be a problem for you.

Secondly, you suggested that "rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" Your suggestion is logical, but not all Asian Americans are Chinese Mrs. Brown. See, there are other countries in Asia. Yes I know, it's hard to believe. See there's Japan, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Thailand, Taiwan and many more...shocking isn't it?

Now lastly, yes I know you think that people are trying to make this a race issue but I want you to know that YOU made this a race issue. Why? because you named a specific race out in your comment so they can be more "American". I really really want you to elaborate on how this ISN'T a race issue.

Mrs. Brown, I am sure that you are a fine American and a pretty nice lady. But Asian AMERICANS are Americans as well, and our duties to this nation has not be recognized and continued to be undermined by ignorances and ignorant people like you. Now I am sure, the idea was pretty good in your head but please, take the advice of my CHINESE IMMIGRANT mother "think before you speak."

Betty Brown, you failed.

I'm Pissed Off, Man

I'm pissed off, man. I came across a Facebook group that has make me furious at the Northeastern Asian American community. Now I know it is just a harmless group and it is for fun, but it is also highlighting all the negative stereotypes. Well the group is NEU Asians, the headline is "If your asian, full, half, quarter, whatever, or if you just have asian pride, join us and represent the NEU Asians." Now hold up, I can go into details on why that line just rubs me the wrong way and I will go into details. Going back into my post about Chris Iijima who was a pioneer in Asian America, he would be infuriate with that statemet like I would be. The great Chris Iijima said "a lot of young people are missing the point, being Asian is not about parading yourself how Asian you are." He was 100% correct. We don't need a group to show our pride, we don't need a stupid headline like that to prove our point. We need to work together to make our lives better, our voice louder, and our bond more solidify.

BUT the group's page gets better..."After you join post what bubble tea you like so I can add you as an officer." Excuse me? After you join, post what bubble tea you like so I can add you as an officer? so being Asian is about bubble tea? Thank you tp the creator of this group because you have given more stereotypes to Asians. First I am not about bubble tea and in fact, I don't even like bubble tea. Second of all, back to Mr. Iijima's point of "grooving to Asian Pride." Third, instead of talking about bubble tea, why don't you ask who is your favorite activist or favorite author or a book? wait I don't think you are smart enough to comprehen that and fourth, did you really just say "After you join post what bubble tea you like so I can add you as an officer?!"


It only gets better...there is an official email for the group, NEUASIANS@gmail.com. I wonder what can be emailed to this group. What kind of mini Winnie the Pool toy is the best? or whether to spell Asians or a Z?

Where is the office of this group? Super 88 (or anywhere with bubble tea)...Shake my head.

And the icing of the cake is that this group is closed. The members must be invited or approved by an admin officer. Thank you creator once again to prove that we as Asians are a closed group, who seclude ourselves from everyone. If you are not Asian, you can't join is the policy.

To Mr./Ms. Creator of this group, I don't know what your intentions were when you created this group. If it was to show pride, you missed out on the boat. If it was to unite people, maybe you have but I think that you did it in the wrong way. If it was to promote culture, no you did not promote any culture because the Asian American culture is NOT about FUCKIN' bubble tea or the bubble tea flavor.

The Asian American culture is about stories, well YOU (Mr./Ms. Creator) has certainly not heard of these stories. Stories about being discriminated, oppressed, and hate. Vincent Chin did not die for you to drink fuckin' bubble tea, Yuri Kochiyama did not organize for you to make this group and Chris Iijima definitely did not sing, teach and protest for you to show your Asian Pride.

A final word to the creator of this group...Fuck you and the website where you got your Pocky picture from.

Thank you for proving all the negative stereotypes about Asians, killing the mission of our Asian American Center and WHY we need an Asian American Studies here at Northeastern.

One of my biggest fears I have right now is not being able to go home. Home as in living there, working there and having a life there. My family will always be in New York but as I inch closer and closer to what I want to do as a career, it seems like I am moving farther and farther to the one place that I truly love...New York. It seems all too ironic because three years ago, I couldn't wait to get the fuck out of New York. I felt trap, a city of 8 million people...I felt alone.

I left home for Boston in Janurary 2007 thinking that I will be back in the summer but I haven't left Boston since. Now I feel trapped, trapped by the world. What I want to do might take me all over the country, and the world which is what I always wanted however the only place I ever want to go is home. I hate leaving, but I love coming home. I can't seem to find the balance.

You never know what you have until it's gone, and I certainly didn't know what I had in New York. I find myself reading the Daily News online, listening to Z100 and even when I daydream...it's not about the money or my life, its about New York. As sad as that sounds, I daydream with random in-mind still photographs of the Verrazano Bridge, Grand Street and the Subway just to name a few. I am getting a little homesick with all these post about New York. I got it bad is an understatement.

A Song for Ourselves

Sing a song for ourselves what have we got to lose?

Chris Iijima asked the question way before people started questioning society. With people, I meant Asian Americans. Chirs was a pioneer in ways of thinking and our hero for the community. The life and work by Chris Iijima was beautifully put in a documentary by Tadashi Nakamura in "A Song for Oursevles."

I first came across Chris Iijima this past Fall semester when I was doing my final paper for my Music as Popular Media Form class. The topic of the paper was on Asian American music. As you can guess, music is go hand in hand with stories of life and society. I see music as history documented with music notes and words rather than long winded paragraphs. There are definition of Black and White music even Latino music but there are no clear definition of Asian music here in America. Something to ponder about, like why Asians are always left out in conversations with politicans. "Black, White, Whatever" reference to poet Kelly Tsai. As I was doing my research, I stumble across something called "A Grain of Sand" by Chris Iijima, Nobu Miyamoto, and Charlie Chin.

I did not find any music on their work but their lyrics
"We are the children of the migrant workers We are the offspring of the concentration camps. Sons and daughters of the railroad builders, who leave their stamp on Amerika. We are the sons and daughters of the Chinese waiter, born and raised in the laundry room. We are the offspring of the Japanese gardener who leave their stamp on Amerika"

really struck me at the core. Similar to any other college student, I put this on my Facebook favorite quote section because I really liked the quote. Anyhow, this was said in the late 1960's way before Vincent Chin and during the back end of the Civil Rights Movement.

When I first saw the trailer of "A Song for Ourselves" about the life of Chris Iijima with clips of the Geologic, Kiwi and Bambu really had me going and excited to watch this documentary.
I really thought about going to Los Angeles to watch the premiere for it. After a talk by Delia (Director of the Asian American Center) someone who is a little more reasonable than me and she promised me that she would buy the DVD, and she kept her promised.

As I was watching the documentary, the only word that I can describe my feelings was insipration. Chris Iijima was the father of Asian America. He saw Asians in America as one, not Japanese, Chinese, Flipino, Indians, Vietnamese but rather as just one. That alone was pioneering at that era. Chris mentioned in the documentary that being Asian American does not mean being proud of being Japanese or Chinese food. We don't have to prove that we are proud of our heritage. This is still a problem to this day because of racism and it also shows in us Asian Americans discriminating one another whether we are "Asian" enough. Chris had it right then, he had it right when he passed, he still has it right now that he's gone...Asian Americans need a voice and it doesn't matter what car we drove to show how "Asian" we are or can be or what do we need to speak or to cook but we needed that one voice because of the situations we are put in.

His music was revolutionary due to the fact that he was one of the first Asian Americans to be polticial in his music. What stood out to me about Chris was that he was humble. He never claimed the limelight, when he had the chance to sign with a record company he refused because he would not allow himself to compromise his music, his beliefs with business. Chris "rather taught in schools" which he did. And when he felt like he was not reaching to the elderly or enough people, he got his law degree and helped others out as well. He was one of the quiet heros, Chris did not want to be a leader but he saw something wrong in the world and all he wanted to do was to correct it. That is the true defintion of a leader in my book, he never bloated about his achievements. He spoke up because it has to, he started our revolution. A revolution in which Geologic, Kiwi, Bambu, BPAC, and others Brothers and Sisters around the country are still trying to fight.

Chris brought up a good point in his interivew which I completely agree. He questioned the current state of Asian America. It is not about getting Asians in politics or media, and its just not about numbers but rather keep the progressive mind set, he wanted all of it be completely re-examined. Recently I had these questions in mind in school, beginning thinking what our values are here for our organizations. Chris said "it's not all about being groovy and I'm Asian." I feel my community here at school is missing a lot of substance, and we are not a progressive school. At times, I feel our community prevents us from being progressive, because Northeastern has numbers, we have the potential to be a great voice in the community yet we have not done so and I begin to think about Chris' philosophy about young Asian American involvement in the community here at Northeastern. I don't want to be a sour apple but why do we have all these events involving culture culture culture. Don't get me wrong, but I feel it is a way to isolate ourselves because we are still separate. We should be ONE in this country because thats the nature of the beast. Like Chris thought that we should be one in a voice, in this country. All the dancing and food are great but just that we are not seen as ONE in this country should be something that we take notice of, and something that I am weary of.

The fact that we don't know who he is should be a warning sign. Here at Northeastern, we don't know our heros and I believe that should be our calling not dancing and food. We need to implement an Asian American studies so we know our heros. Chris was the defintion of a warrior. A warrior of love, his people, and his family. He is someone who I will forever model my life after.


To a great man, warrior, activist, musician, teacher and father..Thank you.



Rest in Power.

I miss you...

Boston has token a toll on me. The snow, the cold, the scenery, the food, and the emptiness has just creep up. It makes me more homesick, and miss the greatest city in the world...my hometown New York City. I've recently read that there are three types of New Yorkers. The first one would be natives, New Yorkers who takes the city for granted. The second type of New Yorkers is the commuters who give New York its relentless, never die attitude because they are trying survive. The third type would be the out of towners who come to New York to discover themselves thus giving New York its passion. I would have to fall into the first type of New Yorkers. I took my city for granted.

Everyday I think about how I left in the first place. I felt trapped and I needed to get out. Growing up in New York is way different than what people are used to know. People think of New York as a place to party. The nightclubs, Times Square, Canal Street and Union Square are all wonderful places people have come to know. However, people do not know about the Coney Island, and the feeling of being alone in a giant city with 8 million people. They do not know the feeling of riding the hour ride subway home alone and repeating the same routine everyday.

Those feelings drove me right out of love from New York. Yet I still find myself "repping" my city any chance that I get wherever I go. The more time that I am away, the more I fall in love with New York. When I see that skyline, the feeling of home come over me. I swear even if its raining or snowing, it tends to clear up whenever I reach New York. I bet it's a way of New York welcoming me home, call me crazy but it's true.

I guess my mission now is never take New York for granted. It has been my home, and it will always be my home. I have dreams of traveling around the country and the world. I have dreams of living elsewhere but at the end of the day New York is on my mind. I miss the people, I miss the building, I miss the atmosphere and I miss the smell. I miss the Summer nights, the winter's day, Autumn's fall and the Spring's feel. It's where I made the best friends of my life, it's where love is a different kind of love and it's where my heart is. I just want to take this time to say "hey, I miss you." Goodnight New York, see you soon.

I have a dream...

Yesterday was the Inauguration of our 44th President, Barack Obama. The event was symbolic in every way. Hope and change were the slogans of the day. The one thing that stood out to me the most was a lady being interviewed on CNN saying and I paraphrase "my great grandmother was a slave and my grandmother was an activist. They didn't live long enough to see this moment but their youngest grandbaby did."

In the midst of all the happy festivities that was the Inauguration, I found something really disturbing on television and the media. The television showed an African American every 10 seconds or so, and a minority every 30 seconds or so. Now why do I find that disturbing? I feel as though they are saying "here you go, now you have your Black President...enjoy this its your time." Maybe it was just me , but I felt pity when I was watching the inauguaration. Yes, Barack is the first non-white person to be President but why does his race or anyone else in that matter have to come up every 10 seconds. It just sickens me that White America still has to apologize for their wrong doings, when it could have been prevented in the first place.

It also sickens me to see Native Americans from Wyoming marching in the Presidential Parade, same people whose land was taken away from them for the reason why they were there.

On a lighter note, I did feel proud to be an American. Our new President gave me new hope, not for the country sake but for my future. On the bandwagon of Martin Luther King, Barack gives me hope that one day I might see an Asian American President on those steps telling the country truth instead of promises. Barack says it the best, "there isnt anything false about hope." Whenever the time may be, it could be my sister with those 18 million cracks that Hilary has thrown at the ceiling and with the election of our new President...anything is possible. That is my dream right now, to see our first Asian American President reciting the oath of office.

p.s. did anyone see how G he looked as he walked out?
and yes I got my RA JOB!

NEW YEAR's resolution 2 0 0 9!!

2009 is now 3 days old. Since I am going back to Boston tomorrow, the new year officially starts on Sunday January 4th, 2008! First off, I had a really good break. The snowboarding trip was the shit with my homies. Mc Nugget spit some truth out as well as finding some inspirations for our next album and Golden Rong passed out as usual. Large ups to Ryan for planning, and a hell naaww to David for ditching us. Summer trip will be in the works and it will pop off.

Looking back at 2008, there were a lot of firsts, ups, downs, happy, sad, mad, surprises, and there were a lot of regrets. I can't take them back and all there is left to do is reflect and learn. I can't say it's was a bad year because it was not. I am not going to hate on '08 because I still got love.

2009 will be a BIG YEAR! I can feel it, not to hype it up but I will make it into a big year! A couple of things that I am looking forward to:

January-Start of a new COOP, and my RA Interview...wish me luck!

February- Hopefully a Giants Superbowl win. Turning the big 2-1! Getting my RA decision, and ECAASU at Rutgers!

March-Hopefully the best Celebr(asian) to date.

April-I ain't got shit for April yet but it will be poppin'

May-look at April, hopefully get my macbook pro by now!

June-Last month of COOP, moving out and oh yes AUSTRALIA!!!!

July-still in AUSTRALIA!

August-Back home with the homies, hopefully another weekend trip. Relax. If I am a RA, SUMMER TRAINING!

September-December 2009 Start of the new project for me, and yes it will be great.

2009 will be a big year!

p.s. My resolutions for 2009:

Focus more on school (that 3.25 GPA when I graduate so I can be a CUM LAUDE)
Write more (blogs, poetry, etc.)
Read more (novels in general)
Save more money
Work out

Peace y'all