If you’ve ever found yourself wondering ‘how do I say enoki mushroom in <some other language I also speak>’, the Asian food dictionary was made for you
"Until recently, I told everyone I was born in Chicago. Every school form, all of my college and job applications, and even my medical records listed my birthplace as Illinois. That was a lie. I was actually born in Hong Kong to a woman I’ve never met. And until last year, more than 60 years after my birth, I kept my adoption a secret."
"Despite our country’s history of racially discriminatory laws, Asian immigrants and Asian Americans have consistently engaged in labor resistance. On June 25, 1887, thousands of Chinese railroad workers staged a strike to demand equal pay to white laborers, better working conditions, and shorter workdays. Asian immigrants and Asian Americans have also engaged in labor solidarity and union organizing with other marginalized groups."
"Nghiep Kein Chau, 54, had reportedly punched Tran’s mother in the face about 15 times, leading the 21-year-old to intervene...Chau stabbed Tran a total of 107 times, according to police who reviewed CCTV footage from inside the home....He told police that he had been “bickering” with his wife when he hit her because he thought she was going to divorce him and take his money."
I've been really struggling with the highs and lows of immigrant life.
On the one hand, I have freedom, money, opportunities, time and space to be gay. I am doing better and having more fun than at any other time in my life, anywhere else.
On the other hand, I don't know where to put these feelings: that I'm averaging a weird racist thing every three months or so, in a city I love living in otherwise; I also don't believe it'll be better elsewhere.
At the same time, I'm also disgusted by the increasing political conservatism of some in the #AAPI movement in San Francisco. People who want to use our pain to advocate for incarceration and punishment and authoritarianism.
It currently feels a little lonely experiencing these things, but I'm trying to build links in radical east bay AAPI activism where I think I'll feel more comforted and more at home (and frankly, less disgusted).
I shared something about how I encountered a racist incident in San Francisco and someone told me that China also has a problem with anti-Black racism. Which I agree with. But it’s a weird thing to say to a stranger?
Last night while walking my dog someone asked me if they could ‘cook my dog’ (presumably because I’m Chinese and I cook dogs). And I run into these signs every half a mile or so from Nob Hill to North Beach. Welcome to super anti racist, progressive San Francisco!
(Two months ago a lady pointed a blow torch at me and said she’d like to burn me for being Chinese. I’ve just spent thousands of dollars in therapy.)
Chinatowns served as gateways for early Chinese immigrants. But the suburbs are the center of cultural and commercial life for new #immigrants and later generations.
Two researchers who study international migration write:
“We hope that ethnoburbs will not become, like historical Chinatowns, the only refuge for Chinese immigrants to live.”
I've been seeing these anti-Biden / China stencils all over San Francisco since 2020. They are all over Nob Hill, San Francisco, so nice to know I have some MAGA cranks near me in supposedly super liberal and antiracist SF (and they keep popping up)
"Once a month at the Asian American-owned clothing shop, racks are traded for a dozen, intimate four-top tables and a diverse group of 20-something New Yorkers gather to play mahjong with the Green Tile Social Club.
Fresh off its first birthday, the Green Tile Social Club has quickly cemented itself as the leader in a new wave of mahjong players."
Forget #AAPI Model Minorities, here’s a Chinese American SF legend: the late Edsel Fung has a Wikipedia page for being ‘the world’s rudest and most insulting waiter’
Honestly worried about some of the anti-Black journalism in San Francisco. Yes, it’s sad that Asian elders are being pushed and assaulted, but where are the breathless pieces talking about how anti-Asian hate is also carried out by many other people?
The attempt to manipulate the #AAPI community into supporting carceral programs is blatant.
I’ll always think back to all the recall campaigners yelling at me that I, a person who has been hate crimed here, am personally anti-Asian for not supporting their bad politics
literally yelled at like outside Trader Joe’s for not signing their recalls, and figuratively yelled at like on the hell site
“We see a lot of growth in Korean hot dogs and Korean food in general and snacks, in between Sioux City and Kansas City. It’s the college towns. Asian immigrants are moving to middle America for jobs — Chinese, Cambodian, Hmong. Korean food is not just popular with white Americans but other Asian ethnicities because they’re listening to Korean music, watching dramas."
A combination of past and present, of tradition and modern, Khmeraspora also features a plethora of Cambodian American artists—from musicians (playing traditional Cambodian and western instruments) and traditional Cambodian dancers, to actors and composers—because as Ly puts it, “our community is so gifted, there’s so much talent in our community.”
"The former downtown Toronto NDP MP and city councillor bested a record field of 102 candidates that included about a half dozen established contenders. Among those rivals was second-place finisher Ana Bailão — a past deputy to former mayor John Tory, whose shock resignation in February triggered the byelection.
Chow, who was born in Hong Kong and came to Toronto at age 13, will become the third woman and first racialized [?] person to serve as mayor in the city's history. She steps into the top spot as it grapples with a massive budget shortfall, an affordability crisis and public safety concerns."
I assume "racialized" is "Canadian" for "person of color" but it seems an odd term nonetheless. Based on a quick look, about 10% of Toronto is Asian and the Toronto's Chinatown is the 2nd largest in North America next to NYC.
Chow has a big job in front of her and I wish luck in this important position!
It's almost 50 years since Bruce Lee died. While his body of work was relatively slim and his career, devastatingly short, his influence on Hollywood and Asian cinema was huge. The Guardian examines his legacy and impact on movies, video games, hip-hop, mixed martial arts, and the perception of east Asian men in American culture.
"Asian American anti–affirmative action activists...are active, militant co-conspirators with white conservatives. They are building a key flank for the right wing across the nation, and the left must urgently recognize that right-wing politics precisely gain power by recruiting conservative ideologies among communities of color that overlap with, but retain distinct aspects from, white supremacy."
Powerful white people in the U.S. are trying to pit Asians against other races.
They tell us we’re “one of the good ones.” They promise to grant some of the comforts of whiteness, but only if we aid (or remain silent) in their oppression of marginalized people.
"Most babies start by learning words in both languages. But when they go to preschool they only continue with one. And why is that? Because suddenly there is only a focus on this one part of them and children soon sense that their other language is worthless. Worthless!"