You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2009.
I read both of these books a while back but felt a need to recommend them highly to anyone who is out there reading…
PLEASE read this book. Junot Diaz is a Dominican American author from New Jersey and this book shook me to my core when I read it last year. His vivid imagery of young Oscar – growing up in Jersey and the DR, overweight, Black, akward and insecure, sparsed with notes on history of the Dominican Repbulic’s violent past, made for a read so intense you can taste that sh*t.
A sort of streetwise brand of Spanglish that even the most monolingual reader can easily inhale: lots of flash words and razzle-dazzle talk, lots of body language on the sentences, lots of David Foster Wallace-esque footnotes and asides. And he conjures with seemingly effortless aplomb the two worlds his characters inhabit: the Dominican Republic, the ghost-haunted motherland that shapes their nightmares and their dreams; and America (a.k.a. New Jersey), the land of freedom and hope and not-so-shiny possibilities that they’ve fled to as part of the great Dominican diaspora.
-Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
[Junot Diaz discussing his Pulitzer prize winning book, "The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"]
_____________________________
PLEASE read this book if you are thinkingg critically about race, class, whiteness, Hip-Hop and/or America. Mansbach’s writing is one part Hemmingway, two parts Rakim Allah.
With this brutal, hilarious, and tragic novel, Adam Mansbach proves once again he is one of the most ambitious, insightful, and daring writers of our generation.
—Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
[Adam Mansbach speaking on the state of Hip-Hop today]
Literary Can(n)ons,
C
[Who says Asian men aint sexy?!?!]
Bruce Lee is a f*cking icon and a hero to millions (maybe billions). The ironic part about this amazing brother is that in destroying many myths and stereotypes about Asian men, he created new ones. In the 4th grade I recall many kids I grew up with believing that my almond shaped eyes and black hair somehow made me an expert in all things Asian/hand to hand combat. While much better than the alternative of simply being destroyed by larger kids, the fact that Bruce lee never had a love scene in any of his movies contributed to the de-sexualization and emasculation of Asian men in America. This was by no means his fault, as the writers, producers and directors of these films hade the final say in what made it onto the screen, but I feel a need to point out that much work still needs to be done in reclaiming Asian/Asian American masculinity.
Luckily, I and many of my friends/allies are hard at work on this, as well as many other areas of combatting the forces that keep us, our respective communities, and our loved ones from having the biggest lives possible. Bruce Lee had an incredibly eloquent, spiritual and cognitive way of looking at life and the world and I always try to look back every now and then at just how brilliant he was, outside of his ridiculous physical prowess and abilities. Peep…
[Bruce Lee's final interview. Pt. 1]
[Pt. 2]
Be like water, my friend.
Senbei
p.s.
[This sh*t is absolutley ridiculous.]
[Pacquiao vs. Hatton 24/7: Episode 1]
I know that no other sport today is more brutal and carries so many connotations of ethnic, racial, national, historical, etc. pride than boxing (this fight has been dubbed “war of the worlds” for f*cks sake), but OMFG…I can’t wait to see this sh*t!!!
Hatton will go down in the fifth…maybe the sixth.
C
p.s. Don’t get it twisted tho – Hatton aint no punk. This will be far from an easy fight for Manny.
[Not unlike myself, "the slant" is a bit corny...but still fresh. =P]
I met Dr. Laura Kina this week at the 2009 Association of Asian American Studies Conference in Honolulu, HI. She is a mixed heritage Professor of Art and Asian American Studies at Chicago’s DePaul University. I feel extremely blessed to know that there are (s)heroic examples for me to follow and that I don’t necessarily have to blaze my own trail all by my lonesome. =P
all up in that state of “f*cked-up-in-betweeness”,
COLINRESPONSE
[LOL @ "...the goddamn Lox..."]
[Part II]
“Flava in ya Ear’ was cool but…there was no flava in the face.”
Daaahahahahahaha!
Brilliant. Cindy showed me.
Colinresponse
p.s. “B*tchassness” is NOT a word.
[Bill Maher is an intelligent dude & a douchebag.]
Saw this a while back when HBO was doing their “try us out free for 2 months and then we’ll take your wallet’s innocence by force” special.
Bill Maher is an interesting mofo. I think he has a lot of thoughtful things to say, but he begins to lose me when he takes on a condescending tone and begins to simplify things that are in actuality extremely complicated. In his new film “Religulous,” he takes some strong stances on the evils that various religions have perpetutated throughout the history of the world, including but not limited to: racism, mysoginy and sexism, homophobia, war, etc.
["Religulous" Trailer]
I love the ways that Maher is able to pinpoint many of the laughable elements we observe in religion. The ginormous leaps of faith we find in almost every religion can many times leave me bewildered. It seems silly to me that the same people who know that “Santa Claus isn’t real,” because the thought of a guy going around the world and knowing if all children are deserving of a present or not is crazy, do not find it the least bit difficult to believe that there is an old (white) man in the sky who hears all of our thoughts and prayers.
[If God lives in the Heavens, wouldn't some melanin actually help him out with being so close to the sun? Why would he choose to be European? And on that note, can God get a sunburn from the sun he created himself?? *sigh* So many questions...]
What Maher does fails to mention however, is that while American terrorist groups like the KluKluxKlan DO shroud their misguided, obscene, schizophrenic hate in Christianity, the gains in the realm of social justice, equity and equality made by practicioners of Liberation Theology (MLK, Cornell West, and my grandaddy) have made a lasting impression on America and the world over. In addition to neglecting this fact, he acts as if secular society has never produced war, mysoginy, heterosexism, etc. In many communist states where religion is forsaken (or in some cases, outlawed) we can still find remnants of all of the forementioned negative aspects of human society.
All in all, I’m glad Bill Maher is alive and asking the questions he does. I’d even recommend that you netflix this badboy and see what you think! What becomes problematiic is when we, like those who allow terrible things to happen in the name of religion, blindly follow any particular set of beliefs and ideas without being critical and questioning.
On a mission from Buddha,
Colinresponse
[Lupe addresses racism today and what he believes will need to happen for it to end.]
1. Lupe needs to drop a new album yesterday.
2. I appreciate that he “finds comfort living amongst the evil robots and eating oatmeal underground as opposed to living a lie.”
3. I feel there are inherant differences to blatant, external racism such as being called a “jap” or a “gook,” versus internalized racism in which people of color begin to hate themselves and believe that they are genetically predisposed to being “naturally” good and/or bad at any given thing.
4. “Don’t believe everything you think.” -Anonymous
[Lupe Fiasco - Steady Mobbin' *right-click & 'save target as' to DL*]
and it hurts me soul…
senbei
[Rep. Betty Brown R-Texas: The face of white American entitlement]
via The Houston Chronicle
AUSTIN — A North Texas legislator during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”
The comments caused the Texas Democratic Party on Wednesday to demand an apology from state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell. But a spokesman for Brown said her comments were only an attempt to overcome problems with identifying Asian names for voting purposes.
The exchange occurred late Tuesday as the House Elections Committee heard testimony from Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans.
Ko told the committee that 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.
Easier for voting?
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?” Brown said.
Brown later told Ko: “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?”
Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie said Republicans are trying to suppress votes with a partisan identification bill and said Brown “is adding insult to injury with her disrespectful comments.”
Brown spokesman Jordan Berry said Brown was not making a racially motivated comment but was trying to resolve an identification problem.
Berry said Democrats are trying to blow Brown’s comments out of proportion because polls show most voters support requiring identification for voting. Berry said the Democrats are using racial rhetoric to inflame partisan feelings against the bill.
“They want this to just be about race,” Berry said.
_______
All the politicians: motherf*ck them fools / I’m a product of the Richmond Public Schools / Saw a holocaust of children, trust misused / Alcohol-to-ism, plastic cups issued…
I believe that people are good (or are at least capable of being so) and that white people are people. Therefore, white people are good (or are at least capable of being so). One part of the gift/curse of being mixed race is that I do not possess the ability to simply give up on white folks or write them off completely. The curse is that when I see things like this, it makes me want to. The audacity of someone feeling entitled enough to ask a race of people to change their names so that it makes their homogenized, sterile, fraudelent, wonderbread world feel “safer” to them not only makes me want to beat the everloving sh*t out of a motherf*cker, but breaks my f*cking heart.
If she was just some idiot ranting I could care less, but this is a politician with power, money and influence. Just for the record: F*CK YOU, BETTY BROWN. U & ALL OF WHITE SUPREMACY CAN EAT A BAG OF DILDOES (sp?).
sincerely,
MASASHI
I’ve written fake-lightweight extensively on “coolness” and the ways that affects young people, particularly of color and/or raised poor or working-class in urban environments. These are a few songs by some stupendous artists who have really looked real-heavyweight extensively at the phenomenon of “cool” and all that it entails as it is played out. Peep game…
[Cody Chessnut - whatkindofcoolwilltheythinkofnexTT *right-click and 'save-as' to DL* (via adriel)]
[Tower of Power - What is Hip? *right-click & 'save-as' to DL*]
[Lupe Fiasco - The Cool *right-click & 'save-as' to DL*]
[Lupe Fiasco - The Coolest *right-click & 'save-as' to DL*]
What kind of COOL will they think of next (to hide behind)?
Colinresponse
This is written as part of the Youth Media Blog-a-thon, sponsored by Youth Outlook and WireTap.
[WARNING: If you are disgusted by men openly caring about/loving people, this might not be your cup o' tea, doggie.]
If you’ve ever read this blog or know me personally, you probably know that one of the many things I personally struggle with, is my inability to enjoy anything fully (*wah-waah*). Due much to my life’s experience of residing on racial and socioeconomic/class borderlines, I consistently find myself examining my own positionality as well as that of almost every person I come into contact with. My identity, like most, has always been fluid and is never stagnant, continuously in a state of flux as I navigate my way through this strange land known as North America. This is the story of when I was able to enjoy an entire day fully, without once finding a way to feel hopeless (until Prop. 8 passed and made my heteronormative lifestyle make me feel like a muhf*ckin’ jerkface).
Notes from me and my wifey’s my hetero-love-fest summer jam ‘08…
On August 9, 2008, I was a part of a ceremony that celebrated the (lifetime!) union of my partner and myself. It was overcast in the early morning but by the time my queen was preparing to walk down the aisle, I had to squint from the brilliant sunshine that cascaded over the hills of Tilden Park in Berkeley, California. We made efforts to ensure our ceremony was not only counter-hegemonic, but that it acknowledged what a good time it was to be getting married now that Queer brothers, sisters and “gender-nonspecific-term-used-to-describe-a-human-being”s could be wed in the state of California.
Our ceremony included, but was not limited to:
- An Asian American womyn minister, marrying us.
- Pilipino/Catholic traditional ceremonies taking place, that had the (can‘t think of a word to describe it better than) “colonization” removed from them.
- BOTH of the bride’s parents “giving her away.”
- Me slow dancing with my queer godfather in front of everyone during the “money-dance,” having an internal muhf*ckin’ freak-out as all my homeboys watched us, but not allowing my internalized homophobia to scare me into disrespecting a man who has supported, loved, educated and respected me since the day I was born.
- Me committing to a partnership that after 7 years, left zero question in my mind that I was making the wisest decision of my life.
The passing of Prop. 8 on the same day Barack Hussein Obama was elected President of the United States to me, felt like winning the lottery and 5 minutes later, being kicked in the ding-ding and having it ripped from my hand as I fell to my knees. And while I realize there are a plethora of people in my community who feel Obama isn’t really changing anything (I feel you) and lose respect for me because I hold him in high regard at all (I feel you); and while I realize there are a plethora of people I grew up with whose homophobia knows no bounds (due to the ways in which they experienced themselves or wittnessed any man who stepped outside of his gendered role/s and/or look “not masculine,” get f*ckin’ smashed on), this was how that day felt to me.
Love me or hate me – eat I, all (Jay-Z).
On Loving the Crust of a Motherf*cker:
Today I sit here with my wife as she watches “Slumdog Millionaire” pondering the institution of marriage and all the myriad ways we work together to fight the forces that ask us to close our lives off to outside world and devote our existence only to each other. While there are definite ways that this type of commitment has made us more thoughtful about each other as life partners, we make conscious efforts to love each other in a way that promotes growth, combats regression, and revels in intimacy whilst encouraging each other to never close ourselves off to the rest of the world. We fight to the best of our ability to be partners in a country that asks us to take on the gendered roles of husband and wife.
This is, in a way, is an open love letter to my wifey/life partner, eM. It is a thank you from the bottom of my heart for, as Chris Rock aptly states, “loving the crust of a motherf*cker.” I feel it safe to speak from experience that I know TRUE love. In my opinion, you don’t know true love if you can’t fart in front of each other =P. Now I realize I may come off here as old, ancient, married man, but I ask that those of you who are considering being with your current significant other for the rest of your lives, ask yourself this: “can I fart in front of _____ without them freaking the f*ck out?” or “If they farted in front of me, would that be something I’d be able to handle with a smile?” If the answer to either of these questions is “no,” me thinks yo’ ass needs to reconsider your thoughts of walking off into the sunset together, ’cause you aint considered that after the credits roll, muhf*ckas need to pass gas at times and don’t wanna have to hide it for the rest of their lives. But I digress…
You gotta love the crust of a motherf*cker. You can’t just scrape off the burnt parts or just cover that sh*t with jam. You need to appreciate deeply, everything about that toast. ’Cause some of us need a lil more time in the toaster. Some of us were forgotten about and got a little burnt or in some cases, hella burnt. This is not our fault, but when speaking of true LOVE, and authentic partnership, you need to be willing to look at the burnt and/or undercooked (I’m stretching it, I know =P) parts of yourself as well as your partner. And if you think you can hide your burns with the “jam” of money, sex, etc. you haven’t been in a committed relationship for 8 years.
When other heterosexual men (particularly raised working-class and/or of color) ask me how I’ve remained faithful for so long, I tell them that I am immensely blessed to have had some of the best examples of positive, loving relationships I can imagine in my mother and father. Even when they argued and fought, it was never unclear to me that they loved each other. I also had an incredible male role model in my pops who even when he (as all men do) battled his own shortcomings, always treated my mother as if she was his partner as opposed to just, well…his. I have my own shortcomings and because I know myself so well, I know where and when I struggle in being as righteous as possible. I don’t put myself in positions where f*ck-ups are highly likely or even possible and this, coupled with undying trust always coming from my partner, pushes me to trust and be true to myself.
When temptation presents itself (and it has/does), FOUR things go through my mind:
One, is that much of what attracts certain women to me is that my being married is proof that there are heterosexual men out there who have figured out a way to step beyond a fear of commitment and decide to dedicate themselves to one person for the rest of their life. Human beings in general, as many of you already know, have a f*cked up way of wanting what we can’t have. It is highly probable that the ring on my finger that makes me “off-limits,” may to certain individuals, make me look somewhat desirable. =T It’s a cold game, homie.
Two, is that being in a romantic relationship with my best friend, lover, confidant and hugest f*cking ally for the last 8 years of my life, has afforded in me a certain degree of confidence that tells me: “someone loves the crust of you,” and “you are worth being loved.” The confidence produced from this fact is one of the biggest things that I find that attracts women to me in this portion of my life; however, I am quick to remind myself that without the confidence that my partner’s love has afforded in me, this person may not have the slightest interest in me at all. To make a long story short, when someone loves the crust of you, you may end up looking and feeling like a muhf*ckin’ all-star to those who are not sure their “crust” is worth being loved. It’s a cold game, homie.
Three, is that I have known for quite some time that no one in this world has assisted me in locating, liberating and loving myself as eM has, and to betray her trust is to betray myself. It’s not always a cold game, homie.
Four, is that eM is a strong, brilliant, beautiful, sexy, courageous sister who attracts the attention of a plethora of men and still for some reason, has decided to love ME. This fact still astounds me each day when I awake and see her lying next to me, and is NOT taken for granted.
I married eM because I love who I am with her, and I know that this feeling is mutual. I don’t really remember who I was before she began loving me, and I’m not really sure I even care to remember. So to my dear, beautiful, sweet, amazing, brilliant wifey/partner: Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for loving the crust of a motherf*cker.
Your hubby/partner,
Colin Masashi Ehara
