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Open Letter to Asians: Why you should care about Black lives (Part I)

Hi everyone, my name is Elizabeth, and this is my open letter to Asians, and why you should care about Black lives. I should think that “empathy” should be enough, but apparently that’s not the case. Because there’s a lot I want to say, but I want to keep it focused, I will break this down into multiple parts.

Part 1 is for Asian immigrants, first-gens, children of refugees, and those who still identify with and have close connections to the motherland. Because I am Southeast Asian, Thai-Chinese specifically, I will speak personally from that lens, and how the experiences of Southeast Asians should help us have more empathy for the experiences of Black people in the United States and throughout the Western world.

The effects of colonialism last many generations.

First, my Southeast Asians should understand firsthand the effects of colonialism, even if this generation may not have experienced it as acutely as previous generations. The power grab between forces both within and outside of the continent – China and Russia within, the US and Europe without – tore apart Vietnam. Power imbalances and vacuums in the region led to atrocities such as the mass genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge. Guerilla incursions by the ousted KMT government, supported by the US, led to the drug and eventually human trade in the Golden Triangle. The Secret War by the CIA against Laos led to 2 million tonnes of ordinance dropped on the country over the course of 9 years – that’s a load of bombs every 8 minutes – and a generation of refugees. And in between all that, generations of “ethnic minorities” caught up in these dealings, from the Karen to the Hmong all throughout Northern Thailand, Burma, Vietnam…

How does this relate to the Black experience in America?

It doesn’t directly compare, but the most important part is, beyond the destruction of lives and material is the destruction of foundational institutions. Not just governments, not just land and buildings, but families, cultural practices, spiritual centres, communities. For those who understand or have experienced or are children of those who have survived war, what do you think happens when an entire generation is lost? How does a people rebuild when its wealth, its workforce, its educated population are lost either to violence or from fleeing / leaving their home?

Knowledge is power. Communal knowledge helps us better understand and question the systems in place.

These are the same things you should ask about the many times in history that Black people built up their institutions, only for them to be torn down over, and over, and over again. Despite being scattered and having their various languages and cultures taken from them in the Middle Passage, Black Americans built new institutions around spiritual centres, music, dance, and oral traditions that are the creative heart of Western culture today.

And after emancipation, as they engaged in the things we are all told to do – build strong family ties, invest money into the community, start businesses, pursue education, practice civic engagement, amass generational wealth – these were taken from them again and again by not just individual racists but the entire racist institutions of this country. From the school-to-prison pipeline to the War on Drugs to the to police brutality – understand that these are all ways that American institutions have systematically dismantled Black institutions, from the family unit to civic communities.

Ignorance keeps us apart.

Many Asians, especially in groups that benefit to some extent from the “Model Minority” myth, still experience the effects of racist institutions but *still* do not question them. We’re like Ah-Q in Lu Xun’s satirical novella, pep-talking ourselves out of humiliating situations and perpetuating the oppression by bullying and denigrating those who have it worse than us, not understanding that we are just playing into the game.

There’s a reason that most don’t know about the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, the complete demolition of an area that, even in segregated America, was affluent and known as Black Wall Street. The charge that led to this clash was bogus, and White rioters burned the city into the ground as the national guard came in and detained or arrested the Black residents “for their own protection.”

Civil rights for Black people are civil rights for everyone.

Only those who benefit from the oppression of others should oppose Black people fighting for their rights. The Black Panther Party is seen, even in sympathetic portrayals, as violent and militant, if necessary for the times. In reality, their members were highly intelligent, believed in building self-sufficient communities, and therefore patrolled neighbourhoods of colour carrying (legally obtained) guns to protect residents from police harassment, instituted school breakfasts, and promoted cross-racial collaboration (yes, including White allies).

They defended Filipino Americans in San Francisco when the city was trying to oust them from their own community. They opposed US military involvement in Asia. But we don’t hear about this. We don’t hear about how the FBI was so threatened by the idea of an autonomous, educated, politically active, and socially aware Black body politic that it started COINTELPRO – a counterintelligence programme – and assassinated Fred Hampton, an intelligent and charismatic 21-year-old Black man who had become the chairman of the party in Chicago, whose only crime was being a great uniter of people.

This isn’t “their problem.”

Even though in many of our cultures, we think we should simply work hard, shut up, mind our business, and not get into other people’s problems, whether we know it or not, the actions of Black people willing to speak up have led to hard-won civil rights in America. And many of those ideas actually inspired other groups to stand up for themselves around the world. Knowledge is power, and lies or lies by ommision is the tool of those who want to keep us divided and fighting amongst ourselves.

It’s important that we learn and share the knowledge in our communities. That means talking to our families, our friends, having those uncomfortable discussions. Getting out there and checking our own biases and learning. And that means standing up where it matters.

If you’ve watched this far, thank you, and I’ll include references and resources. Remember, this is just the start, and stay tuned for further videos.

Notes / subjects referenced:

  • The Secret War (1964-1973)
  • China’s “Lost Army” in Thailand (drug trade)
  • Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66
  • School-to-prison pipeline / zero-tolerance policies
  • Nixon, Erlichman, and the racial motivations behind the “War on Drugs”
  • Cold War / 1965 / Model Minority myth
  • Tulsa Race Massacre 1921
  • COINTEL and the assassination of Fred Hampton
  • Anti-Racism Toolkit: bit.ly/SEA4BlackLives

Asian Pacific Heritage Month: Thailand, Colonialism, and Identity

Today marks the midpoint of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, and I don’t know what to say. I am proud of my mix of cultures, even while it’s taken a while to get here and to reconcile the problematic history in my roots. So this is a photo essay from a Thai / Chinese TCK (third-culture kid) perspective.

I’m not sure what it means to “Asian” or “Asian-American.” Many days, I don’t even know how to define Thai. The current country known as Thailand is the land that was eventually consolidated under the Kingdom of Siam. But, as China was the longest-running colonial power in Asia, there are plenty of cultural influences from there too – we’ll get to that some other time. The Thai language is derived from Sanskrit by way of Khmer, and plenty of Thai traditions reflect that. However, Thailand itself is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country. A lot of these other identities used to be much more dominant in their regions, but these identities were suppressed in favour of a “unified identity” during the colonial period while Europe was carving out Southeast Asia.

Old Siam. Bunnag Sisters (royal consorts of King Chulalongkorn)
Old Siam. Below: the Bunnag Sisters (royal consorts of King Chulalongkorn)

The process began under King Mongkut, who coined the concept of “siwalai” – roughly mirroring the English word “civilised.” In a series of reforms, “siwalai” was enforced in new dress codes and codes of conduct: the old style of a phanung – a single length of cloth that was wrapped around the waist and tied off either as a skirt or twisted and tucked between the legs to serve as pants (chong kraben) – worn by men and women alike, with women optionally wearing a phasin (breast cloth) or going topless (photo 1 – below: the Bunnag sisters, royal consorts of King Chulalongkorn), was outlawed in public in favour of a Victorian style blouse and accessories. Along with the concept of siwalai came official racial and ethnic stratification. People of different regions were to say that they were “Siamese,” rather than “Isaan” or “Lanna.”

Princess Dara Rasmi of Chiang Mai in siwalai dress
Princess Dara Rasmi of Chiang Mai, a Lanna royal, one of King Chulalongkorn’s royal consorts, in siwalai dress.

Photo 2 shows Princess Dara Rasmi of Chiang Mai – the Northern Kingdom that was later officially annexed by Siam – in siwalai dress. Her long hair, in a photo taken by one of the Bunnag sisters, is designed to show her status as a foreigner in the Siamese court and ethnically inferior. Each region had their own languages – Isaan (the Northeast) is still spoken and is very similar to Lao, while Lanna had almost entirely died out, and its culture only been revived through University programmes since the 80s. It’s interesting that in “hi-so” (high society) discussions of siwalai, Lanna was considered inferior, but far better than Isaan. However, when the French saw an opportunity through the linguistic similarities of the neighbouring region to their colonised Laos, Siam suddenly decided to officially claim the Isaan region as Thai.

Photos:

  1. Old and modern Lanna dress.
  2. 4. Casual / formal Isaan dress.
  3. Regional textiles and ethnicities of Isaan (mudmee – Cambodian influence, kalasin from the Phu Tai people, and khram – Thai indigo – from Sakon Nakhon).
  4. Old (resembling India) and modern Southern dress (note the Malay and Indo Muslim influences).
  5. Akha people.
  6. Tai Lue people.
  7. Karen people.

Do I criticise these rulers? In some way. They did a lot of good in bringing education to the masses, advancing the country in science and medicine, and one could argue that a unified and modernised image was necessary to avoid colonisation by the various powers that surrounded us. But while the process of self-colonisation may have warded off foreign colonisers, it also led to further suppression of other major ethnic identities, not to mention the many “ethnic minorities” that live within the national borders of Thailand – the Hmong, Mien, Karen, Lisu, Tai-Lue, Akha, etc, who have fewer rights and access to resources. Furthermore, as some are living in essentially “permanent refugee” status (i.e. many generations may be born on these lands but still do not have the rights of citizens), they are subject to “human zoo” conditions where the government gives them a stipend only if they maintain their villages as tourist destinations, where they have very little opportunity to get an education or pursue a different path. Karen women who choose to abandon the tradition of neck rings, that painfully force down and deform their collar bones over time, for example, lose their government “protection” and stipend and are unable to legally work.

What’s my point in all this? I don’t have one neatly summed up. I want you to recognise that identity is complicated, in just one country, not to mention an entire continent. I want you to recognise that there are indigenous peoples all over the world. I want you to recognise that the effects of colonisation, both from internal and external forces, are long-term and complex. I want you to know that Asians don’t just mean “East Asian,” BUT, as they’ve had a long-standing influence over the continent, many of our traditions, beliefs, and even standards of beauty integrate influences from East Asian cultures. And that’s not “selling out.” And I want you to recognise that just because identity can be complex and hybrid, and that peoples are very different, doesn’t mean that they aren’t deserving of respect and human dignity – even if you cannot find “common ground,” and even if their norms and values don’t match yours. And if people choose not to show off or spend time in their traditional cultures, there could be a variety of reasons – from seeking modern opportunities to escaping poverty to avoiding being seen as “other” to simply a lack of interest – and those are all valid.

Enjoying Your Dance

If you struggle with confidence when it comes to dancing or competing, there are a myriad of reasons that could be the case, but one question I have to ask is, “Do you enjoy your movement?”

I don’t mean whether it looks or feels technically correct, or musical, or connected to a partner, or any of the more abstract stuff. Do you get that feeling of pure enjoyment out what your body’s doing? If I don’t have that, or if I focus so hard on something else that I lose that, dancing (any dance) doesn’t feel right, I’m not confident, and it shows.

At any given time, I have a list of things I absolutely love about my body and my movement. It doesn’t mean I can’t be better at them, but these are the things I enjoy, and it’s hard not to be confident when I’m enjoying my own body (yes, phrasing, but it’s true). I couldn’t care less if people confuse my enjoyment for arrogance because, if I can’t enjoy my own movement, I don’t have a good reason to be dancing.

  • I love the gravity of my hips, the way they sway when I just let them go, the way my butt jiggles when I do anything rhythmic
  • I love my long torso, the flexibility of my waist, and the way I can use it to create shapes
  • I love the strength of my core and how I can heavily dissociate or engage it for very precise movement and a clean axis
  • I love “palming” the ground with my feet and feeling like a slinky cat on the prowl, power in every smooth step
  • I love the way my feet move, how I can isolate from the hips down to either very rhythmic or very smooth movement
  • I love isolating and slowing things down and feeling the way different muscles in my body engage to let movement travel from one part to another
  • I love transferring movement from one part of my body to another, and watching it with my eyes, enjoying what my body is doing and inviting other people to enjoy it with me
  • I love my close embrace and cuddling my body into another person’s body and allowing its softness to squish and adapt to another person’s shape and movement
  • I love playing with the edges of my balance and seeing how much I can play with and break my axis through dynamic movement and still be in control

How do you enjoy your movement?

(Photo from bluesSHOUT! 2017 by Ben Hejkal Photography.)

Excerpt: “Music and Dance” from Kadavy’s Design Hackers

As many of you know, I am a full-stack web developer by profession. As part of our weekly reading hour, I read (and was clearly excited by) the following passage from David Kadavy‘s Design <for> Hackers:

Music and Dance

Although some experimentation has been done with irrational numbers, such as the golden ratio, the most popular music tends to contain very simple patterns. Most rock songs are in 4/4 time, meaning that there are four beats per measure. Also occasionally found in popular music is 3/4 time, meaning there are three beats per measure; 3/4 time is the time signature of waltz music.

One of the most fascinating examples of proportion in music can be found in proportion’s influence on tone, as shown in Figure 5-15. If you strum an open guitar string tuned to C, you’ll hear a C note. If you shorten the length of the string to half its original length, you’ll hear another C note, but this time an octave higher (the eighth note in the major scale). If you take that same string and strum it instead at three-fourths its original length, you’ll hear an F note (the fourth or subdominant note in the major scale). If you strum the string at two-thirds its original length, you’ll hear a G note (the fifth or dominant note in the major scale).

Figure 5-15 from Design for Hackers by David Kadavy

Figure 5-15

Shortening a guitar string to three-fourths or two-thirds its original length produces the subdominant and dominant notes, respectively, in the major scale.


Continue reading “Excerpt: “Music and Dance” from Kadavy’s Design Hackers”

In memory of Carl David Flores

I don’t update this very often because if you’re around San Diego, chances are at any one of the venues, you’ll find me, and I’ll always run the monthly Blues Labs. Two weeks ago, however, I lost a friend who was very near and dear to me and one of the major driving forces behind my immersion into blues music and blues idiom dances.

I’ve made eleven posts on Facebook thus far of memories of various aspects of Carl Flores, but the one I posted on Facebook for tonight’s blues lab is what I want to share here: Continue reading “In memory of Carl David Flores”

Another Double DJ Weekend

I apologise for not updating as much I’d originally planned. The Blues Labs have been going strong, and I have DJ’d at The JAM as well as First Saturday Swing in the last few months, as well as City in Motion.

Anyway, I will be DJing at two locations this weekend! First will be the early set in the upstairs blues lounge (tonight!) at JAMnBLUES in Kearny Mesa. Again, that’s tonight, Friday, the 6th of March, 2015. Taster lesson by Roger Nielsen begins at 9:15pm, and my set will begin at 10pm and go until 11:30pm or a little later.

The second will be in the Blues Alley at First Saturday Swing on the 7th of March, 2015 (tomorrow!). FREE beginner and intermediate swing lessons at 8pm, dancing at 9pm, and the blues room opens at 10pm. Continue reading “Another Double DJ Weekend”

Double DJ Weekend!

After a hectic several weeks where I was either too busy or too exhausted to dance, I will be DJing at two locations this weekend! First will be the early set in the upstairs blues lounge at JAMnBLUES in Kearny Mesa this Friday, the 3rd of October, 2014. Taster lesson by Roger Nielsen begins at 9:15pm, and my set will begin at 10pm and go until 11:30pm or a little later.

The second will be in the Blues Alley at First Saturday Swing on the 4th of October, 2014. FREE beginner and intermediate swing lessons at 8pm, dancing at 9pm, and the blues room opens at 10pm. It will be the SD Lindy Haunt Pre-Party, so come decked out in your best Doctor Who themed attire! I am planning on exploring the San Diego Night Market a little earlier that evening before heading over to dance and DJ. Continue reading “Double DJ Weekend!”