"All I Need" MTV EXIT PSA

^_^

see Sarah Palin pictures

My No to Prop. 8

adriel luis on McCain

Adriel Luis of "Slip of the Tongue" fame; put out this vlog on McCain's "That one" comment. Good stuff.

on the debate.

"Walk softly, but carry a big stick." -Teddy Roosevelt; John McCain on Humanitarian efforts that don't threat National Security.

"I ain't going out like that. They say you can't carry knifes on planes now? I'ma bring a stick next time, yo. I'ma tell you like this. Someone try to hijack a plane, and I'ma about to catch multiple bumps, kid. HARD WOOD. You know that hard wood they make fancy chairs out of? I'ma go to Macy's furniture department,... I'ma take the leg off one of them expensive chairs, right? And I'ma fly anywhere... and watch. Some motherf--ker even say some shit to me, son, cat's is catching BUMPS kid, everyone in my AISLE, yo." -Danny Hoch, Corner talk, September.

Random Life Moment

I just want to be in the Philippines right now.
I feel it deep in my insides that I want to be there.

If I were strong enough, I'd just drop everything and go.
But I'm not, and want to go with others.


^sigh.

Random life moment: 1986 Race Article

Isn't that how you pictured us? All war paint and loincloths sprinting up Capital Hill, chucking spears into the White House Lawn, the bones of fallen Caucasians rattling from our necks? -English, Alvin Lau

In Race and Ethnicity today, my professor showed us an old article from U.S. News and World Report entitled "Profile of Tomorrow's New Tomorrow." It was all about how in 2080, non-europeans were going to outnumber europeans in America.

It just REEKED of ethnocentric, the-end-is-coming, fear.
Take for instance the line that says:

"And within the next century, about 40 percent of the nation's workers will be immigrants who arrived in the U.S. after 1980 or their descendants."

[And yeah, yeah, it's been ten years since the article was written, and we've made movements for racial equality, but we're not there yet, so I'm still gonna rant about this.]

The thing is, my parents came in 1977. And I'm one of their descendants. I know that seems obvious and all, but I'm a smart mild-mannered college-educated twenty something, who doesn't get drunk off her ass, and likes graffiti art and blogs. Am I really all that threatening?
Because, hey, guess what, I'm not the only one like this? Oh yeah, just to let you know, there are THOUSANDS of people like me. We might be in your neighborhoods, attending your schools, dating your sons and daughters... and we're brown. Just to let you know.

'Is our migration to your great county really so scary?' -English, Alvin Lau

The Bitch has been SAVED!

Check out the Bitch Blog for details of how their readers came and supported Bitch to raise $40k (in 3 days!)and save the magazine.

Now go and subscribe!

Save Bitch Magazine

One winter night, my best friend and I were playing Catch Phrase for hours with her family. Among them were aunts and cousins I haven't seen in years, and ALSO my 8th grade science teacher. As with every good family event, it took me several tries and 'oh, just a few more minutes' after I was finally found the will to leave, but I was gathering all my things and heading out the door when her mother screamed, "Ooooh Girl, WHAT are you READING?!"

It was Bitch Magazine, a nonprofit independent magazine on the feminist response to pop culture. I've been reading it for at least a year now, and I really love it. But they might have just put out their last issue if they don't raise $40,000 dollars before October. So, even though there aren't many who read this, I'd still like to do my part to help. I've donated $10, and I'm posting their link here.

Thoughts on Obama and the American Dream

I know I've already written about this, but one of my assignments was to critique one of the Presidential Candidates' Acceptance speech, and I feel that what I wrote is deeper and clearer.



A power is an ideology or a social institution composed of people, yet not dependent on specific individuals; those are participate may never be the same over a given period of time, yet the institution continues to thrive because someone will always be participating in it. The American Dream is the ideology that in the United States of America, any person, regardless of racial or ethnic background, creed, sex, or socioeconomic standing can be successful through hard work and patience. Obama’s use of the American Dream in his acceptance speech solidifies the ideology as a power. His personal biography (his immigrant father, growing up raised by his single mother, and his experience in community organizing in Chicago) which is characterized by victory over struggle, exemplifies the Dream well and he draws from it many times. His success story shows how the power of the American Dream is good, and, though not created by God, still once served a good purpose. However, as Langston Hughes reminds us in his poem, “Let America Be America Again” the dream is fallen and not accessible to everyone. Take for instance this passage:

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

We cannot deny that this continues to be the experience of many and Hughes is aware of that. Yet, so is Obama. His campaign has been very successful in capturing glimpses of a redeemed American Dream, and many are attracted to that. However as Dr. King Jr writes in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, “We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boatel as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham,” so it is with Obama.

-end assignment-

I'm going to vote for Obama. It also took me a long time to realize that America is not the last great hope for the world, nor is his being President going to 'bring the millennium'. No political system is ever going to serve everyone. And he's still a politician after all, no matter how different any of them ever say they are.


Related Links: Obama is a Metaphor- Jun @ 8Asians.com

Fortune Cookies are NOT from China!

Proof is here! Chinese men and women are given a fortune cookie and can't stop thinking about how weird it is to put a piece of paper in your food.




^_^. Much love to angry asian manfor linking to this video.

Thoughts on the DNC

From what little I caught of the Democratic National Convention, they milked the American Dream metaphor for as much as its worth. From the daily themes to Obama's acceptance speech, it was everywhere.
Yet, all I could think of was Langston Hughes poem, Let America Be America Again.

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

[see the rest here]

So, guys, if you're going to use this dream to get votes, don't forget who has been excluded from the dream and remember some of them vote too.

10 Other Things Dr. King Said

I know I have yet to discuss why I've created this blog, but I cannot ignore this day. 

It was 45 years ago Dr. King Jr gave his "I Have A Dream" speech. Iconic, important and beautiful, yet it seems that American society have given it the "Radio Single" treatment. Like John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change", or Alicia Key's "Fallin", "I Have a Dream" has been soundbitten, overplayed to the point of irritation, and we've completely ignored every other thing Dr. King has done. 

So, in honor of today, I'd like to post Jay Smooth's  10 Other Things Dr. King Said. Please enjoy.