USC Student Coalition for Asian Pacific Empowerment

Aid for Pacific Island Immigrants?

SCAPE — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:27:19 +0000

Jade Agua, Assistant Director of USC’s Asian Pacific American Student Services, recently shared this story with me. It discusses issues related to the provision of aid for immigrants from the Federal States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau (Compacts of Free Association, or COFA nations) who may receive aid–but currently, only at the state level–while living and working in the US. Providing such aid has proven difficult, as Guam’s and Hawaii’s budgets are “severely constrained” these days.

While this news pertains to a few specific Pacific Islander groups in Hawaii, the situation relates to API immigration in America in general. It’s important to consider what kinds of resources, services, and aid that immigrants can receive from any level of government–if any. Clearly Hawaii represents a special case in this story. While the state may find it difficult to sustain the aid they give Compact Migrants, they have given it nonetheless, and has shown, to use Senator Akaka’s words, deep compassion and aloha for their brothers and sisters across the Pacific. It’s important to consider how various forms of aid both positively and negatively affect immigrant communities across the board, however. Some communities may not have access to the aid they truly need. Sometimes aid can negatively impact communities’ engagement in areas of society like education. To give an example, a family friend of mine is a teacher at a public middle school in Hawaii, where many teachers find it consistently difficult to motivate certain Marshallese youth, who want to simply rely on aid given to their families and communities in the future and see no purpose in doing well in school or eventually going to college given this provision of aid.

Though cases like the one discussed in this article may only directly affect some API communities, they are still important for all API(A)s to consider–specific immigration and aid policies affect the entirety of our communities in the US as well as across Asia and the Pacific.

The Racist UC Berkeley Republican Bake Sale

SCAPE — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 07:11:28 +0000

The following is a Forbes article that sums up the problem with this bake sale and shortcomings of naive sayings like “Let’s move beyond race” by ignoring it and its accompanying history and effects as opposed to helping move beyond race by addressing the years of social injustice that segregates people of color in poor neighborhoods, shitty schools and no resources.

via: http://www.forbes.com/sites/shenegotiates/2011/09/27/eat-your-racist-cupcakes-and-count-your-blessings/

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Eat Your Racist Cupcakes and Count Your Blessings

Victoria Pynchon, Contributor

Sometimes, people with a message have to go the way of Jonathan Swift’s 1729 Modest Proposal(for Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being A Burden to Their Parents or Country, etc.).

In other words, they require satire’s hard slap in the face to make their political point.

Swift famously recommended that the Irish sell and cannibalize their infants to solve the “Irish problem” – what we’d now call food insecurity.

Today, the College Republicans at U.C. Berkeley, home of the early ’60s Free Speech Movement, cooked their political opposition toSenate Bill 185 into bake sale cupcakes.

And oh! what a ruckus they caused, pricing cupcakes for “white men” at $2.00 per, $1.50 for Asians, $1.00 for Latinos, $.75 for blacks and $.25 for Native Americans. Add the $.25 discount for all women and Native American women were entitled to their cupcakes free.

If only they could be found on the U.C. Berkeley campus.

The Source of the Dust Up

When asked to justify his organizations’ inherently racist bake sale, Shawn Lewis said,

We agree that the event is inherently racist, but that is the point . . . It is no more racist than giving an individual an advantage in college admissions based solely on their race (or) gender.

Politicians, even those still in short pants like Lewis, are skilled at making tidy analogies to call attention to the injustices against which they fulminate. Because negotiators do so as well, we weigh in on the racist cupcake debate to judge the success or failure of this particular piece of political theater.

It is Not a Fair Analogy

The college GOP’s bake sale preferentially prices their cakes and cookies according to racial designations. And because so many millennials have trouble characterizing themselves as either Black or White, Lewis said his customers were free to “self-identify.”

In other words, if you were a white male, you could pick up a cupcake free by identifying yourself as a Native American woman.

We’ll get to whether this is funny or grotesquely offensive later. Right now, we’re analyzing the aptness of the analogy. By that standard, the college kids’ prank fails.

Why Selling Racist Cupcakes is Not Like SB 185

Here’s the heart of SB 185 being challenged by the College Republicans’ bake sale:

This bill would authorize the University of California and the California State University to consider race, gender, ethnicity, and national origin, along with other relevant factors, in undergraduate and graduate admissions, to the maximum extent permitted by the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, Section 31 of Article I of the California Constitution, and relevant case law.

That reference to section 31 of Article I is the successful voter initiative which wrote the following language into the California Constitution:

The State shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.

The racist cupcake sale expressly granted preferential treatment to Latinos, women, African Americans, and Asians, among others. SB 185 includes within its terms the stipulation that the University’s consideration of race, sex, national origin, and the like, cannot be used to grant anyone preferential treatment.

For that reason, the analogy fails and this bit of college hijinks is therefore pretty much only offensive to anyone who understands how things are in America.

It’s Offensive

Until America’s (primarily) “white” population comes to terms with the indisputable fact that it is a privileged majority, race will remain the elephant in the room of every political conversation. The suggestion that consideration of race gives marginalized people an unfair advantage ignores the fact that whites in America are born into a preferred social class.

It’s really a very simple concept. When white men occupy 80% of all positions of power across all industries and in all sectors, you have only two choices. Either white men are preferred or women, African Americans, Latinos, Asians, gays and Lesbians are inherently inferior.

When you are saddled with non-preferred characteristics – breasts, dark skin, accents associated with foreign countries – it’s insulting to be told by members of the privileged class that your efforts to make the society a more equitable one are costing them the advantage they continue to enjoy.

There you go, Native American coed whose ancestors my people slaughtered, you can take your cupcakefree. Consider that your reparations. You too Black man. For all the trouble my ancestors caused yours, you get a discounted cupcake.

The historic and existing bias that makes life’s race so much easier for those born into the skin of the ruling class is not funny. And pricing cupcakes to match disadvantages acknowledged by the college GOP’s price structure is like mooning your housekeeper.

The Berkeley GOP is not poking a stick in Marie Antoinette’s eye. It is, like Antoinette, suggesting that those less advantaged should “eat cake.”

In this case, cupcake.

Here’s my suggestion to the U.C. Berkeley College Republicans. Jog on over to Starbucks and eat your $2 cupcake in gratitude for being born on third base. You’ll know you’ve lost the advantage your color and gender give you when the people around the Board table at Dell or Microsoft no longer look just like you. If you see an African-American brother at a table nearby, humbly ask him what percentage of his brothers are locked up in American prisons. Then ask what you might do to be of service.

Asian Pacific American Artist Spotlight #4: Lily Bee

SCAPE — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 04:41:47 +0000

Changing up the pace a little bit with something a little unexpected: Hawaiian music….sung by a Vietnamese American sista…from Southern California….Lily Bee aka Lilian Bui. ENJOY!!!!!!!

Summer might be over, but the vibes don’t have to be.

Here’s her music video for “They Don’t Make Em Like You”

And her are some other songs I enjoy:

Asian Pacific American Artist Spotlight #3: Legaci

SCAPE — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 04:36:24 +0000

Millions upon Millions of American teenage girls were screaming for a bunch of Asian American guys this past year. Unheard of right? Not anymore! Thanks to who? The Bane of my Existence: Justin Beiber.

Who are these 4 brothas? They are Asian American R&B Group Legaci from the SF Bay Area. Think I’m lying? Proof:

How did this all happen? Legaci performed aYoutube Collaboration with TimmyDelaGhetto and Cathy Nguyen for a cover of Justin Beiber’s “Baby.” Justin Beiber’s manager saw it, like it, and linked up with the boys from the Bay. Here was that collaboration:

I’m hoping for the day these fellas wipe the floor on NBC’s The Sing Off because those other groups are lacking a lot of bass and soul in their acapella.

Asian Pacific American Artist Spotlight #2: Shing02

SCAPE — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:23:34 +0000

WHAT? A DOUBLE HEADER?? That’s right. We are doing the double header to kick off the series with Hip Hop Artst Shing02. A lot of you already heard of him, but don’t really know who he is. That’s because he is the EMCEE rapping on a lot of NUJABES’ tracks including the Luv Sic series. NUJABES is a Japanese hip hop music producer who infuses Jazz and Hip Hop like no other.

While NUJABES (Rest in Beats, by the way) is straight up Japanese, Shing02 is Japanese American. He’s lived a Berkeley and Oakland, CA and is now residing in LA doing his thing. You can find some free MP3s on his website here: http://www.e22.com/shing02/

Luv Sic Pt 1, Luv Sic Pt 2 and Luv Sic Pt 3 some have heard already. If not, here’s at least Pt 2 and Pt 3 (don’t mind the funky videos).

More recently, Nujabes’ Luv Sic Pt 4 was released Posthumously with Shing02 rapping on the track. I don’t know about everyone else, but the threading of all the months of the year into the song was genius.

Nujabes ft Shing02 – Luv Sic Pt 4

Snow flakes in January
Heart warm like February,
I wouldn’t ordinarily
March to the drum, play a fool like April
May the best dance in a Juno bridal
Power of the will, Julius and Augustus
Aw you know, it’s just us
In a new semester, back in September
boy, I wonder if you still remember

Meet me half way from mars to venus
beep beep, the chase is on between us
Retweet the sweetest piece of confection
hand made device for remote connection
ask a question,
wait for an answer and make a suggestion
a time and a place for a first impression
second and third to a fourth dimension
rise above the weights that hold us captive
to a square, swear that I, I the captain to
cruise in sci-fi, red sky burn like sapphire
a moth to a fire, but we can fly higher
till we reach an apex
we fit tight like a glove with no latex
bring it down to earth for a cooling session
laying sideways and glazed in essence
gazed each other in the eye to find galaxies of
uncharted nebulas,
heard joy over spilled milk on a quilt, of lavender
woven in the fabric of our calendar
Dress up at the end of October,
Give thanks to the fam in November
a cold but cozy December
and we’re back to the origin, so let me begin

Snow flakes in January
Heart warm like February,
I wouldn’t ordinarily
March to the drum, play a fool like April
May the best sing in a June recital
Power of the will, Julius and Augustus
Aw you know, it’s just us
In a new semester, back in September
boy, I wonder if you still remember

When you took my hand, I couldn’t hide it
way too delighted,
tried to ride it cool but obliged to write it
wouldn’t fight it, how my watch paused
when I put my lips on your eyelids
the lost second, deposit in a memory bank
every chance I pocketed a scent
a blank check with ya signature
font sans serif, the curvature, a lone harbinger
with toys play coy like fish in a pond,
fond words serve poems like dish
life is short like a doggone leash
or a fuse in an open circuitry
that got struck by lightening
hang a painting on the wall over the writing,
brighten up the room for a private dining
increase the peace and cease the anxiety
spread love and cc: the whole society
you got me shooting off on a tangent
like I always do when I’m on the fringe
and the tally of the letters will reach
the valley where the wings will seek
a series so classic at the top of October
Give thanks to the fam in November
a cold but cozy December
and we’re back to the origin, so let me begin

Asian Pacific American Artist Spotlight #1: Magnetic North

SCAPE — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 06:57:19 +0000

Our First Artist in SCAPE’s APA Artist Spotlight is Magnetic North from New York via the SF Bay Area. They are comprised of DirectDK (Derek Kan) and Theresa Vu. You might ask why did we go them first? Well, I’m a geezer and I was keeping up before all these Asian American folks were blowing up youtube. Magnetic North was the first Asian American group in my memory to put out a serious track that was not only good, but also spoke to the young and Asian American. Their first album was heavy on Asian American themes, and was made in the way that didn’t come off as too corny.

Their first track, Drift Away (a reinterpretation of Drift Away from Dobie Gray/Uncle Kracker) was a chill one and was also Wong Fu Productions’ first music video collaboration widely posted on the internet.

On top of all this, Magnetic North is still active in music scene performing and producing tracks for the APA masses including this recent track that paid homage to APA activists old and new, well known and not so well known. It’s a whose who of the APA community.

This is their most recent album that you can listen to here:

This was their first album from back in the day:

Albert L.-SCAPE PRESIDENT

UPDATED: Fox Sports Singles Out Asian Students At USC For Interviews On Football

SCAPE — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:46:47 +0000

As we all know, Asians make up 25% of the student body at USC, also a percentage of those are international students. Before the first game at USC, a Fox Sports reporter visited USC to “interview ecstatic football fans” when really he discriminated against the Asian American population at USC. The reporter’s lack of knowledge of “fighting or hwaiting”, the common Korean word of encouragement like, “Go, you can do it!” And misinterprets the student’s word as asked if he was encouraging “fighting” as in “violence”. This disappoints me.

Watch the video at: http://mediamatters.org/blog/201109020017

-Jennifer Mo

Love Asian cuisine? Don’t know how to cook? Not a problem!

SCAPE — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 03:07:17 +0000

For those of you who are living away from home and are craving a home-made Asian dish, I’ve found a solution. www.asianfood-recipes.com has an endless collection of simple recipes for whipping up any Oriental dish you can imagine from Deep-Fried Thai Style Ribs to Beef Pho and Pandan Pineapple Rice. With a few clicks of your mouse you can easily learn how to create these mouth-watering dishes in your own apartment!

-Jessica

New Stereotypes for Asian Americans?

SCAPE — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 07:42:25 +0000

Hey everyone!

Hope you enjoyed SCAPE’s first gm meeting!

I found this interesting article about new stereotypes appearing in ads/commercials for Asian Americans! Here is the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/asian-americans-face-new-stereotype-in-ads/2011/08/11/gIQAiMzvZJ_story.html

Check it out and let us know what you think! :)

We’ll be updating our blogs regularly so keep your eyes out for new posts!!

-Michelle

Socially Conscious APA rappers!

SCAPE — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 06:31:56 +0000

Hey everyone! I hope you all are having amazing, relaxing summmers! This is Katherine Kouot, the new external vice president of SCAPE! I just wanted to share with you all a video that I stumbled upon!

A group of APA rappers have banded together to form a rap group named Model Minority and they’ve written a song called “Vincent Chin,” which divulges the cruel story of Vincent Chin’s murder in 1982.

In SCAPE spaces and in the world of APA activism, we often talk about the lack of APA representation within all media sources–however, what I think we often neglect to consider is the quality of the representation. We may have a growing pool of APA faces that are taking over the youtube/online world, but are they socially conscious of the issues impacting our community? Model Minority, in what I’ve seen, attempts to both create an APA presence within the hiphop community but also raise awareness about social inequality and other issues impacting the APA community. To me, that’s revolutionary. To me, that’s super dope.

Take some time to listen to the song posted above and let us know what you think in the comments? Is it empowering? Reflective? Good? Bad?

Thanks y’all!

Katherine Kouot
EVP of SCAPE