Why should we care?

I sat in a room with a majority of college students mesmerized by the power of film. On the screen were Asian-Americans who faced “normal, everyday” situations that didn’t consistently hit you over the head saying that they were Asian-American. They were just being actors doing a good job at portraying life. It’s this life of being a part of the American culture and saying that we’re normal like everyone else – we love, we hate, we talk, and we can be AS LOUD AS EVERYONE ELSE!

Last night I had the pleasure of sitting in on a lecture presented by Mr. Eric Byler (director of Charlotte Sometimes and the upcoming Americanese). He spoke of his work and his influence of getting into film. Byler also showed the pilot episode of My Life Disoriented, which was on PBS over the holiday season the end of last year. The show presented a good culmination of experienced and non-experienced Asian-American actors displaying the story of a family recently moving into a new location. Focusing on the youngest daughter (in this first episode), the urge to try and fit in is mixed with the comfort of sticking out. It’s a complex cycle that is very realistic and relatable of what high school was like. The story and teenage characters exhibited social angst and heartfelt confusion. If you’ve checked out our “linx” section of the website, I posted awhile back (from Mr. Byler) that people should email their local station of PBS and get it more playing time. Our voices matter and this is how we can raise more interest in getting more Asian-Americans into American culture.

Eric continued on and showed his current political actions in promoting Ms. Naisy Dolar. Ms. Dolar is running for Alderman of the 50th ward here in Chicago. This movement was derived from his participation in helping Annabel Park get the Asian/Asian-American community involved in the campaign for Virginian Senator Jim Webb. Here was where it started:



Macaca (slur) - (noun) "monkey"

And here’s a rebuttal that Byler directed of Daniel Dae Kim:



Thus into this:



MY THOUGHTS:

As I sat in a room of college students, I jumped into the recess of my mind to think the way they would when I was that age. “If I were 19 and these guys were talking to me, what would I think of what they were saying about helping out with this campaign?” My immediate reaction was – where’s the girls and booze? SORRY – but this was college and yes, I’m being blunt and honest. Sad as it sounds, this is what motivated me as a young male living the college life. However, now that I’m in my later 20’s, I DO regret not being more active politically. I have been part of 3 presidential elections and the first 2, I voted with no solid reasoning for why I voted for who I voted. Since the Gore campaign and my film viewing influenced by Michael Moore – I’ve been paying more attention to MSNBC and yes, I listen to both sides, so I do get my share of Fox News & CNN. And the lucky kids of this college generation have the pleasure of learning about politics through the Daily Show and Colbert Report – hey, even though they’re comedy, they still teach you about the politics going on in the world.

So my thought to those college kids are – join this campaign! Not just because Naisy Dolar's Asian-American, but because she’s representing your ethnic community and because she can relate to the social adversity that you face. You may be thinking ‘Why should I care if I’m not part of that ward?’ You should care because in order for Asian-Americans to be more noticeable in America, we need to conquer baby steps (even though this isn’t such a baby step). We need to join forces and show that we can make an impact by getting into these more powerful positions. Your contribution is more than nothing and your voice is more than silence. This is what they need and this is what Asian-Americans as a whole need…

Please check out the ‘linx’ section of That Asian Thing website to see for more info.

P.S. I also had the pleasure of running into Ms. Laura Kina! I haven’t seen her since our interview and she was a joy to run into. Our interview was about 2 hours long and even though we haven’t seen each other since then, it felt like I was seeing an old friend. She’s always so supportive and she was happy to hear that I’m nearing the end of my post production.

I also saw a few college kids that I’ve seen at past Asian-American events that I’ve attended. It makes me feel like “That Asian Thing” can be a good way for some of these kids to be reassured that things are happening in their community.