We have a voice, but is it heard?
Submitted by the members of APASA
(Together)
We have a voice, but is it heard?
45 million km2
4 billion people
37 countries
In 1885 and 1906 we were twice forcefully
removed from Humboldt County
Some think we're all the same
Martial art,
Chopstick-wielding
Dog-eating
Bad-driving
Rice-loving
Straight-A
CHINKS!!!
We have a voice but is it heard?
(Sayoko)
"You should start talking to your kids in English"
My parents were told.
...because we'll lag in school:
In one ear, out the other.
For that
I am thankful for my parents.
Born Jennifer Sayoko Oshige Wu
I'm Sayoko. Not Jennifer.
Oshige my mother. Wu my father.
Japanese is pride.
English is skill.
Mandarin my skills still growing firmer.
Look at my eyes -- my Chinese and Japanese eyes.
They aren't crooked are they?
Sometimes people say
"You're Japanese and Chinese?
Wait-
aren't they supposed to hate each other?"
Oh, totally.
That's why my 25% wants to kill my 75%!
NO
I love myself.
I love both my heritages.
(Minh)
I'm here, and I'm not scared
I can see you looking at me
Judging
And I haven't even said a thing
Already you're thinking
"Oh look she's Asian"
And right there, there's your first mistake
'Cause you'd assume
'She's quiet, shy, smart, fobby, and love cute things'
You're wrong
The second you label someone something
other than their name
You strip them of their identity
Skewed by your preconceptions
I'm Minh
And I'll tell you exactly what I am,
I'm fucking awesome
(Jerson)
My parents are both immigrants...
But am I granted their idealized hopes
Hopes for a better life, equal-opportunities,
and happiness
Hopes for a comfort in a society where few
think like me, eat like me, look like me
....Not likely
We are unique humans with different dialects and cross-cultural ties
In the words of Gil-Scott Heron, OUR REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED!
(Stephanie)
WHAT ARE YOU?
If there is anything you'd like to piss me off with,
ask me this question.
Ask me what language I speak,
spell Philippines with two "L"s instead of 3 "P"s.
Look at me with surprise when I articulate myself in English.
I can be quiet.
I can be shy.
But I can also be LOUD AS FUCK
When some White guy
Looks at me and sees
exotic,
me on my knees,
some Asian Fantasy,
mail-order bride.
(Jessica)
Which box do I check?
Caucasian? Asian? Pacific Islander?
Why do I have to pick one?
Where's my box? What am I?
I guess I'm just... "other."
I don't fit into these boxes you've decided on.
(Kenny)
We are different, so what? Aren't we all?
I travelled to other parts of the world, have you?
Don't be jealous I know more languages than you.
If you can't see our eyes, I think you may need glasses.
Don't hate because I do better than you in my classes!
(Diana)
Don't be surprised that I speak English so well
I find it hilarious when you speak to me like I'm slow
Don't tell me I look like your other Asian friend
And don't make it up by saying I'm EXOTIC
(Michael)
Can I speak Chinese?
Sure would be nice.
Too bad there are more than 20 officially recognized languages in China
All considered Chinese
That number disputed.
Besides,
I probably don't speak the one you're thinking of:
Mandarin?
I speak Cantonese.
And don't assume I'm fluent.
I'm not.
You taught me English and I learned how to curse.
(Ellen)
What is Asian?
I can only tell you Asians do not all come from Asia,
And not all Asians are international students.
So go learn the difference between nationality and ethinicity.
(Claudine)
Assuming not asking, you think you know a lot.
Though my identity you surely know not.
Isolated from my people, my culture, and story.
The very same things you try to bury.
(Dave)
Nothin' bout you can compare to me fool
I'm one of a kind original people
Don't swoop on me with that bogus shit,
POW BANG POW double-focus it!
I'ma make a beat with the words I speak
Nothin' 'bout you can compare me though
This American mestizo Filipino
The home of hills and stairs has been good to me,
Bring respect and peace wherever you be.
(Christina)
I am a product of racial injustice and social oppression.
But now we can relive our grandparents' lives with no shame of
who we are and where we're from.
To prove what this culture is and can be.
To break out of our stereotypes.
I am not afraid or ashamed to say that I am Asian.
This person does not do you dishes, wash your clothes,
cook your food, or do your homework.
I am proud to be an Asian.
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“Saturday School” - Chinese School right here in Humboldt County
Submitted by Alison Hong-Novotney
When I first heard about the Humboldt County Chinese School (HCCS) and their Saturday Chinese classes, I had to smile as it brought back my personal memories of going to what my family called “Saturday school.” Yet our Saturday school is a world away and another era from HCCS Saturday classes!
For my sister and I, growing up in the Los Angeles are in the 1970’s, Saturday school was separate from “regular” school, where we studied all the standard North American grade school curriculum during the week. As second generation Chinese whose first language is English, we went to Saturday school to learn to write and speak Chinese, our mother’s native language. The other students at Saturday school were also all Chinese for the most part, and it was very studious and there was a good amount of homework to practice writing.
It was very difficult to learn Chinese on a couple hours a week, when we did not speak it at home, as my mother had remarried to my stepfather, who is an English-speaker, and were surrounded by only English all the others hours of the week. Not to mention that we we already stood out at regular school for our race.
It’s interesting to see how different this era of “Saturday school” here in Humboldt is from what we experienced. Today, bilingualism is much more accepted and is often considered an advantage. We see the exciting trends of immersion schools, in areas like Humboldt, and also of parents wanting their children to retain and speak the language of the ancestors. In the 1970’s, the times were different. It was not cool to be speaking Chinese in a pretty much all white school. Plus, our era was an era when parents and grandparents were proud to assimilate into “American” culture, and desired for their children, to be Americans, and not be discriminated against because of their ethnicity.
Times have changed as seen with the HCCS. It is very inspiring to learn about the this Chinese school growing out of the desire for Humboldt County families who have adopted Chinese children to build a supportive community for their children. The bravery and creativity that these families and teachers have shown to build and maintain this Saturday school has taken incredible persistence, love, and commitment.
In 1998, new parents, Sandy and Bernie Levy, adopted Rose Lily from China. According to José Quezada, in “Bringing it home: China comes to Cutten” (Times Standard, February 7, 2012), there are approximately 150 adopted Chinese children in Humboldt county. Like many of the families they bonded with to support each other, the Levys wanted their daughter to establish a cultural identity that included her Chinese background, and they wanted to learn the Chinese language and culture to support this.
Through collaboration between the organization, Consultants for Global Programs (CGP), local educators, and parents, HCCS was able to obtain approval by Cutten Elementary School to incorporate under their umbrella. Through hard work by almost all volunteers, the school offers classes in Chinese language and culture for all ages. Their school has also become a place to share cultural events, food, and community.
Please join the HCCS in their Open House Chinese New Year Celebration on Saturday, February 9, noon-2pm, at Cutten Elementary School. Free and open to the public, they will share food, performances, arts and crafts, and children's activities, in a celebration of the Chinese New Year!
Annual Spring Session of classes begins February 23. The six class sessions are Saturdays at Cutten Elementary School in Eureka, 9:30am - 12:00 pm, on Feb. 23, March 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30. The cost is $90.
To register, mail payment to HCCS c/o Consultants for Global Programs, 730 7th Street, Suite B, Eureka, CA 95501. Include your name, address, phone, e-mail, number of students, and ages with payment. For more information, contact jamcniel1@att.net.
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Silk Road Junction 101 https://sites.google.com/site/silkroadjunction101/
An article submitted by Alison Hong-Novotney
A local Fortuna gal back from her other lives through her travels in India, Japan, and Hawaii, Sarah McClimon is one half of the performance group, Silk Road Junction 101. She and her husband, Tinku Rahman Abdur, originally from Bangladesh, have come “home,” to Humboldt County. Together, they are a musical collaboration performing traditional music, Rahman playing South Asian tabla drum, and Sarah playing Japanese koto and flute.
They bring their musical expertise, trained at University of Hawaii and Tokyo University of the Arts, home to Humboldt. Drawing on their experiences living in Bangladesh, India, Japan, Hawaii, and California they explore the rhythms and melodies of Asia and the United States, playing drums, tabla, pakhwaj, khol, dhol, flute, koto and vocals for educational and cultural events, such as the HSU Pan-Asian Pacific Islander Perspectives festival in March.
Their name is representative of the cross-cultural journey that they are together. The Silk Road was a network of old trade routes that linked Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including Rahman's home, Bangladesh and their long-time residence, Japan. Linking up with Sarah’s home of Humboldt, Highway 101 runs along the West Coast of the United States, through California, Oregon and Washington. When Spanish missionaries travelled the road, it was called El Camino Real. Their music is a junction between these worlds -- old and new, East and West.
Sarah’s journey as a Japanese-American woman born and raised in Fortuna, CA has been one of understanding her roots, and eventually coming back to this community of Humboldt.
At the time she was growing up in Fortuna, she remembers one other Japanese American family. Her mother, being third generation Japanese-American, was highly assimilated by her time into American culture.
Even though Sarah opted for music lessons, and did not go to Japanese school, she was still always really interested in Japanese language and culture. As fourth generation, she was very also Americanized, but like many of her generation’s peers, she was consciously looking for her cultural roots.
She studied Asian musics in college, and wanted to teach English in Japan. By great fortune, she was placed close to the village where her great grandparents came from, the beautiful and historical area of the Wakayama prefecture, about six hours from Osaka.
A wonderful 2 years passed there, in this wonderful fishing community, which embraced her, and helped her learn Japanese. It was very moving to be near her great grandparents’ graves, 100 years since her family immigrated to the U.S.
While there, she found a koto teacher who sang beautiful melodies. She fell in love with the all the different tone colors that koto has and how the koto would weave in and out of the vocal melodies.
After her time there, she travelled between University of Hawaii and Japan for the next 10 to 11 years, and earned her degrees in ethnomusicology.
She feels very fortunate, that she has been able to study these musics of her ancestors, and in such diverse locations that have brought her closer to understanding her roots..
In terms of finding her roots, she feels she has done that. However, she is aware that the Japan she knows and found, that helped her define her sense of ethnic identity, is not the same Japan as the place her great grandparents left.
Now coming “home”…. Sarah is trying to reconcile how to bring those diverse experiences here, to create a musical space and community to share those experiences with. She is experimenting with different ideas such as a Japanese club in the community or in the schools. She also integrates stories of Japan into her teaching of Western music at Fortuna High School.
As a musical team, and as a family, Sarah and Rahman’s experiences have been extremely diverse. They have been in the positions of being expatriot academics in their different foreign homes, each of different nationalities, in yet a third country. Now they are here in Humboldt again, as a mixed couple, bringing up their son, and again, working to maintain ties to his (and their) cultural identity to the different aspects of his ancestral roots, Japanese, Bengali, and North American.
And this is the interesting about identity, and how we self-define, and how others define us. Sarah notes that a bridge between ethnic identity for each of them, has been that of the identity of “musician.” Being a musican is a very pronounced and dominant identity. This has made it easier to transition into and between different communities. Now coming back to Humboldt, she is welcomed as a musician and a teacher, as her family is well-known for their outstanding work in music and education in the community. Likewise for Rahman, his music and identity as a musician provides that cross-cultural bridge, which is significant as one of only a few South Asian men in Fortuna. Throughout their travels, he has always been able to jam musically with different musicians. Recently, has been performing on many different cross-cultural fusion projects with other Humboldt County musicians.
Now that they are “home,” their goals are to perform and develop a studio where they can explore bringing back all the experiences we have gathered from all our travels and the musical experiences and create a place for them here locally. They bring their special fusion of musics and identities, across the Silk Road, right up the 101, and home to Humboldt.
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