Asian Outlook | Spring 2018 Issue #3

ASIAN OUTLOOK

asu merge promotes unity among asians

30th anniversary

12 tips for an activist

letter to the editor

April 2018 Vol. XXXIV, Issue 3

ASIAN

Volume XXXIV, Issue 3

contents OUTLOOK 2

ASIAN OUTLOOK

this issue 4 | JROD Twins Interview | Haythi Ei 8 | The Christ Episcopal Church | Shangshang Rao

retrospective 30 12 | ASU Merge Promotes Unity Among Asians | Paulinier Lee 14 | Confessions of an AO Edtior | Melissa Chan 16 | Political Correspondence: 12 Tips for an Activist | Errol Schweizer 19 | Letter to the Editor | John Choe

conscience 20 | Bananas | Lance Kim 21 | Smoking | Darren Yu 22 | no subject | Darren Yu

Cover photo by Haoran Zhi (layout editor) Back photo by Scott Webb on Pexels

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letter from the editor

ear Readers, Welcome to our third and last issue of the semester!

Snow in April was kind of weird, but as I’ve heard one of my seniors say in my freshman year, Binghamton only has two seasons: winter and June. Weather aside, it’s been a tough time for BU as a whole, what with the violent deaths of two students separated by a mere five weeks. On behalf of AO, I offer my sincerest condolences to all of those who were personally affected by these tragedies. AO stands together in support with the rest of the campus community in working to help prevent more of them in the future.

As you all may or may not know, AO was founded in 1988, a whole 30 years ago. It’s amazing that we’ve been going strong for this long! In honor of our 30th anniversary, we’ve brought in a Retrospective section. Here we feature a few articles from the past that our E-Board found interesting and worth sharing with you. We’ve chosen to show some of the perspectives of previous AO E-Board members as well as some articles focusing on ASU, which was founded in 1987, a year before AO’s birth. Pretty crazy how things change, right? For our 20th anniversary issue, we dedicated an entire issue to article reprints in this fashion, but this year we decided to spread out our celebration a bit. So we plan to bring more Retrospective sections in our issues for the next school year. Meanwhile, we also have some lovely new poetry in Conscience, as well as other interesting pieces for you to enjoy!

My time with BU, and AO by extension, is almost up. I feel mixed feelings about graduating like every other senior out there. Regardless, I’ll never forget how much they both mean to me. I warmly thank everyone else in the Board of Directors for being wonderful people and getting me more comfortable with the other subgroups under the ASU umbrella. They, along with the rest of AO E-Board, helped me adapt to being Editorin-Chief, a position that quite frankly fell upon my unprepared self. This year’s E-Board was incredibly understanding of those circumstances in which I became Editor-in-Chief, and we all worked together to make AO shine. They’ve all shown great initiative and imagination this year, and most of them plan to return, so I have high hopes for next year’s E-Board. I’ll miss you all, and I’m sure the readers have much more to look forward to next year!

Nina Ocampo Editor-in-Chief, Spring 2018

ASIAN OUTLOOK EXECUTIVE BOARD SPRING 2018 editor-in-chief

Nina Ocampo Secretary Michael Messina treasurer Tiffany Tung publicity manager Haythi Ei copy editors Benny Louie Brandon Ng conscience editor Tram Duong layout editors Haoran Zhi Michelle Pao Camille Guo Mengshu Ye intern Thomas Hur

EDITORIAL POLICY Asian Outlook is the art, literary and news magazine of the Asian Student Union of SUNY’s Binghamton University. Originally conceived and created to challenge, redefine, re-imagine and revolutionize images and perceptions associated with Asians and Asian Americans, Asian Outlook also serves to protect the voice of those in the minority, whether by ethnicity, gender, and/or political orientation. All matter contained within these beautiful pages do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board. Asian Outlook reserves the right to edit submissions and publish work as deemed appropriate. Prospective contributors are encouraged to discuss their work with the editors prior to submissions.

Articles may be submitted as an e-mail attachment to ao.editor@gmail.com. All artistic and literary pieces may be submitted to aoconscience@gmail.com.

CONTACT POLICY Uninvited contact with writers and contributors is forbidden under punishment of pain. Please direct all questions, comments and complaints to ao.editor@gmail.com. interested in contributing?

E-mail us at:

ao.editor@gmail.com

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Vol. XXXIV, Issue 3

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JROD T W INS

By Haythi Ei

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ROM MEETING THE WONG FU BROTHERS FOR THE FIRST TIME AT THE AFTERPARTY of The Maze Runner actor Ki-Hong Lee’s wedding to dealing with strangers who have called them monkeys in front of their face, Justin and Jason Rodjanapanyakul, or the JRod Twins, have had a lot of experience being outsiders and Vietnamese-Thai-American alongside being growing sensational YouTubers. On Asian Night 2017 the JRod Twins performed their million-view hit cover acoustics and popular songs. Just the day before, they were running across the state, playing in different schools in Long Island and New York City. They never would have imagined that they would be doing this if you had asked them six years ago.

For starters, they had not started music at the same time.

“So I actually did music all throughout my life basically since elementary school all the way through college,” Justin recalled deeply. “Jason didn’t end up picking up music at all. He actually used to make fun of me for doing music.”

His brother intercepted with a mischievous grin, “I used to call him choir nerd.”

Justin continued nonchalantly, “After graduating from high school, he got a guitar for Christmas… and why did you want a guitar?”

“I know a lot of guys learned to play the guitar because they want to get the ladies.” Jason replied.

“But I was like, okay you know, I want to be Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson. When I was in my freshman year of college, my dad got me a guitar for Christmas. That’s when I started really taking music a little more seriously.”

Long story short, they began performing at charity and student organization events where Jason, the late bloomer in music, became Justin’s accompanist. Inspired by Jayesslee, female KoreanAustralian twins who were famous on YouTube for their cover songs at the time, Justin and Jason began a YouTube channel under the label JRod twins. Now, what started as a hobby in 2012 has blown into a full-time career.

It’s been six years since then and the rest is history.

What was it like collaborating with Wong Fu? How did you guys get in touch with the Asian Bachelor?

Justin: Basically, we know Wong Fu through our exmanager. We met them at a party and we were having a fun time and they were probably like who the hell are these guys? That was basically two years ago.

Jason: It was actually at Ki-Hong Lee’s after-party of his wedding.

Justin: We didn’t even know anybody. We only knew like two people there. Our ex-manager kind of just threw us in there.

Jason: We were like his plus two. When people saw twins, they were like who are these guys? Of course, everybody at the LA scene knows everyone. We haven’t even moved down from Seattle then. But now it’s been two years. Our relationship with the YouTube community has been gradually developing.

Jason: The video was more than we could ask for seriously.

Justin: We were just happy to be able to be part of the Asian Bachelor video. That was awesome.

So you guys are both Thai and your mother is Chinese-Vietnamese, and you were raised in America. What was your childhood like being raised in both cultures? Or were you raised in one predominant one? What languages do you speak?

Jason: So we speak Vietnamese and English. Our dad is Thai and Chinese and my mom is Vietnamese and Chinese.

The Vietnamese culture is more dominant because my mom and dad divorced when we were 4 years old, so the Thai didn’t really stick around too long. But then we had a white step-father since we were 5 years old. There has been clashing between white-American and Asian culture since then.

Justin: We spoke Vietnamese growing up because we live with our Mom. We lived in several different houses actually growing up. It’s a long story, I’ll just summarize it.

My brother lived with my step-dad (Caucasian) and then I lived with my Mom. So I kind of know better Vietnamese than him.

At some point in our lives, we struggle with finding our identity, and that is what tonight’s theme is about: bridging the identity between Asian- and Asian-American. So I am sure you guys also have a personal experience with it. How did you come to terms with your identity as an Asian and also being Asian-American at the same time?

Is there a specific point in your life?

Jason: I feel like we definitely had extreme difficulties, because of the fact that I had a white step-dad and my mom is super Asian too. Punishment styles would be different.

You know, every little thing. There would be a bamboo stick here, there would be a time-out here. So, you’re like

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you want to get it over with a bamboo stick or be grounded for a week? I guess long story short, or long answer short, we found it through music actually.

We were able to identify ourselves by connecting more with our Asian audience. They really inspired us to cover in foreign languages songs. We were able to identify ourselves with Wong Fu, Ryan Higa, and I’m like “yeah, I want to be just like them.” I think that’s what sparked and planted the seed for YouTube.

Justin: I mean, we’re still going through an identity crisis. You know, we’re constantly learning new things about ourselves all the time… . we just started doing University shows this past year. So even coming up to these events, you guys are very pro-Asian, love yourself kind of thing. Even being surrounded by this all the time, it is very inspiring too.

One thing we’re trying to do on YouTube too is we’re trying to make more Vietnamese music. There’re not a lot of Asians, Vietnamese-Americans like us. I think a lot of Vietnamese people stray away from it because they’re like “oh, it kind of sounds funny.” That’s another motivation too. Because we see K-pop idols making it globally, why not any other Asian countries? You know? It’s like come on.

When I say music, everyone listens to music and connect through music. It’s such a universal language and… . we definitely found ourselves through music a lot.

Do you guys have any special twin speaking or twin special ability?

Justin: We have our own language, we didn’t make this up, but we learned it from someone. We have a special language; of course we can’t share it with you. But we can do it.

So, last question, do you guys have any plan in the future for the JRod Twins? Hollywood?

Jason: We never have a figurative goal. We always just have “hey, let’s try to take it to the next level from where we are now.” Whatever that is, we’re not too sure what that is.

We always spin out naturally. It just happened. We never knew we would be in California. We never knew we would be performing in schools and stuff. But, I think our solid no.1 goal is to…

Justin: We want to come up with original music. Even start up with one original song. Like a single… . we’ve been doing covers for a long time now. It’s a lot of cool songs and stuff but it gets very repetitive. We want to write something with emotion, original, with our own story.

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Bonus Story Justin: When we went to Vietnam, you just never know who is listening or who knows what to speak what.

We were at a gas station, these people didn’t know that we were Vietnamese so when we walked in, they made a little… . not-so-nice remark about us. Our ears are kind of big so they when they we walked in, they were like ayy look, two monkeys… in Vietnamese.

We were like, “oh, he just called us monkeys.” He thought we were either Koreans or Chinese tourists because we’re dressed as touristy and they can see that. You know we all like talk bad about people sometimes. So I like get it.

They were having a good time. He was just saying to his girlfriend or something. But we were like what can we do, just kind of tease him a little. They looked over and they were just kind of giggling you know. And I look over and be like (moneky-face picture) And how did they react?

Justin: They were definitely startled. They were just like “oh fuck”.

Jason: Kill them with kindness. Or kill them with humor.

Justin: It’s like how anytime how someone has a road rage or something, we just smile at them. They cut you off, good job, I’ll see you at the light.

FUN FACTS Secret Talent: Can flap feet because of their wide feet (Jason: I am above average at everything) Favorite Food: Pho Favorite Movie: Elf Favorite Colors: Rainbow & gray (according to the colors they have in their closet) Favorite Place in NYC: Biking everywhere; places that are not touristy Favorite Place to Visit: Thailand Sources: https://www.tenstickers-ireland.com/wall-stickers/img/preview/water-colour-koi-fish-wall-sticker-6071.png http://m.tiin.vn/chuyen-muc/song/me-man-giong-hat-ngot-ngaocua-cap-anh-em-sinh-doi-khi-cover-em-gai-mua.html https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYCaGJK7ukIfi0CrS0RXv8g

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Photos: Christ Church, Episcopal Church Facebook Page

By Shangshang Rao

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The Christ Episcopal Church

HE NUMBER OF CHINESE STUDENTS IN AMERICAN COLLEGES IN 2015 WAS 304,000. Approximately 45 percent of Chinese international students reported symptoms of depression, and 29 percent reported symptoms of anxiety caused by a lack of identity and being unaccustomed to American colleges. Therefore, to explore a wonderful church that can release their pressure and get them to bond with local people as a community is a significant thing for them. A local church recommended to the international students in Binghamton is the Christ Episcopal Church.

It was the first church founded in Binghamton in 1810. A small group of the town’s residents met and decided to form a church for people who had the same belief. This church is a place that gives one the warm nest feeling because of the Christian notion of an egalitarian world, the interest to know the outside world of people in the church and the acceptance of multiculturalism in America. Those who have never been to a church should visit a place where everyone and every culture is accepted equally.

To start with, all the visitors are warmly welcomed, as the Christians at Christ Episcopal Church are intent on

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the notion of treating all beings in the spirit of equality.

My encounter with the church started two years ago, in the first semester after I came to Binghamton University. I was writing an essay for my Architecture class, introducing a building in Binghamton. Then, on a nice Sunday morning, I walked into this old church and found my center of the world. It was a typically lavish Christian church with ornate stained-glass windows, huge wooden chandeliers and beautifully painted icons. People sat on the pews praying and listening to the melodious songs of the choir.

I looked to see if there was any seat for a stranger. An old man, Charles, noticed my presence and invited me to go in. I was welcomed warmly by those elder, friendly people.

As time passed, going to the church every Sunday became an enjoyable experience for me. It was a great opportunity to enjoy leisure from the burden of work in college and helped me learn more about American culture. During the service, we read the Bible and sang hymns together.

Though I am not a Christian believer, I like what the bible says: “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14), “Do we not all

have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?” (Malachi 2:10). Convincing people to become Christian believers was not my original intention.

However, it is important for people to realize the profound meaning behind those sentences. Those friendly people in the church who treat everyone equally grew up with the notion of equality. After they knew I was good at playing piano, they appointed me the “bell ringer” of the church.

Every Sunday morning, 15 minutes before 10, a peal of beautiful bells rang out. Nobody knew the beautiful ringing came from a young Chinese girl. The sense of being needed was fantastic!

Another upside to visiting a church is that the people there have a strong interest to open their horizons and learn about the world. It is always fun to listen to the stories of those people who came from all over the world. I recall one of the ladies who came from Sudan with her family.

She wasn’t used to America because everyone called her by her first name here. “Is that a weird thing that people call your first name directly?” I asked. “Yes. In Sudan, people usually do not call women by their first name.” She smiled, “There’re lots of taboos in my hometown.” Similarly, I also experienced a lot of awkward and amusing moments after I came to America. It was a distinctive experience to share my stories with people in a medley of foreign words and universal gestures. Certainly, culture plays a huge role in non-verbal communication. Even though we do not speak the same language or have the same ways of thinking, the interest to learn new things and to explore the world helps

promote communication among us and creates an equal and friendly church atmosphere.

The people in the Christ Episcopal Church incorporate other cultures easily because America is a multicultural country. To illustrate, I would like to introduce my best American friend: Charles Babcock. He was the first man I had seen in the church. He is keen on learning Chinese culture and has a long history of playing Mahjong. His grandfather had traveled to Shanghai, China in the

last century and excitedly found an interesting game named Mahjong which he had never seen in his country.

Therefore, his grandfather decided to bring the game back to America. Charles showed us an old version of Mahjong which his grandfather treasured and the rules of Mahjong that were translated from Chinese by his grandfather. I was surprised by his story and the fact that his version of Mahjong is actually older than the Mahjong that I have seen in my grandfather’s house. Sometimes, after going to the church, we go to Charles’ house to play Mahjong with his sons. I was also invited to teach children in the church how to play Mahjong. It makes me proud to perpetuate my country’s traditional game to the next generation of Americans.

The United States is an enormous melting pot that has merged different races and cultures together.

Subsequently, the level of acceptance of other cultures in America is usually higher than in other countries. For instance, Charles married his Mexican wife 20 years ago and was affected by Mexican culture every day without being aware of that. Under the influence from his wife, he is now able to speak some Spanish and has become a big fan of tacos and guacamole.

“Sunshine,” is the nickname the people in the church gave me. One of the ladies sang the song, “You are my sunshine, You are my sunshine,” and told me, “You are just like the sunshine which filters through the stained-glass, bringing us colorful life and vitality.” My friend, Charles, always said, “Sunshine, you’re amazing,” “You brave girl,” “You’re so independent,” “Your parents must be proud of you!” I never felt I was as good as what he said. However, whenever I recall the words my church friends say, I think I could be such an amazing girl. Before I visited the church, I never considered coming back to this small town after I graduate.

Nevertheless, the bonds between the people and me in the church will bring me back. They have become an important part of my life.

When one is living in an unfamiliar place, one will face difficulties in crossing the cultural barriers. The language barriers, cultural nuances and value divergence will hinder the communication between international students and the locals. Hence, we all need a place that could help us to overcome those difficulties and to assimilate to the local culture. A church can eliminate those barriers and anxieties.

Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/opinion/chinese-students-mental-health.html https://christepiscopalbing.com/about/history/

Vol. XXXIV, Issue 3

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REtROSPECT 10 ASIAN OUTLOOK

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ASU MERGE PROMOTES UNITY AMONG ASIANS

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CONFESSIONS OF AN AO EDITOR

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POLITICAL CORRESPONDENCE: 12 TIPS FOR AN ACTIVIST

This was printed in one of the very first issues of AO, back in November 1988. We selected this one because we wanted to bring attention to the importance of a strong Asian community base, as well as some of the issues that faced the Asian and Asian-American communities here at BU back then. Even today, the organizations are powerless without the support of its constituents.

This was also printed in AO’s 20th anniversary issue in March 2009. The E-Board at the time reached out to a previous Editorin-Chief to write for the issue. We chose it now because we believe that it holds some valuable insights for everyone while maintaining an honest tone.

Should someone suddenly decide, in a moment of clarity, to discard his/her apathy and pick up a cause, then he/she will find this work useful. Certainly the presence of this article in an old issue seems to speak to the changing times.

Initially published in a 1998 issue and reprinted in the 20th anniversary edition of March 2009 issue, this article seems to speak to the changing times. A 2018 (re-)reprint of a 2009 reprint of a 1998 publication, why not?

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR Written by one of our AO editors and initially printed in AO’s 20th anniversary edition in March 2009, this commentary piece carried much wisdom and input specifically for AO’s 20th, our current 30th team of dewy-eyed tenderfoots and any cultural group that seeks to leave an impact and create an inclusive community for its people.

Photo by Jessica Ruscello on Unsplash

30 YEARS

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ASU Merge Promotes Unity Among Asians

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HE FOREMOST PURPOSE OF THE ASIAN ORGANIZATIONS ON THIS CAMPUS IS TO EDUCATE THE POPULOUS ON OUR CULTURES, thus helping to relieve any discrimination or segregation that stems from ignorance. In addition, these organizations address the cultural, educational, and recreational needs of Asian students. We also strive to educate ourselves as well as non-Asians about the Asian identity. Since the Chinese American Student Union was founded in 1971, five other Asian organizations have been established: the Korean Student Association, the Asian Student Union, China Night, and two additional Chinese graduate organizations. Due to lack of funds and a lack of unifying goals, these organizations never attained their highest potential and moreover, could not keep the majority of their members interested.

They were caught in a vicious cycle. Because their budgets were so small, they could not afford to sponsor quality events, such as the Dith Pran lecture. Since the members had to settle for lower-quality programming, they gradually lost interest and stopped coming to the events. In order to prevent this, the Asian organizations needed a substantial increase in their budgets, but never received it. Each year, the Student Association would allot a small increase towards their existing budgets because it was felt that since the events were not wellattended, why should more money be given to sponsor them? Furthermore, the SA saw that these groups were not very strong because they were not united and few members were actively involved. Consequently, the same thing happened year after year. Low budgets sponsored low-quality programs, causing the members to become disinterested. As a result, the budgets remained low and

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the groups remained weak.

Last year, the executive boards of CASU, KSA, and ASU decided to implement some changes in order to strengthen the Asian organizations and to get out of that vicious cycle.

At the beginning of the year, they urged their members to run for the position of “SA representative” for their dorms. Since there was very little Asian representation in the Student Assembly, this was vital to raising the budget of the Asian organizations.

Later on, near the end of the semester, CASU persuaded the two graduate organizations, the Chinese Student Association and the Student Association of the People’s Republic of China, to give up their SA charters and merge with CASU. In exchange, 7.5 percent of CASU’s funding would go towards co-sponsorship with CSA and 15 percent would go towards co-sponsorship with SAPRC because these groups still had their graduate charters.

Soon after, the executive boards of CASU, KSA, and ASU decided to join forces and fight for a larger increase of the ASU budget. Members of the three groups went to their SA dorm reps to discuss the Asian organizations’ predicament and tried to persuade them to vote in our favor. At the meeting, the room was full of Asians who came to show their support for the effort to increase the ASU budget to the amount that the other minority groups were receiving.

After ASU’s request, one of the SA reps motioned for an increase of $6,000, which was met with heavy opposition.

A heated two and a half hour debate concerning the size of the increase followed, but in the end, the motion was passed and ASU got their long-awaited and well deserved increase in funds.

The executive boards and other members met a week later to discuss merging CASU, KSA, China Night and

Originally published on November 1988

By Paulinier Lee

ASU. Some major concerns were (1) whether CASU or KSA would lose their identities, (2) whether the merge would be a successful, lasting one, (3) the budgets of the committees, and (4) how new committees representing other Asian groups would be accommodated. After five meetings, each lasting about four hours, it was decided that the Chinese American Student Union, China Night and the Korean Student Association would merge to form a new Asian Student Union. A new constitution was drafted and ratified by the SA in May. Under the new constitution, there is only one Asian organization, the Asian Student Union, which is comprised of two committees; the Chinese American Student Union and the Korean Student Union Committee. We are aware that not all Asians on this campus are Chinese or Korean. To accommodate other interested Asian groups, for example, the Japanese, the Filipinos or the Vietnamese, the constitution has a line addressing the starting of other committees in ASU. As of now, the constitution requires that 40 percent of the ASU budget be used to sponsor events that concern Asians as a whole.

The fight to increase our budget and the ASU merge did not concern only money. Last year, Asians comprised 8.9 percent of the student population, while Black students

comprised 6.9% and Latin American students, only 6.2 percent. However, the ASU budget was only $430, compared to the Black Students Union’s $14,030, the Latin American Student Union’s $13,050, and the Jewish Student Union’s $12,235. In fact, the combined Asian budget was only $3,730 (ASU - $430, CASU -$1600, KSA - $1700). By giving the Asian organizations budgets that were not large enough to even sponsor a major speaker, the SA indirectly discriminated against Asians.

The $6,000 budget increase and the ASU merge gives the Asian Student Union new strength and respect. As the saying goes, “There is strength in unity.”

One large Asian voice is more powerful than five small ones.

Finally, I would like to stress how important this year is. Many people do not agree that the ASU deserves their $6,000 budget increase and would willingly and easily take it away. Other people feel that the ASU merge is in name only, and that CASU and KSA will remain separate.

If our members do not become involved this year, then the money that we worked so hard to get will go to waste. It will be taken away from us next year. Not only will the ASU look bad, but the SA will be more reluctant about giving us any more money and moreover, will never take the ASU seriously again.

The ASU budget was only $430, compared to the Black Students Union’s $14,030, the Latin American Student Union’s $13,050, and the Jewish Student Union’s $12,235.

In fact, the combined Asian budget was only $3,730 (ASU - $430, CASU -$1600, KSA - $1700).

Vol. XXXIV, Issue 3

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By Melissa Chan, Class of 2006 eht ,tcepsorter evitceffe tsom elpoeP .htuom fo drow ylpmis saw srebmem tiu rcer ot yaw dekcal ew dna dellfi eb ot tey dah snoitis A.M. thguoLAST rb wasMINUTE yeht tahwLAYOUT dekil dnaEDITING sgniteem ON ruo QUARK. ot emac oCOFFEE hw ehtPERCOLATING ,rehtegoT .desopIN ponu rotide rof nar A POT. AND I DON’T EVEN LIKE COFFEE. I used to dread nights ew ,tluser a sA .sdneirf rieht thguorb nrut ni ohw ,sdneirf rieht .srebmbefore em gnprint itiu rceday, r nageb I dna dah e but now I look back upon .puothem rg eviwith sehocthe yreutmost v a emacfondness eb ylkciuqandOnostalgia.

A taht erusne ot seromohpos dna ne I was an AO editor from 2005-2006.

I kind of fell actually. The regnorts dliub ot )sesu llits dna( desu OA dohtem rehtointo nA the position, a notmahgniB ot denruter neve I .raey previous spring, I decided that I wanted to make my mark on campus. I wanted my college saw supmac no ytilibisiv niag ot dna srebmem sti gnoma sdnob ytivitca tneduts nemhserf gnimocni eht memories to consist of more than just studying (haha) and partying. Having written just fo tnemtcaneer ruo ,raey ym gniruD .ecnam rofrep eht ruo nioj ot nemhserf gnihsup lrig yveehc one article for AO that semester, I was eligible to run for a staff position. I ran for assistant editor. I almost didn’t even show up for the election. Before the urging of the previous AO editor, I would have spent that evening napping in my dorm room.

9002 hcraM The following fall, AO was a ghost of a group because the previous year’s AO staff was made up almost entirely of graduating seniors. Many staff positions had yet to be filled and we lacked writers. I eventually ran for editor unopposed. Together, the few staff members we had and I began recruiting members. We aimed for freshmen and sophomores to ensure that AO survived beyond our year. I even returned to Binghamton a week early to table at the incoming freshmen student activity fair. Yes, I was that skeevy girl pushing freshmen to join our mailing list. Though I realized I was pressuring poor newbies into signing up, I was utterly frustrated with their false promises of participation. Ultimately, it became a numbers game; if I could get 10 people to sign up and one came to a meeting, that was a huge success.

I often reminisce about my sad attempts to lure the freshman with various gimmicks.

The first was origami. I cut squares out of gift wrap and advertised origami instructions at our table. The freshmen were not impressed. Our next selling point, bubble tea, was much more successful. Who doesn’t love a refreshing cup of bubble tea? It was plain chilled Lipton with sweetened tapioca balls. Sure it wasn’t K&K’s Old Tea House on Bun Hill Road, but it was cheap and on campus. In retrospect, the most effective way to recruit members was simply word of mouth. People who came to our meetings and liked what they saw brought their friends, who in turn brought their friends. As a result, we quickly became a very cohesive group.

Another method AO used (and still uses) to build stronger bonds among its members and to gain visibility on campus was the performance. During my year, our reenactment of OkGo’s “A Million Ways” music video at Asian Night turned a few heads.1 While some members of the ASU staff furrowed their brows because our performance wasn’t “Asian enough” (2), it at least got people talking about us. We also performed a, might I say, highly entertaining “Karate Master” skit at Japan Night (3). I was really happy to see that following AO generations continued this tradition of performance with a rendition of “The Algorithm March” (4),and the original videos “Peking Duck” (5) and “The Five Lives of Chris Lu (6).”

Confessions of an AO editor 4

14 ASIAN OUTLOOK

ssendnof tsomtu eht rf rotide OA saw I ehT .yllautca ,noitis ac no kram ym ekam naht erom fo tsisnoc eno tsuj nettirw OA rof elcitra I ,retsemes taht nu r ot elbigile saw -isop ffats a rof rof nar I .noit I .rotide tnatsissa neve t’ndid tsomla eht rof pu wohs rof tuB .noitcele eht fo gnigru eht -ide OA suoiverp evah dluow I ,rot -eve taht tneps ni gnippan gnin .moor m rod ym gniwollof ehT a saw OA ,llaF puorg a fo tsohg -erp eht esuaceb OA s’raey suoiv edam saw ffats yleritne tsomla pu -es gnitaudarg fo p ffats ynaM .sroin yllautneve I .sretirwI saw AO as a potential mouthpiece for the entire Binghamton community. Though AO srebmem ffats w ef is an Asian interest magazine, I was afraid it would become too exclusive if I weeded too many submissions out. As a result, we printed some controversial and/or irrelevant hserf rof demia eW articles, to say the least. At the time, I was looking to increase participation; I was not as ruo dnoyeb deviv rus concerned with the topics of the articles. a elbat ot ylrae keew I did, however, use AO to further the Asian-American agenda. Namely, we brought the taht saw I ,seY .riaf ASU groups together to ask the administration at Binghamton for a holiday on Lunar New Year. I felt awkward and somewhat uncomfortable in my activism because I do not celebrate However, many students agreed that this was a particularly important cause. kooltuo naisthe a holiday.

8 I was perhaps overly optimistic in our quest. We were backed by the SA and the VPMA (who doesn’t want a day off, right?), but getting the Asian and Asian American Studies Department’s support was not as easy. We used the campus’ large Asian American demographic (roughly 20 percent, I believe) to support our claim that Lunar New Year should be a school holiday. The Department correctly counter-argued that the entire Asian American demographic at Binghamton does not celebrate Lunar New Year; it’s difficult to ascertain exactly how much of the student body is affected by having class on Lunar New Year. I was very proud to see the quest for the Lunar New Year holiday successfully continue the following year. While it is not yet a school holiday, through the efforts of the succeeding AO editor and his staff, Lunar New Year is now at least recognized on the campus calendar. I had hoped to see the Lunar New Year quest continue beyond that, but so far it seems to have come to a halt.

I have been pleased to see that the articles printed in subsequent years have taken a much more journalistic focus. Following AO editors have raised the standards when it comes to content and writing ability. Not to mention, when succeeding editors proudly mailed their issues to me, I was so excited to see better quality paper and color on the pages! Our progress seems to have warranted a larger budget from the ASU and SA each year. I’ve also noticed on Facebook (yes, I see you there!) that the same camaraderie that staff members and contributors had during my time with AO still exists today.

I am absolutely thrilled that AO has thrived for 20 years. Congratulations! With that, I encourage current and future members of AO to pick up the Lunar New Year quest, or any other quest, if they so desire. The challenge of figuring out how many students really celebrate Lunar New Year (and not just the number of students who’d like the day off) is but a small obstacle in reaching the ultimate goal. If Lunar New Year is important to you, then please do not let our efforts go to waste. The difficulty with trying to shape a college campus to the needs of its students is that the students leave. If you don’t like something about your campus, then do something about it. Don’t let apathy get in the way of what’s really important to you.

1 Asian Night 2005 AO performance, available at http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JAGwJViIKiA. 2 What is “Asian,” anyway? The Asian Diaspora in America consists of Asians and Asian Americans alike. Our performances don’t always have to be costumed, chingchong novelty acts! But I digress.

3 Japan Night 2006 AO performance, available at http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=R35x5WumHdw. 4 Asian Night 2006 AO performance.

5 Asian Night 2007 AO performance, available at http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=BILDUNeP5mo.

6 Asian Night 2009 AO performance.

Vol. XXXIV, Issue 3

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H

ave a sense of humor.

THE WORLD IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE OVERNIGHT, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU WORK. Take time out to laugh at how messed up things really are. Take time out to laugh at yourself and at the incremental changes that you and others are striving so hard for. A good chuckle now and then keeps things in perspective and may actually make you feel better about the work you have accomplished. Making fun of yourself and other activists may be a form of critique, and we all know that one. . .

Critique is necessary and vital for activism.

Analyzing what went wrong and what went right about an action or a campaign may help you to not repeat the same mistakes twice. Listen to what others outside your group have to say, especially the opposition, which may be the perfect foil for your cause. Many great activists and revolutionaries engaged in rigorous self-criticism to realize what they did right or wrong. Luckily, unlike Che or Durruti, we don’t have to do it under a hail of bullets (at least not yet).

Treat everyone as individuals.

It irks me when Marxists and anarchists refer to “the masses” or when anti-corporate activists refer to their peers as “MTV kids.” By lumping people into faceless categories we forget that we are dealing with people who have reasons for believing the things they do, whether it is family upbringing, the influence of religion or state propaganda, or just growing up in this damn culture. When you approach people as individuals, you remember that once upon a time you, too, may not have had the beliefs you do now and may have been alienated by how some activists can come off when trying to spread their message. And so, the most important aspect of reaching out to people may not be what you have to say but actually to…

Listen to what others have to say and know your audience.

Sometimes people’s responses to what you have to say may be the best guide for learning what you shouldn’t do next time.

When you know who you are speaking to, you can craft your message that appeals to them. This is something the Christian Right learned long ago in their direct mail campaigns. For example: By knowing your audience, you can personalize the issue so that it is not some abstract cause that they

16 ASIAN OUTLOOK

cannot relate to their everyday experience.

If you are talking about immigrants’ rights to some middle-class white people, you can preface your point by mentioning “Imagine if this had happened to your grandparents when they were trying to escape the (famines, wars, genocide, intolerance, etc.) that brought them here.”

If you are talking to some kids on the street about how McDonalds is fucked up, don’t just dwell on the facts that they kill millions of animals every year and use beef grown on former rainforest land.

Many of the kids in my neighborhood can relate to the fact that McD’s pays bad wages and makes you work long, grueling hours.

And oh yeah. . . ditch the hifalutin lingo! If you insist on “sub-suming the other” and ‘deconstructing the privileged hegemonies of socioeconomic systems” then don’t expect much of a response. If you know your audience then you can talk to them at their level, not Foucault’s.

Besides, those big words are a privilege of those lucky enough to have

been college-educated and can set up an uncomfortable power dynamic. What’s the use of promoting social change when you convey it in an elitist fashion?

And stop screaming all the time!

Yeah, we’re pissed off, but if we are always screaming AT people instead of talking to them, then they won’t listen. So before you go to a protest, go work out or jog or something. You’d be surprised how people respond when you talk politely to them. There IS a time for anger, and then there is a time for discussion. So think before you scream.

Single-issue activism can be problematic.

While we all have certain issues that are closest to our hearts, we shouldn’t close our minds to the possible interconnections between these issues or stop from examining how they may have similar historical roots. Sometimes single issue activism can be very detrimental, such as how some environmentalists echo right-wing propaganda about immigration or how some anti-racist activists are just as homophobic as the KKK. Having progressive politics does not exempt you from being an asshole.

There are more than a few

“progressive” people who are sexist pigs or hold some pretty questionable ideas about race and class. And activists can be just as clique and back-stabbing as frat-people.

The redeeming thing is that at least by getting involved, the door is open for talking about these issues, right???

You can’t save the world via email.

Your computer is a product of the techno-capitalist system, and whatever good you do with it does not equal the power it has given Corporate America.

No matter how efficient, technology can never replace the power and intimacy of human communication and contact.

The internet itself was designed by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency as a way to decentralize communications in the advent of nuclear war. And over 98 percent of the Internet’s usefulness has been in speeding up commerce for speculative investment by very wealthy people all over the world. Admittedly, the internet has also increased our communications and helped to make progressive movements more globally linked; the Zapatistas may have been crushed if not for the email updates they sent out during their uprising. But we can’t rely on techno-activism all the time.

And one other thing: Y2K. Leave the “ism’s” at home.

“So that’s nice. You are a (insert typical social change label here).” To most people who do not share these beliefs, these labels are loaded with media stereotypes and corporate propaganda that demean the positive aspects that these labels carry for you and me. For example, after saying to someone “I am a multiculturalist,” he responded with “So you hate white people?” Instead, I should have said, “I believe in seeing race as a historical construct; it

is not real in any physical or biological sense, but people are manipulated into believing that it is and treat it so.”

And maybe that would have spurred some lively discussion. So before you announce yourself as some left-wing “ism-ist”, consider what may be going on in someone else’s head about what you label yourself. Just think of what you considered a “communist” or “anarchist” before you became so enlightened; what do most people hear about these terms from the media? Let your actions define you, not your “ism’s” Lifestyle fascism sucks.

A major problem with many activists is instead of personalizing the political, they politicize the personal. Instead of iadentifying and deconstructing

the institutions that are the source of violence against humans, animals and the environment, many progressive-types make a hobby out of finding flaws in other people’s lifestyles. It is an easy way out of making real change happen by just attacking this or that consumption pattern . What we need to remember is that by identifying certain aspects of Western lifestyle, such as meat-eating, smoking, or not boycotting the latest trendy issue, we are forgetting that it is the whole damn system that is wrong. Our power is more than our pocketbooks alone. To make real change we need to organize and find things that more of us have in common, not alienate others because they don’t conform to some lifestyle guidelines. Why recapitulate the authoritarian tactics of

POLITICAL CORESPONDENCE:

12 TIPS FOR AN

ACTIVIST Originally published on December 1998

By Errol Schweizer Photo by Jose Moreno and Heather Mount on Unsplash.

Vol. XXXIV, Issue 3

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the Christian Right or corporate America? Let people decide for themselves what they can or cannot boycott and get off the moral soapbox.

Ha! Ha! Ha! You’re gonna burn-out!

Few things hurt our causes as much as exhaustion and the implosion of those who have just “had enough.” You make bad decisions, you alienate friends and family, your personal hygiene takes a nosedive. You know what? You need a break! Take a nap, paint a picture, do something to relax your mind and body. Let your energy and zeal come back. Activism is tough and victories can be few and far between, so learn to take it easy.

Even Assata Shakur says that the most important thing is to grow personally, and to maintain relationships and hobbies. The revolution doesn’t need zombies or robots; it needs people.

Stop the sectarianism!

Of course, this is like asking for tropical weather in Binghamton, but hey, might as well. From petty internecine squabbles at the local Food Coop to writers of “The Nation” insisting there are two (or more) “Left’s”, the movement has fractured and fragmented into so many little cliques and ideologies that you wonder what we have in common anymore other than our dislike for each other, While some of the bitterness is left over from past counterinsurgency operations, such as the FBI’s Cointelpro and the CIA’s MH Chaos, a good deal of it is just because of activists who have split due to personal disagreements and arguments over ideology and strategy. Wherever I have been, it always seems like this one doesn’t like that one, that group betrayed the cause, this one is a sellout, that one is too extreme, etc. As dismaying as this is, there are still so many people working for change that I must ask: can’t we agree on certain vital things?

Do we have at least a common enemy? Can we forget our differences and actually work towards some sort of consensus so that we stop shooting ourselves in the feet? If you are new to activism, stay above the pettiness and concentrate on the issues at hand. If you are from the old school, then we young folks need your experience, not your gripes and grudges.

Redefine activism.

Activism is an accepted cultural niche in our society. C’mon, we all know the stereotypes: bad dresser, self-righteous about this or that issue, screaming and chanting, holding up signs, getting dragged away by cops, etc. But by becoming a part of this “activist” culture we alienate many whose side we are supposedly on. How many people can relate when they see media-bites of these “wackos?” How often do we feed these stereotypes? But look what is happening. More and more people fighting for social change are just “regular” people: a one-day general strike by NYC cabbies in May virtually shut down the city; thousands gathered to demonstrate against antigay violence in NY this October; recent general strikes in Puerto Rico and Colombia had hundreds of thousands of participants; 40,000 construction workers in NYC protesting non-union contracts, etc. And then there are the selfless acts we will never hear about: people forming support groups and discussion groups; people identifying who they are and where they fit into this society; people choosing to boycott some product or lifestyle, when and if they can. These are just people responding to the basic stimulus that their lives are being fucked with and they are not going to sit back and take it. These are activists as well. This is how revolutions come about. People who consider themselves “activists” have to break out of the preconceived molds and listen to what people are really talking about. Anarchism, multiculturalism, feminism, communism, veganism are all just words until our actions give them real meaning and we define for ourselves what our activism really is. Until then, activism is going to be this small, accepted, ineffectual cultural niche that alienates the people who it is supposed to be reaching out to.

A major problem with many activists is instead of personalizing the political, they politicize the personal.

18 ASIAN OUTLOOK

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Originally published on March 2009

By John Choe

Chief of Staff | The Council of the City of New York (2009) Executive Director | Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce (2018)

C

ongratulations on the 20th Anniversary of Asian Outlook! I am honored to have had the opportunity to edit both Asian Outlook and Conscience as a student at Binghamton so many years ago. I was amazed when I read some of the recent issues that the long tradition of activism and creativity that we established two decades ago has remained strong and vibrant. Back in the day, we covered a wide range of critical issues facing our community -- publishing articles that raised awareness on growing levels of socioeconomic inequality, incidents of anti-Asian violence, and struggles for political empowerment -- and Asian Outlook played a key role in educating and mobilizing students to take responsibility for a better world.

Many of the themes we explored then still have relevance today and have been revisited in recent issues of Asian Outlook. For example, I found Jarucha Jiradacharoen’s article “TheRevolutionary Portrayal of Homosexuality in Asian Media” (Mar 08) to be an fascinating analysis of contemporary narratives that document our shifting perspectives on gender and sexuality. Calvin Prashad’s articles “Asian Sexploitation: Why Is It Being Tolerated?” (Oct 08), “Politicians’ Attitudes towards the Asian-American Community Due for a Change” (Dec 08), and “The VPMA Situation” (Feb 09) provide valuable insights into controversial issues directly affecting our agency and the role(s) we play in this society. I found many of these and other stories in Asian Outlook to be well-written, relevant, and accessible.

While it’s heartening to see that the original spirit of Asian Outlook is alive and well, I do have some suggestions. (1) Take a stand; have a perspective; push the envelope. One of the problems with mainstream media is that it tries to be “all things to all people” under the cover of “objectivity” (think: USA Today). Thankfully, Asian Outlook isn’t hobbled by such nonsense, but you can do more to provoke and incite your readers.

(2) Ground yourself; rediscover your roots.

Community media requires deep understanding of your audience as well as knowledge of your own history. Don’t reinvent the wheel; review previous issues and build on stories with fresh ideas and perspectives. Create partnerships with groups outside campus. (3) Connect with readers; become more interactive. Encourage reader feedback. Go online.

I commend all the editors, writers, and artists as well as the readers and supporters of Asian Outlook for your commitment, energy, and creativity. If I can be of any assistance in your endeavors, please let me know. I wish you much success and look forward to reading Asian Outlook for the next 20 years!

Take a stand; have a perspective; push the envelope. One of the problems with mainstream media is that it tries to be “all things to all people” under the cover of “objectivity.”

Vol. XXXIV, Issue 3

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B-a-n-a-n-a-s

By Lance Kim

20 ASIAN OUTLOOK

Photo by Colin Czerwinski on Unsplash

I’m asian.

So they tell me that my nose is flat, I’m good at math and I eat cats (or dogs, I like to alternate - that kitten’s got me feeling great) My mom can’t drive, my dick is small, For an asian, man I’m pretty tall The kids would call me Ichiro when I would play baseball (Or yao ming for basketball, or just… y’know… chink) I’m Korean though. (North, obviously) It’s my oriental orientation stuck in this so-called asian invasion That’s got me wondering - what do we do?

‘Cause mom wanted Harvard but I got BU And being called yellow just gives me the blues I can’t help but feel that my face has no place Where one’s soul is sold solely just based on their race America pisses out bubble tea, But won’t give us more Oscar nominees The Ivies won’t let us get degrees, But we’re still “model minorities” I just wanna be American, But I’ll always be: The whitest asian you know.

Is yellow snow still snow?

smoking

By Darren Yu

Smoke enters through my metal mouth

And leaves through a stuttered exhale Its slow burn stinging my glass eyes And permeating through my bone shell Like how half and half Changes a cup of black coffee She’s standing across from me Doing the same thing But I wonder what color Smoke changes her brain into

We’re having a conversation About past lovers Something I’ve talked about many times But it seems to be her first And as she speaks I take her self-esteem Like it’s currency And I’m a kleptomaniac And I’m paying with my lifespan To lease a perfect emotional moment Knowing it will disappear Like drawings on a foggy bus window But when this is over It’s gonna hit me Like a bad dream I can’t remember Like all the shit that pops up When you turn on your phone After its been dead for a while Everything’s gonna fire At the same time

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(no subject)

By Darren Yu

Compose, New Message, Recipients, To:

Then I write your name, I click your email I look at the subject line, and I don’t know what to put, I leave it there, and it saves as a draft Titled “no subject”

So email’s my only way of reaching you now, And I feel like I should write something, Because if we were still together now, This would’ve been our two year anniversary

My email has 29 other drafts saved, All made by me, All meant for you, All titled “no subject”

I don’t know why there’s still anxiety over this, When the bad parts happened already, And why it’s so hard to send an email, To someone I should be forgetting

The cycle repeats every night, Each time, I feel like I have something to tell you, Something important, But I can never get it out, whatever it is

For some reason, I’m helpless like that, It ended badly, I shouldn’t need closure

Maybe it’d be easier over the phone, But you blocked my number, And my Facebook and everything, After I sent you a Birthday text

But there’s just…

There’s just one more thing, That I wanted to say, That I could never remember

22 ASIAN OUTLOOK

Illustration: This American Life

But I think I got it, Subject, I, apostrophe, M, space, S, O, R, R, Y… The sad part is if I send this, I don’t know if you’ll see it, Or maybe you’ll ignore it Or delete it I don’t know if it’ll work, But I can try Because we were supposed to stay friends Send

Vol. XXXIV, Issue 3

23

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