tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5214642.post2120156242406161167..comments2024-03-07T10:30:51.374-05:00Comments on down on the brown side.: Asian American Activism: The Safe Work?Ragehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10310102856263393174noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5214642.post-79082247950317369232008-03-10T14:12:00.000-04:002008-03-10T14:12:00.000-04:00Thanks for reading and commenting - sorry it took ...Thanks for reading and commenting - sorry it took me a while to get back. I do think that working in the Asian American community is still not one of the "traditional" jobs that immigrant/middle-class parents hope for their kids. But I guess I'm putting out there that at least in some circles, it's still "explainable" without getting into a more detailed economic or even racial justice perspective. Kind of like the "giving back" mentality of the first generation, but to a different level. <BR/><BR/>I'm wondering if it's hard for them to understand why an Asian American would work in other communities of color because to understand, they have to accept that: 1) our "community" in the United States extends beyond the limited borders of race/religion/class/ethnicity that most people have a hard time transgressing, and; 2) things are not so happy in Amerikaland: there are real inequities, and there are specific communities that suffer more than others as a result of these inequalities.<BR/><BR/>As always, thanks for the perspectives and for chiming in!Ragehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10310102856263393174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5214642.post-7627282555828118142008-03-06T07:40:00.000-05:002008-03-06T07:40:00.000-05:00I never thought of it this way, I'll say. In my Ea...I never thought of it this way, I'll say. In my East Asian community, activism was never considered safe, whether or not it was on behalf of our community. <BR/><BR/>As always, I think you bring up a good question. Just like in the broader progressive movement, there are groups that do direct service like United Way, so we have APA orgs that provide English language classes. We also have groups like CAAAV and DRUM that do kickass direct actions. <BR/><BR/>As for whether some of our groups are insular and or provincial, sometimes we do great things like how 60 odd APA orgs wrote amicus briefs for equal marriage in California. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps another view on this is that when I told my parents that I was going to be an activist on APA issues, they were really wary because historically, being an activist in Asia meant being subject to intimidation, surveillance, or worse.<BR/><BR/>Keep asking these kinds of questions - I love your perspective because it makes me think and re-evaluate.powerpoliticshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12592635472582863929noreply@blogger.com