PCN`09

So I went to PACE’s annual Pilipino Cultural Night entitiled “Mahalaya.” I found the name of the production to be really creative since it was from one of SFSU’s professor’s daughter’s name. Mahalaya is made up of two tagalog words - mahal meaning love and malaya meaning freedom. So, the story was based on two lovers that were separated by class trying to the freedom to love amidst all the obstacles they have to face, mostly brought upon by their families and friends. It was taken place around the 1960s in which there was a lot of political activism in the US and in the Philippines.

The main character’s name was Isa, short for Isabella. Her destined lover’s name was Gusto, short for Gusto, whom she worked for. She was his family’s maid and therefore, their feelings for each other was unheard of. Being the gentleman he is, Gusto didn’t care about what his family and friends thought and still pursued his interest for Isa. Gusto’s sister was the main factor that pulled the two apart from each other. She couldn’t accept the fact that Isa and Gusto liked each other and so she pulled them apart using magic and nasty tactics. In the end, Isa and Gusto ended up marrying each other despite everything that pulled them apart.

In between scenes, there were so many cultural dances that I was never aware of. What I liked the most about the dances were the clothes that they wore. Although they were traditional, I liked how most were elegant and colorful, compared to what we wear now - baggy jeans and what not.

I also enjoyed how they show had some really funny parts where the characters would crack some Filipino jokes with the accent and everything. I just love how the audience could pretty much relate and understand it because we’ve experienced it with our own families.

I’d had to say that I truly loved going to PCN because not only did it bring out so many traditional factors about my own culture, but I became more appreciative of who I am as a Filipina. Shows like these make me feel really proud of where I come from and what I believe in.

-Angel

Roses are red, violets are blue?

Asian American Poetry

Aimee Nezhukumatathi

Aimee Nezhukumatathil was born in Chicago, IL to a Filipina mother and a South Indian father. She attended The Ohio State University (go Bucks!) where she received her B.A. in English and her M.F.A. in poetry and creative non-fiction. Aimee was the 2000-01 Diane Middlebrook Poetry Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing at UW-Madison and is now associate professor of English at State University of New York-Fredonia, where she teaches creative writing and environmental literature.

She is the author of At the Drive-In Volcano (2007), winner of the Balcones Prize which honors the most outstanding book of poetry each year, and Miracle Fruit (2003), which won Foreword Magazine's Poetry Book of the Year Award and was chosen by poet Gregory Orr for the Tupelo Press First Book Prize. Miracle Fruit was also named co-winner of the Global Filipino Literary Award, and finalist for The Glasgow Prize , and the Asian American Literary Award in poetry. Her first chapbook, Fishbone (2000), won the Snail's Pace Press Prize.

Other awards for her writing include an NEA grant, the Pushcart Prize, the Boatwright Prize from Shenandoah, The Richard Hugo Prize from Poetry Northwest, an Associated Writing Programs Intro Award in creative non-fiction, and fellowships to the MacDowell Arts Colony. Her poems are anthologized in Language for a New Century (WW Norton); Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief (Bedford St. Martin's); 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Everyday (HarperCollins); New Voices: Contemporary Poetry from The United States (Irish Pages); 60 Indian Poets (Penguin); Seriously Funny: Poems about Love, God, War, Art, Sex, Death, Madness, and Everything Else (Univ. of Georgia); Beacon Best Writing of 2000; Babaylan: Filipina and Filipina-American Writing; Humor Me: An Anthology of Humor Writing; Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation; and Eros Pinoy.

Poems and essays are published or forthcoming in American Poetry Review, FIELD, The Antioch Review, New England Review, Black Warrior Review, Poetry Northwest, Prairie Schooner, Tin House, Shenandoah, The Southern Review, Chelsea, Mid-American Review, The Southeast Review, River Styx, Beloit Poetry Journal, Quarterly West, Crab Orchard Review, Virginia Quarterly, Slate, and North American Review.

Aimee was named the SUNY-Fredonia's Hagan Scholar in 2005 for a junior faculty member with distinguished scholarship-- the 1st time a member of the SUNY-Fredonia English Department has won this award. In April of 2006, she also received the SUNY's Drescher Award and SUNY-wide Chancellor's Award for Scholarship and Creative Activities for excellence in her record of publications, art production and performance.

She is working on a collection of nature essays and her third collection of poems. She lives in Western NY with her husband, son, and their geriatric dachshund, Villanelle. As of Fall 2008, she is on sabbatical and will return to teaching in Jan 2009.

**INFO from http://aimeenez.net/page2.html

-Angel

Rhythm&Blues; asianamerican style

I Loooove RnB (:

Some Asian American artists I listen to include:
Asia Cruise
Jordyn Taylor
Stevie Hoang
Karina Pasian
Nikki Flores
One Voice
Reynard Silva
Gabe Bondoc
Passion<3

"Introducing the young and talented singer, producer, and songwriter: Jeremy Manongdo aka Passion. A R&B artist whose calm and soothing vocals have made him pretty popular throughout the San Francisco and Bay Area. With his talents ranging from singing, to song writing, the guitar, piano and to a strong presence on stage, its no wonder his fan base has stretched beyond California’s borders.

You could say people are captivated by his “Passion” for making beautiful music (thus how his stage name came to be). He’s even been an opening act for Bobby Valentino, which isn’t bad for a 20 year old Filipino who merely labels himself a “Church Boy.”

So if you like music of the Christian and R&B variety, try giving these videos a listen. You just might end up a fan yourself." -Andre Pascual

I came across Passion while surfing up some of my favorite RnB songs on YouTube and I found some of his videos. I've even heard some of my friends talking about these videos and his music. I remember the first time I watched his videos, I fell in love with his voice. The song I love most that he solely produced and wrote is "Lemonade."




Enjoy(:
-Angel

POP`Pinn!

OMG so POP!

Let me just say, POP was thee craziest thing next to the midterm because I haven't performed on stage like that for a long while now and I'm glad to say that we did good! Even though we had so many things going on in our lives especially since we're at the end of the semester, we pulled it off; just like we did for our inv`asian'.

Even tho POP took forever because the other classes took hella long, I enjoyed it. I feel that Ms. Pelaud's first class was really good. I really loved that one guy's spokenword about him being a hopeless romantic. It was sooo sweeet and I mean, what girl wouldn't fall for that? And, I really liked that one video about identity and how it was like a real movie.

Since the room was getting really stuffy while our class was waiting for our time to shine, the dance group went into the other room to practice. Even though at first I felt really nervous about getting up there on stage, I got more excited to get it over with; probably because we practiced the dance soo many times already.

What I liked most about our class's performance was that we were united. We didn't have a variety show like the other classes, but each group was incorporated into one big story line- and i liked that. It pretty much reminded me of last years PCN with the structure of the production. We had our own jokes and puns which were really funny and enjoyable. It was great to see the support we gave and got from each other. Our class has come a looong way.

So, in conclusion, i loved POP!
I learned about my own culture and how much I appreciate my own identity. I learned about what Asian Americans face back then and now. How even though the discrimination against us still lingers, we found ways to acknowledge the fact that what they say about us isn't true and we have the ability to prove them wrong through song, dance, and words.

-Angel

Lao New Year

I attended the first EVER celebration in San Francisco, Ca @ the Civic Center. To my surprise, my entire family came down from Sacramento to attend this important event. My father told me about the celebration and I knew I wanted to go, especially since in the first public celebration for everyone. There would be music, traditional lao food, entertainment. & It's comforting to hear since I've been so distant from the Lao culture since I've moved here. The celebration was outdoors and there were hundreds of people waiting in line for papaya salad, ordering thai tea, and just hanging out. My personal favorite traditional food is papaya salad. It's a dish including slices of papaya, fish sauce, lemon, chili, tomatoes. A couple of more ingredients too but it varies. I must say, its a heavenly dish with all the elements of spicy,sweet and sour. Yum! Anyway!
After waiting in line for half an hour with people cutting continuously, my sister and I met a few nice fellows that dug their way into the front of the line to get us the food we have been waiting for. It's all about hustling! Just like back in the country! Lol. After buying so much moneys worth of food, we watched the performances that were taking place. Performaces were very diverse. There was a fashion show, music perfomance , dance sequence.

The overall celebration was a nice and refreshing way to celebrate culture, especiall my own. & It was great to see my family again. I can't wait to go again next year!

Dolly

this is so not gangsta

This story is a couple of weeks old, but it's worth bringing up because it's just so damn sad... 35-year-old Xiu Ping Jiang, a mentally ill Chinese immigrant, has been stuck for over a year in the solitary hell of deportation limbo -- suicidal, emaciated and deprived of proper medical treatment or representation:

Her bleak experience in the immigration system has only come to light because of a fluke -- she happens to have the same name as the ex-wife of Jiverly Wong, the gunman who fatally shot 13 people in April at an immigration services center in Binghamton. Not the same person, but as reporters tried to find the ex-wife, her court records came up.

The situation illustrates the vulnerability of the mentally ill in the immigration system. While Immigration and Customs Enforcement keeps putting increasingly strict enforcement measures in place, more and more people with mental illness are being put into detention -- and no one is really looking out for them.

There are currently no rules for determining competency in deportation proceedings, and no way to ensure representation for a mentally ill person facing deportation. So what happens in the case of someone like Ms. Jiang? Too often, people in the system just disappear.

Jeffrey Ju

Senior

im a senior and cant wait to get out of this school. It will be the best day of my life thank god.
gggeyyyyyahhha

Gone are the days of the bowl cut and assimilating to other ethnic men’s hairstyles. When it comes to great hair, Asian men have some of the most versatile sets of locks around. Thanks in large part to its characteristically thick, ultra-straight texture, Asian hair lends itself to today’s most stylish haircuts, even setting the trend in some cases.

If you’re of Asian descent, you should know that your hair is very porous, so it can absorb more moisture and hold different styles. If you’re not happy with your hair, then you’re not tapping into its full potential. So, to put you on the fast track to a new modern look that suits who you are, here’s a list of six super-sharp haircuts that will really play to your advantage.

The total shave

Asian guys (or any guys, really) with a bald head make a bold statement. Whether you need to do it or not, taking it all off the top shows you’re a man of true grit and determination; you exude confidence and class. Being bald looks so tough, Mark Dacascos dons it for his role as the Chairman on Iron Chef America; it allows him to be both smooth as steel and tough as nails. If you want to set that tone, then make the decision to go bald; it’s the perfect look for the take-charge guy who wants to come across as sharp, confident and sophisticated. Bald-headed men command respect and a style all their own. What makes this look even better is the fact that a lot of chicks dig it.

What it says about you: You’re on top of your game, you know who you are and you’re not afraid to show it.

Textured short

Traditionally, short hair can be a bore, but adding texture makes it classically cool. Due to their simplicity, textured short haircuts are spot-on for guys who like to walk one step beyond conservative. Sporting this ‘do makes it abundantly clear that you have a crisp, professional image to maintain. You know what it means to be in style without going overboard. Textured short hair looks timeless and sophisticated. No one proves this point more than Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim; his well-maintained coif affirms his cosmopolitan, erudite disposition toward style. Kim’s not trying to push the envelope anymore than he has to because he doesn’t need to; his stylish, grown-up haircut says it all for him. And for the consummate professional, you should let this haircut do the same for you.

What it says about you: Steeped in traditional, classic style, you have a mature approach to fashion that translates into an air of confidence, class and simplicity.

Jeffrey Ju

letter 2 the editor GEEEEEYYYAHHH JUPAC STYLE!!!!

Nearly 80 percent of Japanese-American 10th-graders passed the state's standardized math test last year in Seattle Public Schools. As a group, they did better than any other ethnic group in the district.

Only 14 percent of Samoan students passed the math portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning -- the lowest percentage of any ethnic group in the district.

There are vast social and cultural differences between the two groups that play into their success in school. Yet on a scholarship application, students from both would check the same box: Asian/Pacific Islander. So would students who trace their heritage to at least seven other Asian countries or islands.

The diversity of Asian/Pacific Islander students makes providing them scholarships complicated. Until five years ago, there wasn't a national scholarship fund for Asian/Pacific Islander students, even though funds for African-American and Latino students had existed for decades. A national group meeting Monday in Seattle is working to provide more scholarships to Asian and Pacific Islander students who need them.

"There are assumptions that all Asians go to college, that they are all good in math, that they are diligent, study hard, etc.," said Ted Mashima, the president and executive director of the group, the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. "There's a lack of a unified thread other than geography that lumps us all together."

The scholarship fund, or APIASF, is holding a community reception today at the Seattle Asian Art Museum from 5 to 7:30 p.m. On Tuesday, the group will hold its annual board meeting in Seattle.

The scholarship organization formed in 2003, after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation began its Gates Millennium Scholars program. The foundation had money for Asian students, but no group existed to accept the funds.

"That was a wake-up call to the Asian/Pacific Islander community to say, 'Hey, we need to get our act together to do something for our youth,' " said board chairwoman Wai-Ling Eng.

Today, APIASF, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, gives out about 200 scholarships a year and selects Gates Millennium Scholars. As a fairly new group, it has no endowment and spends a lot of time raising money. A comparable group for African-American students, the United Negro College Fund, has existed for 60 years and is working toward a $1 billion endowment.

jeffrey