Migration is Beautiful
"Meet powerhouse artist/activist Favianna Rodriguez — a leading voice in the movement of artists raising awareness about U.S. immigration issues."
- I am OTHER
Harvest of Empire
The Untold Story of Latinos in America “We are all Americans of the New World, and our most dangerous enemies are not each other, but the great wall of ignorance between us.”
Juan González, Harvest of Empire
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Migration is Beautiful | Favianna Rodriguez | I am OTHER
"Meet powerhouse artist/activist Favianna Rodriguez — a leading voice in the movement of artists raising awareness about U.S. ...
Showing posts with label asian-americans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asian-americans. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Coolies by Yin (A Book Review)
An Ordinary Survival Tale of Two Extraordinary Brothers Who Build Their Own American Dream
Book Reviewed: Coolies
Author: Yin
Illustrator: Chris Soentpiet
Rating: 5.0/5.0 stars
Pros: It is a classic in every sense of the word.
Cons: Not found
“Coolies” by Yin details the story of Chinese railroad workers who endured the harsh working conditions and racial prejudice for a better life for their families. The titled derives from the derogatory name for a lower-class worker often used on Asian descent. (See Wikipedia’s definition here.)For such an emotionally charged term, it can be hard to write a children’s story that doesn’t antagonize or polarize readers. Yin, in the book “Coolies” manages to pull this off with grace and elegance by focusing on the story of two brothers who survive an ordeal that some adults did not.
The book is only about 20 or so
pages long, which makes for a very easy and worthwhile read. The illustrations
by Chris Soentpiet are masterpieces, filled with exquisite detail and emotion
that is needed to handle such an emotionally heavy story. The plot is simple
enough to understand by a five year old, but the way the author delivers the
story makes it a page turner even for adults. Reading the book, I wanted to
know what would happen to Shek and Wong!
Friday, May 17, 2013
European Americans Want it Both Ways
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I was commenting on Yong Chan's post at CHANGELAB about Jason Richwine & the Asian American dilemma when I remembered I wanted to write this post which is also about how European Americans have some unusual logic.
European Americans often complain about the culture and presence of non-Europeans, although White policies are selective of the cultures and peoples allowed into the U.S.
European Americans trafficked in Africans for their labor, forbid them to read, then complain about their educational level; treat them worse than animals, then complain about their culture which is now a culture living with Post Traumatic Stress and ongoing stress from the New Jim Crow.
European Americans flood the Mexican market with low cost U.S. corn and other crops and meats, causing Mexican farmers to loose the ability to sell their own harvest and meats and in turn seek employment in the U.S., then Latinos are demonized for their presence in the U.S. while they try to feed their family and survive NAFTA.
European Americans complain that they can't get into universities because students of Asian heritage take up seats. But immigration policies are written by a majority White congress in favor of college educated families.
European Americans want privileges on top of their privileges.
European Americans want low cost labor, low cost products, easy access to excellent universities, no immigrants of color and no language spoken in the U.S. except English.
And European Americans would like to continue their history of cultural genocides by shaming new immigrants into not speaking their native language.
European Americans want privileges on top of their privileges on top of institutionalized racism.
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