That is the thing about identity labels. Sometimes they mean everything, and other times they do not matter at all. Context is key.
In this time of COVID-19-inspired-anti-Asian American violence, the 1990 Institute has been examining the impact that perceptions of China’s economic advancements has on Asian Americans.
My essay for 1990 Institute Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 4 March 26, 2021
Finding Our Way Through with Books and Stories of Strength
“After covering recent mass killings, terrorist attacks, daily hate crimes, and anger from elected officials, it's clear we are living through a selfish pandemic,” Emmy and Peabody winning journalist and MSNBC news anchor Richard Lui told the 1990 Institute. “Even violence has become too cheap.”
1990 Newsletter Finding Our Way Through with Books and Stories of Strength
Aug. 5 will be the fifth anniversary of the mass shooting at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, by a man with reported ties to white supremacist organizations, killing six people and injuring several more....This year, I am particularly moved by the stories about a son who, five years later, is still flying to Oak Creek once a month to take care of his father who was paralyzed in the shooting. Although we remember the one day, it is too easy for some of us a little further away to forget how the impact continues for the individuals and the families every day.Essay: Five Years After Oak Creek, Caring for Loved Ones Is the Important Work - NBC News
As we roll out into the darkness of the morning, I am always surprised by that first look out into the world as the garage door opens, how the world has changed overnight. I grew up in California so I do not have the habit of checking the weather report. I never have any idea if it has snowed or if the roads are covered with ice. We also live on the far northwestern edge of the Eastern time zone, so it is always dark — from early in the afternoon until late in the morning.Essay: Looking to Martin Luther King Jr. Day to Light the Way Forward - NBC News
Barreling out into the darkness every morning feels like such a leap into the unknown.
This vote feels like a referendum on who gets to belong, who must stay out in the cold.Essay: The Day after Election Day, What Do I Tell My Son? - NBC News
But this is my home. I should not have to fight to belong.
Now what am I going to tell my son?
These days, when I teach about the arguments American politicians made in the late 1800s and early 1900s about how Asians and Native Hawaiians were not the Americans our founding fathers intended, I always juxtapose that with an image of the founding fathers writing the musical, "Hamilton."Essay: Vote — This Is Our Story, Too - NBC News
"In recent weeks, racist flyers have appeared on the University of Michigan campus, where I teach Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies as a lecturer. The lesson plans I have prepared are put aside while the students and I discuss these incidents and other incidents across the country. I worry when students say it is not a big deal because they are used to it, because it is not OK to become used to these things."Essay: Amongst Chaos, I Know That 'We All Belong Here' - NBC News
Beyond the Page: Exploring the edges of nonfiction. What forms can narrative take when it’s freed from daily deadlines, paragraphs, and even the page? Four veteran journalists grapple with tough subjects in works that blend still images, voice, poetry, prose, and even virtual reality. Their work is as much mixed media as multimedia; we’ll explore it all. McKenzie Funk, Keris Salmon, Lakshmi Sarah, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, moderated by Jessica Carew Kraft. ROOM: Upper Newsroom
Writing about Race. Review the news landscape over the past year and pick out the gnawing domestic issues. One of them, surely, is race, whether in cop stories, social justice, or presidential politics. Daily stories have given us a litany of police killings, The New Yorker profiled the leaders of Black Lives Matter, and polls reflect the coverage of Donald Trump’s statements about Mexicans and Muslims. But how do we, as narrative journalists, step away from daily news and discern the contours of the larger, epic story? How do we navigate shifting currents and the winds of political correctness without losing our way? JamilahKing, Jon Steinberg, Alex Tizon, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, moderated by Tyche Hendricks. ROOM: LibraryProgram - The Berkeley Narrative Journalism ConferenceThe Berkeley Narrative Journalism Conference
