Commentary Volume 33 (2022-23) 

알아 들었어 (ala-deul-us-suh)? Do You Hear Us Now?

BY ESTHER YOUNG LIM. I consider the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) an Asian melting pot. Growing up here meant that you were surrounded by the best Asian food (you would know when it was really good if the restaurant took cash only), boba was life, and your parents were most likely immigrants. For me and my friends, being a child of immigrants entailed silently dealing with being interpreters for our parents. I can’t tell you the countless times my mom pushed the phone to my ear out of nowhere to carry on a conversation with the cable company or to translate school flyers, even when she always had the Korean-English dictionary on hand. As I grew older, translating written material got more complex.

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Articles Volume 33 (2022-23) 

Asian Critical Race Theory and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Frameworks for Implementing Asian Ethnic Studies in PK-12 Education

BY KAYLA MENDOZA CHUI, CAMILLE UNGCO, DOUA KHA, KRIYA VELASCO, THERESA LEE, RAE JING HAN, AND SARASWATI NOEL. Under the structures of white supremacy, the pandemic has unveiled the dehumanization of Asian folks in the US. For many of us who are members of Asian communities, these lived realities have existed since the arrival of Chinese laborers in the 1850s.[i] We went from “dog eaters” to “bat eaters”;[ii] we exist dually as model minorities and perpetual foreigners;[iii] we’re seen as apolitical, non-combative, and submissive, yet also as the threatening yellow peril;[iv] we’re fetishized yet desexualized;[v] weaponized to perpetuate anti-Blackness;[vi] and the list goes on.

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Volume 33 (2022-23) 

CrazyLaugh

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Crazy Laugh is a short documentary about the first Chinese stand-up comedy club in NYC, told through the perspectives of three emerging Chinese comedians Baries, Nicholas, and Rachel. The film explores how they got into comedy and the community they have built in the process. During the day, Nicholas is a real estate agent, Baries is a marketer, and Rachel works in the cutthroat financial industry. But at night, they are transformed into the world of Chinese comedy, where they discover themselves and find connections and build community.

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