Asian American

Wong Fu's "Yappie" by An Huynh

YouTube has always been a treasure to me, not only for the cat videos and lip syncing masterpieces, but also for all the Asian American-generated content. The beauty and fashion bloggers like Michelle Phan and Jenn Im, the musicians like David Choi, AJ Rafael, and Clara C, and the personalities like KevJumba and NigaHiga - they all got their start on YouTube. These were the people I grew up watching when there weren't Asian American faces on any other media platform. Not only that, but these were Asian Americans in creative industries, which definitely wasn't something you could see in traditional media.

Wong Fu Productions, whose work I remember watching since the late 2000's, has a special place in my heart for their storytelling. It was a rare sight - Asian Americans making videos about Asian Americans and casting Asian American actors (what a concept!). It wasn't political content (although I would also argue that Asian Americans making creative content is already in itself a political act), it was just them telling stories about their lives, about love, friendships, sometimes funny, sometimes serious. Wong Fu would partner with other Asian American creatives and creators that I also loved, and it made YouTube feel like an alternate media reality that was my own little secret.

As I grew older and became more politically aware, I kept finding myself wanting for these influencers to also show that they were aware. I wanted them to talk about the 2016 presidential election, say that Black Lives Matter, and talk about their identity. At the same time, I acknowledge that it is their choice to decide what sort of content they produce.

I go back and forth between this all the time: Should public figures be responsible for speaking up against injustices? Especially for public figures from minority communities, should they be responsible for speaking up for their communities and being politically vocal in their content even when their usual content isn't political in nature?

I don't have an answer to that yet, but I am always glad and pleasantly surprised when these creators do bring up more political topics. For example, there has been a tag going around the beauty and fashion community talking about their experience Growing Up Asian American. Watching my favorite influencers talk about their relationship with their parents and feeling different in school was cathartic. I felt vindicated. I felt the presence of an entire community behind me watching these videos, and it also opened by eyes to our unique and sometimes heartbreaking struggles trying to make it in America.

This all brings me to Yappie: Wong Fu Productions' new mini series about Asian American identity. I was so excited for this launch, and the series didn't disappoint. It hit on some important subjects right on the nail: Racism within our community, Asian Americans straddling the privilege from the Model Minority Myth and discriminatory legislation, interracial dating, the invisibility of South Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Southeast Asians, and Asian American apathy and our role in supporting or hindering justice for black Americans. 

"Yappie" gives me more clarity on my earlier dilemma. While I will always hope that and appreciate when content creators have a dialogue about politics, it is not their responsibility or burden to speak up through their work. We need all sorts of content. Funny content, content about makeup and fashion, music videos, etc. We need "Crazy Rich Asians", "Fresh Off the Boat", and we also need content like "Yappie." Not any one of these shows can fully explain the Asian American experience, and none of them should have to. Asian Americans are multifaceted, we have different experiences and have a variety of needs and values, and our content should reflect that.

Support and watch Yappie on YouTube (free episodes released weekly) and Vimeo (for $10 you can binge the entire series!).

Inspiration for this blog post: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/after-decade-youtube-wong-fu-productions-still-has-story-tell-n881606

Foreignness and liberation by An Huynh

"Among the children of immigrants, Asians in America seem most caught in a state of limbo: no longer beholden to their parents’ countries of origin but still grasping for a role in the American narrative. There is a unique foreignness that persists, despite the presence of Asians on American soil for more than two centuries; none of us, no matter how bald our American accent, has gone through life without being asked, “Where are you from? I mean, originally?” But while this can lead to alienation, it can also have a liberating effect. When you are raised in two cultures at once — when people see in you two heritages at odds, unresolved, in abeyance — you learn to shift at will between them. You may never feel like you quite belong in either, but neither are you fully constrained. The acute awareness of borders (culinary as well as cultural) that both enclose and exclude, allows, paradoxically, a claim to borderlessness, taking freely from both sides to forge something new.

In the end, doesn’t it matter — not to others, but to ourselves — where we are from? And no, I don’t mean “originally.” I mean the forces that made us: the immigrants who raised us, with all their burdens and expectations, their exhortations to fit in but never forget who we are; and the country we grew up in, that is our only home, that taught us we are “other” but also seems, in some confused, tentative way, to want to learn something from us."

Full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/t-magazine/asian-american-cuisine.html

Tai Tung: a reclamation of "Chop suey" by An Huynh

Today was a good day. It was a good day because after a year and a half of planning, Tai Tung finally got its sign. The two-sided neon blade sign is an almost exact replica of the original neon sign that once marked the entrance to the restaurant.

Tai Tung opened in 1935 and is the oldest operating Chinese restaurant in Seattle. It has remained a community anchor for this neighborhood ever since. The restaurant is owned by the Quan family and over the years has been passed down from father to son. Third-generation family members Harry Chan (pictured below) and Tommy Quan run the restaurant now, with many family members from the fourth generation helping out.

A black and white photograph of the original neon blade sign was used as inspiration for the modern replica. 

A black and white photograph of the original neon blade sign was used as inspiration for the modern replica. 

Harry has worked at the restaurant since 1968, and I met him in the summer of 2016 when I first started working at SCIDpda. One of the first projects I worked on was to coordinate the design and installation of this sign for Tai Tung. I still can't believe it's up now. I've been staring at renderings of this thing for so long that it feels surreal seeing it installed and lit up with my own eyes. 

An almost exact replica of the sign was installed today, December 11, 2017. Fuck yeah.

An almost exact replica of the sign was installed today, December 11, 2017. Fuck yeah.

Tai Tung hasn't changed much since it opened in 1935. From the bar, you can see handwritten menu items taped to the mirror. 

Tai Tung hasn't changed much since it opened in 1935. From the bar, you can see handwritten menu items taped to the mirror. 

This sign means a lot to me for many reasons. Seeing Tai Tung thrive reminds me of the importance of a community-oriented businesses and supporting small, immigrant-owned businesses in the CID and elsewhere. The sign reminds me that immigrant communities have faced many waves of xenophobic legislation designed to keep us away, confined, or out of the U.S. altogether. Despite these racist laws, immigrants and refugees have been able to start businesses, begin new lives, build communities, and create spaces for ourselves like the Chinatown International District.

This sign reminds me that context and ownership matters. One usage of "chop suey" can be very different from the next, depending on who is using it and for what reason. The fact that the sign says "chop suey" today is an act of taking back a term that was turned on its head by racists and xenophobes to fuel anti-Chinese sentiment and legislation. Tai Tung has been serving chop suey - a Chinese American dish born in San Francisco during the California gold rush - since the day it opened. And although chop suey began as a dish in the United States, it grew to name an entire Chinese American cuisine that was known for using what was found and using everything you have. The term in question was not denigrated at the beginning, and this was an opportunity for Tai Tung to begin to reclaim the term. 

Me and Harry Chan, the owner of Tai Tung, standing next to the sign before it was installed. I am holding a to-go box filled with chop suey.

Me and Harry Chan, the owner of Tai Tung, standing next to the sign before it was installed. I am holding a to-go box filled with chop suey.

All in all, this has been one whopper of a project to coordinate. I will be taking its lessons with me for many more projects to come. Thank you to everyone that helped us on this project. It truly took a village and I am forever grateful for this community's resilience, spirit, and support. 

Cover-worthy by An Huynh

With all that's going on, these two magazine covers make me so fucking happy. They aren't the first in history to stand up against injustice. Nor are they the first to push through an industry, a world that's not made for them. But for me, these are the people in my lifetime that are making noise for all the right reasons, and that's what keeps me going.

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Crazy Rich Asians stars featured on Entertainment Weekly's cover. THE FIRST ALL-ASIAN COVER OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY EVER. Seriously.

Offensive? Or re-appropriated? by An Huynh

‘And my first reaction was like, ‘Do they know we are of Asian descent?’ He says, ‘I think so, I think they just don’t understand where you’re coming from.’
After years of legal maneuvering, the Slants’s case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in January. The high court is expected to deliver its ruling as soon as June. 

After years of legal maneuvering, the Slants’s case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in January. The high court is expected to deliver its ruling as soon as June. 

Flying while Asian by An Huynh

Any possible Asian “model minority” status can be withdrawn at any time; refusal to defer to authority would quickly revoke that status. What message does this incident send to Asians and Asian Americans? It reinforces that they had better obey, or else.”

”Patience could have avoided the harm caused to this Asian man. Patience could have saved the lives of Tamir Rice, John Crawford, Sandra Bland or Eric Garner.”

”A recurring concern for people of color in the US is: who can touch and control my body?

"Ethnic" vs. "Modern" Cuisines by An Huynh

Let's not call anyone or anything "ethnic" anymore. I'm tired of it.

Full article here: http://bit.ly/2gdcVQv

Noodles from Ba Bar in Seattle. Geoffrey Smith

Noodles from Ba Bar in Seattle. Geoffrey Smith

This question of perceived value is becoming increasingly troublesome as more non-native (read: white) chefs take on ‘ethnic’ cuisines, and suddenly it’s okay to charge $14 for shu mai because hey, the chef is ELEVATING the cuisine.” As white chefs take on cuisines from other countries, the food migrates from “ethnic” to “modern” or “trendy.

re: #thisis2016 by An Huynh

Calling out my own blindness in regards to a previous post I made from the New York Times about Asian-Americans facing racist remarks. Brown Asians were not represented in that video. We must be more inclusive by what we mean when we say Asian-American, because the wrong impressions hurts us all.

Read the Seattle Globalist article here: http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2016/10/25/ejr-david-marginalization-brown-asians/57763