stun . sun shaped (64)

Is there a strong dose of Doctor Williams in the punctuation? If so, only faintly. The floating period is not an ebb in the flow of lyrical thought. It is more equivalence, more barrier. The eye in the needle, an aperture through which one word passes and is transmogrified into another. Only faint traces of the original remain, the now doubled ‘s’, the ‘un.’ The ‘t’ is gone. And whatever sentence either word belonged to is either effaced or never was, replaced by a more ambiguous syntax, where relations can be guessed at but never completely assumed. That the sun stuns? That what stuns has left a sun shaped mark? Only part or partially, one relation among many.

          pr

         perdu lying hidden, disguised. one who acts as a watcher or scout

         perdure to continue, endure, last on

         The two are begun

         They are shaving ends of sticks

          . . .

          Glass does not burn but the hillside does

         The two are a vine’s exhalation

         (35)

Pr: single syllable, allowed to float without any definition but the associations of its own sound. Perdu: listed in the dictionary as obsolete, certainly a rare word, one that is as devoid of fixed meaning as the syllable pr without the accompanying definition. A hidden word that means hidden.

Throughout 2002’s Commons, what she describes as one installment in a life-work, Kim often gives us words and their given definitions. These words are sometimes anachronistic, sometimes in Korean. One cannot help but think that, in part, “the two,” here are just this. This is not just fun with semiotics. The burning hillside and other like phrases remind us that Myung Mi Kim’s examinations occur within a matrix of war.

         “For ‘lack’ is said in many ways” (90)

Myung Mi Kim has said that she is interested in investigating how language is standardized, how it reinforces and maintains centers of power. One senses both a struggle toward and refusal of equivalencies. Or is it one’s own struggle for unity that this work forces one to confront? The other side to this struggle is a beauty in the gaps of these poems, the not quite equivalences. They represent a dynamic ambiguity, a place of play, indeterminacy, recombination, a hybridity that is underscored by the juxtaposition of such moments with the determined prose of scientists dissecting bodies in order to render exact meanings, complete knowledge.

For every definition supplied there are two incompletions or gaps implied—untranslated phrases, poem titles with no poem below them, colons followed by nothing. The University of California Press has printed the book itself in a smallish font, with the top third of every page empty.

In her prefatory remarks during readings she has said she is interested in “how it is possible to have multiple senses of identity” and that in translation she is interested in affirming what she is recognizing and then representing the gaps—what is incoherent to her. Her work is clearly poly-vocal, making its meanings in many different voices. Whatever identity she seeks to represent has no unified front, it seems more to be a system of relations between overlapping and diverging voices.

The beauty of her work becomes both the product of developing associations between fragments. It is also in how it allows the reader to appreciate a single syllable “jiph-jiph-jiph” hard on the heels of section of which rattles with syntactical fragments and the threats of systematic forces—campaigns, sieges, marketplaces.

Though it is already six years old, I have returned to this work because it constantly returns to me. Since reading it I have not found a work comparable to this, one as sonically precise, rigorously chaotic, and beautiful. Certain simple phrases like “Not much left / Not much left” bubble up in stray moments. They could belong to anyone, but in my mind they belong to Myung Mi Kim. This is not a review. That would, I think, signal that I was done with this text when this text is by no means done with me; rather, these notes are an invitation to pick up or return to her work, a bridge to, hopefully, a larger conversation.

Commons
Myung Mi Kim
University of California Press, $18.95 2002

Class is also something that hovers over this story, and this corner of Detroit, like a dirty cloud of car plant smog.   Maybe James can pick up the baton with this?  Or whatever else.  That’s also an element worth looking at.

In response to your first question (why isn’t it a Hmong writer/director telling the story of Hmong communities in the American Midwest) I would say — and this is in no way a defense of the film — Gran Torino is Eastwood’s story, his version of Hmong existence in 2009 Detroit, Michigan, and that is precisely why there are such glaring oversights, one-dimensional Hmong characters (and maybe all characters), simplistic representations of Hmong-Hmong , Mexican-Hmong, black-Hmong, black-white, and white-Hmong relations, and a pervasive white-savior narrative framework to the film.

Eastwood, I think, is smart enough to have anticipated some of the criticisms that were bound to be thrown his way regarding this last point, which is why the protagonist, Walt Kowalski, an elderly, racist Korean War vet, is created as more of an anti-hero than a true hero. Walt is no chivalrous cowboy of the mold Eastwood portrayed in his youth. He is a surly, growling, racial epithet-hurling curmudgeon who drinks PBR from a cooler on his front porch with a rifle in his lap. Our sympathies don’t kick in until we start to learn that Walt’s family is greedy and selfish and that Walt is dying. We’re made to dislike him, then to feel sorry for him, then to champion him when he reaches out to two of his Hmong neighbors, the brother and sister, Thao and Sue, and protects them from the local Hmong gang that prey on them.

And Kenny brings up a good point here. Just who are the kids in this gang? Why are they in this gang in the first place? My thinking is that this gang (and maybe gangs in general) form as a mode of survival, or defense — which of course begs the questions — what are they defending themselves against? Again, this is Walt/Eastwood’s version of the story, and he’s made the important decision to exclude this kind of information.

I have more to say on this, but I’m getting kicked out of the computer lab! More to come soon.

SCHIP was created to present health care coverage to children whose families could not afford it but who also was not eligible for Medicaid. The passage of SCHIP reauthorization was supported by a strong bipartisan vote in the House, and the JACL encourages the Senate to pass the SCHIP reauthorization, H.R. 2 as it will benefit and offer affordable coverage to over 11 million children in America.

Floyd Mori, the JACL National Executive Director stated, “Children’s health should be of the highest priority for the 111th Congress. By assuring better health care for youngsters, as a nation we save billions of treatment costs in the future. Nowhere does the saying that ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ have more meaning and significance than it does with proper health care for the children of the nation. SCHIP will provide insurance for some 3.9 million additional low income children and give their families confidence that they will not be overwhelmed by enormous health care costs. We strongly urge the Senate to pass this legislation.”

On January 14, The House of Representatives reauthorized the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Many community-based organizations from around the country have sent a letter to the Senate calling for passage of SCHIP, with emphasis on a full five-year reauthorization, an increase to no less than $1 from the current tobacco tax of 39 cents, and provisions from Congress that support limited English proficient outreach for SCHIP enrollment of children.

Whatchu doin' back there Cho?

I don’t watch much television but I do have a particular weakness for police procedurals.  One thing that I’ve noticed after watching episodes of the new CBS show The Mentalist is the presence of Asian-American men– in particular East Asian men– on the cast of crime dramas.  There are of course the veterans– B. D. Wong who plays Dr. George Huang on Law and Order SVU and Archie Kao who plays Archie Johnson on CSI.  But recently there have been two newcomers to this far-east forensic fraternity™: C. S. Lee who plays Vince Masuka on Showtime’s excellent series Dexter and Tim Kang as Dectective Kimball Cho on the aforementioned show The Mentalist.

Kang’s role as detective is interesting as he is the only one of the four who does not portray a character that may be considered as “nerdy’.  If you follow these shows, you’ll know that Dr. Huang is the cerebral psychiatrist, Archie Johnson is the A/V tech and not-so-closeted Trekkie, and Vince Masuka is the pervy Lab Tech.  In other words, they’re the kids that you beat up in high school.  At first glance then you might consider Tim Kang as evidence of changing times.  Finally an Asian American actor in a macho role!  But sadly, my friends, you would be wrong.

Tim Kang’s character Kimball Cho is easily the dullest of the regulars on the cast of Mentalist.  He is the only regular who does not lust or love or indeed exert any sort of willful presence on the screen.  The only thing we know of his character is in the episode “Red Rum” where he displays a rather farcical fear of black magic.  In other he is incrutable, mysterious, one might even say exoticized if only his character was more interesting.

I don’t fault Kang in any way.  He has to work with the script that he is given.  But his presence on the show feels more like an effort to satisfy some mysterious AM:PP (Asian Male to Police Procedural) quota rather than any real effort to convey a three dimensional character.

The show is still in its infancy.  Only twelve episodes have been aired so far and its popularity suggests that it may be on the air for many more seasons.  I hope that the writers of the show will undertake some effort to round out Kang’s character.  Give him a love interest.  A history.  Or even a pet.  Something. The other members of the Far-East Forensic Fraternity may have cliched identities, but at least they have identities.  Dectective Kimball Cho has no identity at all.  That is to me a far more grievous offence.

“To Our Readers:
AsianWeek has played a long and significant role in helping develop
Asian Pacific America, from publishing the first 1980 U.S. Census data
on Asian and Pacific Islanders Americans, to co-publishing the most
comprehensive textbook analyzing 2000 Census data with UCLA.

AsianWeek has also changed itself to keep up with the rapidly evolving Asian American community. This includes the re-launching of
AsianWeek.com as the largest Asian American news site, using the
newest delivery tools for electronic media. We also have worked to
bring together the increasingly diverse segments of the Asian Pacific
American community, organizing events like the Asian Heritage Street
Celebration and community-wide campaigns like the San Francisco Hep BFree initiative. Our news focus has shifted in turn, to reflect the growing focus of Asian Pacific Americans on their own career,
professional and business development. We are also producing more
special newspaper sections around issues as diverse as heritage,
health issues and car reviews.

The economy and the news business have experienced their own changes.There are fewer major newspapers, fewer newspaper readers and fewer newspaper advertisers than ever before. A faltering economy has accelerated the decline. Meanwhile, Asian Pacific Americans have led the way in the digital revolution migrating away from print media and into receiving their news and information electronically.

To reflect these changing times, AsianWeek will cease regular
newspaper publication immediately. We will continue to publish on-line and in special newspaper editions. Electronic versions of AsianWeek articles will be available free via email. We will also be more active than ever in the community, helping Asian Pacific America to grow, evolve and reach its full potential. We appreciate the support the community has given us over the last three decades and look forward to giving back to the community for many decades to come.

James Fang
Ted Fang

President
Editor and Publisher”

AsianWeek was an institution particularly when I was in college and began to take interest in Asian America and our community. It was a staple for the generation that grew up on identity politics and saw the complete transition away from the identity politics that were so well reprsented by our spoken word collectives, and towards a global and post-racial climate. AsianWeek made the transition in changing times and set the example that Asian America was more than binaries. Fortunatly, AsianWeek will still publish special issues and remain an online presence.

WHAT: National All Media Telephonic Conference

TITLE OF CALL: Lipan Apache Letter to Obama

WHEN: Tuesday, December 23, 2008, 10:00 AM Pacific Standard Time; for a duration of 60 minutes (1:00 PM Eastern, 12:00 PM Central, 11:00 AM Mountain)

WHERE (Call-in Number & Access Code): (719) 325-4820; Participant Code: 1118417

WHO:

Eloisa Garcia Támez, (Lipan Apache), Professor, University of Texas-Brownsville/TSC, Brownsville, TX
Daniel Castro Romero, Jr., Chair, Lipan Apache Band of Texas, Inc., TX
Enrique Madrid, Jumano-Apache Council, Redford, TX
Roberto Lujan, Jumano-Apache Council Member, TX
José Matus, (Yaqui), Director, Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras/Indigenous Alliance Without Borders, AZ
Michael Paul Hill, (Chiricahua Apache/Nnee’), San Carlos Apache Tribe, AZ
Peter Schey, Founder, Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, Los Angeles, CA
Denise Gilman, Clinical Professor, Law, University of Texas-Austin, UT Law Working Group Texas-Mexico Border Wall, TX
Jeff Wilson, Assistant Professor, Environmental Science, University of Texas-Brownsville, UT Law Working Group Texas-Mexico Border Wall, TX
Andrea Carmen, Executive Director, International Indian Treaty Council, AK
Margo Tamez, Co-Founder, Lipan Apache Women Defense, WA
Moderator: Arnoldo García, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR), CA
WHY: The Lipan Apache Women Defense will announce the delivery of its letter of recommendations to President-Elect Barack Obama, which urges him to halt the construction of the border wall, to stop the illegal seizures of communities’ border properties and to uphold and respect the rights of Indigenous people. The letter from this Texas-Mexico border community of El Calaboz Ranchería (Texas) will be delivered to the Co-Chair of President-Elect Obama’s Department of Interior Transition Team, Robert Anderson (Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Bois Forte Band), Director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington. The Lipan Apache Women Defense’s letter, with dozens of signatories and endorsements by close partners and allies, is requesting the administrative review of the Department of Homeland Security’s unlawful utilization of Condemnation Proceedings and the fast-tracking of the Declaration of Taking Act against Indigenous peoples’ lands, which has devastating impacts on their livelihoods, ecologically-based religions, traditional cultures and way of life. The letter calls for, instead, a community-based partnership with the new Obama-Biden Administration to transform the U.S.’s relationship with Indigenous peoples.

Speakers Contact Information:

Eloisa García Támez, (Lipan Apache), Professor, University of Texas-Brownsville/TSC, Brownsville, TX: (956) 245-7119, eloisa.tamez1@gmail.com
Daniel Castro Romero, Jr., Chair, Lipan Apache Band of Texas, Inc.: (559) 430-4003, lipan.chief@gmail.com
Enrique Madrid, Jumano-Apache Council Member, c/o April Cotte, (432) 384-2339, acotte@igc.org

Roberto Lujan, Jumano-Apache Council Member, (432) 229-4199, xupache@bigbend.net,
José Matus, Director, Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras/Indigenous Alliance Without Borders, AZ: (520) 979-2125, jrmatus@aol.com
Michael Paul Hill (Chiricahua Apache), San Carlos Apache Tribe, AZ: Dial *82, then 928-475-6743. This contact number is available December 23-25 only, michaelpaulhill@gmail.com
Peter Schey, Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, (323) 251-3223, pschey@centerforhumanrights.org
Denise Gilman, UT Law Working Group, , DGilman@law.utexas.edu
Jeff Wilson, UT Law Working Group, (956) 755-9228, Jeff.Wilson@utb.edu
Andrea Carmen, Executive Director, International Indian Treaty Council, (907) 745-4482, andrea@treatycouncil.org
Margo Támez, Lipan Apache Women Defense,(509) 595-9666, sumalhepa.nde.defense@gmail.com
Moderator: Arnoldo García, NNIRR, (510) 465-1984 ext. 305; agarcia@nnirr.org”

While this is not an Asian American issue, the conference is being marketed by the National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, which also works with Asian/American communities, and deals with related and important social justice issues.

Floyd Mori, National Executive Director of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and Chair of National Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), thanked the Transition Team for its efforts to diversify the new Administration and urged them to tap the deep pool of talent in the AAPI community to fill out key White House posts as well as sub-cabinet level managers in each of the agencies.

Organizational members of the NCAPA, including the JACL, articulated key issues that are of concern to the AAPI community. Renewing the White House Initiative on Asian and Pacific Americans, language access, comprehensive immigration reform, dis-aggregation of ethnic data, post-9/11 eroding of civil rights, limited English proficiency and the lack of access to health insurance were among the issues that were emphasized by the coalition.

Mori stated, “We were extremely happy with the transparency in the transition process and the willingness of the Team to hear our priorities as the new Administration and congress begins their work. The fact that the chair of the Transition and other key members of the Team have their roots in the AAPI community and have shown a great sensitivity to our needs, causes us to be optimistic about shedding the veil of invisibility that we have experienced in the past. The AAPI community intends to be a positive and productive participant in the new Administration.”

NCAPA is a national coalition of AAPI organizations that work to enhance the equality and opportunity of that community and to assure that human and civil rights are maintained as outlined in the Constitution. NCAPA platform publication, Call to Action: 2008, provided the foundation for the Obama-Biden Blueprint for the Change We Need for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. NCAPA has worked with the Transition Team’s liaison, Parag Mehta, who chaired the meeting.”

It’s good to hear that Asian Americans are in a position to ask the Administration to “diversify” and consider Asian Americans for important posts. The coalition spoke up about language access and the erosion of post p/11 civil rights. It’s heartening to know that this conversation is happening at the highest level of politics.

Washington, D.C.– The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) took issue with a South Carolina car dealer’s advertising campaign which ran a radio ad entitled “Wake Up America” in which he characterized Japanese-made cars as “rice ready” rather than “road ready.” The car dealer, O. C. Welch, criticized people who buy Japanese cars and asked why vehicles made by Toyota don’t have that new car smell.

Floyd Mori, National Executive Director for the JACL, responded to various press inquiries on the issue. Mori was quoted as saying that Welch’s remarks evoke the same anti-Asian sentiments often aimed at Japanese and Chinese immigrants to the United States from the 1930′s through World War II. He noted that many Japanese automakers’ cars are manufactured in America. He further stated: “It’s a blatant, ignorant, racist remark from somebody who should know better.”

Mr. Welch issued a press release and sent the apology for his comments in the recent advertisements to the JACL. He stated: “I would like to apologize for my comments in recent radio advertisements. I am passionate about my love for Ford, and I mistakenly and wrongly conveyed this passion. I do not and will not condone discrimination and am sorry for any hurt I have caused.” The JACL acknowledged the apology and noted that car dealers are one of many businesses suffering as a result of the economic downturn.

The JACL issued a letter to Mr. Welch in which it stated that the remarks were hurtful and potentially harmful to all Asian Americans because they were reminiscent of racist sentiment during the recession in the 1980′s that acutely affected the auto industry in Detroit. During that period, Japanese automakers were often scapegoated as the sole source of the economic hardships. It was in this environment that Vincent Chin, a young Chinese American, was beaten to death on the streets of a Detroit suburb by two autoworkers who blamed Chin for their problems, saying, “It’s because of you that we’re out of work.” Chin was not Japanese, nor was he or Japan responsible for all the unemployment caused by the recession. Instead, Chin was the tragic victim of a climate of economic fear abetted by racism. He was victimized by racism in the same manner as Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in concentration camps in remote areas of the United States during World War II. It is for this reason that the JACL abhorred the remarks of the radio ad for the racism it invoked and for any misplaced anger it may have inflamed.

The JACL has worked with American automobile companies on various programs in the past and partners with Ford Motor Company on a youth leadership and empowerment program which includes anti-hate issues.

Car dealer O.C. Welch is passionate about his love for Ford? Are you kidding me? Alas, the consequences of miscommunicated passion…