Visible Minorities

Today we have an extra special guest to help me out with this extra special episode, Jomar Santos! Jomar is the first guest who actually doesn’t have background in the social sciences. Rather, he has background in the computer sciences, where he now works for a Vancouver app company. Jomar is my partner of 4 years so today, I’ve asked him to be the interviewer. As mentioned in the last episode, I’ve spoken to a bunch of my friends and asked a lot of questions, so this time it’s my turn to answer your questions. So on this episode, Jomar will be asking me questions that were submitted through the survey and some questions of his own about about the podcast, my opinions, and my experiences. This is Visible Minorities with Cecilia Federizon.

oday we have my really good friends Elizer Erpilla and James Infante. Elizer graduated with a BA in sociology and just started his pharmacy degree at UBC. James is now working as a Ministerial Assistant to Lisa Beare, the minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Since the end of 2017 is coming to an end AND it’s the big 150 for Canada, we talk about the controversial Canada 150 celebrations this year. We discuss the issues of having difficult conversations and how we as 2nd generation immigrant settlers can be allies to Indigenous folks and issues. In the second half, we talk about our experiences growing up in the Catholic school system and how Catholicism has shaped our lives. Of course, these just our experiences and in no way are we saying that everyone who came from Catholic school feels the same as us nor are we saying that religion. This is Visible Minorities with Cecilia Federizon.

Today we have another sociology friend, Mimi Nguyen who’s doing amazing work with her video projects. Her video projects focus on Vietnamese diaspora. Also, Mimi and her friends recently made a short documentary called Flagged, which was nominated as Best Canadian Short in the 2017 Vancouver Asian Film Festival. On this episode, Mimi shares her childhood memories growing up in a predominantly white town. We discuss the differences between first generation and second generation immigrants and her projects to empower second generations. She also takes us through the history of “Vietnam War” and discusses the Vancouver Vietnamese community’s relationship with the heritage flag. Last but not least, we talk about how problematic the Broadway musical Miss Saigon is. Yes, there are major plot spoilers. This is Visible Minorities with Cecilia Federizon.