Podcasts about pacific islanders

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. The post Special Fund Drive Programming – APEX Express – September 28, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

On this episode, the 1ME crew talks with some of the folks behind the Natural Helpers program at API Chaya, a Seattle-based org that empowers survivors of gender-based violence and human trafficking to gain safety, connection, and wellness. They build power by educating and mobilizing South Asian, Asian, Pacific Islander, and all immigrant communities to end exploitation, creating a world where all people can heal and thrive. Their Natural Helpers program supports community members in learning about human trafficking, domestic and sexual violence, the societal forces that create conditions for violence, as well as in skill building around how to respond to harm, injustice, and support survivors. We learn about the familial roots of the organization's work, how the sustained work of Natural Helpers has made healing possible, and the ways that grief work is integral to revolution. SHOW NOTES Support API Chaya - https://www.apichaya.org/ Connect with 1ME - millionexperiments.com

On this episode, the 1ME crew talks with some of the folks behind the Natural Helpers program at API Chaya, a Seattle-based org that empowers survivors of gender-based violence and human trafficking to gain safety, connection, and wellness. They build power by educating and mobilizing South Asian, Asian, Pacific Islander, and all immigrant communities to end exploitation, creating a world where all people can heal and thrive. Their Natural Helpers program supports community members in learning about human trafficking, domestic and sexual violence, the societal forces that create conditions for violence, as well as in skill building around how to respond to harm, injustice, and support survivors. We learn about the familial roots of the organization's work, how the sustained work of Natural Helpers has made healing possible, and the ways that grief work is integral to revolution. SHOW NOTES Support API Chaya - https://www.apichaya.org/ Connect with 1ME - millionexperiments.com

This week, Christie sits down with Clarice Hassan to discuss mental health within the context of new motherhood. Clarice shares how her own personal experiences of becoming a mother informed her passion to focus her work on maternity mental health. They delve into the challenges of balancing one's aspirations and desires with the demands of this new, life-changing role. They also talk about navigating the differences in parenting values from those of the previous generation and how empowering it can be to learn, unlearn, remake, and discover new personal values along the way.Clarice Hassan (she/her), LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker in California and New York, running both a private practice and a growing group practice, Phronetic Psychotherapy LCSW PC. She identifies as Asian and has focused on maternity and paternity mental health, as well as parenthood transitions, especially in the past few years since becoming a parent herself. Connect with Clarice: https://www.onlinetherapyny.org/ Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. The post Special Fund Drive Programming – APEX Express – September 21, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

This week, Christie chats with Suzanne Eng about being in partnership with someone with ADHD. They talk about the challenges and strengths that ADHD brings to the relationship, as well as the various misconceptions surrounding the diagnosis. Suzanne shares her own experiences with a spouse with ADHD, and she offers ways to help others have greater empathy, better understand, and resolve conflicts more effectively with one another in order to thrive as a couple living with ADHD.Suzanne Eng (she/her) is a wife, mother, daughter, therapist and friend. Brought up in Chicago and then moving to New York has taught her about the challenge of not just living but enjoying who she is despite difficult circumstances and to always be grateful. Connect with Suzanne:24creativearttherapy.com twentyfour24cat@gmail.com@twentyfourcatMentioned in this episode:The ADHD Effect on Marriage by Melissa OrlovADHD: A Hunter in a Farmer's World by Thom Hartmann Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

In 1996, a group of Asian/Pacific Islander women came together to confront gender-based violence in their communities. As survivors themselves they knew that mainstream social service organizations lacked the linguistic and cultural knowledge needed to meet their diverse needs. They persevered, eventually launching the Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project, which remains the sole Pan Asian provider of trauma-informed and survivor centered services in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The team includes social workers, trainers, and a mental health professional and their collective language capacities include Japanese, Hindi, Thai, Mongolian and Mandarin. DVRP is an essential resource for women, and sometimes men, experiencing gender-based violence, including abuse by intimate partners, in-laws, and employers emboldened to exploit workers whose immigration status is precarious. In this episode of Power Station, I am joined by Krittika Ghosh, executive director of DVRP and a globally recognized champion of Asians, Pacific Islanders, and other marginalized people, including the LGBTQ community. Her experience as an immigrant and survivor fuels her inventive approach to culturally based healing, including sessions that explore what constitutes a heathy relationship and workshops in mindfulness. A conversation with Krittika is too valuable to miss.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Intimate Sounds of the Four Continents Episode #11 Intimate Sounds of the Four Continents combines Lisa Lowe's theories and music from around the world to create intellectually stimulating sonic experience. DJ Miu created this radio show with a mission to spread the message: “Freedom is Yet to Come.” I encourage listeners to take the time to read, write, and resist. We require inoculations that repel the seductions of corporate servitude. Cauleen Smith told us. Starting with reading Lisa Lowe's writing. Reading is Fundamental.  Episode #11 This month's episode is all about Southeast Asian Rap featuring Triple Edge, Suboi and many other favorites. Lisa Lowe's Book:  In this uniquely interdisciplinary work, Lisa Lowe examines the relationships between Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas in the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth- centuries, exploring the links between colonialism, slavery, imperial trades and Western liberalism. Cop it over at Duke University Press About the DJ Paige Chung is a writer and DJ. Her last project Nail Trap is juicier than your neighborhood gossip and her current project is hotter than your cousin's mixtape. Listen to Intimate Sounds of the Four Continents on KPFA 94.1 and Sun Salutations on Twitch TV. Based in Los Angeles but she rolls everywhere. She currently trains at the Beat Junkies Institute of Sound and studies Performing and Media Arts as a PhD student at Cornell University. Lastly, special shoutout to my QT Viet Crew, deep study crew Quinnette, Zahara, Discott and the Soul in the Horn family.  Find me anywhere and everywhere @DJxMIU  Website Instagram Twitch Mixcloud SoundCloud The post APEX Express – 9.14.23 Intimate Sounds of the Four Continents by DJ MIU appeared first on KPFA.

This week, Christie, Diana and Sam catch up on what they've been up to as they enter into the fall season. They reminisce about the feelings they used to get as they started a new school year, and Christie and Diana share what they've been realizing through their language classes. They all discuss their evolving relationships to work and productivity, and the importance of having a sense of purpose and personal definition of success. Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Host Miko Lee speaks with the creatives behind San Francisco Chinatown's 2nd Annual Contemporary Arts Festival – Under the Same Sun: Reimagining the Edges of Chinatown. This community event is produced by Edge on the Square, the same folx who produced last year's Neon was Never Brighter. Miko chats with curator Candace Huey and artists Connie Zheng and members of the Macro Waves Collective.   Under the Same Sun Transcripts [00:00:00] Opening: Asian Pacific expression. Unity and cultural coverage, music and calendar revisions influences Asian Pacific Islander. It's time to get on board. The Apex Express. Good evening. You're tuned in to Apex Express. [00:00:18] Jalena Keane-Lee: We're bringing you an Asian American Pacific Islander view from the Bay and around the world. [00:00:22] Miko Lee: I'm your host tonight, this is Miko Lee. And you get the pleasure of hearing about the amazing edge on the square second annual contemporary art festival. I speak with the curator, Candace Huey, along with some of the powerhouse artists that are behind the interactive events that are happening as part of this festival in San Francisco, Chinatown on September 30th. Also, I'm going to be there. From seven 30 to eight 30, Leading a panel discussion all about the intersections between arts and politics and ways that we can think about how to re-imagine the edges of social justice and equity. We hope that you'll join us and listen tonight to this episode with some artists talking about how we can all be change makers, shake things up, enjoy some art and go out in the Chinatown community in San Francisco so enjoy the episode. Welcome Candice Huey to Apex Express. [00:01:23] Candace Huey: Thank you, Miko. So excited to be back here with you again. [00:01:26] Miko Lee: We are here to talk about Edge on the Square's second annual Contemporary Art Festival. I loved last year's Neon Was Never Brighter. First, just start by telling us about Edge on the Square. [00:01:40] Candace Huey: Thank you, Miko. So edge on the square is a new arts and cultural hub located in the heart of San Francisco, Chinatown. It is a project by C Mac, and it is a place based cultural hub that celebrates, explores and supports leading and pioneering creative expressions at the intersection of community, art and multiracial democracy. [00:02:04] Miko Lee: Ooh, that's so many things and so many important things in this time of turmoil that we're living in. Last year's Neon Was Never Brighter was so fun, so much interactive art. Tell us about the theme for this year and how you came up with it. [00:02:19] Candace Huey: Thank you. So this year, we're excited to be back. It's going to be Saturday, September 30th from 5 p. m. to 10 p. m. We were really excited to gather some amazing local and international API artists. We worked this year with esteemed curators. I'm joined by. PJ. Polly Carpio Arena, Alejo and Sarah Wesson Chang to help inform the vision of the theme, which is under the same sun. Reimagining the edges of Chinatown. [00:02:54] Miko Lee: Oh, I love that title. I have been talking with some of the artists which we're going to hear from soon about how they take that theme and what does it mean to them? Can you tell us what it means for you to have this theme of under the same sun? And what are the edges of Chinatown? What does this theme mean? [00:03:12] Candace Huey: Sure. Happy to share about The theme of the festival under the same sun reimagining the edges of Chinatown for this year's Contemporary Art Festival, while this year's festival is really focused on the unity and solidarity of the API communities coming together during this tough time ongoing, we're still grappling with the after effects of the pandemic and we're still in the pandemic and we're still facing a lot of adversity from the ongoing anti Asian rhetoric. And compounded with this past year's moments of, you know, tragic tragedies in the Supreme Court with overturning of Roe versus Wade affirmative action and other discriminatory policy policies, not only affecting API communities, but other underserved communities of color. we felt that it was still really important to focus on unity on solidarity and coming together, but also thinking about how could we re imagined and redefine, both Boundaries and borders real and imagined that exists not only in Chinatown, but beyond between different communities of color and coming together and commenting on the fact that the critical work for social justice and equity is continuous and ongoing. [00:04:27] Miko Lee: Okay, so as an audience member, I get myself into Chinatown. I'm on that the square. What do I see? [00:04:35] Candace Huey: We're having multimedia, fun, exciting art installations and activations ranging from dance performances to music to nighttime projections to artwork, interactive installations. There's even a sound bath. That's going to be located inside 800 Grant Avenue by the artist collective Macro Waves. We're having a digital work by Indira Allegra, which is a digital tapestry, a collective new take on what is a memorial monument in the community sense, but basically edge on the square and this contemporary festival is thinking about how can we use art to come together And to heal and really think about potent regeneration and thinking about collective power. [00:05:24] Miko Lee: Ooh, collective power folks join up and come to edge on the square, second annual contemporary art festival, the end of this month, September 30th. And we're going to hear next from a bunch of different artists, including the macro waves and Connie Zhang. So stay tuned. [00:05:40] Candace Huey: Under the same sun, reimagining the edges of Chinatown is a free, open to the public, family friendly event, accessible to wheelchairs. We are expecting lots of fun, so come, enjoy yourselves, and be delighted. [00:05:56] Miko Lee: Candace Huey, thank you so much for joining us. And more than that, thank you so much for putting this artistry out into the community so that we can grow and heal and make changes together. [00:06:07] Candace Huey: Thank you, Miko. It's a truly an honor to speak with you and also to work with such talented artists and curators. [00:06:17] Jalena Keane-Lee: Next up, listen, to find my way by Rocky Rivera. MUSIC [00:09:45] Jalena Keane-Lee: That was find my way by Rocky Rivera [00:09:49] Miko Lee: Thank you, Connie Zheng, for coming on Apex Express. [00:09:57] Connie Zheng: Thank you, Miko. [00:09:59] Miko Lee: We are so excited to have you here. You are such a brilliant artist, scholar. You do so many different things. And I just love to hear a little bit more about who are your people and what legacy do you carry from them? [00:10:15] Connie Zheng: Thank you so much for this question. It's a really generous and expansive question .When I think about who my people are there's a broader community of Asian American API progressives, artists, activists intellectuals who I consider part of my community. There's also people whose legacy I'd love to carry. But who maybe I don't know personally. When I think about who my people are they're really people who are dedicated to creating better futures for all of us who are dedicated to collective thriving and liberation and change. There's a very literal answer to that question, which is my people are other Chinese Americans, but I think it's really important for me to think of a larger, more expansive community of people who are committed to the same sorts of Politics and goals for collective health and thriving and and freedom. [00:11:41] Miko Lee: Thank you for that. And speaking of that, you are going to be one of the many artists in Chinatown Media and Arts Collaborative's second annual arts event. This year it's called Under the Same Sun, Reimagining Collective Liberation from the Edges of Chinatown. Can you tell me about what that theme title means to you? How do you interpret it? [00:12:03] Connie Zheng: Yeah. Thank you. So when, yeah, the first time the curators shared the framework of under the same sun for me, I was really excited about this idea of collective thriving and growing. Because we are literally all under the same sun. Maybe it shines differently for different people or we all respond to it differently. This is a cheesy answer, but we are all actually on the same planet and we're all responsible. That responsibility is distributed somewhat differently because of our how different people, use the resources and steward the land differently, but we are all responsible one way or another for , our collective future. For me, Under the Same Sun speaks to questions of responsibility, it speaks to questions of collective growth, and nourishment, and our ability to feel the same kind of joy or radiance, and the conditions that enable that radiance. [00:13:12] Miko Lee: What do you think from the edges of Chinatown means? [00:13:15] Connie Zheng: When I think about edges I think about borders and boundaries and how they're often very porous, and also how the edge is really where I some of the most visible forms of change happen. It's not usually from the center , I'm really interested in thresholds, and how no every edge is both the ending and beginning and that sort of space where beings and things and entities cross over to become something else is really fascinating for me, and so the edge of Chinatown there's the literal boundary on a map of where Chinatown as a neighborhood begins and ends, but also the community in Chinatown , it's not limited to those 9 or 10 or 11 blocks. It's much bigger than that. It's much more expansive and diffused than that. I think that slippage between where the sort of bureaucratic designation of a neighborhood and a community like that tension or flow is really interesting for me. [00:14:42] Miko Lee: Oh, I like this philosophical every end beginning. That's lovely. You were raised in China. So when did you first see San Francisco Chinatown? What was your first experience with that? [00:14:53] Connie Zheng: I think I first visited Chinatown in actually in college. So I was born in China, and I mostly grew up on the East Coast. I spent a lot of time in Boston Chinatown and before that I lived in a very predominantly white working class town in Pennsylvania. There were not very many Asian people. My parents would have to drive two hours every month to the nearest Chinese grocery store. Growing up for me Boston Chinatown was like a revelation and coming to San Francisco for the first time and going to Chinatown was like a shock. It was incredible . Walking through the neighborhoods or walking past the small vendors, The stalls, reminded me of being in Asia and it was really magical. I didn't know that existed outside of Asia. The more that I learned about San Francisco Chinatown, it's history why the architecture is the way that it is and how it was really like a safe haven for a lot of people. Specifically during Chinese exclusion. It's a place that is filled with so much significance and meaning, and it's really special to have been able to do work there over the past year and to continue doing work there. [00:16:25] Miko Lee: You've done a number of site specific interactive projects, can you tell us about the one that you will be doing as a part of the upcoming Under the Same Sun? [00:16:33] Connie Zheng: I will be making a modular outdoor garden installation called Nine Suns, and it's in reference to the Chinese myth of Houyi and the Ten Suns. In this story, there were once ten suns, in the days when gods roamed the earth. The ten suns would usually cross the sky one by one. One day all ten of the sun appeared in the sky at once and started burning the earth. This archer Shot down nine of the suns and left just the one that we have today. I'm really interested in trying to imagine a more gentle transformation of the nine suns who fall from the sky. In the standard myth the archer is like the hero but I've read like a number of sort of accounts that reference this myth that nuance the story a little bit by mentioning how like cruel and unkind this archer is. Especially since his wife is Chang'e, the moon goddess, who literally escaped from him I was really interested in reframing this myth and not having the emphasis be on this male archer who shoots down these nine sons, who Maybe we're just hanging out together and in this garden installation there will be nine circular planter tubs that are mounted on movable circular dollies. That are painted to look like the suns that were shot down by the archer. And [00:18:10] Miko Lee: so interest. That's very exciting. Wait, where will it be located? [00:18:15] Connie Zheng: I believe it will be located outside of CMAQ on Grant. I think the exact location is still being determined right now, but it'll be a street level installation. Each of the planters will be somewhere around 2 to 3 feet wide. There will be 9 of them and they will be arranged in a sort of wavy horizon line and each of the planters will have like Asian herbs. On the day of the festival, there'll be wavy line that's reminiscent of an undulating horizon. After the festival, the planters will be moved to Kaiming Head Start Preschool actually for use. For the school to use in their outdoor education program, which is really exciting. [00:19:04] Miko Lee: Oh, I love that. So you're making it, you're creating it for this one arts festival, but then it will have an ongoing life with young folks. [00:19:12] Connie Zheng: Exactly. Yeah. And that's really important. I think that was one of the most exciting things about this project. The planters, because they'll be installed on these circular platforms that have wheels on them, they'll be mobile and the idea is for them to be easily configured into different arrangements, depending on the school's needs. That feature was really exciting to me because it's inspired by The reality of very tight space in Chinatown and also in the interconnectedness of the community. I was like, really inspired by and struck by how so many residents of Chinatown are really mobile. They're tracing numerous orbits a day as they go to school, go to work, run errands, see friends and family, and just build these very rich lives with Lots of nodes of connection. The sort of connectivity is really important for me to think about here. I wanted these planters to be mobile, to be easily configured and modular and also to have a life outside of this one day event. [00:20:21] Miko Lee: So what is the walk away message that you want your audience, after coming to see this event, that's a reimagining of this folktale that many of us grew up with, what do you want people to know or to think about when they walk away from your exhibit? [00:20:37] Connie Zheng: It's really exciting for me when a project that I'm working on opens up different angles of thinking about a story that we've inherited. What happens to the fallen sons in this story is something that was really interesting for me and that I hope is interesting for others. The reimagining of these nine fallen suns as gardens is a really lovely thought for me I was really excited about the idea of each of these suns after they've been shot down from the sky, going off and nurturing their own earth, after they've Fall out of the sky, they like maybe roam through the solar system, and or the nebula, and [00:21:28] Miko Lee: They're just out there roaming around the universe. [00:21:31] Connie Zheng: Yeah, but then they find this maybe like a barren rock and then they nurture it into life. They start their own solar system, and so I think this idea of rejected things, creating new life or being the basis of a new ecosystem is something that's always been fascinating to me and I hope that the installation might encourage others to think about that as well the idea of, Things that are fallen, or thrown away, or considered useless as these nine sons were, things that were considered useless, actually being like, the source of new life. [00:22:09] Miko Lee: Rebirth. From the phoenix, they rebirthed. [00:22:13] Connie Zheng: Yeah, totally. I love that. [00:22:15] Miko Lee: Fun, fun. You do so many different types of mediums. You do film and drawing and writing, food events, maps, and plants, we were chatting earlier about mooncake design, and filmmaking, all these different mediums that you utilize. Can you talk a little bit about how the different mediums you use? impact the issue that you're exploring? Are you drawn to film because of this issue or does it just come to you organically? [00:22:43] Connie Zheng: I do like to come to materials organically. I think there's like a lot of unconscious intelligence that we have. If I have an idea for something, usually I'll try to sit on it for a while before I actually make the thing. There's some projects where the form and the material manifest themselves very quickly and early on. Sometimes it's just very obvious for example I recently finished a nine foot long map of Asian farmworker history in California, and I started making it while I was an artist in residence at the 41 Ross Space on Ross Alley. When I first started thinking about how to create this archive of Asian farmworker history in California, the map form was very obvious to me. I was like, oh, it definitely has to be a map. That was a project where I knew exactly what it would be once the idea, once the sort of like germ of the idea bloomed in my brain. [00:23:59] Miko Lee: Oh, I look forward to seeing that work. That's, is that up still? [00:24:03] Connie Zheng: Yeah. Yeah. It's up at the Berkeley Art Center right now, and it will be going To the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for the Bay Area now triennial in September. that show opens in October. [00:24:16] Miko Lee: Oh, great. So folks can have access to your work in multiple ways. [00:24:20] Miko Lee: I noticed in a lot of your work is addressing environmental awareness and climate change. Have you always woven your politics into your artistry? [00:24:29] Connie Zheng: Certainly not. I think figuring out how to weave my politics into my creative work has been an ongoing process with a lot of trial and error. Not all of my work displays my politics so visibly. I feel like a lot of my creative practice is really just like a series of experiments to figure out what my creative languages. My earliest work was very personal, and as I started to have more of an audience for my work, I was trying to, figure out what kind of dialogue I wanted to have with people. My first short film was, very angry like film essay that was focused on how racialized and class, a lot of American mainstream media rhetoric about pollution is. That was very much inspired by my experiences of my childhood in China and also growing up traveling back and forth between China and the U S and seeing how intensely polluted a lot of the places where my family lived were and then learning more about how that came to be a lot of the worst pollution around the world , can really be traced back to multinational corporations that are based out of the U. S. or North America and Europe. A lot of this terrible pollution is outsourced to countries of the global south, developing nations and also like poor communities, often communities of color in the United States. And the more I learned about this, the more sort of furious I got about it. My first film essay was this extremely finger pointing piece, and the reception for it was really interesting for me. I noticed that the people who responded to it most tended to be like other Asian diasporic people or Asian Americans I received a lot of feedback from That it was didactic. At first that made me really angry to hear that it was didactic, mostly from white viewers and then I think that changed, , and then, , Got me thinking about , what kind of conversation do I want to have? How do I want people to respond to a work? I don't necessarily mean is that going to piss them off or not? I realized that it felt uninviting for people and it felt uninviting for the exact, people I wanted to have that conversation with. I wouldn't say like I've completely changed the way that I work. My writing tends to be much more pointed and my visual work I try to move through a spectrum of Different strategies and ways of weaving my politics into the creative work. Sometimes with certain projects, I want to be more inviting and to plant the seeds of that politics in people, and sometimes it's more like an open conversation, and sometimes it's a little more direct. For the last several years, I've really been experimenting with different strategies and approaches to bring my politics into the work and also to try to make it depending on the context, as inviting as possible without hiding what my politics are. [00:28:32] Miko Lee: Thank you for that. What are you interested in exploring at this Under the Same Sun event? Will you have a chance to walk around and see some of the other artwork, or are you staying with your exhibit? [00:28:43] Connie Zheng: I hope I'll be able to walk around and see other artwork. [00:28:46] Miko Lee: And what is it for yourself? How would you like to walk away from the festival? [00:28:51] Connie Zheng: I would love to have conversations with people about what the festival means to them and what questions it's opening for them and how they see, the installation what inspires in them, what questions it opens for them, I'm really humbled when people bring any real presence to my work, and it's not something I take for granted. I think really just engaging thoughtfully with a creative work that you see is it requires an act of like generosity. Would just be very excited to have conversations with people. [00:29:38] Miko Lee: Well, Connie Zhang, thank you for spending so much time with me. I appreciate you, look forward to seeing your artwork. [00:29:44] Connie Zheng: Thank you. Yeah this has been really lovely and thank you for your time and your attention. [00:29:50] Jalena Keane-Lee: Next up, listen to turn you by Rocky Rivera. MUSIC [00:29:53] Jalena Keane-Lee: That was turn you by Rocky Rivera. [00:32:53] Miko Lee: You're tuned into APEX express on 94.1 K PFA and 89.3 KPFB in Berkeley and online@kpfa.org. Welcome to Apex Express Macro Waves. I'm so excited to talk with you all. You are a locally based creative collective and you create interactive pieces that are around conceptual art, new media, and design. Welcome Robin Bird David, Dominic Cheng, and Jeffrey Yip to Apex Express. [00:33:25] Dominic Cheng: Thanks for having us. [00:33:26] Robin Birdd David: Glad to be here. [00:33:29] Miko Lee: Can I just start with each of you, because we have three different important voices. Can I start with each of you telling me who you are, who are your people, and what legacy do you carry from them? [00:33:45] Robin Birdd David: My name is Robin Bird David. I go by she, they, and that's a big question. I don't think we've ever been asked that question. I think it's an important one. Specifically there's five of us technically in the collective. There's three of us today, who are working on our current project that's coming up with CMAC and Edge on the Square. The collective also includes Tina Kashiwagi and Anam Awan but they are not here today. Specifically with us three, we're all born and raised in the Bay Area, Asian American second generation. So I think that holds an important aspect of the communities we serve. We've been doing a lot of work around stories of different generations of migration, the diaspora particularly with Filipino American, Chinese American we've done work around Japanese American stories, intergenerational stories. So I'll leave it there and pass it along to Dominic. [00:34:50] Dominic Cheng: For the most part. We represent our collective, which is mostly Asian American and Pan Asian artists. All of us come from different backgrounds of art practice. we really strive to collaborate and share our skills and our different experiences and really tried to build upon work that isn't necessarily representative of one single individual. And it's more centered around our collective experience and so as My collective mate Robin had mentioned we do a lot of work that's really introspective and looking at our ancestry as Asians in America or Asian Americans in America. We really try to focus a lot on exploring intergenerational experiences and issues, a lot of trauma and healing that we try to integrate with a lot of the work that we're producing. And that's what brings us here today to the project that we are creating as part of the Under the Sun Festival. [00:35:57] Miko Lee: So Jeffrey, who are your people and what legacy do you carry from them? [00:36:06] Jeffrey Yip: When I think of my people, I think of family. How I identify in general is for my upbringing, for my family and all the arguments I've had all the kind of love that was shown to me. I think as you get older, you start to have chosen family, right? Macrowaves we consider ourselves a family and I consider them my chosen family. Our broader community folks, there's so many people, there's so much love , in the Bay Area and specific being the creative kind of scene. Our legacy is we all have something to share in this world, right? As a collective, we've learned that we all bring something special to the table. We highlight our kind of like strengths. We do what we can to help each other. As a collective, we also do that in the broader kind of communities. It's like we, we have something to share. We mentioned this before, is like a collaboration and bring people on board and get to know people, build community, and like grassroots kind of way. [00:37:08] Miko Lee: So thank you for that. [00:37:12] Robin Birdd David: The reason why Macwaves got together in the first place was because we were really craving a place for people of color. Queer folks to come together to have a safe space to create artwork together. That was really removed from the competitive nature that is often in art spaces, as we know, like art within capitalism and within the society, it builds this structure of you're competing for grants or for residencies. The people that we want to serve and the people that we build with are other artists, queer people of color artists to really create a space where we can build and share resources and skills to create work together rather than to be competing. So that's something that we emphasize in our work. I think the Bay Area holds a special place as a place where a lot of revolution has happened, a lot of community building has happened in the Bay Area for people of color, for marginalized communities. I think that is a legacy we hope to carry as we continue to do this collective work. [00:38:16] Miko Lee: That's so great. Can you talk a little bit more about how you came to be, how your collective came into fruition? [00:38:23] Robin Birdd David: Yeah, that's a good question. Jeffrey and I attended San Francisco State together and we met in a cybernetics new media art class. We were craving a space that wasn't so white focus and wasn't so white wall focus. My background is in painting and Jeff was in the program for new media. We felt that there was this divide of either like the fine arts world, which was a very like white wall space. Then there was the art and technology spaces, which also felt white. There was just a specific type of artists and community that came along with both those spaces and us being people of color, Asian, and growing up in the Bay area. I felt like I didn't necessarily belong in those spaces at the time. We decided why don't we do our own thing? So we started doing these one day events, art experiences parties where we would do like installations and have like DJs and performers and chefs come and we would do this whole experience where like different senses were activated. That's how we started and it just formed naturally. [00:39:35] Miko Lee: So it started out Robin, you, and Jeffrey, and then you've grown to add more people? [00:39:40] Robin Birdd David: Yes, we started in the ideating phases, and then we brought in other folks, like Dominic, to come help and create these one day experiences. Then from there, the folks who were collaborating with us, we naturally formed into a collective. [00:39:56] Miko Lee: Does each artist play a specific role? How do you interact with each other? [00:40:01] Dominic Cheng: I think one of the things that we've felt really special about being in a collective is that we bring different strengths, but it doesn't necessarily dictate like what we can and cannot do in the collective. There's a lot of responsibilities with a lot of the organization, a lot of the finances, but then there's also the responsibility of developing concepts and like refining what approach we want to take towards making installation or an experience. I think organically we have developed concepts for our projects collectively. Some folks tend to take lead on some ideas and others follow and provide support, which is always I think something that has been really uplifting for us is to not really. Think about it from like an individualized perspective where one singular artist needs to do every single thing on their own. That really opened up a lot of opportunities for us as creatives and artists to think beyond what we individually can create and really honing in on the resources and the creative like experiences and techniques that other folks bring to the table. [00:41:14] Miko Lee: So macro waves focuses around future ancestry intergenerational experiences and collective healing. How does this relate to the Under the same sun, reimagining collective liberation from the edges of Chinatown, which is the theme of this year's second annual festival. [00:41:33] Dominic Cheng: We have been a collective since 2015. A lot of the work that we have been doing has been centered around storytelling and exploring our ancestry through a lot of experiences that we've encountered between us and our parents or us and our grandparents or others. Us and folks that are probably not an ancestor quite just yet. We have always been fascinated in utilizing that area as like a point of adventure as a place for us to explore ideas outside of conventional storytelling. We have been creating works specifically looking at how trauma has been passed along through cultures of just brushing things under the rug, or how those types of experiences can really build up a like a hard shell for folks to really break through and to heal. We've also been doing work that has been exploring some of the experiences that we all share like today especially through the pandemic [00:42:38] Miko Lee: How does the theme of Under the Same Sun make you feel and what does it inspire in you all as a collective? [00:42:46] Robin Birdd David: So MacroWave's coming together in the first place. Is really reimagining art practice like collective work. In this case collective care, which is what our project focuses on. We're really interested in including other communities in our work. We did a project called alternate realm in SF Chinatown, where we interviewed shop owners during the pandemic when a lot of the restaurants and businesses were closed down and we're only doing takeout. And so we saw an area where we could. Utilize our work to help small businesses out. And so we interviewed these small these business owners about their experiences around alters and specifically Qingming And we asked them how did their rest or their business restaurant shop start and what are your alters that you have at home. Through these interviews, we collaborate with other artists outside of the collective to create augmented reality alters that became a walking tour that communities can experience through their cell phones or iPads. And so really just like bringing. outside communities that are not necessarily in the art scene to experience what other people are doing in the community and how do we bridge the gap between different generations of people and continue this legacy of storytelling and to learn more about in this particular project, more about like our Asian community and the diaspora and how they were able to start a business in the first place. [00:44:27] Miko Lee: I really appreciated those short videos about Qingming and just getting to hear from a shopkeeper's perspective about what the things they're burning for their ancestors. I think about that a lot when I'm doing Qingming with my family. So I appreciate that there's this video that's there on the internet will just last, but then you had this temporary piece with where you would go and scan a QR code. Is that right? [00:44:53] Dominic Cheng: Yeah, part of this. That project really involved us really capturing the stories of these local businesses who are not just only struggling financially and economically to survive, but they were also like experiencing heightened like violence in their communities and xenophobia. And this was like during a time where we felt that. It was important for us to open up this project as a platform for other creatives, other artists who identify as Asians to create a digital offering, like a digital art altar offering to each business in response to the stories that they were hearing [00:45:33] Miko Lee: Jeffrey, can you talk about the piece that you're going to be showing at the exhibit coming up for under the same sun? [00:45:43] Jeffrey Yip: Yeah it's a huge project and we've been conceptualizing for about two years now. It's Actually a culmination of the work that we have been doing. In 2000, I think 17 or 16, we started creating like healing spaces. One of which was like Protectural Voyager, which showed at SoMa Arts. It was this geodesic dome and there was like healing feedback sensors attached to it. There was like one that could read your brain. A brain wave reader and what was a heart wave reader. We're inviting folks to meditate inside this dome and when they we're at a calmer state, then the visuals will be more meditative and encourage meditation. We've created a number of these kind of like healing spaces and exhibitions. Collective futures is the one that we're going to be showing at this festival this year. Idea is around community care, collective care and also questioning the idea of self care and self care is important and we all need self care and sometimes that can get caught up in Western individualism and I think it is important to have that delineation and emphasize the the collective care because because you can't do everything by ourselves. We need community. We need family members. We need people to show up for each other. [00:46:59] Robin Birdd David: Our piece is called collective futures. Our installation is a critique about self care and coming out of shelter in place. We were encouraged to take care of ourselves, but also as a means to be productive and to get back out there and to work. it's like what Jeff mentioned is really important, but there needs to be a shift to like community care like how do we take care of ourselves. If institutions aren't are not working if certain systems are not working, how can the community show up for each other and I think that. Under the Same Sun is an example of this collective experience of coming together to reimagine new ways of experiencing art and really integrating and bringing together different communities outside of Chinatown, into Chinatown bringing other migrant, people of color communities who all have similar ways of showing up and caring for each other rather than being segregated Into like different communities by ethnic groups, but like, how do we come together? [00:48:04] Miko Lee: Jeff. If I walk into Edge on the Square, what do I see? [00:48:10] Jeffrey Yip: If you walked into Edge on the Square, you would see a mound full of moss. We're inviting people to come and sit down on and in the middle of that mound, there's going to be like a bowl of water that will be vibrating and the whole platform is actually vibrant. So we're inviting participants to come on and feel these vibrations that are being produced by the sound artists that we're inviting to, to provide sound. On these platforms, there are transducers that essentially work like speakers, but instead of pushing air out of the cone, they vibrate . And so basically that's essentially what this project's about. We'll be like having a platform building a platform that will be vibrating. So there'll be like a, like a sound installation that will vibrate the same frequencies into the platform. And so there's this idea called a vibroacoustic therapy. And it's the idea that like. under certain vibrations that can be a healing thing, right? And so we're inviting folks to come on this platform and all vibrate on the same wavelength and essentially just have the intention to heal. And I think a lot of times with these healing spaces, we're not like, Oh yeah, these spaces are going to heal you. It's more it's more so like we're inviting to people with to come in with the intention to heal because I don't identify as a healer, but I feel like we all can do the work to heal ourselves. [00:49:31] Miko Lee: Where is your piece going to How can people find it? [00:49:36] Robin Birdd David: Collective Futures installation can be found in the Edge on the Square gallery space. It is part of the gallery exhibition that will be up, till next year, June. And the location is 800 Grant Avenue in San Francisco, Chinatown. The nature of the installation is really about collaboration. We're inviting other collaborators to come in to either create sound performances where the sound performance connects to the vibration. On this installation can feel can physically feel the music being played at the same time. We also are inviting other healing practitioners, we're hoping to invite a Tai Chi instructor to host a class, maybe with different, with elders, with different community members in Chinatown to be able to utilize the platform in different ways. [00:50:35] Dominic Cheng: We wanted to create a platform as a means of opening up dialogue about other community engagement opportunities. Some of the folks that we have been interested in is cone shaped top, which is arts and culture space based in Oakland that has been doing a lot of work opening up space for a new emerging sound artists to have a space to perform and just to share music and be in community with each other. [00:51:01] Robin Birdd David: Cone Shaped Top will be collaborating with us for the opening of Under the Same Sun Festival on September 30th. They will be hosting a series of other sound and performance based artists that will perform live for the festival. So we're really excited about that and to really kick off this installation where throughout the year, the rest of the year and next year, we'll be able to collaborate with other community folks. [00:51:28] Miko Lee: That is very exciting. Jeffrey Yip, what do you want audiences to feel? [00:51:35] Jeffrey Yip: Everybody's gonna have a different experience, right? I personally want to start with telling somebody how they should experience the work, like I really do feel like everybody's going to come in with a unique perspective. The way that they'll experience it will be new to themselves because for me part of the art right is the experience within the individual, and that's what they're bringing to the table. It's a almost a collaboration with the participants as well because they bring their unique experience to it and you know maybe they'll share some share the experience with somebody else and there might be similarities but they'll have a unique experience. Ultimately I would say a sense of togetherness and community. That would be ideal. [00:52:19] Miko Lee: What about you, Robin and Dominic, what do you want the audience to feel when they leave your exhibition? [00:52:28] Robin Birdd David: The concept behind collective futures really comes from that feeling that we had in the pandemic where we were actually able to take a break. The concept of self care, even though it existed already, was there was a hyper focus on self care, and whatever the care is that people needed, it was obvious that we all needed a break and we needed space from capitalism from the day to day work and hustle and bustle, and so this installation really is a nod to that. It's wait a minute, how we take a step back and think about like how do we show collective care? How do we show up for each other? How do we care for ourselves? In a way that I don't know if we really got to the We never really got to the root of the problem since we came back from COVID, even though COVID still exists. We never really figured that part out. Like here we are still continuing to hustle and continue the work which is all important. I'm hoping that people who experience our installation will be reminded of I need to rest and it's okay to take a break. It's okay to pause and it's okay to just lay here and be still and be okay with where they are in their lives, where we are in our lives. [00:53:47] Dominic Cheng: Building on to that, I really do think that one of the hopes that I have is for folks to come to this leaving with just more interest in exploring collective care. It's important to not just only continue to do the work of living day to day and trying to survive, but really to take those moments of rest and really to seek out opportunities to provide community collective care. It has to be a constant and it can't just be, like, a one time thing. That's what we're really hoping for folks to do is to really be moved by the collective experience that they share with. Either folks that they bring together with them to the space and to the installation or for folks that they meet and connect with organically just throughout their visit. [00:54:37] Miko Lee: What are you looking forward to at this whole event that's happening? Will all of you stay with your piece or will you get to wander around and experience the other events that are happening? [00:54:49] Robin Birdd David: That's a good question. I'm hoping we'll be able to experience the events. That's also my birthday. So I'm hoping to be able to celebrate, see folks I haven't seen in a long time in the community, and to learn about other artists work and to be able To also explore Chinatown as the way that the festival is, was designed to be able to support small businesses. And then also to be able to collaborate with Cone Shaped Top is such an honor and something that we've wanted to do for so long. [00:55:19] Dominic Cheng: I'm excited to just support other artists who are activating like different parts of the festival. I had attended last year's festival the inaugural festival and was really amazed and really moved by the ways in which folks were taking up taking up space in like public areas through art and were sharing different stories in different parts of the entire Chinatown neighborhood. That was really exciting for me to experience the first time and I'm hoping to experience that and something new this time around. [00:56:01] Miko Lee: What about you, Jeffrey? What are you looking forward to? [00:56:07] Jeffrey Yip: I echo everything they both said. I think being a spectator and experiencing What these other creatives are showcasing. I know Kim Ip is going to do a performance. I'm excited about that. TNT Tricycle is going to be there. Maybe I'll sing a song I know there is going to be a lot of great stuff. There's going to be the canto pop. I'm excited for that as well. So maybe dance a little bit in the street. , I think that would be nice. it'll be really good for me and Jeff to brush up on our Cantonese through dancing to canto pop DJ music. [00:56:43] Miko Lee: Okay, and we will just look forward to seeing you all dancing in the procession, which is going to be lion dance and then Duniya dance all the way around the block. So you can do a little Bollywood, a little lion dance. Thank you so much Macro Waves Collective for joining me on Apex Express. I hope people can get out in the streets and see this amazing artwork going down the end of the month, September 30th. Thank you all for joining me. [00:57:08] Robin Birdd David: Thank you so much for having us. [00:57:10] Dominic Cheng: Thank you so much Miko. [00:57:14] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for joining us. Please check out our website, kpfa.org backslash program, backslash apex express to find out more about the show tonight and to find out how you can take direct action. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important. [00:57:39] Miko Lee: Apex express is a proud member of the AACRE network. Asian-Americans for civil rights and equality. Find out more at aacre.org. Apex express is produced by me. Miko Lee. Along with Paige Chung, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar, Anuj Vaida. Kiki Rivera, Swati Rayasam, Nate Tan, Hieu Nguyen and Cheryl Truong tonight's show is produced by me Miko thank you so much to the team at kpfa for their support have a great Night. The post APEX Express – 9.7.23 – Under the Same Sun appeared first on KPFA.

This week, Diana sits down with Priscilla Chin to talk about psychoanalysis, its misconceptions, and the differences between psychoanalysis and other modalities. They discuss the various techniques and interventions that are used in analysis; how it can help explore our internal worlds, past, and unconscious thoughts; and how it can empower people of color to take control of their own narratives.Priscilla Chin, LCSW (she/her) is a therapist, psychoanalyst, and a group practice owner for a culturally responsive online therapy practice in New York, New Jersey, and DC. Learn more about Priscilla at imagineemotionalwellness.com or @imagineemotionalwellness Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

Earlier this month, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts opened the Tatau: Marks of Polynesia exhibit, which explores the art, tradition, and history of tatau (Samoan tattooing). Lead producer Emily Means talks with Verona Mauga, cofounder of the Pacific Islander advocacy organization Le Malu, about this tradition and its revival, as well as her own tatau experience. The exhibit runs through December. You can find out more and get tickets here. Subscribe to our daily morning newsletter. You can find us on Instagram @CityCastSLC and Twitter @CityCastSLC. Looking to advertise on City Cast Salt Lake? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. The post APEX Express – August 31, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

Hey fellow listeners, since moving to a new distributing platform, some earlier episodes are no longer avilable in Apple Podcast and Spotify. In the next few weeks, we will be retunring to the highlights and offer the new listeners a chance to listen to our 'baby episodes' when we first began our journey with Asian Bitches Down Under. April 2020: Mental health is rarely openly discussed among Asian societies. Why? Does shame and conservative gender roles contribute to this hidden struggle? Jessie and Helen unpack their own experiences and highlight other factors that may be exacerbating this often invisible condition, especially among Asian communities.  Mental health research and evaluation in multicultural Australia: developing a culture of inclusion Immigration-Related Factors and Mental Disorders Among Asian Americans  Mental Health Among Asian-Americans  Why Asian- American and Pacific Islanders don't go to therapy   Asian Americans Are Undergoing a Silent Mental Health Crisis   Tackling taboos: Young people talk about Asia's mental health problems  Asian Bitches Down Under featured as one of the Top 20 Intersectional Feminist Podcast by FeedSpot, checkout other amazing podcast programs HERE Facebook | Asian Bitches Down Under Instagram | Asian Bitches Down Under  Buy Me A Coffee | Asian Bitches Down Under

This week, Christie, Diana, and Sam share their views on the moral and ethical questions posed in a couple therapy-related posts from Reddit's “Am I the A*hole” thread. They discuss one person's dilemma about sharing details from his therapy session to his concerned mother, and another case in which the poster is concerned about the changes he is noticing in his partner after she begins seeing a therapist. Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

The Shaka Tea co-founder Bella Hughes shares her career journey and how the lessons she's learned have helped shaped her into the leader she is today. Bella Hughes is an angel investor who invests in female entrepreneurs to help address the sexism that women commonly face when looking for financial backers. Women, she says, only receive about 1.9% of all invested capital. “I think when you empower women and minorities, they tend to give back tenfold and we can then create that abundance, we can create that change,” she says. One of Hughes' goals is to help support more female entrepreneurs, such as through Hawai‘i FoundHer, the company she co-founded with leadership consultant Gloria Lau. The company provides a six-month accelerator program for Asian American, Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian wāhine business owners.

This week, Diana is back with Lynn Min to talk about money and how our finances shape so much of our identity, sense of freedom, and, ultimately, our ability to return to our true selves. They discuss their relationships to money and the ways in which they've crafted their money stories throughout their lives.Lynn Min (she/her), LMHC, is a licensed mental health counselor, a certified life coach, a pastor, and a mom of three. Connect with Lynn at lynnmin.com or @soulmattersllc Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. The post APEX Express – August 17, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

This week, Christie, Sam, and Diana talk about their relationships to each of their ancestral languages and the grief they feel from not being as fluent as they'd like. Christie and Diana share what they've been learning through their respective language classes and explore what it means to be connected (or not) to a culture through language. Sam reflects on her recent trip to Japan and what it meant to be able to have even some simple conversations, as well as how she's navigated her biracial identity throughout her life.Mentioned in this episode:The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature by Steven Pinker Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

The UVU Pacific Islander Initiative has been taking donations since the fires in Maui broke out last week, but they got so many they actually had to stop taking them… D2 speaks with Hula Kalua-Santiago who is a student leading the fundraiser and originally from Maui. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the Aloha Festival in San Mateo over the weekend, members of the Bay Area's Asian American and Pacific Islander community came together to celebrate Polynesian culture and find ways to help people in Maui. Reporter: Billy Cruz, KQED Thousands of low-income California workers shorted on their paychecks may never recover that money, even when they've won claims with state regulators. That's why one Bay Area county is giving some employers an ultimatum: pay what you owe or don't do business here. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

There are many times that work with my own clients sparks a podcast episode – and this time, I needed to look at what had been discussed in the literature since I saw my last client with postpartum depression. Because I had another – and her depression was severe. The moms I've seen with PPD have all been different. Some highly anxious but unable to function due to that anxiety along with a bad depression. Some who had histories of depression and some who didn't. Some who had had previous children with no problem and some who'd prepared for PPD since they'd experienced it before. And some who were almost dissociative – meaning that they were going through the motions of motherhood but felt very little about it. They “loved” their baby but having one seemed unreal – as if it hadn't happened. So today we're going to get the facts out about postpartum depression and of course, what you can do about it. Our listener voicemail is from a woman whose mom was an alcoholic and got sober, but who also appears to have borderline traits or BPD. – and who is viewing her daughter's choice to set boundaries as cruel and punitive. You can hear the poignancy in this mom's voice as she wants so to protect her children – but is she really protecting them by setting the boundary and thus, from her perspective, “creating” her mom's reaction and other difficult family dynamics. The point is she's NOT the one creating the dysfunction – or it certainly doesn't sound as if she is.  What would you say? Advertisers Link:  Have you been putting off getting help? BetterHelp, the #1 online therapy provider, has a special offer for you now! Vital Links: My TEDx talk that today has earned 82,000 views! For more celeb stories, you can click here. Symptoms of Post Partum Depression Causes of Post Partum Depression The Retrievals Serial podcast series Al-Anon information You can hear more about this and many other topics by listening to my podcast, The Selfwork Podcast.  Subscribe to my website and receive my weekly newsletter including a blog post and podcast! If you'd like to join my FaceBook closed group, then click here and answer the membership questions! Welcome! My book entitled Perfectly Hidden Depression is available here! Its message is specifically for those with a struggle with strong perfectionism which acts to mask underlying emotional pain. But the many self-help techniques described can be used by everyone who chooses to begin to address emotions long hidden away that are clouding and sabotaging your current life. And it's available in paperback, eBook or as an audiobook! And there's another way to send me a message! You can record by clicking below and ask your question or make a comment. You'll have 90 seconds to do so and that time goes quickly. By recording, you're giving SelfWork (and me) permission to use your voice on the podcast. I'll look forward to hearing from you! Episode Transcript/Intro This is SelfWork. And I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford. At SelfWork, we'll discuss psychological and emotional issues common in today's world and what to do about them. I'm Dr. Margaret and SelfWork is a podcast dedicated to you taking just a few minutes today for your own selfwork. Hello, welcome or welcome back to SelfWork. I'm Dr. Margaret Rutherford. I'm a psychologist. I've been in private practice for 30 years now and have decided to extend the walls of that practice to those of you who might be very interested in hearing more about mental health topics, maybe you're in therapy, maybe you've just been diagnosed with something or you have some kind of problem that you just want some help seeing through different eyes... and of course to a third group of you - those of you who think mental health treatment and maybe even therapists are just a little wacky and a little strange . So we're here together and I'm so glad we are. There are many times that my work with my own clients sparks a podcast episode, and this is one of them. I have someone with pretty severe postpartum depression, and so I wanted to look more into it, especially the recent research. The moms I've seen with postpartum have all been different. Some have been highly anxious and unable to function due to that anxiety along with a bad depression. Some had histories of depression, some who didn't, some who'd had previous children with no problem, and then some who prepared for postpartum depression since they'd experienced it before. Some were almost dissociative, meaning that they were going through the motions of motherhood, but felt very little about it. They loved their baby, but having one seemed unreal. They sort of felt dissociated from the whole experience. Detached is what that means  - as if it hadn't happened. What the general public doesn't realize is just how many miscarriages actually occur or how many problems there can be with pregnancy. For example, in 2020, there were 21,000 stillbirths that occurred in the US and the majority of those occurred among non-Hispanic, native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders and non-Hispanic black women.And this rate is more than twice the rate for non-Hispanic white women. So today we're gonna get to the facts out there about postpartum and of course what you can do about it. Our listener voicemail is from a woman whose mom was an alcoholic and got sober, but who also appears to have borderline traits and who's viewing her daughter's choice to set boundaries as cruel and punitive. You can hear the poignancy in this mom's voice as she wants so to protect her children. But is she really protecting them by setting a boundary, and thus, from her perspective, creating her mom's reaction and other difficult family dynamics? The point is, she's not the one creating the dysfunction, or it certainly doesn't sound as if she is. What would you say? We'll delve into that more later. As always, we wanna thank our generous sponsors. And if you've noticed, there's a fairly new arrival in SelfWork's queue of podcast listens, and that's an announcement about the Jordan Harbinger Show. You can support me and SelfWork by listening into my intro on Jordan's podcast. It'll appear second in your feed, as well as hearing a short message from Jordan himself on how he shapes his podcast. I actually listen to him on my walks. It's very different from SelfWork, but I like his style. Give it a listen when you can because it will support SelfWork.. The Episode For now, let's get into a discussion about what is a very painful subject when you're not supposed to be depressed -  'cause you just had a baby, It seems that finally postpartum depression is getting attention and that attention is long overdue. Some celebrities have been talking about it through the years revealing what an extremely tough time they had for the months after their child's birth. Marin Morris, for example, the country singer says "You're trying to become a new mother and good parent and do everything right". She added of the drowning feeling, "You just feel like you suck at every level". The actress Reese Witherspoon gave testimony to this kind of depression sneaking up on you. She said she felt completely out of control after the birth of her first child. And now I quote, "We don't understand the kind of hormonal rollercoaster that you go on when you stop nursing, and no one explained that to me. I was 23 years old when I had my first baby, and nobody explained to me that when you wean a baby, your hormones go into the toilet.I felt more depressed than I'd ever felt in my whole life. It was scary." And there's another, Serena Williams had her baby in 2018, and she said, "Honestly, sometimes I still think I have to deal with it". Her daughter was born by emergency cesarean section, and the athlete also had a near death experience involving pulmonary embolism. So you can see why that is really trauma and that happens. So I quote her again, "I think people need to talk about it more because it's almost like the fourth trimester. It's part of the pregnancy. I remember one day I couldn't find Olympia's bottle and I got so upset I started crying because I wanted to be perfect for her." If you wanna hear more celeb stories, I've got a link for you in the show notes. So what are the most recent statistics and facts about postpartum depression? Here's what a New York Times article had to say. "In recent years, mental health struggles have become the leading cause of maternal mortality in the United States, primarily due to suicides and drug overdoses. It's estimated that one in eight new moms experience postpartum depression and some research has suggested that the prevalence climbed as high as one in three during the early days of the pandemic. Yet roughly half of the women who are struggling with their mental health after pregnancy don't receive treatment. Barriers to care include a lack of awareness about symptoms and treatments and inability to access resources and of course stigma." So now I move away from that article to say there's increasing awareness that maternal deaths don't just happen during pregnancy or within the first few weeks after birth. This is going to surprise you. It was a stunning revelation to me. The new figures come amid a troubling rise in deaths of pregnant women and new mothers in the United States, which has the highest maternal mortality rate in the industrialized world. The figures soared during the pandemic to 32.9 deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2021. Rates for black and Native American women are two to three times higher than those for white women. It seems that the rates for black and native American women may be more equivalent to white women when the deaths are about depression or suicide. So now we know that there's danger to mom and baby for quite a long time. I'm going to quote one more article, summing up the findings from the CDC and I quote, "A fuller extent of the problem came to light in September when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took a more expansive look at mother's deaths analyzing them for a full year after childbirth and including deaths resulting from mental health conditions based on data provided by 36 states on 1018 pregnancy related deaths from 2017 to 2019." The CDC concluded that about a third of them occurred during pregnancy or on the day of delivery, and roughly another third before the baby turns six weeks old. But a full 30% occurred from that point until the baby's first birthday, a period that had not been a focus of maternal mortality research. I mean, I think this is incredible. Of note, most pregnancy related suicidal deaths occurred in the postpartum period with 62% of pregnancy related suicides occurring between 43 and 365 days postpartum, followed by 24% during pregnancy, and 14% within 42 days postpartum. So we don't have to just worry about postpartum in the first few weeks. We actually have to be very tuned into its presence even a year after the baby is born. The data have led to calls for closer follow-up care and more support for new moms during what has been called the fourth trimester, as Serena Williams called it, with special attention given to the women most vulnerable. I love this quote from Allison Stuby, an OB GYN professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. She says, "Our approach to birth has been that the baby is the candy and the mom's the wrapper. And once the baby is out of the wrapper, we cast it aside. We need to recognize that the wrapper is a person. Moms are getting really sick and dying." Just to let you know, the other deaths that were not mental health conditions, the most frequent is hemorrhage, cardiac conditions, infections, thrombotic embolism and cardiomyopathy in that order. And they accounted for over 75% of pregnancy related deaths. And actually the figures show that 84% of those deaths were preventable. Let me say that again. 84% of those deaths were preventable. But people aren't paying attention. Moms don't wanna complain. Families are in denial. They don't know about this information. That's why it's so vital, and we're featuring it here on SelfWork. So is it that women didn't complain or that somehow mothers signs of illness were overlooked, somehow seen as weakness or that pregnant or new moms weren't counting their blessings? In fact, I will remember that when I finally became pregnant through I V F, that's in vitro fertilization. I was in my OBs office complaining about how much my feet had swollen. Now, I liked my OB, but he said, "Now, Margaret, you're so lucky to be pregnant. You shouldn't complain" in this kind of patronizing voice, I looked straight at him and said, "I couldn't disagree with you more. You're right. I worked hard to get pregnant and I am lucky. But that hard work gives me all the room in the world to complain. This was hard from the very beginning." He apologized, which was one of the reasons why I liked him so much. But somehow, women are supposed to handle the very difficult and at time frightening aspects of childbirth while either parenting other children or working full-time for a salary or whatever, without complaining, without receiving support, or more importantly, without being listened to for what are very real problems. In my research for this episode, I also came across a story about just this attitude toward women that truly shocked me to the core, at least rationally as a woman. However, I sadly got it. After we hear from BetterHelp who can help you through depression of any kind, I'll tell you this story and talk more specifically about the symptoms of postpartum depression. I recently heard a fascinating reframe for the idea of asking for help. Maybe you view asking for help as something someone does, who's falling apart or who isn't strong. So consider this. What if asking for help means that you won't let anything get in your way of solving an issue, finding out an answer or discovering a better direction? Asking for help is much more about your determination to recognize what needs your attention or what is getting in your way of having the life you want better help. The number one online therapy provider makes reaching out about as easy as it can get. Within 48 hours, you'll have a professional licensed therapist with whom you can text, email, or talk with to guide you, and you're not having to comb through therapist websites or drive to appointments. It's convenient, inexpensive, and readily available. Now you can find a therapist that fits your needs with better help. And if you use the code or link Betterhelp.com/ selfwork, you get 10% off your first month of sessions. So just do it. You'll be glad you did. That. Link again is betterhelp.com/selfwork to get 10% off your first month of services. Okay, first, let's talk about the symptoms of what's called PPD or postpartum depression. It's very different than the baby blues. Baby blues are very, very common, similar to what things are going on in other life transitions, they are mood swings, anxieties, sadness, irritability, feeling overwhelmed, crying, trouble with thinking and concentration, trouble sleeping. But that tends to go away when the new mom or maybe the mom with two or three other children settles down. But if the baby is sick or colicky or is born with some kind of problem, who knows what will happen. And yet, even if the baby seems perfectly normal, postpartum depression can happen and you can place huge shame onto yourself because somehow you're not grateful or happy. It basically is the same as a major depressive episode. In fact, that diagnosis has to be there with huge hormonal changes occurring. I worked with a woman who developed major depression after an adoption, not because there was anything wrong, but 'cause she'd gone through years of infertility treatment and failed adoptions and had never grieved the loss of those dreams. Her grief was waiting for her, and her experience was that she had very strong depression after she got her child. And let's say the mother herself had serious medical trauma during the birth or the pregnancy, and now she's supposed to be able to snap back from that and parent or nurse. Maybe she nearly died herself, but there's no time to grieve... or so she can tell herself and others can feed her that line as well. So in that instance, talk about complication!. She may be dealing with post-traumatic stress alongside trying to care for a child and becoming depressed herself. Now, what are postpartum depression symptoms? It's very similar, if not the same with major depression, except there are unique things that have to do with hormonal changes and being a mom. You're depressed, you have severe mood swings, you cry too much. You have difficulty bonding with your baby. You withdraw from family and friends. You can't eat, you can't sleep. Or sometimes you sleep too much. You don't enjoy what you used to enjoy. You can be very angry and irritable. You fear that you're not a good mother. Feel hopeless, helpless, worthless. You can have severe anxiety and even panic attacks. You can have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby and recurring thoughts of death or suicide. So who's more at risk for postpartum? One, someone who's had depression in the past. Two, if you have a partner with an untreated mood disorder or substance abuse and three, lack of social support. Now what does that last one mean? Maybe you have little to no maternity leave. Maybe you're on your own with no friends or relatives to help you adjust. Untreated postpartum depression may last for many months or longer. Now, there is a thing called postpartum psychosis. Just like in any depression, a deeper depression can devolve into psychosis where you feel confused and lost. You hallucinate -meaning you see things that aren't there or hear things that aren't there. You have delusions. You can feel paranoid, and you may even hear voices telling you to harm your baby. You've got to tell people if that's what's happening. It requires immediate treatment. I'm gonna touch on the fact that fathers who are young, have a history of depression, experience relationship problems, or are struggling financially are also candidates for a certain kind of postpartum depression, sometimes called paternal postpartum depression. It can certainly have the same negative effect on the mother and father's relationship and their child's development. So we must become more aware of this. And if you have a daughter or a sister or a friend who's struggling, what's the best thing you can do? Before I answer this question, I wanna bring up perfectionism. Just think what happens when a woman who's perfectionistic and needs a lot of control has a baby. Everything that was in her control suddenly isn't. This can be a highly dangerous time for her. It can be a pressure cooker, and friends can really help out by affirming what is a difficult transition for anyone, but especially if you need a lot of control. So I told you about a story I was gonna tell you that I was shocked by. I discovered a podcast called The Retrievals that is a part of the Serial series. Now, I haven't listened to it all, but what I heard was shocking. Basically, an employee, a nurse from the Yale Infertility Clinic stole pain meds that the women undergoing egg retrieval procedures were supposed to get in their IVs, pain meds that would normally have made the procedure perhaps uncomfortable, but that would be it. And yet, several of the women having these egg retrievals, which is an operation basically were screaming that they could feel everything and that the pain was unbearable. And this happened to multiple, multiple people and went on for several weeks. But the women just bore the pain because they were told, "Well, we've given you all the pain medicine we can." The producer of this program stated that they did what women often do, which is to make up a story that would somehow lead them to blame themselves for their horrific experience. And that's what women tend to do. We tend to find fault with ourselves. But listen to this... Even after the facts were discovered, the crime was discovered that the nurse had basically replaced the pain meds with saline solution. So some women only got one to 10% of the pain medicine needed. Even after that had been discovered, all of the women got a statement from Yale that basically said, "We're sorry, but you know, there was no harm done." What?No harm? So the women felt relief that their realities were validated but also very disrespected. I'm anxious to hear the rest of the program. Maybe they did something about that. I'll have the links to the entire podcast for you in the show notes. So women's pain is often overlooked. We are seen as complaining or whining when it's really very real. And this has just got to stop. Postpartum depression is a very real and dangerous form of depression. So we must make sure we listen and pay attention. And rather than saying, "Well, I don't wanna tell my daughter who's about to have a baby that this might happen to her, you know, I don't want to worry her. I don't want her to be afraid." Myself. I'd rather someone know that this is what to watch for. In fact, that would be a wonderful gift to give someone who's just discovered she's about to have a child - Sso they can prepare and be alert. That's what you can do about it. And then support them getting the help that they need. You'll be excited to hear. I'm excited to say that later on this week, it will be a midweek episode. I'm gonna have Dr. Zenobia Harris on who heads up the Arkansas Birthing Project. My state of Arkansas leads the nation in maternal mortality rates. And Dr. Harris is gonna talk to us about that as well as what's going on in the field so that we can prevent those deaths. So tune in again this week to hear more about that Speak pipe message from dr margaret rutherford.com. Listener Email So now let's get to our weekly voicemail. Hi, I'm looking for some advice on how to manage my borderline mom as a grandmother to my six and four year old children. I've been putting in boundaries with her since I became a mom about six years ago. So it's very new in our relationship and she hasn't taken it well. She's playing the victim and that since she's stopped drinking, which she abused alcohol for nearly 20 years of my life, she thinks all the issues are resolved and that I'm being selfish for not forgiving her and that I'm being making things very hard and treating her badly by having boundaries. I'm getting to the point of thinking there's no way forward. But apart from struggling with being labeled as difficult and a problem and not compassionate and attacked by family members for treating her this way, I'm very mindful of protecting my children from this dynamic in my family. But it feels like going no contact and having to explain that to my children is me bringing that dynamic to my children rather than protecting them from it. So how do I navigate this while protecting my children from her, but also from the story of her? I really am lost and worried. So any advice would be so helpful. You know, there aren't many more problematic family issues than when a family member, whether it's a parent, a child, a sibling, a grandparent, whatever, denies the impact of their behavior on other people. I've often talked with one of my very dear friends who happens to be a psychologist. Think of it like this. Imagine a a fairly small party or gathering where one person doesn't talk, doesn't say anything, doesn't say why they're not talking, just walks around or sits and stares. You can imagine what kind of impact that's likely to have on the others. Some people will try very hard to engage them, some will get mad, some people will ignore them or at least try to, but they have a lot of power, don't they? It's like someone refusing to own their impact on others. So you can have a family member like this mom, who is refusing to own the impact of her past behavior, and in fact wants credit for having changed, which is great that she's quit drinking, but she's still not taking responsibility for the impact of her past behavior and perhaps other characterological issues. What they don't realize is that they've been hurtful and must earn back the trust of their family members because the family is not supposed to turn the page and pretend it didn't happen. No, that's not the way it works. And especially to call someone setting boundaries, abandonment when the trust hasn't been earned back, isn't fair or right. In fact, from what I know, from what this listener talks about, it seems that the mom just wants her daughter to ignore what has happened and trust her. And yet, I've heard many, many times in my office with people or mothers or fathers, whomever that have had abusive parents, they've said to me, "I can deal with them hurting me, but I'm not gonna let them hurt my child or my children." So that can seem pretty clear, right? The boundary's drawn, the mom gets mad, family doesn't understand, but it's still about," I'm not gonna let you hurt my children." Yet this listener brings up another difficult point: Is not being involved with her mother going to confuse her children or even more greatly expose them to the pain in the family, especially if it sounds like other members of the family are moving on? Both her mom and some of her family are seeing this as cruel and they may make a big deal about it. So this is my somewhat painful answer. Yes, it is a difficult issue and in fact, there's probably no total win in this situation, or at least what I've heard from this listener. Being estranged from a parent or a grandparent is going to need an explanation, at least an age appropriate one. But you can prepare yourself for that conversation. I'd highly recommend that this listener read some Al-Anon literature or join an online or local group. Al-Anon is a group that was formed years ago.They help each other to see how their own behavior or choices could what's called enable the drinker. And remember, stopping drinking alone doesn't fix the problems created when someone was drinking. That's naive and even entitled. But the people who are involved in Al-Anon have a lot of wisdom to share. I've been told their motto is something like "detach with love." I've got the Al-Anon link in the show notes, and there are meetings all over the world in 133 countries. And of course you can join in online. Perhaps they will give you their own versions of what they said to parents or family and how they explained it to their children. But you must remember as well that children learning that there is a natural consequence to their behavior and others, that's a really important thing for them to learn. I hope this has been helpful. Thank you so much to those of you who are regular listeners, welcome to new listeners. I got a wonderful review from a listener in South Africa. She happens to be a therapist, so thank you for that. I read that. I appreciate it very much. People ask me all the time, how long have you been doing that podcast? And now in October it'll be seven years. It's just become a part of my life. And I appreciate all of you listening, reviewing, rating, commenting, and sending in your questions and voicemails. Thank you so much. Please take care of yourself, your family, and your community. I'm Dr. Margaret and this has been SelfWork.  

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Tonight's show features host Kiki Rivera. Storyteller for Empowering Pacific Islander Communities, bringing you an EPIC Talanoa. Kiki features Vernon Kapuaʻala of Hui Kānaka Pōwaewae, Hawaiian Football federation. Show Transcript: 08-10-23 Kiki in the Constellation: Hui Kānaka Pōwaewae [00:00:00] Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view, it's time to get on board the Apex Express.Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Kiki: Good evening. You are tuned into apex express. We are bringing you an Asian American and Pacific Islander view from the bay and around the world. I'm your host Kiki Rivera. Storyteller for empowering Pacific Islander Communities, bringing you in EPIC Talanoa. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view, it's time to get on board the Apex Express. Kiki: Tonight, we're talking to Vernon Kapuaʻala of Hui Kānaka Pōwaewae. Uh, Hawaii national football team, improving the resiliency and wellbeing of native Hawaiians through football. Keep it locked on apex [00:04:00] express. Before we bring on Vernon to talk about the Hawaiian national football team. I'll tell you a little bit about myself, because this is the first time we're meeting. I was born Kiana Rivera. But now I go is Kiki. I was born and raised on the island of Oahu Hawaii. In the district known as Lualualei. It's very hot, dry there's lots of farms and it very visibly present military. My home was overlooking the beautiful valley and two giant Naval radio towers. Which was which when I was little, I was told that the radiation could give me leukemia. Luckily, I didn't get the leukemia. Um, I was also raised by many native Hawaiians. I, myself am Samoan Filipino, but where, and who I was raised by greatly contributed to my identity. There are lots of different opinions about Hawaiiʻs statehood and to each their own. And I acknowledge [00:05:00] that. I come from a family of settlers that benefit from. From America, from being American. And at the same time, I recognize that I was born on an illegally overthrown kingdom. So there's part of me that doesn't feel like an American citizen. However. If you ask my mom, she'll proudly say that she's an American. But for myself and many others like me, the story of Hui Kānaka Pōwaewae is a story of hope. To me. It's a story of liberation. So enough about me, let's hear from Vernon Kapuaʻala. of Hui Kānaka Pōwaewae. VK: My name is Vernon Kapuaʻala. I am the president and CEO of Hui, Kanaka Powawae, which, translated in English is Hawaiian football, Hawaiian Football Federation. Our primary responsibility is managing,[00:06:00] Hawaiian national teams. Aloha. Well, Vern, you already said Hawaii National Teams. Tell us a little bit about what that means. So we, um, the idea of forming Hawaiian national teams came out of a dream, something that was in, the imagination. And really got, really got pushed, out into what is now the manifestation of that imagination and that idea and that dream. , One from a sense of kuleana, one from, the question of , what can I do? How can I serve our La Hui, , in a greater capacity? , so the concept of of Hawaiian national teams was birth. Some of the problems that that plagued, native Hawaiians, I mean, we could have a whole show about the [00:07:00] problems, but the one that really kind of stuck out, as maybe the common denominator in, you know, the high rates of teen suicide and the high rates of diabetes and all of those lists that, you know, aboriginal Hawaiians are at the top of. And it kind of came back, at least from our perspective to identity. And, you know, for youth identity is already, is already a tough issue, right? But even more so now in, in this day and age . we kind of looked at the history of things , and in learning that history, learning about what the Hawaiian Kingdom was like pre 1893, , and then what it became, , By 1993, right. When, when Clinton had the, believe it was 93, the apology resolution. Right. Apologizing for the illegal overthrow. What was happening in, in the kingdom era? What was happening pre [00:08:00] 1893? , our identity was at its strongest then as Hawaiians, because we as governing our country, we was leading in governing and governance in Oceania. We had trade, we had commerce, we had treaties. We were thriving. You know, the people had universal healthcare for free. . We had, specialty healthcare for, women and babies, , and pregnancies and those things. We were leaders, not to mention the only brown country in the world at the time. And so our identity as Hawaiians, and when I say Hawaiians, I mean Hawaiian citizens, Hawaiian nationals, our degree of patriotism as Hawaiians and for Hawaiian Kingdom was at its highest. And then from there you can see the decline, right? So coming back to , this yearning that will grab ahold of most Kanaka, I imagine [00:09:00] of , what I can do for my La Hui. I find myself in a place of, managing a lot of what we grew up playing as soccer, right? Americans call it soccer and managing leagues and, , various competitions scouting for the US youth national teams. It's our identity. We are not only struggling with our identity, we've lost it there's no connection for a lot of us to. That period and that heightened sense of who aloha. Right? Of aloha in the sense of not love of the land, but love of country. Right. , and , it came together. I was in this space where , we were serving and affecting a lot of youth and a lot of ohana throughout Hawaii. But we decided, we wanna start shifting our focus to, to kanaka youth. And we wanna impact them. [00:10:00] We wanna change, the recipe that is being used currently by a lot of native Hawaiian organizations who are doing good work. Everybody doing work, all work is contributing, you know, all things work together for the good and. For us, we feel that national identity, patriotism is missing from the recipe, of what we trying to do as, as a la hui to better our lives. Right. And so for me, it just made sense. What better way than using football? Using football to reclaim reinstill or actually instill if they're youth, This sense of pride of country, of nationality, we felt we needed a symbol. What was gonna be the symbol that we could, as the La Hui get behind and [00:11:00] support, there's nothing really in Hawaii to support on a in an international platform, in a, in an international space. You get fans of, uh, , they go bows, right? Rainbow warriors, you get fans of, of high schools, which is high school sports in this, in terms of what we speaking on is huge. Right? But nothing about country to country. Mm-hmm. Except, except for those who may identify as Americans. Kiki: So before we go there, what is national football or what Americans know as soccer? What is that looking like right now? VK: In terms of Here in Hawaii or just on a, on a global scale? Kiki: On a global scale. VK: So if you didn't know. association football is the term that was used when fifa, which is the governing body of the sport [00:12:00] globally. They're the ones that control the FIFA World Cups, also and futsal, which is the indoor version of football and, uh, beach soccer. Interestingly enough, they called that one soccer. Um, , and, It's, it's the largest, the World Cups is the largest sporting event in, in all the world. Ha. It happens every four years at the senior level, um, every two years at the youth levels. what you're talking about is country versus country, right? You're talking about, um, in case you didn't know, , right. Argent. National finally won his first World Cup with Argentina this past, , world Cup. And so we talking about sporting from country to country. And currently , the largest, uh, spectator base, the largest participation base, um, in terms of people playing football in the world, um, is massive, . [00:13:00] Another reason why for me, being that this was my sport and deciding national teams was the best vehicle for all of this is because it's how every country in the world supports and shows its patriotism is in football. Every country in the world is gonna have a football team, whether they're recognized by FIFA or not. , they're gonna have a football team. , and you cannot say the same for every country in terms of other sports and then you start to talk about the Olympic side of things, right? There's Olympic sports and all of those things. But you know, for sure, um, every country will have a football team. And, uh, if Hawaiian Kingdom was still in effective control of its country, we would have a football team. Um, association football was first played, eh, right in around 1900, 19 0 3, [00:14:00] 0 4. In that, in that those years, um, Duke Kahanamoku played association football, um, found a picture online of him with the, his, Kamehameha School's teammates. Um, it was a, it was a small league that I believe had. Kamehameha School participated, uh, Honolulu, was it Honolulu College, which eventually became Punahou. I dunno if I got that fact right. And then this group of, of Scottish Scotsmen who kind of formed the league and they had a little, a little three team league going, um, and it was called the Hawaiian Association Football League. And so I used, I kid around with people all the time. I tell , we would've been playing football already. Well, what you mean because we were that progressive as a country, right? We were back, back to when we had [00:15:00] electricity before the White House. Right? We were progressive and we were heavily influenced by the British, right? In terms of many aspects of governing, of, , trade and commerce, and it would've eventually been, you know, the English accredited with the, with the invention of the sport. So it was just a matter of time and right there shows it, right? Those scotsmen brought it here, started a league and introduced Kanaka to football. And so in terms of that on a global scale, , it's celebrated. It's heavily supported, just, it's heavily participated in, and for us, for, for Hawaiian football and, and having this identity and this pride, to me it doesn't get any greater than that any greater than representing. 'cause that was, that was what I had in my head. It's like, oh, imagine walking out on the field. Of course I was on the team, right? So we walk in on [00:16:00] the field and, we did an international walk and we meet in the center and they played the national anthems and we sing in Hawaii and the Hawaiian flag is being raised right? And then whoever, I don't even know who was playing in that dream, which really doesn't matter, right? The fact is we was there representing our country, playing on the biggest. Platform ever. . Global football. Right. And so if we look at that from the perspective of building awareness, perhaps. Mm-hmm. For those that may not know what happened after 1893 in Hawaii up until now, why, uh, why Kanaka struggle so much? Not just with identity, but with everything. Why? Why socioeconomically we're the lowest race or we, we at the bottom, [00:17:00] essentially, we went from being the top to the bottom. Mm-hmm. And it happened to us systematically. Right. And by design. Right, because that, that kind of, that kind of decline that happens that way doesn't just accidentally happen. So you're reclaiming the narrative. Mm-hmm. . By building a national. Hawaii national identity on the field. Mm-hmm. You open up the audience even more and you engage a greater audience, say with, with indigenous people, with, , Hawaii nationals like myself, who want to participate in rooting for their country, but don't, , feel like they can identify with. The U.S. So you're giving us something to cheer for as well? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's beautiful. We'll be back right after this break. Here's some new music from the beautiful soul tree. [00:18:00] Keep it locked on 94.1 KPFA. Kiki: Welcome back. You are tuned into apex express on 94.1 KPFA and 89.3. KPFB in Berkeley and online at K P F a [00:21:00] dot O R G. You've just listened to Funky Thang by Soultree off of their album Gem. You can follow Soultree on Instagram at soul tree music. And you can also follow their music on apple and Spotify and all the different platforms. So during the interview, I learned that my use of the word indigenous was controversial and I was corrected very graciously. But it reminded me that there are multiple realities. We live in balance as humans and as a person who lives at the intersections of being queer trans Pacific Islander, living in the diaspora. I think it's only fair to keep an open mind and heart for those varying definitions and how it lands or doesn't land. On our bodies. Anyway, Let's get back to this conversation with Vernon Kapuaʻala Kiki: can you describe a little bit what's happening with football in Oceania? VK: In terms of what's going on in Oceania, Oceania is enjoying, some growth, in the sport. Many of the countries in Oceania didn't become members of FIFA till , late sixties to the late seventies in that area. So really, really young in terms of. The development of the game, um, the development of the players, and certainly in terms of where they stack up against, the rest of the world. out of the six confederations Oceania is pretty much at the bottom of it all. the, the big boy, if you will, currently in Oceania is New Zealand. which makes sense in many ways being that they're the largest country in Oceania, well in the confederation and, most developed. In, in, in many other ways, right? So they have the population, they have the economy, they have, um, a lot of things going for them in terms of ability and resources to, to develop sport. whereas once you start [00:23:00] going down, through the rest of the islands, Tonga and Samoa, both Samoa is Western and American. Fiji, you know, economies change, uh, resources start to dwindle. We think it's expensive going from, from Hawaii to the states or anywhere else for that matter. But it's just as expensive for those countries to travel just within. Oceania. So if you can imagine their national teams have to spend a lot of money and need a lot of support just to get through to the other countries to get their qualifying matches in and some cases some of the countries in Oceania from what I hear, really struggle and sometimes end up not even being able to participate for whatever reason in a particular set of qualifiers or whatnot. And so certainly with not without its challenges, um, however they all get to field [00:24:00] national teams. They all get to compete for the chance to qualify into a World Cup. Um, and the road for most of them is super tough cuz it always goes through New Zealand. In terms of who, who usually ends up either with a birth into the World Cup, whether it be the U 17 World Cup or the U 20 World Cup. The Men G 20 World Cup, , New Zealand was the number one out of there. And I believe Fiji's U twenties qualified as well. So there was two Oceania teams in the U 20 men's World Cup, which, I mean, think about that, right? That's, that's a World Cup. That's the world stage. And they, they got to be there competing, representing their country. And so when it comes to Oceania, um, with regards to Hawaii, We would be in Oceania because that's where we belong. We're a [00:25:00] oceanic country, right. Pacific. Sure. But when you break it all down, everybody like looked to the states. Right. Actually, we looking the wrong way. We, we, we belong the other way. Right. So, you know, we've had, we've, we've been able to have some communication over the years with Oceania. It's leadership and, talking about the idea of, or the dream of also one day becoming full FIFA members. It would be as part of Oceania, we would become what would be the 12th full member of, of Oceania and a lot of the countries and their federation presidents were very, uh, keen as, as they would say on the idea of, of Hawaii being part those. And for them it's a no-brainer when you talk to [00:26:00] all of those, like we, we have a great relationship with Maori football and when we talk to them, it's a no-brainer where Hawaii belongs in terms of global football. Do we belong in Oceania? , all that alone, if that could officially one day happen, like official recognition by FIFA in as part of Oceania, wonderful. We gonna go there anyway and compete. We gonna go there. It's gonna start with Maori football, but eventually we're gonna get with, um, and hopefully two. You know, um, Tahiti comes to mind right away. Tahiti is, uh, keen on, on competing with us. We are gonna start developing, relationship with them, which is interesting, right? Cuz when you talk about other connecting , our culture's connecting in terms of Maori, and, Tahiti. We've had other hoku, right? Hoku right away should pop into everybody's minds if they know about, the connections of the cultures. But to do it through football, it's his story And it's gonna be historic when we get there and actually do it so football growing, we want to become part of Oceania and official capacity, be capacity, but until then we just gonna, like everything else Hawaiian football is doing now, we just exercising our right to football, so in terms of actually reaching fifa, that's a tough one because there's things out of our control. You know, we actually communicated with fifa, in our official capacity, via letter, asking if they would recognize recognize Hawaii as a country. That is under occupation. And, long story short, we got two response. The first time they said no, we went back again and then they said no again. Yeah. Bob, several interesting things about our communications with fifa, number one, US soccer was, was carbon copied on [00:28:00] all the communications, so was Oceania, and so were all the Oceanic members. So everybody knew we were doing this. And so, okay, back to the long story short part, they said no the second time, but it was less a no and more, uh, not at this time. So there was a, there was an open-endedness about it, And essentially it came down to, uh, our argument, the United Nations fifa, none of them can recognize a country like officially recognize a country. , they basically were saying we would need to be recognized country of the United Nations. And our argument came back as the United Nations they know what our ability to recognize a country, countries recognize countries via treaties, which we have lots of them, right? Which is still in full force in effect. And so they said, well, basically a more competent body makes this ruling. The answer for now is gonna be no. So we [00:29:00] took that as we are gonna have to get to some type of world and international court, probably the court of arbitration for sport, which FIFA uses and the International Olympic Committee uses to settle disputes between international organizations and private entities, et cetera. And we had an opportunity to do it. This was back in 2018 to go to court. But after looking into it, number one, you're going to court with FIFA who has endless resources and we have nothing. And at the time we never, even, at the time, we didn't even have a program, a team. It was still just an idea. And we was like, yeah, let's go join fifa. You know, it was this crazy kind of whimsical. Thing and we threw ourselves into it for a few months, what is important is that this manifests so that we can start affecting, coming back to what the mission vision is, [00:30:00] is long-term impact through football. Generational impact, on the Hawaiian community, using football. Eventually they're gonna see us. And maybe as soon as July in Aotearoa when we go there and compete against Maori football during the FIFA Women's World Cup, which is hosted this summer by New Zealand and Australia. Coming back to, to Oceania would not only complete things for us, but complete it for the rest of Oceania as well. Not in a way of oh, they need us to to anything, but to me it would just strengthen. It would just further strengthen. Other Oceania countries to see the return of, of Hawaii, I think. Anyway, to there. Also keep in mind when we're talking about Oceania, we're talking about the Marshallese and we're talking about Kirabati Tuvalu and, and on and on and on. Micronesia, federated states, all of that, right?[00:31:00] We can go on and on and on, but , the biggest difference is we are not asking America for permission because we don't belong to them. They just happened to have effective control of our country. So our return and our membership to FIFA is not, contingent upon the United States permission. So with this framing the only people that's stopping FIFA is fifa.So here's the thing, this has to do with the obvious might and power of the United States, or stand up to the United, keep in mind, the US was the one who led the charge to basically go and scoop up all set bladder and all the rest of that corruptness. That was in fifa. That was the FBI driven. The FBI went in there and raided all those guys, cleaned out fifa. And hopefully for the better. I don't know. Um, but that corruption and scandal, that ran rampant [00:32:00] through FIFA for many years. It was a US who went in and did that. And so I get it when not everybody, you know, in other governments and governing bodies and people of authority think about having to stand up against the United States. I get that. Will FIFA do it? I don't know. Mm. But you put us in a court, a competent body. We're gonna win that argument. There's nothing that can be said. The history has been proven again in the legal realm, in international law, in all of that. It's undisputable, if FIFA is to do the pono thing, then we we'll be members./ Kiki: That is Vernon Kapuaʻala, Allah talking about the Hawaiian national football team and their strive for recognition as a sovereign nation. And the struggle. Of qualifying for FIFA. We're going to take another music break. Here's one from the bay area, Filipina, rapper, and singer Klassy, featuring The Bar called One Take. Off the album. [00:33:00] Good Seeds produced by a beat rock music. And then you're going to hear another one from soul tree. Keep it locked in. Kiki: Thanks for joining us on apex express. That was ain't that serious by the artist's soul tree. And before that was one take by Klassy, you're listening to your new friend, Kiki Rivera, bringing you a conversation with Vernon Kapuaʻala of Hui Kānaka Pōwaewae The Hawaiian national football team. That's unifying the lāhui Hawaiʻi.  by reminding us of Hawaii's complex history. Braddah Vern is going to let you know how you can support their mission from wherever you are. VK: So they start supporting us by simple things like retweeting our, the release of our CREs or, or resharing, our national team, swag fundraiser just simple things like that. Of course we are a nonprofit organization, so support financially, we welcome that. And we have means for you to do so on a small scale and on a large scale. And so we welcome all small, big, and small. Contributions, uh, to the organization. The work is, is great. The work has, you know, tripled and maybe even quadrupled just in the last year when we actually named our inaugural national team rosters until recently when we [00:42:00] traveled our U 16 teams to California to participate against American youth soccer teams. Because for us, anytime we leave the islands, it's international. And you can see the effect, the powerful effect, the, the team, the. On the field has to everyone who's watching, including myself now. And I, this is like, I saw this, I saw this in the dream, but it wasn't like tho that moment when we're going there and just looking at the team and it took a while like it, and I don't think I even really felt the full effects of it yet, but , it was palpable, what that meant. And the only sad thing for me about it, it's not super sad, but we had on small contingency of ohana who didn't follow, who was watching and getting all into it. Right? Like normal parents at youth sport games, right? [00:43:00] Come on, just yelling. Right? But they were like, let's go Alapa. Let's, right. Na Alapa, we, we refer to our national teams as Na Alapa. It's an ode to, um, the Alapa Regiment, which was the elite warriors, uh, Kalaniopuu, elite warriors. And they , they were known and revered and admired for their superior athleticism. And so using national teams and also, you know, club teams and whatnot, have nicknames. Um, and so we decided we, we wanted to refer to our what is undoubtedly recognizable by anyone who con that's the athleticism of our, of our Kanaka and Kalaniʻopuʻu's. You know, basically Navy Seals was referred to as the Alapa regimen, so, so Alapa, um, to hear the parents yelling and cheering on the Alapa. And encouraging in only ways that mothers can encourage their daughters on the field. Um, you know, uh, was was something, and then I think about all those fans that followed Argentina to the final at this past men's FIFA World Cup. Cause anytime Argentina scored, you just heard the stadium erupt in California. I heard the sidelines erupt both our team and the parents whenever we would score, which on the wi, which on the girls side was pretty often. Um, and then you, you multiply that. Wow. That's incredible. Right? And that's, that's where the support of not just those. In the country, those in the islands, but those in the diaspora, right. That going come in. We, we had one who lives in San [00:45:00] Francisco come up to watch the girls, the girls team, cuz she had a connection there to play. And I'm like, man, imagine if, if the rest of the, the diaspora knew that we were coming to Northern California to play with the Hawaiian national team. Who else might have shown up to support? And certainly right as things go and grow and, and, and with your kokua, Kiki and your, your access to network, we'll be able to let everybody know where we gonna be playing, when we gonna be playing and when they can come support national teams. So support, you know, financially support by learning the history of the Hawaiian kingdom. And that's why we calling it national teams and then support by coming and. And wearing the swag, right. Wearing the knowing where we gonna play and, and, and if it's nearby coming by and watching. So all of those things like would, I would find so [00:46:00] incredible and, and I would be so honored to have that. We we're starting to gather players now from the diaspora who are finding out and reaching out and asking, how do I try out for the national team? That's starting it. Starting That was gonna be my next question. Yeah. That, so if you, you want me to segue into that? Yes, please. So our most recent one via social media, maybe Instagram, not sure. Um, who is, uh, kanaka and actually playing with, um, I guess has Filipino nationality and that's playing with the, um, No, sorry. And I don't, I don't know if it's Guam Nationality Guam or Chamorro. I, I, I know that Chamorro is a people, but anyway, she's playing with the Guam U 17 national team, which is a na this is the part that really tickles my fancy, [00:47:00] is she's reaching out to, to try for the Kanaka, for the Hawaiian national team, which is not recognized while already playing for the Guam national team, which is recognized. Right. It's like, it's like, I, I, I'm so honored by that. But, so that's one. We had a boy who, um, Ohana lives in Boston Plays club there recently. Um, verbally committed to Louisville, uh, men's soccer, which is a, a pretty big D one college on the east coast. Right. Uh, and he got ahold of this and he. Contacted our technical director, Ian Mark, about I, I want to try out for the team, how do I try out for this team? Like he wants to be on this team that's going to Aotearoa Right, can do I have to fly there? He's like asking all these questions and sadly we have to tell him, well, this team is, is set [00:48:00] for the most part, but the cycle starts again in August and runs till next July. Um, and so those are just a couple of examples. Um, we currently have, uh, a player, Ryan Merchant who lives in, , Washington, uh, used to live on Maui, we know the Ohana, , for many years now. And he actually was selected for our 18 men's team, which is going to Aotearoa, so he flies back for our national team camps. And, um, and activities. Uh, I think he's been back for all but maybe one or two because of school, um, conflicts. But that's how much this means to him to have been selected. And, and the parents are just trying to make, [00:49:00] go through craziness to make it all happen for him to participate and, and pull his, his end of the load, right. Of being part of this team. So those are some examples about the diaspora. We are, we will be opening our, um, our national team registry. We worked on one. It include. You know, we'll gather basic information and it will include some questions about your history and references and and whatnot. Um, for players, number one. And then also for, um, we welcome volunteers and, , um, you people with skills. We need help. We need help across the organization. As I mentioned before, the, the workload is growing enormously. And so we, we are finding that we needing people, , volunteers, we needing skilled volunteers like [00:50:00] administratively and, and tech wise , and all kinds of stuff. Not to mention, you know, on the ground. , another thing we are looking at doing this coming cycle, which again, the, when I refer to a cycle, it's a cycle of programming that runs from August 1st to July 31st is, follows the school year. Cause it, it, it's, it's simple. International football follows the calendar year. We didn't wanna upset things too much with regards to access to our players and whatnot. So we decided to follow the school year like most American sports do. Um, just cuz it was simpler. Um, we didn't wanna cause too many waves, right? Because we were already causing waves in other ways, with our organizational mission and vision but so when I reference the cycle, that's what I'm talking about. And we, and, and, and every year essentially younger players come in, we start 'em right around, we start looking at them [00:51:00] around eighth grade, uh, freshman year. Uh, we start forming teams with, um, freshmen, sophomores, and, and then we're just trying to build those teams into what gonna end up becoming our U twenties or G 20 threes and our full teams and. So one of the things we were able to do this past May in, um, Northern California when we connected with, um, um, Ian, our technical director, his, his, all his boys back there, um, they're gonna actually start helping us to run scouting events in California. So we'll be able to at least start scouting in the diaspora, like our staff, our technical staff, Ian and our coaches on the ground in the states looking at players in the flesh right there on the field. So we excited about that piece. It's something we've done throughout the [00:52:00] islands for the last two years, which is what got us to this point with these selections. And we're realizing, you know, it's great for players to reach out and let us know. Uh, we also gonna have to get eyes on them and, and. And at the end of the day, determine Right. If it's worth them coming out to events here in Hawaii, you know what I mean? So, Well, thank you so much for all the things that you folks are doing, for us nationally , it is such a, an honor to know you folks and to be part of this. So, Mahalo, you're welcome Mahalo Vern. All right. So for native Hawaiians on the continent, I would like to know how you feel about the mission of Hawaiian football. Knowing something like this exists while being so far away from the Homeland. I do feel like it's part of my [00:53:00] kuleana, my responsibility. To bridge the nation of Hawaii. From the continent, wherever you are to the INR. So what are your thoughts? Email me at K Rivera. That's krivera@KPFA.org. So for me, I'm not so much into sports. Right. But what I, what really attracted me to Vern and his partner, Trish, is how they frame Hawaiian sovereignty as something that Is already present and has to be remembered and reclaimed and. I agree. If we, and by we, I mean, Hawaiian nationals and or Pacific Islanders in the diaspora. Are going to quote K Trask. By saying we are not American. Then how are we practicing? How are we practicing our own sovereignty? How are we practicing liberation? Not to sound too cheesy, but to see it, we have to believe it right. And I think we can knock a pool. Bye. Bye. Is about being it about practicing. But that also takes so much unlearning and re-evaluating all the creature comforts that come with American citizenship by way of fake statehood. So, what are we willing to give up for true AI? For true sovereignty. Anyway. I leave you with that. For more information about Hui Kānaka Pōwaewae. I visit Hawaiian football.com. Or kanakapowaewae Instagram, where you can find all their latest news, including their trip to Aotearoa to play the Maori team and watch the FIFA women's world cup. Exciting stuff. Mahalo Vernon, Trish, and the crew of Hui Kānaka Pōwaewae and Mahalo to you, our listeners. For more information about empowering Pacific Islander communities also known as epic. Visit our website at https://www.empoweredpi.org/ And on Instagram as at empowered PI. And on Facebook. As at elevate your voice. It has been a wonderful honor to serve as epic storyteller and bringing you this story of how a football team is finding political recognition. Educating and grounding youth in culture and health through the sport of football. Not soccer. Football. A story like this is a reminder that we are. In fact. Hashtag. Empowered PI. This is Kiki Rivera for Empowering Pacific Islander communities. Keep being the change you want to see. Apex express is produced by Miko Lee, Paige Chung, Jelena Keane-Lee. Preeti Mangala shaker, Swati Rayasam, Hien Nguyen, Nicki Chan, Cheryl Truong And myself. Kiki Rivera who produced tonight's show for the very first time. Thanks to the team at KPFA for their endless support. Have a good night. Aloha. The post APEX Express – 8.10.23 Kiki in the Constellation: Hui Kānaka Pōwaewae appeared first on KPFA.

This week, Christie is rejoined by Nita Batta and Tiffany Momoko Kindred to discuss what it's like for children to try to make sense of their identity, grow up between multiple cultures, and balance individual and others' needs. They also talk about redefining familial relationships and how to retain a sense of self and leading with curiosity as a parent.Nita Batta, LMSW | The pull lies in the strength of the familiar; the push is an urge to create space and jump into the unfamiliar. As an individual who was raised between two cultures, I offer a warm and safe space to discuss cultural competency as it relates to your life. Connect with Nita at nita@agoodplacetherapy.comTiffany Momoko Kindred, LMSW | Being biracial and bicultural, I understand the complexities of holding multiple identities. I walk alongside individuals and couples to help them explore and gain an understanding of how their past has led them to their present, and how they want to move from the present into a happier, more fulfilling future. Connect with Tiffany at tiffany@agoodplacetherapy.com Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

  As some of you may know, I was attacked by a man walking in my neighborhood park around 9:45 am. The man made no attempt to steal anything; his only goal was to hurt me by tackling me like a football player.  You can read the full story here:  https://sfstandard.com/2023/08/03/asian-female-attorney-hate-crime-speak-up/.    - The latest crime data shows that 11% of assault victims citywide in San Francisco are Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.  - 25% of the elder abuse victims are AAPI, the highest among all the racial groups. - I grew up in a poor neighborhood where there gang fights, drive by shootings, and other issues that come with growing up in poverty. -But I have never been viciously attacked outside like this.  This is a park where children are playing nearby; it should be the safest place on earth.   So instead of the usual interview with guests, this episode is dedicated to reconnecting with our bodies and our breath. - The meditation itself is less than 6 minutes (0.1 billable hours). - If you want to skip straight to the meditation, it starts at 3:16. - If you can't do the full meditation, then do 5 deep breaths (in through the nose, and out through the mouth) first thing in the morning, right before bed, and anytime you're feeling anxious. Follow Samorn on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/samornselim. Get a copy of Samorn's book, “Belonging: Self Love Lessons From A Workaholic Depressed Insomniac Lawyer” at https://tinyurl.com/swpc578c. Get weekly career tips by signing up for our advice column at www.careerunicorns.com.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. “We are a small group of people, and if we are annihilated the world won't even miss us because most of the world doesn't even know we exist.” The Kuki-Zomi tribal community of Manipur, a small picturesque state in north-east India, has been witnessing violent ethnic conflict in which over 120 lives have been tragically lost and more than 50,000 individuals displaced from their ancestral homes since May 2023. Hosts Miko Lee and Cheryl Truong are joined by Niang Hangzo and Sonny Gangte, both members of the impacted Kuki-Zomi and a part of the North American Manipur Tribal Association @namtaus. They unravel the complexities of Manipur's crisis and the factors perpetuating this atrocious humanitarian violation against the Kuki people. CONTENT WARNING: Please be advised that the things we're going to be talking about and what has been happening to the Kuki-Zomi people of Manipur is horrific. Tonight's show handles sensitive topics, such as violence, genocide, gender based violence and sexual assault. Our show's transcript will be available to read in our show notes for those who would like to process at their own pace. Stay updated on the Manipur crisis and the incredible work by the North American Manipur Tribal Association by following their socials: https://twitter.com/NamtaUs https://www.facebook.com/namtaus/ https://www.instagram.com/namtaus/ https://www.youtube.com/@AdminNAMTA namta.us and namta.us/donate Niang's article APEX Express: Manipur's Humanitarian Crisis Show Transcript ​ Cheryl Truong: Before we begin here is a content warning. Please be advised that the things we're going to be talking about, and what is happening to the Kuki-Zomi people of Manipur is… Horrific. Tonight's show handles sensitive topics, such as violence, genocide, gender based violence and sexual assault. Our show's transcript will be available to read in our show notes for those who would like to process at their own pace. Please do whatever you must to take care of yourself. Miko Lee: Good evening, you're on APEX Express. This is Miko Lee and Cheryl Truong, and tonight is an AACRE night. AACRE is Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality, and APEX Express is proud to be part of the AACRE network. Cheryl Truong: For tonight's show, we're going to be unpacking some of the violence that has been taking place in the Indian state of Manipur. Protests have erupted all over America, including the series of actions that took place Sunday of last week in the bay area led by NAMTA, the North American Manipur Tribal Association, and one of our AACRE groups, ASATA, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action. The Sunday actions were in support of the Kuki-Zomi tribal community of Manipur who have been facing ongoing violence by the ethnic majority, the Meiteis. The Kuki-Zomis, a predominantly Christian indigenous community.., are facing genocide as their villages, churches and communities are being razed by the Meitei community, a largely Hindu ethnic group who account for about 50% of the state's population. This assault of the Kuki people has been ongoing since May, but is only recently getting traction for reasons we'll get into later. Here to speak out about what's been going on are two members of the impacted Kuki tribe and members of NAMTA, Niang Hongzo and Sonny Gangte. Thank you both so much for being here. To start do you mind telling our listeners who are at the Kuki-Zomis and what is going on in Manipur? Niang Hangzo: Thank you for having me here. I'm Niang Hangzo and I am a Kuki-Zomi woman. When I talk to people, I ask them, Where do you think I'm from?” and almost nine times out of ten, they'll say I'm outside of India, maybe Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, but they never think I'm Indian. Kuki-Zomi people are indigenous to Manipur, to the hills of Manipur, and we are 16% of the population, and we are Christians. But because Manipur is a small state about 8,621 square miles, and it has two distinct geography, the valley, there's a hill and valley and the valley is also where the capital is. And it is very developed– all the infrastructure, the high seats of learning, any advanced facilities, education center, et cetera– is concentrated hundred percent in the valley. And the valley is where the Meitei live. There are three distinct ethnicities in Manipur: the Meiteis, who are the majority and primarily Hindu, and then there are Nagas, and the Kuki-Zomis. The Naga and Kuki-Zomis primarily live in the hills. We are hill tribes, indigenous to the hills. But because of jobs, et cetera, a lot of us live in Imphal. My family lived in Imphal for 60 years because my parents worked for the government of Manipur. And what's interesting about me is that my mother is a Meitei and my father is one of the subtribe of the Kuki-Zomis. So when we say Kuki-Zomi, it is a conglomerate of subtribes. So it's not one tribe, it's multiple small tribes, 16% of the population. The total population of the state is about 3 million from the last 2011 official census, we are barely above half a million. So we talking about a very small section of people. People that the world does not even know exists most of the time, like I started with how people mistake us for somebody outside of India. We are very small in number– that's over half a million– about seven to eight tribes all together. Cheryl Truong: That's so interesting, Niang, that you mentioned that your mother is Meitei, and your father is Kuki-Zomi. I know you wrote an essay for the American Kahani, a very detailed report on your family, what they were going through when all the violence erupted in Manipur on May 3rd. Do you mind sharing a little bit about what your family experienced? Niang Hangzo: Yes. Like I mentioned, my family has lived in Imphal in a locality called PaiteVeng which literally means where Paites live. I mentioned that I belong to a tribe, Paite, which is one of the Kuki-Zomi tribes. My father actually founded that colony with two other Paite men in the 60s. And they've been embroiled in the social fabric of Imphal, and we have Meitei relatives, we speak Meitei, we speak our Paite language, and we speak English. We, you know, we've lived there, and our neighbors know us. My mother was a nurse. I think 90% of births in Manipur were delivered at home. And as a nurse, she delivered the babies around the Meitei localities that surround PaiteVeng– everyone knows our family, you know, it's the first house next to the main highway. And on May 3rd, around eight o'clock, there was a sudden rush of people coming to the locality, and then there was a huge noise. In Manipur, among the Metis, when they have trouble or they want people to come out of their houses, they take rods and they hit the electric pole. And that is a cry to the community to come out; that there's trouble or something important is happening. So that happened. My family knew there had been trouble the Kuki-Zomi area in Churachandpur earlier in the day. They expected some sort of civil unrest, maybe burning of tires, pelting of stones. They just locked the gate. My family lived in a compound with four houses in there with my brothers, they had their own homes. Each family, cowered in, in one room and waited for trouble to die down. They thought it'll die out, but it didn't. They could hear the crowd, the roar of people. And one of my nephew went upstairs and he peeped out and he said, the church is burning. Our church is burning. And that's when they knew this is no ordinary agitation. In Manipur with all the distinct ethnicities, we've had troubles with each other among ourselves. But, we've never had a church burn or any places of worship attack. So this was different. Absolutely different. We've never had our churches burned or attacked. So they knew something was wrong. My sister called my brother and he said he was already sheltering in the neighbor's house in the neighboring compound. So the neighboring compound there were multiple houses belonging to another family, and they had a big house that was now rented by a Meitei man, and he ran it as a hotel. My brother said, “Come over.” My sister; my mom was 86 years old– they left. My mom was completely shocked and she couldn't wear her shoes they struggled and got out in the nick of time. They took shelter in the hotel for a bit with the rest of my family. They're like, I think, 20 of them, because I come from a large family. And there were other people in the hotels our neighborhood. The owner was a Meitei man and he was very kind. He allowed them to come in, but he said the mob had grown. They had started burning our neighbor's house and our house. So he said, they're going to come here next. There's no way I can protect you. He talked to the cops and he negotiated safe passage for us. So of all the people in our neighborhood, our family was the only one that came face to face with the mob. Because of this man, this kind man who negotiated safe passage, we were escorted out by the cops and the mob parted and they let us through. The young men in the mob said, “This is ” Ibok*– means grandma. We know her. Do not touch our family. And that's why our family was saved. I mean, because there were many instances on the fort, for example, where they actually killed Kuki-Zomi people. We are very lucky and the story is very long, but eventually they ended up in army camps. The interesting thing is that my family had my mom, 86 years old, and she had a great grandchild who was just one year old, as well as her grandson who was almost two years old, and another one that was four years old. And my youngest sister has down syndrome so we have all kinds of ages. And it's very difficult to keep the kids, the babies quiet and so on. So they had a really tough time, but I have another sister in California. We managed to get them out to Delhi and they're safe. So thank God we are very lucky. We lost everything we own. They burned our houses, our cars, and whatever they didn't burn, they looted. But we still think we are the luckiest family because they were together. My nephew's daughter, she's 11 years old. When they were being herded to safety and finally at the camp, they never felt secure. She told her grandmother, ‘At least we are together. At least we'll die together” This is from 11 year old. Cheryl Truong: Thank you Niang for sharing that. That must have been really difficult to write. Niang's essay will be linked in our show notes. A lot of the headlines I've been seeing reporting on what's been going on in Manipur has been framing the violence as an ethnic violence. But Niang mentions that her family was surprised at how a lot of her community churches were being burned down. Of course the Meitei violence against the Kuki-Zomis is an ethnic dispute against tribal communities, but there seems to be another dimension to it. Sonny. Do you think you can talk a little bit about that? Sonny Gangte: Yeah, sure. Thanks, Cheryl. I am also a member of the Kuki-Zomi community. As Niang mentioned, we are a persecuted minority in Manipur. The state is divided into three predominant groups. Majority Meitei group, which comprises more than 50%. And then the Nagas who are also a tribal group, but they are not involved in this ethnic cleansing. And then there's the Kuki-Zomi community, who is predominantly being targeted. We are 16% of the Manipur state's population. And the state government has been pre- planning violence against the Kuki-Zomi community and we know this because there have been many instances of the government trying to take over tribal lands by legislative means, you know, they would conduct a bogus survey and declare that this land is a protected forest, and then the tribal indigenous people who have been living there for hundreds of thousands of years, would then be evicted. The Meitei the state government is hand in glove with the Meitei community and the majority Métis radical groups. There are a couple of radical groups, one of them called Arambai Tenggol which is basically a sort of the militant wing of their community. And then there is Meitei Leepun which on paper seems to espouse unity and cultural heritage of the Meiteis but in reality, they are the ones radicalizing the entire Meitei community and trying to malign the Kuki-Zomi community. And as you said, they have been trying to change the narrative, right? The state government under Biren Singh, when he came to power, he's the chief minister much like the governor of the state. When he came into power he has been trying to spread this propaganda of the Kuki-Zomi people being illegal immigrants from neighboring Myanmar which is absolutely not the case. There are small number of refugees who have been given shelter in Manipur by certain communities, but by no means are the Kuki people illegal immigrants. They are indigenous to the area and they have been there for so long. Niang Hangzo: If I could just jump in there. Sonny mentioned that there's been land grab attempts and the Meitei can do that because in Manipur. They have 40 seats out of 60 in the state legislature. And this gives them majority to pass any bills. And in 2015 they passed a bill, their first attempt, and there was a huge protest from the tribals so that went nowhere. Then Biren Singh came to power in 2017. He is very different from the previous chief minister. He is the architect of the ethnic cleansing and the genocide that's going on in Manipur. He's the one who started using xenophobic tropes to turn the Kuki-Zomi into the other. We've been living side by side. We are neighbors with them. So to turn the neighbors against us, they started this propaganda. And the older people know, most sensible people know, but a lot of the people just grabbed onto this and they just ran with it. But these are nothing but xenophobic tropes. There were many serious attempts to land grab. In 2022, for example, they expanded the Indian Forest Act 1927, and just like Sonny mentioned, they'll just went and turned our villages and claimed that these villages are now protected forests. These villages are wildlife sanctuaries. These villages are reserve forests. And so this is another way to grab lands and they evicted our villages, like there was in, I think, February of 2023, they went and just bulldozed a village. I think this is something that's not just in Manipur, they've used things like environment protection, climate change, protecting the environment, preserving forests, as dog whistles, just to grab tribal land. That's one thing. And the other thing that they did was they'd say, Oh, that hill. That is a seed of our God. Oh, that place. And these are all tribal lands. Oh, that place over there, like in Behiang, Chivu, they said, Oh, that one, you know what, our king, his footprints are found there. I don't know what that means, but somehow they use that to grab our land, and they never consulted the tribal people, our leaders. They've been doing this land grab progressively over the years, and suddenly from 2022, they've just been doing this coming on full force. Miko Lee: Niang, what was the change making factor in 2022 that, that ramped up this whole situation? You said that the land grab has been going on for a long time and the oppression of the tribal folks has been going on, but was there some kind of catalyst that changed things in 2022? Niang Hangzo: I wish we knew. If we had known that I think we would not have been taken by surprise, but we know that since 2022 that's when the whole population, or even the TV, their media started using the tropes that I mentioned to make us be the other. So something escalated. Only they would know what the plan is, but they started doing things like that and maybe Sonny might know more, but we don't know what was the tipping point or what caused it, but it escalated and everyone noticed. Sonny Gangte: It's been simmering. The trouble has been simmering for many years, and it coincides with this current chief minister, Biren Singh, coming to power, and over the last several years, that has been the case. But even before this, the Kuki-Zomi people have been marginalized for years, because we never had the seats in government. They always had 40 seats. And the 10 seats might go to the Nagas and 10 seats to the Kukis. So right now the community has only 10 seats and we can never enact legislation that favors us. For many, many years growing up in, in Manipur it's always Meitei centric– Meitei being the majority community, right? And that's the sort of image that the people of Manipur have cultivated. The term ‘Manipuri' sort of exclusively refers to the Meitei people, not us, even though we are from Manipur. Some of the examples, the hospitals, the airport, the colleges, they're all Imphal. And then Churachandpur is the second largest town, and that is a stronghold of the Kuki-Zomi community. Churachand was the name of the Meitei king and the people of this town have now renounced it and they prefer to call it Lanka. And so that's where we're from, Lanka. Niang Hangzo: I think this is very important that people know that Meitei fought with the British in 1891 and they appointed this puppet king, who was Churachand, a little boy. Before that the place that they called Churachandpur was always ours. The Meitei kings never, ever ruled over the hills. The hills are ruled by tribes. And we don't have kings, we have chiefs, similarly for the Nagas. But our ancestors would interact with them. They would sometimes even go down to the valley and raid. So we were always fighting with them and we would have an uneasy alliance. The British administered us, but the king of Meitei ruled in that 700 square miles, which is the valley. Historically, we had never been under a Meitei administration until we became a state. The Churachandpur name is only as old as I think it was 1917 or 19 something, after the Kukigal. But, before that, it was Lamka. And the British were still there. I think they were doing something, maybe it was after the First World War or something like that, because a lot of Kuki-Zomi signed up to commemorate that the name of the place was changed to Churachandpur. But before that, it was always the indigenous Lamka. That's how we call it. And we've always called it Lamka. Miko Lee: So part of the actions that have been going on, part of it I'm hearing from you both is a land grab, and the other part , is around religious persecution. Is that right? Can you expand more on that? What is the impetus for this recent surge in violence? Sonny Gangte: Right. The Meiteis follow the majority Hindu religion, and then the Kuki-Zomi are predominantly Christian. It is primarily a ethnic and land grab issue, but then there are religious undertones. There is a religious implication as well. They have destroyed hundreds of churches, places of worship, in Imphal. Imphal used to house a lot of Kuki-Zomi people living together with the Meitei in the city of Imphal, the state capital. But now there is not a single member of the Kuki-Zomi community living there anymore, because if they do go there, they will be killed. It's as simple as that. We cannot go back there. There were hundreds of churches in Imphal and they were all burned. Niang can elaborate more on this angle, but one of the things that I can say is that Arambai Tenggol and the Meitei Leepun they don't want the religious conversion of some Meiteis as well. Some Meiteis convert to Christianity and they don't want that to happen either. So that's another angle to that. Niang Hangzo: Yeah. When I started this, I said that the first thing they did when they came to my colony was they went and burnt the church. And I said that was unprecedented because they've never, we've never, we've lived together, but nobody has burned or destroyed or vandalized or desecrated places of worship. So this is what tells me that there are outside actors that are looking at what divisions we have and that's banking on it. So the religious element is absolutely new. And just to quote some figures, because I like figures, the Hindu population is 41.39%. And the Christian population in the projected census is 41. 29%. The official census is 2011. India hasn't had any census since then. It's been postponed. So the last official census, I think it was like 37 point something for Christians and, a little higher, maybe over 43 or 45 for the Hindus. So you see, there's been a demographic shift in religion. That means in between many Meitei have become Christians. So now we are almost neck to neck, right? There are over 357 churches burnt altogether. Out of that, 170 belong to Meitei. That took me back. I was shocked that there were so many Meitei Christian churches. So one of the things that made everything different was first, we have this shift in demographics, in religious demographic, right? They're 53 percent of the population, but their Hindus is 41. 39 percent and Christians 41. 29 percent. Two organization, Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun, openly said in one of the interviews that we don't like our people becoming Christians. So that's one reason. And I have to say that this religious angle I really feel is from outside. The push to cause this division between the two religion because it's unprecedented. And also, we know that the ruling party, the center, for example, they're strong Hindu nationalist. So there is that. The lust for land that the Meiteis have for tribal land, uh, I think they took that and used it to divide and also added this religious divide; in this ethnic cleansing. Like Sonny said, we've been ethnically cleansed from the valley and the same thing for the Meiteis. We retaliated too. When they started burning, we also burnt the houses in our area. So there are also no Meiteis in the Kuki-Zomi area. The ethnic cleansing is over. What is happening today the genocide of the Kuki-Zomi. We stay in our areas, but they keep coming to the peripheral villages, the area that borders Meiteis and Kuki-Zomis. Those villages are now empty of women and children. And our men, our young men have put their lives on hold, their education on hold, and they have taken up the defense of the villages, of our land, and our people. There's nothing going on in terms of education, even for young children, because there are over 104 relief camps in the Lamka Churachandpur area. The schools are being used as camps. And the same thing is going on in the Kuki-Zomi area in Kangpokpi. They attack us with the state forces and the two organizations, the militants so young men are fighting to save us. To protect us. Our children are not getting education. Our students, the young people who are studying in medical colleges at Inphal, or there's one medical college in Lamka, even those schools those universities and colleges are closed. Meanwhile, in the valley, everything is going on a full swing. The students are back, they're taking exams, etc. The government has not made any provision for the Kuki-Zomi students. If this continues, they will lose an entire year of studies. Sonny Gangte: And to add to that there were a handful of Meitei students studying in the one medical university in Lamka. And they are Meiteis, so they left the town of Lamka as well, right? But the government of Manipur immediately swung into action. And made provisions for these Meitei students to be able to continue their studies in a different university outside the state or within the state. This is clear evidence that the government is simply favoring one group over the other. Niang Hangzo: Yes. So they made sure that their students continue their studies. But our students; our smart young people, are sitting in limbo. They have nothing. Miko Lee: Thank you so much to both of you for sharing this. This is, it's really hard to hear. We, as you know, are dealing with the rise of fascism and the othering of peoples in the United States and all across the world. I'm, I'm seeing it in the press a little bit, like every once in a while, but it's really hidden and kind of hard to find. And I wonder if you could talk a little bit about how people are communicating with each other . How are you hearing stories about What's really going down as opposed to just the news, the little bits I'm picking up from the guardian or this place or from a newsletter from somebody. Sonny Gangte: Yes. The mainstream media in India refuses to cover this story. And that's one of the reasons why global media does not automatically pick it up. How do we get our information? There are a number of online media outlets in India, and a bunch of YouTube channels who are vocal about this issue. There are very few honest journalists left in India, because as you well know, India is trending towards fascism as well. Freedom of speech is being suppressed and journalists are being targeted in India. it's a tough situation out there for everyone. To touch upon how this issue became an international or a national issue. On May 4th, two Kuki Zomi women were paraded naked, and subsequently gang r*ped by a large mob of Meitei people. The video incident happened on May 4th, but issue came out because the video got leaked to the Internet. There was an Internet ban in Manipur at that time, and then 77 days later the video surfaced online, and it shook India. It went viral in India and it shook the psyche of the people of India. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, had up until now, refused to speak on this issue. People were dying. 120 plus people had died at that time and 50, 000 people displaced. And the Prime Minister of the largest, oldest democracy in the world, well, Modi likes to say, India is the mother of democracy. He came to the U. S. floor of Congress, and proclaimed that India is the mother of democracy, and here, while that was happening, while he was speaking, all of this was happening back home. He is the democratically elected leader, and he refuses to acknowledge the problem up until the video of these two women being paraded naked came online. And at that time the prime minister was under pressure, so he spoke briefly, he spoke for 36 seconds, and he said, Violence against women is bad, and he condemned that issue as an isolated incident, and that was it. He went back. He didn't address the killings, ethnic violence, and most importantly, he did not call for peace. Niang Hangzo: And I think that was one of the saddest thing for both for the Kuki-Zomi and the Meiteis because a lot of people are suffering. Enough is enough. We want this to end. So for the prime minister of the country to treat that as an isolated incident not related to the ethnic cleansing that's going on and the genocide that's in progress. That is absolutely shocking and extremely disappointing. Manipur as I mentioned, is a small state, we are barely 3 million people or maybe 3.5 if we look at projected population, India has a strong army. 60,000 strong. They're there, but they're not enabled to douse this fire. So the fire that was set, literally and figuratively from May 3rd is still burning 91 days later. And because of the moratorium on news, the viral video of the gang r*pe of those two Kukis, of our sisters, had not come out, we would not be talking about here because nobody paid attention. We shouldn't have to see something like that to act. It is a humanitarian crisis. And for a people that is so small in number they can easily wipe us out and the world would not know because most people don't know we exist. And so it's very important for us to tell the world that we exist. It doesn't matter if we're one, two, 500k or a million. We exist and we matter. And they're doing all this just to get tribal lands because our lands are rich in mineral. And when I think of that, I know that there are powers outside of the state involved, because there's nobody in Manipur who can mine or do anything. You need industry, you need infrastructure, you need lots of money. If you follow the money, it'll trace you to something outside. And I believe that at the end, let's say if the Meiteis managed to annihilate us, which we don't think will happen. But if they did, I can tell you for sure that they'll never get benefits or they'll never get equity from whatever industry will come out of our land. And for tribals, our land, we have a strong affinity for our land. We are mostly laid back most of the time, but if you come for our land, it doesn't matter. Even if there's one last man standing or one last woman standing. We will fight. Our people back home will fight to death. We will not give an inch. Cheryl Truong: Thank you so much, Niang, for all of your courage and insight. For those just tuning in, we are here with Niang Hangzo and Sunny Gangte from the North American Manipur Tribal Association, NAMTA, and we're peeling through the many layers of the Meitei violence against the Kuki in Manipur. There are land grabs, profit motives, ethno religious tensions, in action by the Manipur state government that all perpetuate this atrocious humanitarian violation against the Kuki people. We'll be right back with more on what's going down in Manipur after this music break. We're going to be listening to a track by the Khamsa Project. Khamsa, the Arabic word for five, is a multimedia art project, showcasing black, Muslim, immigrant, and refugee visual artists and musicians traversing the five stages of grief. They've launched art exhibits, music performances, dance shows, community events, podcasts, but this track in particular, Is from their self-titled hip hop album. Khamsa: the album. This is “something” by one of their collaborative artists Spote Breeze. Welcome back. You are tuned in to apex express on 94.1 KPFA and 89.3 K PFB in Berkeley and online@kpfa.org. That was something called “Something” by Spote Breeze from the Khamsa Project. We are back with Niang Hangzo and Sonny Gangte, members of the Kuki tribe and NAMTA, learning more about the genocide waged against the Kuki people and what we can do to help. Once again, that was “Something” by Spote Breeze from the Khamsa Project.. Sonny Gangte: There have been many instances of police brutality in Manipur, because obviously the police are in cahoots with the state government. There was a youth called Hanglalmuan Vaiphei 21 year old college student in Churachandpur. He shared a Facebook post criticizing the chief minister. They're insane. The post he did wasn't an original post. He reshared it, and it basically was accusing the chief minister of being hand in glove with the poppy planters or drug dealers. Two days later, the police came knocking at his door and they arrested him and then transported him to Imphal to be booked and processed. The official story is that a mob came and snatched the police convoy and waylaid the police convoy and this young man was lynched to death. So he died. And that is the official story of the police. I don't know. Niang Hangzo: Yeah, he died because of he forwarded a Facebook post. He died because he forwarded a Facebook post Sonny Gangte: And the police were so quick to act within two days. They acted on this one, but it took them so many days, months to act on so many other police reports, especially of those two women who were paraded naked. Niang Hangzo: So I want to make a correction there. It's been almost three months. They've not acted on anything. The only thing they acted on was the two women who were paraded naked, but they've not acted on any other. And they acted on that because the prime minister spoke on it, his outrage, but them? Lots of FIR. There's a young, uh, I mentioned immolation. This is a horrifying story. I don't even want to tell it. He's 70 years old. He was caught, he was in a camp with his family and there was, cross firing between the two groups and they were in the middle in the army camp. He got ricochet or something shot went and hit his head. He was taken in the ambulance with his mother who was Meitei– he was Kuki. The mother had married a Kuki man so they decided to send him to Imphal because that's a closest and the best facility advanced facility hospital. He was in an ambulance with his mother, and another Meitei woman who was in the Kuki neighborhood. They said they may be married to a Kuki but it should be safe. And so they went. They were on the way to the hospital and they got waylaid by a mob of this Meira Paibis, those so called women vigilante, and they were burnt alive. There are many stories, real horror stories in this war that we don't want to talk about it, but it's all there. The way they've treated the Kuki-Zomi, the propaganda has succeeded. They don't see us human beings. And even when I talk about it, this is just one of the things, but a seven year old boy? Where's the humanity? If there were militants that did it, I could at least grasp that, as horrifying as it is. But to know that it's done by the Meitei women, mothers, sisters, wives. Who prosper, possibly have grandchildren like at that age, or even children. That is the horror of this war the world doesn't grasp. And then, to make it worse, their young people started putting on Facebook, and their Twitter, and so on that the seven year old boy was harassing them. That he was burning houses. There are horrible stories like this, there's beheading, there's a 77 year old lady praying in a church, Kuki-Zomi praying in a church. She was shot, and then they said she was a sniper. The two women who were paraded and gang r*ped, they said yes, because they were snipers. So not only did they kill or, or debase and dehumanize people. They try to destroy the character as well and brand them as snipers or something. I mean, and they're so outrageous. A seven year old boy harassing them? A seven year old minority boy harassing them? Let's not forget, this war waged by the 53% against the 16%. The 53% have enjoyed 98% of the budget of the state for over 70 years. They have everything today. If somebody has to fly out to Delhi, they cannot go and access the airport. If somebody has a heart attack, they cannot go to Imphal. They will just die there, or they have to go by road. If there's anything critical medically, they have to be airlifted. The biggest need now is medical, medicine, any sort of medical help, more doctors. Remember to access our areas, they have to come through Mizoram or through Nagaland. They cannot fly in into Imphal. If they're coming by road, to our area, maybe they'll be stopped because this vigilante women have stopped everybody including armies. We used to revere them because they were the ones who fought for the women of Manipur originally but they've turned completely. They've turned completely and they are now the aggressors. They're hunting. There are videos of women hunting. When my family escaped, I told you they came face to face with the mob. And my 11 year old grand niece said that the women were worse. The men said, protect this family. We know this woman. She's Meitei, she's a grandmother. We know her. They call her Ibo. The women said, why should we let them go? They raped and kill our people. But. Nobody was raped or killed in Churachandpur on May 3rd. There was disinformation spread to rile up all the people in Imphal, so they would chase us out of our house, they would kill us, and even the gang r*pe. They clearly said that it's in retaliation of a fake story. The harm that misinformation has caused. The price we had to pay for misinformation is unimaginable. We are a small group of people, and if we are annihilated, the world won't even miss us because most of the world don't know we exist. So please. Spread the word. Miko Lee: Thank you so much for both sharing on that. I'm sitting with your words, Niang, and kind of taking them in, absorbing them. And Sonny, I'm thinking about how important video was, because they did capture that horrific gang r*pe on camera. And same thing that happens here with African American people that have been killed by the police. It's when we catch the video of it that it tends to have that impact. The more people have exposure to it. I'm sitting with the fact that video then made it on the internet, and then I read about it in Al Jazeera, July 20th. This is like the time between May and July 20th that it took for it to even hit any kind of national news partially is because one there was a video there that people are seeing it, but also the story is still hidden, even with that .The story of the deeper roots of what's going on and this whole attempt at annihilating a people's for profit is kind of going under the radar. How can people in our audience that are listening, get involved in your work so that we can help to build the world that we want to see as opposed to the world we're living in? Sonny Gangte: So, NAMTA, the North American Manipur Tribals Association, is an organization as old as this crisis itself. It was formed as a response to this persecution of our people. And even today, the crisis is ongoing. And the government, any aid going to Manipur right now is not reaching the Kuki-Zomi people. It might reach Imphal. I don't know. The people in Kangpokpi and Lamka are in dire need of humanitarian aid. There are hospitals there, small hospitals. Primary health care centers, and they don't have enough supplies, and we have received a pleas from their people asking for IV fluids and gloves and bare minimum medical necessities, and it's going to turn into a larger public health crisis. It already is. One of the things that we can use is to spread the word. First of all, we need the world to know that horrific atrocities are being committed in the so called largest democracy. We also welcome any Donations if anyone would like to support our cause when you try and send humanitarian aid. Niang Hangzo: Yeah, yeah. The thing is, because of the inaction and silence of the central government, we can say that they are complicit, right? Silence is complicit because they could have stopped this. They allowed this to happen. So when we ask about aid, for example, if the U. S. aid has to go, it has to go through the center government and they will refuse it. If you remember, Eric Garcetti said, if you ask us, we will help. He said that, the US ambassador. He was told that this is an internal matter, but really, but it is not. We're not looking at the political part of it. If you look at the human side of it, it is a humanitarian matter.. Our people are not getting anything from the central government because for the central government will send it to the state government. This is state sponsored pogrom.. So they're not going to send anything to our people. So even asking for international aid. They need permission of the central government, so they'll not receive it. But we still want people to talk because one of the things we want to do now and what I want the listeners to do is to talk about this, to read about this, go to our site, listen to the personal stories, not political. We have our personal stories there, read about it and talk about it, tweet, put it out in social media. If everyone talks about Manipur and the Genocide of the Kuki-Zomi. We want it so loud, so loud in the digital media that Delhi can hear it. Because I think public opinion can sway government. I think that is very important. I want engagement from listeners to start tweeting about this, to start reading about it and share it on their social media so it gets amplified. That's one ask. The second ask is that I want you all to write to your senators, to write to your representatives. The European Union brought this Manipur issue and the persecution of Christians on 12th July, and on the next day they passed a resolution condemning the failures of the Modi government. This is the EU, they've done it. And Fiona Bruce, who is a Special Envoy of Religious Freedom for the UK Prime Minister, she brought it in Parliament. U. S. is a bastion of freedom, the land of the free. everybody looks up to the United States. As someone who would protect human rights, not U.N. But United States is synonymous with being the big brother, the father that take care of the weak. And yet nobody has spoken. So we want our congressman to bring this to motion. I know there are on a break right now, but we this is a time to hit them with it. We want the U. S. representatives to bring the Manipur issue on the floor and discuss it and maybe censor the government. And of course, our president went as far as saying that we need to sanction. And I know that that will be hard because when Modi came, they signed billion dollars worth of business and there's economic reasons, but that would be also one of the aspirational goals, but let's start with raising awareness. Spreading the news to everybody, to your friends, talk to people about it. Like I said, let it ring so loud that Delhi can hear it. Number one, number two, I'm repeating, because it's important, write to your congressmen, write to your senators about this, and tell them to bring this issue up. Please look at NAMTA's Facebook page. We also have a YouTube channel. We also have Instagram, and we will announce those and please join us. Miko Lee: . . We will add links to those in the show notes of APEX Express so people can have access and find out more about the amazing work. Thank you. You are a few but mighty that are living here carrying the banner for a lot of people in Manipur and all around the world. And just know that there's so many of us that are here supporting you and believing in you and supporting the fight for dignity and power for your people. thank you so much for all the work that you're doing. We're going to encourage everybody to check out the NAMTA website. to find out more about what's happening in Manipur and how you all in our community, all of our listeners can make a difference, can make your voices be heard so that these atrocities will not continue to happen. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. Cheryl Truong: And that's the end of our show. Please check our website, kpfa.org to find out more about what's going on in Manipur, the work that NAMTA has been doing, and the work that ASATA is doing. We'd like to thank all of our listeners out there. Keep dreaming folks. A better world is possible. Apex express is produced by Miko Lee, Paige Chung, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar. Shekar, Anuj Vaidya, Kiki Rivera, Swati Rayasam, Nate Tan, Hien Nguyen, Nikki Chan, and Cheryl Truong Tonight's show was produced by Miko Lee and me, cheryl. Thanks to the team at KPFA for all of their support. And thank you for listening! The post APEX Express – 8.3.23 – Manipur's Humanitarian Crisis appeared first on KPFA.

Thursday, August 3rd, 2023   Norman Chen is the CEO of the Asian American Foundation or TAAF. We discuss racism against Asians and the pursuit of belonging through philanthropy, civic engagement, and education.   Deep misconceptions about Asian Americans persist. Narrative change is key for people to see Asian Americans as really being Americans. Only about 1.5% of schools offer a formal Asian American studies program, although Asian American history and Pacific Islander history is a critical part of American history. TAAF aims to build greater belonging and prosperity for AAPIs everywhere.  Follow Norman on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/normanlschen    Follow Mila on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/milaatmos    Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Love Future Hindsight? Take our Listener Survey!  a href="http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=6tI0Zi1e78vq&ver=standard">http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=6tI0Zi1e78vq&ver=standard    Take the Democracy Group's Listener Survey! https://www.democracygroup.org/survey   Want to support the show and get it early?  https://patreon.com/futurehindsight    Check out the Future Hindsight website!  www.futurehindsight.com   Read the transcript here:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/asian-americans-norman-chen      Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Norman Chen Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

In this episode, Alnory Gutlay talks about access to health for AAPI communities and the effects of the model minority myth in the public health sector. She raises important questions about accessibility and cultural awareness in the world of health equity, drawing from her own experiences as an organizer and advocate.Alnory Gutlay is a first generation Filipino. She is a community organizer and nonprofit leader with over 10 years of experience serving and advocating for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities in Metro-Atlanta. Her commitment to address social determinants of community health led to a wide array of working experience and expertise in substance abuse prevention, HIV prevention, and victim services. Her approach to community health is culturally specific, evidence-based, and equitable outcome centered.

This week, Christie, Diana and Sam drop in to say hi and tease upcoming episodes for the rest of the year. Tune in to hear what themes we'll be discussing with both new and returning guests! Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

  As some of you may know, I was attacked by a White man walking in the park around 9:45 am.  This is a park where they hold summer camps and many kids were around. I bring my kids here on the weekends and celebrated one of their birthdays there just this past May.     The latest crime data shows that 11% of assault victims citywide in San Francisco are Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.     25% of the elder abuse victims are AAPI, the highest among all the racial groups.   As a victim, you keep replaying in your mind what you could have done differently.  And what can you do now to protect yourself and your communities.      So I am reposting this episode with Lisa Mak, where we discuss:    - Why there is a rise in anti-Asian hate. - How discrimination can cause you to lose your sense of self.  - What you can do to fight anti-Asian hate. - How choosing to speak up can help our communities.  - Why you should light a candle instead of cursing the darkness. - How we still have the ability to choose joy even during these difficult times.   Connect with Lisa https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisapmak/ and www.minamitamaki.com. Connect with Samorn on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/samornselim.    Get a copy of Samorn's book, “Belonging: Self Love Lessons From A Workaholic Depressed Insomniac Lawyer” at https://tinyurl.com/swpc578c.  Get weekly career tips by signing up for our advice column at www.careerunicorns.com.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. The post APEX Express – July 27, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

The 46th Asian American International Film Festival is back in New York. The festival, which kicked off yesterday, features projects by Asian diasporic, Asian American and Pacific Islander filmmakers. Festival director Kayla Wong and senior programming director Kris Montello join us today to give us a rundown of the documentaries, narrative features, shorts and music videos featured in the festival. This segment is hosted by Brigid Bergin. 

This week, Diana chats with Nicole Cruz about changing careers and listening to yourself in order to live bravely and pursue your biggest goals. They talk about how to overcome your fears and move away from fear as a motivator. They also dive into how to differentiate your own beliefs from others' and confront your inner critic with compassion.Nicole (she/her) is a certified life and leadership coach and the CEO of Nicole Cruz Coaching, the first coaching company to cater specifically to the needs of the 1st & 2nd generation immigrant community. Through a culturally-aware and trauma-informed approach, Nicole helps folks with immigrant roots to become powerful leaders by helping them unlearn inherited generational limits, embrace their complex identities, and unleash their natural strengths.Connect with Nicole:@nicolecruzcoachingnicolecruzcoaching.com Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. The post APEX Express – July 20, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

Welcome to the first episode of this season of the AACC Reclaim Podcast, a platform dedicated to elevating the voices, stories, and perspectives of leaders within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. After a long hiatus, we are so excited to be back!   Introducing two of our new hosts, Katie Nguyen Palmores and Joshua Huver, this episode will serve as the launchpad for our rebranding and the redefined focus of the podcast. Join us as we delve into what 'Reclaim' truly symbolizes, not just for us but also for the community we serve! Hosts: Katie Nguyen Palomares and Joshua Huver   Engineer: Elliot Koo   Podcast Manager: Katie Nguyen Palomares   Producer: Sean Dupiano   Follow us on IG: @aachristcollab To find out more about AACC's work, donate, or learn more visit asianamericanchristiancollaborative.com.

Bambino Bambino the Stag LOVES working out at the gym, and LOVES introducing new people to great workout routines. Coincidentally, today is Gus the Beaver's first day…   Dedicated to Cindy Ignacio, My Mom.     Mystic Tales: Season 2 is a 21 episode audio anthology, with amazing original content written by Michael Ignacio Jr. This audio anthology has an amazing cast, great music, and sfx. Many of the ‘shorts' are connected to other Mysticborn Productions intellectual properties, while others are original and standalone.    Music and Sound Effects obtained through a subscription through Storyblocks.com. We are allowed to use these stock music and sound effects commercially.    All of the characters in Mystic Tales: Season 2 are fictional and original, and any likeness or similarity to anyone living, dead, or fictional is purely coincidence.    Written and produced by Michael Ignacio Jr.   Artwork done by Vera Tan   If you would like to become a Patron on Patreon and support our company's growth, please follow the following link:   https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16387335    Cast  Bambino ……………………………Kyle Kaczmarczyk Gus …………………………………. Hesham Elshazly Sally …………………………………. Christina Nicholls Gwen …………………………………. Steeny Carey Narrator ………………………………. Michael Ignacio Jr.   Music  Historical Moments 30 seconds by MoodMode Joyful Achievement by Jon Presstone Backyard Trees by Humans win  Just a Boy - humans win  Fine Wine by JCSD, Storyblocks Label  Failure builds character by Simon Jomphe Lepine

From Toni Kim (she/her): My practice embodies a holistic and integrative approach that incorporates wisdom from the world of neuroscience, as well as, more esoteric and intuitive traditions. I believe that the process of healing and the subsequent result of personal growth and transformation is a sacred and courageous journey that I feel honored to be co-facilitating and co-creating through Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) experiences. I hope to offer a loving presence and a compassionate container to allow connection to the inner wisdom that lies within all of us.Connect with Toni:www.tonidkim.comwww.innersoundcollective.comMentioned in this episode:Journey Clinical Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. If you have ears, hear!”“Hear, then, the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet such a person has no root but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Today we are going to be talking about soil; and at the very same time, we are going to be talking about our minds and imaginations. The activity of “cultivating” applies equally – quite poetically – to both. We have here in Matthew the very familiar parable of the sower; though perhaps is should be called more accurately “The Parable of Four Soils”. Jesus says to the crowd, “a sower went out to sow, and lots of the seed did not find fertile ground and grow, or it germinated briefly but was not able to flourish. Some of the seed did find fertile ground, and in some places the soil was Excellent and the yield was 100 fold. In other places the soil was very good and the yield was 60 fold. In other places, the soil was pretty good and the yield was 30 fold.” Jesus makes clear here that the seed is the Word of the kingdom of God. I love how this seed is spread indiscrimately. The sower does not focus their efforts merely on the excellent soil, but instead gives it away to all kinds of soils in all kinds of places. This is good news! Rejoice! The Word of God, Jesus Christ himself, is for all people. The focus of this parable, though, is not on the seed or the sower. It is on the soils; it is a parable about reception, about receiving and bearing the fruit of the Kin-dom of God. Jesus describes four possible kinds of soils for us, that represent four different states of mind and heart. The first three soils result in failed harvests:1. The Path: The Word is not understood, so it is taken from us and has no effect. 2. The Rocky Soil: The Word is received with joy, and it takes root, but, alas, the roots of the Word are not deep enough to endure.3. The Thorny Soil: Here the distractions of the world and money choke the Word of God out. The Word is not able to grow and flourish in these three soils, or in people with these qualities of mind. Lets think for a min about why that might be:The Path is too hard and inflexible, it has been treaded down solid – perhaps in our analogy between soil and mind, this is someone whose mind is made up. Nothing grows in the path because it is too compressed. Water rolls right off. Even if a plant springs up, it is crushed underfoot. There is no way into this ground.The Rocky soil is too shallow – the quality of the soil might be fine, as we are told the seed germinates, but it is not deep enough or broad enough to sustain lasting and enduring growth. This is a mind that is perhaps open to be persuaded by new insights or welcomes different perspectives, but it does not go deep enough to bring forth fruitful and faithful action. The Thorny Soil is too crowded – is obviously soil that can sustain an abundance of life – yet, it is not growing edibles but weeds. Thorns are rooted so deep and are so broadly plentiful in that there is no space for a new seed to grow, a new idea to flourish. This is a person who is distracted by life. Then we have the fourth soil, 4. The Good Soil: Jesus explains, “But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit”. This soil or person hears the Word of God and, unlike the other three soils: i. a) understands it, ii. b) allows it to take deep root, iii. c) grows and endures through the seasons, and iv. d) bears fruit for harvest. b. **the reception of the Word bears forth in growth, action, change. Good soil does not merely receive the seed, but creates the conditions for flourishing. So obviously we want to be good soil; but what if we are not good soil? What if we are hard soil? Or shallow soil? Or crowded soil? Something that I think can be overlooked in this passage is that the parable never says that the soil is destined to stay how it is described. As the gardeners and farmers in the room know, good soil can be cultivated. It is slow, hard work. It depends on a multitude of other creatures and processes to assist the farmer's or gardener's efforts – the cycle of decay and renewal, the presence of bugs, worms and microbes breaking down organic materials, plants that add nutriance back into the soil, rainfall, and merely time. But it can be done. I have a spot in my backyard, just under my kitchen window that is SOLID CLAY. Weeding this portion of the yard is tough and thus it is currently fully of weeds…because I have children. When it rains this section becomes a standing pond because the water does not penetrate easily. Last fall, however, I did have one weekend to devote to a very small section of this clay. I spent two exhausting days digging up the bed, pulling out the seeming miles of weedy vines underground, sifting through it to pull up rocks, ammending the soil with manure. This summer, unlike the section right under my window, I have a three foot garden bed where my peonies are flourishing.Similarly, this parable is calling the Christian disciple to do the hard work to become good soil. The Path need not stay compacted, the rocky soil can increase its depth, and the thorny soil can be weeded. Afterall, that is why Jesus calls us to become disciples, students; to learn and grow into his image by the power of the Spirit. This summer we have been focusing on hearing God's Word in New ways, but not just from this pulpit: we have also been doing individual work of plowing and tilling our imaginations to understand the implications of the gospel in light of the current racial and economic disparities in our country. Pastor Cogan, for example, just began a book study this last week on the book Caste. A group of you attended racial equity training. Many others have picked up a great variety of adult and children's books from the Narthex. This is an amazing start. It is timely for us, then, to hear this parable as the summer is coming to an end. In what condition is the ground of your mind and my mind? What will be the “harvest” of our congregation's focused concern with race and racism? Will we have a harvest?Will our congregation be like The Path, where these new perspectives “roll off like water on a rock?” Are we as a community compacted so tight that we cannot be opened up by new loves, new concerns? Will our congregation be like The Rocky ground where we receive these various books and sermons with joy, yet do not able to allow it to root deeply enough to endure over the long haul? Or will our congregation be like the Thorny Ground and eventually get distracted? Or bored? It is easy to feel fatigue wrestling with issues that feel impossibly large. Can we avoid it?This summer is mainly about the first step towards becoming good soil – understanding this Word, hearing the gospel in voices from the margins, taking off the blinders of our minds and hearts. If by grace we are enabled to do this, we have successfully avoided become like the soil of The Path. We have been opened up and turned over, air and light and nutrients have been added in. But, will we allow it to penetrate deep into our community?I have faith that if we continue to attempt to cultivate our minds, hearts and lives we can become good soil; this is because the grace of the Spirit to take our mere graspings and bear fruit for God's kingdom. The Spirit of Christ is eager to partner with us in this truly life-long project. So when the books have been read and the summer class over, how do we continue to cultivate imaginations to be able to think expansively and inclusively from multiple perspectives? This will involve the typical suspects – volunteering, advocacy, voting, and serving our community – but it may also involve something you might not expect: stories. I am a theologian by trade, and I research and teach various classes in theology, the arts, and the formation of the Christian imagination. Many theologians in my area of study have noted how our imagination is formed through many seemingly innocuous cultural habits and stories.We become the people we are through the narratives we inhabit, the stories we tell ourselves about who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. And the stories that most white North Americans inhabit are ordered by a white imagination; Even TV shows or books or movies that with characters of color may be reproducing a white racial ordering of the world – think of how so many of the black characters in TV or movies are treated as comic relief or as a support for the white hero.So one answer to the question “what do we do when the books are read and the class is over?” is immerse yourself in the imagination of those who are not white. There are non-white novelists, poets, painters, directors, and more that are producing excellent stories in every genera and media, from horror to romance to nature poetry to children's books. Do you read poetry? Start reading the Black Indiana poet Ross Gay or Native American poet Joy Harjo. Do you like science fiction? Try reading Octavia Butler and other authors in Afrofuturism. Do you like visual art? Look up the monumental paintings of Kehinde Wiley who paints black subjects in epic and humanity-honoring images. The deconstructive work that many of us have been doing is critically important – we need to take the blinders off to see the hurt and oppression in our society. But we also need stories about Black joy. Native American hope. Asian American Love. Indian American beauty. Pacific Islander flourishing. We need to hear, and see, and feel other people's stories, to be able to imagine with them what a better future looks like for all. Jesus calls us to imitate good soil: to receive God's word, to tend it over the long haul, to improve our minds and hearts so that the Kingdom of God is embodied in our actions, our community, and our stories.

The 2023 festival, themed “Stories in Bloom,” will feature 25 short-form independent films. These eye opening and uplifting stories centered around growth and creating new perspectives, celebrate identity, culture, family, society, and the environment.Speak to Director of Audience Engagement at PBS, Taryn Jackson, for a Preview of this Year's Films.Since its inception in 2012, hundreds of films celebrating love, acceptance, family, strength, equality, friendship, loyalty and more have been presented under the festival's banner.The PBS Short Film Festival is part of a multiplatform initiative to increase the reach and visibility of independent filmmakers from across the country and amplify the voices of diverse content creators. The 2023 festival carries the tagline “Stories in Bloom” to highlight the impact of powerful storytelling.Starting at midnight on Monday, July 10, audiences can watch and share all 25 films. In addition, a panel of five jury members will select their favorite film of the festival for the Juried Prize. Jury members are respected professionals in independent film and public media and were invited by PBS to participate.Films featured in the PBS Short Film Festival have been selected and provided by 16 public media partners and PBS member stations. This year's lineup includes films from Alabama Public Television, Austin PBS, Black Public Media, Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), Independent Television Service (ITVS), Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Maryland Public Television, Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), POV, Reel South, Vision Maker Media, WHUT Howard University Television, World Channel, WQED (Pittsburgh), and WPSU Penn State.Generating more than 12 million streams over the course of the festival's history, the Webby Award-winning PBS Short Film Festival continues to be an engaging annual digital event.

The 2023 festival, themed “Stories in Bloom,” will feature 25 short-form independent films. These eye opening and uplifting stories centered around growth and creating new perspectives, celebrate identity, culture, family, society, and the environment.Speak to Director of Audience Engagement at PBS, Taryn Jackson, for a Preview of this Year's Films.Since its inception in 2012, hundreds of films celebrating love, acceptance, family, strength, equality, friendship, loyalty and more have been presented under the festival's banner.The PBS Short Film Festival is part of a multiplatform initiative to increase the reach and visibility of independent filmmakers from across the country and amplify the voices of diverse content creators. The 2023 festival carries the tagline “Stories in Bloom” to highlight the impact of powerful storytelling.Starting at midnight on Monday, July 10, audiences can watch and share all 25 films. In addition, a panel of five jury members will select their favorite film of the festival for the Juried Prize. Jury members are respected professionals in independent film and public media and were invited by PBS to participate.Films featured in the PBS Short Film Festival have been selected and provided by 16 public media partners and PBS member stations. This year's lineup includes films from Alabama Public Television, Austin PBS, Black Public Media, Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), Independent Television Service (ITVS), Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Maryland Public Television, Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), POV, Reel South, Vision Maker Media, WHUT Howard University Television, World Channel, WQED (Pittsburgh), and WPSU Penn State.Generating more than 12 million streams over the course of the festival's history, the Webby Award-winning PBS Short Film Festival continues to be an engaging annual digital event.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. The post APEX Express – July 13, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

This week, Diana reunites with Dr. I-Ching Grace Hung to catch up on how Dr. Hung's return to her motherland, Taiwan, has been so far. They talk about cultural perspectives of values, time and productivity, and relationships to family. They also share their personal experiences navigating changes and how their feelings about their identity and attitudes towards embracing uncertainty have shifted as a result.Dr. I-Ching Grace Hung (she/her) is a licensed psychologist and coach, offering teletherapy to individuals and couples in NY, CA, and MI, and coaching services globally. Grace specializes in helping people find meaning, purpose, identity, and fulfillment through a unique lens of Buddhism + psychology, anchoring on the pursuit of self-awareness, growing deeply and intentionally, all with a dash of candidness in the face of the chaos/hilarity of life. She is currently living out her own version of a fulfilled life, featuring slow travels, remote and flexible work aligned with her purpose.Connect with Grace on Instagram @thewakingbell and on ZenCare Bridges Mental Health is a stigma-free hub for Asians, Pacific Islanders, and South Asian Americans (APISA) to discuss, navigate, and seek mental health care.Find a Therapist.Join our Clinician Community. Write to us with comments & questions, we'd love to hear from you.@bridgesmentalhealthbridgesmentalhealthnyc@gmail.combuymeacoffee.com/bridgesmhCover photo by Janice ChungTheme music by Will Marshall

*Warning: Lots of food talk and descriptions in this episode, make sure you grab a snack before listening.* Welcome back! We're talking about a summer full of dope Pacific Islander festivals up the West Coast with the recent Pacific Feats Fest in San Jose, and the upcoming 4 Days of Aloha (7/20-23) in Vancouver, WA and The PolyFest (8/5) in Auburn, WA. Speaking of travelling to Seattle-area, Forest and Mike break down their long-distance driving secrets (speeding, “find your rabbit”). This week's convo flows across many topics, including an upcoming trip to Hawaii, how to hit a baseball, selling ice cakes in Samoa, commissioning professional feet pictures, Britney Spears being struck by Spurs security, the entertainment and effects of Reality TV, and food scarcity in America. #1! We close with our shout outs to Modesto's Via Dolorosa Church for their Saturday Food Bank, Wardell Curry Sr., 7/10 and all the Dabbers, Rick Simpson and RSOs, homies who pick you up to go out, Miss Nude Oregon winner Tokyo, Devin K's bday, Talanoa Smith, Our Panel, Le Vasa Island Apparel, Big Bro Va'a Hosea, PasifikaByDesign, Island Mogul, Island Block, people in the service industry, Sami Jobes for being the world's best Mom and partner, and Our Listeners. No shout outs to the people who thought we were working as bouncers when we went downtown last week lol. Recorded 7/10/2023, Zoom. Sponsored by www.levasaislandapparel.com.