-
Do you hear the people sing?
I was almost three years old and in Osaka, Japan on June 4th, 1989. I remember my parents glued to the hotel TV even though we were supposed to be on vacation, and I remember a sense of profound unease. You grow up, and years later you learn that the Chinese government wasn't screwing around and thousands of people died in the Tiananmen Square ( Read more... ) -
My New Hero: Dr. Joycelyn Elders
LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT DOCTOR JOYCELYN ELDERS (and then I'll return to homework.)
"You've got to get people's attention before you can achieve change. As Surgeon General, you have to take a stand. People are either going to love you or hate you." - Dr. Joycelyn Elders
Dr. Joycelyn Elders AKA Minnie Lee Jones was born in Schaal, Arkansas to a ( Read more... ) -
What is this "Chinese New Year" You Speak Of?
Today is the Lunar New Year. I grew up calling it "Chinese New Year" in English but it has occurred to me that I don't know anyone who actually speaks Chinese and calls it "Chinese New Year" in Chinese. To them it's the "lunar new year" (農曆新年) or simply the "new year" (年節 or 過年) or the Spring Festival (春節, a newer name for the festivities after ( Read more... ) -
On Acquisitions and Fandoms
It occurred to me that I never fully gathered my thoughts about Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm. People have asked me over the past few months and I've posted in different places like on Facebook and in the diversity thread in the expanded universe part of the forums on theforce.net ( Read more... ) -
Opposites Day?
I've really been mulling over the whole Distress of the Privilege thing...how people view remedies for discrimination and/or addressing disparities as a form of oppression.
Some examples:
OH NOES: "[Straight] people need to protect the marriage, families, and children from gays and their efforts to access the right to marry."
WELL, ACTUALLY... ( Read more... ) -
Digging deeper on the “tone” argument
I’m not really big on the tone argument. I’m not going to even pretend I like the tone argument. I guess I’m not very civil ( Read more... ) -
Intergenerational Illiteracy
A few months ago I was visiting with my grandparents. Some of my cousins have been getting married, and my grandmother has been keeping the invitations in a little box, along with some letters and keepsakes. My grandmother was excited to share the box with me. She brought out a handwritten letter because she wanted me to read it ( Read more... ) -
Packaged Soundbites from an Armchair Pundit
On the "Legitimate Rape" statement
The keyword here isn't rape, even though everyone is right to focus on how our society approaches the concept of rape (we are not very evolved. Oh, also, did you know that in 31 states, rapists are allowed visitation rights to their children?The keyword for me--at least just as important of a word--is the word " ( Read more... ) -
Whoopsy Airplane Read
A few weeks ago I was in the San Jose Airport in the airport bookstore. My flight was delayed so I decided to browse some books before getting in line. I went to the "local authors" section and looked at what authors were there. It encompassed authors from San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose including Jack London, Dashiell Hammett, and of ( Read more... ) -
"Dealing with Discrimination" - Laughably Bad Advice from a Student Guide from UCLA
Earlier this month, Dr. Christian Head at UCLA's Medical School decided to sue the university for racial discrimination. Dr. Head, the only tenured African American professor in his department, reported that he was repeatedly mocked as an "affirmative action hire" and was depicted in a slideshow at a student roast as a gorilla being sodomized by a ( Read more... )