MONTH FOUR of being on Patreon! This month I used your support to buy lots of canvases and paint. I created a new collection of work, and its thanks to you!

Word:

Grounded

This month rusty reds and browny pinks have made a big appearance in my work. Those earthly colors signify being grounded in who I am - all that I am - especially as a Chinese American. I've spent so much of my life accepting messages that tell me that anyone who isn't white is less than - so much time laughing through dehumanizing racist jokes and comments - SO MANY nervous laughs. May was digging my heals into the ground of who I am and accepting that its going take a lot of grit to grow and wake up. And speaking up is worth it even its exhausting

VISUAL:

1. / 2. / 3. / 4. / 5. / 6. / 7. / 8. / 9. / 10. / 11. / 12. — 1. / 2. / 3. / 4. / 5. / 6. / 7. / 8. / 9. / 10. / 11. / 12.

Article:

"Asian Americans: 10 Warning signs you're siding with whitness"

“6. When we find comfort in whiteness

When we grow up with white people, we learn to love and care for them. We see white people as fully emotional and complex human beings. This isn’t wrong. In fact, it’s great to be empathetic and understanding.

What is wrong (or, actually, violent) is when, due to our ignorance, we place the emotions of white people over the structural violence that they perpetuate through unexamined privilege — essentially humanizing white people over people of color.

It’s violent when we identify so strongly with white people that we fail to see the ways that they are complicit in white supremacy, and the ways that they — implicitly or explicitly — harm other people of color.”

"We need to talk about digital blackface reaction gifs"

Wow. Read this!

BOOK:

PODCAST:

Listen to this whole podcast. It tells women's honest stories and address some really important issues. I especially loved THIS EPISODE about how we define freedom, and my favorite Krista Tippitt is a guest on the episode!

Chicago is exploding with blooms.  Can't help but be inspired! — Chicago is exploding with blooms. Can't help but be inspired!

Movie:

I know I'm late!! Of course it makes movie of the month. If you haven't seen it...see it NOW.

MEMORY MONDAYS:

This is Week 21 of #TWmemorymondays:

Today's memory is prompted by a conversation I had with @verakt recently. This is K.T.'s memory that alot of you will probably relate to.

We were swapping microaggression stories that were targeted towards being Asians. And this is one of them:

K.T. was recalling an reoccurring situation where someone plays a guessing game of what kind of Asian she is. Not Chinese. Not Japanese. When they finally stumvle on finding out she is Korean, this comment has been made: "Oh I didn't expect you being Korean! Aren't Korean faces usually more flat? Your's isn't!"

THEN they usually offer some sort of detail like "I love kimchi" or "I've been to Korea before!" Or "I have this one Korean friend..."

I was like YES I know that guessing game too well!! I related to that interaction so much, and there's an equivalent comment on how they are surprised I'm Chinese (I'll get into that next time.)

Ok so why is that interaction offensive and rascist?

It so insulting to reference your caricature idea of different Asian cultures, and then see how we (Asians / Asian Americans) compare to your ideas. Doing that dimishishes those cultures while dehumanizing us as individuals simultaneously. In K.T.'s instance, to then insult Koreans and cover up it with a compliment!! How is that appropriate to say?? AND THEN to offer some sort of random fact about how you think you've interacted with our culture...like that's somehow going to make us feel endeared to that. We don't represent the whole country, and it's not interesting that you know another person of the same ethnicity.

If you are anti racism, learn how to truly honor different ethnicities and cultures. This is how you do it: be interested in the POC genuinely as an individual. If ethnicity comes up naturally, that's great! As that friendship grows, ask intentional and thoughtful questions about the person's background and unique experience. That's one of the ways to be against systematic rascist and white supremacy. Simple but is somehow hard to do and is rarely done.

Note to my Asian American friends (and fellow POC): the next time the guessing game starts, shut it down immediately. I'm preaching to myself! I've let it happen too many times.

Thank you K.T. for sharing!
.....
#TWmemorymondays: A painting inspired by a memory every Monday of 2018. Connecting abstract art to real life. Week 21/53. 'Guessing Game ' / 8x8 in / mixed media on paper

Music:

Thanks for taking the time to take a peek into my life!