"To be silent is to be complicit."

Meg and Fran didn't feel right not speaking about the Black Lives Matter movement. As Asian Americans, we're sure we are not alone in having stayed comfortable in the sidelines for a long time. And we go one step further in this conversation: we explore and come to terms with the fact that we grew up, benefited, and were complicit in a culture steeped in the mindset of white supremacy -- and that in coming to the U.S., we wanted to stay complicit in a similar, tiered racist system; we continue to stay comfortable and benefit from that system by being a quiet, so-called "model minority" citizen (while it continues to kill our black siblings). And Fran and Meg have to actively, uncomfortably, change that -- and we are calling on our fellow Asian Americans to DO THE SAME. |

A couple of things first:

1) LISTEN TO BLACK VOICES FIRST. What are you doing here? We recommend listening to these podcasts first:

• Ibram X. Kendi on how to be anti-racist on Today Explained: https://bit.ly/37dRCoN
• Ta-Nehisi Coates on why he's hopeful on the Ezra Klein Show: https://bit.ly/3dLFeig
• Pod Save The People: https://bit.ly/30okoS7
• Code Switch: https://n.pr/3f7mQRs

2) DISCLAIMER: We make some generalizations here about Filipino culture because it's easier than disclaiming something every 5 seconds (here is the disclaimer at 00:33:05). This doesn't mean we think "all so-and-so group of people are such-and-such." We just mean the majority, in our experience. |

Part 1: Growing Up Complicit in the "White Mindset." (00:13:00) |

Part 2: Hiding Behind Our Light Skin and Hiding our Asian-ness to Not Make Waves in the System. (00:36:00) |

Break: What We're Loving This Week: (00:47:25) Now, Discover Your Strengths (book), Ramy Season 2, Just Mercy (movie about Bryan Stevenson), 13th |

Part 3: It's Not Our Movement, But We Need to be Active--Not Passive--Allies. It's NOT a "Black/White Thing." Calls to Action (00:57:25) |

Closing: Quote of the Day, Stay Safe Out There, Goodbye! (01:07:00) |

REFERENCES:

• Audre Lorde quote: https://bit.ly/2UoAwQ5
• Asia Jackson's "Magandang Morenx" campaign: https://bit.ly/3cN6snr
• Atlantic article on Filipino "family helper" culture: https://bit.ly/3cJQFpv
• Hasan Minhaj's "We Cannot Stay Silent": https://bit.ly/2ANqOjg
• Ibram X. Kendi's "How to be Anti-Racist": https://bit.ly/3f33yfN |

WHERE/HOW TO EDUCATE YOURSELF/DONATE/OTHER EFFORTS (Google them!):

• PROTEST SAFELY (If you can) -- or be the tactical contact for your friends who are out there.
• Visit blacklivesmatters.carrd.co.
• Donate to organizations like Reclaim The Block, Campaign Zero, Black Visions Collective, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Communities United Against Police Brutality, ACLU, your local bail fund, George Floyd's/Breonna Taylor's/Ahmaud Arbery's GoFundMe campaigns--and SO MUCH MORE.
• Sign petitions and call your local reps to hold police accountable for their actions, defund the police and reallocate those funds, and end police brutality.
• VOTE. In your local elections. In November.
• LISTEN TO BLACK VOICES AND STORIES (through your black friends/loved ones/colleagues, podcasts, social media, movies, Ted Talks, feature articles, fiction, non-fiction, etc).
• CALL YOURSELF out, then call your Asian, non-black, and white loved ones out. And do your own research and SHARE this research with them. |

We are doing this with you. Let's go. |

SONGS:

Transitions: https://soundcloud.com/cluelesskit/groove,  

https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired/me-2-feat-julian-avila,

Intro: https://soundcloud.com/iamryanlittle/wish-you-were-here (Thank you!!)

IG: @deepconvospod