Asian Americana

A plate of Thai-Chinese style pork and rice. Photo credit: Quincy Surasmith

The past several months of pandemic have been really hard on all of us, and have kept a lot of us at home. For those of us that can afford to, that means a lot of finding solace in taking care of ourselves and others with some comforting meals.

This is the first of two episodes about Asian American comfort foods: the traditions we’ve passed down in our families, as well as the adaptations and substitutions different communities have picked up along the way.

You can listen to part two here!

Or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, or RadioPublic.

I present to you: the Weiner dinner, a Migaki family staple. Invented by my grandmother when she was was raising 3 kids with no money. Cut up hot dogs, potatoes, soy sauce + sugar served over rice.
Asian-American fusion at its humblest and finest. A comforting meal always. pic.twitter.com/w6YVAcMmzL

Check out Lauren Migaki’s original tweet and picture of the Migaki family “Weiner dinner.” This was the post that set this whole episode in motion!

Learn more about Kelly Fong and Clement Lai’s community cookbook research project on their blog, Chinese American Homestyle Cooking.

The Stockton cookbook Kelly’s family owned:Treasured Recipes from Two Cultures–American and Chinese. Photo credit: Kelly Fong

From VAALA’s website:

VAALA’s Illuminated Recipes project can be found on the VAALA website.

Music from this episode included:

Jason Chu ft. Olivia Thai - Grandma’s Kitchen
David Tran aka applesauce - Song for Mom
Peter Su - Before You Get Too Old

Image of Kala Bagai used with permission, courtesy Rani Bagai

What was it like for a South Asian woman immigrating to the US in the early 20th century, and how did she build a community over her lifetime? And why name a street in Berkeley after Kala Bagai — especially since she may not have spent much time living there, if she did at all?

Or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, or RadioPublic.

The organizers behind Kala Bagai Way have documented their own journey to rename this street after Kala Bagai. Some information of their retelling was sourced from our episode…which in turn came from some of the organizers themselves, along with Bagai’s family and the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA). You can read more at Kala Bagai Way: The Inside Story.

Kala Bagai and her family. Photo used with permission, courtesy Rani Bagai and SAADA.

Kala Bagai and her sons. Photo used with permission, courtesy Rani Bagai and SAADA.

Learn more about Kala Bagai and her story on the South Asian American Digital Archive website. There you can also find the recording of her oral history, Vaishno Das Bagai’s letter to the San Francisco Examiner, and other archival materials, such as the newspaper clipping below.

Clipping of Los Angeles Daily News, featuring American Wives of India organization. Photo used with permission, courtesy Rani Bagai and SAADA.

You can read Rani Bagai’s letter supporting the Kala Bagai Way campaign on Berkeleyside here:
Opinion: Berkeley might name a street after Kala Bagai. This is her story

Learn more about the Berkeley South Asian Radical History walking tour on their website.

The language and phrases passed down in our families can reflect our specific cultures, heritage, and journey. But sometimes, they’re a way to cope with something darker and can belie hidden histories. Contributor Julianne Parker explores the depth and meaning of her grandmother’s signature saying in That’s Just the Way the Ball Bounces.

How do we act as allies to the Black community when we see injustice? How do we start those actions and intentions from our homes and communities? We explore the story of how hundreds of people came together from all around the world to work on a letter — a letter that would be translated into 40 plus languages and help everyone start talking to their families and communities about supporting Black lives.

Or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, or RadioPublic.

You can find the Letters for Black Lives project on their website. The full list of published translations can be found here.

The supplemental resource document, featuring a guide to follow-up conversations, can be found here.

First, this is not an open letter to all Black people from all the AZNs telling them how much we love them and asking for a cookie in return. It's also not even a letter *for* Black people. The letters aren't addressed to *them*.

We're not utilizing words as weapons in the service of "being right" or simply showing we are down for the cause. We're using them to try to open some very complicated, messy, stuck doors. pic.twitter.com/hw11gfllBB

One of the organizers, Gary Chou, has written an in-depth twitter thread further explaining the intentions and philosophy of the Letters for Black Lives project. We encourage you to read it to get a better sense of the project beyond our episode.

In this episode, Aishwarya mentioned watching a special clip from Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. You can watch the full video above.

NPR’s Code Switch did a great piece about the original Letters for Black Lives project in 2016. You can find it here: A Letter From Young Asian-Americans To Their Families About Black Lives Matter

Kat Chow, formerly with NPR’s Code Switch, also wrote this very thoughtful piece: 'Model Minority' Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks

Finally, here are some links to other resources that may be helpful to you. We’ve not checked every single resource linked, but hopefully these are useful starting points for you to learn more and do further work.

Asian American Advocacy Fund resource list
Asian American Organizing Project resource list
Asian American Racial Justice Toolkit
Asians4Black Lives Twitter and Instagram

Photo credit: Bryan Sih / CCED

We explore the stories of Asian Americans working to defend our communities from attacks, the volunteers organizing direct aid to vulnerable populations, the people translating information into terms and languages so more can understand, and the local businesses helping each other and their communities survive during Covid-19.

We can’t stress enough, though: Asian Americans are doing all these things because we care about our communities — not because we need to prove to anyone our right to belong. This is a continuation of the work that’s long been happening in our communities.

Or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, or RadioPublic.

We mentioned a lot of projects, campaigns, and organizations in today’s show. You can find information about all of them below.

And we know there are SO many more happening across the country. If you’d like to share about some efforts, organizations, and communities you know about, I’d love to hear them.

Just send me a voice recording at quincy [at] asianamericana.com with your name, where you’re at, and the efforts you’d like to share; maybe I’ll use it on the show!

HateisaVirus is one of many campaigns spreading awareness and information about how to respond to hate incidents. Learn more about #Hateisavirus on their website. Other awareness campaigns out there include #WashtheHate and #Racismisavirus.

A3PCON is collecting data about hate incidents targeting Asian Americans. They have created a multilingual incident reporting form and provided other resources about how to respond to such incidents. All these can be found on their website at Stop AAPI Hate.

Photo credit: Bryan Sih / CCED

SEACA and CCED are organizations providing mutual aid in Los Angeles’ Chinatown and nearby neighborhoods. Their work includes food and cleaning supply deliveries, in-language check-ins with residents, businesses, families, and seniors, along with community organizing efforts. You can support SEACA and CCED’s mutual aid efforts by donating on SEACA’s website — be sure to note the donation as “LA Chinatown Mutual Aid Fund.”

Day by Day Comic by APIAHF and artist Minnie Phan, from their April 30 Community Care Package.

APIA Health Forum has collected various Covid-19 resources on their website. This includes their community library for in-language resources. If you have more in-language resources to share with them, you can submit them on their Google Form.

You can also sign up for their Community Care Package here. They can also be found on Medium; the first issue is available here. And you can support them by donating.

The SEAD Project has resources available on their website, including materials in English, Burmese, Hmong, Karen, Khmer, Lao, and Việt. You can support their work through their shop or donations.

Malaka Gharib’s comic zine helping to explain the Coronavirus to children can be found on NPR’s website. A version that can be printed out and folded into a zine is also available here. It is also available in Chinese here.

Organizations like Little Tokyo Service Center, Little Tokyo Community Council, and others have been providing aid and assistance in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo neighborhood. Little Tokyo Service Center’s Covid-19 resources can be found on their site. They also have a site detailing their small business assistance.

You can also donate to the Little Tokyo Community Feeding Community project here.

James Choi’s post on Cafe Dulce’s Instagram about Kouraku. (Click to see the original post)

James Choi, owner of Cafe Dulce in Little Tokyo, made an Instagram post that helped inspire Kouraku, a restaurant in Little Tokyo, to reach their customers by joining Facebook.

Kouraku’s first Facebook post. (Click to see the original post)

Feed the Frontliners delivers food to medical workers. Photo from The Park’s Finest.

After their restaurants The Park’s Finest BBQ and Thunderbolt LA were impacted by Covid-19 public policies, shelter-in-place, and social distancing, they turned their efforts to feeding medical staff, firehouses, and other frontliners during the pandemic. Information about their Feed the Frontliners project can be found on their website. You can donate to Feed the Frontliners on their GoFundMe page.

Home, by Jason Chu; available on his upcoming album, Living Room, available for pre-order now.

Windmill, by Connie Lim; her current music can be heard as MILCK.

Chinatown, as performed by Nobuko Miyamoto, Nancy Sekizawa, and Benny Yee at the Tuesday Night Cafe. The song is written by Benny Yee and copyrighted to EmploYee Music.

Almost Time, by Surrija; available on her new self-titled album.

Croptender, by the Fighting Cocks as recorded at the Tuesday Night Cafe.

Christina Ong with her mom. Photo courtesy Christina Ong

Marie Kondo’s book, show, and KonMari decluttering method got popular in the past couple years, but her methods may not apply the same way to immigrant families. Contributor Christina Ong explores family and belonging in her piece, What We Inherit: Marie Kondo and the Security of Stuff.

Or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, or RadioPublic.

You can find more of Christina Ong’s work on her website. At the time of this episode, she’s studying how political activism and artistic production around anti-imperialism, anti-racism, and anti-sexism influenced the development of Asian America in the 1970s-1980s through an in-depth case study of New York City’s Basement Workshop.

The article she references in her piece is Marie Kondo and the Privilege of Clutter, by Arielle Bernstein.

The episode of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo we referenced is Season 1, Episode 2: Empty Nesters.

Producers Ada Tseng and Caroline Chang don't have a lot of personal experience with facial hair, but they hear Asian American men — in media and in their lives — talk about it all the time. So they decided to investigate: who can or cannot grow it, what are the stereotypes, and the ways it can signify Asian American identity, masculinity, marketability, and resistance.

Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon is a groundbreaking scholar, historian, and community organizer who made sure the world would know the stories of Filipino Americans and Stockton’s Little Manila.

Claudia Kishi is an Asian American literary icon that went beyond being a fun, artistic, and stylish character. She became an inspiration and point of connection for a ton of young Asian Americans. We explore her influence on a generation of Asian American readers.

Following Filipino American History Month in October, we explore three Filipino American podcasts: This Filipino American Life, Balikbayan, and Long Distance — each sharing their own slice of Filipino American discussions, experiences, and stories.