Sometimes, I really wish my parents could say to me, “I love you” or "I'm proud of you" more often.

Wow, it's been a while. Some updates and thoughts since I last spoke in February 2021. Spoiler: there have been a lot of changes in my personal life!

Foreword: This episode was recorded around May or June 2020 as the Black Lives Matter movement was growing. With the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes this month, it's important to remember that being over-dependent on the police doesn't serve anyone else but white supremacy and that we need to invest in reimagined public safety if we want racial solidarity with the Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander communities.

On this episode, I chat with Eddy Zheng. He's the founder of the New Breath Foundation, the first formerly incarcerated "juvenile lifer" to serve as president of a philanthropic foundation. With his personal experience going through the school to prison to deportation pipeline, he has dedicated himself to fighting for communities impacted by the criminal justice system. We talk about the system's effect on the AAPI community and why the spread of COVID-19 in prisons is inhumane.

Music by Paulina Vo: @paulinavo on Soundcloud or @vobot on Instagram

Foreword: This episode was recorded around May or June 2020 as the Black Lives Matter movement was growing. With the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes this month, it's important to remember that being over-dependent on the police doesn't serve anyone else but white supremacy and that we need to invest in reimagined public safety if we want racial solidarity with the Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander communities.

On this episode, I chat with Dr. Connie Wun. She’s one of the co-founders, along with Jenny Wun, of AAPI Women Lead, which aims to support the research of and bring awareness to the stories of AAPI women-identified, women, and girls and their experiences with various forms of violence. We talk about what it means to build solidarity within and outside the AAPI community and what’s been giving us hope during 2020.

Music by Paulina Vo: @paulinavo on Soundcloud or @vobot on Instagram

On this episode, I chat with Eddy Zheng. He’s the founder of the New Breath Foundation, the first formerly incarcerated “juvenile lifer” to serve as president of a philanthropic Foundation. With his personal experience going through the school to prison to deportation pipeline, he has dedicated himself to fighting for communities impacted by the criminal justice system. We talk about the system’s effect on the AAPI community and why the spread of COVID in prisons is inhumane. So here's my chat with Eddy!

Music by Paulina Vo: @paulinavo on Soundcloud or @vobot on Instagram

On this episode, I'm joined by Professor Daryl Maeda whose main interest is the social movements for racial justice of the late 1960s and early 1970s. We talk about the history of AAPI activism, the importance of racial solidarity, and whether we could see another wave of AAPI activism because of COVID-19. So here's my chat with Professor Daryl Maeda!

Link to Dr. Jennifer Ho’s presentation on the history of anti-Asian racism: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19U7arnYFk2ildtT7BCo0IkvUoql82i-f/view?usp=sharing

Music by Paulina Vo: @paulinavo on Soundcloud or @vobot on Instagram

Hey there, welcome back to a third season of Chatting with Asians! Well it's the beginning of May 2020 and the world has completely changed because of coronavirus since our last season, and I hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy. Where do I even begin with this season? You know, COVID-19 has brought a lot of issues to the surface. Class and racial inequalities that already existed are now even more exacerbated and, of course, the anti-Asian racism that's been spreading around the world. So I've been motivated to take this third season to get a little more political.

Right now in America, we don't have the leader we especially need during this pandemic and it's up to us to use our privilege and platforms to be a voice for those who usually don't have a seat at the table. My guests will be coming from a wide variety of experiences that focus on different aspects of social justice such as the history of movements of racial justice during the 1960s and 70s, the incarceration of Asian Americans, and violence against Asian American women. Throughout our conversations, we'll not only be exploring these topics but we'll also be talking about how COVID-19 affects disadvantaged groups, such as communities of color, and talk about solutions of systemic oppression.

As you listen to these episodes, if you feel that they resonate with you, remember that you can make a difference to those in need by further researching these issues, having conversations with other people about them, donating money to nonprofits or funds, or supporting local businesses and entrepreneurs during these times. I hope that you find these conversations as enlightening as I've found them to be and I hope that it inspires you to be a little more political in your lives, too. So with that, welcome to the third season of Chatting with Asians!

I chat with Chris Chyung, who recently became the first Asian-American state legislator in Indiana's history at 25 years old. With no previous political experience, he was able to beat longtime Republican State Rep Hal Slager by 82 votes. This was such an inspiring conversation where we talk about his winning strategy, how his ethnicity played a role during his campaign, and what he considers his accomplishments and setbacks from the 2019 house session.

Website: https://indianahousedemocrats.org/members/chris-chyung

Instagram: @votechyung

Transcription: https://medium.com/@chattingwithasians/15-chatting-with-chris-chyung-indiana-state-representative-366b530fecc7

Music by Paulina Vo: @paulinavo on Soundcloud or @vobot on Instagram

Tanya Zhang is a co-founder of a men's fashion company called Nimble Made. If that brand sounds familiar to you, that's because I interviewed her partner Wesley in the first season! Inspired by her dad's struggle to find clothes that fit him in America, she quit her corporate visual designer job to pursue Nimble Made with a mission to bring diversity and inclusion to men's fashion. They've been featured on Money Magazine, Yahoo!, and HuffPost and I feel so lucky to have chatted with her about her experiences as a female entrepreneur and dealing with imposter syndrome.

Website: https://www.nimble-made.com/

Instagram: @nimblemade

Transcription: https://medium.com/@chattingwithasians/14-chatting-with-tanya-zhang-fashion-entrepreneur-549e4e17a169

Music by Paulina Vo: @paulinavo on Soundcloud or @vobot on Instagram

On this episode, I have a heart-to-heart with Vivian Chan, co-founder of a fashion company called East Meets Dress. Along with her best friend and co-founder, they design modern Chinese wedding dresses, or cheongsams, for Asian Americans. We talk about her experiences growing up with a single mother, how coming out to her friends was a totally different experience than with her family, and why she decided not to pursue med school after going to Yale for pre-med.

Website: https://eastmeetsdress.com/

Instagram: @eastmeetsdress

Transcription: https://medium.com/@chattingwithasians/13-chatting-with-vivian-chan-fashion-entrepreneur-431326edd31e

Music by Paulina Vo: @paulinavo on Soundcloud or @vobot on Instagram