Happy 2023. For the start of this new year, OAM will be hosting a series of mini-episodes on random, but relevant topics. TBH, these conversations between Sarah and I are really just recordings of our usual banter with a sprinkling of what's been on our mind and in our texts this week. 

For our first conversation, Sarah starts us off with the age ol' question about the quintessential Asian condiment: Soy Sauce. 

We recorded this episode a few days before the lunar new year weekend, a time when many in our API communities look forward to food, traditions, and celebration. Thus like many of you, we were shocked, heartbroken, and deeply saddened to hear about the tragedies in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay. We mourn the loss of lives  - many who were beloved elders --  and continue to hope and pray for peace in our communities. Take good care everyone. 

Our friend Nancy was profoundly moved by the way food served as a source of recovery, healing, and community-building during her mother’s experience with cancer. After almost a decade of planning and dreaming, she launched Purpose and Hope, an Oakland-based small business that serves nutritionally dense, handcrafted soup. Nancy shares about how her family’s Chinese heritage helps inform her use of ingredients from a medicinal standpoint, the ups and downs of running a small business, and the community partnerships she has forged to provide soup to low income and food insecure women experiencing cancer. Listen in to hear about the beauty of beets, Hatch green chiles, and a very moving story of how Nancy nurtured and grew a precious truth about the power and beauty of food.

Connect with Nancy on Instagram @purposeandhope

Order healthy, handcrafted soup for yourself or your loved ones at www.purposeandhope.com

Become a Soup Sponsor at https://www.patreon.com/purposeandhope

You can also learn more about Nancy’s journey running one of Alameda County’s first microenterprise home kitchens through this excellent coverage from Oaklandside:

https://oaklandside.org/2021/09/07/oakland-soup-company-purpose-and-hope-wants-to-comfort-and-nourish-the-east-bay/

https://oaklandside.org/2022/09/06/alameda-county-mehko-rules-purpose-and-hope-nancy-chang/

Welcome to our Oakland Asian Dad friend, Miguel! We spoke with Miguel about growing up in the Philippines, coming to the States, and raising Asian American daughters here in Oakland. Miguel and his partner are raising their kids in a multicultural and multilingual household with intentionality about paying equal attention to the multiple identities represented in their family. We touched on the issue of raising kids with similar characteristics as ourselves, and how we hope our daughters have deep confidence in themselves and take up space pn their own terms. We hope this will be an inspirational and humorous perspective on parenting the next generation of young women. 

"This was a story that really wanted to be told, that wouldn't let me go."

On this episode, we talk to first-time author Jane Kuo about her first book, In the Beautiful Country, about a young girl from Taiwan immigrating to Southern California in the 1980s and building a new and very different life. The book is loosely based on Jane's own immigration journey. Jane talks to us about the transition from working as a nurse to becoming a writer, and the different muscles she had to use to write, edit, publish, and publicize the book. We loved this beautiful book - it was deeply moving and lovely account of the life of a working class Asian immigrant family, and highly recommend everyone check it out.

You can connect with Jane at www.janekuo.com and @janekuowrites, and check out her op-ed in the LA Times.

On this episode, we talk to fellow Oakland Asian mom Celia about the journey and hopes of raising Asian American sons. The three of us have known each other for a long time, and this was a particularly meaningful conversation. We talk about how our upbringing in Asian immigrant families has shaped how we parent, how living in the Bay Area helps to affirm and strengthen our sons' identities , and about raising sons in majority Asian schools and schools where they are the minority. We also talk about how important it is to help our sons develop a strong sense of self and pride in who they are to equip them as Asian American men. Make sure you listen to the full episode so you know what Celia's Asian mom super power is - it's a good one.

Welcome to the OAM's next series which focuses on "Raising Asian American Sons" and who better to interview that our own partners. For the first time, Sarah and I invite our hubbies (Stephen, Sarah's husband and James, Cheryl's) and our mutual friend, Greg, to talk about...what else (no surprise) parenting, identity, and community. We asked these fathers to share about their experiences growing up and how those experiences have influenced what kind of relationship they want with their own sons. These guys were open and vulnerable and overall really good sports! We loved their dad-joke energy and we think you will also love hearing their fatherly insights and the tenderness they show their sons.