Have you ever had that reminiscent feeling because of a certain smell, sound, or anything that can trigger that emotion? Well, for my capstone, I wanted to base it on that feeling called Nostalgia. Before I started bringing those memories back to individuals, I had to research the benefits and drawbacks of Nostalgia. I learned that when indulging in too much of Nostalgia, it can be tough to appreciate what you have currently. However, Nostalgia could also help with an individual’s self-esteem and promote a more positive mood. You just have to find that balance between how much you can indulge.

Capstone: https://mie248.wixsite.com/project-saudade

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/144j3wSqIILklUf8wOqek8eo1PFNSZTR0RTJLDeYQc84/edit?usp=sharing

In Part 1, page 7, Bromden reveals a flashback to the readers about a memory when his father (“Papa”) and he went hunting for birds. He then describes the movement of the prey they’re hunting for, “The bird [is] safe as long as he keeps still… Then the bird breaks, feathers springing, jumps out of the cedar into the birdshot from my Papa’s gun.)” In the end, the bird dies. In my drawing, I drew exactly what happened to that bird. But the only difference is that this bird is still alive; Bromden is the bird, and the one who shot him is the Big Nurse. I relate Bromden to the bird, because he said it himself, “The least black boy and one of the bigger ones catch me before I get ten steps out of the mop closet, and drag me back to the shaving room. I don’t fight or make any noise.” He did what a prey could’ve done in that situation. I relate to the individual who shot the bird, originally Papa, as the Big Nurse. In Part 1, page 25, Bromden states what he calls the “huge organization that aims to adjust the Outside,” as the “Combine”. So when it came to the “Inside” of the hospital and who was in charge, Bromden brought up how he thinks she’s “Working alongside others like her who I call the “Combine,”… to adjust the Outside as well as she has the Inside.” She is the only one who has the power to shoot Bromden and the others in the hospital.

I specifically drew the bird in a glass case display, because there is a moment where Bromden grows as a character, finally opening his eyes to his surroundings and others. He says, “For the first time in years I was seeing people with none of that black outline they used to have, and one night I was even able to see out the windows.” The bird is drawn to be looking in the distance like how Bromden did that one night. Not only did I draw to try and convey the way Bromden realized this eye-opening experience she has never felt, but to show how small the space he’s been in for the past years of his life. This man has been living in a confined space for most of his life, trapped in a building he can wander in for only so long. For the stylistic part of my drawing, I tried to give it a look of realism, yet smudgy. A combination of the drawing of Cheswick on page 12, the streakyness yet realism of it. And on page 46 of Pete, the charcoal look of that utilizes the smudgeness of it. The reasoning behind the lack of color within my drawing is not only to mimic the little color in materials Bromden had to create these drawings of the people in the hospital. But also to show the pain that Bromden had to go through, specifically for therapy (ECT), “I’ve heard that the Chief, years ago, received more than two hundred shock treatments when they were really the vogue.” (page 62).

Chapter 9 (page 51): Waterfalls (1) by James Quinn

“I was nervous. How was I to know he loved me? It might be just an affair. Why did we ever say just?… The knock would come at the door; I’d open, with relief, desire. He was so momentary, so condensed. And yet there seemed no end to him. We would lie in those afternoon beds, afterwards, hands on each other, talking it over. Possible, impossible. What could be done? We thought we had such problems. How were we to know we were happy?” In this portion of the book, Offred was reciting a memory she had with Luke, a memory about their love and relationship. Offred would typically reminisce about the past since that was all she had and something that couldn’t be taken from her. I would believe that she’s lonely and has this emptiness within her because of how little affection is shown in Gilead. In the song, “Waterfalls” by James Quinn, he captures this sort of sorrowful feeling in the notes he plays. But also captures the feeling of happy, nostalgic moments in life. The beginning of the song really captures when Offred says, “I was nervous. How was I to know he loved me? It might be just an affair. Why did we ever say just?… The knock would come at the door; I’d open, with relief, desire.” Just the fast-paced intro shows the number of thoughts spilling thoughts throughout Offred’s mind, contemplating her relationship with Luke, seeing if their relationship even meant anything to Luke. But as you continue to listen to the song, there comes a time when it quickens but slows down right after, representing the many ups and downs of Offred and Luke’s relationship. But also at the end of the quote, “We would lie in those afternoon beds, afterwards, hands on each other, talking it over. Possible, impossible. What could be done? We thought we had such problems. How were we to know we were happy?”

Chapter 12 (pages 63-64): Mia and Sebastian’s theme song (2) by Justin Hurwitz

“I step into the water, lie down, let it hold me. The water is soft as hands. I close my eyes, and she’s there with me, suddenly, without warning, it must be the smell of the soap. I put my face against the soft hair at the back of her neck and breathe her in, baby powder and child’s washed flesh and shampoo, with an undertone, the faint scent of urine. This is the age she is when I’m in the bath. She comes back to me at different ages. This is how I know she’s not really a ghost. If she were a ghost she would be the same age always… She fades, I can’t keep her here with me, she’s gone now. Maybe I do think of her as a ghost, the ghost of a dead girl, a little girl who died when she was five.” In this portion of the book, Offred is bathing herself. But as she bathes herself, she reveals to the readers that the smell of the soap reminds her of her daughter. Saying the little details that she remembered she had with her daughter, before being taken away from her. In the song “Mia and Sebastian’s Theme Song” by Justin Hurwitz, the song starts off slow and calming, this being the moment where Offred recognizes the smell. But as the song progresses, it becomes more aggressive and hard hitting, representing how much she thinks about her daughter, always coming back “at different ages” each time. Ending the song, it ends quite abruptly, like how Offred shamelessly adds that maybe her daughter is a ghost, the ghost of a dead girl, a little girl who died when she was five.”

Chapter 13 (pages 74-75): Jacob and the Stone (3) by Emile Mosseri

“I’m running, with her, holding her hand, pulling, dragging her through the bracken, she’s only half awake because of the pill I gave her, so she wouldn’t cry or say anything that would give us away, she doesn’t know where she is… I can hear the bells even, sleigh bells from the radio, old music, but through this window I can see, small but very clear, I can see her, going away from me, through the trees which are already turning, red and yellow, holding out her arms to me being carried away.” In this portion of the book, Offred is remembering when everything changed in her life––she gets separated from Luke, and her daughter gets stripped away from her. At this point Offred’s life was gonna change forever, all the pieces of her past life were ripped away from her. She was now just a normal woman in other people’s view, not a mother, not a wife, but just a handmaid. In the song, “Jacob and the Stone” by Emile Mosseri, it’s very angelic-like. It sounds as if you would enter heaven and the choir of angels starts playing for you as you walk through the gates. This dramatic piece just makes me imagine how this scene would play out; the music comes in, as Offred’s daughter is “holding out her arms to me being carried away.” I imagine that this scene is gonna be in slow motion to really capture the last moments she had with her daughter. Also, the little moments where Offred captures these hypersensitivities to the colors of the leaves and sounds around her, make me believe how tired she was from running, and how her paranoia made her imagine “sleigh bells from the radio, old music [playing]…”

Chapter 17 (page 98): Love (4) by Keyshia Cole

“He steps towards me. Nick. ‘What are you doing here in here?’ I don’t answer. He too is illegal, here, with me, he can’t give me away. Nor I him; for the moment we’re mirrors. He puts his hand on my arms, pulls me against him, his mouth on mine, what else comes from such denial? Without a word. Both of us shaking, how I’d like to…My hand goes down, how about that, I could unbutton, and then. But it’s too dangerous, he knows it, we push each other away not far. Too much trust, too much risk, too much already.” In this portion of the book, Offred wanted to press a flower under her mattress for another handmaid to possibly find, like how she found the Latin etching in her closet, “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.” So she went into the sitting room to find a flower but felt another presence with her, which was Nick. Sensing the tension between Nick and Offred, Nick makes the first move and kisses her on the lips, and they stay there for a bit. Before pushing “each other away not far. Too much trust, too much risk, too much already.” It seems a spark had been lit between two dead flames. In the song, “Love” by Keyshia Cole, the lyrics, “Love, Never knew what I was missin’, But I knew once we start kissin’, I found, found you, Now you’re gone, what am I gonna do?” I feel that those lyrics just interpreted what happened in that sensual scene. “Love, Never knew what I was missin’,” made me think that Offred felt this sense of rebellion kissing someone that wasn’t Luke and just going against Gilead’s system. “But I knew once we start kissin’, I found, found you, Now you’re gone, what am I gonna do?” Since this kiss, there has always been this awkward tension between Offred and Nick when they cross paths, a tension of desire to continue what they stopped.

Chapter 24 (pages 146-147): Asleep among Endives (5) by Ichiko Aoba

“I stifle it in the folds of the hanging cloak, clench my eyes, from which tears are squeezing. Try to compose myself. After a while it passes, like an epileptic fit. Here I am in the closet. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. I can’t see in the dark but I trace the tiny scratched writing with the ends of my fingers, as if it’s a code in Braille. It sounds in my head now less like a prayer, more like a command; but to do what? Useless to me in any case, an ancient hieroglyph to which the key’s been lost. Why did she write it, why did she bother? There’s no way out of here. I lie on the floor, breathing too fast, then slower, evening out my breathing, as in Exercises, for giving birth. All I can hear now is the sound of my own heart, opening and closing, opening and closing, opening.” In this portion of the book, Offred is exhausted from helping with the process of a handmaid, Janine, giving birth. So she goes back to her room to “… compose myself.” In the song, “Asleep among Endives” by Ichiko Aoba, the lyrics, “At the edge of the world, listen to the galaxy, A gentle breeze, a gentian shining on my ankles.” As Offred, lay “on the floor, breathing too fast, then slower, evening out my breathing…” makes me think that she is just trying to calm after the amount of adrenaline that was coursing through her. She lays on the floor as this calming song fits with the mood she’s feeling.

Music: (1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io8w2qusfXw

(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ovuBdbUqk

(3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbm3Llu2114

(4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZaotY2V3gY

(5) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aED02XuLwo

In Chapter 5, page 26, Offred and Ofglen are waiting in line at the shops, coming across a pregnant Janine, “A woman who is pregnant doesn’t have to go out, doesn’t have to go shopping… She could stay at her house. And it’s dangerous for her to be out, there must be a Guardian standing outside the door, waiting for her. Now that she’s the carrier of life, she is closer to death and needs special security. Jealousy could get her, it’s happened before. She comes here to display herself. She’s glowing, rosy, she’s enjoying every minute of this.”

This section of the Handmaid’s Tale stuck out to me, due to the fact that being pregnant is a glorified subject within Gilead. Handmaids in Gilead serve one purpose: get pregnant and give birth. If you’re infertile in Gilead, you are marked as an “Unwomen” and will get sent into The Colonies, where they must work to clean up nuclear waste. So when it comes to being pregnant, you have to treat it like you’re walking around glass, a careful but dangerous process. The handmaids in Gilead always live in such fear of becoming infertile or “Unwomen,” due to the fact that they would be basically useless. Their main purpose is to hold and give life, and if they can’t do that, what is the point of them to stay in the systematic society then?

In the epigraph of The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood added a verse from Genesis 30:1-3. In Genesis 30:1, “And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.” This verse explains the sheer amount of biblical influence in The Handmaid’s Tale that relates to pregnancy. The main premise of this book is that verse: death and life. Jacob is being used as an object in this verse for Rachel. She craves to bear the life of a child, to fulfill a duty, the main duty of her life.

In my drawing, you can see that I drew what a typical handmaid would look like, but pregnant. I took this handmaid reference from the 2019 cover art for The Handmaid’s Tale, by Noma Bar (1). What I had in mind for this image was to tie in some biblical meaning behind this, by making the woman like the Virgin Mary and angelic-like. A reference I took for the Virgin Mary was a painting called the “Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary” by Jerónimo Ezquerra (2). I didn’t necessarily add much heavy connection between my drawing and this painting due to the different complexities that each piece holds. However, to make my drawing more angelic-like, I added to what most angels or holy people in historical Christian and/or Catholic paintings had. Which were a gold, halo-like orb around their head to represent the light emitting off of them. A reference I took for adding a halo around the handmaid’s head was from a painting by Giotto di Bondone (3), “Crying Angel”.

(1) http://www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2017/12/08/notable-book-covers-of-2017/handmaids-tale-noma-bar/

(2) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jerónimo_Ezquerra_Visitation.jpg

(3) https://www.greatbigcanvas.com/view/passion-the-crucifixion-crying-angel-by-giotto-1304-1306-scrovegni-chapel-padua,2070500/

In my previous SLATE post, I talked about the recent hate crimes going around, affecting the AAPI community during the Pandemic. I gave awareness by talking about the sources that I used to help me give off this information, gave some of my opinions on recent hate crimes, and why these hate crimes are happening towards the AAPI community. But overall, giving knowledge to the readers that there is a major issue that is not being taken seriously.

Now, in my journey of making my website, I came across sources that helped me a lot to make the way my website looks and the information that lies in it. The first source that I used to make my website was NextShark. I couldn’t have made any of this without NextShark. NextShark gave me the information and knowledge, that I needed to help me translate the information back to people who didn’t know about AAPI hate crimes, during the Pandemic. The website is just filled with the latest information on AAPI hate crimes or just typical news in the AAPI community. They also talk about the latest AAPI “business, culture, entertainment, politics, tech, and lifestyle.” - NextShark. The second source that I used for my website, is this gofundme page. I talked about if people wanted to help, to stop these hate crimes, they could donate to that gofundme page. And the people who are raising 8 million dollars for the AAPI community will help “organizations that empower and uplift the AAPI community, with initiatives such as increased ​community safety and support for those affected by violence.” - gofundme description. And finally, the third source that I used was SYSTRAN Translator. I used this translator to make my digital flyer in different Asian languages. I translated my English sayings to Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Thai. I translated my words into 5 languages because I didn’t want my digital flyer to just have Asian Americans helping the AAPI movement, but elderly AAPI too. The elderly AAPI are always the “easier targets” for hate crimes. But they have been through the thick and the thin, just to live a good life in the U.S. So, giving them this type of information would help the AAPI movement impact others more quickly.

When thinking about what I could do for my Agent of Change project, I didn’t really think of doing something big. For my topic, I knew it was a big issue to tackle. That is still happening in the world. Then the idea of making a flyer about AAPI Hate, and putting those flyers up around my neighborhood seemed like a great idea to me. Then my sister suggested making a website with a digital flyer instead. I wasn’t really into that idea but as I continued thinking about my sister’s suggestion, I thought that it wasn’t that bad of an idea, and I could add more information about AAPI hate. So, I started my website by not knowing what I was doing and wondering if I should change my Agent of Change idea but pulled through. I first started working on the format of my pages, then settled on good-looking formats and went with that. Afterward, I started working on my page backgrounds, and decorate them with Stop AAPI Hate posters, created by artists: Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, JULIA KESTNER DESIGNS, colorsofhoney, Danielle Chandler, pauline.c.cuevas, Pi Delta Psi, Michelle Wang, Yuk Fun, Lauren YS, evexcristina, Eric Lee, Tika, and Brett Sayles. To make my website have an indie, friendly feel.

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: JULIA KESTNER DESIGNS, colorsofhoney, and Danielle Chandler

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: pauline.c.cuevas, Pi Delta Psi, and Michelle Wang

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: Yuk Fun, Lauren YS, and evexcristina

Stop AAPI Hate posters by: Eric Lee, Tika, and Brett Sayles

And, after finishing with all the requirements that I thought my website needed, I began to notice that this was a good first experience making an actual, professional website. I enjoyed researching this topic because being part of the AAPI community made me passionate about reading victim’s stories. I feel that doing this initiative, making a website to get individual’s attention about Stopping AAPI Hate was a great idea after all. I know for my project, I could’ve joined in Stop AAPI Hate protests in Philly, but since of COVID-19, I decided to make my project virtual. Overall, I hope that I affect many people in the SLA community, to know more about the struggle that the AAPI community is facing.

After looking at the final product of my website for a few days, I felt pretty proud of what I made. Even though the process of making my website was pretty stressful and difficult, I still was fulfilled with the final product. I learned that I am capable of more things than I thought. I would’ve never thought that I was able to make a website that might impact other people’s lives for the better good. And, I learned that other people who are supporting the Stop AAPI Hate movement can really benefit by impacting the world. The Stop AAPI Hate community is very diverse and has a lot of different perspectives from this movement. The movement isn’t just to help the AAPI community but could also help other voices that also need to be heard. For example, “Over 85 Asian and LGBTQ+ Groups Band Together to Oppose COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act” - NextShark. Currently, in NextShark news, the LGBTQ+ and the some Stop AAPI Hate organizations have banded together to support each other in ways society never supported them. By helping each other to spread awareness and support for one another.

Some things that I thought that I could’ve done better for my project was, to try to put more information about the Stop AAPI Hate movement. For my “About” page, I put questions that are very essential to learn about the Stop AAPI Hate movement. But specifically, I didn’t get to tell the stories of the victims that were affected by the hate crimes. I knew that there were things that needed to change for the movement to make the AAPI community feel safe. And the things that we could start with: peaceful protests. It could catch the attention of the news, and make the government think about making a new equal rights amendment or act, that will help affect the AAPI but also communities that are in need of being heard. To fulfill their safety and equality. I know doing a protest sounds like a lot because it is. But this is a big issue that we’re dealing with. So, taking big steps for a big issue may just be an acceptable idea for what we’re dealing with.

Finished Annotated Bibliography

Did you know that there is a huge issue going on, around in the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community? Did you know that there are people who are getting verbally and physically assaulted, even murdered, just because of the way they look? Did you know that some of these AAPI hate crimes are not being documented/filed as a hate crime? Did you? Well if you didn’t, you can now. In this post I’m going to go more into depth about (what I believe) hate crimes that are targeted towards the AAPI community. This is a major topic that is, thankfully, being more publicized and talked about, but (in my opinion) aren’t being dealt with properly and aren’t given immediate consequence, to the people who are assaulting/murdering the AAPI community. As a person of the AAPI community, I would like to show my knowledge of what I learned from my research about this sensitive yet really engaging topic. I hope this can help/add to your knowledge about this topic and soon will, hopefully, make a change in our society to make these Anti-Asian hate crimes stop.

This chart shows the increase of Anti-Asian hate crimes in 2019 to 2020.

Now, in my opinion this topic just hurts and disgusts me by how many AAPI are getting assaulted, cause as an Asian-American living in the U.S. I am constantly scared by what if I’m the next person that’s going to get assaulted, or even murdered, just by how I look. Or even worse, if one of my family members gets assaulted. I just can’t get that through my mind and how much it hurts me to see my community hurting like this. When I read or watch articles/videos about the AAPI community getting assaulted, or murdered, just really infuriates me how society treats us AAPI.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO MAY BE SENSITIVE TO SOME VIEWERS!

I am really passionate about this topic because I learned that some of these horrific assaults/murders happening to the AAPI community, aren’t even being documented/filed as hate crimes.

I watched this podcast by The May Lee Show, talking about why some of the AAPI’s assault cases are not being documented as hate crimes. When I watched this podcast, I respect on why some opinions that were being made, like why the prosecutors aren’t digging enough to find the answer that the defendant wants, but I just don’t agree with those opinions. To paint a better picture of what I’m trying to say is by looking at the recent case of murders, by a man named, Robert Aaron Long, who killed a total of 8 people in Atlantic spas. When I first saw this news, my reaction was like, “are people getting this bored in the Pandemic that they’re starting to kill people ‘for fun’?” But soon to later find out that despicable man, killed 6 women of Asian descent out of those 8 victims because of his “sex addiction”. Then to hear that these spas shootings probably wasn’t towards a particular race. Yet this white man goes on a mass killing spree into spas, that are predominantly Asian spas, and decide to kill 6 Asian women, was because of his “sex addiction”, isn’t called a hate crime (case still under investigation)?! Another key thing I realized was that the officer, who was the spokesman on this case, said that the attacker was just having “a really bad day.” So you’re saying a white man killing 8 people, with those victims, 6 of them are from Asian descent, to come to a hypothesis, that the attacker was just having “a really bad day.” That is the dumbest, stupidest, inconclusive, white supremacist answer I ever heard. Plus, the white spokesman who said that Robert was just having “a really bad day”, promoted a sale on anti-Asian t-shirts, on Facebook. That said “ ‘imported virus from Chy-na.’ ” So, this sounds like that white spokesman was first, racist and second, biased. Side Note: It seems like the Police Department hasn’t said anything about how long Robert will serve in jail, but if it’s only, like 4 years…why, all of those victims because of his idiotic actions.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO MAY BE SENSITIVE TO SOME VIEWERS!

This issue is a very significant topic to learn about, especially during these times where the hate crimes towards AAPI are significantly unfolding faster and getting worse till this day. Learning about this topic can tell you that America isn’t just about the “American dream”, but can reveal about the actual history behind America, that was always covered up.

To continue with that, let’s talk about a word you probably heard many times before, stereotype. Yes, that famous, loathsome word, that impacted so many AAPI’s during their childhood and till today, still. First, I would like to talk about a term that falls under with the word “stereotype”, The Model Minority Myth. That word just means that, “a persistent stereotype that paints Asian Americans as inherently successful and problem-free, particularly in contrast to other minority groups, had helped keep the story ‘from being a big deal before this’.” said by NBCNews. Second, I really disagree with that myth, using this information about how the Model Minority Myth impacted the AAPI community, many times in their life is a good way of knowing how America decides to treat us AAPI community, by making up a whole Myth just to make the rest of the world think that we’re smart, well-off, or that we’re always going to be successful in life. But no, that is completely false. AAPI are not born smart, they are trained just like every other kid in school to get good grades and soon to be successful in life. But I guess America thought that they needed to degrade another race, to make the AAPI seem to “know more” than the other students. Like have they never heard of studying, the people in America didn’t have to make a whole racist myth because AAPI are “good” at studying. LIKE WHAT?! I just think that was the most idiotic conclusion America came to.

Next, I am going to talk about my research/some stories I found about, what’s happening to the AAPI community, and how they’re being impacted by the Pandemic. First, let’s talk about this source, where they talk about how “Hate-fueled attacks on Asian Americans spiked across major U.S. cities last year — in some cases by triple-digit percentages — …” I think that is disgustingly high by how many hate-fueled attacks (hate crimes) there are towards the AAPI community. Like are you serious, the triple-digits?! They just had to go that far. Second, there is a source that talks about how brands are responding towards AAPI hate. Here is a quote that I took from the article that I really love, “ ‘No one is paying attention. No big news outlets. No brands. No influencers. No hashtags,’ he wrote.” “ ‘Silence…The model minority myth placed on Asian Americans through a systemic, racist system has made us raceless. That dynamic has resulting in silencing us even in the greatest moments of appropriation and violence…Don’t let us die in silence.’ ” I just love that quote. I loved how that person brung up how the government excludes us, AAPI, completely as a race. It’s disappointing that AAPI doesn’t even count as a race, to some people. Third, there is a news source that talks about how hundreds of people are escorting elderly AAPI and roaming around Chinatown, to keep the APPI community safe. I love that idea because the ones that are most vulnerable, in these times, are our AAPI elders.

Fourth, there is another news source that talks about how “Additionally, according to the study, between February and May 2020, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) received reports of 389 coronavirus-related hate incidents. Of those, 145 involved anti-Asian sentiments, representing 37 percent of all complaints.” That just upsets me, that the NYCCHR had so many reports on coronavirus related hate crimes, that the NYPD (in the video above this quote, in the source) had to make a “Asian Hate Crime” task force just to stop this nonsense. Fifth, this source talks about how an elderly Asian woman was waiting in front of a bakery in Chinatown. Until, an attacker decided that it was okay to start calling racial slurs at her, then push her harshly on the concrete ground until she fell unconscious. And later had to get 5-10 stitches because of that hate crime. I was just at awe when I read this article. I was just dismayed, how that man had the guts to do that, to an AAPI lady, who wasn’t even provoking him in any way. Finally, the final source I found, talks about people’s experiences and how they’re trying to cope with the hate crimes towards the AAPI community. And one quote that really resonated with me is, “Unfortunately, Asians are often targeted for violent attacks because Asians are stereotyped as weak and non-confrontational, …” That quote was just so immaculate and accurate because I do believe that is true. It seems people like to stereotype AAPI, as the type of race that are weak, or won’t tell the attacks to authorities cause we’re shy (stereotype). But no, of course we will tell some type of authority, we’re human too. You attacked us, that hit us to the point where we had enough of this AAPI hate.

To wrap all of this educational information, some of you may not be part of the AAPI community but you can still help. These hate crimes are still happening, the AAPI community will stay here as long as the AAPI history lives on, in America’s exposing reality. What I am wondering for my readers is, if there was a protest near you, will you protest with the AAPI community? To let people hear that the AAPI community will not stay silent no more, to the point where we can prove that we are happy for who we are. Are you going to give support and respect to the AAPI community? Are you going to be there, like when we were there for you? Are you? I really hope you do and use this revealing/exposing information about America’s real history towards the AAPI community. Help spread the word to stop AAPI hate. If you would like to help the AAPI community please donate to this gofundme, if you witness a hate crime toward an AAPI, report it to https://stopaapihate.org/, and if you would like to know more information about what’s going on in the AAPI community, go to https://nextshark.com/news/.

#AAPI #AAPILivesMatter #StopAAPIHate #StopAsianHate #RacismIsAVirus

My sources: Annotated bibliography

Our group members are Valeria, Michelle, and Mykai. Our last episode was talking about pages 160 - 221, of the book “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, a book written by Mark Haddon. In the episode, we gave a summary of what last happened since the last episode and talked about how the book ended. Then, we said our thoughts how the book was and…gave out awards! For the characters in the book. And finally, said our final reviews and recommendations.

(I recommend to turn on captions or turn up the volume for the video)

Our group members are Michelle, Valeria, and Mykai. Our episode was talking about pages 110 - 160, of the book “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, a book written by Mark Haddon. In this episode, Valeria interviewed Mark Hadden, the author of the book and the one and only, Christopher John Francis Boone. Since our last episode, Christopher read more of the letters father had hidden from him and found out that mother hadn’t died, she moved to London with Roger. His dad found out and also told him that he had killed Wellington because he was mad Mrs. Shears didn’t want to move in with them. Christopher is now scared of his dad and decided to run away and look for his mother. After that Valeria asked some questions to Mark Haddon (Michelle) and Christopher (Mykai) ft. Christopher’s rat, TOBY!

Our group members are Michelle, Valeria, and Mykai. Our episode was talking about the 50 pages, of the book “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time”, a book written by Mark Haddon. We gave a brief summary of what we know from the book, by what we read so far in the book. We talked about our thoughts on the book and certain quotes we thought were nice and interesting. At the end of our podcast we talked about our predictions what will happen in the future in this book.

Quotes: “I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them.” (Pg. 8) “ I like dogs, you always know what a dog is thinking.” (Pg. 3) “Mother used to say that Christopher was a nice name because it was a story about being kind and helpful, but i do not want my name to mean a story about being kind and helpful. I want my name to mean me”. (Pg. 16)

Some specific things that I related to in Trevor Noah’s book, Born a Crime, is that he said he never really fit in; he just bounced around groups that were split racially and I relate to that. At my old school I also thought I never fit in. I had no friends that I could relate to, I just hovered around in my friend group not really understanding them. I also care about Asian-Americans and their experience of getting bullied, the same way I did, and wanted to write this essay to make Asian-Americans not feel alone like the way I did. The way Trevor explored his own Identity was that he went to a new school, looked around to see all of that was split racially and just looked at which group he would fit in the best (Chapter 4, Chameleon, Pages 40-46). I felt like that was me looking around at my old school trying to find friends that I fit in with. Eventually, I found friends but still found I fit in with them.

Trevors’ writing impacted me to write about the time where I felt like I didn’t fit in/got bullied because since the Pandemic happened a lot of things unexpected things happened to my community that are just so shocking to learn about and surprised that people aren’t even going to do or talk about what happened to my community since the Pandemic hit. Also some of Trevor’s comedic moments in the chapter made me want to make my memoir with some moments that are comedic. Some storytelling techniques I used in my vignette is that I was talking to a person about something personal that happened to me in my life and seeing if they can relate to what I said or see what’s been happening in my community.

I did choose humor like Trevor Noah because I am not a very serious person and a person who kind of laughs at their own pain but lowkey hurting inside yet I used humor just to add some comic relief in my vignette instead of trying to bury my thoughts when I got bullied. I wrote my vignette like I was speaking to an outsider (that never had an experience that I had) face to face and showing them the pain that I’ve been through and how horrible it is to go through that experience and wanting them to feel the way I felt in those moments I got bullied, not to make them feel bad for me or hurt them but to open up their eyes what is happening to the other sides of reality then just one side.

This vignette addresses one of the essential questions, How do our various cultures influence our identities?, because being as an Asian-American it’s like being a person that is in the community/system but no one counts you as one. You’re just like a ghost floating around, no one caring, no one seeing you, no one knowing you exist. I hated being an Asian-American I wanted just to hide in a corner and wait there until people started noticing that there are more than two races but I had to face reality on my own and explore, and soon to find out that there is a community that sees the way I see, a group that shares about their experience being an Asian-Americans, the times they got bullied, social media accounts showing love to Asians. I finally felt that I belonged and finally fit in a community/system. Then not feeling like a ghost and wanting to hide until I woke up from my nightmare.

How I created this essay was kind of complicated like quarantine because I never did anything like this, it was heart wrenching for me. When I started to create my “masterpiece” I didn’t know what to create, all I knew is I wanted to show my photography but what to photograph. So I asked my mom, my mom was pretty excited about this project (unlike me at the time), she had ideas for what I should photograph and I actually liked her ideas. So I set a date on when I should take the photos, it was perfect until I noticed that I didn’t have a battery charger for my camera. So we went online to buy a charger.

5 days later… the package came but the postman didn’t knock on our door so the package got stolen, I was distressed on how I have to wait another week for another battery charger to come and on top of that this was the first time we ever got a package stolen from us so it was just a lose-lose-lose for me and so I set a new date for when I should take my photos.

A week later… the package arrived, I was so excited to charge my camera battery after all these months, I charged my battery and waited for tomorrow to take my pictures.

The next day… I was excited to take photos of my city, Iwas ready so I got changed and waited for my parents. We went out and my mom had suggestions for where I should take my photos, I thought they would be irrelevant but actually turned out well. I took my photos in City hall, The Love park, and Chinatown, I was surprised by how the pictures turned out but I chose the photo that was in Chinatown and City hall.

After all of that happened I sat down on my chair and started writing my essay to show what these pictures mean to me, the first try I wrote my essay… fail, The second time I tried… fail but the third try…SUCCESS. Finally I was finished with my essay. So I had my mom check what I wrote and she said that it is a good story on how I express what being in quarantine meant. I was happy that she approved of it and happy that I enjoyed this project.