#they were chinese immigrants and i think this had everything to do with it

[laviejaguardia]

Is Latino not an ethnicity????

It isn't (and it isn't a race either). Latinidad is a political identity with some sociological, cultural and historical background. What it does not have -and I cannot stress this enough- is shared genetics/common ancestry which is how I see it most referred.

Here's the definition of ethnicity from Wikipedia:

And to use roughly the same source, here's the Wikipedia disaggregation of Latin America today (which ofc I have issues with lol I'm not missing the irony of telling you "Latin America is sooo diverse" while using the "Asian" category, but I need to make do:

See what I'm getting at?

Let's continue, you can say "well I didn't mean genetics, I meant everything else"

Okay language:

Latin America includes hundreds of native languages like Quechua, Mayan, Guaraní (oficial language of Paraguay!), Aymará or Nahuatl, and always has! Without counting the beautifully mixed and improved Spanish, Portuguese (which I called Brasilero for years as a kid lol) and French, or even later additions like Welsh, Japanese, Chinese or Arabic from immigrant clusters that still speak it or are currently arriving into the continent.

So language isn't it either.

I don't even need to get into traditions c'mon look at Carnaval in Brasil, día de los muertos in Ecuador, an 9 de julio in Argentina and tell me those are all the same. Look at empanadas, tacos, humitas, pizza brasilera, tequeños, asado, sudados, etc

Religion? Argentina alone has the second biggest Islamic and Jewish populations in America after the US. Sure Christianity is paramount given the invasion and imposition by Catholic monarchies by the Spanish and Portuguese, but to say it's the only religion is to spit in the face of again, hundreds of native people's whose religions have been systematically erased since 1492. It is also quite reductive to only take institutionalised religions as valid forms of worship, or to ignore the fact that most Catholicism here would give European orthodox Catholics a stroke.

Now, history and social treatment, here's where the good stuff is.

Independencias:

These all look super different but these are processes and most of them took place in the first 3 decades of the 1800s so they're not that far off. These were carried out with an idea of hermandad. They used to be virreynatos under the same rule, we (patriotas) were all getting independence from the same monarch power (realistas). There was a lot of collaboration between administrations and armies. This was a decision from the leaders of the time, to seek strength in numbers.

The fact that we had to gain independence is a point of contact as well. At that time "patria" was understood as the desire to be independent, there were no neat lines to separate the territories. At this point in history you'll find lots of key people like San Martín, Juana Azurduy and Bolivar talking about "pueblos americanos" as a way to claim independence from imperialist/colonial European rule. (Brasil had a different history with the Portuguese court moving there)

The term Latin America or Latinoamérica came by a little later, the earliest it's been found used is 1856 by a politician from Chile, as you can see, the context it is used in is purely political.

Historically, the term when used by Americans is heavily tied to a way to gather strength in solidarity for independence and rejection of foreign imperialist aspirations, from the United States, France, Spain, etc etc.

I think latinidad is in a way a self fulfilled prophecy, we were invaded and as such "unified" where before were hundreds of different peoples. We took that very same unification and made it ours, in part because the rest of the world insists on putting us all in the same bag (included with things like the School of the Americas in the 1960s-1980s where all of Latinamerica was deemed safer for the US to be ruled by genocidal military governments than democracies that smelled just a little communist. Spoiler! it wasn't safer for us who had to actually live under them)

I reject the idea of latinidad as an ethnicity because it stems from the idea of "la raza latina" which is very very racist ("latinos" were the white Europeans from Romance language countries aka Spain, Portugal, France and Italy, there was a clear hierarchy there usual to the era that still affects our social and economic framework). It's reductive and it pretends to obscure and muddle a very clear and deliberate political choice that is to identify as latinoamerican.

This also applies to the latin people who emigrate to the US and their descendants, both the ones fixing the lawns and the ones emigrating without need of a visa to work a stable 9-5. Even if it seems only the first ones get the name.

So what's latinidad? It's whatever we say it is, hope this helps ✌️

#asks #anon #i do wonder what brought the question on lol #mmine #america latina #latam #i rewrote this a million times #and it isn't even close to comprehensive but it is what it is #you'd need ten years of study to even begin to grasp latinidad if you don't have a life of it

[seizethedeansofproduction]

Everything everywhere all at once winning best picture and all the other awards makes me very emotional. From a representational standpoint yes. But I guess also from a filmmaker standpoint.

(I KNOW THIS IS LONG BUT IF YOU COULD READ THIS, THAT WOULD MEAN THE WORLD)

I’ve been making films for 10 or so years and for many years never saw much outward success. I would put my all into a project, down to hand making the sets, costumes, editing it myself (etc), but when I would submit to festivals for kid filmmakers, I would be left heartbroken sitting in the theater knowing that my film wasn’t good enough. That is had been too weird, not shot on a good enough quality camera, and that it simply wasn’t the “type of film” that could win awards.

Then enter this film. It marched to the beat of its own drum, it told a story that was authentic and sincere, it told a story about a Chinese immigrant and her family (A STORY WHICH RARELY GETS TOLD TO A MASS AUDIENCE IN MAINSTREAM HOLLYWOOD), it told a story about a queer woman struggling with family issues and depression and suicide, it gave no fucks, it gave them all. It was goofy. It was chaotic. It was heart wrenching. It was everything.

I’m a filmmaker, but I’m also sometimes a cynic. At times I am worried about the future of creative fields I hope to enter given AI threatening real artists, the increasing difficulty to break into Hollywood with no connections, and of course a litany of reboots, sequels, and franchises (not to say that this is bad, but there’s a tiny part of me that fears that this is all it will end up being. At least in terms of studio funding). I worry that while I may make films now, there may not be a place for me one day.

Seeing this film changed that. EEAAO was so boldly itself that it relit my creative spark to make work that would do the same.

And of course the awards. 

If you had told me a couple years ago that a film about rocks and hotdog fingers would win best picture, I would have been confused then probably laughed. Even as the award season beast was beginning to awaken from it’s year long slumber, I remained skeptical that this film would get awards, much less hundreds of them. Yet it destroyed the competition and with every win and every speech, my heart got a bit more full and damn it, I believed that maybe there was a chance this film could take the title.

Last Sunday, I wasn’t able to watch the oscars. I had just gotten over being sick and needed the sleep. The next morning I woke up and by some stroke of fate the people on the radio were talking about the Oscars, I held my breath, and I heard it. Best Picture Winner Everything Everywhere All At Once. I later watched the acceptance speeches that day and wept. This meant the world to me now but also to the me years ago who sat in those theaters with a broken heart thinking that their movies weren't good enough.

Now of course you can still be a cynic (or a realist who knows?) and assume that this changes nothing. No needle was moved. And next year the films getting awarded and produced with tons of eyes on them will be the next Green Book or whatever. But if this movie’s taught me anything, its that feeling optimism is ok.

And yeah given all it's wins, people are probably now gonna rag about it and say it's overrated. They can have their opinions, but I don't care. Like what you want to like, life's too short.

I’m gonna keep on making movies, the kind of movies I want to make not what I try to make to win awards or impress other people. I’m gonna try to be a kinder person. I’m going try to keep on telling stories of queer people, of found families, of hope, of comedy, and of whatever else I can think of. I’m gonna hope that people continue to create just as they always do and that this time they get the attention, platform, and opportunities that they deserve instead of it going to those who don’t.

Thank you Michelle Yeoh. Thank you Stephanie Hsu. Thank you Ke Huy Quan. Thank you Jamie Lee Curtis. Thank you James Hong. Thank you Paul Rogers. Thank you Jonathan Wang. Thank You Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. Thank You Everything Everywhere All At Once.

You changed my life and countless others. Thank you thank you thank you.

#will anyone read this full thing? probably not but im glad i got to say it #sorry if this is too sentimental #i can talk for hours on this film but I think I'll just limit it to this #but also every single speech of ke huy quan's makes me cry. he deserves everything he is getting now. he is a treasure #movies do have the power to change lives ig :) #movies #oscars #academy awards #everything everywhere all at once #eeaao #michelle yeoh #stephanie hsu #jamie lee curtis #ke huy quan

[the-daily-tizzy]

The wisdom of Ben Stein:

I never dreamed that I would have to face the prospect of not living in the United States of America, at least not the one I have known all my life. 

I have never wished to live anywhere else. 

This is my home and I was privileged to be born here. 

But today I woke up and as I had my morning coffee, I realized that everything is about to change. 

No matter how I vote, no matter what I say, something evil has invaded our nation, and our lives are never going to be the same. 

I have been confused by the hostility of family and friends. 

I look at people I have known all my life--so hate-filled that they agree with opinions they would never express as their own. 

I think that I may well have entered the Twilight Zone. 

We have become a nation that has lost its collective mind! 

You can't justify this insanity:

If a guy pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him.

Somehow it’s un-American for the census to count how many Americans are in America.

Russians influencing our elections are bad, but illegals voting in our elections are good.

It was cool for Joe Biden to "blackmail" the President of Ukraine, but it’s an impeachable offense if Donald Trump inquires about it.

Twenty is too young to drink a beer, but eighteen is old enough to vote.

People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves.

People who have never been to college should pay the debts of college students who took out huge loans for their degrees.

Immigrants with tuberculosis and polio are welcome, but you’d better be able to prove your dog is vaccinated.

Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate to the US must go through a rigorous vetting process, but any illiterate gang-bangers who jump the southern fence are welcome.

$5 billion for border security is too expensive, but $1.5 trillion for “free” health care is not.

If you cheat to get into college you go to prison, but if you cheat to get into the country you go to college for free.

People who say there is no such thing as gender are demanding a female President.

We see other countries going Socialist and collapsing, but it seems like a great plan to us.

Some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, and other people are not held responsible for what they are doing right now.

Criminals are caught-and-released to hurt more people, but stopping them is bad because it's a violation of THEIR rights.

And pointing out all this hypocrisy somehow makes us "racists"?!

Nothing makes sense anymore - no values, no morals, and no civility. 

People are dying of a Chinese virus, but it's racist to refer to it as Chinese even though it began in China. 

We are clearly living in an upside down world where right is wrong and wrong is right, where moral is immoral and immoral is moral, where good is evil and evil is good, where killing murderers is wrong but killing unborn babies is A-OK! 

Wake up America, the great unsinkable ship Titanic America has hit an iceberg, is taking on water, and is sinking fast. Speak up!

Even if this isn’t Ben Stein... it still makes sense...

[kendrixtermina]

Our Governments are not representative of us, nor of our cultures.

The Nation-State was probably the single worst idea in all of humanity, and both the current conflict & the discourse around it really shows why

Before they came up with that in the 19th century, people may have identified themselves with their language, religion, culture or attachment to the region, but not by a "nation" of people thought to have shared traits. At the time of the French revolution, most people in France didn't speak French, and in 1900 some ppl in sicily had no idea what "Italy" is.

A while ago ppl were surprised about a farmer on TV who said he doesn't particularly care if his town is in "Russia" or "Ukraine" he just wants to live there in peace. But until 200 years ago or so, that is how most people thought of home.

Certainly basic xenophobia, tribalism & fear of the other existed before, there were, after all, persecutions in the middle ages. But the construct of nation has nonetheless made conflicts massively worse & more deadly.

It's based on an Illusion

There is this idea that peoples have always existed as some unchanging, unmingling "pure" group on one piece of land that is tainted or adulterated by contact with others.

Even on the left some ppl just uncritically accept this notion (see much of the discourse about 'cultural appropriation')

That was just never true - people have always been copying each other, migrating, trading, interacting etc. often new cultures arose or peoples changed where they lived; Borders shifted over time. And of course, culture evolved over time.

When people think that a state that is an illusion is what naturally should be, and try to adjust reality to the fake model in their head, ugly things happen.

Homogenous groups on a fixed patch of land are not the reality of how cultures work, but if ppl think they are, they enact violence to artificially create those homogenous patches neatly delineated by lines. You get silly disputes about "who was there first", expulsion of minorities and conflicts when people try drawing lines in areas with mixed populations.

The Nazis, the Balkan wars & Israel represent the peak excesses of the madness that can lead to. (and note that 20 years or so after the Nazis fell, tons of immigrants moved into Germany & the artificial homogenity collapsed again, because it's just not natural. Israel will never suceed at their homogenous country either.)

It leads to generalization

There's a really shitty trope in european newspapers sometimes that has much been criticised.

If the article says "Guy robs bank" then people will think he's a bad guy.

If the article says "Turkish guy robs bank" it will get ppl frothing about how immigrants are bad guys. In case of the non-immigrant robber, they don't even bother to write "German guy robbs bank"

That's how you see these shitty responses that when there's a war, random ppl from the involved countries get attacked. China does shit & ppl bother random Chinese.

With the current war, jews & arabs around the world are being harassed.

What can some ordinary shopkeeper Yacob Shmitz in New York do about Netanyahu? What does Khalil Mansoor in Berlin got to do with October 7th? Nothing at all.

This leads ppl to completely overlook all context to look at some ppl as always being victims or perps or otherwise all the same, regardless of context. For example I once heard an Indian acquaintance raving about "the muslims" & how they "want everything" & making wild conflations. A Palestinian living in Al-Quds/Jerusalem wants it probably because he lives there & probably doesn't even know about the contentious site in India, and he was treating as the same people that are wildly different: Powerful elites in Saudi Arabia & persecuted minorities in India & Palestine, arabs in the ME and southeast asians in Pakistan.

Later he went to a Pakistan-themes party & was surprised to wind that culturally they got more in common wit him than arabs despite the different religions. They liked similar music, food & sports.

Or people today feeling guilty & ashamed now for what the Nazis did. Did you, personally, throw people in gas chambers? No? Then what shame is it of yours? Everyone who did it is dead & buried & being roasted in hell if it exists.

To me, this completely destroys the very system of morality. Morality only makes sense if a person can only be blamed or held responsible for what they can personally influence & change. If you're deemed "bad" based on things you can't control, what's the incentive of being good?

Or, you can't criticize some countries cause people take it personally - it's an insult to their identity, their whole culture... which brings me to the next & imho main point.

It conflates people, culture & government

A wise guy in Iran once said that "the difference between you & me is much smaller than you & your government, and our governments are much the same". I wish more ppl listened to him.

There have been greedy leaders looking to enrich themselves pretty much since they invented agriculture. but they spoke for themselves or their supporters.

With Nation-States, it gets assumed that the government speaks not only for the people, but that is somehow represents their values & culture.

All this political & war propaganda isn't really what culture is. Culture is conventions and books and food and little stories and sayings and values that give things meaning. But when someone says "fuck the Muslims/USA/jews/Germans" etc the other side feels like the actual culture, the small & beautiful & meaningful & enlightened things are what's being attacked. Because it's conflated.

Leaders will of course claim to justiy their actions by whatever values are popular with their subjects, but that doesn't mean they actually represent those values.

Look at your own leaders: How much do they support the values you believe in? How much do they do lip-service to that culture without really living up to it?

So you get ppl seeing governments do shit & thinking "fuck all those jews/americans/westerners, they must be demons" and Israelis killing all the ppl in Gaza because of "Hamas".

It's that same logical leap of not just leaders = people, but leaders = culture & values.

Now leaders of course have coalitions of supporters whether it's a bunch of oligarch or a popular movement - active supporters are 100% on the hook for what the government does. The mocking song singers are to blame for Netanyahu & the red hat guys for Trump, and Biden... I mean, it's probably the DNC & some political establishment ppl who wanted him cause no one else really did.

But political coalitions =/= all the people =/= all the "culture".

The evil acts of government are usually the products of greedy leaders and a coalition of supporters, not whole populations or cultures.

The difference between people & political establishment has never been more obvious than now

Case in point: Mainstream news outlets are struggling to explain away why there is 15 times more pro-palestine content being posted on the internet, some getting conspiratorial or frantically attributing it to "iran propaganda", but the true reason is that, as surveys also show, no one outside of Israel wants this fucking war but a few old men with imperialist ambitions & weapons companies.

much of it is ignorance, inertia, & propaganda calculated to work on influential because because theyre influential & fear looking bad.

our cultures may differ but very few cultures would last long if they condoned this kinda shit. Different cultures may give different reasons & many have their flaws of bothersome elements, but i dare say most would on average come down on rejecting this.

Let's not believe the lie that being for this is based on any kind of values, not western ones or any other. They might say it is to sell their bullshit but it's just liars & cowards adapting their lies to the audience.

#feelings #nation state #state #countries #nationalism #culture #israel hamas war #israel palestine war #i/p #free gaza #free palestine #gaza #palestine #israel #germany #deutschland

[bleep-blop-lizard-hop]

Warrior Thought

Warrior Season 3 Finale

(Sorry person who sent me an anon message, I accidentally deleted it 😭 but here ya go)

AH TOY AND NELLIE KILLING DICKLAND TOGETHER!!! THE WIVES ARE SO BACK!!!

They had to fit in A LOT this episode, but I’m glad Ah Toy and Nellie had two very solid scenes. I fantasized so much about them getting revenge together, and it actually happened! Sorry Leary but the wives deserve this more! Dickland talking shit and playing stupid mind games with them. His arrogance was his downfall. No asshole YOU should be afraid because Ah Toy is not playing around! She didn’t get a single scratch while slicing and dicing him like a pig! It was so bloody and brutal and violent, I love it! Nellie being backup with her shotgun like “you’re doing great sweetie!”

Then Bill and Leary had to show up at the wrong time! Though I don’t think Bill can recognize her from that distance. Then Nellie began shooting at them and they ran away. So hopefully they’ll be off the hook next season. Burning Dickland’s body in the incinerator was pure poetic Justice! 

Back at the brothel, the adrenaline of revenge is replaced by crushing despair. Dickland’s death didn’t bring back Lai and their girls. He’s not the only greedy and evil man out there. Ah Toy’s been in survival mode for so long, she’s TIRED of all this shit! She never let herself show emotion like this, not even with Ah Sahm. Seeing her completely break down with Nellie is a huge deal for their relationship! After everything that happened, they still love each other and became even stronger. Nellie holding Ah Toy close and saying “I’m not going anywhere” 😭🥺💕 So similar to how they ended last season. I predict that Ah Toy will leave the brothel, and they’ll rebuild somewhere next season. 

Mai Ling confronting Eliza was so good! After the trauma she endured, Mai Ling can’t help relating to Eliza. What Eliza did was wrong, but her shitty husband is the real problem. Mai Ling giving Eliza a knife…I hope she use it well.

So here for Catherine Archer scamming Buckley for all his money! Rob his slimy racist ass, lady! 

The Tongs, Isaac’s crew, and police fighting over the money plates. The ice factory is a homage to Bruce Lee, according to the Internet. Nice. The finale definitely isn’t short on action, I counted 4 in this episode! Isaac almost took the plates but Ah Sahm handled him, and gave them to Lee. That means Yan Mi can be free.

Tbh I’m quite concerned with how they portrayed the black characters this season. Abigail is good, but most of them were antagonistic. I’m aware of how Asians are deemed “the model minority” and often pitted against African Americans. I just wish the show could’ve subverted that somehow. 

Back to Yan Mi, she’s released from jail and runs home to her father. It’s a very poignant scene that can resonate with children of immigrant parents. She respects him, but felt stifled by his expectations. Still, she did mess up by getting involved with a gang. I would’ve preferred Ah Sahm to not have romance this season, but it served it a purpose. I like Yan Mi as a character. Too bad she gets so much flack for getting between YJ and Ah Sahm. 

After getting disowned, she goes to the train station. Ah Sahm never made it, but Chao does. He convince her to go without him anyway, and she does but it’s hard. She got the money from Chao, but she’s also alone as a Chinese woman. We’ve seen other characters try to get out and it didn’t go well. Still, glad they didn’t kill her and hopefully she’ll be ok. Just a small town girl…living in a lonely world…she took the midnight train going anywhere…

After Kon Pak, Lai, and Father Jun…I draw the line at Chao getting stabbed multiple times! ZING is back and he wants revenge against everyone! Bill and Lee looked so happy, laughing on the porch 😬 They better not kill Chao if they get season 4! So many Asian characters died this season, they better replenish! Hello, Michelle Yeoh??? 🙏🏻 Don’t let the white characters outnumber them! 

Finally… the dreaded moment where Ah Sahm has to choose between his sister and the Hop Wei. I figured he would choose Mai Ling. His relationship with Young Jun has been going downhill this season. It’s hard to watch because I understand both of their perspectives. Ah Sahm vs YJ and Hong was equally epic and heartbreaking. None of them took pleasure in that fight, but it was necessary. Ah Sahm knocked both of them out before going to find Mai Ling. 

Meanwhile, Mai Ling is defending herself against the Hop Wei. She makes some progress with her gun, but gets overpowered by them. It looked like she might die by drowning, but I didn’t buy it. Ah Sahm and Mai Ling are reunited as they desperately cling to each other. No more Hop Wei and Long Zhii. Li Yong became the leader of his own tong, good for him! Exploring these new dynamics in season 4 will be very interesting. I’ve always understood Mai Ling while not agreeing with all her manipulative schemes. Hitting rock bottom could lead to some sort of redemption for her. Looking forward to it! 

Big political changes will definitely endanger Chinatown next season. The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882, but it might be sooner in the show. Not good when everyone is still divided and fighting each other. Perhaps Ah Sahm, the embodiment of Bruce Lee, will unite them all in the end. 

Season 3 had its flaws, but overall it was amazing! I really hope it doesn’t end here, the story and characters have so much potential! Fucking Hollywood studios refusing to pay people fairly 😡😡😡 I saw on Twitter some of the Warrior cast joining the protest too, it’s great! Season 4 of Warrior or we riot!!!

#ah toy #nellie davenport #lai #ah sahm #mai ling #yan mi #young jun #father jun #wang chao #li yong #andrew koji #ah toy x nellie davenport #ah toy x nellie #warrior cinemax #warrior hbo max #warrior max #warrior hbo #warrior #hbo max #femslash #f/f romance #f/f ship #martial arts #warrior thought #warrior season 3 #my post

[pearwaldorf]

Gaza, Israel, antisemitism, US politics in relation to, all that good shit

Up front: I'm an American gentile. I have Jewish friends.

Everything is fucked! I cannot believe the Biden administration is just going to go along with whatever the fuck the Israeli state is going to do in Gaza. You can't tell 2.5mm people to get out of a place without giving them a place to stay or even a humanitarian corridor!

This has been going on for decades, with the world turning a blind eye to immense suffering. No wonder Palestinians are pissed. And whatever you want to say about (Israeli) civilian casualties and resistance against colonialism and how people are "supposed" to ask for oppressors to take boots off their necks, you can't make these things pretty or acceptable.

(My therapist and I were talking about all this yesterday, and he was like "What purpose is there in Hamas harming civilians?" And I replied, "Why is there this implicit assumption that an Israeli life is more valuable than a Palestinian's?")

I hear the sorrow and pain of my Jewish friends when they say they feel alienated from their communities because it's not acceptable to think of Palestinians as people deserving of safety and dignity. And that's fucked.

I am 40 years old. I am aware of at least four genocides (Kosovo, Rwanda, Myanmar, the Uighurs) that have happened/are happening in my lifetime. And this is probably going to be the fifth. And I don't know how to process this. Can someone process this?

At the same time, I hear about a lot of antisemitism on the left. I figure if both the left and the right are stupid about a thing, it's really really bad.

Here is how I understand it, based upon my own ethnic origins. I'm of Chinese descent. I was born here. My parents immigrated here from China, and because China doesn't do dual citizenship, they lost their citizenship there when they became Americans. We have no political connections to the country itself. But somehow, I as an individual, am held morally culpable for the actions of a government I have absolutely nothing to do with. If I was physically or verbally assaulted by somebody who holds Sinophobic sentiment, that would be unacceptable. So why is it fine when it happens to Jews?

The notion of dual loyalty is inherently racist, and of course it's a double standard that has been applied to people of many ethnicities. But it is very strongly associated with Jewish people, and that is absolutely fucked.

A long time ago, somebody asked me why I reblog so much stuff about Judaism and antisemitism when I'm not Jewish. Would they have asked this about anti-Black racism or transphobia? I have had Jewish friends tell me my visible solidarity, however trivial it feels, is comforting to them. And that sucks, that in this day and age it's still considered strange to stick up for a group that experiences oppression.

I'm not a historian or even an interested amateur who's done research. I can't tell you much about the geopolitics of it all. But I can say that paying attention to who gets humanity ascribed to them, by whom, is always a good place to start.

#pear text #i'm very tired guys

[disgruntledexplainer]

the sudden and spectacular mask-dropping of all these supposed nazi-punching left-wing blogs here suddenly embracing violent antisemitism the moment it becomes socially acceptable, is predictable, disgusting, and... morbidly comedic, like a black comedy of the most egregious kind. you see, I always knew all of it was performative and hypocritical. a bunch of people who thinks the government should do everything, control everything, think they're anti-fascist? a bunch of people who will take any excuse to be violent against a population they don't like are anti-nazi? but to be honest, I had no idea how performative and hypocritical they actually were.

what israel is doing could be considered an actual genocide, certainly, just like the CCP's treatment of the uyghur muslims. but in much the same way as the actions of the CCP does not justify violence against chinese immigrants, so to does the actions of the israeli government not justify violence against jews. conflation of a people and a government is a form of racialism, pure and simple, and the willingness to act on that conflation? that, my friend, is racism. antisemitism, to be exact.

(that's not even bringing up the fact that i've seen people treating hamas as a freedom-fighter group even though they have actively sabotaged any attempts at peace that don't involve ethnic cleansing of israeli jews.)

y'all think you live in a saturday-morning cartoon where any violent action taken against "the enemy" is justified because "they're the bad guys". it's infantile and gross. that's how you become what you think you're fighting.

look at the right-wing fanatics like Alex Jones. He lives in a fantasy world, where the liberals are a bunch of actual demons and goblins out to suck the blood of children, rather than being people with different perspectives and interpretations of the world. his rhetoric dehumanizes people, and crunches them all together into a single nebulous "them" that "we" can fight. this is what you are doing right now. you are turning "the jews" into a boogeyman, and then conflating them with the nazis you already think you hate. and in doing so, you are adopting nazi thought as your own, effectively becoming them. a neo-nazi, if you will.

i fully expect within the next year or two for the left to start taking up right-wing talking points from 1930s america and run with them. brace yourselves.

#israel #palestine #antisemitism

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2022!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

___

139. Brooklynaire by Sarina Bowen--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Listen, I read this hella out of order. But you know, sometimes life happens and I just want to read a potentially spicy book, reading order be damned.

I love Sarina Bowen and she delivered with this one. In fact, I now want to go and read the other books in this series! I loved that we got both perspectives and a kind of weird in between perspective because I want to see the pining. This was a pretty sweet friends to lovers and it had a couple of pretty good spicy scenes. I wasn't a big fan of something that happened near the end, but I'm glad that Bowen gave us communication and that it wasn't a plot device that dragged the novel on. One last thing: I also really wanted to read this because I heard that it had good disability rep for the female MC's experiences after an accident. Hopefully I'll be reading more books in this series soon! Also, sorry if this review is a mess LOL.

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140. An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy from the publisher. This did not affect my rating in any way. TW: Physical abuse, verbal abuse, toxic parenting I was NOT expecting a couple of things before I picked this book up: One, the time that it is set in (the 90s!), and two, how much I would enjoy this! This is the second book I've read this year that re-imagines the beautiful Chinese mythology about the moon goddess. While both stories are vastly different, I really appreciated seeing another interpretation and adaptation of this classic tale--especially with the Romeo & Juliet twist. I wanted to give Hunter the biggest hug because it really seemed like everything was against him. The moment the story started getting a little more fantastical, I grew more excited for him because maybe he could finally have a way out of his circumstances. Luna was also someone I think could have benefitted from a hug, especially when her life started to change for the worse. I think these two worked really well together because they helped each other see and perhaps understand two different experiences and perspectives of the immigrant experience--the Taiwanese immigrant experience especially. Which brought up a really important conversation about Taiwanese versus Chinese identity that is sometimes a sore subject with Taiwan-born citizens. But I only know the briefest facts about the topic, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. I really enjoyed the different perspectives because it gave me a more rounded idea of what everyone was feeling and it kind of reminded me of how the Romeo and Juliet play were presented. There are a lot of things I could comment about this book (like Hunter's younger brother and his own character journey, or how the world was becoming a manifestation of these two characters' love and chemistry and how maybe it wasn't meant for this world), but the main thing I want to end this review on was that conclusion. As I write this, I am imagining that final chapter in my mind and how it would look. It was definitely something unexpected and memorable. I'd recommend this for anyone who wants a quick and heartfelt adaptation of Romeo & Juliet with a magically Chinese twist!

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141. The Fear by Natasha Preston--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Was this book perfect? No. Is the wild ending worth it? Yes.

I love YA thrillers because they sometimes surprise the hell out of me in a way that adult thrillers fail to do. I really enjoyed this one because it dared to be more murdery than other YA thrillers. Also, the plot was unique in how the murders were carried out. The motivation behind the murders wasn't entirely original, but the way they were carried out was. One of the things that DID bug me was the MC's inability to deviate from her determination to accuse one person. My friend brought up the fact that she was grieving and she's a teenager--which is all true and I agree, but it was frustrating watching this character willingly ignore things because of her mind already being made up. It's funny how some books I empathize with the characters and books like this one have me wanting to smack the MC. Anyway, this wasn't at all what I was expecting and I'm really glad I picked it up. Maybe I'll read more books by this author!

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142. Meet Me Halfway by Lilian T. James--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TW: Physical and Verbal abuse, Single Mom shaming, Slut shaming I read this book in a disgustingly short amount of time. I don't mean audiobook--I mean I physically read my KU version of this book so quickly because I COULD NOT PUT THIS DOWN. I loved this book so much more than I was anticipating. I loved the characters, the enemies to friends to lovers trope, the gruff and quiet love interest, the age gap, the single young mom trope, and the hella slow burn. I devoured this and I have zero regrets. The MC's connection with her son is absolutely adorable and their exchanges added so much life to this book. I also really wanted her to succeed because she was the epitome of an underestimated single mom who will always put her son first. I also loved that the romance wasn't instant. It was something that both characters worked at and as it developed, we organically got to know the love interest. Also, the love interest sounded....phew. He sounded beautiful. I do want to say that I heavily encourage you to look at the trigger warnings for this one. There are some incredibly triggering scenes in this and allusions to past triggering events. I loved this book and I feel like if you love all of the things I mentioned in the first paragraph of this review, then you'll probably love this one too!

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143. Severance by Ling Ma--⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book took a while for me to like. At first, I was thrown off by all of the time jumps and intertwining storylines. I started to finally appreciate it about midway, when the proverbial shit hit the fan. I think what I liked most about this book was how uncomfortably relatable this book is and it was written years before the events of late 2019 that led us to where we are now. I always see books like this and appreciate the fact that though our societies are still trying to recover from the pandemic, it never got THAT bad. Also, I found this to be a unique take on an illness that weirdly enough made people into the drones that the synopsis says the MC is when she works in the office. I'm sure we could talk about all of the allusions and commentary on the millennial experience in the work force and society as a whole, but I'm going to leave this review as a simple thing: I enjoyed this, was confused at times and felt eh at others, but the overall experience was enjoyable. Also, if you're triggered by talk of pandemics, deaths, and dead cities, be aware!

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144. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm not much of a nonfiction reader, but I really wanted to learn more about the serial killer mentioned in this book. It's always fascinated me and I feel like this author gave me a really in-depth exploration of who that person was. While I understand why multiple storylines (weird to say this since it's historical nonfiction) were explored, I found it sometimes tedious having to listen to the info about the World Fair and how it came to be. I did enjoy the factoids about the things that were introduced to society because of the World Fair and the famous people that were born from it. I liked how Larson introduced these little facts almost as revelations at the end of a paragraph. Made it feel less like dry nonfiction. It's macabre, but I also really enjoyed reading about how dangerous life was back then. Us humans are so fragile and seeing how easily life could end back then really put a lot in perspective. Also, Larson seriously held back zero punches when describing certain deaths. If you're going into this one solely for the true crime aspect, keep in mind that Larson's gift is in creating the atmosphere and to do so, he tells you everything. For example, instead of saying "he had a knife," Larson will tell you where the knife came from and the shockwaves that were created from the person having the knife or the knife getting to the person. Okay, now I'm just rambling.

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Have you read any of these? Would you recommend them?

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Happy reading!

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[mnovenia]

DAY 1 in KOREA

There were many mixed feelings before I departed again to Korea. I never expected the timing will be so tight and closed to the time I hosted them from the bible camp. At the back of my mind of course I did not know why, and still feel tired and not ready, but somehow I trust that God arranged this way for His good own sake. And HE PROVED HE IS ALWAYS RIGHT. After 1 hectic week of PI, 1 hectic week of work & arranging everything, I departed with faith, whatever God want to do, let it be, and WRC 2023 here I go...

Bella went first and she said she's quite busy so she couldn't accompany me for the few first days. I was like, great, how? But Oh Jibsanim contacted me and said she will pick me up at the airport. I was like OMG, of course that was a great idea because I know Eun Jung Eonnie would be so occupied with work since she left for PI. And not only Oh Jibsanim picked me up, she also has arranged a lunch meeting with Kwonsanim and Eun Gu at their apartment and she has planned to cook for me, I was like CRYYYYYY..

Also Hak Man kindly sent me a prior message about my coming and said let's hang out in Korea, which made me feel welcomed and relieved that I would have friends apart from Yoora & Bella. THANK YOU SO MUCH

I was so happy departing from Bali, to Singapore, was so nice to get out of the country. So funny that on the way to the airport I had a nice convo with the driver who went for singing competition for his church and how he shared about his spiritual journery :'') I hope I shared what can strengthen him as well at that time. The queue in the immigration etc was so crazy tho because of many scouts.

But finally I made it to my so called 2nd home Singapore, where the captain & stewardess always impressed me. I ate so many things including Ba Kut Teh that forced me to speak chinese because of their assumption. Bee Cheng Hiang, exp Bacha coffee n kaya toast at term 1 with angpao that was given by Uncle Chan last year, thank you uncle. I had 8 hours layover but I spent in the airport HAHAHA don't even want to go out to jewel so I just rest, but almost late for a change of gates, jauh banget but thankful God nudged me to leave earlier. On the go the indian staffs talked to me in Korean (MUL) with assumption that I'm a korean, pheww so much assumption for a day, but i feel so funny. The turbulance was quite bad that I couldn't sleep but thank you Kuang Han Tsu, I managed to see your handsome face and cure my anxiety HAHAHAHHA.

There were no amount of love I ever gain these past year apart from my Korean church family :''')) from them I realise how important and beautiful it is to be loved unconditionally like this, I learn how I should share the same love they gave, without any prejudice or expectation that they will receive something in return from me.

Anyway after had quite a deep talk with Oh Jibsanim, we're heading to Eun Gu apartment, I'm always amused and still feel like in the drama. We talked a lot, Kwonsanim made me so comfortable and served Galbitang, many delicious banchan, pacheon, delicious drink, peel guail as well. Eun Gu was nice and all smiling, I think he gained much confidence since the camp which makes me SO EXTREMELY happy as well. He was polite and said one day will eat kwonsanim's budae jjigae together with Nuna. I will be back for that Eun Guy-ya!

Then jibsanim dropped me to EunJung Eonnie's office. I couldn't remember much as I was so tired and slept all through in the common room. I just remembered some girls were laughing wkkwkw. After Eunjung Eonnie finished her work, she took me around to our church and parked, took a picture of me and the church building, then JENG JENG we met Hong Jangronim the PD-nim HAHAHA. Oh my I'm so happy to get to know him better. He treated us for a meal at the mulgogi siktang, my favorite resto that I went to last year aswell. He said my hangul is charae Hahaha, and showed our church's video content. Ahhh I remembered even though I was so full (2 bowl of rices at Eun Gu's house) but I couldn't resist the fish, most delish udon and banchan huhuhu I really love hansik, ottokeee yeorobun.

Afterwards we departed and go to Eonnie's apt that I have missed the most. As usual, I stayed at Yui's room. I felt like home, the kids were still away, also Taekyun Oppa. So I went out with Eonnie to walk through the apartment. Twas so nice and cute, it's like Kdrama in the real life. We had a patbingsoo date at Tous Les Jur, the injeolmi and pat are the best omg eonnieee I can't stop eating the big portion. Then we went to baskin robin because Oppa wanted some ice cream.

Afterwards, we're home, the kids were there, we're happilly reunited, nae saranaghaneun chukadeul Yui, Seoyi, Sooyi, I love you so much. I gave the gifts to eonnie, oppa, and the kids and heading to sleep. Taekyun Oppa and Eonnie ensured that I slept well with aircond, lamp and fan. Huhuhu God, may you bless this family as I couldn't be able to repay their kindness. I just cover each of them with Your grace, that the light they spread save other souls as well, and I pray that I could be like them to treat others with loving pure kindness and no prejudice. I love you so much Chung Family from Gimpo <3

[bigguy584]

I never dreamed that I would have to face the prospect of not living in the United States of America, at least not the one I have known all my life. I have never wished to live anywhere else. This is my home and I was privileged to be born here.

But today I woke up and as I had my morning coffee I realized that everything is about to change. No matter how I vote, no matter what I say, something evil has invaded our nation, and our lives are never going to be the same. I have been confused by the hostility of family and friends. I look at people I have known all my life so filled with hate that they will agree with opinions that if they were in their right minds they would never express as their own. It's absolutely unbelievable. I think that I may well have entered the Twilight Zone.....then I saw this and I think that it's pretty close to describing how I feel.

I'm not starting a fight, but it is something to think about. This may open up a ton of outraged comments by some. Many will argue how "wrong" this post is. My suggestion, save your time and effort! You're not changing the reality of what we are living by trying to somehow justify this insanity. Nevertheless, I couldn't resist because we are becoming the Twilight Zone. We have become a nation that has lost its collective mind!

• If a dude pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him.

• Somehow it’s un-American for the census to count how many Americans are in America.

• Russians influencing our elections are bad, but illegals voting in our elections are good.

• It was cool for Joe Biden to "blackmail" the President of Ukraine, but it’s an impeachable offense if Donald Trump inquires about it.

• Twenty is too young to drink a beer, but eighteen is old enough to vote.

• People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves.

• Inflammatory rhetoric is outrageous, but harassing people in restaurants is virtuous.

• People who have never been to college should pay the debts of college students who took out huge loans for their degrees.

• Immigrants with tuberculosis, Covid and polio are welcome, but you’d better be able to prove your dog is vaccinated.

• Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate must go through a rigorous vetting process, but any illiterate gang-bangers who jump the southern fence are welcome.

• $5 billion for border security is too expensive, but $1.5 trillion for “free” health care is not.

• If you cheat to get into college you go to prison, but if you cheat to get into the country you go to college for free.

• We see other countries going Socialist and collapsing, but it seems like a great plan to us.

• Some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, and other people are not held responsible for what they are doing right now.

• Criminals are catch-and-released to hurt more people, but stopping them is bad because it's a violation of THEIR rights.

• And pointing out all this hypocrisy somehow makes us "racists"?!

Nothing makes sense anymore, no values, no morals, no civility, and people are dying of a Chinese virus, but it is racist to refer to it as Chinese even though it began in China. We are clearly living in an upside-down world where right is wrong and wrong is right, where moral is immoral and immoral is moral, where good is evil and evil is good, where killing murderers is wrong, but killing innocent babies is right, where darkness is light and light is now darkness.

Wake up America, the great unsinkable ship Titanic America has hit an iceberg, is taking on water and sinking fast. The choice is yours to make. What will it be? Time is short, make your choice wisely!

[dionysiospsychas-photography]

CHANGING STRATHCONA: SOME HISTORY

… Some years ago I lead architecturally themed tours of various Vancouver neighbourhoods, and Strathcona. They were tailored to photographers, but also included relating architectural information and neighbourhood history. So, like a photo walk it was mostly people photographing on our route, but like a tour there were stops to speak about the style and details of some building, or share the history of some house, or recount a part of the neighbourhood's urban planning history.

In preparation for our Changing Strathcona photo walk last week I went back to sources to detail what I had noted on the urban redevelopment issues of the neighbourhood, Chinatown, and Vancouver in general, and how they affected its communities. What actually happened however, because most attendees have heard my schtick before, we concentrated on exploring and photographing. But I was open to questions and stories, and we had nice conversations about history, design, and scandals along the way. The post about the photo walk, with photos, will come later.

I have the luxury of much free time presently, so going back to well known books by local authors and long running blogs, and discovering new blogs was informative and fun. The list of books, articles, opinion pieces, posts, guides, and reposts is nicely long, but I will not list them here. However, I will make another post with links to blogs and online resources for everything Vancouver history.

For now, I will acknowledge the work by some local authors, historians, and organizations that have contributed to my knowledge of Vancouver history and continue to inform me of future issues, such as John Atkin, Chuck Davis, James Johnstone, Michael Kluckner, Eve Lazarus, The British Columbia Black History Awareness Society, The Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia, Heritage Vancouver, The Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, Vancouver Heritage Foundation, and Vancouver Historical Society.

What is evident here is the lack of mention about indigenous communities. The issue of displacement and dispersal of the local indigenous communities goes beyond Strathcona, which is my focus here, but I will search and read more about them in future.

Here is a little background about me. I am originally from Montreal, Quebec, born and raised, and my parents immigrated from Greece, hence the strange name. So culturally, I have French and Greek habits, especially culinary. And I still consider myself French-speaking Canadian, altho having lived in Vancouver now over ten years, the language motor needs a warm up. Also, I am a practising architect; it's fine.

So, none of the above is actually relevant to the subject of this post, or this blog, but I do not think I have mentioned these things before. However, when I began practising photography and exploring the streets, alleys, and parks of Montreal, up, backwards, and over again, I also became interested about the city's history, architecture, and urban planning. And those subjects have been enduring interests for me. So of course, plopping into a new city and leading photo walks, learning about Vancouver's own history, architecture, and urban planning was (is) fun and complementary, and relating that information is meaningful. But my focus is still photography and exploring the city.

I am also glad to have had my friends Sharon and Colin photo walk with me all these years, and who co-hosted on our Capture Strathcona photo walk.

Okay, here we go, and abridged history. This is a long post, so have a warm cupof in hand. Also, sorry, it might be a bit dry.

Strathcona history

The Hastings sawmill nearby (at the end of Gore Ave) attracted industry and residents to the area starting in the late 19th century, becoming a company town with a general store (now in Point Grey) and a school. With Canadian Pacific Railway choosing Vancouver as a western terminus for passengers, the fledgling neighbourhood saw great expansion between 1886 (Vancouver's founding) and the 1920s.

A working class area of immigrants and visible minorities, the area became a tight knit community and so Vancouver's first neighbourhood. It came to be known as the East End (the original) to distinguish it from the affluent West End. In the 1920s, Vancouver consisted of the West End, Downtown, the East End, Mount Pleasant, False Creek and Kitsilano. The name Strathcona was first used by city planners in the 1960s when redevelopment plans were conceived, after Lord Strathcona School, which was founded in 1891 and initially called East End School, and renamed in 1900.

Communities living and working in Strathcona included Japanese (also in Japantown), Chinese (also in Chinatown), Italian (the original Little Italy, around Union St), Portuguese, Ukrainian (see Ukrainian Hall), Russian (see Russian Hall and Holy Trinity Church), Jewish (around Heatley Ave and the synagogue), Black (around Hogan's Alley), Norwegian and Swedish (around Prior St and Lutheran Church which became Fountain Chapel).

Many Chinese, Italians, Japanese, and Blacks came to BC in the late 19th century with the promise of a livelihood and making a new home. They worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway, in forestry and mining projects, and established in farms and fishing villages. They also served as cheap labour on many occasions for many years. As well, Black people settled in Strathcona due to the proximity of the Canadian National Railway (now Pacific Central Station) and especially the Great Northern Railway from the U.S. (now demolished) because many of them were employed as porters. (This is a ridiculously short and simple account of the history of these communities in BC. I will have links to learning resources in another post.)

Urban renewal in Strathcona

Let us begin with the bad stuff. Together with neglect of Strathcona by the City of Vancouver, the slow, structural decline of the neighbourhood began with it being zoned (partially or mostly) to industrial, rather than residential, beginning in 1931. The area north of East Hastings St and east of the CPR were not going to see new residential construction. This made it very hard to obtain mortgages to buy houses or borrow money for renovations, and so the neighbourhood began to deteriorate.

(Click to visit links to larger images or posts.) General redevelopment plan for Vancouver, 1962. Notice the proposed area extends further east and to south False Creek.

Redevelopment plan for Strathcona, 1963. Areas 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 were demolished for new public housing and parks. Properties north of Hastings, area 5, were also acquired by the city and demolished, and eventually became industrial buildings. Presently, I do not recall a single house east of Heatly Ave.

Hogan's Alley and other parts of Strathcona, had been referred to as "slums" before that by businessmen and city officials, and was proliferated by the press who also qualified the neighbourhood as ill repute and unlawful. But by resident and law enforcement accounts, the neighbourhood was just poor.

The (now infamous) report on slum clearance and rehabilitation of Strathcona in 1950 by Leonard Marsh pointed to infrastructure improvements and new neighbourhood amenities, repair or removal of sub-standard commercial and industrial buildings, and provision of new private and public housing for all populations current and future. It was later used by city planners as justification and program for their "urban renewal" plans.

In the 1950s, the City stopped maintaining the area’s roads and sidewalks, and the other communities began to disperse, while the Italian community had essentially moved on to the new Little Italy about Commercial Dr and East Hastings St.

Concept for the redevelopment of Strathcona from the L. Marsh report, 1950. Image by Lani Russwurm of "Vancouver Was Awesome, A Curious Pictorial History" fame, who has written a good long post and has other nice pics from the report.

Redevelopment study for Strathcona by the city planning department which includes rows and rows of townhouses, mid-rises, and high-rises. I mean, it could have worked, but I think at the expense of community and cultural history. Also notice the proposal for heavy industrial zoning (which typically includes the processing of raw material into manufactured products) around Powell St. Altho this area today is still zoned industrial, "heavy industry" is confined north of the tracks, like the sugar factory, the organics recycling centres, and the cargo terminals.

The proposed redevelopment plans (in both the Marsh report and city planning department plans) would have featured clusters of townhouses, block upon block of "walk-up" mid-rises, and some high-rises, arranged around great open spaces, as well as central commercial and educational amenities. But practically, there was no public or neighbourhood consultations, compensation to homeowners for seized property was inadequate, and all levels of government failed to properly plan for the replacement of existing housing or relocation of residents in a timely manner. That is, they were demolishing faster than building.

In my opinion, in the report, the descriptions of the buildings and lots were exaggerated and (maybe unwittingly) fear mongering. The approach was influenced by post-war attitudes of solving structural and social issues with "slum clearing." The neighbourhood needed infrastructure repair for sure, incentives for renovations, and slower replacement of residential stock. The proposed redevelopment plans did not consider scale, variable density, mixed-use development, green spaces as buffer or future expansion, various modes of transport, and importantly, culture. Urban planning and architecture more recently does consider those aspects. But, there is a "but" there.

View of the old McLean Park, 1961. It looks nice. It could have used some trees tho. If only they rehabilitated rather than become demolition crazy. Still, the new McLean Park in the heart of today's Strathcona is pretty sweet.

Aerial view during construction of McLean Park public housing. They cleared the original park (see above) to put up blocks and then razed another block to make a park. Also, as my main photo walk buddy would say, "wtf, that's way out of scale!"

Residents became aware of the failures of other completed urban renewal and housing projects across North America and so protested the redevelopment plans. More importantly, they wanted to retain and renovate their eclectic mix of housing stock for future generations (see SPOTA below). In retrospect, the failure of large public housing projects was due to ill urban planning and architectural conception, lack of subsequent municipal support, and continued racial discrimination, I think.

Despite opposition from residents in the 1960s, a housing complex was built over a park, a block of houses was demolished to make a new park, another block of houses was demolished to make a field for the school, and four plus blocks to build another public housing project and make space for industrial buildings.

And then came plans for the big bad freeway network.

Freeway project

The postwar economic boom greatly increased car ownership and greatly slowed down traffic on the old transportation systems. So, since more affluent citizens moved to suburban developments and rapid transit was dismissed, the province conducted a study and planned a monster of a freeway system including new roads, viaducts, ramps, tunnels, and even a bridge: 8 lanes thru East Vancouver, Strathcona, and Chinatown to Waterfront connecting North Vancouver with a bridge or tunnel; a north-south connector thru Mount Pleasant; two other freeways connecting Downtown; and always the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts, but with more ramps.

Partial plan of the proposed freeway system, 1968. From "Historical Atlas of Vancouver" by Derek Hayes and posted on the Hogan's Alley Memorial Project blog. It's car lane crazy.

So in the late 1960s, Strathcona and Chinatown were newly threatened with demolition and loss. There was huge public protest to the freeway plans and the consequent destruction of residential blocks, appropriation of land for right-of-ways, and creation of no-man's lands. When the federal government declined in 1967 to contribute to the project, it meant the beginning of the end of it. And no monies were to come from the provincial government. With the new P.E. Trudeau government, the feds shelved any crossing project, and together with newly elected pro-transit governments at the city and provincial level, the freeway plans died.

A view of Hogan's Alley, about 1958. You have likely seen this photo before, and the Vancouver Archives has more. Personally, I think it looks fine; just needed some care after being neglected for decades.

However, demolition of the old viaduct and construction of the new Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts had already begun. And unfortunately, two blocks of Hogan's Alley had been destroyed to make room for them. The lingering members of the Black community helped fight the plans for urban renewal, but it definitely dispersed after the partial destruction of the neighbourhood.

At the opening of the viaducts, citizens showed the current mayor just how mad they were, and later voted in reform-minded candidates (like future mayor and Premier Mike Harcourt) and mayor, who then introduced public consultation for development projects.

SPOTA

By the late 1960s, many blocks of Strathcona were replaced with mid-rise blocks of public housing, which many residents chose not to relocate. The fear of further demolition of their neighbourhood, lose of their homes (houses or apartments) and cultural home life, residents organized to save a part of the city they felt was home.

To fight continuing redevelopment of Strathcona and the proposed freeway project, residents formed (1968) the Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association (SPOTA). Co-founders of the tenants association, Mary Lee Chan, a community leader, and Walter Chan, business owner, were greatly involved with informing and rallying the residents of Strathcona and Chinatown, organizing protests, and writing about the negative consequences of the redevelopment projects and the injustices to displaced residents. Together with their daughter Shirley Chan, they raised awareness of the effects of these projects and gathered sympathy and support from surrounding communities, Vancouverites, and levels of government.

Photo of the Campbell-Raymur project site, 1 in above redev plan, after demolition. Notice the Russian Orthodox Holy Trinity Church and Russian Hall behind it still standing. They were like the only buildings not marked for demolition in that project area.

Not wanting to see more of the neighbourhood misguidedly razed, SPOTA with the help of allies (Chinatown residents, other communities of Strathcona, architects, lawyers, planning department employees, etc.) instead petitioned for funds to rehabilitate their homes, replace demolished housing, and allocate funds to improve infrastructure. Having met federal ministers in 1968, and convinced them that current urban renewal strategies were wrong, the feds stopped funding for all urban renewal projects. There would later be a federal task force to study housing and urban development, and the report called for the stop of large scale demolition of existing housing, better assessment and selection of removal, reforms to loan programs, and changes in planning strategies. In the next year, SPOTA and all other levels of government consulted and came up with a trial rehabilitation plan for existing buildings, streets, and sidewalks. And it was successful; hundreds of houses were repaired.

The Strathcona Area Housing Society was then created to help study, design, and oversee new residential construction to replace that demolished, between 1974 and 1982. Many new dwellings (duplexes, triplexes, and the Joe Wai Special) were built, designed by important Vancouver architect Joe Wai. Later on, Joe Wai would help design the Mau Dan Coop Housing Project in Strathcona, the West End Community Centre, Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, and the Millennium Gate.

A composite map I made showing Strathcona and Chinatown with what was lost from the first phase of the city's urban redevelopment plans (in blue and dark magenta), what I think could have been lost with further commercial redevelopment (in cyan), what could have been completely lost as well but thankfully not (in light magenta), and what I think could have been lost from the freeway project (in red). Houses and commercial buildings are part of a city's material culture, and dismissing their community value does not hint to the healthy evolution of a city, I think.

By the way, the provincial government designated Chinatown a historic district in 1971, and the federal government designated Chinatown a national historic site in 2011. And presently, parts of Chinatown, Gastown, and Yaletown are specially zoned "Historic Area Districts", so they typically benefit from specific design guidelines, and maybe even extra scrutiny by the Urban Design Panel. (Even tho the meetings are really serious and really are fun, do not get me started on that bunch.) Strathcona, however, is not a protected neighbourhood at the provincial or federal level.

Importantly, the contribution of SPOTA profoundly changed the way planning and development is executed in Vancouver.

The present issues and future of Strathcona and Chinatown... are for another post.

P.S. If you have any corrections, elaborations, or suggestions for this post, please tell me what by contacting me thru my email.

So, how about you; have you explored Strathcona? What did you like about the neighbourhood? Send me an email and tell me what you think.

DP, 2023-05-02

[arletttthhh]

Multimedia Entry #2

For my second multimedia selection of a movie, I chose Everything Everywhere All At Once. This movie is based on Chinese immigrants and an adventure to save existence by exploring and fighting a figure in other universes and connecting with the lives she could have lived if she had chosen other paths. This movie takes the idea of the multiverse and makes a beautiful piece of artwork out of it with a deeper message about trauma and how the cycle continues if you don't change. We see a fight between the main character's inner being wishing she has made different decisions in life, issues with her husband, disconnect from her daughter, and the trauma she lived through.

Having watched the Oscars recap and seeing this movie win many awards, I was able to make connections between the speeches of the actors to one of the readings we looked at in class. Michelle Yeoh having been the first Asian lead actress winner says in her speech "For all the little boys and girls that look like me watching tonight, this is the beacon of hope and possibilities." This connects to the topic we discuss in class about representation by Suken & Cartwright. Representation is important as I've spoken about previously because it shows others that their dreams are possible and they could one day be doing what people like Michelle Yeoh has been able to do.

In the article we read Origin Myths: A Short and Incomplete History of Godzilla we know that from 1990 until the middle of the decade there was a shift of individuals committed to supporting art by Asian Americans by having conversations about Asian Americans in art. I recall James Hong delivering a speech during the SAG Awards talking about how back in his day Asian characters were played by white people with their eyes taped up to resemble the eyes of Asians and that Asians were not good enough or box office. I have included his speech as well.

I recall looking at the article in class Cloud Atlas Attacked Over 'Yellowface' Make-Up where this movie had actors dressup as Asian characters instead of having real Asian people play these characters, which perpetuates sterotypes like "yellow-face" and the stereotypical characteristics of Asians. I think this movie also represents Asians in other ways that the media hasn't before. In the past Asians in movies have been shown as Kung Fu fighters, sidekicks or secondary actors as well as over sexualizing of women as we learned from the video Slaying the Dragon https://youtu.be/N3Ka_xIPsHE whereas this movie I think paves the way for different types of artistic work that represent Asians.

Overall, I loved this movie from the representation of trauma cycles to the artistic take of multiverses. If you haven't seen this movie you should!

Photo: Wikipedia

[purplepiratefaerywitchthing]

I Clean Houses and Write Stuff (sometimes)

Blog Post #2 1/9/2023

I'm not writing right now, and I'm not okay with it.

Technically you could argue that I haven't written regularly in a long time. It wouldn't be much of an argument, given that it's absolutely true.

Sometime in that 2018-2019 pre-pandemic era I wrote what would be the final draft of the book I've been working on since I was 12 years old. And when I say final I don't mean "complete;" I mean final as in it would finally leave my head so that something new could take its place.

Because 15 years is a long-ass time to be working on a book. Especially when it isn't very good.

And something new did take its place, once my those guys were free of the gothic feary world my angsty teen brain concocted. The Something New would be drafted three times, many hours spent pouring over laptop and notebooks, doing the thing I'd loved doing for so long it was beyond a hobby, it was part of who I was, like being right-handed or strawberry blonde. The third draft of this Somethibf was even something that would be one step closer to "finished," maybe even publishable...

But then, it was March of 2020. The weird "Chinese virus" we'd kept hearing rumbles about in the news would reach the shores of the US. Suddenly you could die by breathing the air outside your front door, and every media outlet had a field day with headlines listing death tolls, hospitalozation numbers, and repeating the phrase "nothing will ever be the same again" over and over and over.

I didn't sleep for three months.

I cried -sobbed- and screamed for several weeks straight.

I suffered a back spasm that was so painful I physically couldn't lay flat on the floor, my spine seemingly permanently arched. I was able to get that to let go after hours of yoga videos, but then it moved to my foot and I could barely walk. I stopped being able to eat real food because everything made me sick, and would in turn get dangerously close to becoming pre-diabetic because you aren't actually supposed to live off of cheap protein bars.

And during it all, all I could do was read the news.

And read the news.

And read the news.

That story that I spent so much time with was gone, dead and buried with the first 100,000 people in the US to die of COVID-19 no thanks to our screaming lunatic of a 45th president who was elected into office the year I graduated from college. (Talk about a slap to the face to those looking to enter the world and make something of themselves, especially if you were a woman, queer, Black, an immigrant, trans, pretty much anyone not a straight white male.)

I could barely focus on the books in front of me - I read entire novels that I'd forget the second I closed the back cover. Soon I stopped reading books all together.

A small bright spot emerged when a story idea came me, one that had been rolling about the back of my head for some time. I hammered out a draft in record time in the Fall of 2020 and then... That was gone, too, regardless of how I tried to go back to it, how I tried to work on it, edit it, turn it into something for the world.

"Maybe making more money will help," I thought as I picked up more hours at my then-job.

"Maybe having my own space will help," I thought as we emptied our savings account and liquidated every asset we had so we could buy the house of a dreams in September of 2021, big enough for all our animals and for me and my husband Tim to have our own office spaces. Mine was even painted a delightful shade of purple, complete with overflowing bookshelves and a massive window overlooking the street below behind which my mint green sauder desk sits, waiting.

I don't think I've spent more than 24 hours in here, my office, this space that we purchased with everything we had so it could be mine. We've been here for 16 months now.

Mind you, buying the house was not the plan. At least not yet. Ever since the credit cards got taken care of from pandemic aid (the one good thing that came out of those dark months of death, tears, fear and grief), we'd been planning to move out west, somewhere in Colorado where we could see the mountains and be in a not-red state (news flash: Ohio sucks). But then we found our now house, a beautiful thing that's a hundred-and-some years old with real wood trim, badly finished rooms and generations of stories right in what's become our favorite, artsy district of Cleveland. Lots of mental creative energy has been spent planning: how do we make this ancient place that's been through so much ours? How do we heal it, fix it, honor it's history while bringing it to our modern era?

It's stressful as all hell, not to mention expensive and time consuming, but I've loved it. We have it all planned out; wooden countertops in the kitchen, black tile in the bathrooms, an attic library, a basement game room, a second shower.

I try to tell myself that I haven't been writing because that part of my brain that longs to make things has been making our house our house. Constantly working, picking, problem solving the way it does when I'm drafting.

Part of me believes me.

Part of me wonders if I will ever write again.

After all, writing up until the pandemic was such a part of who I am, it was hard to call it a hobby.

But, is it still?

I don't know.

I don't like not knowing.

***

Flash forward to now, 2023. I've stepped away from the ever demanding customer service desk I've been chained to since I was 17 and am now working for myself, quietly cleaning houses, alone with my music, my thoughts, and the home owner's pets.

It's good work; I'm making more money, and have a lot more time now.

But do I have Grass is Always Greener Syndrome, too?

Am I just thinking, "maybe this atmospheric change will fix my internal problems, because I don't even know where to begin on those?"

It makes me sigh heavily. Perhaps that's why I spend my free time sitting in the living room under a blanket watching true crime docs on Hulu.

#writeblr #writing #writing community #blog post #personal #post-pandemic life #not writing #bloggers of tumblr #blogs of tumblr #pandemic #2023 #mental health #I Clean Houses and Write Stuff Blog

[hahahahblahblahblah]

Portion of a side thing

Trying to write more and more... check this out!

---

In New York’s Museum of Modern Art, on the fourth floor, there is a work by Jacob Lawerence entitled Migration Series. It consists of 60 18 x 12” hardboard panels with casein tempera draped over, each serving as a piece of a chronological retelling of the exodus of African Americans from the South to the North of the United States. Thirty of these panels are currently in the Phillips Collection, about five hours away in Washington DC. The only panels that are on display in the MOMA are the odd numbered panels. Whichever curator made this decision brought new life into this work. One would think that leaving out critical portions of Black America’s story would render it illegible - At worst, it’d fail to do justice to a story that deservedly is owed some. Instead, the story is perfectly understandable. Lawerence’s work as an educator aggregates almost instantaneously towards the viewer, or student, themselves. Of course we know this story. Spare us the details of when which boat got where at which time. We know. In that instant we realize how ingratiated the terror behind this story has become for us. How second nature the retelling of this struggle is. It’s one thing to learn of the terror, it’s another to desensitize oneself to it, it’s something wholly different to assume its existence altogether.

“I can’t steal this shit.” Edmond thought. The unassuming 26 year old was walking around the most famous contemporary art museum in America, looking for a painting to steal. -

How much more room is there to scorn middle-management America? Where the “strategists” and “analysts” schedule calls with their limbic-fibrosis-psycho-“there-I-am!”-apists to confirm whether the fact that the call they’re pretending to pay attention to is actually shocking their cortexes to the point where the inner linings of their lungs are starting to feel the fucking nothingness?

This is the position Edmond found himself in. Like when children are found in wells. Years removed from higher education, which was nice. He had studied Philosophy and Communications, which he had felt was a stupider version of Philosophy. He was, by all accounts, very normal. He is normal! Why speak of him like he’s dead? He’s lost, and this is the position he found himself in. Like when children are found in wells.

He genuinely enjoyed his time in school. He was constantly charmed by the fact that his Philosophy classes were full of generationally wealthy Chinese immigrants trying to understand Kierkegaard, surely thrown off by the Feurbachist asking questions to ask questions. He loved that his Communications classes were full of pretty girls who didn’t give a shit and athletes. After graduation, he quickly realized that most job titles starting with “junior” and ending with “ist” were applicable to his education. He applied to most postings that didn’t require a cover letter, and did everything he could to leave his parents, whom he loved, but needed a break from.

He moved to New York with a job that paid 55 thousand dollars a year, and found a studio in Astoria. He made friends with a select group of his coworkers who were around his age. It felt like college. In a way, it was less work. Everything was fine. Until he realized he had moved to moved, and worked to move, and the only way to work to move was to work, and he realized that much of America works to work.

This opaque sense he had came in waves, like fogs do. Some days it subsisted, he could see nothing, so he drove on autopilot. At other times the fog would still be there, and he’d blast through it with optimism and stupidity. Maybe he was feeling good that day. He felt proud of his Powerpoints and client-side communications.

Sometimes the fog wasn’t there at all. Those were the worst days. Because he knew the position he was in was detestible. And the fog does nothing but obstruct. What was worse than seeing the truth behind your whole life and how little control you had over it, and submitting to the idea that the only way to move is forward?

-

This is not a story of a man falling in despair. By the end, Edmond will be the same man he was: A man who has been nowhere but the depths of despair already. Luckily for him, this is extremely common. He’ll flirt a bit with the prospect of being a different person - also very normal - and he’ll soon realize it meant nothing.

This was the line of thought that Edmond’s close friend, Kian, had every time him and Edmond would speak. Kian was 29 to Edmond’s 26, and felt connected to Edmond because of this. He had felt he found a friend who was, more or less, the exact same person 3 years removed. Kian could watch his life play out in near real-time, watching this kid have the same bullshit thoughts and make the same bullshit mistakes he just did a few seconds ago!

Kian did genuinely enjoy Edmond’s company, though. They had met at a desperate turning point in each other’s lives, looking for new friends at a local tennis gathering that took place in Queens every Sunday. They bonded over the grogginess they felt from waking up so early, the hilarity that everyone else was geriatric, and the general life position they found themselves in.

Kian oftentimes would present business ideas to Edmond. More often than not, they’d involve exploiting the internet’s subsistence of a feedback loop. He was sure that a methodological approach of stealing other people’s content and breaking it down into bite-sized chunks would rake in heaps of money for the both of them.

“You’ll be the editor - OK, wait. OK. I’ll find the clips, right? Or, you can find the clips! Whatever. Doesn’t really matter to me. So, you’ll find the clips and be the editor, and then I’ll run the page, and we can split it 50/50.” Kian would manage to drivel out, five drinks of a few different drinks in.

Edmond would smile. He felt himself he was living the exact life Kian had lived. He was amused that Kian would anemically lecture him on how to ask his boss for a salary raise, but still manage to believe in the concept of a “billion dollar idea.” Edmond felt he had life to look forward to when he saw his friend.

“I’m thinking of stealing a painting, you know,” Edmond interrupted, “At the MOMA.”

Kian floundered out something of a laugh and burped. His eyes were drawn to the dart board in the bar they were in.

“I have the plan figured out itself. I have a few plans, actually. There are a few optimal spots that I’m looking into. That’s the thing actually - I haven’t decided which painting yet.”

Halfway into Edmond’s sentence, Kian hiccuped like a 40s’ drunk, and his entire face carbonated. He blew a bubble out his mouth, which connected with the bubble popping out of his nostril, and scrunched his eyes.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s crazy, huh?” Edmond said.

Kian tilted his head and threw an amused look on. He scoffed,

“I don’t really understand your humor sometimes.”

“I swear to God I am not joking. Kian,” Edmond held his hand, hilariously enough, “I swear to God I am planning on stealing a painting at the MOMA.”

Kian snapped back. “What does that even mean?”

“Why are you so, like, befuddled?”

“Because it’s fucking weird, man! Imagine I told you I’m gonna’ rob a bank! You’d just immediately be like ‘Cool?’ I’m processing what the fuck is going on right now.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“You’re fucking with me.” Kian started laughing.

“Listen. The definition of an ‘object of cultural heritage’, which is what the feds call - “

Kian burst out laughing, “The ‘Feds?’ What are you, a fucking gangster, dude?”

“Which is what the feds call art, right? They call it an ‘object of cultural heritage.’ The strict definition is if the work either “A”, is over 100 years old and worth in excess of 5,000 bucks, or “B”, worth at least 100,000 dollars. Ok? There are a multitude of paintings in the city - Funny enough, in the MOMA, that do not qualify under both of those definitions. Now, whatever. I’m sure I’m missing something here. Sure, there’s some legal fine print that’ll fuck me over and the courtroom artist will take out their brown pencil to color in the shit I’ll do all over myself when I hear my sentencing. But!” Edmond leaned in, “I’m a first time offender, and I’m not trafficking the painting over state lines, let alone international lines. I’m not even selling the work. I’m looting a moderately priced painting for fun.”

Kian started laughing again. He chose to believe that this situation was not real. His head swayed like a timepiece.

“I’m gonna’ get another round.”

In those 90 seconds or so of waiting, Edmond found himself in that exciting point of the plane all artists do. It’s joyous to lie in that space where your work exists purely as a medium for the idea. Where you scribble motifs and phrases - even string along full sentences at some point. This is the point where the artist feels most at harmony with the idea. Because all they’re tasked to do - There is no “task”, actually. It’s what makes it all the more pure - All the artist does now with the idea is vaguely conceptualize it. It is as exciting as when the medium first makes contact with the dead. But then the dead tell you the terrible news you contacted the medium to help you hear in the first place, and you start to materialize your work. You realize the horror behind the entire project to begin with, but your stubbornness, curiousity, idiocy, or psychosis (depending on who you are) mimic a phantom representation of that ideal abstraction and, like a demon, convince you to finish your screenplay. Ultimately, the artist fails, or they don’t, but they do. They find themselves a time later within the fallout of their work. The immediacy of revisiting the aftermath of whatever you thought was a good idea a few months ago makes you work backwards. You feel disgust, then shame, then the remembrance of things past - in a bad way, then the remembrance of things past - in a curious way, then you analyze the plan, and have a thought, but you drop the thought, then you vow to drop it, because it’s good for you, but you don’t.

It depends on the person, but the artist will return. They’ll try to conjure up the spirit of the idea again - This time as a necromancer.

Kian comes back. He hands a beer to Edmond, who is giddy.

“This is very real, man. This is real. This is fucking real.” Edmond chatters through this teeth.

Kian leans in solemnly.

“Edmond, I want you to be honest with me. I thought about it a bit when I left. Do you need help?”

“You’re in?”

“No - Do you need help? Do you need money? Do you need…psychological help?”

Edmond’s impulse to jump at that accusation is halted by his foresight.

“Kian. I’m OK. I’m the Edmond you know. But this is something I’ve done research on, and I’m doing. It’s OK if you don’t want to hear anymore. I wouldn’t want to implicate you.”

“This is very difficult for me to process.”

“Why are you talking like a book?”

“I’m not sure where it’s coming from. That it.”

Edmond had an answer, but now’s not the time. Ultimately, of course there was a deeper reason. But it’s not like he was going to kill anyone. There was no manifesto. Of course there was a reason. But all he’s doing is stealing a painting at the Museum of Modern Art, on 53rd St, between 6th and 5th Avenue.

[mashkaroom]

https://twitter.com/decoratedshed/status/1532538910546477056

okiee, thinking abt this bc of this tweet: i and my family have been on the whole very lucky with our housing situations BUT discrimination against single mothers, despite being illegal, is SO prevalent even in progressive areas with comparatively progressive tenant protections (Boston area in my case). When my parents divorced, my mother could not move out of the house despite desperately wanting to because literally no one would show her places. She claimed this was due to a law that didn’t allow landlords to evict single mothers. I have literally not been able to find a single trace of such a policy, so whoever she got this from I assume must have either being lying, or else this is a widespread misconception that people use as justification for discrimination despite no such actual protections being in place. But also literally this past year when we were moving, with my brother and i both legal adults, people LITERALLY just stopped responding when she said the lease would be “3, me and my two children”. Should be noted that my father had no such issues. And this was before even asking for income, so this isn’t even a question of income difference. I was talking about how the search for a new house was a dialect tour of russian boston, but this was literally because like 70% of the people willing to show us their houses were either russian landlords or russian real estate agents, bc they saw a fellow russian instead of a single mother. All this to say, community support is so important, but it should NOT be necessary for basic fucking necessities!

#i think that's what this tweet is about? not 100% sure #don't rb probably just want to kind of get this out there! how fucking bizarre is that! #i really can't understate how lucky we've been with our landlords and housing #the previous house we lived in #though very poorly maintained #had the benefit of being unheard-of cheap for the area #rent was raised pretty much with inflation and not at all during covid #and also the landlord let us submit rent late on multiple occasions #and when they asked us to move out they gave us at-will tenancy for an additional severl months past the expiration of the lease #moreover we had at least one at times multiple people not on the lease living there for most of the time #and landlords did not say anything #they were chinese immigrants and i think this had everything to do with it #the house we lived in before that was also extremely cheap and this was because the landlord was russian and rented it to us at #(or even below??) mortgage rate as an act of solidarity #so the fact that moving would have been tremendously difficult ended up being fine. but we are by far by far the exception #also worth noting that we were on a waiting list for affordable housing pretty much since my parents' divorce #so like 2010-ish? #and the one list we got off of (over a period of 10 years!!!) ended up being i think like $50 less than what we were paying for that house #but for like 2/3 of the space #all this to say 'just move' 'just apply for affordable housing' is frequently neither an option nor a solution! #this is also why i don't like the 'kill all landlords' thing #i know it's not serious and everything but nevertheless #also there's obviously a huge difference between 2nd-home owner and 'owns 1000s of units' landlord #BUT that kind of thinking really shifts the blame away from the systemic and onto the individual #is frank the landlord who made it possible for us to live as we did my enemy? no! #but the fact that your quality of life depends entirely on one guy whose only thing is he owns property not being an asshole #shouldn't even be a possibility! #i just think in general how much we've been insulated from systemically-induced disaster by individual generosity #like once our car broke down and my mother's rich friend just gave her her old one #but i remember my mother had a full breakdown about it and i didn't really get it at the time

[plutominho]

i know turning red literally just came out but i don’t wanna hear y’all saying ming was the villain like y’all did for alma in encanto.

yes, they both interfered with mei wanting to see 4*town and mirabel wanting to learn how to save the family magic, respectively. but if you’re going to call ming and alma anything, they’re the antagonists—not the villains.

antagonists are characters whose intentions clash with the protagonist. it’s simply a plot role and the protagonist’s main opponent.

villains are characters who tend to be evil, with evil intentions. they generally have a negative impact on other characters.

a villain of the story is often the antagonist, but not every antagonist is a villain.

they’re not the same thing.

—

now that we got that out of the way, let’s look at ming and turning red in particular.

ming (and therefore, mei) is an a member of an chinese-canadian immigrant family. what generation immigrant ming is was never explicitly mentioned in the film, but i don’t think i need that information to be able to explain this. i’m going to write the rest of this under the assumption that ming is 2nd-gen bc her mom lives close enough to be able to visit, but i could be wrong.

so some time towards the beginning of the movie, the whole whole history with mei’s ancestors and red pandas is revealed. it is implied that this history began in china, so some time between when the first ancestor (i forgot her name) lived and the beginning of the movie, ming’s mother moved to canada and set up a life there for herself and her family. then ming and her generation was born, and, later, mei was born.

the madrigal family in encanto had a similar backstory—not in content, but in structure. assuming ming is a 2nd-gen immigrant, ming’s mother (mei’s grandmother) and alma were the first generation to move to somewhere new due to some circumstance in their life or their hometown. and that’s difficult.

imagine being the first person in your family to build your life somewhere completely new to you. you’re leaving your family behind, risking everything just to have a better life. and, if you decide to have kids, you hope to pass your hard-earned fortune on to them and make sure they have a life that’s easier than yours.

now here’s the thing: you might be passing on some of the worse parts of what you picked up as well.

as i said about immigrating, that shit is difficult. it’s traumatizing. when you’re trying to build your life somewhere that you barely know, it’s not surprising that you can internalize whatever trauma they experience during that period of time. and more often than not, you may not even notice how how you pass that down to your kids.

this is called intergenerational trauma.

the signs of it may not be obvious to someone who isn’t aware of it, but it doesn’t hide the fact that it’s there. and it may not even manifest in the form of physical child abuse. not once did ming hit mei during the movie, so we can skip that last part.

what ming did do to mei, however, was be a helicopter mom—overbearing, overprotective, and just a bit over the line. but it was all with good intentions and to make sure mei was doing okay at school. she never meant to embarrass mei, even though that’s what ended up happening.

and not to mention the putting down anything mei likes that ming doesn’t see as useful to mei!! she thinks mei’s friends are a bad influence! and half the plot revolves around a popular boy band that mei is obsessed with!!!!

ming wants mei to have a successful life and one that was easier than hers was. it’s clear through her actions: putting mei through violin lessons, having box upon box of pads ready for mei because she thought mei got her first period, letting her join the “after school club” that was really just mei raising money for the 4*town concert (but ming didn’t know that!), randomly bringing mei a tray of dumplings (bc if your love language with your kid isn’t giving them snacks or cut-up fruit r u really an asian immigrant parent /j).

is it good that she’s looking out for her daughter? yes. but does it also mean she’ll immediately render Normal Teenager Things as useless or even detrimental to mei’s future? also yes!! i know this bc i’m a child of asian immigrants and it happened to me when i was mei’s age! (it still kind of happens but that’s another rant for another day) and trust me, hearing your parents constantly put down the hobbies and artists you like is not fun!!!

now, going back to this:

the signs of [intergenerational trauma] may not be obvious to someone who isn’t aware of it, but it doesn’t hide the fact that it’s there.

what makes ming the antagonist but not the villain is revealed towards the end of the movie. mei finds herself back in the astral realm after performing the ritual on ming to return her red panda spirit. she finds a teen version of ming, crying bc she got in a fight with her mom. this is when mei realizes ming felt exactly the same way that she did at one point.

because ming’s mom was the exact same way.

the overbearing yet well-meaning pushing your kid to be successful, but immediately dismissing anything that doesn’t fit your vision of said success — that happened to ming too. ming just never realized she was doing the exact same thing to her own daughter.

yes, ming never wanted to hurt mei, or make her so upset that she begins to pull away. most immigrant parents don’t.

and yes, intention ≠ impact. no matter how good-intentioned ming was, she still hurt mei at the end of the day. those two statements can and should co-exist.

but ming was never the villain. she was just unconsciously repeating the behaviors her mother pushed onto her.

because that was all she knew growing up.

#turning red #turning red spoilers #i will defend ming and alma to the ends of the earth if i have to #yes what they did sucks!! i’m not saying it doesn’t suck bc it does!! #but you need to understand that intergenerational trauma is a thing in immigrant families! #it’s really hard to see you’re repeating a pattern that you don’t even realize is there #believe me i’ve been there and 99.8% of the time your parents probably don’t even realize they’re passing down their trauma #it took like. three separate breakdowns from me /and/ my brother for my dad to stop yelling at every little mistake we made #we still have a long way to go #but we’re working on it and that’s what matters :) #encanto #alma madrigal #ming lee #generational trauma #intergenerational trauma #pluto.talks #disney