> whoever I may become
You're tuning into Cheers, a newsletter made by Tiffany Xie. This week: student protests, Octavia Butler, airbending, and have you eaten yet?
Hello friend,
> Protests in Bangkok against the monarchy, in Minsk against a disputed election. Thinking about how the protest leaders in Bangkok are students, how they are my age or younger, which reminds me of the 1968 student protests at San Francisco State that led to the first ethnic studies program in the U.S. We watched a documentary about those protests on the first day of my Asian American studies class. On that day I felt a lot of “why haven’t I ever learned about this” and the shock of young people making real change. I think it’s that shock that moves me even now.
> Reading: I just finished Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, which broke my world. It’s making me think about the purpose of fiction, how the way fiction reimagines the world can be activism. Starting Pleasure Activism by adrienne marie brown, on how emotional/erotic desire can fuel activism. She draws a lot from Octavia Butler, which is super exciting!
> Also picked up Minor Feelings, Cathy Park Hong’s collection of essays on Asian American experiences. When I picked it up from the library I started reading it in the car. Within the first few pages, I felt so seen that I started to cry.
When I hear the phrase “Asians are next in line to be White,” I replace the word “White” with “disappear.” Asians are next in line to disappear. We are reputed to be so accomplished, and so law-abiding, we will disappear into this country’s amnesiac fog.
> Crawling back under the covers to nurture my new phone game obsession: Rilakkuma Farm.
> Watching Avatar: The Last Airbender with my boyfriend, already halfway through, and thinking “why didn’t I watch this as a kid my childhood was deprived.”
> “These Poems” by June Jordan:
These poems
they are things that I do
in the dark
reaching for you
whoever you are
and
are you ready?
These words
they are stones in the water
running away
These skeletal lines
they are desperate arms for my longing and love.
I am a stranger
learning to worship the strangers
around me
whoever you are
whoever I may become.
> Not even sugoi brought to you by Gabrielle Widjaja, who also works under the pseudonym Gentle Oriental, and made a cookbook exploring her Chinese heritage called Have You Eaten Yet?, which is accompanied by a handmade quilt.
Cheers,
Tiffany