The Silent "I"

Asian American Voices Project

My friends at Clever Girls Collective sent me the link to this video, a trailer for Asian American Voices: Shaping Silicon Valley, Strengthening Community, and Sharing Hope a film about the contributions of Asian Americans in Silicon Valley. You get to hear the very moving stories of various Asian-Americans and how their lives and work helped to shape the community we live in on a daily basis. The full film will be screened at the San Francisco International Asian-American Film Festival on March 20, 2010.

While this film centers on immigrants in the San Francisco Bay area, the stories could be told just about anywhere. For me, the stories reminded me of my mother, and her immigration story.  I've written here before about my mom's determination to become a US citizen, but I haven't told all of her story. That's more than one blog post could possibly handle.

My mother's birthday is tomorrow, March 6, and I have been thinking a great deal about all that she has contributed in her 69 years.  She was never able to complete high school because the Korean War interrupted her schooling and she had to go to work to help support her eleven brothers and sisters after their father died.  She came to the US as a teenager, married to my dad, with a baby in tow. She had three children before age 25. She worked in a factory for 25 years, and would have kept on working had it not closed its doors and moved operations to Mexico.

Despite whatever hardships came her way, She kept her sense of humor and fun, ran a tight ship, and grounded her children in the belief that they could make of their lives whatever they could dream. My mother has been my inspiration, trusted adviser, and friend for my entire life.

My mother never held public office, has never been on television, owned a business, or traveled much of the world.  She has raised three kids, sometimes as a tyrant, sometimes as a friend, but always with enormous courage and love. Her contribution to the world may not seem to be that big, but to me, it is everything.

My mother's story, and the stories of the people in the Asian American Voices film, are only a tiny representation of what Asian Americans have contributed to the US. I hope that everyone, no matter what their ethnicity, will take time to watch this and reflect on the impact of diverse cultures to the richness of our society.

You can join the dialogue and become a fan of the Film on Facebook, and if you do, you could win tickets to the March 20 showing at the SF International Asian-American Film Festival!

Asian Art Museum San Francisco: Samurai, Swords & Sculptures

This Labor Day Weekend, we decided to explore the San Francisco Bay Area a bit, starting with the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, specifically to see the Lords of the Samurai exhibit on display there through September 20.

Long weekends are always a challenge for us: should we stay or should we go? This Labor Day weekend, we decided on a mini-staycation, opting to do things we could do in a day.  Each of the three of us got to pick a day to do something we wanted to do.  Frank chose going to San Francisco to see the samurai exhibit, so we loaded into the loaner Lincoln MKT, and off we went, up the peninsula toward the city.

We were a little reluctant to go up to the city this weekend, since we had heard that traffic was bad due to the closure of the Bay Bridge.  We didn't encounter any major problems, and even found parking on the street across from the museum.

Frank and I were members of the Asian Art Museum a years ago, but it was at a different location, in Golden Gate Park.  It's now housed in the former main library building, near City Hall. They moved to the current location near City Hall in 2003, with help from a bond measure and a $15 million gift from Silicon Valley entrepreneur Chong-Moon Lee.  

Race and Collaborative Blogging

Here's what I guest-posted over at BlogRhet on Wednesday. The discussion is ongoing. I'm honored to be a part of it.

...I am a Korean-American, the product of a Caucasian father and a Korean mother.  For my entire life, I've embraced the duality of my heritage, faced being the "Asian girl" in my all-white school in Ohio, and the "white girl" when visiting my relatives Korea.  I am always checking "Other" on government forms when asked about my race.  I am the perpetual "other."

I started my blog, The Silent I, nearly two years ago, to share information about a Katrina relief trip that I took with my friend, Jill Asher.  After the torrent of words and stories spilled out, I realized how much I loved writing.  I then started blogging the stories of our family travels, the small details of places and people we met.  I blogged so that I would not forget.  I blogged to capture memories for my son to read when he grows up, when the places we've been to as a family are only distant echoes to him.  I am an observer and storyteller, bearing witness to the small details and nuances of life.

After blogging on my own for a while, I started to contribute to two collaborative blogs.  As a mixed race person, it is probably only fitting that I contribute to two very different group blogs, one with a Korean-theme and the other made up of primarily Caucasian women who live in Silicon Valley.  My experiences with these two communities have been as different as the two sides of my heritage.

Speaking of Race...

I've been asked to to talk about issue of Inclusion and Exclusion:  Where are the Bloggers of Color and Why Aren't We Reading Them? on Kristen Chase's BlogTalkRadio show on Wednesday, August 15, 9 pm Eastern (6 pm Pacific, for you locals).  Kristen will also be joined by Jason of Daddy in a Strange Land and Rice Daddies, and Kelly of Mocha Momma.  Should be an interesting hour, so listen if you can.  You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and download it to listen at your leisure. 

Joy asked me to Guest Post this week on BlogRhet, so I will be posting my thoughts on Race, Identity and Blogging there on Wednesday as well.  Ever since the  BlogHer conference, I've given the issue of race, or specifically, how being a person of mixed race, affects how and where I blog about certain topics.  So, hopefully, I can articulate some kind of coherent thought that will make it worth your while to listen and read.

Kimchi Mamas Meet-up in Chicago

I played hooky from the BlogHer morning session to go to a Kimchi Mamas meet-up.  The lovely Carol organized a meet-up of some of the local Kimchi Mamas, their husbands, and kids.  Unfortunately, Stefania was speaking at the conference and had to cancel, but the rest of us met at Millenium Park for a picnic.  We had a great time, and the Chicago Kimchi Mamas have some gorgeous, sweet kids. 

Pictured: Mamazilla, HalfMama, me, Carol, and Sarah and kids.

Swearing Like a Mother

My mother never spoke Korean to my brothers and me when we were kids.  That is, unless she was angry.  When my mom got mad, so mad she could spit nails, the way we could always tell was when she started speaking shaking her head and speaking to us in Korean.  She rarely spanked us, but when mom "Went Korean" on us, we knew she meant business.  It meant, "Mama is having a moment and if you kids don't clear out, then...things are going to get ugly."

We usually retreated to our rooms and didn't come out until she was calmly sittng down and watching TV with a bag of dried fish in one hand and a Little King Cream Ale in the other.  The tirade usually started with something like, "Aigo...!" and went downhill from there.  I once asked her what one of the words meant, and she said, "You don't want to know."  She muttered something about "flies that eat poop" and "women who do bad things for a living."