Book Review: Passport to Shame: From Asian-Immigrant to American Addict by Sam Louie
Sam’s former profession as a storyteller is apparent as he vividly paints a picture as though you are there with him in his humble beginnings and follow him through his highs and lows.
We Are Not Immune: Lessons from a Mental Health Crisis
The compounded stress, physical strain, lack of self-monitoring, and dearth of healthy Christian friendships finally imploded on me. I could no longer sleep. Like a jammed switch continually set to “on,” my brain refused to shut down. For five months, it seemed all I could do was lie down at night and stare at the ceiling.
The End of Affirmative Action
Affirmative has never been a perfect tool to level the playing field of educational diversity. But it has made an important impact for thousands such as myself who otherwise were overlooked and not given a fair chance.
Not All Social Justice Advocates March
Over the years, trying to emulate my peers and my social justice heroes—Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Óscar Romero, and others—led me to burnout again and again. Each episode of burnout was worse than the last, until I found myself in bed, debilitatingly depressed, unable to work and barely able to function, for almost a year. I finally began to understand that I was following the way of other people more than the way of the cross.
Communi-tea
We are not a myth, Of a minority nor a monolith, Foreign, we are perpetually not. Asians aren’t a footnote, An afterthought
Someday
Someday I hope my child thinks I’m brave for making beautiful things as reminders of beauty.
AAPI Allyship on Juneteenth
Juneteenth celebrates what many refer to as a “second Independence Day” for our nation (Juneteenth Foundation), marking a mix of freedom, injustice, and progress.
AACC Parenting Conference: An Interview with the Conference Organizers
I have never attended a conference specifically designed to speak to the needs and concerns that pertain to me as an Asian American Christian parent . . . it was so refreshing to have our experiences as Asian American Christians centered in the conversations.
Beyond Essentialist Understandings of Asianness in Multicultural Liturgy
There is a place for multicultural celebrations that put Asian cultures on display; but, if we exclusively celebrate this form of liturgy, we run the risk of feeding into the stereotype that Asian Americans are forever foreigners.
8 Memoirs for AANHPI Heritage Month
For Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we recommend picking up a book (or two) to help you learn about a perspective that may be unfamiliar to you, or perhaps makes you feel more seen in your own identify and experience.
AACC Statement on the Allen Mall Shooting
But we must also pray that God moves citizens and elected officials alike to not hide behind “thoughts and prayers” but courageously pursue policies that reduce the scourge of gun violence in our communities.
When Code Switching is Not Enough
I was a stranger in the country, which had been home for so many years. People had moved on, and I was no longer a little child. My friends were no longer there, and my parents had a new routine as empty nesters. I had become more South Indian than they wanted me to be, and they found my new habits different. I had learned to move adeptly between two cultures, but I was neither here nor there.
Loving
Dad, a white man born in Kansas—
grew up in a time when plenty
folks who looked like them
were not allowed to wed,
To Bless My Chinese Self
I felt that I existed as a series of masks, appearing as others wanted me to, but without any sense of who I actually was. I waded through a depressive fog, wondering if there was any hope to feel at peace in the body that felt so foreign to me.
When a Supermarket Became My Hero
No matter how hard I tried to explain my Indonesian origins to those around me, my face erased my story.
Inheritance Remembered
Enjoy your cultural tapestry
Embrace your ancestral terrain.
Remember they once had nothing
Remember from whence you came.
If My Nose Could Reclaim Heritage
Look at her nose.
It’s like mine.
I am both
I couldn’t see myself as both
not because I did not want to
but because society told me I couldn’t be
both
Psalm 17: A Prayer for Asian Americans
Over time, the soft yet profound distinctions between being Koreans in America and being Koreanamericans settled into our lives. Ye Eun yielded to Julie as I underwent a nearly complete transformation and became a cultural stranger to my ancestors. Yet to this day, no prayer moves me more than ones uttered in my mother tongue.
Where I’m From
I’m from “Did you eat yet?” and “Practice your piano,”
From “Don’t get to dark or you’ll smell like the sun”