Supporting Asian America
When I first started this blog/online radio station, I had a pretty selfish goal in mind. I wanted to listen to Asian American musicians. Aside from James Iha, guitarist for Smashing Pumpkins, I couldn’t think of any musicians of Asian heritage. And so, that’s where Boston Progress Radio came about. I also made the decision to prefer independent musicians over mainstream ones. Though honestly, there are basically no mainstream APA musicians these days, so that decision wasn’t that hard to make.
Along the way, I made the conscious decision to have BPR support music by Asian Americans regardless of my personal taste—that is, regardless of whether I like the music or not. I’ll be honest and say that I’m not a huge fan of all the music we have, but that’s beside the point. This is a place for people to share their and to grow. What I like is not what others may like.
Besides music, I try to support Asian American businesses as much as I can. Typically though, a business that is Asian American owned and operated is not enough for me to jump in and lend my support. There has to be some level of quality. This is kind of the same philosophy that Oliver Wang talks about when he says that you shouldn’t go watch a film just because it is Asian American. The film has to be good too.
I don’t think the issue is so simple. Maybe through supporting something that isn’t that good, you help the artist gain confidence and dive into more creative endeavors. Maybe you help the powers that be realize that Asian American film is important—though perhaps that shouldn’t be necessary for legitimizing the art. Legitimization hopefully comes from self. On the other hand, is supporting bad art necessarily productive?
Anyhow, there are some good Asian American companies that I do support. For example, the DNS service for this blog is provided by Dynadot. Dynadot is owned by an Asian American and offers comparable if not better service than some of the major DNS providers. I also tend to prefer Asian American beauty salons and barbers (yes, I’m vain sometimes too). When I’m tired of shaving my head, I visit TN Beauty Salon. Thao, the owner and lead hair consultant, does a really amazing job with my hard-to-cut Chinese hair. These are just some examples. I really feel good when I’m supporting small, Asian American business like these. I know it isn’t much, but I feel like I’m building my community.
In general, when given a choice and the same level of service, I really try hard to support Asian Americans.
Reminder: As I Am: Asians In America is airing tomorrow on 91.9 FM WUMB at 7:30pm. Check it out.
Last 5 posts by eugene
- Recap: Ed Bok Lee at East Meets Words - August 18th, 2008
- Oh Eight, Oh Eight, Oh ap-pro-pri-Eight - August 8th, 2008
- East Meets Words featuring Edward Bok Lee - August 1st, 2008
- Asian Americans and Mental Health - July 22nd, 2008
- Be Like Water - July 21st, 2008
Tags: Chinese, Commentary, Community, Identity.
I know a way you can help Asian Americans on the East coast….if you have the resources and ability, you can become the director of NY’s Kollaboration. It’s in need of one…and based on your blog, there’s a lot of good talent on your side of the country.
I respect this idea. But I sometimes I’m conflicted, particularly in service/food contexts, where Asian American middle managers/bosses routinely exploit co-ethnic workers. The entrepreneur class, often rising up from an American working class immigrant background, can sometimes be worse to the Asian immigrant working class than folks who had privilege all along. And they tend to escape the scrutiny of mainstream civil/human rights organizations.
But that may just be my own issue, more than what you’re talking about here.
yeah rage, you’re right. it feels like a 24/7 struggle, to be vigilant about knowing which businesses treat their employees well, and which not. and trying to support those that do more good than bad…
and then larger than that, what’s the point of me not supporting a business that exploits workers? if it’s not part of a larger, organized effort, then there’s no way they miss my business. even if i were to call them every day and explain. without actual strategy, it has no effect. even with strategy in place, boycotts don’t necessarily work the way we want them to.
and still larger than that: larger companies tend to have the resources to be able to treat employees well. for example UPS, Starbucks, and Costco. as much as they may harm the independent business owners to whatever extent, they also offer legitimate jobs - even careers - for those who may have limited options.
like lastchild said: “everything is war, pick your team” - there isn’t room to have nuanced understandings, or to be conflicted about existing in our world. we’re encouraged from all directions to just pick one side and rep to the death.
so given those feelings, i think my views on society and consumerism have less of an effect on my purchasing “power” than i would ideally want. i suppose because buying “your values” all the time would probably mean you would never buy anything, and would eventually starve.
Giles - definitely hear you on your points, and I feel a lot of the same things. I feel like it’s easy to get stuck in this cycle of “am I being true to the movement(s) I support” without regular, critical reevaluation: the actions become hollow gestures (not necessarily because of their lack of impact, but because they become more important than the cause/strategy itself) and people get caught up on that angle more than substantive change. Maybe it’s just easier to distill everything into a checklist of palatable things you have to do to be down, instead of thinking about how it plugs into the big picture.
But I think I was also looking at focusing on ethnic/racial solidarity over other analyses - I’m trying to figure out what the balance is for me when these questions come up.
yo rage, yeah i totally agree. especially how meaningful actions get reduced to theater. i see it so much, and it turns me off viscerally, and it always makes me think about how often i do it too.
but taking broad view is difficult, and i guess a lot of people just aren’t into the idea of hard work, including myself.
this shit is in my head a lot nowadays, what with it being fashionable to be an “activist” - and how there’s a big emphasis on “doing your part” in the “revolution” (everything in quotes being sarcastic) - which amounts to using CFL lightbulbs, buying a hybrid, redoing your kitchen with bamboo floors, and all these pro-consumerist actions that are merely signifiers that “i’m down with the cause” but at the same time are better than many of their alternatives.
and i don’t choose the best option for every action i take in my life, not even close. and i feel the line between doing it for show and doing it for purpose is so blurred. but am i convincing myself of that so i don’t feel bad about some of the things i do or have done?
again i dunno.