285. Sifu Mimi’s rant on mass shootings, Roe v. Wade, voter suppression and AAPI hate crimes

My rant on mass shootings, Roe v. Wade, voter suppression and AAPI hate crimes Disclaimer for this episode: You may be offended. You may not like what I have to say, but I need to say it. All the feelings that I am expressing are my own. They don’t represent any of the organizations I work for or with – these are MY thoughts and opinions. I’m pretty fucking angry. There are times when expletives are necessary. Now is one of those times. My anger has been building from each news cycle and legislation disappointment over the past couple of months. I am inundated with emotions and feelings that I can’t keep a track of. I’m not even sure where to begin. In no particular order: Roe v. Wade, mass shootings, anti-Asian hate, the war in Ukraine, Don’t Say Gay, voter suppression, and our education system is under attack… the sad part of this is that there are more things happening that I can’t even begin to address. I don’t know how parents get up in the morning and send their kids to what we call the school in Florida. Setting aside the fear of their children being killed in a mass shooting (more on this later) Florida’s Governor and Legislature passed the Don’t Say Gay Bill which prohibits teachers from allowing kindergarten to third-grade children to receive any instruction or conversation about sexual orientation or gender identity. Studies have shown that LGBTQ youth already face higher health and suicide risks than their cisgender or straight peers. When those kids are given access to spaces that affirm their gender identity, they report lower rates of suicide attempts, according to The Trevor Project.* They also passed the “Stop WOKE act” bill which will prohibit corporate training and school lessons that make people ‘uncomfortable’ about the actions of their ancestors. I don’t understand how this can even be determined? Who gets to decide what constitutes if someone feels bad? History is a fact. We should feel bad if the actions of our ancestors warrant those feelings. We can learn to be better than our ancestors. We should learn from our history, not avoid it. Education is already too focused on standardized testing, memorizing dates, and regurgitating facts versus critical thinking or teaching kids how to communicate through meaningful conversation. A separate issue from discussing race and racism is history inclusion. Over the last year, Make Us Visible Florida has been advocating for AAPI history in our schools. We are not asking for anything special. We are demanding inclusion. Our state currently mandates Holocaust studies, African American studies, Hispanic Heritage and Women’s contributions. So why are Asian American and Pacific Islander studies excluded? It’s been angering to see all of these other laws passing that are meant to divide us and our bills for AAPI history inclusion didn’t even see the light of the House of Representatives. A bill that focuses on public safety for our kids and community. AAPI history inclusion would help so many people see that Asian Americans are American. A lot of the discussions I had during AAPI Heritage month brought to my attention the fact that many Asian Americans did not embrace their heritage and identity until college. I believe one of the reasons is because we never saw ourselves reflected in the textbooks growing up or represented positively in the media. We didn’t feel American because we have been erased from the narrative. The next generation of children deserves to see themselves reflected in history. Their peers should recognize that Asian Americans are not some exotic people that do not belong. All black indigenous people of color have to undergo these feelings of not being ‘American’ enough. Many people try to divide us and pit us against one another. What does it mean to be American? What does America look like? When I look around,