Hyphen magazine - Asian American arts, culture, and politics

I have a friend who drinks hot coffee through a straw. The first time I saw her stick a straw through the lid of her coffee cup, I honestly thought that she had made a mistake.

“It’s the best way to drink coffee, ya’ll!” she said cheerfully (she’s a Southern belle).

Naturally, I was quite dubious about her claims. But I was curious, so one day, I, too, put a straw in my coffee.

Oddly enough, she was right. A straw makes it much easier to drink when driving because you don’t have to tilt your head back. Depending on the type of lid, a firmly wedged straw helps keep the coffee from spilling out. And, if you’re of the easily-amused persuasion, you can blow bubbles into your drink. By the end of the quarter, the majority of coffee drinkers in our class had spiked their cups with green and orange straws.

Tony Kim is particularly adept at shepherding people into the fold. By all rights, he should be. He’s a pastor. But each July he uses his powers to baptize the formerly unwilling into the ever-growing Mecca for die-hard devotees. He brings them to Comic Con.

“Walang hiya” is one of the worst insults thrown in the Tagalog language. The phrase means “(You have) No shame,” and behind this insult resides a cultural dictate to respect those in positions of authority or higher social standing.  This dictate was overturned at the book launch for Walang Hiya … Literature Taking Risks Toward Liberatory Practice which took place last July 16th at the Bayanihan Community Center in San Francisco.  Artwork and readings demonstrated that resistance to unfair dominant control and representation leads to empowerment.  Editor Roseli Ilano and president of Philippine American Writers & Artists, Inc. (P.A.W.A.) Edwin A. Lozada hosted the event.

When a friend invited me to a theater screening of the 2002 Oscar-nominated short films, I dug deep and scraped together some faint enthusiasm.