This weak is the pinnacle of my busy-ness at work. It’s crazy.
So, this week, my blogging might be lame. Or, maybe, if I get really frustrated, I may have a lightning bolt of inspiration in the midst of craziness and blog some brilliance. Either way, this week might be a little awkward to write some deeper things. I’m consumed with things like banquet details, award ceremonies, and room assignments for conference breakout sessions.
You know, things that make you feel alive.
Go to this site, check out what happened to this 14 year old girl and decide for yourself, on so many levels, what the hell is going wrong with our justice system.
I received this and fully support it. Many filipinas were a part of this atrocity during WWII. If you know what a Comfort Woman is and you don’t think, at the very least, they are deserving of acknowledgement and an apology for systematic rape, get off my blog.
Anyone who is interested in taking on a greater leadership or coordinating
role in the campaign may contact Annabel Park at annabelpark@mac.com –
Theresa Mah
Support 121 Coalition Campaign in March
121 Coalition Lobby Day on Capitol Hill Thursday, March 22nd
Press Conference 9am
Lobby on Capitol Hill 10am-5pm
We are calling for a multicultural team of 30-40 people to walk around to
all the House Representatives’ offices representing the coalition and making
the case for H.Res 121 and getting co-sponsorships.
Write a Letter Asking Your Representative to Co-sponsor 121
We need to get as many co-sponsors as possible. The most effective way is
for 5-6 constituents of a congressional district to write a personal letter
to their representatives. It can be emailed or faxed. On each Rep’s webpage,
there is fax and email information.
To identify your congressman and to go to his/her webpage, go to:
http://www.house.gov/
To see the list of current cosponsors, go to:
http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HE00121:@@@P
To read H.Res. 121:
http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:1:./temp/~c110tq5sPj ::
The letter can be very simple making 4 points:
1) I live in your district.
2) I have read and I support H.Res. 121
3) This resolution is very important to me.
4) I urge you to support and co-sponsor the resolution.
Sample Letter (my personal letter to my Congressman)
Honorable Chris Van Hollen
1707 Longworth H.O.B
Washington, DC 20515
RE: Support and Passage of H. Res. 121
Dear Congressman Van Hollen:
I live in your district. I am writing to let you know that I have read and I
fully support H.Res. 121, a resolution proposed by Congressman Mike Honda
calling for Japan to make an unequivocal apology for enslaving 200,000 girls
and women of Asia for institutionalized rape during WWII. The rape victims
were referred to as “comfort women” but they were mostly girls under
eighteen. And these girls and women were tortured, degraded, abused in the
most inhumane, violent manner.
The Japanese government has never made a clear apology and periodically
launches campaigns to deny that the government was directly involved. In
fact, Prime Minister Abe is engaged in this pursuit now and I am deeply
outraged by this.
This resolution is very important to me because it pertains to historical
truth, human rights, women’s rights and victim’s rights. As a U.S. citizen,
I feel that it is important for us take a position for the sake of world
peace and humanity. I strongly urge you to champion H.Res. 121 by
co-sponsoring it and asking other House Representatives to join you.
Thank you for considering this.
Highest regards,
Annabel Park
In the dark twiddling of writer’s self-doubt and just as I started a bashful journey to begin saying, YES, I am a WRITER, I receive the most joyous affirmation from G*d.
One year ago, I jumped at the chance to review a manuscript. A laborious effort, but I hung in there, believing in good karma.
Twenty moons later, today, I open an envelope and find a lovely card from the author and a sneak preview of the cover. The cover is stunning, but what caught my eye was my name on the jackflap, with my words in italics.
My name, YES, my name was spelled correctly and from all the reviews, mine was listed first. I rejoiced in a way that was similar to when Adonis first reached for my hand seven years ago during a city park walk. A feeling so euphoric, I nearly covered my face in disbelief.
My name, written correctly, reviewed a published book, for the world to see.
A petition for Japanese and Filipina Comfort Women:
http://www.gopetition.com/online/11466.html
A legitimate online donation for women’s menstruation needs who live in shelters:
http://www.tampontification.com/donate.php
Found this at BFP’s site:
I see me, I think. How do you see me?
Click on the adjectives you think describe me and compare them to what I clicked for myself.
Social justice is in my blood. I want my life to be about bettering the world for the vulnerable. But, still, my eyes widen with secrets of celebrities…
See more at Post Secret.
Simply stated, a kick ass video that puts gender/ace issues, creativity, and a little bit of humor at its best, putting Asian-American issues on the map.
I’m searching the internet for interesting pictures and inspiring articles. Today is a random day of picks and pans.
Picture courtesy of Autobiography of a Face
I found what I have been looking for.
Do you ever feel like you’re trying to chisel your life into shape, but you don’t know if you’re making any progress? And then one day, an enormous CHUNK falls KABLAAAM to the floor and you see your life taking significant shape? Beautiful shape?
That’s been me for the past 3 years. There are so many things I want to give my life to, but, you can only choose a handful of things to truly live for. In the end, I believe we return to what is most natural, what is in our blood, and what we find most appropriate to provide guileless meaning in our daily existence.
I came across a blog of a Filipina activist. That sentence may mean nothing to you, but imagine spending your entire life surrounded by images and models of people who look nothing like you. Imagine childhood dreams articulated by voices that sound nothing like your parents’ voices who raised you. Think about every forgettable moment of feeling like you absolutely fit and then imagine never feeling that, ever.
Try to imagine a lifetime of different, different, different. And applause coming only after your pretenses. Imagine half efforts to find something that reflects you, just you. Can you imagine that? Can you?
Then imagine finding a screen with written words that echo your concerns, from a person who you will never meet, but, nonetheless can probably understand your life. Imagine finding an invisible link made visible to only a few in the world, because it wouldn’t mean much to anyone else. Imagine a treasure with only a few names on it and your name is inscribed in the middle.
You don’t throw away miracles of comfort and connection. Or, at least, I don’t.