May Meetup | AAPI: Context + Allyship

The meeting began when TMS team member Claire introduced and explained AAPI month, and shouted out some friends who are working hard to give the mixed community a voice
– @asian_soph, who runs @mixed_made

Addison Lee, Founder of mixedlife.net IG: @mixedlifemedia

Former Meetup guest Farzana Nayani

We took a pause to recognize the Indigeneous land we occupy, followed by Lili (our founder!) and Ariel reminding us of the guidelines for thoughtful, productive discourse. We were then joined by our featured guest, Alex Chester. Alex is an actor, CEO of Mixed Asian Media, writer, and more. Alex and Lili discussed the umbrella of the AAPI acronym, and the ever-shifting language around identifiers. Alex recalled her early frustrations at being forced to play up different parts or her ethnicity at castings, and dissected the Model Minority Myth.

Chat Recap: The chat during the Meetup is always incredible, and this month was no exception. Special shout out to Keirsha, Bean Sprout, Sean, Elsa, Mia, Tatum, and Jet (who isn’t afraid to force us to really reflect on our own biases). We appreciate your contributions! You can find direct links to the topics being shared in our community below.

The debate between Han Chinese Taiwanese vs. Indigenous People of Taiwan
◦ From NPR - Will the first female president of Taiwan bring change?

This book was recommended for further reading about the Bamboo Ceiling
○ Jane Hyun explores traditional Asian values and Western corporate culture

In the U.S., the term “Oriental” is a slur, but in the U.K., it’s still regularly used. What do these descriptors say about us?
◦ What do these descriptors say about us?

Extra mental health resources for the AAPI community
○ Help from the Mental Health Coalition

Directly From the TMS Family:

“Checking boxes feels even more complicated with heritage stretched by diaspora, especially diaspora imposed by colonialism—I identify as South Asian American by way of the Caribbean, but there’s no box for that” - Priya

“Stop Asian hate" is a very important movement/hashtag, but I've also been wondering about the context of how it's phrased. Here in the US we're assuming it's talking about East Asians (but in the UK it's for South Asians?). Do we need more specificity around this? Desis face oppression, but it's usually of a different context than what's been happening lately - Sean