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EDWARD SAID PASSED AWAY THIS THURSDAY, FROM LEUKEMIA. HE WAS 67 YEARS OLD.
HE WAS A RESPECTED PALESTINIAN SCHOLAR AND ACTIVIST. AND, PROBABLY THE MOST INFLUENTIAL LITERARY CRITIC OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
HE WAS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS BOOK ORIENTALISM, WHICH CAME OUT IN 1978. THE BOOK, ORIENTALISM, WAS EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL TO THE ASIAN AMERICAN MOVEMENT. IT WAS TALKING MAINLY ABOUT HOW THE WEST PERCEIVES ISLAM, BUT, IT WASN’T DIFFICULT TO SEE THAT IT ALSO APPLIED TO ASIA.
HE WAS AN ADVOCATE FOR GRASSROOTS MEDIA AND HISTORY AS PART OF A PEOPLES STRUGGLE FOR SELF DETERMINATION. HE SAID THE TIME FOR EUROPEAN SCHOLARS DEFINING “ORIENTALS” WAS OVER. FROM NOW ON, THE PEOPLE HAD TO REPRESENT FOR THEMSELVES, AND WRITE THEIR OWN HISTORY. THEY HAD TO TAKE AWAY FROM EUROPEANS, THE POWER TO DEFINE THE ORIENT. THAT’S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY PEOPLE SAY TO USE THE TERM “ASIAN” INSTEAD OF “ORIENTAL”.
HE WAS ALSO THE MOST PROMINENT ADVOCATE FOR PALESTINIANS IN THE WEST. HE ARGUED NOT ONLY FOR PALESTINAIN RIGHTS, BUT ALSO FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN GENERAL. HE LIVED IN EXILE IN AMERICA, WORKED AS A PROFESSOR AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, AND AS A CHRISTIAN PALESTINIAN, WAS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF A CROSSCULTURAL INTELLECTUAL. HE PUT HIS THEORIES INTO ACTION, AND, IN HIS ARTICLES, BROKE DOWN THE DEMONIZATION OF ARABS IN THE MEDIA AND POLITICS.
EDWARD SAID WAS THE REAL DEAL. IF YOU’VE EVER EXPERIENCED SOMEONE TELLING YOU, AS AN ASIAN OR ARAB PERSON, HOW YOU SHOULD BEHAVE AND THINK, YOU’VE EXPERIENCED ORIENTALISM. WHEN PEOPLE CAN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHINESE AND JAPANESE, OR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND ARABS, THAT’S ORIENTALISM. IF YOU’RE INTO THE WU TANG, THAT’S ORIENTALISM TOO.
http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/Orientalism.html
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/23/22/22.html
http://www.edwardsaid.org/
http://www.colorado.edu/English/engl2010mk/2said.html
http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/poldiscourse/said/orient14.html
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THE DEAF MAN WHO MURDERED KENNETH CHIU IN A RACIALLY MOTIVATED HATE CRIME IN 2001 HAS BEEN FOUND NOT-GUILTY BY REASON OF INSANITY. CHRISTOPHER HEARN WASN'T IN ANY WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUPS, BUT HE DID REPORT ATTENDING WHITE SUPREMACIST EVENTS. HE ALSO HAD A LOT OF HATE LITERATURE, AND ADMITTED THAT HE KILLED CHIU BECAUSE HE WAS ASIAN.
DAN HUANG OF THE ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN LEGAL CENTER COMMENTED, SAYING “IT’S DISTURBING THAT THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM DOES NOT ENSURE THAT A PERPETRATOR OF A HATE CRIME RECEIVES TREATMENT OR COUNSELING SPECIFICALLY FOR THE HATE-MOTIVATED, VIOLENT BEHAVIOR.”
THAT MEANS, IF HE IS RELEASED, HE’S STILL HARBORING HATE FOR ASIANS.
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ANOTHER HATE CRIME CASE THAT’S COMING UP TO TRIAL IS BALBIR SINGH SODHI, A SIKH MAN WHO WAS SHOT TO DEATH IN MESA ARIZONA IN 2001, JUST AFTER 9-11. HE WAS PLANTING FLOWERS IN FRONT OF A GAS STATION, IN HIS SIKH CLOTHES, INCLUDING A TURBAN. IN THIS CASE, THE DEFENSE IS ALSO PLEADING INSANITY.
http://www.sikhnet.com/s/BalbirSodhi
IN ANOTHER UNRELATED CASE, ANOTHER SIKH MAN, NAMED SUKHVIR SINGH WAS GUNNED DOWN AT A CONVENIENCE STORE IN TEMPE ARIZONA. THE ALLEGED MURDERER, BRUCE PHILIP REED, IS DESCRIBED AS A TRANSIENT WITH PRIOR ARRESTS IN NEVADA AND CALIFORNIA.
http://www.sikhnet.com/news
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THE APALC SAYS IT’S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO TRACK THESE INCIDENTS. IF YOU WANT TO REPORT AN INCIDENT OF RACISM OR A HATE CRIME, YOU CAN CONTACT THE ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN LEGAL CENTER AT 213-977-7500 (REPEAT)
http://www.apalc.org
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Prop 54 Update
MANJARI CHAWALA AT THE APAS FOR AN INFORMED CALIFORNIA WAS EXTREMELY UPBEAT ABOUT THE NO-ON-54 CAMPAIGN. THE POLLS SHOW THAT THE INITIATIVE IS LOSING GROUND, BUT SAID THAT THEY STILL NEED PEOPLE TO DO PHONE BANKING, TO WALK DOOR-TO-DOOR AND TALK TO PEOPLE, AND TO HANG FLYERS ON DOORS.
A NEW POLL FROM THE ORGANIZATION NEW CALIFORNIA MEDIA SHOWED THAT MOST PEOPLE ARE STILL NOT AWARE OF PROP 54. ACTIVISTS ARE CONCERNED THAT VOTERS IN THE BOOTHS WILL SEE THE WORDS “CIVIL RIGHTS” IN THE INITIAITIVE, AND VOTE FOR IT, WHEN THEY REALLY INTEND TO VOTE AGAINST IT.
THE INITIATIVE WOULD MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO COLLECT RACIAL DATA IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AND WOULD ACTUALLY UNDO CIVIL RIGHTS EFFORTS.
THE CAMPAIGN IS MAKING A BIG PUSH TO DEFEAT THE INITAIVE IN THE ELEVENTH HOUR. THEIR ADS STARTED TODAY. IF YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED. YOU CAN JOIN THE CAMPAIGN BY CALLING
APIs: 213-977-7500 x232
ACLU: 213-977-5241
http://www.apasagainst54.org/
OTHER STORIES
Kyung-Hae Lee, THE KOREAN FARMER WHO MARTYRD HIMSELF BY STABBING HIMSELF IN THE HEART AT THE WTO PROTESTS IN CANCUN HAD A FUNERAL SEOUL. OVER 3000 MOURNERS ATTENDED, AND VIOLENCE BROKE OUT AS THE FUNERAL AND OVER 700 RIOT POLICE CLASHED. LEE KILLED HIMSELF TO PROTEST THE DROPPING OF TRADE BARRIERS THAT WOULD FORCE SMALL SCALE KOREAN FARMERS TO COMPETE WITH SUBSIDIZED AGRIBUSINESS FROM COUNTRIES LIKE AMERICA. ACCORDING TO HIS WRITINGS, HE’D ALREADY SEEN MANY FARMERS SUFFER, AND EVEN COMMIT SUICIDE, DUE TO THE HIGH DEBTS THEY CARRY. STATISTICS SHOW THAT FARMERS TYPICALLY CARRY $17,000 IN DEBT, WHILE AGRICULTURAL IMPORTS HAVE INCREASED FROM 4.6 BILLION IN 1998 TO 5.7 BILLION LAST YEAR.
JUN WINS ON BIG BROTHER 4
AUNG SAN SUU KYI, THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNING BURMESE DISSIDENT AND POLITICAL PRISONER, WENT THE HOSPITAL LAST WEEK FOR SURGERY, AND NOW THERE IS PRESSURE ON MYANNMAR TO RELEASE HER.