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Are You Aware? The Model Minority Myth
This is part II in our Awareness Wednesday series on the Asian American experience. Read the other posts in the series here. I tried to step lightly across the hot sand in a graceful manner but failed as grains of sand made room for the weight of each step as I balanced three pairs of sandals and an extra pair of goggles that my daughters and husband didn’t need. We were vacationing in Kauai for the first time, and, as is normal, they all ran pell-mell into the surf leaving all their belongings behind. As I gathered their accouterments to the chair where I had staked out our spot on the beach, I…
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Let Us Be Patriots
There are visionary ideas that have become symbolic beacons to the American people, directing our gaze toward higher planes, helping to define us while at the same time chiding us to do and be better than we are. Think about the Constitution, the creation and purchase of the Statue of Liberty, the Emancipation Proclamation, “I Have a Dream,” and even the first public library. Embedded in each of these landmark moments was one inspired individual with an idea that would ultimately create an outsized impact, far exceeding anything they could have conjured in their wildest dreams. While I’m no historian, I imagine few would argue against the Declaration of Independence topping…
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Are You Aware? An Effort to Hear
This is part VI in our Awareness Wednesday series on disability. Read the other posts in the series here. As the daughter and sister of physicians on the COVID-19 front lines, I’m a dutiful adherent of social distancing and mask wearing these days. But, as a person with total hearing loss, these strategies are hard. Social distancing means sound is farther from me. Mask wearing makes speechreading nearly impossible and further muffles the sound. As Roberta Cordano, the president of Gallaudet University, said in a recent New York Times article entitled “For the Deaf, Social Distancing Can Mean Social Isolation,” “The ‘two adults, six feet apart’ standard carries its own inherent…
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We Are Witnesses
On Wednesday, June 3, 2020, MWEG hosted its inaugural Town Hall: “If All Lives Matter, then Black Lives Matter: Turning Frustration into Productive Interpersonal Action.” After inspiring words by featured presenter Dr. LaShawn Williams, MWEG’s anti-racism committee lead, Charlotte Mountain, shared these thoughts. “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established” (Deuteronomy 19:15). What this is telling us is that it is righteous and good that there be corroboration to any prosecution. We should not be convicted on…
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“This Can’t Be Forgotten”
These are the words of Charlotte Mountain, MWEG’s anti-racism committee lead. Charlotte is a black woman living in America, and her oldest son is a police officer. The video she refers to is that of the murder of George Floyd. A simple internet search for Darnella Frazier, the woman who shot the film, will help you find it. I watched the video twice, because the first time I was absolutely in shock. The second watch was to make sense of what I saw. The video I watched was attached to a news article that claimed George Floyd (unnamed at that time) had later died, and I did not believe that.…
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Awareness Wednesday :: Xenophobia, Part II — Symptom of a Virus
The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names. — Chinese Proverb In the closing months of 2019, a novel coronavirus jumped from animals to humans and began spinning a web of infection, starting with the people of China and spreading with staggering speed worldwide. The virus, and its potentially deadly symptoms, are not the only thing being disseminated on a global scale. Xenophobia, particularly toward those of Asian descent, has seen a dramatic rise in the ensuing months, both here in the United States and around the world. A young woman from Brooklyn reported that while visiting Washington D.C., a man started making faces at her on the metro. She…
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Awareness Wednesday :: Are You Aware of the Homeless?
I have a friend who has very precocious children. One day one of her younger children referred to someone as homeless. I asked the child if she knew the person and if she knew where the person sleeps. One of the older kids chimed in that the person was a hobo. Certainly precocious. I did not know that kids these days had ever even heard the term hobo. It got me wondering if we are aware of the people we see each day. Maybe they are at the intersection holding a sign announcing that they will work for food. Maybe the sign says, “Please give, every penny helps,” or simply,…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Be One / There is a Place for All
Be One, by Chante’ Stutznegger On Friday night, I had the opportunity of being part of the Be One choir at the 40th anniversary celebration of the 1978 revelation on the priesthood. The weeks leading up to this celebration were a roller coaster of emotions, to say the least. The fake apology letter that surfaced had many of us raw and so emotionally vulnerable that it was hard to swallow the word “celebration” as it relates to such a difficult and heartbreaking topic. Yet, my hope for what this monumental occasion could mean for us stayed strong. I continually fought the thought, “how can we celebrate so much pain?” Each…
