Things You Might Have Missed: A Return!

First of all, I don't usually seek out compliments, but c'mon, that blog post title is pretty clever. All of us here over at Within Color took a much-needed break (plus winter = hibernation, right?) and are now rejuvenated, re-inspired, and excited to start back up again! On a personal note, I've been been committed to posting weekly and will trade off outfit/fashion/style/beauty posts with a more news-leaning post. I hope that's okay and I hope to hear you all sound off in the comments.

Without further ado....

1. This is pretty awesome if you speak (or even if you don't speak) Cantonese but love languages: 阿塗(Ah To), a graphic designer and part-time cartoonist, published a comic called "The Great Canton and Hong Kong Proverbs." Originally published in an independent site in Hong Kong called "Passion Times," Ah To aimed to preserve the literary canon and boy does he--this illustration contains 81 Cantonese proverbs. Click here for all the explanations.

2. This is a really great and thought-provoking essay on "Why the Mainstream Media Fails Writers of Color." I couldn't choose a favorite line (they were all just so true) so here's a long-ish excerpt. You can read the rest here.

As a creative writing teacher at an arts college in San Francisco, one of my most challenging and rewarding classes is Asian American literature. My students of color often relish the readings, but some white students say they feel anxious about discussing unfamiliar cultures. They don’t know how to speak about the topics with any depth, they tell me, and are afraid of saying something politically incorrect.

In short, they’re scared to talk about race.

I understand this uncomfortable silence well: It’s what I and many other writers of color have experienced in creative writing workshops, when our professors and classmates fumbled with giving feedback to us. So, the reluctance to evaluate work by authors of color may begin early for many white critics.

I spend weeks coaxing my students out of such insecurities, assuring them they can approach the subject matter with careful reading. I explain that characters in novels such as No-No Boy by John Okada and Blu’s Hanging by Lois-ann Yamanaka, whose ancestors may have been born in different countries, share many traits that are part of the human experience. I argue that it’s through critical analyses that Asian American literature—and any literature of color—can create understanding and empathy across ethnic lines.

Of course, writers of color are not responsible for promoting cultural awareness through their works. Within any ethnic literature, there’s a broad range of writers who experiment with form and subject matter. While my sources of inspiration do happen to share my ethnic makeup, other Vietnamese American authors write plenty of stories and novels that have nothing to do with their race. But if their characters don’t share their skin color, those authors are often questioned for their audacity in doing what white writers have done for centuries.

Christopher Meyers || NYTimes.com

 3. Similarly, "Where are the People of Color in Children's Books?" 
 Of 3,200 children’s books published in 2013, just 93 were about black people, according to a study by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin.

AngryAsianMan.com

4. The name is TERRIBLE (and I hope they change it soon), but I'm so excited to see Eddie Huang's "Fresh Off the Boat" show come to life (Why didn't they just keep the show name the same as the book name?!). Plus Jeff Yang's (of "Tao Jones" fame) perfectly-cast son Hudson is playing the titular role!

5. This is disheartening to hear: Over 50% of Sikh kids have endured bullying in the US. This report, organized by The Sikh Coalition, the Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus, and the American Sikh Congressional Caucus, calls for more federal data to better target efforts to solve this issue. Read more here.

 6. Let's end on an adorable note, shall we? This is probably the cutest "Stranger Danger" video in the history of mankind, and that is not a hyperbole.