Monday links to get you thinking

Thought I'd start out this Monday with two links, one sent by a friend (thanks "D"!) and another sent by my aunt, "S"--hopefully these will provide some food for thought to kick off the work week:

*"White Privilege: Can you see it?"--this is a thoughtful and thought-provoking post about white privilege, with some links to articles and essays on the subject. I haven't read the discussion that follows, but I'm sure it's interesting.

*"Law Bans use of 'Oriental' on state documents" -- It's ABOUT TIME that we stopped, officially (and hopefully unofficially) stop using this word. I know that there are folks, esp. of a different era, who continue to use "Oriental" as synonymous with "Asian" or "Asian American" but I think law professor Frank Wu says it best:

“‘Oriental’ is like the word ‘negro.’ It conjures up an era.”

'Nough said.

Hope everyone is well--I'm off my heavy-duty pain meds so my brain should be starting to function and I should be starting to write posts again, so be on the lookout--can't guarantee I'll be writing anything too illuminating, but then again, that's never something I can guarantee--only something I can hope to occasionally stumble upon.

On the mend but still taking a break

Hello--for all of you who sent me well wishes when I announced that I'd be taking a brief break from blogging due to recuperating from my surgery, THANK YOU. I just wanted to send a quick note to let all of you know that the surgery went well, and today was the first day I felt lucid and energetic enough to check my email--so I thought I should send a note to let all of you know that I'm recovering just fine and hope that by the end of the week I'll be back to 75% (I think 100% may be another 2-3 weeks away, but I figure slow and steady is the key).

Thanks for all your support--and don't worry, this isn't the last you'll hear from me, since we all know I have MANY thoughts about race in America!

Blogging Break

Hello dear readers, especially to those of you who follow this blog and/or know me in my full name incarnation outside of the pseudononymous first name "Jennifer" (which once upon a time was the most popular name in the U.S. because of a certain film that came out in the 1970s).

At any rate, I have struggled at various times on this blog with how much personal information I should reveal, since my intention is that this blog has a definite focus--issues of mixed race in the U.S. (but also around the world--I'm not as good with the global aspects of race but I'm working on it).

Anyway, I have decided that I need to get a bit personal because I need a break from blogging. I'm having some health issues and will be having surgery this Monday for these issues--and I'm confident that the surgery (which is routine) will be successful, but it does mean that I'm not going to be doing much blogging in the days leading up and certainly in the weeks following from this surgery.

Now. If you are someone who actually KNOWS me and who is perhaps even RELATED to me, you may be getting this information for the first time and feel alarmed. Really, don't be. Feel free to drop me a line, and I'll be happy to explain.

For those of you who only know me through my blog, I hope you aren't alarmed either--I really am OK, and perhaps I am placing too much faith in medicine but I truly believe that this surgery will be a good thing for me AND that I will soon be my old self (which you may not know what that's like but in the last week two different people described me as someone who brings "fire" and I was tickled pink at that description of me!)

So please don't give up on reading my blog--but do know that I may not be back here for a good 3 weeks. In the meantime, you can peruse older posts or better yet, let me direct you to any number of wonderful blogs on the sidebar to the right -- and their blogs have similarly wonderful blog links so really you can get lost just blog surfing!

OK, I think that's enough personal disclosure. The last thing I will say is that I know tomorrow is 9/11. I had intended to write a review of Joseph O'Neill's Netherland, which is about a man and his family coping with life post-9/11 but is also and perhaps mostly about being an immigrant in the U.S., specifically NYC. But I'm too tired, mentally and physically, to do more than just say that I do recommend it although I also don't know that at the end of the day it's "all that"--perhaps when I'm feeling more coherent I'll come back and let you know what I really think about this novel. Until then, if you are looking for a good read, one that is timely given tomorrow's anniversary, I do recommend it.

See you all in a few weeks!

Two VERY Angry Asian American Women

Thought I'd give everyone a jolt for your weekend with this piece by Yellow Rage, two Asian American female spoken word artists speaking their truth LOUDLY and ANGRILY:



[Note: In my professorial mode I restrain myself from expressing myself like Yellow Rage but I have to say that at various times in my life I have felt THAT FURIOUS--so I can relate to everything that they're saying, as most Asian American women who have been subjected to a particular racist sexual exoticization knows all too well]

If only it were this simple to fight racism...

A light-hearted yet earnest vision of fighting racism from our friends to the North:



I do love the take-home message at the end--it's never too late to fight racism and in real life it requires the work of ALL of us to combat it. But it's nice to imagine an "Anti-Racism Girl!"

Humpday links

Thought I'd gather some links for the mid-week transition:

*Microsoft-gate (no pun intended). People have already commented on the white washing of the Polish Microsoft site here and here, but I credit "C" for sending me the link to this article last week.

*Tenured Radical's thought provoking and provocative thoughts on the release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi

*What Tami Said's response to a New York Times article on black women and hair

*Anti-Racist Parent on transracial and transnational adoption

And now for something on the lighter side for those of you who grew up with School House Rock:

Earth Wind & Fire brings "September"

It's the first day of September and what better way to usher in this month than with a little Earth Wind & Fire



[This song just makes me want to dance and groove--when it pops up on my iPod and I'm walking on campus, you will notice me bobbing and strutting along--I'm sure I make quite a sight!]