Social Justice Magazine
The passing of leading thinkers in the ethnic studies canon -- Ron Takaki, Mark Him Lai, Richard Aoki, and the poet Al Robles -- in the last few months challenges us to complete unfinished tasks.During the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, whenever anyone would ask what am I, I always responded “human.” I didn’t identify as “Pilipino” or even as a “person of color.” Such terms … [Read more...]
We now own a major stake in the largest auto company in the world.With the General Motors Corporation filing the second-largest industrial bankruptcy in world history, the US government has stepped in to take a 60% stake in the company and the autoworkers’ healthcare fund taking ownership of 17.5%. In a reversal of Aesop’s tale “The Lion’s Share,” where the lion steps in to consume … [Read more...]
Lately, I have found myself absorbed in continual political debate on various social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter or my own personal blog. Some begin as friendly banter but quickly escalate to the point that I am pulling my car to the side of the road so I can furiously text a targeted retort on my Blackberry. In those heated moments, I wonder how far have we truly progressed since … [Read more...]
The 2009 Tax Day “Tea Party” protests remind us of the stubbornness of Bizarro politics.On the cube-shaped Bizarro World, the backward planet of DC comic’s universe, a salesman hawks bonds “guaranteed to lose money for you” and the larger populace works towards imperfection. The code of opposites is the rule of the land. Greed ushers good will. Compassion breeds corruption and … [Read more...]
This Cesar Chavez Day (March 31) reminds us how forgotten stories can perpetuate stereotypes.Charlotte, an Asian American student leader at Pomona College, asked me how do we ignite people into political action and sweep away the tired public perception of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) as passive and docile. I asked her if she knew the story of Pilipino or Japanese American … [Read more...]
The inauguration of President Obama signals us to move from voice to leadership.While listening to President Obama’s somber but inspiring inaugural address, I returned to a painful moment in my life.Five years ago, someone had found my father’s unconscious body by the side of a desert highway. Along the short stretch lay his overturned van surrounded by shattered glass and scattered … [Read more...]
With the election of Obama as president, comes the dawning of a new era of our making.On Election Day, my 7-year-old daughter took care to cross out the names of the “already voted” on our list and left doorhangers at each empty house as we walked door-to-door turning out the vote. When I was about her age, Ronald Reagan had just been elected president, ushering a new era of politics that … [Read more...]
The student movement meets the new labor movement in the classroom.“How do we make democracy stronger?” community college instructor Salvador Sanchez posed to the room crowded with more students than chairs. By the end of the day, all the students stood loudly chanting “Yes, we can!” as Sanchez (pictured here) writes their paper assignment on the board. … [Read more...]
Bible or no Bible, the bigotry of opposing gay marriage obstructs our overall pursuit for equality.When I was many years younger, I had shared with a group of men how I was bothered that a woman I was attracted to thought I was gay. Most of them nodded and shared their past insecurities whenever doubt was cast on their masculinity. I felt better afterwards until another man challenged me … [Read more...]
Reagan’s America is dead.If not dead, it lies fallen on a US economy near ruin. The recent collapse of several financial giants and the extreme concentration of wealth in a few hands have reached levels unmatched since the 1930s Great Depression Era. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who witnessed firsthand the Great Depression, declared, “This is the worst economy I’ve … [Read more...]
The Bush bail-out plan is nothing more than a slap in the face of all working families.As Peter Dreier notes, “we have been here before—in the 1930’s Depression, when the entire economy collapsed, and in the 1980’s, when the savings-and-loan industry imploded.” It has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different … [Read more...]
At the Republican National Convention, Palin and Giuliani mocked Obama’s experience as a community organizer and the attending crowd laughed in response.Palin and McCain can wear whatever “outsider” mask they wish, nothing can hide the ugliness of their elitism. At the center of their ridicule of community organizing is disrespect for the potential power of the everyday person.For … [Read more...]
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