Featured Post: communities

Love Letters to Movement Leaders: Mazie Hirono

March is Women’s History Month and we're dedicating this letter to Mazie Hirono -- and all the Asian American badass women calling out the haters around them.

By Laura Li

  • Mark Wahlberg, clean shaven and wearing a suit and tie, smiles as he is lit from the front against a black background. The photograph is of his shoulders and head, and he is in 3/4 profile.

    8 Things Mark Wahlberg Can Do To Atone For His Crimes

    culture • Dec 7, 2014 • By Cayden Mak

    I’ve read a lot of feedback over the past couple of days about our petition to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to reject Mark Wahlberg’s pardon request. The most interesting feedback was the thought-provoking stuff: specifically, let’s assume, for sake of argument, that Wahlberg has changed in the past 25 years. If that’s true, what could Wahlberg do to earn our trust, blessing, and goodwill? Read More

  • A drawing with the headline 'Black & Brown Lives Matter' features Michael Brown in the center. Clockwise, from the right, an immigration detention center; an ICE officer with a shotgun; a line of migrants in chains; and a police officer with a drawn pistol pointing at a Black man on his knees.

    A Week of Queer South Asian Rage

    communities • Nov 30, 2014 • By QSANN, the Queer South Asian National Network

    We live in a nation that doesn’t value our lives. President Barack Obama insists that we live in a “nation of laws.” He’s right; we do. We live in a nation of laws where we, as people of color, as immigrants, are less than human. We are denied the right to be with our families, to feel safe in public space, to be American, to live. We are a nation of laws that do not protect us. We are a nation of laws designed to keep us out, to keep us scared, and to keep us running. Read More

  • On a black background, a quote from Lesley McSpadden & Michael Brown, Sr.'s press release: 'We ask that you channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change. We need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen.

    #BlackLivesMatter: No Indictment, No Justice

    communities • Nov 24, 2014 • By C.M. Samala

    Despite incredible public outcry and over 100 consecutive days of peaceful protests in Ferguson, Missouri, no charges were brought up against an officer of the law for shooting and killing an unarmed person. Demonstrations expressing frustration, anger, disappointment, and sadness over this decision popped up all over the country last night. Our justice system, yet again, has failed Black America. It has failed America, period. Read More

  • The cover of Jeff Chang's 2014 book, 'Who We Be,' with the autho's name at the top, citing him as 'American Book Award-winning Author of 'Can't Stop Won't Stop'. The title is in big white block letters in the center. At the bottom, the subtitle 'The Colorization of America' is in red and pink.

    We Read: 'Who We Be' by Jeff Chang

    ideas • Oct 20, 2014 • By Cayden Mak

    People in my internet circles have been talking a lot lately about what white people think. Whether it's the Whiteness Project, the new video interview series from Whitney Dow, or Bill O'Reilly, who adamantly refuses to acknowledge that white privilege is even a thing, it seems like we're constantly critiquing, agonizing over, and scoffing at what white people think when it comes to race. For many young people of color, it's so readily apparent that they're wrong, even as people of all races are quick to claim a colorblind, colormute stance. Yet I'm pressed to find as much discussion about why these came to be dominant ideas about race and power. Read More

  • A handpainted banner reading 'Asian America Against Police Brutality NAKASEC KRC...' Part of the text is cut off by the cropping.

    Ferguson, Asian America, & Performative Solidarity: Showing Up, Staying Shown

    ideas • Oct 20, 2014 • By PaKou Her

    What is more difficult to exercise than public performative solidarity is living into sustained, long-term solidarity that doesn’t exist in front of a television camera or behind a mic on a large stage. This is the challenge to us, Asian Americans. This is the opportunity to think hard and thoughtfully about resource redistribution; about shared powerbuilding that doesn’t rely on our lowest common denominators; about continuing to bring all we can to moments that demand our presence; and about finding other ways to address whatever shame or guilt we have about being the model minority wedge. Read More

  • A stylized silhouette of a Black man on a pink background, with his hands spread in the air, wearing a t-shirt reading 'HANDS UP, DON'T SHOOT.'

    #FERGUSONOCTOBER: It's Time to Get Real, Asian America

    identities • Oct 5, 2014 • By PaKou Her

    Today, I’m getting into the car and driving 4 hours across the state of Missouri to participate in #FergusonOctober. I’m anxious, nervous, hopeful, and scared. To tell the truth, I’m intensely scared after Wednesday’s police-related shooting that ended in the death of Vonderrit Myers Jr., and which contributed to last night’s protests, tear gassing, and shameless police intimidation. Read More

  • A collage featuring Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, a green tank with the text 'Ferguson 2014', protestors in the streets, and a drawing of a Black man with his hands up is overlayed with the text 'But the internet is like a tree that is growing. The people will always have the last word - even if someone has a very weak, quiet voice. Such power will collapse because of a whisper.' - Ai Weiwei. 'Protect the internet. #Fight4NetRights'

    18MR.org's Organizational Comments to the FCC

    ideas • Sep 14, 2014 • By Cayden Mak

    Net neutrality is a crucial protection for the economic, civic, and creative lives of Asian American communities. There are few racial demographics so well-connected, for everything from commerce and the arts to political expression to keeping up with family. For these reasons, we believe Title II reclassification is in the best interests of our community, and for the preservation of key rights as emerging players in the American political landscape. Read More

  • Two selfies: both of a 6-year-old, a 4-year-old, and an adult with glasses and red lipstick. In the top image, they gaze seriously at the camera. In the second, they grin with open mouths, like they just heard a hilarious joke.

    A Conversation About Race, Identity, and Discrimination With My 6-Year Old

    identities • Sep 12, 2014 • By PaKou Her

    It's not always easy talking about racism and discrimination with young children. PaKou Her, 18MR Campaign Director, shares one such conversation with her own child. Her willingness to talk with me about her experiences with race and identity is a lesson to all of us in openness and truth-telling. Read More

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