The Mexi-Asian Perspective: A Mexican’s Guide to All Things Latin, Asian, or Both

by David A. Romero

If I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase, “We need to reach out to the youth in our community” I would be a billionaire. Many agree with the sentiment but few are willing to practice what they preach.

Through her current work with ¡DUENDE!, a grassroots organization providing free workshops to youths in Long Beach, CA, Siamese American Jumakae Yodraj proves she is ready and willing to sacrifice her time and money for the benefit of the next generation.

Jumakae Yodraj was one of the leaders of the nonprofit One Imagination, and continues to host a monthly spoken word event called Break The Silence. Aside from being a badass educator/organizer, Jumakae is also a dynamic and well-traveled singer, songwriter, pianist, and poet. In her own words, her work speaks for “the silenced people of the world; from the sex workers in Southeast Asia to the 9-5 worker with broken dreams.”

I caught up with Jumakae at Break the Silence (now hosted at the Homeland Cultural Center’s new Manazar Gamboa Community Theater in Long Beach) where we had a chance to talk about her plans to bring the youth of ¡Duende! to the 2012 Brave New Voices Youth Slam Competition in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I also got a chance to finish an interview that was started long ago in regards to Jumakae’s music.

For more of a complete story on ¡Duende!, its youth, its programs and fellow organizers: Mae Ramirez, Patricia Poston, Michelle Jackson and Kasi Teyana, check out this story in The Long Beach Post.

Organizing with ¡Duende!

For the Spanish-impaired amongst us, like myself, what does ¡DUENDE! mean? What led you and the rest of the team to choose that name for your group?

¡DUENDE! Long Beach was mainly the vision of Michelle Denise Jackson, a former CSULB classmate of mine in the theater department. She reached out to me and several others (Mae Ramirez, Kasi Teyana and Patricia Poston) about the creation of ¡DUENDE! and it aligned with what many of us already wanted to do with the community of Long Beach.

Although ¡Duende! is mostly associated with the mythological goblin, ¡Duende! is also a Spanish term that Federico Garcia Lorca used to describe this living spirit or energy that takes hold of an artist and compels him/her to create. Through the spirit of ¡Duende!, the performance also captivates audience members into a higher form of awareness. It has lots of different meanings, but that’s the core of it. It is a universal experience that anybody can relate to.

Many people talk about making a difference in their communities, what pushed you to take the steps to reach out to, and work with, the Manazar Community Theater and Cultural Alliance of Long Beach? What has your experience been like thus far?

The Manazar Gamboa Community Theater is the most recent extension of Homeland Cultural Center. I’ve always appreciated the work of the Homeland community. They have fought very hard to keep all of their classes free to the public and have been doing a fantastic job of providing opportunities for younger people to excel in their desired art form; taggers have turned into muralists, breakers have advanced to world-class dancers, and poets have evolved into playwrights. This decade has shown a great shift in their neighborhood. People were afraid to be anywhere near the area, but thanks to the Homeland staff and educators they have been able to turn Homeland Cultural Center into a safe space for young people to express themselves. The new theater is named after Manazar Gamboa, a great man who dedicated his life to poetry and the liberation of others from troubled backgrounds after spending 17 years in jail. ¡DUENDE! Long Beach is grateful to be the newest addition to the Homeland family and hopes to continue the vision of Gamboa.

The Cultural Alliance of Long Beach is still building a foundation for itself. The founders of this organization hope to create a collaborative arts scene in the more affluent downtown area that will help local artists sustain themselves without having to go outside of the city to promote their work. They also are looking at several venues where they can offer arts programming and festivals that will attract an audience beyond the city limits. Individuals who are involved in this collaboration include entrepreneurs, educators and artists from all backgrounds.

Despite being in the same city, it’s very obvious that Homeland Cultural Center and the Cultural Alliance of Long Beach cater to two completely different populations. One of my goals is to bridge this gap by utilizing the resources C.A.L.B. has to offer as a benefit to our ¡Duende! youth at Homeland, while also expanding it to other areas of Long Beach that need access to these types of programs. So far, it has been a great partnership! Mike Wiley, owner of MADhaus art gallery in downtown Long Beach, has offered us his beautiful venue for our Youth Grand Slam Poetry Competition that will take place on April 7, 2012 from 5:00-8:00PM. This slam competition will determine which 4-6 youth will represent the City of Long Beach in national competitions, such as Brave New Voices.

You’ve rocked the globe as a performer; moving from country to country. What is it about leading the ¡DUENDE! team and ¡DUENDE! workshops in Long Beach that has inspired you to rest your travel bags for the moment?

¡DUENDE! is a collective effort, not only with the organizers but with the youth who have been committed to the weekly workshops. To be honest, my goal was to leave the country by January 2012. I planned to return to Cambodia and Thailand to do a mini-documentary about my partner’s journey back to his motherland for his first time and the refugee camp he was born in. However, when he applied for his passport he found out he was not a US citizen, despite arrival to the US when he was only 8 months old. This story is all too common amongst refugee babies and is also related to the issue of deportation amongst Khmer Americans and other ethnic groups. This process has taught me a lot about how flawed our immigration system is, but we are still working towards his citizenship and will not stop until we have it. In the meantime, I have dedicated myself to ¡DUENDE! while I’m still in Long Beach.

You have been doing workshops on a variety of issues and teaching practical skills for as long as I have known you. What was the first workshop that you ever led? How was that experience different from leading workshops now?

Quite interestingly enough, my start at facilitating workshops was with Project Choice at CSU Long Beach, a branch of the non-profit group AADAP (Asian American Drug Abuse Prevention Program). I was assigned to do peer-advocate trainings throughout the community on drug abuse prevention, HIV/AIDS awareness and safe-sex education. My first workshop was in an Asian American Studies class, where I taught about the transmission of HIV through a short script I wrote (I was a theater major at the time). I used McDonalds play balls as the “anti-bodies”, people in hula hoops as the CD-4 cells, and HIV as the intruder. It made learning about the scientific portion of HIV/AIDS fun and interactive. Afterwards, we would have beer goggle relay races, though you’d have to take a workshop for more details.

Today, I lead more performance-based workshops that relate to people’s personal experiences and I mostly work with youth. Organizing with the womyn at ¡DUENDE! has broadened my horizons on how to also include a writing component. My workshops are intended to bring out the storyteller in the participants, whether it be through the visual or the performance arts. Through this process, I hope people find some sort of healing or liberation of their past experiences by allowing their stories to be heard.

Your Music

In your song, “Beautiful Lady Dark Skin,” as well as in more than a few entries of your blog, “Jumakation,” you promote the beauty of a dark complexion. Why has this theme become so prominent in your work?

I grew up very insecure about my skin color. Growing up in an ethnic community where being lighter-skinned was praised made me very self-conscious about my background and I was often made fun of for looking too Indian, African, or Mexican. People who I’ve confronted today will try to correct themselves by saying it was a compliment, though I know they just want to avoid embarrassment. Listening to artists such as Erykah Badu, Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli), Lauryn Hill, and other neo-soul/hip hop artists really empowered me. Although I am not African American, their message resonates with anyone who has dealt with racial prejudice and discrimination.

The major turning point for me came when I went to visit my mother’s village in Southern Thailand. My gorgeous cousin was there to pick me up from the airport. When I complimented on her natural beauty, she shook her head and said to me (in Thai), “I’m so ugly! Look at this dark skin. I want to be white.” She also mentioned how she tried to find work as a banker in the City of Bangkok, but too often felt discriminated so she chose to return to the countryside to be farmer. Of course, people with darker skin complexion can thrive in their careers; they just to work much harder at it than others, especially in developing countries.

“Beautiful Lady Dark Skin” was written during one of my trips to Phnom Penh, Cambodia in January 2009. At that time, I was volunteering with an up-and-coming hip hop organization called Tiny Toones Cambodia. The vision of Tiny Toones Cambodia is for all youth of Cambodia and beyond to live healthy lives free of HIV and drugs, realize their full potential through educational and creative opportunities; to pursue their dreams and become positive leaders of tomorrow. I was hanging out with two youth who were flipping through a magazine. They would point to a picture and say “Ugly” or “Beautiful”. All the “ugly” pictures were of people with brown skin while the “beautiful” ones had a lighter skin complexion. It was then I noticed that majority of the youth were not applying lotion to their faces; it was bleaching cream. And what’s even more shocking is that these creams are produced by major corporations such as Nivea, Oil of Olay, Garnier, and several other companies that sell basic lotions and tanning creams back in the states.

At this point, I was feeling pretty empowered with my brown American self. University courses and conscious hip hop/reggae/neo-soul helped with that. I then rallied up a couple of the youth who were striving emcees and discussed with them my vision for this song. I played for them “Blackstar – Brown Skin Lady” and “Nujabes – Lady Brown” to give them an idea of how other artists have gone about this topic. Thanks to Silong Chhun back in the states, we had a wonderful beat to work off and resulted in “Srey Sa-hat Khmow Sraw I’um”, or “Beautiful Lady Dark Brown Skin”. Now when I return to Cambodia, I hear several of the youth singing the chorus to themselves. It’s still one of the only Khmer phrases I actually know how to pronounce. =)

In your song, “Check the FACTS,” you attack a mainstream culture dedicated to “erasing our roots.” Please speak on some of the attacks on indigenous cultures of which you have become aware.

Although we can discuss the impact of mainstream culture on indigenous communities in the Americas, I’ve been deeply affected by the changes I’ve seen in my mother’s own village, Phatthalung of Southern Thailand.

My mother and I often travel back to Phatthalung since this is where all of her family (except for one sibling) still remains. My grandfather is now the eldest in the village so much of the community comes to pay their respects to him. I remember getting picked up from the airport by at least 10 family members who all packed up in the back of a pickup truck. It would take us at least two hours to arrive to the village, so on the way we would stop by the Sumano caves; a mysterious place with Buddha sculptures hidden within every crevice, sounds of water trickling through cracks, and the echoes of monks chanting in the Pali language. We would come here to explore the jungle and offer alms to our ancestors. My mother would say, “There’s no such thing as a beggar in Phatthalung. How could you ever be poor when there is food and shelter all around you?” I hold this place very dearly to my heart.

However, last year was quite different. My mother and I returned in February 2011. Instead of my family members taking us to the Sumano Caves as usual, they drove us to a newly established shopping center called “Tesco Lotus”. Tesco Lotus is the Wal-Mart of Thailand. It’s also where the younger kids come to hang out now because of the free air conditioning and food samples. I was heartbroken, and although I knew that my family wanted to catch up to modern times this was something that would devastate the community in the long run.

My family dropped off my mother and I at the Phatthalung train station, a cheaper alternative to the airplane. It was here where I witnessed my first beggar. I cried during the train ride back, knowing that things would never be the same when I return.

On a positive note, I joined an established roots reggae band in Bangkok, Thailand called the Kai-Jo Brothers. Although Kai and Jo were raised in the city, their parents are coincidentally from the same village as my mother. We connected on such a deep spiritual and artistic level and I went on to tour with them for several months as a keyboardist and vocalist. They also felt the younger Thai generation’s lack of interest in learning the work of their ancestors, so they would travel to remote villages and record the elders’ songs and help uphold their musical traditions.

Mexi-Asian

Asian Latin fusion food has become a veritable phenomenon. Do you think that Asian Latin fusion food is just a passing trend, or the future?

Culture is always evolving. We can only thrive if we learn how to share ideas with one another; and often times, the best way to communicate that message is through food. In the future, it will evolve into a new dish fused with another ‘ethnic’ or authentic flavor that will be the next trend, and hopefully by then we won’t have to use ethnicities to describe our foods anymore. (I still hear Thai people fight about which village really created pad-see-ew.)

Who is your favorite Latin celebrity, historical figure, or fictional character?

I’m a big fan of Frida Kahlo. She taught me to paint my own reality, not only on a canvas but through life. I’ve envisioned what I’ve wanted for myself and the community and chase after that, despite trial and error. She’s also given me the confidence to be honest with my work, even when people will disagree. Thanks, Frida!

Would you rather date an Asian or someone of Latin descent?

Whoever can cook better. Just kidding, as long as s/he treats me with love and respect then it doesn’t matter! Aren’t we related somehow anyways? =)

Any last words or shout outs?

Thank you for this opportunity to share some of my story with you. You owe me Korean tacos.

Aside from ¡DUENDE!, I also host a monthly open mic at the Manazar Gamboa Community Theater called “BREAK THE SILENCE”. The next one is Thursday, March 29, 2012 from 7-9:30PM. (open mic sign-ups begin at 6:30PM). Featuring: Khmer Girls in Action of Long Beach with a public service announcement on healthy living & Excerpts from REFUGEE NATION, a play by written Ova Saopeng and Leilani Chan based on the stories of Laotian refugees as they escape the Secret War in Laos and struggle to assimilate with American Culture. We will also introduce Tiyya Foundation, a local organization that provides basic resources to refugees and displaced Americans.

How can readers support ¡DUENDE!?

Three ways!

1) Find out more information on our website: http://www.duendelongbeach.weebly.com

2) Donate to our IndieGoGo campaign: http://www.indiegogo.com/duende2bnv

*We need to raise $2,500 by April 1st and we’re barely reaching $500. Can you please help us make our goal?*

3) “LIKE” us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/duendelongbeach

The Mexi-Asian Perspective: A Latino’s Guide to All Things Latin, Asian, or Both

by David A. Romero

Many vie for the title of hardest working poet (or poets) in Los Angeles. Many claim the title of hardest working poet (or poets) in Los Angeles.  Every year sees the rise and fall of new venues and new, hungry artists making the rounds to fill them with their passion and drive.

For the past two years, for anyone with both functioning eyes and ears, the answer to which poets were dominating LA with their omnipresence was obvious: forWord.

This four member Asian Pacific American poetry collective could be seen from Hollywood to the Inland Empire, from Long Beach to Downtown Los Angeles and everywhere inbetween. Never before had a collective so effortlessly maintained features with open mic performances, group pieces with solo readings; managing to do all of it while loved by everyone they came across.

forWord members Eddy Gana Jr., Stephanie Sajor, Mark Maza and Susan Diep kicked off this year by performing at the 27th Annual Asian Pacific American Awareness Conference at their UC Irvine.

I had the pleasure of meeting up with forWord after the conference and witnessing their fun group dynamic in action. We had a chance to discuss their newest release, the chapbook Feel What We’re Saying.

How and when did you four poets decide to form the poetry super group forWord?

fW: We all met through Uncultivated Rabbits, the one and only spoken word organization at UC Irvine.  After we graduated, we had to leave the rabbit hole and were off to find jobs. Our motivation to write and develop new pieces dwindled.  Uncultivated Rabbits was where we consistently had the time and space to write. Being surrounded by people that loved poetry helped facilitate that creativity, so when that was gone, the wheels in our brains became rusty.

After not seeing each other for a few months, we decided to catch up at The Cheescake Factory in Anaheim. We were talking about where we were in our lives and it turned out that all of us had not been writing consistently since we graduated. Someone brought up the idea that maybe we should meet up and write together. When we did, we were working out the kinks of what this meant, whether it would be like an organization like Uncultivated Rabbits or something casual. We set a date to meet up at Eddy and Stephanie’s apartment and did some writing exercises. Once those gears started turning, the idea of actually becoming a group started to settle in our minds.

We went through a whole naming processing. For two weeks we were known as Blind Spot Poets (BSP) with the catchphrase, “You didn’t see it coming.” Mark was inspired to form a catchphrase because of Uncultivated Rabbits’s “REPRODUCE!”. But Eddy did not sit well with BSP so we went back to the drawing board. Eddy suggested UpWord, an idea he had for a possible youth group. It didn’t feel quite right and Susan suggested forWord, playing off Eddy’s idea of moving in a positive direction and there being four of us. An array of meanings and inside jokes sprung from the name so it clicked for everyone right away.
 
Your chapbook Feel What We’re Saying contains two group pieces, “Writer’s Block” and “Reflections Through a Two-Way Mirror.” What are some of the differences in writing as a collective as opposed to writing as individuals?

Eddy: For me, I feel more conscious of my writing because of having to deal with your own consciousness as well as needing to be open to criticism from the group. It pushed us to develop our writing.

Susan: It also made us more consciously aware of the things we were saying.

Mark: If you’re writing individually, you are your only critic, you don’t have 3 other sets of ears listening.

Eddy: When you write in a group and share, you have to learn how to switch gears depending on the ideas that work.

Steph: And switch points of views too.

Eddy: It’s like running by yourself versus running with a group of people… it’s about keeping pace versus going at your own pace.

What is your process from idea to finished poem?

 fW: Every group piece has a different process. Before we decide on a piece and a theme, we brainstorm ideas. The way we decide which idea is the best to go with is to pick an idea and do a quick free write… like 5 or 10 minutes. After the quick write, we get back together and share our ideas and listen to similarities running through pieces or pick and choose idea/lines/concepts that seem to work well with the overall poem.

We came up with the idea of “Writer’s Block” for our first piece because that was what we were dealing with at the time. Since it was the first piece and we were not sure how to approach writing as a collective, we decided to pass around a paper and write a couple lines, each line following the previous person’s idea. At some point, the writing exercise sounded like it had potential to be a piece and we went with that. This involved a lot of editing and consciously thinking about how to find an ending that would work as a collective piece. It took roughly three days. One to brainstorm and start to write, another to finish writing the ending, and the last was to edit. The ending took the longest because we had to come together and decide on what would work and translate to coordination as a group.

The way we came to “Reflections Through a Two Way Mirror” is that Susan suggested a nature versus nurture idea, to write from these two different perspectives. The purpose was to challenge ourselves in the way that we approached writing. This proved to be a challenge indeed because it was an intriguing concept that was not readily accepted right away. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, but we went with it to see where it would go. We broke up into two groups, a nature and nurture group: The idea was to explore the mind of a serial killer. Essentially, section two was written by two members and section three was written by the other two members. As a whole, we collectively worked on putting together the introduction, ending, and editing to make it more cohesive. The piece involved some research as well. Because of the complexity of the piece, controversy of the subject matter, and our availability, it took us about three months to “finish it,” but you know how poems are never really finished. That’s another story.

Poems like “Everybody Wants to be an Activist” by Gana and “Take Back the Night” by Diep express a deep political consciousness. What issues inspire you the most today? What were some of the issues that first opened your eyes to politics?

Susan: “Take Back the Night” is actually a piece I wrote in college for an event that we were invited to perform at as Uncultivated Rabbits back at UCI. And at the time, a lot of my writing was in accordance with themes of certain events we were invited to; it was the challenge of writing a new piece. I’d try to find an aspect in the theme and try to connect  or relate in some way. Being involved in Rabbits and performing at events like such, definitely raised my consciousness about these political issues and forced me to think about the world in a way I wasn’t used to thinking. I feel like since college, I’ve been steadily building upon this political consciousness. There are so many issues in the world but as a somewhat recent college graduate and person of the much bigger world I feel like I’m really starting to explore this Asian American/Vietnamese American identity a little more through writing.

Eddy: I do my best to stay as informed as possible and although there are many issues of injustice, the one that inspires me the most today is the fact that there are still Filipino-American WWII veterans who have been denied their share of benefits. I do not know of any relatives who fought in the war, but the faces of the veterans remind me of my grandfathers’ and how they made sacrifices and braved through storms to ensure grandchildren, like me, would have a better life. They deserve more than a simple letter congratulating them for their services.

Some of the issues that first opened my eyes to politics were the increased tuition and budget cuts that occurred, and are still occurring, at my alma mater, UC Irvine, and many other universities across the nation. These issues inspired “Everybody Wants to be an Activist.” While I had friends who demonstrated their commitment on the field, l saw other students who claimed to be down for the cause, but their actions, or lack thereof, showed otherwise. I felt a need to call them out because if I learned anything, it was that taking action is crucial. I’m not saying for everyone to be at the frontlines, but if you want the movement to move, then follow through, lead by example, and be there.

“Movement” by Diep and “Untitled” by Maza both address Hip Hop, taking it back to its five elements. Where do you see Hip Hop going? Will Spoken Word have any influence on this direction?

Mark:  Man, that’s really hard to answer simply because hip hop’s a trend setter so it’s hard to really say where it’ll go next.  It may just do something totally different than what you expect.  I would like to see Hip Hop showcase more international talent.  There are some ill beatmakers/producers in Japan that masterfully fuse the sounds of Jazz and Hip Hop and there are emcees all over the world that just go hard.  What would be really crazy is to hear like a french rapper spitting to a beat produced by a Japanese DJ on an American radio station.  Woo, that’d really show how global Hip Hop has become.

I feel like spoken word has always had some influence on hip hop.  In a way, they kinda go hand in hand.  If we think of spoken word, we think about self-expression, staying true to your beliefs and who you are and where you come from, we think about lyricism or being wordsmiths.  And that’s why we show love and respect for those that go up on stage and are just honest and “real’.  We connect to that more.  When we think about Hip Hop, we think about the same things, particularly when it comes to the emcee.  Both communities even recognize and cite The Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron, and others as the main influences or forefathers of their respective art forms.

Susan: I definitely agree with everything Mark says about hip hop expanding and growing.  As for spoken word… I also agree that in a lot of ways they go hand in hand. I know a lot of people who have gone from spoken word into hip hop and, I am biased, but the work that I’ve heard from these folks have touched upon a much deeper sense of identity and view of the world so… yea. It’s already affecting hip hop and I imagine it’s going to keep raising people’s level of consciousness when it comes to lyricism.

In “Chalk Days,” Sajor poignantly tackles the themes of childhood and nostalgia. Why do so many poets evoke these memories of younger days? What is the importance of remembering these earlier moments?

Steph: As we get older I think we try to understand who we have become by taking a look at what we’ve done in the past. After all, our experiences shape who we are today. “Chalk Days” is essentially representing that part of me that is looking back and interpreting how those childhood events have influenced who I am now. To put it bluntly, it’s all my feelings splattered out onto a page.

I also think so many people write about these childhood memories because they’re so accessible — we write about the familiar, about what we know. As I mention in the poem, when we think about childhood, we initially remember the “good times”… and we like to revisit those happy memories because of the fuzzy feelings they evoke, especially in relation to pop culture. Pokemon! Hey Arnold! Power Rangers! See? Fuzzy feelings.

You guys travel to a lot of venues together. How do you manage to keep things fun and yet focused as a group always on the move?

Mark: I don’t know about focused… but what keeps things fun for me is making fun of Susan and then Eddy and Stephanie. Okay, mostly Susan but some Eddy and Stephanie sprinkled around. (Mark makes sprinkle motions). There’s the inside jokes…

Eddy: We have several inside jokes! One where one of us is replaced by any of our other friends like Kevin Mai (UR), Andrew Figeurora Chiang (musician), Big Brother (one imagination/TDSB), Victoria (UR), and pretty much every single person we’ve met is a potential replacement.

Mark: This works best when someone is on vacation or leaves for a period of time… check the forWord blog archives under memories (forwordcollective.tumblr.com)

Eddy: Speaking of jokes, we always parody each other’s poems such as Mark’s “Untitled” or “Hip Hop” poem.

Susan: That’s just what happens when you spend so much time together and hear these pieces over and over again!

Steph: We stay focused because Eddy likes to crack the whip. Other times, we just get those jokes out and then there’s nothing left to do but focus.

Eddy: Sometimes Susan too… *laugh*

Mark: Currently, the inside joke is that we’re members of Destiny’s Child.

Eddy: Mark is the biggest jokester of the group.

Mark: So we were at a meeting last weekend.  We were assigning lines for a piece, when there was a good 2 or 3 minute lull where no one said anything.  And then, Susan said, “since no one’s gonna take the line…I’ll take it!”  I chimed it with, “Whoa, okay Beyonce!”

Susan: and so began the madness…

Mark: There’s more to this. Eddy started claiming lines, so I assigned him the name “Kelly”.  And then Steph didn’t claim any lines so I called her “Michelle”

Susan: Both by default and because of his passiveness in speaking up, Mark became Letoya…

Steph: It was only natural.

Mark: Bunch of jerks.

*laughter*

Asian Latin fusion food has become a veritable phenomenon. Do you think that Asian Latin fusion food is just a passing trend, or the future?

 Eddy: I believe fusion food is the future as it mirrors our society as a melting pot. Soon we’ll be ordering inihaw with pho. I’d like to try that out one day at least.

Mark: I’d eat it… but I mean there’s some things that work and some things that don’t.

Susan: If forWord and David A. Romero were foods that were fused, I’d eat that. That’s some good stuff.

Steph: Yes.

Who is your favorite Latino celebrity, historical figure, or fictional character?

Steph: Selena just because I listened to her stuff growing up. She was taken too soon! (shakes fist) She had such an amazing voice.

Eddy: Immortal Technique because he raised my consciousness about society with regard to religion and the government… and he’s a DOPE lyricist.

Mark: To be superficial, Sofia Vergara. She’s just really hot!  Ok, Ok, but on the serious, Danny Trejo is probably one of my favorites…the dude just exudes badass-ness and his life story and how he got to Hollywood is just crazy.  I hope someone does a documentary/biopic about his life some day.  I also want to add that my favorite Latino cooking celebrity is none other than Mr. David A. Romero…this guy’s cheese enchiladas are extra cheesy!

Susan: Hmm… I’m really bad at remembering so I can’t think of many but I saw John Leguizamo on stage at a one man show in Los Angeles and he was incredible!

Would you rather date an Asian or someone of Latin descent?

Susan: It really comes down to heart and….

Eddy: Oh gosh…

Steph: Boring!

Mark: Boo! This woman…

Susan: Real talk though, that’s what it’s about.

Eddy: I am in a relationship with one of the members of forWord. Since she’s technically of both descents, I’ll say both.

Steph: Oh my god! *rolls eyes*

Mark: Since I’m not in a relationship, I believe in equal opportunity.

Eddy: He has a piece called “Realization” for the ladies.

Steph: It doesn’t really matter to me…

Any last words or shout outs?

fW: First off, thanks to David for giving us the opportunity as well as his tips for being successful. Then, of course, we gotta shout out Uncultivated Rabbits past and present, Tuesday Night Project, Common Ground, BakitWhy, Kabataang maka-Bayan, Speakeasy (Lady Basco, Tara, Doxx, and the rest of the speakeasy fam), O. Smith and Natural High, Definitive Soapbox fam, Spit fam, Kevin Mai, APIA summit fam, Loc Tran, Emilio Rodriguez, Natina Kihara, Mama Kasi, BigBrotha, Alex Alpharoh, Break the Silence folks, Duende!, ZZyZx, other poets we’ve crossed paths with, poets that have inspired us and drove us to where we are, and last but not least our friends and family.

Eddy: Shout out to my family in the Philippines

Susan: Also, look out for us in 2012!

Thanks to: Susan Diep, Eddy M. Gana Jr., Mark Maza, and Stephanie Sajor…

forWord Collective
Booking: forword.collective@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/forwordcollective
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/forwordcollection
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/fWcollective
Tumblr: http://forwordcollective.tumblr.com

David A. Romero is a cheese enchilada-making spoken word artist who knows something about Mexicans. A lover of boba and a citizen of Diamond Bar, CA, he also knows a thing or two about Asians. http://www.davidaromero.com/

Have any ideas for the blog? Questions? Comments? Hit me up below! Or email me: davidaromero@projektnewspeak.com

The Mexi-Asian Perspective: A Mexican’s Guide to All Things Latin, Asian or Both

by David A. Romero

Have you ever watched or listened to an episode of “This American Life?” I haven’t.

But, I heard it’s good.

Projekt NewSpeak’s latest Mexi-Asian guest knows a lot about being an American. This son of Hmong Chinese immigrants bears the namesake.

A rising star of the underground Los Angeles theater scene, Amery Ken (Ameri-can) Thao was recently given the title of Artistic Co-Director for the much-buzzed-about Urban Theatre Movement collective based out of Long Beach.

This young director, already a veteran of plays like The Orphan Boy and Dragon Princess, Identity Crisis: Scenes from the Skin I’m In and Spit!, conveys that he more than up to handle the challenge.

I met with Thao to discuss his family life, directorial style and mission in regards to the future of this exciting new company of directors, actors and performers.

Your parents gave you the first name “Amery” and the middle name “Ken.” Did this name of “Ameri-can” shape your conception of yourself growing up? Does this choice of name reflect their expectations of you as Hmong immigrants making a home for themselves in this country?

Well, when I asked my parents how I got my name, my mom told me it came to my dad in a dream. Growing up, I didn’t really like my name because I thought it sounded like a girl’s name. But there’s actually a lot to my name. “Ken” is a derivative of a Hmong-Laotian word which means good, or skilled. I guess this planted the idea of what I thought I had to strive to be growing up, but it wasn’t until my college years that I started to look to myself to find myself. That’s a big factor in what’s shaped me into the artist I am now. I’m sure there was also some patriotism in the reason they chose the name. I think it’s appropriate for Hmong-Laotian immigrants to name their first born, first generation Hmong American, after the country they now proudly call home.

As the director of Spit! and Identity Crisis, you have dealt with different artists with different cultural backgrounds, styles of performance and themes present in their work. How do you combine all of those disparate elements into a coherent presentation?

I am a big fan of collaboration, and as a director, you have to, because you aren’t always going to be the expert at everything. I try to find a through line, something that connects everything together, especially since with these two pieces there isn’t really a linear story. So I look at the themes I find similar and sew them together, usually one theme will touch upon the next, or I put opposing arguments together. I try to find a way to get everyone on the same page as me as far as what I want us to accomplish and let them do their thing. It doesn’t always come as easily as ABC XYZ, but usually I know how I want to start a story and how to end it and everyone else fills in the rest.

Seemingly freeform musical sessions with beat boxing and dancing have appeared in two of your productions, Spit! and Identity Crisis: Scenes from the Skin I’m In. When did you first develop this device? What inspires you to keep channeling this cipher-like energy through your performers?

Ha! This was just a fun acting exercise used to warm up your body and vocal resonators, but I also found that it was a great tool in creating and developing an ensemble energy. I call it “the sound circle,” although I’m sure there are many names for it. The first time I used it for a show was in Identity Crisis to enhance a piece I used in another context by Lyn Nottage. Since both SPIT! and Identity Crisis were ensemble pieces, both with elements of hip hop, I found a way to finagle it in. I use it as it’s needed.

With The Orphan Boy and Dragon Princess, you’ve successfully directed a play in a decidedly Japanese style. What are some of the differences in terms of presenting traditional Japanese theatre as opposed to westernized theatre? Were there any unique challenges for you as a director? Were you familiar with the style at all prior to directing the play?

Well, first let me say that I’m no expert on Japanese Theatre. It was something I wanted to explore because well, it’s not something that’s widely studied like Shakespeare. That being said, The Orphan Boy and Dragon Princess isn’t traditional at all. It’s actually a Hmong fable, but since there is no history of Hmong theatre I used inspiration from other forms of Asian theatre, mainly Noh, Kabuki, Butoh, and one based on a popular TV series in Japan, Kaso Taisho, which has its roots in Bunraku Puppet Theatre. I’m sure there are a ton of differences in terms of presenting traditional Japanese theatre as opposed to westernized theatre, but I can’t explain the differences any better right now. To me it was still theatre, I just tried to take the essence of what I saw in my research, and understand why they did it the way they did, or why they do it the way they do, and apply it to my own.

The challenge with working on this piece was the fact that I had only three weeks to get it up and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do it by myself. I had a great team of designers, actors, crew, and musicians, not to mention an assistant director, so communication was key. I shared with everyone everything I was doing, I sent them images, music, and videos of things I found were useful and told them to do the same so there was always a clear channel of communication, but I always went back to my original inspiration to base everything on. It was really an exploration of myself and where I come from, having no documented history beyond the Vietnam War besides word of mouth. That’s why there’s a narrator in the show by the way. My only real knowledge of the style(s) prior to directing the play was the one week we spent on Asian theatre in my theatre history class; it’s one of the millions of reasons that drove me into it.

You have recently risen to the position of Co-Artistic Director of Urban Theatre Movement. Please speak about what you see as the vision of Urban Theatre Movement. How will you use your identity and past experiences to help to expand and/or redefine this vision?

To be honest I never had any intention of becoming Artistic Director. I joined the company because I saw it as an opportunity to direct. Then I fell in love with the company motto which seemed to be “We don’t know what we’re doing but we’re doing it!” which may seem a little weird, but what it said to me was ‘we make our own opportunities’ as opposed to waiting around for someone to discover me and give us one. Then the Founding Artistic Director Brenda Banda, who was a big part of the reason I was even in the company, stepped down after our last main stage production. The thought of being Artistic Director hadn’t even crossed my mind, but now the dream had no dreamer. When the position was offered to me I laughed because I thought it was a joke. People always say that theatre is a dying art form, but I believe that’s how you know it’s alive, and with Urban Theatre Movement it’s in the name. The only way this dream is going to die is if we stop moving. So I talked to my friend and fellow company member Israel Lopez and we felt the same way so we both agreed to take on the task of being Co-Artistic Directors.

My vision for the company is to stay true to the mission statement. “Urban Theatre Movement is a multicultural collective of artists dedicated to producing original, contemporary and classical works. We strive to create accessible art and life changing experiences through innovative theatre that serves and mirrors our rich and diverse inner-city communities. We seek to re-envision theatre and evolve as artists by empowering the residents of these neighborhoods. We aim to nurture, support and encourage underserved young artists. To give them voice and hone their potential starting at their most vulnerable stage in life. We will channel their cultural and regional roots to create a more productive and enlightened society.”

But going beyond company, every great somebody comes from somewhere. Every great actor, writer, artist hones their craft somewhere, and develops it in order to be great. We just produced a play by Stephen Adly Guirgis, one of the most well known playwrights in the country. Well, he didn’t just wake up one day and discover everyone thought he was great playwright. I want to make UTM that place where people can find how great they are through the original work we develop and create. And to have fun while we’re doing it.

As a director I always try to bring my own unique perspective to anything and everything I do.  I have always tried to use everything I experience in life, whether it be a lecture I heard in class or a video I saw on Youtube, to what’s going on in Egypt or maybe even just the experience of watching with my baby sister for the first time who is 25 years younger than me. It always comes together, even though at the time it may seem insignificant, I know there’s always a reason I am where I am at that very moment. This combined with the fact that I’m a minority among minorities but still American is all fuel for the fire. The mission statement is written in a way that it’s specific to the individual and yet all inclusive of everyone so I haven’t found the need to expand or redefine it yet. But I always look to it before deciding what move our company will make next.

As far as going beyond the company and fostering and creating original work. People often ask me where I’m from and I say, “here.” What they usually mean to ask is what my ethnic background is. When I tell them I’m Hmong they ask, where’s that? The answer is… well there is no simple answer, only more questions. My approach is to get people to ask the right questions and then let them find the answers for themselves.

Asian Latin fusion food has become a veritable phenomenon. Do you think that Asian Latin fusion food is just a passing trend, or the future?

I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner, I mean we do live in a postmodern society, in the country that is known as the melting pot of cultures. I mean even as children we mix all the flavors of ice cream in one bowl or all of the flavors from the soda fountain just to see what it tastes like. It’s instinctual in a way. Don’t let my stature and frame fool you, I love them both separately and together.

Who is your favorite Latino celebrity, historical figure, or fictional character?

Director Guillermo Del Torro with actor Michael Pena’s character Daniel in Crash (2004) in a close 2nd.

Would you rather date an Asian or someone of Latin descent?

I know my parents would prefer if i was ended up with a Hmong girl, but i don’t discriminate.

Any last words or shout outs?

Yeah, check out www.urbantheatremovement.com and look out for the next SPIT! and SPIT! auditions. We’re looking to put one up every quarter.

THANK YOU AMERY!

David A. Romero is a cheese enchilada-making spoken word artist who knows something about Mexicans. A lover of boba and a citizen of Diamond Bar, CA, he also knows a thing or two about Asians. http://www.davidaromero.com/

Have any ideas for the blog? Questions? Comments? Hit me up below! Or email me: davidaromero@projektnewspeak.com

The Mexi-Asian Perspective: A Mexican’s Guide to All Things Latin, Asian, or Both

By David A. Romero

Do you remember the Alamo? Matt Sedillo sure does.

This national slam poet and published author has turned the phrase “Remember the Alamo” on its head; in the process, kicking dirt in the face of empire (whether it be in the U.S., China, the Philippines, Vietnam, or elsewhere!).

Multiple nights a week, Matt Sedillo can be seen shocking and awing audiences with his powerful delivery and incendiery political content. It is therefore no surprise that this revolutionary poet and speaker was recently published in an anthology of 76 poets from 25 different countries along with such luminaries as Amiri Baraka, Jack Hirschman, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Luis J. Rodriguez.

I had a chance to conduct this Mexi-Asian interview with Sedillo the right way,  over a meal at Red Hot Kitchen: Asian Mexican Fusion restaurant in El Sereno, the neighborhood the poet grew up in. There we talked about the sex trade, the power and beauty of culture, and, of course, the Alamo. Click here to watch Matt Sedillo perform \”I Remember the Alamo.\”

 “I Remember the Alamo” could be misconstrued as a poem dealing with issues primarily relating to racism and Mexican-American identity. However, a closer inspection will quickly yield vast amounts of Asian history. How do you manage to relate the triumph of Mexican general Santa Ana over the white secessionist forces at the Alamo in 1836, to events such as Dien Bien Phu, the Tet Offensive, the Battle of Mactan and the Chinese Revolution?
 
I feel that these battles and victories belong to the whole of humanity. Dien Bien Phu for instance, was the first time in modern history that an industrialized European imperialist nation was pushed back by a colony. The reverberations of that (I mean, aside from perhaps Stalingrad) was probably the most historically significant battle in the past 500 years. It is said many of the fighters in the Algerian Revolution who fought in the French colonial army were prisoners of war in Vietnam. They were treated with preferential treatment and were inspired by the Vietnamese to return home and drive the French out of their country as well.  The Chinese Revolution, in terms of sheer numbers of lives affected, is the biggest event of any kind thus far in human history. As I said, I truly believe these events belong to everyone. “I Remember the Alamo” was the first poem I wrote that really seemed to resignate with an audience and I think that points to a general internationalist streak most people have that attend poetry readings. People readily understand parallels. That, and it’s loaded heavy with activist swag.   

You are the first Latino to be interviewed for the “Mexi-Asian Perspective” for Projekt NewSpeak. Aside from being a good friend, comrade and Mexican, when I think of Latinos who address Asian history and culture, your name is one of the first to come to mind. Unfortunately, it is also one of the few. Why do you think that there can be so little cross-cultural exchange in terms of artists from different backgrounds; especially in the spoken word community?

That is hard to say. I think most poets write about what is on their mind. A lot of my work is heavily researched. That is kind of who I am as a person not just as a writer, so for me it comes very naturally to write about issues happening accross the globe. Most people don’t do that so naturally they don’t write those poems. I don’t know really if it is a question of a lack of cultural exchange or awareness, I think it is really a question of what people identify with and how they identify themselves. The fact that we can even make the observation that people are not actively writing about struggles of others points to what is so great about this community namely it is embracing of people from all kinds of backgrounds. I think segments of American culture as a whole are headed in that direction. Self-segregation by custom, I think, is really on the road to being a thing of the past and as with every positive movement in human history, culture is at the forefront of that development. 

“Capitalism is Child Abuse” calls to our attention one of the darkest and most terrible problems affecting the Asian community on a global scale: the sex trade; especially of young children. What compelled you to write this poem? Are there moments when you feel uncomfortable quoting these facts about the horrors endured by the children of countries such as Thailand and India?
 
Well, it is an uncomfortable reality. The point of the poem isn’t just that it is sad but that there are definite root causes to these horrid crimes being committed against hundreds of millions of children everyday. When we speak of the word imperialism we are generally speaking of wars and bombs dropping and people being killed by soldiers and mercenaries. The reality is much deeper than that. Beyond the war without end we are talking about a global economic system that routinely starves children to death every day. And for what? The lavish comfort of less than a percent of the world’s population? Also too often we hear these horrid statistics about things happening in the poorest most exploited nations as a means to silence or mitigate dissent against America’s own police state. “Look how much better you have it than people living in ____” the argument goes. Well, the reality is, I don’t want to live in the squalor of a Nike village, but I don’t want the Indonesians to either. Capitalism is a pathological, murderous way to arrange society. Thirty-thousand children every day need something better if they are to survive the night; let alone lead healthy, productive lives. 

With this blog, I have often been guilty of promoting a very narrow view of Asian identity; one focused primarily on a handful of nationalities. One group that you have focused a lot of your time and energy upon is the various peoples of the Middle East. In “Muhammad at War” you say, “these peoples’ religion/their culture has about as much to do with/why we are over there killing them/as does calligraphy, or hummus/it just doesn’t.” You have also addressed Middle Eastern politics and culture in your poem “Don’t Get Confused.” Did your personal appreciation of elements of Middle Eastern culture precede or follow your political awakenings in respect to the region, its people and its history?

The brutality of the war as well as the demonization of Arabs were the catalyst for those poems. A lot of the anti-war movement is rooted in the same kind of nonsense that puts victim and victimizer on the same footing. So you have someone say, “Oh yes, I reject American imperialism but I also reject radical Islam, I embrace only peace.” Such words are cheap and easy when you are not the one being bombed. People don’t kill and die over abstractions they are facing real material threats and occupation. It was that basic reality that I was addressing. If deep religious feeling in and of itself birthed war and violence perhaps the Appalachian mountains would be burning. Culture does not produce war, economic pressures do. Forwarding the notion that religious dispositions create war is a blatant act of stupidity. It is the geopolitical equivelant to believing in spontanous generation.    

Asian Latin fusion food has become a veritable phenomenon. Do you think that Asian Latin fusion food is just a passing trend, or the future?

That shit is delicious. 

Who is your favorite Asian celebrity, historical figure, or fictional character?

Manny Pacquiao. Mao. Yojimbo (as played by Toshiro Mifune).

Would you rather date an Asian or someone of Latin descent?

Is this the part of the interview where I evade the question and make a self-effacing remark about just looking for a warm body with a steady pulse? Why, yes it is.
 
Any last words or shout outs?
 
Mattsedillo.com Shout out to Matt Sedillo.

THANK YOU MATT

David A. Romero is a cheese enchilada-making spoken word artist who knows a great deal about Mexicans. A lover of boba and a citizen of Diamond Bar, CA, he also knows a thing or two about Asians. Visit his website: http://www.davidaromero.com

Have any ideas for the blog? Questions? Comments? Email me at davidaromero@projektnewspeak.com