Sunday, April 7, 2013

Where we stand

Jason Luong
Section A01
In response to: "The Four Prisons' and the Movements of Liberation"by Glenn Omatsu
  
  Growing up, I have seen many changes that affected my life as well as the lives of those around me. However, I rarely discover the origins of these subtle changes as well as the people who started these efforts. Eventually I realized that many of these movements are just riding on the wisdom of past activists and their own generation of struggles. Glenn Omatsu, in his article, "The Four Prisons' and the Movements of Liberation: Asian American Activism from the 1960's to the 1990's", spoke of Asian American activism that spanned over the course of several decades. One of the earliest movements were founded and heavily influenced by the teachings of Malcolm X and keywords such as "access", "liberation", and community”. However, in contrast to the movements that became more well-known over the decades for most mainstream Americans, the AA campaign of the 1960's did not collapse under the counter-offensive of corporations and ruling elites in what was later called the "winter of civil rights". While that period shadowed the effort of the sixties' movement for most people of color, Asian Americans came out of that decade with new enclaves, a much more prospective subset of new immigrants with financial backing and a new message to spread. While the 1960's coalition pushed for the "empowerment of the disenfranchised", the movements of the mid-1970's and 1980's favored youth professionals who created a new leadership in nearly every field of work. Interestingly, I personally do not believe in asking about what this generation will fight for; only time will reveal to us that. Nevertheless, the questions I wish to ask is “Where will our time leave for future generations, and how are we going to accomplish this task?”

 

 

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