Week 10 Kangping Chen A01

During this week I have read through some reading material that related to the Asian people in academic.  During previous time of the class, we have already made a lot of discussion about the topic of the Asian American people in Academic. The issues that occurred in Academic that are related to Asian American people are very prevailing. According to the reading material "Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke". The injustice and oppression among the Asian American people is very severe, as people who concerning about these issues, it is the time to stand out as soon as we can. Although the Asian American people are being called so-called model minority. However, in fact the real situation between the different minorities is so separated. The Asian American people are being oppressed and in situation in academic is a very clear representative. In the real situation, the Asian American people are not only being treated in the injustice way but also sometime are being attacked by other group of people. It is true now it is the time for people to resistant and being woke.

Reference

Valverde, C. Conclusion Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and being woke. Fight the Tower.

Elizabeth A. Harris and Winnie Hu New York Times Asian Groups See Bias in Plan to Diversify New York’s Elite Schools https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/05/nyregion/carranza-specialized-schools-admission-asians.html

Week 10 Tianxing Sun A02

In this week, I have read the article "Conclusion, Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke" from our professor, Valverde. I think this reading make me think many points of my thinking. In additional to the changing in viewpoints, I have more feeling of encouragement from the reading. This week, World's International Women's Day was on March 8th. I have heard many activities during that day. Stephen Curry, invited the girl who suggested the sports wearing company Under Armer, to set up the girls basketball shoes, to his party of the Women's Day. However, in China, many girls said that they don't like this memory festival. In Chinese, "Women's Day" are more likely to be "Madam's Day". Many girls believe they did not get married. They believe they are young, and have not get married. They don't want to called as madams. For this reason, these girls prefer the name "girls day". Nevertheless, another people considers that, "girls day" is not respected to those women who fight for women's right. This example, shows us that we should keep thinking, and keep encourage more people to explain their stories. 

Question: What should we do, to help more people leave their pants? 

Valverde C. Conclusion, Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke. 

Photo retrieved from: https://www.adweek.com/digital/international-womens-day-was-the-most-talked-about-moment-on-facebook-in-2018/

Week 10 - Andy Ho - A03

This week’s reading Academics: Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke by our professor Caroline Kieu-Linh Valverde is specific and well-written. It summarizes many issues that Asian Americans are facing today. As an Asian American, I see that the Asian stereotype is we tend to keep quiet at all times and don’t speak up for our rights because of shame. In addition, we are supposed to accept anything that comes to us, even if it is unfair. As a result, injustice happens to us more frequently and this results in oppression. Perhaps the most possible way to end this is we as an Asian community should stand up multiple times and fight for our rights. One thing that I especially enjoy in this class is I get to know more about different Asian culture although we are the same race. For instance, the Hmong traditional clothing and textile are fascinating to me. Besides, Hmong’s soul call and Vietnamese’s soul call also share a lot of things in common. Moreover, I truly enjoyed watching the movie Saigon in week 8 because it reflected the reality of Vietnamese Americans. In the U.S., people have freedom of speech so they can point out the corrupt part of our government. However, in Vietnam, if you do so, you will be put in jail and will probably be beaten ruthlessly by its police. I feel that more SAPSA projects should be done so people will be more aware of the problems that Asian Americans are facing. Hopefully, one day, all of the injustice will be gone, and we as the Asian community should live comfortably without worrying about unfairness.

Reference:

Valverde, K.L.C. Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke

Picture retrieved from: https://asianamericanpopculture.wordpress.com/2015/02/19/meme-by-rashidah-iddrissu/

Week 10 Xiao Zhang A03

In this week’s reading “Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke”, The article specifically talks about the inequity in America’s education and how students and educators should do with it. I remembered the professor specifically talked about this topic in the class. She said that today’s education agencies suppress educators and students from gaining their equal legal rights because they are afraid that student might make them fail to have their illegal benefit. Indeed, students and educators should be vigilant about the inequity in their learning and teaching environment and should always brave to fight against those inequities in their lives. 

There is one mentioning in the article I think is specifically interesting -- it talks about how corruption became the reason executives reject to obligate their honesty, integrity, and force inequal right to general students and educators. Indeed, educators and students how work and study at college should always be aware of their rights and stay awake. If they don’t care about their deserved rights, others would take it for free and deprive those rights of them. I believe there is still a long way to go, but this article definitely reminds/alerts people to retrieve their legal rights.

Question: How could we be truly and constantly awake -- how does it help to

retrieve out legal rights?

Reference:

Valverde, C. Conclusion: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke

Image retrieved from: https://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/We-Can-Do-It-2.jpg

Week 10 - Tristan Kwik - A03

In this week’s article, Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke, many analogies are made to the themes of the popular films, Star Wars. In the most recent films, Finn, one of the clones, has a sudden realization of the system that he serves in. He realizes that everything that has been taught, trained for, and believed in is all wrong. The things that were drilled into him were meant to oppress him, rather than teach him to think for himself. Finn has his awakening as he defies all that he has been taught. His moment of becoming “woke” is similar to the experience that many students realize when they come to college. Many students are unaware of injustices that happen all around them since they have been living in the comfort of their own home. But when they are put into a new environment with many new things, they begin to see things from a different perspective. One of the most important things that I’ve learned since coming to college is that everyone has a different experience, background, and life before coming to college. I find it kind of crazy that I only really realized this since coming to college. It is crucial that we, as students and the future of the world, use this knowledge and understanding of others’ experiences to shape the future in the direction we want.

What kind of programs can be implemented to teach young people to be aware of social injustices before they head to college?

References

Valverde, C. (n.d.) CONCLUSION. Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke

(n.d.) Woke. Retrieved from https://soapboxie.com/social-issues/The-Other-Side-of-Being-Woke

Image from starwars.com

Aparna_Komarla_Week_10_A04

Being woke entails being aware of the workings of a system beyond what it seeks for you to know. It is being aware and conscious of the various ways in which systems work, subjugate and dehumanize individual people. This awareness can be empowering and uplifting, and is the framework of most post-modern movements against various industrial complexes. Being “woke” is also being popularized in young-adult film and media, which creates an avenue for younger people to learn about systems and systemic oppression at a younger age that most adults today did not have access to at their time. It is ultimately about the social and political resistance to various forms of oppression.

Question: What can one do after the feeling of being “woke” kicks in?

Media: 

Week 10- Michelle Perng A02

Theme: Wokeness and the Future of Higher Education and Activism with Asian Americans Social Awareness Campaign Presentations and Concluding Remarks

Reading: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke

The article opened with a strong statement, "power that seeks to support itself over justice inevitably leads to oppression," which I cannot see anyone disagreeing with; however, I do not believe power could exist without corruption within human society.  While recognizing the unjust systems of societies, I cannot fathom what a perfect society would look like.  I don't know what our end goal would be.  When I was in 6th grade, without understanding the concept of Communism, I designed a Communist society for my assignment, in which I had to design a utopia.  I believed in a society in which everyone had equal access to all resources, but would only take what they need, to be a perfect one.  Such a system would rely on trust, responsibility and principle to exist, as people would need to act thinking for one another and the greater whole instead of one's self.  In my design, I believed that as people care for one another, one person is cared by 100 people, and would thus not feel the need to care for him or herself; however, such ideals remain impossible to achieve.  People never seem to trust authorities to account for all their needs.  People don't believe authoritative figures understand or care for all their circumstances, and they mostly don't.  This makes the appeal of the American Dream to become so strong: people believe only they can provide for themselves.  While the United States preaches individualism and the American Dream, leading to many to immigrant to the States seeking a new life to build, as the article suggests, such ideals also have the consequence of all failures being self-induced, even though the system works against immigrants and minorities.  However, my roommate textbook World politics: Interests, interactions, institutions discussed how Asian societies that stress community over the individual end up using such ideals to oppress individuals or violate some basic human rights.  The text cited Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia as examples of "benevolent dictators" of the 1990s.  Mahathir called "the Universal Declaration of Human Rights an 'oppressing' instrument by which the United States and other countries tried to impose Western values on Asians, adding that Asians needed stability and economic growth more than civil liberties." Such values also lead to indefinite corruption.  Although justice should be an ideal to strive for, the definition or practical application of the words seems muddy.  A government can't account for all the needs of a country's citizens; therefore, countries end up upholding a single value such as individualism or community to address such issues.


Question: What would practical justice in a society look like?

Work Cited:

Dan Zimmerman (May 30, 2014). Jonah Goldberg Calls for Grabbing Guns. Sort Of. Retrieved from: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/05/daniel-zimmerman/jonah-goldberg-calls-grabbing-guns-sort/

Week 10 Richard Nguyen Section A02

This week’s theme is about wokeness. A section of the sole reading for this week discusses the importance of academics reclaiming “wokeness”. I think this section is important because the term has been used either sarcastically or derogatorily by people who hold positions of power in the current systems of oppression. Those who mock efforts in social activism also use the term to label those who identify as “woke” as lacking both reason and logic. I think the power behind the term “stay woke”, is in its accessibility to those outside of academia. Everybody who has heard of the term understands what it means. In the age of social media, “stay woke” is one of the many terms that make a catchy tagline; it just rolls smoothly off the tongue.

Everything that has been taught in the 10 weeks of this class is to get us to become “awake”. Then, once we are “awake”, we learn the means to “stay woke”. With the 2020 election closing in on us, we need to “stay woke” and come together in order to combat future systems of oppression.

My final question for this class is what comes next? Are there other interesting topics that have not been covered? Who are authors that I can read up on in order to “stay woke”?

With that, I end this final blog post with the following song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVfdsBtXjQg

Bibliography

Mill, Meek. "Meek Mill - Stay Woke feat. Miguel (Official Audio)." YouTube. 24 June 2018. YouTube. 11 Mar. 2019 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVfdsBtXjQg>.

Week 10 Anna Bamford A02

Anna Bamford
3/10/19
A02

"Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke" characterizes the so-called "harsh reality" of academia not as the community of wise, sharp-witted intellectuals it is sometimes perceived to be, but as a high school cafeteria, rife with bullying and divided between the in-crowd and the outsiders.  While I don't expect any organization to be beyond society's prejudices and oppression, it's disheartening to think that academia is less of a meritocracy than it might seem to be.

However, the essay does not discuss the role of the students in this power hierarchy.  Would the author argue that students are at risk of becoming indoctrinated into the established system of academia, contributing to the normalization of injustice within the academy?  Are students in a position to make a significant impact when it comes to reworking the established system, or are more senior members of academia capable of making a bigger impact?  Speaking as an undergraduate student with no intention of continuing with academia after I graduate, I personally have no exposure to either the petty drama or the systemized oppression present in the academy.  I think it would be interesting to consider how the effects of academics reclaiming the concept of "staying woke" would extend beyond the academic community.



It would be helpful if the information needed to cite our readings was more readily and consistently available, especially when the reading is taken from a book edited by Prof. Valverde herself.

Valverde, K.C., Dariotis, W.M.  "Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke."

 

Week 10_Van Nguyen_A04

This week reading goes back to Asian American in academia, the very first topic that we encountered in the class. The article “Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke” is about the unfairness of Asian American women in academia, the model minority concept that was put onto Asian American. Yet when Asian American experience any unfairness, they do not dare to speak up, afraid being ashamed, afraid of calling names, pointing fingers. However, it is crucial to be awaken at injustice racism that not only awaken to the injustice but to ourselves. Be awake at who we are, we need to know who we are, identify ourselves and should not allow or take in how other frame us into their identification of ourselves. A lot would not speak up because we think we are inferior in comparison to other races in the US since Asian American relatively has a shorter history in the United States and this led to inferiority of the people, do not dare to speak up due to both model minority and privileged oppressed. Yet we need to understand and realize that those two concepts do not mean good for us. They are obstacle preventing our people attain higher achievements. Asian American should not take things for granted but fight for the unfairness that we do not deserve, fight against the injustice that our people went through and prevent history repeating itself. But to do that, we need to be awakened at the reality of racism, that the last reading also mentioned that the US is in the post-racialism period, but it is not yet post-racism. We should fight for what we deserve or at least what we think we deserve to have. 

Valverde, C. Conclusion Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and being woke. Fight the Tower.

Week 10 - Jessica Garza A04

The paper, “CONCLUSION Academic Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke” begins to

argue that becoming woke is a necessary event that reveals structural inequites. The increased gain in knowledge about structural inequities leads to “Being Woke”. The Paper calls for the years of research, experiences, and knowledge to become an active movement where people take action against structural inequities which are known. According to the paper, the structural inequities which are set against “our people” include the Asian American women, and other academics of genders and races. The call that the paper beckons is to, “live for our people” is the same as fortifying ourselves to fight for our people.”

The paper continues to call out, “involuntary, socially engineered indoctrination into hierarchies of difference and false image of academic meritocracy...” Which explains that these have been, “accepted the premise of normalized injustice within the academy.” The continuation of the perpetrated, “model minority”, “is a lie deliberately built over hundreds of years to construct a wedge” this wedge is meant to divide peoples of all different color, race, ethnicity, and other ‘differences’ within the community of academia.

The paper calls out why the paper is relevant to academia and to the people within the structure, “We fight because the current system is antithetical to what we believe academia can be and what it claims for itself.” The quote explains that the reality is different from what has been envisioned as the purpose and drive of continued education and “wokeness.” An inspirational reference to call asian american women and others into actions is from StarWars and that, “We are not programmed. You have to learn to make your own decisions.” This is a powerful citation to call people out of their acceptance of the ‘norm’ of oppression and banalness. The call to action is to form decisions of your own and to protest oppressions and unequal structures.

Week 10 A04 Lohitashwa Garikipati

Academics awaken is a call to members of educational facilities to be aware of the issues the system presses upon us as members. Honestly as a fresh college student I had no idea about the discrimination faced by different minorities as they attempted to enter college, and even succeed within college. However, as the years went by and more evidence - be it as statistics, news articles, or otherwise- surfaced, it was difficult to believe that educational systems that people in our country go to could function in such a way. The article really impressed upon me the necessity not only to fight for one's rights and equality in the system, but to not grow lax. It is important to fight system one is in especially when one's rights aren't taken into consideration.

The article also impresses the importance of being woke. Being woke is not only a state of being, but its a choice. Allowing yourself to be informed and educated on difficult issues in society is necessary for one to be considered "woke". However, the opposite is true for those who are not woke; shutting out outside information and facts that may cause discomfort or difficulty in your life will lead to an incomplete view of many things. As a result, being woke is extremely important, if we are to fight the corruption that exists in our educational system, and our society.

Week 10_Wesley Lee_ Section A01

In this week's reading, Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke, I found Martin Luther King's quote that was referenced to be quite powerful. He states, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." We must be proactive in each other's fights since we are stronger as a group than as individuals. Systems only change if people work together and I believe injustices only get worse if we choose to ignore them or only focus on our own. I realized it that being woke can vary in definition and even about subjects. You can be woke about African American issues, but not Asian American issues for example. Even though it is impossible to be woke about every single possible system of oppression, I think it is important to remain open minded to others who know more about specific subjects and to learn as much as possible about these subjects. That way we can support more causes than those immediately affecting us. I learned a lot from this class and I hope to continue growing my knowledge even outside of college.

Q: Where can I find more resources to continue growing my knowledge once I am out of university?



References:

Valverde, C. (n.d.) CONCLUSION. Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke

(n.d.) Woke. Retrieved from https://soapboxie.com/social-issues/The-Other-Side-of-Being-Woke

Week 10_Yueming Tan, A01

This week's reading is mainly about the unfair treatment people receive in academia, especially women of color. They are subject to racial discrimination and gender discrimination in academia. Most women choose to remain silent in the past. Today's women decide to turn silence into language and action. At the same time, this article mentions that people of color face unfair treatment in academia. First of all, most people will choose silence instead of standing up against the oppressors. I hope that people can stand up and stand up against the oppressors. Second, the oppressed people did not seek help from others but chose to suffer pain and pressure silently. I hope that people can find help, it is unwise to keep silent, and this is impossible to solve the problem.

• Valverde, C. Conclusion: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke
• https://villagevoice.freetls.fastly.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSCF2380.jpg

Week 10_Ken Lau_A03

I thought that this article addressed a lot of the key takeaways that Professor Valverde stressed during the lectures. The idea of becoming 'woke' seems to me like understanding and become willing to dig deeper in order to discover the underlying truths to concepts that we were engineered to believe were true. Before taking this class, I would not have thought to question the model minority myth surrounding Asian Americans. And I never would have realized that many of these similar inaccurate stereotypes and injustices of Asian Americans can be traced back to the people in power that want to keep the current structure. It was pretty shocking to hear that academia, what I thought was based on merits, was actually based on racist and sexist hierarchies. That is why it is very inspiring to see people speaking up against it. Even though they are risking their careers, they still continue to speak up against the injustice they witnessed and experienced.

Question: Have there been any recent major changes in the student body in regards of being woke?

References:

• Valverde, C. Conclusion: Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke
• Wilson, M. [Picture of justice graffiti]. Retrieved from https://christandpopculture.com/side-ferguson-local-churches-fighting-injustice/

Week 10-Tao Zheng-A03

This week's reading, "Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance and Being woke," illustrates being awoke in the academics, and encourage the reader to take actions after being woken. According to the reading, being awoke is defined as "a series of flexible processes of information gathering and learned experiences",resulting in "the shocking realization that even the systems of education that is designed to oppress us  will actually liberate us." This article is perfect for summarizing the course. I learnt a lot from this course as we explore the issues noticeable and I am awoke after it. As asian, I felt sorry for asian Americans who suffered because of their identity, race, and culture. But there is nothing to be ashamed of. In my future life, I would encourage more and more asian and asian Americans to stay awake, to fight for their rights with the rooted power in their culture and identity. Before this class, I was only aware of discriminations against asian Americans in general, but after taking this class, I realized that discrimination also exists in the academia, where people in power do not concern themselves with the students, but rather their power, and their academic status. My question after this reading is: what can individuals do to bring awareness to the people around them, and help them stay awake? 

Works Cited

Dariotis, W. M & Valverde, K.L. "Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance and Being Woke."

Lu, Chris. "What We Miss When We Ignore Asian Americans." Time, Oct 20, 2017. Retrieved from: http://time.com/4992021/asian-americans-pacific-islanders-representation/

Week 10_Zijing Wu_A04

This week's reading "Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke." is the perfect summary of what we have covered in class this quarter. The strongest take away for me after reading this article is "what is being woke?" "Power that seeks support itself inevitably leads to oppression.", this is a quote at the beginning of the article that really made me thinking. Being woke is to stand up to fight the injustice structured into the system of power. Before taking this class, I had no idea that inequalities exists even in academia. Now, after all the readings and in class discussions, I realized that the current system is not what academia is suppose to be. Professor Valderde's own experience of battling for her rights in an educational institution uncovers the truth that injustice has been structured into the fundamental of educational systems. And this is not only a problem for the faculties. The "pepper spray incident" happened at this campus shows that this could affect us, students as well. It is time for everyone of us to "woke up", fight the injustice and make academia the place where everyone has the opportunity to thrive in. Just as the author said, "something has awaken in us and we want to be that fire to ignite change."

Question: What it takes to change the current system?



Reference:
Valverde, C. Conclusion: Academics Awaken: power, Resistance, and Being Woke. Fight the Tower.

Week 10_ Alexandra Tan_A01

This weeks reading really summarizes the purpose of this class. To be able to recognize how high powers have constructed social structures to divide the powerless in order to keep them powerless has been a main focus of this class. In Valverde's conclusion of Fight the Tower she talks about the sacrifice one must make to "live for the people". This is the exact opposite of what the powers that oppress us have done. They come in with the promise to live for us and to fight for us when they truly have their own agendas and do not plan on truly delivering on their promises.
The reason we are divided is to keep us in check in order to prevent us from rising up and bringing the powers down. How can we fight this division and take down the elite that binds us in our position? I think Fight the Tower addresses this problem in the academic world, but what about for general society. I would like to see a solution for that.


Citations:
Dariotis, W. M & Valverde, K. L. (n.d.). "Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke". From Fight the Tower.
Jones, A. (2010). Internalized Oppression and Its Impact on Social Change. 

Week10 Bradley Kitaoka Section:A04

For this week’s reading we had to read “Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke”. The article does a good job in summarizing everything we learned about the forms of oppression that happens in the work place. Especially those that work in the education system. However, something in the article that stood out to me is when it was talking about the term “being woke”. We learned that being woke is defined as being aware of issues in both racial and social justice. We also learned that the term has lost its meaning and been turned into somewhat a joke over the years. I think this is part of the social construct of society wanting to keep people in their designated boxes put on them by society. This is why society has taken a serious term like “being woke” has been turned into a joke because it makes people take “being woke” as not serious so people don’t try to learn and pay attention to these issues in the world. Throughout the quarter we have learned how Asian-Americans have been oppressed in academia, the law, and many other facets of our lives. Hopefully, throughout the years racism towards Asian-Americans will disappear completely along with the myth of the model minority.

Question: If racism does fully disappear in America will it disappear all at one time or will some races be freed from racism before others?

References:

Dariotis, W. M & Valverde, K. L. (n.d.). Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke

Image retrieved from: https://usercontent1.hubstatic.com/13661068_f1024.jpg

Week 10 - Armanjot Bhangu - A04

Armanjot Bhangu

Section: A04

Week #10

For the final week of readings, I chose to read “Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke”. In this reading, the author mainly goes over the basic idea of “being woke” and what it consists of. Recently however, the word woke has started to become overused in both academia and in social settings causing the meaning of it to get watered down. This is related to the fact that in academia, Asian American women are often silenced and are thus not allowed to be as “woke” as their male counterparts. This relative inability to be woke limits them in terms of what type of work they can publish, how they go about publishing it, and in general their academic career. Therefore, they can unfortunately be viewed as not being up to date with the current times and unable to keep up with modern trends. With that in mind, my final audio/visual addition will be the Childish Gambino song, “Redbone” which contains probably the most popular use of the word woke in recent years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp7eSUU9oy8

QUESTION:

Why has the use of the word “woke” risen in recent years especially in pop culture?

REFERENCES:

Glover, D. (2016, November 17). Retrieved March 10, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp7eSUU9oy8

Valverde, C. Conclusion: Academics Awaken: power, Resistance, and Being Woke. Fight the Tower.

Week 10 - A01 - Jarrod Baniqued

Week 10 (10 March 2019)
Jarrod (Section 1)
What a rousing conclusion to a grueling marathon.
To paraphrase Ephesians 6:12, "We fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. We fight not just against the wicked rulers of the dark and low places, but the wicked servants of the light and high places." This has been the essence of ASA 2.
In the end, all this has been about Asian American students and faculty embracing their ancestral homelands' communitarianism and uniting to overturn the patriarchal and capitalistic practices in higher education. Asian American women in particular need to speak up and speak louder in promoting their causes in the higher education system. They (or if I may be so bold, we) need to remind ourselves constantly to "stay woke" to keep our minds fresh and open. (An aside: I should note that I have a few reservations about the term "woke" and its meaning. The character Jonathan Pie has some valid criticisms in his YouTube videos which I recommend checking out.)
The power of social engineering cannot be understated. Throughout this course so far, there have been many examples of this power being used for bad, to put it bluntly. But there has also been a chthonic reaction to this top-down, mechanistic way of thinking, the grassroots overgrowing the drafting table, so to speak.
I recently learned of efforts to create political movements and parties based on the ethos of hip hop culture in Germany and New York. I'll put the URLs below. While I don't associate myself with hip hop, I acknowledge that it is an influential vessel for Asian pro-democratic thought, as the end of the main video will show. When I read this, I noticed many, many parallels between the conclusion and hip hop culture, especially their potential for political change.
Questions: What is the future of the Fight the Tower movement as we move into a new decade? What should we do for its tenth anniversary?
Visual: "Hip Hop and Streaming", an episode of Netflix's Patriot Act, the first news satire hosted by an Asian American, Hasan Minhaj. Pay particular attention to his coverage of Thailand's youth movements:

Sources:

Dariotis, W. M & Valverde, K. L. (n.d.). "Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke". From Fight the Tower.

Hip hop in German politics: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-41339061/die-urbane-how-do-you-form-a-hip-hop-political-party

Hip hop in New York state politics: http://thesource.com/2018/08/14/hip-hop-culture-political-party/

Patriot Act: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEZV6EE8JMA

Week 10_Toan Tran_A04

It comes full circle now in the final week of this course from Professor Valverde’s introduction to her book and article to now, her conclusion on power, resistance, and being woke. “To die for one’s people is a great sacrifice but to live for one’s people is an even greater sacrifice” is something that can be seen as dramatic but it holds much truth. I will remember this as I progress in my education and training to help others in underserved communities. It gives me hope that a movement towards a new type of academia is occurring because before this class, I was not necessarily aware of the capitalist-patriarchal system we have in play in current academia. This conclusion on all that the professor wanted to convey touches a lot on Asian American women in academia, stepping out of a "cloned storm trooper" mindset, and lastly on being woke. Women of minority groups have been shamed and brought down by the system in so many cases—just as the professor had experienced in her own trials for tenure. Real change can only occur as we escape this "sheep conforming", or as referenced in the reading, a "cloned storm trooper" mindset, and take action into our own hands to educate others and empower such groups who have been oppressed. This all starts with realizing that systems that are meant to guide, liberate, and educate oneself are in actuality oppressing others. “The first acts of [resistance] against the powers of oppression involves extending kindness, justice, and empathy to those in need” is something I hope others will implement to their ambitions and endeavors as well so that we may see a more just society.

Q: How can we decentralize and democratize power while redefining what power means?



Work Cited

Oppression in Academia - Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?q=oppression+in+academia&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS789US789&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjK1ZzKxvngAhXoGDQIHXx2BaMQ_AUIDygC&biw=1439&bih=726&dpr=2#imgrc=S3cvUNcxYRTTAM: Accessed 11 Mar. 2019.

Wei Ming Dariotis ad Kieu Linh Valverde. "Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke."

Week 10_Nghi_Phan_A03

In the conclusion of Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke, it concludes that most Asian American women who are in tenure are taught to keep their mouth shut and are afraid to speak up for one another because of shame. In academia, shame can damage reputation; as a result, many women who face tenure and promotion battles are unlikely to share their experiences within the injustice system. Therefore, to stay woke in the academic institution is to be cautious around the system that is designed to oppress women of colors in academia and used them to protect itself. How can we fight as a group but not as an individual? I think we need to view every group the same and support fighting for their challenges. If we see others and even our own as inferior, we can never achieve the mindset of being woke as a whole. It's scary to even consider that the institution that I'm at might now help me to be successful. It seems like we come and go, get out degree and keep working hard for ourselves. I feel like we should come as a whole to see the injustice in front of us to prevent any oppression against us. We cannot fight as an individual because shame will overcome us and the people with power will find every way to make us stay silent. As a group, there are more forces join and we can fight together. I hope to see one day that justice is served.

Reference:

One of women's greatest strengths is talking through our problems and our battles together.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/one-womens-greatest-strengths-talking-12098535

Week 10_Emerald Vang_A03

Before everything happened, before the white men settling and conquering, everyone lived in their own land doing their own thing. No such thing as rank or social status oppressed us. It's weird how we've come from peace and perfection to being broken and scared. In the years of racism and oppression, Asian Americans upheld the model minority. No one spoke loud enough about how we should stop being stereotyped and challenging one another for high status in society. These things went on for a long time, but as we approach the next day, communities out there are trying to make a change. "Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke" implies the changes we, as a whole human race, should begin making efforts to bring down this illusion of superiority. They want to educate people to be woke. To be woke, in this case, is having knowledge and "learned experiences that lead to the shocking realization that even the systems of education that we believe will liberate us are actually designed to oppress us" is what the text claims. Not everyone is aware of the bad that is happening around them because we are all accustomed to this way of living, thus ignoring the system. The author states some ways to change society in order to break down the walls society has built for itself.  Notice I say "ways to change." A lot of times people only ignore or stop things thinking it will disappear that way. For example, a person will be told to stop being racist, but that doesn't stop them from thinking racist thoughts or reverting back. I think the author is aware of this and knows that change is important if we want to shatter the illusions of today's humanity.

Q: Some people choose to ignore things, people who have the power to help influence change, so why don't they?

References:

• Valverde, C. Conclusion: Academics Awaken: power, Resistance, and Being Woke. Fight the Tower
• (The human world... it's a mess.). Retrieved from                      https://weheartit.com/entry/317089584

Week 10 Jianwei Zhu Sec.A01

In this week’s reading of the Conclusion of Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke, once again, we are discussing the problems Asian American women are facing in academia. This overarching problem did seem to get more diverse from the past couple of decades because we have people within academia are gradually awakening. From an outsider perspective, things are moving forward for the better. Only the people within academia truly know the injustice and mistreatment towards Asian American women. What is happening in academia is essentially a direct result of racism and sexism. Especially Asian American women in higher education, they are told to stay passive and not voicing their opinions. Asian women are the perfect candidate for just show up and shut up in academia. Even when fewer women are brave enough to speak up, no one would ever listen to what they have to say. The truth hurts and we certainly need more people to wake up and unite as one. This is the best way for our society and humanity to move forward. The only thing we can do is just keep fighting, even though sometimes we might not be rewarded for what we have invested, the efforts definitely will make more and more people resonate.

Q: What particular problem do you think Asian American women are facing in the academia that stand out in other different career fields?

References:

Valverde, C. Conclusion: Academics Awaken: power, Resistance, and Being Woke. Fight the Tower.

Week 10-Ao Yang-A01

Week 10 Blog

Ao Yang

915050255

ASA 002 A01

It’s Week 10’s blog, the last blog of ASA002 in this quarter. As for me, I am so glad that I choose to take Asian American Studies as the American History requirement. In this class, I am able to form unique vision and knowledge on Asian American community, America’s academia field and the whole society. This week’s reading material “Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke” combines many injustice cases we have already discussed and related concepts. I comprehend a lot about the cultural diversity and self-identity as an international student in the United States. For one thing, no one should be oppressed by others, no matter you belong to the dominant group or the minority. We should be brave enough to fight against the opposite to seek for the truth or the fairness. For another, discrimination and unfairness are a problem that requires a long-time process to be solved. Education should be one essential tool to improve people’s moral standard and help them to form correct value system and cognition. 

Question: When could the popularization of education be reached in order to improve the society?

References:

1. Anon. n.d. “CONCLUSION.” Academics Awaken Power, Resistance, and Being Woke 1–27.

2. [Digital Image] Retrieved from: https://chatsworthconsulting.com/2018/02/20/be-brave-show-up/

Week 10 - Katherine Tran A04

Katherine Tran
Section A04
Week 10

This week’s reading, the conclusion to Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke, was probably meant to serve as the kind of conclusion that would push the reader into not only re-considering everything they knew about activism and academia, but also to encourage and educate them into taking action. There are definitely some good, and some powerful, statements made about how reforming the system means actually reforming the system, rather than just giving it a makeover with all the structural components intact, as well as ones that reaffirm the need for transparency and self-policing within academia. Overall, it reads like a call to action, with a lot of background information to explain certain parts and strong wording in order to encourage action and awareness. I do find it pretty interesting that apparently academia, and specifically Asian American female academia in the context of this particular piece (though, the argument can be made that it isn’t just Asian American, but WOC academia in general), has enough of a claim to the AAVE phrase “woke” and its consequent usages to “reclaim” it, or so is the assertion made by the writers of this piece. Would this count as a co-optation of “non-academic” languages? Where does the divide between academia and non-academia start and end? Is there really any importance to such divides?

References:

Dariotis, W. M & Valverde, K. L. (n.d.). Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke

Image Source:

Protestors Urge Northwestern to End Contract with ICE [Photograph found in Boston Globe, Getty Images]. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2019, from https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/northeastern-university-law-student-ienna-fernandez-news-photo/997078668

Photograph by Johnathan Wiggs 

Week 10 Lily Trang A04

This literature ended the course very well, summarizing all the key terms and importances to take from this course. Asian American women face so much criticism and judgement every single day. Taking this class by Professor Valverde has opened my eyes to the real truth within the power and what they do with it. As an Asian American woman, I realize how much more I will have to be prepared to go against in the present and the future. Reading the article, Academics Awaken: Power, Resistance, and Being Woke showed me what the meaning of wokeness and how important it is. Wokeness is resonated with being and used by women of color to find strength and solidarity. Wokeness is critical consciousness to intersecting systems of oppression. We, the women of color must use this definition to strengthen our community. This helps our community to stand up for one another, use this as a chance to strengthen our numbers, and strengthen ourselves. I know personally, I have been taught to obligate to others, if they think it is right, I have to do what is right to others. Valverde mentions a very important quote we must all remember by Lorde, "the machine will try to grind us into dust anyway, whether or not we speak, so we might as well speak and act." We must come together and continue to be woke within our community. Being silent will not allow us to receive the respect we deserve. Fight, stay woke, for what you think is right, for the history and others in the future.
 

Question: In what ways are we able to spread our awareness, and create a community for others that will help him realize the oppression we face? How can we introduce wokeness to other individuals?

Valverde, C. Academics Awaken: Power Resistance, and Being Woke
Photo retrieved from http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/0224/c98649-9020601.html