Activism in 2010

[sandra]

so as most of the og's know, and i think it's rather apparent, in the last few years, participation on yw has declined substantially. much of it has to do with the fact that the former regulars were mostly students or young, young professionals with time to kill and now, having grown a bit older, have responsiblities that don't necessarily allow us to be on 24:7 like before. then there's also the issue of burnout. after discussing the same old topics to death, some of us started to feel like we were just repeating ourselves like robots.

that's just speculation, of course, and the question remains - with yw so quiet nowadays...what has happened to asian activism? i would dare to say that at one point - maybe years and years ago - for a brief period of time, yw was at the frontline of the battles, catching and nailing each issue that affected the api communited as soon as it emerged. those days, which i recall fondly, have come and gone. so where has the energy moved?

when we picture activism in the 70's, we imagine walkouts. a particular memory comes to my mind - when my father describes his duty as the lookout on the rooftop at uc berkeley as they organized a student demonstration in favor of affirmative action and an asian american studies program. in the 80's and 90's, asian coalitions were formed and/or grew more reputable and had a stronger voice in our communities. this was especially the case following 1992, when there was a civil unrest in los angeles affecting many korean-american families.

i think the greater community was intrigued by yw in the early 2000's (is that how we should refer to the beginning of the decade now?) when they featured us on prime time and many major newspapers as an example of the "new face of activism". and certainly, it wasn't just us back then. there was us, modelminority.com, the fighting44's, etc.

but with facebook/twitter came the end, at least from my observations, of forums. things just haven't been quite the same anymore. in any forum - not just yw. while we used to easily have over 20 regulars on at any given time, now it's strange to see over 5.

certainly asian american issues have not disappeared, racism is not obsolete, and there are many greater issues, such as health care reform, that affect our communities. where is the forum for those discussions now - if not in forums such as yw? i see no substantive discussions on other social media utilities such as facebook, and certainly none of twitter, where we are limited to 140 characters.

is it not a disappointment that college students no longer use forums such as ours to engage in the debates and discussions that we used to? or even to try their hand at campaigning like we used to?

your thoughts?

[mankind]

Well there are many blogs now which addresses Asian American activism issues. That's where many people have gone to discuss such topics. But even those sites are suffering from a lack of people visiting those sites too, not just yellowworld apparently - from what I've seen. So it seems like in general most of the activism sites are suffering from a lack of participants who would otherwise comment on the entries in these blogs.

I've noticed that a number of people from well known forums have started their own blogs, such as Bryon Wong's big WOWO (http://www.bigwowo.com/) and Minority Militant's blog (http://minoritymilitant.blogspot.com/), just to name a few.

* There's also Geisha School Dropout (http://geishaschooldropout.typepad.com/geisha_school_dropout/), the invasion (http://mkrightings.blogspot.com/), and Alpha Asian (http://alpha-asian.blogspot.com/). I'm not clear on this but many of these people started off as users on the classic vbullitain forums. Now they are venturing out there on their own with their own blogs.

There's many more, so the presence of Asian American activists on the web is there. But the presence of persons who are actively blogging and the persons who frequent these sites to participate in intelligent discussions wasn't as active as it used to be I guess.

[monkeygone2]

I think the anonymity is a problem. Forums are often peppered with members who are there for reasons, other than activism. It's a lot of text with no action.

People are more aware of the shut-ins who live on-line... the shut-ins who frequent forums - been banned, but keep coming back with multiple accounts, because they have no life/pride - and are just annoyed by it all.

Personal blogs/tweets/whatever seem more real. You can get a sense of who you're dealing with.

Anonymous activism enables people to take risks when exposing the wrongdoings. Shit wouldn't get done without it.
But in the context of a forum, anonymity can be a negative.

[mankind]

Well fortunately there are many Asian Americans out there who are more than willing to step right out into the fight and use the internet as a way of representing us. They are to be commended.

As far as anonymity is concerned, many people tend to not want to take risks to represent themselves in the open. It takes qualified people with a special talent, passion, and level of awareness to start blogs and address the issues that needs to be made known to the public.

Unfortunately many anonymous users use these forums as a way to vent about whatever hangups that they may have, making the job of the activists harder.

Generally, there's nothing wrong with anonymous users commenting on the blogs and forums, but just frequenting these sites to spew out personal issues defeats the whole purpose of these blogs and forums - which is again a tool . . . or platform so that these talented activists can do the work of representing us everyday people.

[monkeygone2]

^ If you've witnessed the yw activity last year, then you'll get an idea how 1 banned person "spewing out personal hang-ups" can affect a forum. Which brings up the issue of emotionally and psychologically unstable (anonymous) people - that banned person's feuds with at least 12 members isn't a sign of a rational person.
People are more internet savy now, than 10 years ago; they know that anonymous person typing away might be a nut. It can be a turn-off from getting involved with forums.

Anonymous activism is for employees exposing the companies they work for.
It's for serving the public and not having legal troubles follow you home.

Anonymity in the realm of commenting on a forum doesn't really accomplish anything. It's ALMOST the equivalent to the activity in a sports forum.

with yw so quiet nowadays...

I can see organizing letter writing campaigns and petitions online, but to actually mobilize people requires something more personal.
Official YW groups in different major cities would inspire growth in membership and activism.
Anonymity doesn't help matters here at all.

[mankind]

It's ALMOST the equivalent to the activity in a sports forum

....Or most of the online major news networks for that matter. Some of the comments there are laughable and absolutely ridiculous. Some of these comments - it will have you floored in laughter from the stupidity. From BBC to the NY Times or something. I can see where you're coming from. Definitely.

Anonymity in the realm of commenting on a forum doesn't really accomplish anything.

Hmmm....

Whatever the case may be - in my opinion, regardless of whether that person commenting on a website is actively engaging in advocating for Asian American rights, or simply an everyday person giving his or her input, it makes for a collective voice, sort of speak.

Everyone giving their constructive and insightful input. So we as Asian Americans can be heard.

Everyone can have something to contribute if it is something that is positive, reflects constructive thinking, and reflects true insight about the Asian American way of life.

....Admittedly something I am still learning about day by day. And I'm an Asian American myself saying this.

In my estimation, there are many people out there who would love to roll up their sleeves and get into the action, in support of Asian American activism. Unfortunately circumstances sometimes doesn't work in favor of such persons.

So this may be why among other reasons that we don't see as much participation in the Asian American activist blogs anymore. As Kasia mentioned, many more Asian youths then ever before are more into social networking mediums such as facebook, twitter and myspace.

But we're fortunate to have many people who does has the credentials - and the circumstances - to take on the very difficult challenges and reap the rewards for advocating for us all.

There are other reasons too, I'm sure, that may explain why there seems to be such a disharmony among Asian Americans on the internet. But I will have to refrain from commenting on that until I understand the dynamics of the overall scope of this whole scenerio better.

[drydem]

so as most of the og's know, and i think it's rather apparent, in the last few years, participation on yw has declined substantially. much of it has to do with the fact that the former regulars were mostly students or young, young professionals with time to kill and now, having grown a bit older, have responsiblities that don't necessarily allow us to be on 24:7 like before. then there's also the issue of burnout. after discussing the same old topics to death, some of us started to feel like we were just repeating ourselves like robots.

that's just speculation, of course, and the question remains - with yw so quiet nowadays...what has happened to asian activism? i would dare to say that at one point - maybe years and years ago - for a brief period of time, yw was at the frontline of the battles, catching and nailing each issue that affected the api communited as soon as it emerged. those days, which i recall fondly, have come and gone. so where has the energy moved?

when we picture activism in the 70's, we imagine walkouts. a particular memory comes to my mind - when my father describes his duty as the lookout on the rooftop at uc berkeley as they organized a student demonstration in favor of affirmative action and an asian american studies program. in the 80's and 90's, asian coalitions were formed and/or grew more reputable and had a stronger voice in our communities. this was especially the case following 1992, when there was a civil unrest in los angeles affecting many korean-american families.

i think the greater community was intrigued by yw in the early 2000's (is that how we should refer to the beginning of the decade now?) when they featured us on prime time and many major newspapers as an example of the "new face of activism". and certainly, it wasn't just us back then. there was us, modelminority.com, the fighting44's, etc.

but with facebook/twitter came the end, at least from my observations, of forums. things just haven't been quite the same anymore. in any forum - not just yw. while we used to easily have over 20 regulars on at any given time, now it's strange to see over 5.

certainly asian american issues have not disappeared, racism is not obsolete, and there are many greater issues, such as health care reform, that affect our communities. where is the forum for those discussions now - if not in forums such as yw? i see no substantive discussions on other social media utilities such as facebook, and certainly none of twitter, where we are limited to 140 characters.

is it not a disappointment that college students no longer use forums such as ours to engage in the debates and discussions that we used to? or even to try their hand at campaigning like we used to?

your thoughts?


With the current economy in the toilet - many are just trying
to survive.

Social networking often works to restrict exposure
from hostile entities and incrementally build contacts
with friendly entities. Social networking is not
focused on open debate but on supporting a cause or
a person. Most people are very good at debating in
an open forum. Debating in an open forum is really
hard work - so its gotta be worth the effort. More
to the point - the risk of damage or danger from
not doing something has to be very high. One aspect
of a good leader is that he or she is able to
identify and convince people that there is a particular
danger from not doing something or an opportunity
for acting on something. Often such personalities
fit a particular scenario in time, e.g. Winston
Churchill in World War II, but when the scenario
changes that personality loses power as the public's
attention moves towards another direction

With the current economy in the toilet - many are just trying
to survive.

Social networking often works to restrict exposure
from hostile entities and incrementally build contacts
with friendly entities. Social networking is not
focused on open debate but on supporting a cause or
a person. Most people are very good at debating in
an open forum. Debating in an open forum is really
hard work - so its gotta be worth the effort. More
to the point - the risk of damage or danger from
not doing something has to be very high. One aspect
of a good leader is that he or she is able to
identify and convince people that there is a particular
danger from not doing something or an opportunity
for acting on something. Often such personalities
fit a particular scenario in time, e.g. Winston
Churchill in World War II, but when the scenario
changes that personality loses power as the public's
attention moves towards another direction


correction
========

what I wrote:
Most people are very good at debating in an open forum

What I meant:
Most people are horrible at debating in an open forum.

My apologies...:frown:

[drydem]

I think the anonymity is a problem. Forums are often peppered with members who are there for reasons, other than activism. It's a lot of text with no action.

People are more aware of the shut-ins who live on-line... the shut-ins who frequent forums - been banned, but keep coming back with multiple accounts, because they have no life/pride - and are just annoyed by it all.

Personal blogs/tweets/whatever seem more real. You can get a sense of who you're dealing with.

Anonymous activism enables people to take risks when exposing the wrongdoings. Shit wouldn't get done without it.
But in the context of a forum, anonymity can be a negative.


I agree that anonymity is important when
complaining about a very powerful person
or agency. Free speech is not free - and
powerful people and agencies will often seek
to crush and destroy any opposition. Speaking
out makes you a target. I've spoke against
projects by multi milliion dollar to billion
dollar corporation - and they will do every
thing to discredit you. The local newspaper,
politicians, and government bureacrats
often sides with the rich and powerful.
More often than not the Goliath wins the
day and the David loses. Why fight a losing
battle - I am asked do you have a Don
Quixote Complex? No - but I wanted to prove
to myself - how different our republican government
is different from a socialistic/communist one.
For the wealthy, there are significant advantages. But
the less affluent - there is not much difference.


Anonymity does invite certain types of persons into
abusive behavior. I initially avoided being
anonymous on the internet early on because
was I wanted to avoid the temptation
of being uncivil - like Ulyssess asking to
be tied to the sailing mast so he could hear the
sirens songs. However, when you are
not anonymous when you make a controversal
statement in public - you end up creating
unforeseen enemies who you don't know
but who know who you are. That can be scary
at times. The question you have to ask yourself
is whether coming out in public and bearing
the slings and arrows of outrageous times
is worth it? If not now? When? Why risk it?

I saw my father keep everything inside trying
to bottle up his frustration and anger - only
to explode and take it out on his family. Why?
Because if he said anything in public he could
get fired - lose his job and die in poverty - he
was soo scared of dying in poverty. So he
kept it all inside until the last years of his
life when he knew he was going to die. But
when it came down to what he wanted to
say something - he just couldn't get the
words out. So when I was trying to tease
out of him his last words and what
he wanted to say before he died - he had
extreme difficultly figuring out what he wanted
to say.

So instead of making that same mistake - I'm
just letting it all hang out - I'm not holding back
until the last minute - It's coming out as one
long data stream &^%$#! :biggrin:

[Chooky]

I agree that anonymity can lead to disingenous attitudes. Plus, internet activism may actually lead to complacency because people may think that if they offer a two cent rant that they've made a contribution.

Also, I've noticed that the home page hasn't been updated in quite some time, this might partly explain the decrease in new participation as their are other sites that keep up with contemporary news that people might prefer to participate in.

[mankind]

I agree that anonymity can lead to disingenous attitudes. Plus, internet activism may actually lead to complacency because people may think that if they offer a two cent rant that they've made a contribution.

So ideally the answer is if we want to do something about activism we need to simply stop hiding behind a mask of anonymity and progress towards real action.

True too, many anonymous users are reluctant to rant about whatever the issue is, unrestrained in front of persons face to face so they do so behind a mask.

It's unfortunate but that's what happens much of the time, as monkeygone2 eloquently brought out in his posts.

Some anonymous users however don't feel they have the credentials to do just that so they tend to shy away from letting their identities be known. reasons can be that they feel that they are not well rounded out in Asian American history and critical thinking skills, writing and speaking skills, or/and have the right circumstances so they can focus their time on addressing activism issues.

Not because they want to get online just to babble and rant, which brings little results, but more because they are afraid of the possible negative reactions from others and other repercussions that can bring. Even as they may have good intentions in doing so.

I think that is the reason but that is just a theory on my part.

[AngryABCGirl]

This is my view on it. I wanted to comment on this post awhile ago but never got around too.

I feel in many ways the anonymous model that yw embodies is not an outdated medium as much as that need to be anonymous is not so much relevant anymore. I think ten years ago Asian American awareness and activism were still in many ways kind of taboo and that people who wanted to be aware had no choice but to seek each other out online in venues like this to feel safe. I think because of measured successes in independent, new and traditional media, (a la Better Luck Tomorrow, Youtube Stars, Asians on America' Best Dance Crew, etc) and the elections of more and more Asian American representatives in government, and more generations of Asian Americans who have had their educations in majority Asian neighborhoods and to universities with large Asian populations, people are generally more aware and willing to claim an Asian American identity in a political and cultural way and more aware of social issues and do not feel disinclined to act on them. At least in my peer group of people in their mid to late twenties I rarely meet anyone who is "ashamed to be Asian" and are usually at least somewhat aware of some issues that are going on the community at large.

In same ways, maybe I misinterpret, but I feel like Asians in peergroups even younger than I are far more comfortable with claiming an independent Asian American identity or it's less of an issue for them of the immigrant gap because of being around more people like them and having that be fine and seeing people like them on tv, youtube, or hearing them on the radio. I didn't have Daniel Dae Kim on tv, or Far East Movement playing on my radio, or have Happyslip to watch on tv when I was 16 compared to the kids today. I feel like a lot of our old discussions on the board involved identity, when it's become less of an issue and that a multitude can exist and contradict that being fine. I think attitudes of immigrants are changing too with immigrants coming from a very different Asia that is prosperous and more open in the 00s rather than a lot of our parents who came in the 70s and 80s and even the 90s who will influence and raise their children to a very different standard. I've noticed more and more people in my age group and below not going into the big three and going into professions like education and social work without struggles and stigma from family and peers as in the past.

In terms of online- I feel like a lot of the movement has gone to blogs and social networking. Blogs for interest-based news like Channelapa or AngryAsianMan and facebook for actual meet-ups rather than discussions. In many ways I feel like the discussions have either gone offline to the classrooms or that there is a lot more consensus in going the direction you feel you should or can serve the community. There's not as much need to go on and debate on a message board and to get something done or get involved.

I guess an example of everything I've been talking about can be represented in this series of PSAs with Asian Americans from different walks of live, social class, ethnicity, and even locations around the world who are all entertainers supporting a more traditional social cause- showing I guess a convergence of new activism in a age of new media. I think something like this would have been unimaginable even five years ago: http://www.youtube.com/user/cpafpsa

[drydem]

It's 2010 and I'm really happy to see a non-white person
as president - I never thought I see the day when the
president of the USA was not 100% white. Yeah I am
super happy to see Obama as president. As political
adversaries/obstacles to asian american issues die off
, e.g. US Senator Jesse Helms, it is important to recognize
possible opponents to the asian american community
an keep them from gaining too much power. It is
much easier to clip the power from the Right
winger when their power base is small.

Demographer say that whites will no longer
be the majority by the end of this century but
what they don't say is that the hispanic
community (and not Asians or Blacks) is the
likely ethnic group to challenge white society
for cultural supremacy. I believe that
in 2012 - analysis of the US Census for
2010 will bear this out.

As far as the mass media is concern - I want more positve portrayals
of asian descent men on film, TV, and Cable ( e.g. like the
character "Hiro" in NBC TVs show "Heroes.")

I think the movement to train healthcare providers to be
culturally sensitive is still in its infancy and has a long
way to go.

Social Networking is only a marketing distribution
system/mechanism but it is not the direction or
focus of a social movement. The Asian American
community is comparably small so communicating
an idea can theoretically spread quicker and reach a
saturation point sooner than in the mainstream
white society. In addition, since the Asian American
community is younger and more well educated
than the rest of the country - it benefits from
hi tech communications and the internet more
than the rest of the country. We just need to
know ourselves well enough to recognizes the
ideas/issues that are truely important enough to
us that are worth fighting for.

In my younger days, mainstream society imposed its
American Dream on my asian american community.
I think the tables are turning now, as Asian Americans
become more established, more mature, and much
more savvy - they are redefining what the American
Dream means to them personally and reshaping
it to something that is more meaningful. I hope to
live long enough to see what that Asian American
Dream looks like...

The USA is headed for an economic decline similar to
Great Britian's economic decline after World War II.
The force behind it is economic globalization which
is gradually shift most of the economic activity to
developing countries( Brazil, China and India). I
expect this general trend in economic decline will
lessen asian immigration to the the USA and dampen
the long term growth of the asian american population
growth. Economic globalization and sound fiscal
management is also spuring growth in certain parts
of South America but has not worked out as well
for Central America/Mexico - hence, hispanic
immigration to the the USA and its contribution
to the growth of the hispanic community in the
USA is likely to remain strong this century.

[USCTrojanzNo1]

I think that for many generations, mainstream white society did impose the American Dream on Asian Americans. They imposed their expectations on us and what they believe makes Asian Americans successful (go to an Ivy League school, become a white collar professional like doctor, engineer, or investment banker). That's what the model minority was all about and why many have begun to realize how dangerous it is and how we are all challenging it.

The beauty of California is that the Asian American community there is so diverse. And I think it is b/c of our sheer numbers that we are beginning to form our own identities and letting our individuality shine. The beauty of the Asian American community here is that it doesn't matter what type of Asian you are. If you do not aspire to go to an elite university and/or be a white collar professional, you have a good amount of Asians who are like you so the support system is there. Although some heavily populated Asian American communities in California are ultra cutthroat competitive (particularly Santa Clara area and Silicon Valley) you also have plenty of Asian Americans who are looking to mold their own version of success.

i think that as long as you maintain the right values (respect others, use good judgment, work hard at what you do, stay grounded, stay out of trouble), a lot of Asians (are hopefully beginning to realize) that you don't need to conform to model minority standards to become successful and that success for each Asian American individual is how he/she wishes to define it. And i think that if you choose not to go the "traditional" Asian American route, you will have more of a support system to keep you on your feet.

[snailpoo]

There's something about sitting on an uninhabited island that changed my perspective. Why complain about things I do nothing to correct?


How about a new rule?

No more empty ranting about the same useless topic for the five hundredth time unless you actually post a solution or at least a small measure to address the issue. I know that most of us are now older and busy, but how much time does it take to send a quick, angry letter or email and do nudge each other to do the same on an important issue that really matters? I'm not talking about mindlessly harping about a random video posted by some nameless girl with self image problems. How many people actually did something to support the kids in Philadelphia? When was the last time any of us were active in local politics? When was the last time any of us volunteered? (And for those of us that did, kudos, but why not get more people involved?)

[AngryABCGirl]

There's something about sitting on an uninhabited island that changed my perspective. Why complain about things I do nothing to correct?


How about a new rule?

No more empty ranting about the same useless topic for the five hundredth time unless you actually post a solution or at least a small measure to address the issue. I know that most of us are now older and busy, but how much time does it take to send a quick, angry letter or email and do nudge each other to do the same on an important issue that really matters? I'm not talking about mindlessly harping about a random video posted by some nameless girl with self image problems. How many people actually did something to support the kids in Philadelphia? When was the last time any of us were active in local politics? When was the last time any of us volunteered? (And for those of us that did, kudos, but why not get more people involved?)

I actually volunteered last two weekish at an Asian film festival in the Bay Area and go out to events.

My friend and I in real life do get involved together and I use facebook for that. I think I only keep going to this website because I've been on it since I was a teenager. I honestly think most of the people here don't actually care to get involved as much as to complain about the same things over and over again.

[drydem]

There's something about sitting on an uninhabited island that changed my perspective. Why complain about things I do nothing to correct?


How about a new rule?

No more empty ranting about the same useless topic for the five hundredth time unless you actually post a solution or at least a small measure to address the issue. I know that most of us are now older and busy, but how much time does it take to send a quick, angry letter or email and do nudge each other to do the same on an important issue that really matters? I'm not talking about mindlessly harping about a random video posted by some nameless girl with self image problems. How many people actually did something to support the kids in Philadelphia? When was the last time any of us were active in local politics? When was the last time any of us volunteered? (And for those of us that did, kudos, but why not get more people involved?)


How about censoring ranting about empty ranting?

RFOL.

You know
People rant because they don't have the POWER to fix things
or because they don't KNOW THE SOLUTION to fix things

When you work with the public and
the community at large you'll realize that the best way to get
where you want to go is to go there together.

No one person knows everything
and most of us are not jack of all trades type.

But
acting as a group we can know more
and
acting as a group we can sometimes muster the power to do things
we could not do alone.

To get that kind of grass root group strength
you need a certain level of tolerance
that people will be be joining your group
from different levels of abilities.

A community can't
be composed only rock stars.
To be effective and SUSTAINABLE
- a community needs to accomdate everyone.


While
Philadelphia does not qualify for local politics for me
but I've been involved with local politics for the last 20 years.
All of it has been on a volunteer basis
albeit it would be nice if I got paid for it!
Because I've always worked at the grass root level
I was never alone or without the support of
my neighbors and my community.

[snailpoo]

I honestly think most of the people here don't actually care to get involved as much as to complain about the same things over and over again.

Yep. It's sort of sad that people occasionally raise real issues, but won't do anything but sit on their ass and complain. But then again, there's some here that would hurt more than help, like:

How about censoring ranting about empty ranting?

RFOL.

How about a single post from you where you don't look like silly responding to me? Did you finally get around to actually reading the Whaling Convention and UNCLOS? Did you finally get around to figuring out how much tuition is at an Ivy? Do you not understand how funny you sound when you laugh at me for saying that people should actually act and do something and then turn around and say:

You know
People rant because they don't have the POWER to fix things
or because they don't KNOW THE SOLUTION to fix things

When you work with the public and
the community at large you'll realize that the best way to get
where you want to go is to go there together.

No one person knows everything
and most of us are not jack of all trades type.

But acting as a group we can know more
and
acting as a group we can sometimes muster the power to do things
we could not do alone.

:biggrin

[MarshalStealth]

How about censoring ranting about empty ranting?
RFOL.

You know
People rant because they don't have the POWER to fix things
or because they don't KNOW THE SOLUTION to fix things

When you work with the public and
the community at large you'll realize that the best way to get
where you want to go is to go there together.

No one person knows everything
and most of us are not jack of all trades type.

But acting as a group we can know more
and acting as a group we can sometimes muster the power to do things
we could not do alone.

To get that kind of grass root group strength
you need a certain level of tolerance
that people will be be joining your group
from different levels of abilities.

A community can't
be composed only rock stars.
To be effective and SUSTAINABLE
- a community needs to accommodate everyone.


To collaborate as a team , everyone must cooperate first.

The first step is to define the big picture in terms of the various significant variables. A full comprehension of the big picture usually enables one person or a group to define the end in mind. Everyone usually have a different view of looking at the big picture. ... Take the different views and simplify it to a few essential points. It is vital to keep the end in mind simple in its objective. If everyone agrees with those points, they will cooperate and collaborate in creating the solution.

To find the solution, defining the end in mind is the secondary way of doing things. The key is knowing the big picture first.

When the big picture changes, knowing how to adjust as a team is the key to maintaining team stability.

Reminder: Not everyone is going to be pleased w/ the end in mind. Conclusively, the majority rules (or those who control the majority, usually rules)

[haplesshobo]

After this, maybe we should re-title this thread so it doesn't specifically refer to 2010?

so as most of the og's know, and i think it's rather apparent, in the last few years, participation on yw has declined substantially. much of it has to do with the fact that the former regulars were mostly students or young, young professionals with time to kill and now, having grown a bit older, have responsiblities that don't necessarily allow us to be on 24:7 like before. then there's also the issue of burnout. after discussing the same old topics to death, some of us started to feel like we were just repeating ourselves like robots.

that's just speculation, of course, and the question remains - with yw so quiet nowadays...what has happened to asian activism? i would dare to say that at one point - maybe years and years ago - for a brief period of time, yw was at the frontline of the battles, catching and nailing each issue that affected the api communited as soon as it emerged. those days, which i recall fondly, have come and gone. so where has the energy moved?

i think the greater community was intrigued by yw in the early 2000's (is that how we should refer to the beginning of the decade now?) when they featured us on prime time and many major newspapers as an example of the "new face of activism". and certainly, it wasn't just us back then. there was us, modelminority.com, the fighting44's, etc.

but with facebook/twitter came the end, at least from my observations, of forums. things just haven't been quite the same anymore. in any forum - not just yw. while we used to easily have over 20 regulars on at any given time, now it's strange to see over 5.

your thoughts?

Rather than look in the mirror and ask the hard and difficult questions why nobody comes to this forum anymore, its a mistake to comfort yourself with easy answers that absolves this forum of any responsibility because posters got older and too busy or all forums don't generate any activity anymore.

I also check up on another forum, and yes, it probably doesn't get generate quite as many threads as it used to. But, there's still a lot of activity on that forum even though posters include editor of a major newspaper, person that worked in White House, IBankers, etc.. Those posters have busy lives and they continued to post so I don't buy this whole excuse that this forum declined because posters got too busy or older.

Yes, posters on all forums burn out or get less involved and some even leave. But, that's why you always need new blood- new posters to join to replace the old posters that leave.

But, I'd argue that this forum never really wanted to get too popular or bring in too many new posters. When I joined, I got a couple of PMs from other posters who told me to leave because this forum was only for certain AAs with a certain political outlook. I'm sure I wasn't the only person who got such warnings, but I was too stubborn to get pushed out like that.

There were opportunities for this forum to become more popular or attract new posters, but which it steadfastly refused to. Why weren't that any Q+A with AA celebs, where fans of that celeb could have discovered this forum? It would have been interesting to read an interview with chef David Chang, from an AA perspective. Instead, the Q+As would be with some anonymous professor in Utah nobody's ever heard of. Did the students at the university even know who that professor was? And, when a minor celeb AA joined, the celeb got chased out of this forum.

certainly asian american issues have not disappeared, racism is not obsolete, and there are many greater issues, such as health care reform, that affect our communities. where is the forum for those discussions now - if not in forums such as yw? i see no substantive discussions on other social media utilities such as facebook, and certainly none of twitter, where we are limited to 140 characters.

is it not a disappointment that college students no longer use forums such as ours to engage in the debates and discussions that we used to? or even to try their hand at campaigning like we used to?

After 08, when college students played a major role in Obama's win by doing a lot of groundwork and campaigning, you're going to argue that the problem is college students' lack of debates or campaigning?

But, I do see substantive discussions in some forums including the earlier one I mentioned. For substantial debates, you need intelligent people with different viewpoints in a framework of respectful disagreement where they will attack ideas but not the person.

But, was there a lot of substantive debate here? If this forum is only for people with a certain ideology, then you don't get a lot of debate as everybody already agrees with everybody else. When I would interject with a different perspective, I'd get posters basically wail, "why are you being so mean by not agreeing with everything I say..."

I'd try to do a little research into what I posted, but I didn't get a lot of substantive responses in return a lot of times. Instead, I'd get negative karma points and people would call me names like 'shit for brains', 'half-wit', 'nazi', 'house nigger', etc... all because I didn't agree with everybody else. I always thought there was a bit of a double-standard as I knew I would have been rightfully banned for saying similar things about other posters.

And, its a bit ironic you mentioned twitter since as its being currently utilized isn't what the company originally intended it for. But, the company accepted this change instead of fighting it. Instead of bemoaning the lack of debates in today's activism, you should be asking how AA activism should be harnessing the power of the internet- activism in the internet era is about reaching a wider, larger audience with the drawback that the recipient has weaker ties and participates less.

Everybody thought I was being facetious when I said I believed a movie like Karate Kid did more for AA issues than a forum like this, but I was being serious. This forum obviously delves much deeper into AA issues, but the problem is its just preaching to the choir. If an issue comes up here, it reaches such a small number of people even when this forum was more popular. Even then, most of the people it reaches are so hardcore that they probably would have already heard about the issue.

Whereas, despite the goofiness and silliness of Karate Kid, I thought the movie did more because it reached such a larger, wider audience with how wrong the Japanese Internment was as it put a face on that issue.

Wouldn't this forum have been more effective about activism if it had been more about generating a bigger, wider community of AAs instead of it being geared for hardcore activists? That way, when something wrong or racist really did break out, it could have reached a wider audience of people who might not have otherwise heard about it and were originally just here for cars, asian food, etc..? Somebody might have just come here cause there was a interview with David Chang, but might have stayed and read about healthcare debate.

[drydem]

When I was posting on the soc.culture.asian.american newsgroup one accepted that along with it open and un-mediated newsgroup came some people who had with nasty tempers and bad manners - the standard advice was to ignore the trolls. However, when people stop playing with trolls and avoid flaming - SCAA started getting spammed. If SCAA was not being disrupted by trolls - it was destined to be clogged up with spam. As an un-mediated newsgroup this was a problem and probably the death blow for SCAA. Hence, IMHO for embattled interest groups which face actively hostile outside forces - a monitored/member-only forum/social network/email group is the only way to go.

I'm much older now and my energy and time is waning so I must budget my time and efforts accordingly. I not interested in fighting or debating - I am interested in learning something or doing something constructive and useful/relevant to me. Today's public debates on TV seem more staged than anything else. Money now buys more influence than it ever has before - and often seems to steer how public debate is formed and how it will end. FWIW - I do post comments up on Yahoo! or other websites for the world to see... .

I've noticed that it is much easier for people to be more tolerant and constructive on a forum when everyone has the same goals. Activitism means having a plan and a doable/obtainable goal. A plan means there are definite roles and things to do, e.g. voter registration campaign.

[drydem]

With respect to local politics, I have written letters, submitted written and oral testimony in public hearings, appeared in court, canvassed community, help with video production, and done all sorts of community based activitism. However, the closing thing to public protesting I've done are my postings on SCAA...LOL... I guess its not my modus of operandi.... If I'm going on the offensive I like to precisely identify my target.

In politics - identifying friend and foe can be a tricky thing. You need friends because in politics numbers do count and can turn the tide to help your cause so you dont want to attack potential friends. At the same time your adversaries/foes - may not always identify themselves as such - and can and often do hinder you and your cause. So when you are outlining your political advocacy not only is it important to identify trusted friends but also to positively identify known opponents/adversaries to your cause. For example, when the USA went to war in Iraq - some American were for it and some Americans were not for it and some Americans sat on the side-lines and stayed apolitical about it. If you blamed the Iraqi war on Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld - you'd be on target. If you blamed the Iraqi war on Dennis Kucinich - you'd be off target and attacking an ally/friend. If you blamed the Iraqi war on a U.S. permanent resident from the Solomon Island - you'd be likely attacking a neutral party/innocent bystander.


With the economy in really deep do do - most people are too busy just trying to stay above water. Unless - the issue is directly connect to their purses and survival - most are not going to get out there for the *cause*. I have a part time job with a charity - and I can tell you that donation levels are at a real low - there is alot of apathy all across the nation. Can you blame them? I personal know people who are now unemployed or underemployed - and yeah the job market in general has gone sour across the board - it is kinda of scary too.

Any socio-political activism is more effective when there is money and organization behind it. Much of the current 2012 election campaigning activity appears to be big money and it does not appear to be broadbased from the voters themselves. So you might say this coming election will not be lacking wrt to the glitz and $$ - however - what the voters will say in the voting booths is another thing though....

[drydem]

for 2012 here are is an example of possible asian american issues

Problem: Blaming asian countries (e.g. China, Japan, Korea) for American economic woes will like inflame/incite/promote racial discrimination against asian american.

Solution: Identifying blaming other nations as wrong and then identify the real culprit for American's economic woes - economic globalization and the lack of global protection of labor markets. While setting up economic zones to useful in attract capital investments, it should only be done if there are adequate safe guards to protect labor from predatory employment practices and abuses.

Problem: blaming our economic woes on immigrants. Non-asian american start harassing and discriminating against asian descent americans - regardless of their citizenship status.

Solution: Identify how blaming our economic woes on immigration is wrong and then identify then identify the true cause of our economic woes - abuses by the financial sector. Show how immigration flow mirrors economic demand and how our economy benefits from immigration.