Heein Choi's Independent Study Blogs (Year 2014, Fall Semester)

Asian American Leaders in 1969: Birth of Ethnic Studies

Dear members of our class,

            I am so excited to be able to have this opportunity together. I am excited to laugh with you, cry with you, and most of all, grow with you. This safe space that our Guru has created gives us the opportunities that previous Asian American studies majors and Asian American students never had before. However, it is also important to note that since we have this new opportunity, we must take full advantage and accomplish our goals. Before moving on to what we hope to accomplish in the future, I think it is important to look back at where we have started.

            Maybe just a little under a year ago, our other Guru, Max, had introduced us to AASI and the Asian American studies major. At that time, our numbers were small. To see our group and interest level rise to the point where we can’t use our old reliable room in Morton is an incredible achievement. Since last year, AASI’s Facebook page has gone from 0 likes to over 500 and reached over 4,000 people, simply on one post. One year has gone by and we have done amazing things.

            Although we have come this far, there is no limit to how successful we can be. As an organization, our campus brand will spread further once we establish ourselves into a formal organization. However some things that I always want to remind AASI, I hope we can expand just beyond the minority circle. Minorities already know that there are issues being a person of color in this country, while nearly 50% of whites argue that racism does not exist anymore. Let’s not keep preaching to the choir, but rather, try to inform the people that need to hear our message the most. I also am hesitant of building a structure that has exact positions in our organizations (secretary, president, etc.) While this might foster new voices to contribute to AASI, I don’t want the people that are elected secretary to feel that are pigeonholed into one area of AASI. The secretary should have just as much say as the president.

            All in all, our organization is doing a great job representing the voices that cannot be heard or are simply being ignored. Like the Cambodian-Americans that are struggling financially and academically, many people are ignoring our issues simply because we are successful statistically. However, once we explain how diverse being Asian means, I believe people will have a better idea.

Thank you.

-Heein

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Reflection #2: Rap Record
11:30 PM 9/29/14

Quick update on the rap record that Jon and I are thinking of doing.

At first, I viewed the concept of the song as just claiming our Asian American identity. However, last night at 3:22 AM, I set Jonathon this text:

"Heein: Yo. So I was thinking and how do you like this concept. We narrate the day Vincent chin died in his perspective or a third person perspective"

Basically, I hoped to frame the song like this:

Verse 1: Provide the back story of Vincent Chin. How he was preparing for his bachelorette party, how his mother didn't want him to go, and how he had no care in the world for Asian American issues.

Verse 2: Story of his death and the "punishment" of the murderers.

Verse 3: The meaning for Asian Americans now.

Just some late-night thoughts.

Also, last night, I reached out to G Yamazawa, the spoken word artist from over the weekend, and he asked if he could post my email on to his Facebook page. I was definitely honored to hear him respond back like this, and he and I arranged to meet over Thanksgiving break.

Hopefully, ASI can bring him back to Williamsburg and listen to his story of the only Asian American kid growing up in the South and how that upbringing shapes his career today.

Excited for the future.


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Reflection #1: Thoughts in the Shower
1:15 AM 9/29/14

What a day. I apologize for the informality of this post, but I just hopped out the shower and too many thoughts are going through my mind right now.

1. The first thought that came to my mind was with my talk with Jonathon Hsu today. I asked him for advice on what kind of projects I can do for the future for ASI. We bounced ideas back and forth and this is what he came up with:

Capture the artwork/way of expression/moment/random things you do that best conveys your Asian identity.

This weekend, I went to the spoken word event hosted by AMP, and the special performer was G Yamazawa. His resume is too long for me to write, but the thing that struck me was how similar we were. He grew up in the South in a predominately African-American community and his spoken words just struck a special cord with me. With every single story he told, I could relate to every single syllable flying out his mouth.

I even performed spoken word. Never in a million years would I ever think that I would do something like that in front of a crowd, but I felt like that this moment was too perfect to pass--I had to assert my Asian American identity in front of this predominately white crowd. Hopefully I'll perfect that and post that spoken word as part of this project.

I'm just really excited to work with a project in mind. Pallavi already agreed to be part of this project by showing off her traditional dances.

2. These are my texts to Jonathon Hsu..

"Heein: Yo
Heein: This is heein
Heein: Want to make a rap record
Heein: No this is not a joke"

Thankfully, Jonathon really matched my excitement. Jonathon and I are starting a rap group... Hopefully we can keep it low-key for a bit and receive advice from Professor Thulwell and G Yamazawa, who is also a rapper, and perfect a record. Music has always been a huge part of my life, and I want to contribute back to this art form by adding our wrinkle to the mix. Even though it'll sound ridiculously amateur and the first record might be weak, I'm just excited to show my true colors in my passion.

Of course in the shower I thought of the perfect hook. During the spoken word, one of the dopest lines by G Yamazawa was "Don't worry if I eat dogs, 'cause I eat cats like you." Hopefully we can sample his voice and have that looping over some scratches of the record.

Needless to say.... I'm fucking excited.

From bondage to freedom - The 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indian workers in South Africa

Please read this article in preparation for our guest lecture from Dr. Kirpal Singh.

source: http://www.sahistory.org.za/people-south-africa/indian-south-africans

The feature on Indian South Africans forms part of our larger feature on the People of South Africa. It is a long term project to build a comprehensive overview of the rich diversity of peoples, traditions and culture that address the question, 'Who are South Africans?' This year, 2010, is the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Indian indentured labourers and the birth of this community in South Africa. We are using this to launch and major project to build a comprehensive social and political history of this African community.

Origins:

South Africans of Indian origin comprise a heterogeneous community distinguished by different origins, languages, and religious beliefs. The first Indians arrived during the Dutch colonial era, as slaves, in 1684. A conservative calculation based strictly on records shows over 16 300 slaves from the Indian subcontinent having been brought to the Cape. In the decades 1690 to 1725 over 80% of the slaves were Indians. This practice continued until the end of slavery in 1838. They made up the majority of slaves that came from the Far East and were by the 1880s totally integrated into the Cape White and Coloured communities.

In the second half if the 19th Century, Indians came to South Africa in two categories, namely as indentured workers in 1860 and later as 'free' or 'passenger' Indians. The former came as a result of a triangular pact among three governments, which stated that the indentured Indians were to work for the Natal colonial government on Natal's sugar plantations. The 'free' Indians came to South Africa mainly as traders alert to new opportunities abroad. These 'free Indians' came at their own expense from India, Mauritius, and other places. However, emigration was stopped in 1914.

Between November 1860 and 1911(when the system of indentured labour was stopped) nearly 152 184 indentured labourers from across India arrived in Natal. After serving their indentures, the first category of Indians were free to remain in South Africa or to return to India. By 1910, nearly 26.85% indentured men returned to India, but most chose to stay and thus constituted the forbearers of the majority of present-day South African Indians.

With 1994 and the advent of a democratic constitution, immigration policy restrictions, imposed by the apartheid regime, were scrapped. People from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, arrived in South Africa as new immigrants. However, there is a major cultural division between these new groups and Indian South Africans.

A key factor that helped forge a common South African "Indian" identity was the political struggles waged against harsh discriminatory laws enacted against Indians and the other Black oppressed groups in the country. As a consequence, the Indian community established a number of political formations, the most prominent being the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) established by Gandhi in 1894, and the Transvaal and Cape Indian Congresses in the early part of the 20th century. Members of the Indian Congress, together with socialist activists in the Communist Party of South Africa were instrumental, from the 1930s, in building cross racial alliances. The small Indian, Coloured and White progressive sectors joined with progressive African activists and together, they conducted a common non-racial struggle for Freedom and Equality.

Language, culture and beliefs:

English is spoken as a first language by most Indian South Africans, although a minority of the Indian South African population, especially the elders, still speak some Indian languages. These languages include Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Punjabi, and Gujarati. Indian South Africans are predominantly Hindu, but Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs also came to South Africa from India from as early as 1860.

Hindu, the most prominent religion in India, originated 5000 years ago. The Hindu religion prescribes a three fold approach to serving God. This approach includes knowledge, or the studying of the Bhagavad-Gita and other texts; yoga, to connect both body and mind, and devotion or bhakti, which promotes serving God through prayer and benevolent acts. Notable Hindu festivals include Diwali/Deepavali, the festival of lights, and the Tamil Thai Poosam Kavady annual festival.

Muslim/Islamic influence began in South Africa with the arrival of indentured workers from the west and south coast of India. As only 7- 10% of these workers were Muslim, Sheikh Ahmad, the founding father of Islam in Natal, and later Soofie Saheb ensured that impoverished Muslim Indians were not drawn to Hinduism. Therefore, a concerted effort was made to retain their religious heritage, through the demarcation of Islamic festivals and the establishment of Muslim schools or madrasahs.

The Islamic community continues to thrive in South Africa, in both Natal and the Western Cape - where indentured labourers moved with their families after the completion of their contracts. Followers of the Muslim faith are committed to praying at least five times a day, and are not permitted to drink alcohol. Notable Muslim celebrations include Eid, and Ramadan.

The Sikh faith forms a slender portion of the local population, and is a religion influenced by both Hindu and Islam. The Sikh religion is concerned with a belief in One Immortal Being and ten gurus. Many Sikhs wear an iron or steel bracelet as a symbol of their devotion to their religion. Originating in the Punjab region, prominent Sikh celebrations include Parkash Utsav, which celebrates 'Divine Light' or 'Divine Knowledge'.

The diverse Indian population in South Africa is concentrated in Kwa-Zulu Natal's largest city, Durban, which has the most substantial Indian population in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa as a whole also has a substantial Indian population, with over 1 million people of Indian descent. Therefore, Indian influences have contributed to the multi-cultural diversity of South Africa. The local culinary landscape has been infused with a diverse array of Oriental flavour - most notably in the Natal region. Popular dishes include curry, and an intrinsic Durban dish called 'bunny chow', which is half a loaf of bread, hollowed out and filled with curry.

South African Indians retain a sense of cultural and social connection to India, and a concept of primary local and secondary ancestral identity is prevalent among people of Indian descent.