It’s time to dance, y’all.
This week, make like Hillary and shimmy your way into some good vibes with this playlist of rockin’ poppin’ feel-good tunes.
You don’t have to actually shimmy, but try it out once in your car–I bet you won’t be able to stop. Just make sure you don’t move your steering wheel and veer directions.
Drive & dance safely, friends.
I’ve been in Washington DC for a couple days and am leaving today.
Being here in such a politically charged and passionate environment…it’s really a different kind of vibe. I went to Union Pub yesterday to watch the first of the political debates and it was PACKED. I mean, wall to wall, every seat taken, where are all the POC because there’s too many progressive white folk & hyper conservatives vying for breathing room in here, kind of packed.
But, it was really cool in a way, to be in the presence of young (ish) people who are passionate about politics and deeply invested, mostly because that’s their job, but also because it’s their interest.
All I know is that I’ll be back someday soon and hopefully will be just as passionate as I was last night, screaming at the TV screens.
PS: they played the first song from my playlist, FDT, in the pub…hilarity ensued.
PPS: there are expletives thrown here and there in the songs…so slightly NSFW unless you work in a liberal environment or are wearing earbuds.
Lots of love & political passion coming your way,
Christina
I love singing in a British accent. It just puts me in a really, really great mood.
Trust me. Try it. Right now, just try it.
Every song lyric seems punchier and full of life, doesn’t it?
Even when I’m listening to songs by non-British bands or artists, I’ll still organically move into a British accent–I think my singing gets slightly better for some reason.
In that spirit, this week’s TunesDay playlist is comprised of my favourite (eh, eh, eh?!) tunes by British bands.
Have any recommendations? Send ’em my way!
This week’s set is an ode to womxn-led bands & duos whose vocal prowess never fails to make me sing loudly along in my car…or weep emotionally next to a pile of warm laundry. The laundry thing doesn’t happen as often as you’d think though.
Growing up, I always wished I had a super silky, smooth singing voice. Unfortunately, it’s always sounded like scratchy, tone-deaf mush. But, that doesn’t stop me from trying to harmonize with these bad-ass ladies in my car and shower…and in the kitchen while I microwave rice.
Who were/are your favorite womxn vocalists? I’m always looking for recommendations to add to my collection, and let me know your thoughts on this week’s set!
with love & beautiful musical vibes,
Christina
For most, Labor Day weekend means an extra day off of our normal work week. But something about a jam-packed weekend also means a required wind-down session.
These tunes are some of my late-night go-to’s after long drives, intense heat, sore feet, and much needed rejuvenation.
Even though you’re (begrudgingly) back at your routine, let the recent memories of your fun-filled weekend fuel you until the next federally-mandated holiday…or until the US realizes that our work week is far. too. long.
A series on cultural appropriation by Warda Nawaz, Christina Ong, and Karina Ruiz
Lately there’s been a lot of education and truth dropping on mainstream medias and people are speaking out for social change. Amongst these topics is cultural appropriation. Many articles have been built to educate white audiences; In response to this, we three womxn of color have collaborated on this series to not only call attention to the fact that cultural appropriation is in fact happening, but how it’s hurtful on an individualistic and personal level. The following is only my portion of the series, but I encourage you to go on and read all three as we share our own thoughts and encounters with the cultural appropriation of cheongsams, cholas, and henna.
Growing up as a Chinese American girl in a predominantly white neighborhood, I didn’t have the terminology for how it felt when there were no role models who looked like me on the silver screen. Now, I understand cultural appropriation to mean my community’s misrepresentation or an entire lack of it.
Orientalism did its job well, relegating Chinese culture to punchlines. It worked to otherize Asian bodies, speaking to white America’s fears about immigration and confirming its belief in eurocentrism.
Decades later, and we’re fighting a different version of the same battle. White America, like all my friends thinking Panda Express was real Chinese food, continues to mock our traditions under the guise of paying tribute.
In 2015, the infamous Met Gala themed their festivities, China Whispers: Tales of the East in Art, Film and Fashion. It was, in essence, an appropriative overtaking by Hollywood’s elite. Dresses worn were “inspired” by cheongsam (or qipao if you speak Mandarin), but were influenced by other Eastern Asian cultures, or were made into low-cut dresses for sex appeal. Traditional Chinese cheongsam is actually tied to womxn’s liberation, as womxn were previously forbidden from wearing robes typically reserved for men. Wearing the cheongsam became a form of political expression–of our feminism and strength. Sexualizing the cheongsam trivializes our struggles and re-emphasizes the false notion that Chinese womxn are subservient. People who do not identify as Chinese need to realize that cheongsam’s purpose is not an opportunity for an adult game of dress-up. Someone’s sex appeal should not come at the expense of our dignity.
What happened at the Met Gala extends to all of the media’s representation of Eastern Asians. Though we should know that Eastern Asian cultures are vast and its people are diverse, representations of our people in pop culture have been monolithic. While our men are represented as kung fu masters or desexualized sidekicks, our womxn are exotified. These misrepresentations are steeped in a legacy of Western imperialism and militarization. As Sam Louie writes, “the desire to sexually possess, conquer, and at times humiliate a subservient Asian womxn permeates our culture.” And even still with these limiting, hurtful representations, we were never even allowed to play ourselves. White America’s heroine, Katharine Hepburn played a Chinese womxn whose village was conquered by Japanese soldiers in the 1944 film, Dragon Seed. Whitewashing, even in 2016, is a pervasive problem for the Asian American community.
The issue with cultural appropriation is that it consistently centers characters who have no right being in our stories. That is not to say non-Eastern Asians should not learn about our culture or history. But, they need to know that their knowledge does not give them ownership. If their intentions are to play the lead role in our own stories or parade around in blatantly sexualized versions of our cultural clothes, we need to tell them to take a seat. We have for too long allowed dominant, oppressive behaviors to run over our self-esteem and acceptance of who we are.
Yet, there’s can be progress for us. Hollywood strongholds like Constance Wu and Margaret Cho have recently called for representation of Asian actors in more roles.
Until we are allowed to create and popularize our stories, culturally appropriative legacies will continue being a problem, and Chinese feminists will make sure you know we aren’t the hypersexualized womxn you write us to be.
Karina Ruiz is a Chicana researcher interested in Latinx-American identities and U.S. assimilation. She is a McNair and Sally Cassanova CSU Pre-Doctoral scholar applying to doctoral programs for the ‘17-’18 year. Karina currently lives in Gilroy, California with her chug and partner.
Warda is a Pakistani immigrant to the United States and a self-proclaimed feminist and women’s rights advocate. She studied art history at UC Davis and is now a graduate student at California Northstate University College of Pharmacy, where she hopes to learn the art and science of drug delivery and make an impact on minority groups including women and children in clinical and outpatient settings.
This week’s set of tunes is an ode to my best pal and my old tradition: Cafe Night.
Essentially, we would lay in our living room at night, turn off all the lights, open our curtains, and let the dim glow of street lamps settle in. Then, we’d play a soothing set of Norah Jones, Geographer, Little Dragon, and other hip n’ happenin’ artists.
This version is a little more indie/alternative/r&b than our original Cafe Night playlists, but like most great things, some changes come over time, but it’s still just as poppin’ as before!
Whether or not you have dim mood lighting, I hope y’all listen to this week’s set and feel an overwhelming sense of calm. Everyone deserves a Cafe Night once in a while. So start up these tunes and let the music do the work. You can work out your problems another day.
This is a different kind of TunesDay. I am taking this time as a thank you–a sharing of weight and burden. It is an expression and acknowledgement of the unbearable struggle that my Black and brown family constantly endure.
I am unbelievably grateful to every single person, across racial plains, who has taught me about solidarity, Black struggle, and what that means in creating a better world.
You have shared your triumphs and your pitfalls. You told us about your losses and fears. And sometimes, often times, we do not believe them.
It makes me incredibly emotional to know that there are people who do not value our shared humanity, who hijack every opportunity for learning and turn it into defensive ignorance.
Still, you speak your truths as if your lives depend on it, because it does.
It was never and is never your job to keep teaching and keep educating those around you. But still, you do. And I have benefited from that every step of the way. I promise to do more teaching. To let you take a break and stop your wounds from reopening.
Your resounding resilience comforts me. It tells me that despite oppression, hatred, and magnitudes of barriers, it is always possible to overcome. It tells me that eastern Asian womxn like myself can also be strong and outspoken. You tell me that my voice also matters. You confirm that racism and exoticism isn’t just in my head; that it impacts as all–some in worse ways than other. But we never play oppression olympics. We’re not at Rio. We never displace or remove or hide. You always let us express our shared frustrations and our differences. In doing so, you uplift us all, without question or compromise.
There are no words to explain how thankful I am for the womxn of color, especially in the Black struggle, who teach me, guide me, and love me in spite of my missteps and high learning curve.
We rise because of you.
So this is just a thank you, plain and simple. Because even though thank you’s don’t change the world, you still need to hear it. You need to know that your work and your presence matters. Thank you, a million times over. I have learned to love myself because of you and in turn, I will do everything in my power to ensure you too feel love, safety, and acceptance in this society that constantly tears us down.
With a love that knows no bounds,
Christina
You are aching bones and stretching skin–
a combination of the rigid and flexible.
Your body is and was and continues to be
everything it needs to be.
And that is all you can ask of it.
Do not let your body know you are ever ashamed.
Do not be ashamed of how your body cares for your soul.
You are full
of life.
Your soul knows it.
Your body does too.
Sometimes our brains need catching up.
Be patient.
Because though you are bones, and skin, and brains,
you are also strength, and shelter, and resilience.
You are everything you always needed.
You just might not know it yet.
Read this until you do.
Tell yourself
until it stops becoming forced
and you know how loved your soul
and your brain
and your body is.
I have a problem keeping track of days. I can’t believe I almost let Tuesday pass me by without posting my TunesDay playlist.
Sorry y’all. Your girl needs to put her TunesDay alerts back on her calendar.
My only excuse is that it is 93 degrees Fahrenheit outside and I am inside with a gnarly sore throat and stuffy nose…to the point where I think I have a headache because my nasal passages are preventing my body from gaining optimum oxygen levels. It’s a real challenge.
But despite that, I can still put together a bumpin’ playlist! Let’s just pretend I purposely held off on releasing this week’s playlist until 5:45PM so you could enjoy it on your sad, lengthy, frustrating-beyond-belief commute home. Hopefully this helps turn your car/subway/bus/uber/walk into your own dance party. You don’t need anyone’s permission except your own to let yo’ body do it’s thang.
Dance responsibly, friends.
ong going 