Some quotes from our special guest @JeremyTiang in my Asia-Pac Studies Lit&Film class and my thoughts after reading his book "State of Emergency": "There& #39;s so much of the past that clings to us." We read stories in a temporal context. These screenshots are my context. 1/4

In the US right now, protesters are being scapegoated to make this moment into an "Emergency." The police state uses these instances to justify increasingly draconian measures toward protestors (framed as & #39;rioters& #39; CAUSING & #39;unrest& #39; - & ignoring the original cause). 2/4

2 of Breonna Taylor& #39;s 3 murderers are left uncharged. Meanwhile protesters on the AG& #39;s lawn in Louisville are charged with felony + 2 misdemeanors. These labels serve their interests. They WANT those who are not there to think of this moment as an EMERGENCY & thus justified. 3/4

One last one for the creatives out there: "History is indifferent to the needs of narrative." Historical fiction requires a strong basis in uncovered histories. How does the "past that clings to us" show up in the present? How will THIS moment cling to us & our imaginations? 4/4