I'm abt to watch "Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong," which appears to be a cute lil romcom, that I found thru the drop-down menu for "Asian & Pacific Islander Stories" @hulu. Assuming that they did this for #AAPIHM , I have two conflicting thoughts abt it. Tita Story Time? Y U P 1/

1st, I'm always glad to see API & AAPI stories in the media I consume. It helps me feel seen, heard, *remembered* as a person w/ that heritage. I was kinda impressed to see that the stars of the movie were also EPs, just like @Aliwong & #RandallPark were in Always Be My Maybe. 2/

Second—buckle up, buttercups—I'm not thrilled abt "Asian & Pacific Islander Stories" as a title for the playlist to celebrate #AsianAmericanPacificIslanderHeritageMonth . Why? What's missing? Oh, I know! AMERICAN

you, probs: OMFG Cookie it's kindof *implied*
me: (3/)

We're all aware of the horrific rise in #AsianHateCrimes around the US, incl the brutal attack on an #AAPI dad pushing his kid in a stroller. Oh, you didn't hear abt it? I know; 'sok. It got lost in the noise of daily brutality, eh? Here ya go, champ 4/ https://abc7news.com/san-francisco-asian-hate-crime-man-attacked-grocery-store-sf/10575684/

I'm sure you only looked at the headline in that story & didn't click the link... BRUH. Calmate! I'm not judging you. NOBODY actually clicks the link! Why do you think us OG @UofMaryland Journalism students were taught to put ALL the vital info in the headline? Let's look @ it 5/

I hope you noticed that the headline said "Asian father," not "Asian AMERICAN father" bc my whole thesis, much like the safety of our people seems like, is hanging on this one word that is missing: AMERICAN

It's missing in the headline of the related story, too 6/

See, when people talk abt what it means to be American, they regurgitate the wholesome metaphors of baseball, apple pie, and Mom. Not just any Mom, though! THIS VERY SPECIFICALLY AMERICAN MOM 7/

Let's put a pin in the 1950s nostalgia for a sec tho so I can get this connector out the way: go back to this excerptand notice the highlights:
Where's "American"? Some of the women were Americans of Asian descent
BRUCE = Bruce Lee = The Baddest Shamanic Muthafucka Ever 8/

Some of you may know the film They Call Me Bruce?, which was abt a Korean dude who was always mistaken for Bruce Lee. They shoulda subtitled it #SorryWrongAsian. The "racially-charged" hijinks? Boy howdy do they ensue! 9/

There are so many levels to this "joke" of "They call me Bruce?" from the assumption that someone who "looks like" Bruce Lee automatically knows martial arts, to the question mark in the title, like "Just bc I'm Asian, they're gonna call me Bruce Lee? I'm weaksauce! WTF" to...10/

...the fact this young father who was just brutally attacked wants to be called "Bruce" bc we #AAPI folx are always mistaken for each other. Fun fact: I went by "Connie" (short for "Concepcion") for a few yrs after we immigrated bc I was too scared to correct white teachers 11/

Know who was the most prominent Asian American woman in 1984, when I started school in America?

CONNIE CHUNG.

I want y'all to know she was a JOURNALIST and WRITER. Remember that, k? It will be important later. 12/

If you're just joining us, and for those in the back: if you were vaguely #Asian at all, they either called you "Bruce" if you're a boy or "Connie" if you're a girl. So when the #AAPI father who was beaten in SF said "Call me Bruce," he was making pointed social commentary. 13/

See, it doesn't matter what his name is bc no matter how loud we #AsianPacificIslanderAmericans yell #SayTheirNames, we're all Bruce or Connie to a country that so despises us, it doesn't want to append "American" to "Asian" to let us know that we belong here, to America. 14/

And see, it didn't matter what my nickname really was; I even had a pencil case stenciled "Cookie" but just like our ex-Dear Leader 45 and the leaders in Animal Farm said, we are not to believe what we see. We are only to believe what they tell us is true. 15/

So what these headlines that still describe a person as "Asian" w/o "American" tell us is that we are still in the year of our Dark Lord 2021 OTHER. We don't belong here. Just like Blacks don't belong here bc they don't have "American" after like "African American" did. 16/

It doesn't matter how loud we say #BlackLivesMatter if They™ determine that "Black" means "Other" bc there's no "American" after it. It doesn't matter how loud we say #StopAsianHate if They™ determine that "Asian" means "Other" bc there's no "American" after it. 17/

Y'see, this is what the media tells us is American: baseball, apple pie, and THIS VERY SPECIFICALLY AMERICAN MOM, June Cleaver of TV's Leave It to Beaver, who may be the Proto-Karen, or at least Karen's slightly calmer, gentler auntie. 18/

Ergo, if @Hulu doesn't append "American" to "Asian & Pacific Islander" in the title of the playlist honoring #AsianAmericanPacificIslanderHeritageMonth , it can still look like "We're supportive allies!" for including Asian diaspora stories and creators, which, COOL but also 19/

NOT COOL @Hulu, bc you continue to help perpetuate the idea that #Asians and #PacificIslanders are not American while ensuring that you make as much money by courting and curating #AsianDiaspora media/creators and ignoring media by American creators struggling for a break. 20/

By lumping together #AsianDiaspora & (unlabeled) #AAPI media, you're lumping us all into a monolith, making our messy collective cultural identity even more fraught. Much smarter things have been said by other folx abt this; some of them in the next post. Look them up #OnHere 21/

@kevinnadal @anthonyocampo @ejrdavid @rpmuriera @nancywyuen @its_willyu @angryasianman @jeffyang @DrJenHo @rtajima @adamkeawe @ElloEllenOh @jennybhatt @cmliwagdixon @_HollyChristine @AselaLeeK @kumailn @JohnTheCho @danieldaekim @salesses @nicolesjchung @chenchenwrites & MORE 22/

Full circle time, now that it's too late to actually watch the movie bc (omg I'm so sorry) IT'S ALREADY TOMORROW IN HONG KONG (sorrysorry it's late I'm tired): while I'm glad more media is being produced by & starring #AAPIs, there's an actual hashtag/reminder #AsiansAreHuman 23/

Everything is connected, beloveds. There are whole podcasts' worth of unpacking the unwieldy names and ideas of #AsianAmericans vs. #Asians and #AsianAmericanPacificIslanderHeritageMonth &c. 24/

If the media we consume for both news & fun continue leaving "American" off "Asian," then we'll always be "Other." If we are always "Other," then it's ok to keep brutalizing and killing us, even when we are just walking w/ our 1yr old babies in a city we thought was home. 25/

Media creators, and I include myself in that categorization, have a responsibility to their audiences. At the basest level, if a significant chunk of your audiences i.e. BIPOC consumers are being killed bc they are not included in "America", who's gonna consume your content? 26/

On a more humanist level: BRUH. Aren't you sick of hearing abt people being brutalized & killed? Just bc you may not have to worry abt it, doesn't mean you *shouldn't* worry abt it. Again, if you are a content creator and half of your audience blips out, how you gone make? 27/

As per uzh, I don't have answers. I only ever have questions. I'm the kid who asked whether or no Adam & Eve have pubic hair, remember? And I don't think they're particularly hard questions, except everyone's afraid of asking them. 28/

therapist: and what do we always say abt fear?
Twitter's no-crop:
(29/)

Noli timere, my loves. Be not afraid to ask these hard questions. Why is "American" always left out of headlines abt Americans of Asian descent who are being beaten & killed? Why are Asian movies lumped in w/ AAPI movies? Could this be contributing to #AntiAsianHateCrimes? 30/

We have to go #BeyondTheHashtag of #StopAsianHate . (What does that even mean? It's so nebulous.) Our lives literally depend on us asking hard questions, seeking hard truths. Asians of all stripes belong in America. We helped build this country. We belong here. /fin

p.s. I had said earlier that Connie Chung being a journalist and writer would be important later, so here's how: I almost didn't go into the journalism program bc I didn't want to risk being forced to be called "Connie" again and not "Cookie." Can y'all imagine me as a "Connie?"