I'm on winter break bumming around the house, trying to not think about homework and failing, and trying to do some homework (and failing, although a little less).
Anyways, a few days night ago my dad called me over while watching KTSF.
It was the usual "Talk Tonight" show, but this time the talk show host was interviewing someone I knew! Not only that, the guy was someone from my hometown church!
"Oh my gosh; it's Gene Yang!"
Maybe some of you have now heard of him, since he wrote a comic book called "American Born Chinese" which won the American Library Association's Printz Award. Which I didn't even know until I saw the show! That is so freaking awesome!!!
Basically, my parents know his parents. I mean, we're all in the same church community, SJCCC (San Jose Chinese Catholic Community) at St. Clare's. Gene Yang was one of the original founders of our youth (and young adult) fellowship group.
But beyond the coolness factor of seeing someone you know on TV (weird!), I was really happy for his success and appreciated what he had to say.
There were two particular points that really grabbed me. One was that he said to follow your interest, put out your work, and whatever it is, it will be Asian American. In other words, as my brother pointed out, you don't have to be super-political or go on protests—you can be whoever you are and still contribute to the Asian American cause simply by being yourself. My brother and I liked that because we are not the type to go canvassing or whatever, but we obviously do care about being represented and treated fairly.
Another point was about his career. He didn't give up on his hobby, comic book drawing, and now he not only has a career he enjoys (teaching), but gets to have some recognition for his side projects. It gives me hope that some day I can have that too.
Finally, I really admire that Gene can really just be himself, and espouse his values through his comic books. It can be hard to be Catholic in today's society, and I often feel embarrassed for being so conservative...but Gene's shown that you can be okay with what you stand for, and even gain respect for it. He's not in your face about his morals. (His company is called "Humble Comics" after all!) He's just who he is, and being Chinese, or Catholic, is just one part of his identity.
I'm really looking forward to buying and reading "American Born Chinese"!
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Here are some interviews with Gene and reviews of the book below; I'll be commenting on them myself soon;
Interview with Edutopia
Gene's own comments on perpetuating stereotypes
4 comments:
wow... you know the author of American Born Chinese? maybe i should brag about that to my fellow library school classmates! Our young adult course highlighted this book, and the professor had lectured on the evidence as to why the book deserved the award.
someone has "connections"!
hana, it's a great idea.
"He didn't give up on his hobby, comic book drawing, and now he not only has a career he enjoys (teaching), but gets to have some recognition for his side projects. It gives me hope that some day I can have that too."
so, what's your hobby?
Umm... nothing comes up in my mind when it comes to your hobby.
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.
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may be, arghing?
(just kidding!)
haha, Jin-ah, very funny. maybe facebooking? well, not anymore i guess. blogging? procrastinating...:)
Hana,
It is a well written blog. You have guided us into the core of the book with a few sentences.
"Melting pot" is a familiar term to all of us. The diversity of the social structure in this country shows us the high level of tolerance and acceptability among different races. Yet, it is a struggle for the minority trying to melt into the main stream because of the identity crisis, especially for the youth group. The author of American Born Chinese has shown us a way to reach that goal by simply content with who you are. You can only keep your unique ingredient and flavor in the pot by being proud of yourself. The author has created a very profoung, poignant and humorous graphic novel with his own growing experience. It is of no surprise that the book has been adapted as a reading material in college classes among renowned universities such as Cornell, Stanford, etc..
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