tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87029706740696963722024-02-07T09:59:35.127-08:00Blak Orchid: a blog by Asian rebelsjomonoreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-13960810263491256522009-01-12T23:01:00.000-08:002009-01-12T23:03:03.582-08:00Echoes of the Intifada in Seattle: Arab and Muslim youth take the leadEchoes of the Intifada: Arab and Muslim Youth Take the LeadStatement by Democracy InsurgentThe newest round of attacks by Israel against the people of Palestine has been bold, outrageous, and tragic. However, these attacks have been met worldwide by an increasingly bold, confident, and outraged solidarity movement. Thousands of people have come together to protest Israel's violence in marches andjomonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-49105431948942595422009-01-01T12:39:00.001-08:002009-01-01T12:46:18.614-08:00PRIDE is not a White Flag
Here is a piece that I co-wrote with fellow organizers in Democracy Insurgent, a anti-war/Middle East solidarity group at the University of Washington:
Bolshevism, Patriarchy, and the Nation: The Soviet "Emancipation" of Muslim Women in Pan-Islamic Perspective<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONEjomonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-90673888996033417102008-11-30T15:59:00.000-08:002008-11-30T16:47:42.546-08:00My tribute to KrupskayaI have been reading this one book, called Midwives of the Revolution. Its a book about the roles that women played in the Russian Revolution of 1917, and the events leading up to it. I had been very hesitant about learning more of Russian revolutionary history for several reasons. Even though I know there are relevant lessons to be learned from it that are still important today, I associated it jomonoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-86261720268719148472008-11-08T00:48:00.000-08:002008-11-08T00:52:15.579-08:00Gentrification in SeattleHere is an article by our friends, Andrew and Jacqui. It was originally published in Common Action's newsletter. Common Action is an anarchist collective based in Seattle, Washington.Whose Streets?Gentrification in SeattleSeattle today is a tale of two cities. For developers, government officials, and many new residents, Seattle is about its places of plenty: shopping opportunities, property jomonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-67866851852653492642008-11-08T00:37:00.001-08:002008-11-08T00:42:31.947-08:00War and the Economic CrisisHere is the talk that two members of Democracy Insurgent gave recently. It explains the economic crisis that is happening today from a working class perspective, as well as the connections to the war in the Middle East.Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-10199144105473666112008-10-26T21:46:00.000-07:002008-10-26T23:21:37.809-07:00Shame on Singaporean elitism!!I know many of you who read this blog don't know very much about Singapore except that its a pretty little island whose authorities caned Michael Fay. Well, there are other people in the country who need their asses whipped, to say the least. Singapore is home of the Lee Family dynasty -- Lee Kuan Yew and his family RUN the whole country -- his son is the prime minister, his other son runs the jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-84536817216070603962008-10-26T09:53:00.000-07:002008-10-26T21:59:18.105-07:00Drifting Flowers/ 漂浪青春Another movie from the Seattle Queer Film Festival! I went with JG to watch it yesterday and we both enjoyed it tremendously.On the surface, the movie had a very Wong Kar Wai feel ( yes, to all who love In the Mood for Love, or 阿飞 正专, and the like) What that means for me is that there is a strong sense of realism, yes, there is some drama but one that is like stream of consciousness. Things just jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-75329796921202376852008-10-26T09:43:00.000-07:002008-10-26T09:52:58.558-07:00The Sensei delivers super ass-kicks to anti-gay hatersIt's the Seattle Queer Film Festival and I managed to catch a couple of really good movies. Here's a review of the new movie, the Sensei, that I wrote for the Northwest Asian Weekly. It's a great movie which weaves in Asian Am identity, the challenges of being queer in a small town, and the taboos against HIV/AIDS. I love it for being so unique. It's not simply an "issue" film. It feels organic jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-20078191125008346052008-10-20T17:47:00.001-07:002008-10-20T18:00:46.731-07:00Queer Muslims in tha house, Stand Up!We blogged about the movie, Jihad for Love, a couple weeks ago here. Democracy Insurgent, the Middle East solidarity group that we are organizing these days, also co-hosted the screening of the movie at the Independent South Asian Film Festival, Tasveer. The director, Parvez Sharma showed up for the screening as well and held a Q and A session afterward, which he seemed to enjoy immensely! Our jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-4105229969212813152008-10-19T22:43:00.000-07:002008-10-19T22:49:37.169-07:00Capitalism in crisis, from Iraq to the USThis is our latest flyer.All those of you readers who are in Seatown, we'd love to see you there!SAVE THE DATE: OCT 28th, 7pm, University of Washington HUB 209 Aemail us if you need directions!jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-26872617432097676712008-10-17T22:48:00.000-07:002008-10-17T23:14:45.633-07:00Jalan Journal...finally!!Our new pan-Asian journal is finally up. The URL is....*drumrooooolll*WWW.JALANJOURNAL.ORGNamed after my dead dog which was featured in one of the earlier postsJalan in Malay means "to walk" or "street"So you see Jalan Tupai = Tupai Street; Jalan Petaling = Petaling Street. You get the point. (That street, btw, is a source of my counterfeit brands in KL)You also say, let's go jalan jalan. Much jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-8743017277017415412008-10-17T22:18:00.000-07:002008-10-26T22:30:50.328-07:00What's cooking in South Korea?Here's a link to an interview with an organizer with All Together, a Korean socialist organization, about the exciting summer of mass mobilization that just took place. It captures the movement dynamics that have taken place in SK, as well as the slowness of the left in responding to the spontaneous actions of the people. I think it's great how the organizer points out that this slowness arises jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-75758216517849065912008-10-17T22:12:00.001-07:002008-10-17T22:34:21.322-07:00Seattle anti-war rally Oct 11thHere's a quick update on an anti-war rally that we participated in. Khalil, our fellow organizer, spoke at the rally and I can fairly say that he was the best speaker for the most part. There was a personalized aspect to his speech that highlighted a sense of Arab and Muslim liberation and resistance, even while recognizing its obstacles. It reminded me alot of the civil rights speeches. jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-12432580825931414152008-10-05T14:06:00.000-07:002008-10-05T14:33:52.346-07:00In Commemoration of JB JeyaretnamWith the death of JBJ, Singapore might just have earned a political symbol of resistance to the government.Not that there haven't been any before -- the history of Singapore Malaya is loaded with freedom fighters who were crushed and forgotten. Now, we are left only with a revisionist history of our nation's founding.Most folks reading this probably dont know the significance of JBJ. He is a jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-18019308115094798922008-10-05T12:59:00.000-07:002008-10-05T13:59:57.055-07:00Some comedy skits...This has been an awesome weekend, despite the fact that my body is going haywire in reaction to the weather. We had two friends from Providence, S & S, come visit us. We cracked up a whole lot watching the impromptu comedy skits of this duo play out. In addition to theoretical breakdowns of the "hipster phenomenon" (it is worthy of a post in itself -- bottomline is, I don't get it!!), we alsojomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-36595849197106919122008-09-20T23:38:00.001-07:002008-09-20T23:50:38.596-07:00Boeing Workers on strike in Washington!Suraj, M, our friend JG and I went to Everett today to support the Boeing workers on strike. The weather was sucky (it's the beginning of the end in Seattle!!the rain, the rain!) but people were holding up with BBQ pits set up and wood bins burning. It was a good vibe. This strike is an important action in the US labor movement today, at a time when many industries are saying that workers having jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-12397301920559639942008-09-19T18:35:00.001-07:002008-09-19T18:37:04.305-07:00On GrandmasSo I talked to my Grandma after a really long time. (This might seem like a weird post, but I promise you it will all make sense if you get to the end of it.) It is a really sad thing: this woman is in her mid or late 70s--I dont know her exact age. Probably too embarrassed to ask her. What kinda fool doesn't know their grandma's age? (Trust me this is related to the problems of the vanguard surajhttps://draft.blogger.com/profile/14613643538135479854noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-64770670458849634232008-09-06T15:16:00.000-07:002008-09-08T13:19:17.848-07:00A Jihad for Love in Seattle!I watched Parvez Sharma's movie, "A Jihad for Love" a second time last night. It is a very deep and touching movie about queer Muslims and their struggles. All who haven't seen it should try to. For folks in Seattle, please see below for more information on the movie's screening.One thing that stood out to me about the documentary, is how resoundingly different Parvez Sharma's film is, from jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-49168361426757645702008-08-20T14:05:00.000-07:002008-09-14T14:51:28.629-07:00China Heat in Singapore!I am back in Singapore visiting family and the 中国热 aka China craze, is like a whirlwind taking me by shock!I suppose it shouldn't be surprising. There's the Olympics going on in Beijing, and everyone is gushing about how it heralds in a New China, one that is palatable and friendly to the West, even as it maintains its own character and history.There's the movie, Mad About English, that was jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-47659259025612780952008-07-01T17:40:00.000-07:002008-07-14T18:46:53.985-07:00Debate with the College Republicans!Damn. Its July, 2 months since our previous posting!Suraj and I have been busy busy busy! So many apologies for not having written in ages...Trust us though, we are back NOW! Summer's finally rolled by into Seatown and we are happy w beaming sunshine, and free(er) with no ongoing campaign for the next month or so!Here's an update on what we've been busy with since May 4th (our last posting)...surajhttps://draft.blogger.com/profile/14613643538135479854noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-10249433025213087542008-05-04T13:53:00.000-07:002008-05-04T15:43:33.010-07:00记念五四运动 In Memory of the May Fourth Movement, 1919My Favorite May 4th people: 秋瑾 Qiu Jin in male-dress 丁玲 Ding Lingjomonoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-52477918602551858802008-05-04T13:22:00.000-07:002008-05-04T13:52:07.719-07:00Repression of Migrant workers unionizing in South KoreaWol-san Liem, an organizer of the Migrant Trade Union in South Korea sent us an email this morning. In the spirit of international workers solidarity in South Korea, migrant and Korean workers alike have been marching on the streets. Check out the coverage here and here.While immigrants here in the US have been marching against criminalization, migrant workers too in South Korea have been jomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-48006895608365158052008-05-03T12:08:00.000-07:002008-05-03T12:19:22.770-07:00May1st Reflections (Part 1)Across the country hundreds of thousands of working people and students took part in what is arguably the most important movement inside the United States. Even though the protest was much smaller than the previous two years, many layers of the most oppressed in American society came out. In this scene, the LGBTQ community, undocumented workers, the First Nation, Palestine solidarity activists,surajhttps://draft.blogger.com/profile/14613643538135479854noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-12599862222890963812008-04-28T18:53:00.000-07:002008-08-20T18:57:51.651-07:00March 1st Solidarity rally: US Troops Out of South Korea!Check it out here:Part OnePart Twojomonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702970674069696372.post-78451873486122824012008-04-20T14:56:00.000-07:002008-04-24T22:04:18.694-07:00Tibet Tibet!Posting an article that I wrote for the local Asian weekly. The Dalai Lama visited Seattle recently and the city is in furor. The debate's been narrowed down the dichotomy of "Free Tibet" activists and staunch Chinese nationalists who shout "Tibet has always been part of China!" Both have their own chauvinisms that make the liberation of the Tibetan people, simply an objectified fetish in a jomonoreply@blogger.com4