Header Image: “Italian Landscape” by Ken Tsui | Acrylic on Cardboard 10 x 14.25
Dear Reader,
We’ve been spending several months developing the pieces in this collection, NEW OUTLOOKS, of writing from Asian identifying writers from across the globe for our theme of Crossing Borders.
This theme was chosen by APAC as a guiding mission statement for 2021, after a year of quarantine in the COVID-19 pandemic where all of us renegotiated our relationships to spaces -- where could we go, where could we not.
For those of us in the immigrant Asian diaspora, the question of where we were allowed to be hits harder in two significant ways: 1) as immigrants (or descendants of), being reminded of where we can occupy a safe, secure space we could call our home and how, at the same time, we were forced to be removed from our loved ones and community no matter how close they geographically were; and 2) the rising spectre of anti-Asian rhetoric and violence that grew over the course of the year, once again tarring us as foreign objects that carried disease from the East to the West.
This spectre took form in the most gruesome way on March 16th, when a white supremacist gunman opened fire in a massage parlor in Atlanta, Georgia. By now you’ve no doubt heard of the eight murdered victims, six of whom were Asian women, the ensuing national debate over the marginalization of Asian Americans, the racist and orientalist viewpoints that still haunt how we are seen, and specifically, the crude stereotypes of the demure Asian sex worker.
Immediately, API communities across the nation rallied with vigils, marches, meetings, and showings of grief and remembrance. The APAC staff, yours truly included, attended our local vigil in Baltimore hosted by Baltimore Asian Resistance in Solidarity, Chinatown Collective, and the Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition.
Photo of Baltimore Vigil for Atlanta Victims. Photo by local artist and organizer Bomin Jeon.
There are many layers to the hateful thinking that leads to such violence. But the most insidious nature of white supremacy is it being ever-present and systemic. It exists in several forms that prey on our skin color, gender, and means of living that we must face everyday. It dehumanized these six Asian women so that the killer’s white gaze saw them as nothing more than foreign objects. This, we must not only resist by denial, but also by creating spaces for ourselves where we can be more -- our fullest, most human selves.
After a year where the pandemic made us long for the embrace of physical touch and contact, it is not insignificant that this happened in a place where these working-class Asian women gave labor to touch and care for others bodies. Let us never again undervalue this work, nor any form of sex work, when it requires the deepest level of empathy and vulnerability from those giving it.
If you have not yet, I instead urge you to seek out the stories of the women who were lost, all of whom deserve to be celebrated for the warm, caring humanity they brought to the world, and to donate to fund drives for their families and research how you can support grassroots activists and movements to create these spaces of healing, growth, and liberation.
I cannot promise that the pieces herein can offer a salve or a direct commentary on these events -- rather, I can promise that they showcase the work, thoughts, and imagination of several writers and artists who do not let borders, whether they be ones of space, identity, or actions, define them. They speak to the bold and courageous choices Asian and Pacific Islanders make, both big and small, to navigate a world where hegemonic western and racist ideas seek to box them in.
As editor, I am proud that this collection abolishes borders of form -- living side by side are pieces of fiction, poetry, creative essay, musicology, and interviews with artists. Presenting:
POETRY: “Up” by Rashi Rohatgi
FEATURE: “Lek Borja Renews Filipino History Through Art” by Precious Ringor
FICTION: “American ‘Guy Friend’” by Lyra Yang
INTERVIEW: “Meet APAC’s Co-Executive Director Catrece Ann Tipon” by Precious Ringor
In addition, the header images are taken from works featured by artists in APAC’s 2021 Lunar New Year Virtual Gallery. There is no horizon we cannot cross, no space we cannot inhabit without bringing with us our histories, our talents, and above all, our much needed voices in a time when the world needs to hear them.
Please read them, enjoy them, and share them widely.
