APAA@Cornell @apaacornell - Tumblr Blog

LLAG Statement - May 5, 2017

Asian Pacific Americans for Action (APAA) strongly condemns the Love Life of an Asian Guy (LLAG)’s talk at Cornell University. LLAG is a misogynistic and anti-Black man who harasses, steals and profits from the labor of Black and Asian women, and who doesn’t stop to think before he throws women (especially Asian women) under the bus for issues that men are complicit in. To the Cornell International Students Union - ISU, Cornell Student Assembly, Haven: Cornell's LGBTQ Student Union's Queer and Asian Society, & Cornell Kappas: We question your choice to treat LLAG as an authority on queer and Asian issues, when his cis-masculine and heterosexual privilege allows him to profit from his activism while having none of the lived experience. We question your choice to actively fund LLAG's efforts to brand himself as an authority on holding Asian communities accountable, when he has so many times refused to be accountable for himself.

In his content, LLAG uses aggressive language which includes anti-Asian, fat-phobic, and gendered slurs. He appropriates AAVE (African American Vernacular English), all while considering himself a “woke” individual, and even recently started a movement called “Woke FU”. LLAG's brand of performative rage in the name of activism ultimately serves to shore up toxic masculinity—the same toxic, fragile masculinity that claims that Asian women are complicit in white supremacy simply because they are exoticized by the white male gaze, an idea that is inherently repulsive. Recently, LLAG has blamed the Brock Turner case on poor whites and white women. The privilege of a man to blame women, particularly poor women, for rape culture and patriarchy is not only nonsensical but showcases the type of “activism” LLAG is known for.

LLAG represents a larger issue within activist circles, especially Asian American activist circles. While heterosexual, cis men are often the “face” of the movement, they do so by stealing and profiting from the emotional, intellectual and physical labor of women, femmes, and non-cis men, especially black folks. Having certain privilege over queer/trans people and women, he should be elevating those voices by passing them the mic and crediting them when he’s benefitted from their labor. Instead of creating an open learning environment, LLAG creates a hostile, competitive climate in which gaslighting and other forms of victim-abuse are not only allowed but encouraged.

When others have challenged LLAG on his stance, he has repeatedly responded in an incendiary manner, portraying himself as a victim. In the past, he has blocked, humiliated and disrespected those who critiqued him. He has doxxed followers, including leaking their names over the internet, often leading to these people being forced to delete their accounts to avoid harassment. These actions demonstrate that he is not interested in open dialogue, choosing instead to paint any critiques as attacks on his fragile masculinity. No one is perfect, but repeatedly committing the same aggressions without, at the very least, listening to marginalized people when said people give valid criticism, is a dangerous approach to activism and perpetuates the forms oppression he claims to fight. He is creating a hostile culture for marginalized, vulnerable folks in social justice spaces where people either get gaslighted for disagreeing or start to adopt his hostile abusive behaviors.

LLAG often boasts that he only has three sponsors and that he is not here to make money. We agree, to an extent—this is not just about the money he makes by indiscriminately appropriating the labor of Black women but also about the social capital and power that he wields over those same women. Everyone who is aware of LLAG’s toxic history but continues to like and follow his page is complicit in the way he uses the sheer size of his follower base to terrorize and threaten people. In an age when the power of social media to not only heavily influence people’s opinions but to directly affect the lives of marginalized groups and individuals in our society has been made abundantly clear, we need to hold a critical lens to everyone who holds power on the internet, no matter how “woke” they might be. We must recognize that there is a difference between unfounded character assassination and legitimate criticism grounded in past experiences. Based on the consistent patterns of abuse and harassment we have witnessed on his Facebook page and Twitter account, it is increasingly obvious that LLAG cares more about maintaining and expanding his own status as a famous internet “activist” rather than actually serving the communities that he claims to advocate for.

It is up to us to hold ourselves, our friends and our communities accountable. As such, APAA calls on Cornell International Students Union - ISU, Cornell Student Assembly, Haven: Cornell's LGBTQ Student Union's Queer and Asian Society, & Cornell Kappas to hold LLAG accountable for his reprehensible actions. To these organizations, we reiterate our opening points questioning (1) why you support such a demonstrably toxic and volatile individual and (2) why you are not only supporting but actively funding this individual and the platform he represents.

We await your response.

SOURCES: on

https://twitter.com/shelovesdresses/status/849241307692191744

https://twitter.com/shelovesdresses/status/848326694897295360

https://twitter.com/ESEAsianBeauty/status/849293595060432896

https://twitter.com/asianbabyteen/status/849993475097600001

https://twitter.com/FeministaJones/status/744587896603181056

https://twitter.com/ztsamudzi/status/852162869235929088

http://imgur.com/a/wK40Q

http://receiptgate.blogspot.com/2017/04/debunking-abuse-allegations-against.html

#APAA@cornell #APAA #asian pacific americans for action #public statement #llag #cornell #toxic masculinity #antiblackness #misogyny

umich-alumni-apiastudies

Professors File Landmark Suit Exposing Cover Up of Discrimination and Corruption at University of Michigan

Two highly-accomplished, award-winning faculty have filed a joint complaint against the University of Michigan for violations of the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act based on race discrimination, gender discrimination, marital status discrimination, race hostile work environment, and retaliation; and violations of the Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act, for discriminatory hostile treatment and retaliation.

The complaint demonstrates that U-M’s highly publicized “diversity” campaigns are driven by self-serving rhetoric and false promises designed to deflect attention from serious and ongoing problems of institutional racism, underrepresentation of minority groups, and a hostile campus climate for marginalized groups. The complaint documents multiple instances in which university leaders acted to suppress complaints of discrimination and retaliate against faculty and students who reported both systemic patterns and individual acts of discrimination. It reveals misconduct and complicity by administrators from the departmental level to the highest ranks of the deans’ and provost’s offices, including UM’s chief diversity officer.

While on protected leave under the Family Medical Leave Act to care for a baby with Down syndrome in Winter 2015, Emily Lawsin, a professor in the Departments of American Culture and Women’s Studies, was sent a layoff notice with no prior warning and despite her strong teaching record dating back to 2000. Lawsin successfully contested that layoff, but the university again barred her from teaching during the current Winter 2017 Semester.

Scott Kurashige, formerly professor in the Department of American Culture, was terminated from his position as Director of the Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies Program in December 2013 and was forced out of a tenured faculty position through a constructive termination in summer 2014 after successfully working at U-M for 14 years. Kurashige is one of 20 faculty of color, an alarming number, who left (with many forced out from) the small-to- medium sized Department of American Culture between 1997 and 2016.

Professor Lawsin requests reinstatement to her Lecturer IV faculty position without a “Remediation Plan.” Professor Kurashige requests that U-M reinstate him to his former positions of Professor with tenure and Director of the Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies Program at an equitable salary reflecting his experience and achievements. Both request economic and non-economic damages and permanent injunctive relief to stop race/ethnic discrimination at U-M.

Professors Lawsin and Kurashige are represented by Alice Jennings, a partner in the law firm of Edwards & Jennings, PC, based in Detroit. The above summary provides highlights of the 74-page complaint—filed in Washtenaw County Circuit Court on December 5, 2016.

From the Archive: Volume 8 Issue 1, Spring 2015

From the Archive: Volume 3 Issue 2, Summer 2006

From the Archive: Volume 3 Issue 1, Spring 2006

NO BAN, NO WALL ON STOLEN LAND: A STATEMENT ON WHY WE PROTEST - Feb. 6, 2017

The following statement comes from a group of people from Islamic Alliance for Justice, Native American Students at Cornell (NASAC), Cornell DREAM Team, MEChA de Cornell and Asian Pacific Americans for Action (APAA) who were affected directly or indirectly by the events of this past week and decided to come together to organize. We’re a collective group of students, and this is our collective statement:

Over the past week, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive actions, some of which explicitly target marginalized communities including Muslims, refugees, undocumented peoples, Indigenous folx, Latinx folx, people who cannot access healthcare and working class people. One of these executive orders prohibits entry to the United States for citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations which include Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Syria. Since Trump has claimed that America’s shores are still open to Christian refugees from these countries, the ban rests on the presupposition that Muslims from these countries are terrorists and that Islam is an inherently violent religion. It is worth noting that each of these seven countries has either been directly bombed by the United States or hit with debilitating economic sanctions, and that their residents are being prevented from escaping the conditions created in these countries by US imperialism. The economic and social pressure exerted on these countries is a legacy of the destabilizing policies America has pursued in the Middle East and the world over, which has forced millions to brave deadly odds in order to escape the horrors wrought by US imperialism.

Our current grim reality is not merely a creation of Trump. This has been the trajectory of American power since its inception, and therefore his actions simply continue America’s legacy as a racist, imperialist, patriarchal, white supremacist, capitalist, settler-colonialist project. There is no mythologized past of American greatness because America was never great; we resist Trump as fervently as we resist what the American state has inflicted on its oppressed peoples since it established itself as a power. When we protest Trump and his executive actions to ban Muslims and refugees, to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, to ramp up deportations and to continue the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and Keystone XL Pipeline on un-ceded Indigenous lands, we need to question the American narrative itself. The United States is a nation-state founded on the genocide of Indigenous peoples and the slave labor of Black and Brown bodies. The U.S. is an imperialist nation-state that commits horrific acts of violence through bombings and drone strikes on countries that are now targeted by the Muslim travel ban. The U.S. is a nation-state that has and continues to exist only on the backs of exploited workers, both domestic and worldwide.

American injustices – slavery, Indigenous genocide, colonialist projects abroad – are not stains of the past but objective features of the present. Today, Black bodies are disproportionately targeted by police, the clearest weapon of the State, and are incarcerated at a rate 6 times higher than that of whites. Indigenous women experience the highest rate of sexual assault and rape out of all racial groups in this country. In Obama’s America, undocumented immigrants faced more ICE raids and deportations than ever before. Brown bodies abroad continue to suffer from an unprecedented expansion of the drone program under Obama. It is clear that Muslims have been targets of structural and individual violence even before the Muslim travel ban. Violence against marginalized and poor communities is not new. Xenophobia is not new. Trump, his policies, and the oppression he perpetuates are not new; he is simply a clearer face of an America that continues to feed off of violence and subjugation.

It is up to all of us today to rise and fight. We fight Trump’s Muslim travel ban that has left thousands of people stranded in places bombed, droned and sanctioned by the US. We do not accept ICE raids and deportations that harass and separate thousands of families. We actively resist not just DAPL and the Keystone XL Pipeline but also the state-supported capitalist fossil fuel projects that continue illegally on sovereign Indigenous lands designated through nation-to-nation treaties, perpetuate environmental destruction and put communities of color and communities that cannot afford cleanup costs or adequate health care at risk of toxic waste and pollution – as we have seen in Flint, Michigan. We ask that immigrants be seen as humans, not labor. We stand in solidarity with movements like Black Lives Matter and #NoDAPL. We recognize that we are on the homelands of the Cayuga Nation in Ithaca and on the lands of other Indigenous nations no matter where we are on this continent.

Dissent is a political responsibility. The personal is political. This is not a time for insisting on responding to hate “with love.” We cannot be complacent anymore. Now is the time to dissent and resist.

In support of MEChA

Recently, the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlan de Cornell (MEChA de Cornell) shared a photo of a tweet retweeted by Cornell University. The tweet, sent by Coach Istvan of Cornell’s American Football team, showed two white football players wearing a sombrero captioned “Eman & Fosta! THE BIG SOMBRERO!”

This is not an isolated incident. Last year, two Cornell University School of Hotel Administration students used the offensive caricature of a sleeping Mexican man resting against a border as a way to advertise for their “South of the Border” Establishment dinner. After being critiqued heavily by students, the School removed the logo, and the students planning the dinner issued a superficial apology (read: after responding to an objecting Latinx student by threatening to “make it rain in microagressions”). Three years ago, Cornell Athletics marketed a weekend as “Cinco de Octubre” for that weekend’s football game. People were encouraged to wear their “best Mexican costume,” also known as actively-participating-in-the-most-degrading-and-inaccurate-stereotypes-of-Mexican-people-you-can-conjure-up, in order to win a prize. It’s disappointing that it’s the same department of Cornell today perpetuating hurtful stereotypes and hesitating to fully acknowledge students’ hurt caused by Cornell’s actions.

What is most troubling about the whole situation is the lack of student support for MEChA. Instead, other Cornell students took to social media to openly deride MEChA, using complex arguments such as “It was just a hat”, “Sombreros are a part of AMERICAN culture”, “Other cultures are being appropriated too” and the burgeoning culture of using trigger warnings and creating safe spaces.

We’re even more disappointed to see fellow members of the Cornell API community denigrate the anger that MEChA and other members of the Latinx community have expressed. We’re disappointed that APIs are not only invalidating appropriation but also invalidating their fellow peers’ feelings and experiences. As people of color who also experience appropriation and other forms of racism, both explicit and subtle, we should be supporting MEChA. As people whose anger, pain, and hurt also matter and also deserve to be validated, we should be standing up for MEChA and speaking out against those who are attacking the feelings of MEChA and the Latinx community.

That being said, we would like to acknowledge that some members of the Cornell API community have also participated in appropriation of other peoples’ cultures. We’re all in a process of learning and bettering ourselves, but we can’t truly improve ourselves and our community if the API community continues to appropriate and if we do not hold each other accountable for inappropriate, harmful actions.

We want to thank MEChA for being brave and calling attention to the original tweet and Cornell University’s retweet. We’re not sure if we would have been as brave in your situation, but seeing you respond, without hesitation, to extremely offensive comments has reminded us to address the appropriation in our own community and actively voice support for brave folks like you.

In Support of Affirmative Action - Sept. 1, 2016

Recently, the Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) filed a complaint against Cornell University and Columbia University for allegedly discriminating against Hubert Zhao during last years admissions, in which Hubert was not accepted into either university. AACE complains that holistic college admissions policies unfairly discriminate against Asian American applicants -- we disagree. AACE is anti-affirmative action and believes affirmative action hurts Asian Americans -- we disagree.

As Asian Americans, we want to voice our strong support for affirmative action. Affirmative action is necessary in a society that continually expresses racism. Affirmative action at universities consists of race-sensitive, holistic admissions policies. These policies are important, especially when students of color still suffer from limits in educational opportunities. Students of color, specifically Black folx, Latin@s, indigenous folx, Pacific Islanders, and Southeast Asians, are more likely to go to under-resourced K-12 schools. Bias and stereotyping from everyday life only add to educational limits experienced by students of color. It’s critical for universities to consider these racial barriers in education during admissions [1].

In other words, affirmative action looks at whether students have faced racial or ethnic adversity -- this is one aspect of a holistic admissions process. Other aspects of holistic admissions processes include looking at whether students are first-generation or have endured poverty.

Affirmative action is critical in an already extremely fractured and unjust education system. We need affirmative action, especially when you consider that these institutions of higher education were never created for people of color. When “advocacy” groups such AACE file complaints targeting policies such as affirmative action, it’s even more important for members of the Asian Pacific Islander community to speak out.

With that, APAA wholeheartedly stands for affirmative action.

[1] In Response to Fischer v. University of Texas : 135+ AAPI Community Organizations Stand Up for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education

Why We Chose Them for AAPIHM:

The man behind Korematsu v. United States, which challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066 that called for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, Fred Korematsu waited nearly 40 years before his conviction was finally overturned. His case of civil disobedience helped shed light on the failed decision making and racial hysteria on the part of the United States government during the war. His legacy lives on, and more and more states are beginning to recognize January 30th as Fred Korematsu Day.

[Photo: Black & White campaign poster with a white background featuring a headshot of an elderly smiling East Asian man wearing glasses and the following black text on the left: “One person can make a difference even if it takes 40 years.” Below the black text, teal-colored text with the words “Fred Korematsu” and white text below that with a teal background reads “More Than Just Yellow”. A black banner at the bottom with white text reads “Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2016″ and grey text below it reads “By APAA”]

Fred T. Korematsu Institute: www.korematsuinstitute.org

#aapihm #aapihm2016 #aapiheritagemonth #asian american and pacific islander heritage month #apahm #apahm2016 #apaheritagemonth #asian pacific american heritage month #MoreThanJustYellow #campaign #APAA #apaa@cornell #asian pacific americans for action #cornell #fred korematsu

Why We Chose Them for AAPIHM:

The Kominas are one of the most vocal voices from the Taqwacore movement. When they came to Cornell last fall, it felt amazing to hear their experiences as Muslim Americans being translated into punk rock music. Through their work, the Kominas address issues in the Muslim American community such as police surveillance and Islamophobia.

[Photo: Black & White campaign poster with a white background featuring 4 South Asian men, one of whom is playing a guitar, and the following black text on the left: “I am an Islamist / I am the antichrist / Most squares can’t make Most Wanted lists / but my my how I stay in style.” Below the black text, red text with the words “The Kominas” and white text below that with a red background reads “More Than Just Yellow”. A black banner at the bottom with white text reads “Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2016″ and grey text below it reads “By APAA”]

Link to their song "Sharia Law in the U.S.A.," which the above quote is from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT7dulXtR3g

#aapihm #aapihm2016 #aapiheritagemonth #asian american and pacific islander heritage month #apahm #apahm2016 #apaheritagemonth #asian pacific american heritage month #MoreThanJustYellow #campaign #APAA #apaa@cornell #asian pacific americans for action #cornell #the kominas #kominas

Why We Chose Them for AAPIHM:

Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes were Seattle-based Filipino American labor activists. They were crucial members of Local 37 of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU), pushing for better working conditions in canneries and reform of the corrupt union. Silme fought to save Seattle's International District in the 1970’s and helped establish social services for people in the district. Silme also formed the Seattle Union of Democratic Filipino (KDP) chapter, which organized the first protest in Seattle against the Marcos dictatorship. In the 1970’s, Silme and Gene met and became close friends, later forming the famous Alaska Cannery Workers’ Association, a workers’ legal advocacy group. They were murdered by the Filipino street gang “Tulisan,” cutting their lives too short. Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes represent the significant Filipinx American labor activism of the 70’s and 80’s, an inspiring and important movement that’s often forgotten.

[Photo: Black & White campaign poster with a white background featuring a smiling Southeast Asian man and a smiling Southeast Asian woman wearing glasses and the following black text on the right: “We will continue to fight as cannery workers, and fight we will until such time that our people can shout with the human courage and dignity of real workers!” - Chris Mensalvas, Sr., president of Local 37, mentor of Silme Domingo. Below the black text, blue text with the words “Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes” and white text below that with a blue background reads “More Than Just Yellow”. A black banner at the bottom with white text reads “Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2016″ and grey text below it reads “By APAA”]

Link to the incredible book on their cannery labor work: http://debbielouie.com/downloads/rsdagv.pdf

#aapihm #aapihm2016 #aapiheritagemonth #asian american and pacific islander heritage month #apahm #apahm2016 #apaheritagemonth #asian pacific american heritage month #MoreThanJustYellow #campaign #APAA #apaa@cornell #asian pacific americans for action #cornell #filipino american #filipina american #filipinx american

Why We Chose Them for AAPIHM:

There are many reasons to celebrate intellectual historian, journalist and social commentator, Vijay Prashad. Prashad was one of the first professors of Asian American Studies at Cornell. His book, "The Karma of Brown Folk", opened the way for many future scholars in South Asian American Studies. In the book, Prashad describes the intertwined destinies of the Asian American and African American communities and emphasizes solidarity between the two.

[Photo: Black & White campaign poster with a white background featuring a South Asian man and the following black text on the right: “The violence meted out against African Americans is specific; it is not identical to the racism that Asian Americans face. But that should not lessen our commitment to the widest kind of justice in our world.” Below the black text, maroon text with the words “Vijay Prashad” and white text below that with a maroon background reads “More Than Just Yellow”. A black banner at the bottom with white text reads “Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2016″ and grey text below it reads “By APAA”]

Why We Chose Them for AAPIHM:

Yuri was a Japanese human rights activist who was interned during WWII. In her work, Yuri stressed the importance of intersectionality, stating solidarity with the black community, being closely connected to the Pac family. In one of her most iconic photos, Yuri can be seen cradling the head of Malcolm X soon after he was assassinated.

[Photo: Black & White campaign poster with a white background featuring an East Asian woman speaking into a microphone and the following black text on the left: “My priority is to fight polarization. Because this whole society is so polarized. I think there are so many issues that people of color should come together on, and there are forces in this country who want polarization to take place.” Below the black text, green text with the words “Grace Lee Boggs” and white text below that with a green background reads “More Than Just Yellow”. A black banner at the bottom with white text reads “Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2016″ and grey text below it reads “By APAA”]

Link to Yuri’s biography, Heartbeat of a Struggle by Diane C. Fujino: https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/heartbeat-of-struggle

#aapihm #aapihm2016 #aapiheritagemonth #asian american and pacific islander heritage month #apahm #apahm2016 #apaheritagemonth #asian pacific american heritage month #MoreThanJustYellow #campaign #APAA #apaa@cornell #asian pacific americans for action #cornell

Why We Chose Them for AAPIHM:

Grace was the daughter of a Chinese immigrant that was known for her active role in Civil Rights and Black Power Movement in Detroit. All throughout her life, she challenged people to throw away old assumptions and think creatively and redefine the revolution of our times. Along with Yuri Kochiyama, Grace recognized the power and necessity of intersectionality and acknowledging interlocking oppressions.

[Photo: Black & White campaign poster with a white background featuring a smiling elderly East Asian woman and the following black text on the right: “You cannot change any society unless you take responsibility for it, unless you see yourself as belonging to it and responsible for changing it.” Below the black text, green text with the words “Grace Lee Boggs” and white text below that with a green background reads “More Than Just Yellow”. A black banner at the bottom with white text reads “Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2016″ and grey text below it reads “By APAA”]

Link to a documentary on Grace, “American Revolutionary”: http://americanrevolutionaryfilm.com/

#aapihm #aapihm2016 #aapiheritagemonth #asian american and pacific islander heritage month #apahm #apahm2016 #asian pacific american heritage month #apaheritagemonth #MoreThanJustYellow #campaign #APAA #apaa@cornell #asian pacific americans for action #cornell

Why We Chose Them for AAPIHM:

Haunani-Kay Trask is a professor and director of Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai’i-Manoa. She is a radical feminist and indigenous rights activist as well as one of the most vocal advocates for sovereignty for Hawai’i. Haunani-Kay has been critical in challenging America’s ideology of itself as a “land of immigrants,” provoking thought on settler colonialism in Hawai’i and the limits of public state apologies.

[Photo: Black & White campaign poster with a white background featuring a Native Hawaiian woman speaking into a microphone with her right hand raised in a fist and the following black text on the left: “Racism is a system of power in which one racially-identified group dominates and exploits another racially-identified group for the advantage of the dominating group... That’s what the so-called ‘founding fathers’ of the United States intended, and that’s how American society operates today... The hatred and fear people of color have of white people is based on that ugly history.” Below the black text, light orange text with the words “Shelley Wong” and white text below that with a light orange background reads “More Than Just Yellow”. A black banner at the bottom with white text reads “Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2016″ and grey text below it reads “By APAA”]

Link to From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai’i: http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-623-9780824820596.aspx Link to photo & article: https://www.culturalsurvival.org/images/united-states/haunani-kay-trask

#aapihm2016 #aapihm #aapiheritagemonth #asian american and pacific islander heritage month #apahm #apaheritagemonth #asian pacific american heritage month #apahm2016 #MoreThanJustYellow #campaign #APAA #apaa@cornell #asian pacific americans for action #cornell #professor #native hawaiian #kānaka maoli #indigenous

Why We Chose Them for AAPIHM: Dr. T, as he is affectionately known, has been an incredible presence on the Cornell campus. As a live-in faculty at Mews, he welcomed freshmen into his home for tea and would talk to them for hours. His breadth of knowledge made him interesting, most clearly seen in The dr. T ProjecT, but more so it was his interest in knowing us, our interests and all the dimensions of what makes us human that made him cherished by students. His curiosity is contagious and his investment in what makes us happy can be seen in all interactions with him. As an Assistant Professor, he always challenged his students for a deeper and more sophisticated analysis of the literature. He fostered a real sense of interdisciplinary community at the university, which is why he reached so many people outside of Near Eastern Studies and Comparative Literature. He is a strong advocate for the liberal arts for all people and has a true sense of fostering a university as a place of intellectual and aesthetic exploration and compassion. We will all miss him dearly at Cornell and know he will add so much to the community he joins next.

[Photo: Black & White campaign poster with a white background featuring a South Asian man wearing glasses, crossing his arms and the following black text on the right: “Read Poetry”. Below the black text, red text with the words “Shawkat Toorawa” and white text below that with a red background reads “More Than Just Yellow”. A black banner at the bottom with white text reads “Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2016″ and grey text below it reads “By APAA”]

#aapihm2016 #aapihm #aapiheritagemonth #asian american and pacific islander heritage month #apahm #apaheritagemonth #asian pacific american heritage month #apahm2016 #MoreThanJustYellow #campaign #APAA #apaa@cornell #asian pacific americans for action #cornell #professor #mauritian #mauritius

Why We Chose Them for AAPIHM:

Professor Munasinghe provokes a rethinking of “Asian American Studies” with her incredible historical anthropology research on Trinidadians of Indian and African descent. Her courses here at Cornell remind us of the diverse peoples under the term “API,” including Black Asians, Indo-Caribbeans, and East Indians. Thus, beyond influencing us as thinkers and students, Prof. Munasinghe has influenced our vision to recenter ignored/forgotten narratives with APAA’s AAPIHM 2016. [Photo: Black & White campaign poster with a white background featuring a South Asian woman with glasses on her forehead talking and the following black text on the left: “... food metaphors of the callaloo and the tossed salad for the nation of Trinidad and Tobago convey very different ideas of mixture -- callaloo depicting the process of mixture that produces homogeneity and tossed salad signifying the co-existence of diverse elements in pluralism”. Below the black text, green text with the words “Viranjini Munasinghe” and white text below that with a green background reads “More Than Just Yellow”. A black banner at the bottom with white text reads “Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2016″ and grey text below it reads “By APAA”] Link to Callaloo or Tossed Salad?: East Indians and the Cultural Politics of Identity in Trinidad: http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100618780

#aapihm2016 #aapihm #aapiheritagemonth #asian american and pacific islander heritage month #apahm #apaheritagemonth #asian pacific american heritage month #apahm2016 #MoreThanJustYellow #campaign #APAA #apaa@cornell #asian pacific americans for action #cornell #AAS #asian american studies #professor #sri lankan #AASP

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