#kate rigg

[dianessunflower]

BTS of Carrie Preston on the set of Elsbeth

[dianessunflower]

BTS of b who plays Officer Nikki Reynolds on Elsbeth

[gayharoldfinch]

um is this deliberately suggestive??

[gayharoldfinch]

so apparently michael posts random adorable smiley emojis in group messages

[thereturnofwomen]

Velvetpark's Top 25 Queer Women of 2015

“The Real Face of the Revolution” – Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, activist

In a year where we saw yet another mainstream, whitewashed movie about Stonewall in which trans women are woefully underrepresented, it is especially important to recognize the last living trans woman who was actually at the Stonewall riots. Miss Major Griffin-Gracy (more commonly known as Miss Major or to many in the trans community, simply “Mama”) is a formerly incarcerated black transgender elder and activist who has been fighting for the rights of trans women of color for over forty years. A long-time advocate as well for people with HIV/AIDS and incarcerated POCs, until late this year, she also served as the director of the Transgender GenderVariant Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP) for over a decade. 2015 saw the release of "MAJOR!", a documentary about Miss Major’s life and work, which if you’re lucky, you can catch this year at a film festival near you.

"Disorienting the Occident" – Kate Rigg & Lyris Hung, musicians / writers / performers

What do you get when you cross hip hop, rock, spoken word, and electro clash with two street-smart, wise-ass Asian-American chicks? "Slanty Eyed Mama", of course. When violinist/beat master/producer Lyris Hung and actor/writer/comedian Kate Rigg (aka Lady K-Sian) met at the Juilliard School, a collaboration was born. The Slanty Eyed Mama duo has served as artist-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institute, the Perth International Festival, and L.A. Grand Performances, with numerous other raved about appearances on PBS, LOGO, and City TV, as well as women's music festival and Pride events around the world. On the side, Rigg can often be found on a TV show or a comedy stage near you, while Hung is frequently spotted on tour with Indigo Girls. The duo wrapped up their year with a one week run of "Happy Lucky Golden Tofu Panda Dragon Good Time Fun Fun Show" at La Mama Theather in New York.

“No Holds Barred” – Daunasia Yancey, activist / organizer

Daunasia Yancey’s activism began at age thirteen, when she fought to establish a gay-straight alliance at her school. Now twenty-two, Yancey has stepped up as one of the chief organizers for Black Lives Matter Boston, often leading the charge there against anti-black racism and police brutality. Yancey first drew national attention back in August, in a viral video in which she and fellow activist Julius Jones confronted Hillary Clinton about the candidate’s record on the so-called war on drugs and the devastation it has wrought on black communities. (Clinton dodged the question, instead offering her opinion of the BLM movement.) Since then, Yancey has appeared on Comedy Central’s "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore" and continues to organize rallies and marches in Boston, where she’s working to make life safer and better for queers and people of color alike.

“Breaking the Silence” – Jennicet Gutierrez, activist

In June of this year, Jennicet Gutierrez, an undocumented trans woman and activist, made national headlines when she interrupted President Obama in the middle of a speech. This act of protest came during a White House reception celebrating National Gay Pride Month and touched off a fierce debate within the queer community about the nature of activism and the politics of respectability. It also did what Gutierrez had hoped—drawing attention to the plight of undocumented trans women in U.S. detention centers, who at the time were being forcibly housed according to their birth gender, making them easy targets for mistreatment, abuse, rape, and torture. One week after Gutierrez’s White House protest, immigration officials announced a policy change that allows trans women to be housed according to their gender identities. Though she has downplayed her role in this change, Gutierrez says her experience was politically galvanizing. “I was afraid of getting arrested and deported,” she says, “but now that I confronted the president I’ve broken through a chain of fear and shame.”

Read more

[a-necessary-fiction-blog]

Today I was on a very interesting panel at the first ever National Asian American Summit on Media images, stereotypes and  represent-asian held at the center for democracy/Japanese American Museum in Los Angeles. We were the final panel, on new directions for Asian America, what's next and what's up in the arts and popular culture. My wheelhouse so to speak. And I was asked one question in particular that distills a lot of the cultural thinking we are all doing about the actual A/Pi identity in the media and in the personal realm and in terms of the community activist and otherwise. What is the Brand of Asian America and what does it mean? Is it a good one or a bad one.

I spent the last decade as a freelance brand consultant for various corporations and institutions. I also worked at a great company called Siegel and Gale which is one of Omnicom's finest branding firms in New York City for some pretty major clients. When asked why I, juilliard trained actor, stand up comedian and playwright and entertainment producer would spend so much time in the branding world my answer is simple-- I like the art side of business and the business side of art. Branding is really the art side of business. When you are building a brand you are considering what message you want out in the marketplace, what audience you are targeting and all about that audience, and the messages about your brand that already exist.

For Asian Americans this is a very complex question-- what is the brand of Asian America. At countless college summits and Asian heritage months and symposia where I have been the keynote speaker we address this question under a multitude of titles and nuanced perspectives: What is Asian America? Is there an Asian American community? What are its attributes? What is the direction of community building in Asian America? What makes you an Asian American? (that last one is literally a branding question.) 

There is no easy answer.  And here’s why. Asian America is still a term that really umbrellas a diaspora of distinct cultures under one title. Chinese Americans and Thai Americans and Japanese Americans etc are all bicultural in their inherent connection to the cultural mores of their Asian motherlands in juxtaposition with their lives as Americans. We Asian americans actually have a tri cultural experience: Our American-ness, our culturally/family specific ethnic mores and histories, AND our Asian American-ness. This last element of the triptych is the most difficult to define. And it is made more complex by the continual influx of immigrants in waves, and different waves from different countries at different times to boot. A 4th generation Japanese American is going to have a very different relationship to the words Asian American than a 2nd generation Cambodian. Fact. And as new people show up and become americans it’s a groundhog’s day of laying down the roots of “what is Asian America?” because the answer changes every time someone new gets here and has their experience added to the pile.

Part of brand is how we are perceived. Like I said when building or re-imagining a brand you look at what the marketplace already thinks of it—how it is perceived, what stereotypes exist, what expectations exist. So that is where Asian America, unfortunately has the strongest brand identity. In the often unflattering eyes of the media which is where stereotypes become such a hot topic of discourse. Which is why everyone is freaking out. Especially American born AP/I’s who cant relate AT ALL to the pidgin speaking noodle sucking nerd boy dragon lady sex kitten king fu master math genius wily suspicious clown like lampooned characters we see still very much alive and well in popular culture.

Obviously that is not at all our total brand package. We do have Jeremy Lins we do have Kate Riggs we do have John Chos we do have Lisa Lings. But they are still pretty few and far between.

So here’s what I said to the group today. This is America. Money talks, bullshit walks. We have a duty as Asian Americans who are raising consciousness and fighting for the kids in college and high schools around the nation still paralyzed between the pressure of being Asian and the pressure to be cool, slash assimilate slash separate themselves from words like chink and geek and whatever else subtly or not so subtly makes them outsiders in their own nation. We have a duty to support the few voices that are breaking through. With cash money. That means you buy not one but two tickets the next time a movie like Better Luck Tomorrow comes out. That means you go see that play or listen to that record and pay for a download or buy a ticket to see an Asian Comedy tour. You vote with your dollars.

What are you voting for? The self esteem of millions of Americans just like you. Why is self esteem and all this academic chit chat about representation in the media important?

Because every single time without exception that I tour a college and do some oral history interviews with Asian students, EVERY SINGLE TIME, I hear a suicide attempt story. Yes that is right. A suicide story. Inspired by the thankless, voiceless, relentless experience of feeling unwelcome every where you turn. By your Asian family who want you to act more Asian. And by your non Asian colleagues who deep down don’t get it and treat you like a foreigner, or just want you to assimilate much harder than you can.

We need an Asian American brand and we need it now. So thanks Jeremy Lin and thanks Lisa Ling. But also thanks everyone who is attending summits and being brave and living with grace and joy and looking for connections to both Asians and all the other Americans. And to those who are artists and media makers who are trying to execute direct change along the chain of information we consume. Keep talking keep thinking. Our brand is under construction. But for right now at this point in history i borrow from my own motherland for our Brand tagline: Unity In Diversity.

[panicinthestudio]

Kate Rigg - "I Will Survive"

[downlo]

When someone tells a joke about Asian people and there’s no actual joke – the joke is the Asian people. The joke is....the funny way they talkie-talkie! “They don’t use proper diction! Only verb and noun! Verb and noun!” I just heard a comic that I respect doing that fucking joke the other night. An Asian comic. And I was like, “Dude! Write a punch line or you’re just being racist!”

interview with Kate Rigg, comedian