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Suggestions to the Editors

| arun

What can magazines like TheBigThree do to promote more Asian American writers? I have in the past provided some tentative suggestions, but my experience in the publishing world approaches nil. Fortunately, author 犀利士 g-their-work.html”>Claire Light today posted on her blog some very pertinent comments on the paucity of female and POC writers in literary magazines. (“Why Aren’t Women and POC Submitting Their Work?”) Claire Light has had a tremendous impact on how I see the world, from white privilege to use of the term hapa. Her thoughts here are, by and large, directly applicable to the editorial staffs of TheBigThree. Below are some suggestions from the end of her post about what these white folk can do to reach out effectively.

Archivist Note: Regrettably, the rest of this post was lost in transition to the new server.

Happy Lunar New Year!

| arun

Today is the (Chinese/Vietnamese/Korean/Mongolian/Tibetan) Lunar New Year. Although frequently tied to religious observance, these concurrent new years are celebrated by Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Atheists and more types of believers, non-believers and everything-in-between than even the gods are able to count. I wouldn’t say that makes them secular holidays, but I would be a bit wary about calling them “Buddhist” holidays. Here are a few nouvelanian messages from around the net.

Chinese New Year is helpfully explained for laowais. (via Yueheng)

Rev. Heng Sure sends us a Year of the Tiger Valentine video greeting.

President Barack Obama extends his Lunar New Year Wishes via YouTube.

In solidarity with Tibetans in Chinese territory, the Dalai Lama has discouraged celebration of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, in 2010. (Also posted at Shambhala SunSpace.)

Not to say that no Tibetans will be celebrating Losar—it’s important to uphold one’s cultural heritage afterall.

Also check out posts by Nate DeMontigny, Barbara O’Brien, Danny Fisher, John Pappas. All share some celebratory thoughts on Losar, each in their own special way.

Festival Cancelled Due to Heavy Rain

| arun

Thanks to Dr. Scott (@djbuddha) for passing on this link. In celebration of Black History Month, Lama Rangdrol presents a free online screening.

In honor of Black History Month, I offer a month-long online viewing of “Festival Canceled Due to Heavy Rain,” the award-winning film about my life. The film charts my journey from the sixties in urban Los Angeles, to my profound experience of healing in the Cambodian jungle last year.

Please watch the film, offer what financial support you can, and share with friends, family, and members of the press. My hope is to continue to highlight the important connection between African Americans and the Buddhist experience so we all can share in mutual understanding.

I haven’t yet watched the film myself, but I should pass on the warning from the webpage that it includes graphic images of violence (so be careful before opening this at work). I hope to view it soon!

Master of My Own Domain

| arun

I received angryasianbuddhist.com as a present for a certain special time of the year (which is not coming up this weekend). Then I discovered I can create static pages on Blogger too! I can see my free time spiraling down the drain faster than those Google Buzz comments are rolling in. It’s like being 18 months old in a crib full of new toys all over again.

I was too excited setting up the new domain to follow the common courtesy of publishing a notification that traffic is being redirected—just to clear up RSS confusion. Next time.

Lovely Spring Festival

| arun

The Chinese/Vietnamese/Korean/Tibetan Lunar New Year falls on Valentine’s Day this year. For many of us who were planning something romantic for that special someone, negotiations are currently underway with Mom and Pops to balance (sometimes) conflicting obligations. For those of us who find ourselves single, how wonderful it is to have something greater to celebrate than hyper-awareness of singlehood!

I usually go to temple the night before to welcome the New Year at midnight sharp. Typically, this is followed by a vegetarian meal with family and friends. The next day, I get dragged along to go temple hopping, making offerings for good merit—a “traditional” routine that I honestly believe is just another excuse to spend time with family and meet old friends. A good excuse, in my opinion.

This morning I was also reminded that for about 150 million migrant workers, this holiday marks the year’s most important (if not only) trip home. May we all have the goodness of heart, word and action to cultivate a positive destiny for ourselves.

What does this have to do with Buddhism? Who knows!

People of Color Night

| arun

Thanks to a post by Erica at Urban Refuge, I was alerted to Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society’s People of Color Night at their Los Angeles location, 4300 Melrose Avenue, near LACC. Their upcoming meeting is this Friday, February 12 at 7:00 PM.

Hopefully I’ll be able to attend this Friday night. The schedule looks as though it involves a mix of meditation and discussion, all of which I look forward to. If you happen to live in the Los Angeles area, I’d love to see you there!

Somaly Man

| arun

One of my goals is to highlight the profiles of Asian Buddhists, especially those whose religious identity may not be as prominent as their other accomplishments. One incredible personality is Somaly Mam. Tharum Bun has a very kind post about her on his blog Musings from Cambodia, which I’ve included below.

She’s not a prominent politician but an anti-slavery activist and survivor fighting for sex trafficked victims.

The 39 or 40-year-old Somaly Mam (she’s not sure about her birthday) stands out from the crowd for fighting tirelessly against human sex trafficking and helping the victims. In the poverty-ridden Cambodia of 14 million people she is not from an elite family. In fact Somaly was once a former sex worker herself; as a child she was sold into prostitution. But she rose up anyway to run a foundation, which is named after her, to help women and children to escape from slavery.

On the microblogging site Twitter she’s got 315,226 followers (126 tweets posted). In comparison there are only 59,154 people (1,355 tweets posted) who follow Thai former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra via Twitter (the figure was based on the date and time of posting this).

Somaly, also a human rights advocate, uses internet tools prolifically to spread news of her work to as many people as possible. Last week, she posted a tweet from her mobile phone about her speech ontrafficking that she was giving to more 700 students at a university in Phnom Penh.

In April last year Somaly Mam was named as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential figures. Her profile was written by non other than Angelina Jolie, goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, and she’s listed alongside the likes of British Prime Minster Gordon Brown and US President Barack Obama. You’ll find Somaly in the Heroes & Iconssection in between Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey. Thanks in part to the mainstream media, she can claim to be one of the most influential Cambodian figures not only in the Twitter universe but alive today.

Check out her book, The Road of Lost Innocence. Photo from Asian Correspondent.