9500Liberty

Directors Annabelle Park (National Coordinator of the 121 Coalition, an organization that helped pass the US House Resolution 121, the "comfort women" resolution) and Eric Byler (Charlotte Somtimes, Americanese) have been working on 9500 Liberty.

9500 Liberty is a full-length documentary about the battle over immigration policies in Prince William County, Virginia, when elected officials adopted a law requiring police officers to question anyone they have "probable cause" to suspect is an undocumented immigrant. The film is based on the Youtube channel 9500liberty, a form of resistance used by local residents alarmed by a climate of fear and racial divisions.

Even though we have an African American president and consider ourselves a diverse, welcoming nation, we still have a long way to go before racial tensions are eliminated. But I'm surprised that locals decided to use Youtube as a means of getting the word out and as a form of resistance.

"9500 Liberty makes it clear that when we as a nation of immigrants debate the immigration issue, we are defining our very identity" - John Grisham

The film is in post-production and will be available by September 2009. (I can't wait)

Helping Out Others is Our Job

As we were on our way home, Melanie and I walked down the Canal Street train station’s staircase like normal teenagers – talking and laughing about whatever that came out of our mouths. When we arrived to the N/Q platforms, we turned our heads to the right and there was no one there, so we assumed the train just left. As we were walking that way, a MTA employee stopped us and said “N and Q train are up on the R platform.” We said our thanks and walked away. As we were walking we saw a father, son and daughter still standing there waiting for the train. We stopped for a second and contemplated rather we should tell them or not.

“Should we?” “Hey, why not!”

Melanie approached and told them the situation and the father said “oh, thank you!” We smiled and walked away and as we were walking, we saw tons of people still waiting for the N/Q to come. The funny thing was they were all standing in front of the signs that say “N and Q trains are stopping on the R line at the upper level”. So as we were walking, we stopped to tell them, “All N/Q trains are up on the R line!” There were two boys that said, “Oh Shoot! No wonder why we were waiting for so long!”

Of course we got our ‘thank you’s and such, but what felt so good was that we helped others out because we wanted to. It felt good to know that they didn’t have to waste so much of their time waiting for a train that would never come because we helped them out.

So do you remember the times when people would always get up to let the grannies, grandpas, the incoming mothers, and the mothers with child to sit? I’m not saying it still doesn’t happen – I’m just saying it’s hard to come by now. Now I’m asking you, do you volunteer to give up your seat to help the ones that need it the most?

If we were all a little less selfish and volunteered to help out people, then I think the community would be a much better place, wouldn’t it?

And on the side note, CYI’S Chinatown Beautification Day is coming up this Sunday on August 1-2! Come and join us to let the Chinese Community that the youth have a voice to change the community!

Can guys and beanie babies go together?

I was listening to the Z100 Morning Show while jogging today, and the topic that came up was "Dating Guys with Geeky Collections." The conversation started off pretty general, until somebody then proceeded to mention guys collecting Beanie Babies or the more traditional stuffed animal - the teddy bear. There was a range of responses to this prompt - hysterical laughter, a couple of no-no's, some oh-my-god's, but there was one answer that specifically stood out to me.

"What's wrong with that?"

The person continued to explain his view of guys collecting teddy bears, saying, "How do we judge someone based on what they want to keep? Does it define my sexuality?" And when he questioned the mild protests to his questions, the answer was simply, "It doesn't fit."

So I guess it comes down to this: Is it ok for a guy to collect teddy bears? What makes it "ok" to collect cars and G.I. Joes and not Barbies and stuffed animals? In today's society, are gender roles still defined by what we own, how we dress, or what we like?