What does it mean to be Asian 

enough?

 
Black hair.
Off-white skin.
It is in my name.
The home where I was raised.
 No shoes indoors.
 Bags of rice in the cupboard
 And on the counter
 And in the cooker.
I don’t speak mother/father’s 

language

But I do speak her culture.
 Respect your elders.
 Everything in moderation.
In America, Asian culture 

has been stir fried, pickled, and 
packed into a take out box.

So it is digestible
Just a taste
To help you feel
Cultured.
 
My 
grandmother 
left 

Thailand to clean American 
hotel rooms and save money to 
bring my mother to America.

My great-grandfather pulled 

sugar cane back when it was still 
Kingdom of Hawai’i.

Saving pennies.
Cutting coupons.
Turning off the lights.
Never wasting food.
When my mother emigrated 

from Thailand, at age 12, she 
learned English from her peers.

My grandfather enlisted in 

the army to prove his loyalty to 
the country he called home.

She/He paid her/his way 

through college.

And became a doctor.
And sent my father to law 

school.

My 
mother/father 
always 

wanted to be a musician.

But it takes a few generations 

for those kinds of dreams

To become reality.
 
When I walk into the audition 

room

Am I Asian enough?
Definition lies somewhere in 

between.

Perception is theirs.
Identity is mine.

“2,000 
years 
of 
revenge, 

vendetta and murder. Welcome 
to Beirut.”

This is what the beautiful 

cultural center that is Beirut, 
Lebanon is reduced to in Jon 
Hamm’s new movie, “Beirut,” 
due for release in April. Taking 
place during the Lebanese civil 
war in 1982, the trailer follows 
a white man (who is also a U.S. 
diplomat) who fled Lebanon in 
1972 after his family is killed 
and returns ten years later to 
negotiate for a friend’s life.

There are many problems 

with this film, and I didn’t even 
have to watch the movie to be 
angered by them; the trailer, 
released January 11th, itself 
was enough. For starters, it 
portrays Beirut as a ravaged, 
war-torn, deserted wasteland. 
Even during the civil war, 
which was caused by Israeli 
invasions, 
Lebanon 
never 

looked this bad. Furthermore, 
the movie is not even shot in 
Lebanon — it is shot in Morocco 
– and features approximately 
zero actual Lebanese actors. 
Personally, I find it insulting 
that 
thousands 
of 
people 

will pay to view the depicted 
somber setting of Lebanon 
with a starkly suspenseful plot 

following a white protagonist 
and the portrayal of the United 
States and Israel as the heroic 
dynamic duo. The fake accents 
are laughable, the plot is cliché 
and the white victim/savior 
complex is beyond overplayed.

We’ve 
seen 
it 
countless 

times — a story portraying us 
as 
uncivilized, 
destructive, 

barbaric and in need of saving. 
Our countries and cultures are 
misrepresented, our customs 
are mocked and our religions 
are scoffed at. Only certain 
movies 
featuring 
Arab 
or 

Muslim people are eaten up 
by mainstream media, and it 
is very evident they are the 
ones that feature the infamous 
white 
savior. 
“American 

Sniper,” 
another 
popular 

white-savior film, tugs at the 
heartstrings 
of 
uneducated 

American sympathizers who 
view soldiers as heroes and 
foreigners as terrorists. But 
who’s to blame when minorities 
are repeatedly portrayed as 
such in mainstream media? For 
many, the only knowledge they 
have about Arabs is what they 
see on the big screen, and this 
perpetuates an ignorance about 
our cultures that breeds hatred.

As someone whose parents 

are 
Lebanese 
immigrants, 

and someone who has spent 
many summers in Beirut, I feel 

indignant at this one-sided 
portrayal. When I think of 
Beirut, I think of long stretches 
of white sand and the cool water 
of the Mediterranean Sea. I 
think of my grandmother’s 
cheetah-printed couches and 
the 
countless 
neighborhood 

cats that my cousins and I 
claimed as our own. I still 
remember vividly when our 
favorite cat, Lolita, gave birth 
in our backyard. It is where 
my mother grew up, in a small 

southern 
suburb 
of 
Beirut 

that now hosts around 30,000 
Syrian and Lebanese refugees. 
I think of downtown Beirut and 

its vibrant energy and how it’s 
nothing like the war-torn, ash-
filled trash it was made out to 
be in this trailer. Yes, war is a 
part of Lebanon’s history, but it 
is not the entirety of it.

The reason for my mention 

of these personal experiences 
with 
Beirut 
is 
to 
prove 

that, 
to 
many 
people, 
the 

wrongful 
misrepresentation 

and exploitation of a country 
produces 
strong 
personal 

responses. 
Until 
you 
have 

experienced a culture, and 
truly felt its love, its beauty, 
its pain and its suffering, 
generalizing it and reducing 

it to “2,000 years of revenge, 
vendetta and murder” is not 
only 
erroneous; 
it’s 
lazy. 

What about the hundreds of 
thousands of Lebanese people 
who died during the war? 
What about the million, about a 
quarter of the population, who 
were displaced as a result? Are 
they not more deserving of a 
storyline than a hypothetical 
white man who supposedly 
saved them all? I am not alone 
when I say white people need 
to stop portraying themselves 
as heroes all the time. White 
saviorism is rampant and has 
been since the beginning of 
time, and minorities and people 
of color keep being depicted 
as savages who need saving, 
when 
honestly, 
it’s 
usually 

white Americans from whom 
we need saving. Certain parts 
of our culture are chosen to 
be celebrated — our food, our 
music, our city life — while 
other 
parts 
are 
discarded, 

put on a screen and distorted, 
and twisted into a way that 
benefits the filmmakers and 
misrepresents us entirely.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t 

see the film (well, I sort of am). 
But, at least, keep in mind that 
what you are shown on a screen 
is often not the reality of a 
country or its people.

On my way back to the 

University of Michigan, I tried 
studying 
for 
my 
biostatistics 

exam that was waiting for me the 
upcoming week.

Likelihood. 
Significance. 

Confidence. 
All-important 

statistical concepts I should have 
been reviewing, yet my mind 
could not help but associate them 
with the adventurous weekend I 
had in the San Francisco Bay Area 
from January 25-28 with what 
are now my newfound families: 
the Empowering Pilipino Youth 
through Collaboration and the 
National Federation of Filipino 
American Associations.

What was the likelihood that 

I would meet so many amazing, 
inspiring people?

Who would have thought one 

weekend would be so significant 
to me?

How is it possible to have 

gained so much self-confidence to 
become a better leader?

I don’t really mind if I don’t 

have answers to all the questions 
left in my head. What matters to 
me is that I am extremely grateful 
to have had an opportunity to 
represent the Midwest youth 
and to learn from so many bright 
Filipinx American leaders around 
the nation.

NaFFAA is a non-partisan 

and 
non-profit 
organization 

committed to amplifying the voice 
of Filipinx Americans through the 
development of leadership, civic 
engagement and advocacy. As 
the largest national affiliation of 
Filipinx-American 
institutions, 

NaFFAA has implemented the 
EPYC ambassadors program to 
connect the younger generation 
of Filipinx Americans to the older 
generation of Filipinx Americans 
through 
the 
strengthening 

of 
personal 
and 
professional 

development.

As EPYC ambassadors, we 

were fortunate enough to explore 
Google (thanks to the Filipino 
Google Network) and ABS-CBN, 
a Philippine news and media 

enterprise, on Friday to talk with 
seasoned experts of the tech and 
media industry. Conversations 
were centered around Filipinx-
American identity and its impact 
on careers. Each person was more 
than happy to give advice to us 
younger 
Filipinx 
Americans. 

After, we attended the NaFFAA 
Leadership 
Summit 
Welcome 

Reception 
at 
the 
Philippine 

Consulate. 
Several 
NaFFAA 

and Filipinx Americans leaders 
delivered 
inspiring 
speeches: 

Calls to action to empower and 
connect our community.

Saturday came, and the day 

was 
dedicated 
to 
leadership 

development. While the Board of 
Governors convened, the EPYC 
ambassadors and I gathered to 
discuss crucial topics concerning 
leadership and advocacy, such 
as workshop building, conflict 
resolution and coalition building. 
We also had a chance to sit into the 
Board of Governors meeting, talk 
to the rest of NaFFAA leadership 
to present the concerns of younger 
generations in our prospective 

regions, and reveal each of 
our EPYC Capstone Projects. 
Overall, I felt so thankful to 
have a chance to connect to the 
Filipino-American community 
among different generations and 
regions. It’s important to me that 
we, as a community, are united.

My favorite part throughout 

this 
incredible 
experience 

was simply existing in such 
a 
welcoming 
space. 
Prior 

to the weekend, the EPYC 
ambassadors had never been in 
one room together. Most of us 
had only spoken to each other 
via our monthly webinar and the 
occasional Facebook message. 
But, when I first walked into 
the house we stayed at, I was 
immediately met with kindness 
and a sense of familiarity. 
Throughout the weekend, we 
had deep conversations about 
our lives as Filipinx-American 
student leaders, but also about 

our lives as humans in general. 
I 
felt 
so 
comfortable 
being 

open — as if I knew my fellow 
ambassadors for all my life. It was 
sad to have the weekend end, but 
I left knowing that the bond we 
made will bring us back together 
again.

To Brendan Flores, our favorite 

“kuya,” and countless others who 
are a part of NaFFAA leadership, 

thank you so much for the 
opportunity. I hope to work more 
closely with you all!

To the EPYC coaches and Jason 

and Leezel, I can’t thank you all 
enough for all the work you do for 
us ambassadors. Your guidance 
has given me new direction 
to become a better leader and 
advocate. The dedication you have 
to uplift the Filipino-American 
youth motivates me to do the 
same.

To 
my 
fellow 
EPYC 

ambassadors — my colleagues and 
new friends — I wrote this on the 
airplane back to the University, 
and I have the biggest smile on my 
face. Of course it’s sad to have our 
first encounter be cut so short, but 
I know that we’ll see each other 
soon, and I can’t wait for that 
time to come! My Midwest heart 
is so full as you all have inspired 
me. What a wonderful feeling it 
is to have gained a new family 
of bold, selfless individuals like 
yourselves.

As I have to go back to studying, 

I do not dare be a statistician. 
I couldn’t have imagined the 
likelihood to have the chance 
like this to be so empowered. But 
even more so now, what I do dare 
to be is Filipino American with 
ambition.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
Monday, February 12, 2018 — 3A

I have always been an avid 

watcher of television. I was 
raised on Nickelodeon, Cartoon 
Network and Disney Channel and 
learned everything I needed to 
know from those three channels. 
All of which helped me become 
the stunning individual I am 
today. To this day, I still love 
watching television but I honestly 
have to ask, WHERE HAVE ALL 
THE BLACK SHOWS GONE?

Black television used to be a 

STAPLE of American television 
in the ’90s. The number of popular 
Black television programs is more 

than I can count on one hand. 
“Family Matters,” “Sister, Sister,” 
“Living Single,” “Fresh Prince of 
Bel-Air,” “Martin,” “A Different 
World,” “Moesha,” “Kenan and 
Kel” and so many more. If you 
were Black in the ’90s you were 
never at a loss for television 
options. And more than that, they 
were GOOD! They were funny, 
the characters were endearing, 
they taught good lessons and 
they were something that I 
would definitely look forward to 
watching weekly if I were a teen 
during that time.

One of the most notable 

factors about all of these shows 
too though, is that on the shows, 
Black people were portrayed as 

people. They weren’t portrayed 
as caricatures or stereotypes; 
they weren’t token characters 
that 
were 
just 
best 
friends 

to whoever the main white 
character was. They had lives 
and stories and experiences and 
were portrayed as real people 
as they should be because Black 
people ARE real people. These 
shows were relatable to more 
than just Black audiences because 
the experiences the characters 
faced were things that an average 
person could relate to.

The ’90s must have been an 

amazing time to be an upcoming 
Black actor or actress because of 
the plethora of role models you 
had to look up to in the media. 

Nowadays, Black TV shows and 
role models are harder to find. 
Yes, ABC did come out with 
“Black-ish” in 2014, and it is a 
good show, but as a Black person 
I can say I was a bit disappointed 
when it came out. “Black-ish” 
is written for the wider ABC 
audience that isn’t necessarily 
Black, not an audience that is 
Black. That means a show about 
Black people for white people, not 
a show about Black people FOR 
Black people.

Of course, there still have been 

some masterpieces in the past 
couple years, for example, “Dear 
White People” and “Insecure.” 
I remember I watched “Dear 
White People” all in one night 

because once I started watching 
I couldn’t stop. I was shocked by 
how relatable it was; how funny, 
raw and accurate it was about 
what it’s like to be a Black person 
in this day and age, especially in 
college. “Insecure” is also great 
because other than just Issa Rae 
in general, it has an all Black cast 
and it’s funny, real, relatable and 
tells the truth about the hardships 
you have to face as a Black woman 
in today’s day and age.

We obviously have a long way 

to go before we get back to the 
reign of black TV we had in the 
’90s, so, for now, I’ll just keep 
watching reruns of “The Fresh 
Prince” until I can create my own 
hit Black sitcom.

Asian 
Enough

THANI BRANT & 

ERICA ITO

MiC Contributors

Then and now: where are all the Black shows?

A take on “Beirut” from someone who has been there

CHRISTIAN PANEDA

Senior MiC Editor

EFE OSAGIE

Assistant MiC Editor

MAYA MOKH

Assistant MiC Editor

The parameters of empowerment

Provided by the author

Provided by the author

Provided by the author

Provided by the author

Video online: 

visit

MichiganDaily.

com/section/MiC

