Call Me Mellow Yellow

and i quote “when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right…amen”


to barack obama’s reverend
thank you for mentioning asian people
thaaaaank you for saying yellow
big ups to do you, dude
you know, in a country that only plays up white, black and brown
it’s nice to have the existence of asian folks acknowledged every

once and awhile

thanks for giving us the shot-out we deserve
shiiiiiiit, it’s about time, aint it?

however to reverend lowry
thanks
but no thanks
i understand that it was in good humor
but i see nothing humorous or laughable in challenging racism with stereotypes
pray to a god for a future in which “yellow will be mellow”?


and i hope that these are not the sentiments of president obama
i mean a black president is great,
but a president black-white-brown-yellow-red,-every color of the rainbow
that expects me to be mellow in the yellow of my melanin is not my president

as being yellow and mellow means accepting
complacency
meaning forget the ready to fuck shit up-southeast-asian-third-world-for-my-people-organizer in me
meaning, don’t trip, be the fuckin take it up the butt, but don’t say a fuckin word about it model minority

meaning relax, be cool about how the u.s. has [listed in chronological order]:

bombed us.
displaced us from our homes.
refugeed us.
displaced us from our land.
foreign visa, greencarded, allowed-limited-entrance to us.
displaced us from our families.
vasectomied the fuck outta of us.
displaced our mothers from reproductive organs.
section8ed then evicted us.
displaced us from our community
finally repatriated and deported us.
displaced us from a u.s. not meant for us.

meaning
recite national anthems about how bombs are bursting in air
while forgetting that u.s. bombs burst on our peoples ground

not i


if being mellow is what it takes for my yellow ass to be american
then identify me as perpetual foreigner
sounds better than
uhhhmmm

perpetual land taker
perpetual rapist
perpetual exploitist
perpetual colonizer

shit call me an illegal alien
i don’t give a fuck.
i will embrace my alienhood
"i am so alien."
in every sense of the word, i am an extrasaucyextraterrestrial
and i phone home in alien languages.


so chain me to silent?
chain me to complacent?
chain me down to mellow, down to earth human?

not i



i am so outta this world
my movement cannot be chained
fuck being down to earth
i rip free
emerge from the clouds and the sky
actually fuck the clouds and the sky, that’s still earth
the sky is never the limit and
the clouds are just sandboxes in my playground-i am-so-fly

off the groud
outta this world
outta this planet

i’m strawsippin juice right outta the coconut and eating papaya salad while i sit on the rings of saturn-im-so-fuckin-fly


and in my flyness
i am not alone
i am traveling the universe and exploring the galaxies with my yellow sistas and brothas
and we are the moon, we are the stars, shit we are exploded star known as the sun
and yes as the sun we are yellow
and we are hot, angry, pissed off, and ready to give scathing burns to those referring to us as mellow

Vietnamese Refugee Day

Dear Congressman Anh "Joseph" Cao:

First and foremost, I would like to congratulate you on your many accomplishments this year. Not only are the highest ranked Vietnamese American elected official and first Vietnamese American elected to service in our fine country's Congress, you are a Republican that has been elected to represent a predominantly Democratic district of Louisiana.

In fact, you’re the first Republican to be elected to represent the Second District of Louisiana since 1891.

While some may argue that your victory only occurred due to very rare circumstances, such as running against a Democratic candidate marred by controversy and low voter turn out as a result of Hurricane Gustav, I still take great pride that someone who is sometimes called a community organizer, has advocated for the rights of immigrants and refugees, and whose family was also torn apart by the war in Southeast Asia, has accomplished such things.

I only wish that you were able to see these connections between you and me that I see so clearly.

I actually had the amazing opportunity to meet you in March at the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) event to welcome newly elected Asian and Pacific Americans to CAPAC. I commend your effort to be bi-partisan and join a heavily Democratic Caucus – making CAPAC the only bi-partisan Congressional caucus based on race.

When you admitted that you “may be a closet Democrat,” I wished you were telling the truth instead of just cracking a joke.

I know you’ve been faced with some obstacles since joining office, especially with concerns from your constituents regarding the economic stimulus package, but I’m glad that you are trying to build those bridges. I mean, seeing that your first piece of legislation passed unanimously, I guess you can say that you’ve definitely build some bi-partisan bridges in Congress.

However, how about those bridges that exist in your district? Does this piece of legislation address the concerns of your constituents in your district?

I think voting for the economic stimulus package might have.

How about those bridges that exist in our community?

I can take a hint. You’ve gone and drawn the line very clearly between you and me.

Regardless, I’m happy to see that you’re using your POWER – as the first Vietnamese American to serve in the US Congress – and PRIVILEGE – as a product of the main Viet Nam War and not just a product of one of the satellite wars – to empower and bring voice to YOUR community.

I only hope that one day… I will be able to have the same power and privilege to do something as honorable as H.Res. 342.

However, when I say similar, I mean similarly honorable but not similarly narrow, exclusive, self-centered, and self-serving.

Love&Solidarity,
Monica