September » 2009 » RIOT IN THE SKY

RECAP: Best Colleges for AAPI Activism

over the summer i had the pleasure of being a part of a new collaborative project between Asian Pacific Americans for Progress, Angry Asian Man and many respected leaders to launch a national search and highlight the best schools for Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders in respect to its commitment to activism and social change.

the results have been posted over the past few weeks, but for a quick recap of all the schools who got recognized, check them out here:

SCHOOLS THAT KICK OTHER SCHOOLS’ ASS

photo prop to Angry Asian Man

javon loves basquiat

my girl rae hit me up to do a commissioned birthday piece for her man, javon johnson (featured on hbo’s def poetry jam). peep his steez:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-_kJaE9OqY&hl=en&fs=1&]

one of javon’s favorite artists is jean-michel basquiat, so rae asked me to do a basquiat-esque piece. i did a rendition of basquiat’s painting “the skull” while altering it to include personalized javon-ness (details might be too small to see, but includes things like his name, his birthday, one of his favorite books, etc.). happy birthday to javon:

on a backtrack note, finally got a hold on some better quality photos from the dick blick event last week:

time out to grub on some BOMB ASS LEMON POUND CAKE from starbucks!

A VIDEO OF THIS EVENT IS IN THE WORKS! COMING SOON!

hot new joint: the noisettes

new or not, they’re new to me so haters please step down reminds me of a british janelle monae. big ups to cuzzo jane for putting me on.

love her swag:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-9yZm-ajVo&hl=en&fs=1&]

that’s right…start hitting up the youtube and imeem.

live painting @ dick blick

this past thursday swat, problak and me were invited to paint live at dick blick art store. it was a promo event sponsored by montana cans.

my thursday morning started out rough as fuck with me standing before the judge. its amazing how the system meant to protect you can make you feel helpless. well, i guess that’s typical. f the popo. i went down to the courthouse to apply for my 3rd restraining order against the psycho stalker. even when i first moved back to boston in june, all my close homies were telling me to apply for it right away, but i refused. honestly, i didn’t want to deal with the bullshit anymore. i was riding on wishful thinking that the shit would subside. and it did, but only for a little while. being in the courthouse this thursday reminded me of how fucking inefficient our system is. i’ve gone through this so many times in los angeles. i became all too familiar with the LAPD, UCPD and santa monica courthouse. its enough to drive you damn near crazy. you appeal to the court for assistance and protection, but they end up making you feel smaller and shittier. i won’t get into too much detail about it because i know the stalker will be reading. the worst part is that it costs four hundred fucking dollars for a restraining order. wtf? why are we even paying taxes. my ish aside, most people who need this protection are in unstable, low income working class conditions. folks like that can’t afford to take off 4 hours from work to apply for one and most likely can’t afford to cough up 4oo dollars on the spot. that’s a whole paycheck for most folks. i saw one woman come in wanting to apply for one. she was a middle aged african american woman. when she found out how much it was, she had a look of pain on her face. she said, “i can’t afford that” and sadly left. again, another example of institutionalized racism (or classism, since people hate talking about race these days…but that’s okay because race and class are still correlated). working class people of color are institutionally denied access to the civic services and protection they naturally deserve.

after all that, i have a court hearing next friday. the stalker must show up to court as well and then i gota make my case before the judge decides whether or not a permanent restraining order will be granted. holla.

it was a fucked up, frustrating morning. i checked into the studio at 12, busted out an assignment, then left at 12:30 to set up. painting between two of my favorite people was the perfect release. im happy i got to paint. for a few hours i just let everything go and found therapy in the cans.

problak problak

sexybeast
swat’s piece. aka the sexy beast painting “the sexy beast”

t-rah2 me.

t-rah “RAH!”

vote boston: SAM YOON?

tomorrow bostonians will hit the polls to vote for the next mayor of boston. this year marks one of the biggest mayoral race in decades with 3 opponents going up against current mayor menino’s 16 year reign. one of these men is sam yoon. sam yoon is the first asian american candidate for boston mayor. with a first black president in office, and an asian american mayoral candidate, change is definitely in the making.

but HEY! don’t just vote for the guy because he’s ASIAN!!! that’s just iggy!!! we can’t storm shadow every ethnic face that looks like ours. take michelle malkin, for example. just because she’s a good lookin asian american face on TV (fox news), does not excuse the fact that she is CRAZY!!!!!! she’s like an asian ann coulter. maybe a little worse because she don’t even like asian people!!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB10SPsrEQQ&hl=en&fs=1&]

at least me and sam yoon got something in common. we both play the piano! holla

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWT8rP5Qtmw&hl=en&fs=1&]

for more info to make an educated vote, check out:
BOSTON MAYORAL CANDIDATES 2009

best colleges for AAPI activism

angryasianman.com & apaforprogress.org teamed up to come up with a regular series to feature the “best colleges for aapi activism”. i had the honor of being a part of developing this process. the results are in and up! UCLA made the cut! buuuuck yea!! check it out check it outtttttt. big things poppin’ baby. that’s my schoolio foolio.

FLIP THE SCRIPT @ UCLA

once you’re on the site. hit the HOME link and click on the EDUCATION tab to peep the other schools that made it.

23 revolutions: the explosion of bossy nova

WHAT’S GOODY GOOD BEAUTIFULS!!!

from AOL to xanga to myspace and even a short-lived blogspot, i’ve never really been good with commitments…always jumping from one online network to the next…only to eventually be over the excitement of the newnew customize profile features and neglect the regular updates. but then again, who’s reading anyway?

to be honest, it’s always been a love|hate relationship with the internet. no doubt it’s got its perks, but i’m weary of becoming too consumed in this digital world. can we say trees? say summa breeze? it seems like more and more things are becoming accessible via internet these days, that we may never need to leave our homes (even diet and exercise is delivered to your door!!). its a twisted dichotomy–a desire to make my mark on the webbyweb while also wanting to resist the digital vortex. on top of that, i’m a pretty private and reserved person…DON’T FOLLOW ME (peace peace twitter)…but i’m learning to open myself up to the world again because i know good things are in store for alla us.

dilemma aside, i’ve linked up with WORDPRESS now and i’m ready to keep this baby rolling. im committed to updating posts on the regular–i’ll try to do the daily, but at minimum, several times a week. ima give you my unfiltered, honest thoughts–from reflections to random bullshit to projects in progress. im not much of the obsessive internet fiend but i’ll try to give you all something worth reading. also, are there any CSS geeks in the house? can somebuddy tell me why my “SEARCH IT!” is cut off? help a sista out!

MY SUMMER REFLECTION:
it’s been a crazy past few months. i graduated from UCLA in june. double major in Ethnic Studies (Asian American Studies), World Arts & Cultures and minored in Film. straight west coastin for the past 4 years brings me back to the best coast now, the eeeeeeeeast coast!!! wadup BOS!! since then, life’s been a trip. being back in my hometown means everything looks the same, but shits completely different this time. I’M different and i’m at a different place in my life. this ain’t summer vacay, this is the beginning of the rest of my life. every step i make isn’t towards a grade or a degree, it’s toward carving out my life. it’s scary and exciting. as a student, the institution sets structural benchmarks for you to measure your success–passing a grade, report card, graduation, diploma, degree, etc. now that i’m in the “real” world, there are no benchmarks. which is nervewrecking because you never know if you’re doing (good) enough. you set your own boundaries. when that’s the case, there are no boundaries. no destination, really. when people say sky’s the limit, they really mean bring it to new heights. the galaxy has no limit. just gota keep on pushing. i love this feeling. i feel reborn into the world, and alive in a whole new way. we unstoppable baby. watch out now.

so i been on the post grad grind. painting, writing, working and getting my website up. BIG BIG UPS to the homie MIKEY MASTER G for hooking up the site!!! check out his snazzy shiznazzy here: www.student17.com

peep my new site here: www.riotinthesky.com

happy birthday to me. i believe that celebrating our birthdays are about more than gifts and getting crunk. if we’re going to celebrate how great we are and how great it is to be alive, we should recognize our potential to make this world an even greater place. the beginning is just beginning. thanks for reading. more to come. stay posted.

peace and pounds,
s

P.S. EYO YOU LIKE MY BACKGROUND WALLPAPER??? WANT YOUR HOME TO LOOK AS SNAZZY AS THAT??? HOLLA AT MY POPS! HE WILL HOOK YOU UP! WE IN DA HARD KNOCKS FLOORSANDING BIDNAS BABY! if this sounds like a joke, please stop laughing. no lies up in here!!

holla at pops: www.FloorSandingofMass.com