PebHmong Discussion Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: theking on September 23, 2021, 10:22:28 PM
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‘Where Y’all Really From?’
Is a question and answer for Asian Kentuckians in new podcast
(https://www.kentucky.com/latest-news/83cljp/picture254421313/alternates/LANDSCAPE_1140/L-R%20Dan%20Charlene%20Mae%20and%20Nima%20-%20photo%20by%20Dan.jpg)
On March 16, a 21-year-old man went on a shooting spree in Atlanta, killing eight people, six of them Asian women.
Shortly after, Lexington chef and activist Dan Wu wrote an essay about the killings, which came on top of a year of spiking violence against immigrants in general and Asian-Americans in particular.
“Meanwhile, you love us for our food, our movies, our martial arts, our anime, our labor, and all the scientific, literary, artistic, and cultural contributions Asian Americans have made to this country,” he wrote. “But you do not value our lives. You listen to demagogues who spread lies, hate, and xenophobia. You insult us. You vandalize our homes & businesses. You beat us. You kill us.”
Around the same time, Berea restaurant owner Mae Suramek and state Rep. Nima Kulkarni, D-Louisville, appeared together on Renee Shaw’s KET show to talk about the experience of being Asian-American in Kentucky. “I called Mae right after the show and said we need to have a continued conversation on this,” Kulkarni said. “Maybe a podcast?”
Suramek immediately called Wu, and by May, the podcast was underway. Wu also recruited Charlene Buckles of Louisville as a co-host. Wu and Buckles recorded all 11 in two weeks, and one will drop over the next 11 weeks. “Where Y’all Really From” debuted Tuesday on Louisville Public Media, which had recently set up a podcast incubator to encourage more marginalized voices to produce shows.
The title, which became the subject of the first show, came out of a question that Asian-Americans have heard countless times.
“People ask where are you from, and we say Lexington or Louisville, and then they say, ‘no where are you really from?” Kulkarni said. “We’ve all heard that before and we all react to it differently.”
The podcast is aimed at telling the stories of Asian and Pacific Islanders in Kentucky, a way of connecting the shared experiences of 1.6 percent of the population who are often overlooked or marginalized. The four creators’ heritage — Kulkarni is Indian, Wu is Chinese, Buckles is Filipina and Suramek is Thai — highlights how vast the world of “Asian-Americans” can be, whether immigrant or U.S.-born. (https://www.kentucky.com/latest-news/6tdmec/picture254421218/alternates/FREE_1140/WYRF_logo.jpeg)
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I speak with an Amelican Accent. ;)