book recs – Reading and Gaming for Justice

Four Books about Japanese Internment

Brendon — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 17:00:24 +0000

Folks who know me a bit know that my family was interned in the 1940s during WWII. This is a piece of family history that stays with me and I constantly reflect on its impact on my family and on me. I often talk about it in terms of my personal culture and in terms of the larger impact on racism. I continually come back to Japanese interment because the impact of that decision is generational. I feel residual impact and if I have children, they will also feel impact. This impact includes loss of culture, heritage and traditions, loss of family wealth, and I think one thing that I continue to fixate on, loss of language. While I consider it a personal goal to learn about internment and ways my family persisted, I think it is even more important for others to learn about it, the experiences of the Japanese people, and the politics used/abused to make it happen. Well, let’s move on to the actual content!

A Boy of Heart Mountain by Barbara Bazaldua

My grandmother was in the interment camp at Heart Mountain, Wyoming and I was able to visit the camp back in 2014 when I was driving from California to Massachusetts. I think Wyoming is a beautiful state to drive through but when I was in Heart Mountain, there is literally nothing around. When I was there, I purchased this book about the experience of a Japanese boy in the Heart Mountain camp. This book is simple and captures the dissonance between a child’s innocence and the hardship of living in the camp. As a part of my own journey towards understanding of my family’s history, this book is a treasure I will always own.

Citizen 13660 by Mine Okubo

I have boosted this graphic novel at any chance I can get. Mine Okubo writes and draws matter-of-fact-ly about her experiences in the internment camp. Her panels capture the pain, humiliation, resilience, and strength of the Japanese people in the camps. Two parts stood out to me: the first is about the close quarters and tiny things that I take for granted with my own space. The other were the scenes depicting the hypocrisy of honoring certain rights for citizens of the United States while keeping them in internment camps based on their cultural heritage. This will always be a sticking point for me when it came to enrolling Japanese men in the draft and pitching it as a civic duty.

Growing Up Nisei by David K. Yoo

My thoughtful and loving partner researched and gave this book for me as a gift. This is a non-fiction look into the Nisei or second generation of Japanese people in the United States and looks at where the Nisei fall in the US context. This is a much broader look at Japanese people in the United States, starting in 1924, but this book goes through the end of the 40s which will deal with the fallout of World War II and the internment camps. The Nisei generation born as United States citizens, have a unique experience with internment. I put this book on the list because I think it is important to understand the context of Japanese people in the US before the time of internment and get a sense of the experience of citizenship (maybe when other family members were not citizens) juxtaposed with the experience of internment.

Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston

Another entry into the non-fiction category is this memoir by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. I find personal accounts of internment to be very compelling and humbling. Jeanne in her memoir shares her experience as a United States citizen and being uprooted as a child to live in the camps. This is a story of resiliency, family, and finding ways to live in the camp at Manzanar. While not stated explicitly, I think this book was written for or intended for a younger audience. Here is where I struggle with the book. It is often compared to memoirs of Holocaust survivors or The Diary of Ann Frank. Let’s be clear: While the interment of the Japanese was a terrible point in US history and infringed on the civil rights of Japanese people, I find it unhelpful and disrespectful to compare this event to the Holocaust. Let’s acknowledge both happened and center the voices that share their lived experiences.

Bonus: Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki

While I have not read this children’s book, I have heard stories about the importance of baseball in the internment camps for children. My grandparents were in the camp as children and had to figure out how to be a kid while under such terrible circumstances. I look forward to reading Baseball Saved Us and learn more about my grandparents experiences in the camps.

Book Review: Temporary People by Deepak Unnikrishnan

Brendon — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 02:44:36 +0000

Temporary People by Deepak Unnikrishnan is a collection of hauntingly beautiful, violent, raw short stories interwoven into a masterpiece of fiction exploring themes of human value, immigration, culture, love, hate, hardship, evil, family, citizenship, and more. This collection of stories is so complex and nuanced that it deserves more than one read to fully grasp all the complexities. At its heart, Temporary People is about that: temporary people. Those who are used, abused, and then thrown out when not needed anymore. The harsh realities for guest workers in the UAE is blended with magical realism in each story and packs a powerful punch to the reader about how these workers navigate and suffer through their experiences and living conditions.

One story stood out to me and continues to occupy my thoughts as I reflect on my reading experience: Le Musée

We start off at the end of a violent conflict where the commander of the victorious forces orders the construction of two homes. The he orders his men to identify men, women, and children from the enemy captive to live in these houses. The “families” can be observed at any time of day for any reasons so that the dominant people can learn about the culture of the people they defeated. This story was so powerful because it reminded me how the dominant culture literally, well… dominates marginalized cultures. This story may seem like it’s an extreme example of this but in reality, the amount of power that a dominant culture has over the others is astounding. Le Musée was established to assert this domination and then to remind the dominant culture about why their culture is superior. To be quite honest, I am not sure what the author’s intention was in writing this piece in particular, but regardless, it moved me.

The other story that stood out to me was the second story in the collection: Birds

For me, this is when the themes of Temporary People started to come through as we follow a medical worker as she roams the streets looking for workers who have fallen off buildings. She looks for the fallen and then tapes them back up so they can continue on working. And sometimes these workers pass from their injuries and there is nothing to be done except comfort them and listen to their stories. This short story was heartbreaking to me because of the larger theme that so few people care about this population of worker – the majority will allow them to work in dangerous conditions but few support and care for them. They are, as the title describes, Temporary People, never fully accepted as a person in the environment they live in. I often think about what justice and inclusion looks like on a structural and cultural scale. In this story, justice could take many forms yet the story explores the interpersonal relationship between the person giving medical care and the fallen workers. One person can care about these fallen workers, but the impact of the systemic problem of falling workers is still there regardless of how many she helps.

The collection overall explores the vast intersections of immigrant identity and provides dialogues about race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, and more. While this cannot be held up as the definitive voice of immigrants (no one should have to bear that burden nor should we expect them to), this is one of the first novels I have read with such a unique style and approach to these topics. Using magical realism, Unnikrishnan does not abstract the challenges, violence, and oppressions but actually elevates the descriptions giving me, the reader, a visceral, raw feeling at the end.

I know some folks would say this book is not for everyone, but I have to disagree. This may not be the style you read and the some of the stories may not resonate with you AND I really would encourage you to pick this up. The stories are powerful and challenging and will stick with you long after you finish. Deepak Unnikrishnan rightfully won the first New Immigrant Writing prize and his voice amplifying the experiences of immigrants, is a powerful and unique narrative that is much needed in the landscape of literature. Keep an eye on Restless Books and the winners of the New Immigrant Writing prize moving forward – they are publishing really great voices.

Final Rating: 4.8/5

Guest Post: “Native Hawaiian #OwnVoices:” The Non-fiction Edition

Brendon — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:33:40 +0000

A huge thank you to Bina from If You Can Read This for supporting my efforts this month and for researching and writing this wonderful post. You can find the original post on her blog here.

It’s November 9th.

Perhaps you don’t know, but on November 9th 1938, Nazis launched the Kristallnacht. Never forget! Today Neonazis are marching and celebrating.

And today, Americans voted a fascist into office. Today, Donald Trump is president-elect of the United States.

I’m so worried for you, my friends! This is the horrifying and I know you will be hit the hardest. I wish I could at least be there for real hugs!

I have thought about not posting today, you need time to mourn to steal yourself for this even more explicit racist society you’re living in. I have decided to go ahead, because I still believe that diverse literature can effect real change. And so I want this blog on November 9th, 2016, to push PoC lit by focusing on indigenous #ownvoices literature.

Wonderful Brendon at Reading and Gaming for Justice is hosting the “Native Hawaiian #OwnVoices” blog event, to promote Native Hawaiian voices, to educate ourselves on our own blind spots (settler colonialism for example). Read all about it here. I have decided on non-fiction, to get you all to put some of these on your #nonfictionnovember lists and because I think, like myself, you perhaps also need some background literature. I know many of the are academic texts and there are concerns of accessibility. But I hope many of you can and will give these a try. I hope I’ll find some more accessible texts in the future, but I also love to discuss because often understanding texts happens in group discussions.

Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance o American Colonialismby Noenoe K. Silva

In 1897, as a white oligarchy made plans to allow the United States to annex Hawai’i, native Hawaiians organized a massive petition drive to protest. Ninety-five percent of the native population signed the petition, causing the annexation treaty to fail in the U.S. Senate. This event was unknown to many contemporary Hawaiians until Noenoe K. Silva rediscovered the petition in the process of researching this book. With few exceptions, histories of Hawai’i have been based exclusively on English-language sources. They have not taken into account the thousands of pages of newspapers, books, and letters written in the mother tongue of native Hawaiians. By rigorously analyzing many of these documents, Silva fills a crucial gap in the historical record. In so doing, she refutes the long-held idea that native Hawaiians passively accepted the erosion of their culture and loss of their nation, showing that they actively resisted political, economic, linguistic, and cultural domination. (Duke UP)

A Nation Rising: Hawaiian Movements for Life, Land, and Sovereignity by Noelani Goodyear-Ka’opua, Ikaika Hussey, Erin Kuhanawaika’ala Wright, eds.

A Nation Rising chronicles the political struggles and grassroots initiatives collectively known as the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. Scholars, community organizers, journalists, and filmmakers contribute essays that explore Native Hawaiian resistance and resurgence from the 1970s to the early 2010s. Photographs and vignettes about particular activists further bring Hawaiian social movements to life. The stories and analyses of efforts to protect land and natural resources, resist community dispossession, and advance claims for sovereignty and self-determination reveal the diverse objectives and strategies, as well as the inevitable tensions, of the broad-tent sovereignty movement. The collection explores the Hawaiian political ethic of ea, which both includes and exceeds dominant notions of state-based sovereignty. A Nation Rising raises issues that resonate far beyond the Hawaiian archipelago, issues such as Indigenous cultural revitalization, environmental justice, and demilitarization. (Duke uP)

The Seeds We Planted: Portraits of a Native Hawaiian Charter School by Noelani Goodyear-Ka’opua

The Seeds We Planted tells the story of Hālau Kū Māna, one of the only Hawaiian culture-based charter schools in urban Honolulu. Against the backdrop of the Hawaiian struggle for self-determination and the U.S. charter school movement, Noelani Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua reveals a critical tension: the successes of a school celebrating indigenous culture are measured by the standards of settler colonialism. (UP Minnesota)

Voices of Fire: Reweaving the Literary Lei of Pele and Hi’iaka
by Ku‘ualoha ho‘omanawanui

Stories of the volcano goddess Pele and her youngest sister Hi‘iaka, patron of hula, are most familiar as a form of literary colonialism—first translated by missionary descendants and others, then co-opted by Hollywood and the tourist industry. But far from quaint tales for amusement, the Pele and Hi‘iaka literature published between the 1860s and 1930 carried coded political meaning for the Hawaiian people at a time of great upheaval. Voices of Fire recovers the lost and often-suppressed significance of this literature, restoring it to its primary place in Hawaiian culture. (Minnesota UP)

Hawaiian Blood: Colonialism and the Politics of Sovereignty and Indigeneity
by J. Kēhaulani Kauanui

In the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (HHCA) of 1921, the U.S. Congress defined “native Hawaiians” as those people “with at least one-half blood quantum of individuals inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands prior to 1778.” This “blood logic” has since become an entrenched part of the legal system in Hawai‘i. Hawaiian Blood is the first comprehensive history and analysis of this federal law that equates Hawaiian cultural identity with a quantifiable amount of blood. J. Kēhaulani Kauanui explains how blood quantum classification emerged as a way to undermine Native Hawaiian (Kanaka Maoli) sovereignty. Within the framework of the 50-percent rule, intermarriage “dilutes” the number of state-recognized Native Hawaiians. Thus, rather than support Native claims to the Hawaiian islands, blood quantum reduces Hawaiians to a racial minority, reinforcing a system of white racial privilege bound to property ownership. (Duke UP)

Native Men Remade: Gender and Nation in Contemporary Hawai’i by Ty P. Kawika Tengan

Many indigenous Hawaiian men have felt profoundly disempowered by the legacies of colonization and by the tourist industry, which, in addition to occupying a great deal of land, promotes a feminized image of Native Hawaiians (evident in the ubiquitous figure of the dancing hula girl). In the 1990s a group of Native men on the island of Maui responded by refashioning and reasserting their masculine identities in a group called the Hale Mua (the “Men’s House”). As a member and an ethnographer, Ty P. Kāwika Tengan analyzes how the group’s mostly middle-aged, middle-class, and mixed-race members assert a warrior masculinity through practices including martial arts, woodcarving, and cultural ceremonies. Some of their practices are heavily influenced by or borrowed from other indigenous Polynesian traditions, including those of the Māori. The men of the Hale Mua enact their refashioned identities as they participate in temple rites, protest marches, public lectures, and cultural fairs. (Minnesota UP)

Apparently critiques by Hawaiian women will be discussed as well, I certainly hope so!

From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai’i
by Haunani-Kay Trask

Since its publication in 1993 From a Native Daughter, a provocative, well reasoned attack against the rampant abuse of Native Hawaiian rights, institutional racism, and gender discrimination, has generated heated debates in Hawai’i and throughout the world. This revised work includes new material that builds on issues and concerns raised in the first edition: Native Hawaiian student organizing at the University of Hawai’i; the master plan of the Native Hawaiian self-governing organization Ka Lahui Hawai’i and its platform on the four political arenas of sovereignty; the 1989 Hawai’i declaration of the Hawai’i ecumenical coalition on tourism; a typology on racism and imperialism. Brief introductions to each of the previously published essays brings them up to date and situates them in the current Native Hawaiian rights discussion.(UH Press)

This one comes highly recommended by Alice Walker and is somewhat of a classic in the field.

Finding Meaning: Kaona and Contemporary Hawaiian Literature
by Brandy Nalani McDougall

In this first extensive study of contemporary Hawaiian literature, Brandy Nalani McDougall examines a vibrant selection of fiction, poetry, and drama by emerging and established Hawaiian authors, including Haunani-Kay Trask, John Dominis Holt, Imaikalani Kalahele, and Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl. At the center of the analysis is a hallmark of Hawaiian aesthetics—kaona, the intellectual practice of hiding and finding meaning that encompasses the allegorical, the symbolic, the allusive, and the figurative.

Throughout, McDougall asserts that “kaona connectivity” not only carries bright possibilities for connecting the present to the past, but it may also ignite a decolonial future. Ultimately, Finding Meaning affirms the tremendous power of Indigenous stories and genealogies to give activism and decolonization movements lasting meaning. (U of Arizona Press)

A Chosen People, a Promised Land: Mormonism and Race in Hawai’i
by Hokulani K. Aikau

A Chosen People, a Promised Land explores how Native Hawaiian members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints negotiate their place in this quintessentially American religion. Using the words of Native Hawaiian Latter-Day Saints to illuminate the intersections of race, colonization, and religion, this book examines Polynesian Mormon faith and identity within a larger political context of self-determination. (U Minnesota Press)

Asian Settler Colonialism: From Local Governance to the Habits of Everyday Life in Hawai’i
by Candace Fujikane and Jonathan Y. Okamura, eds.

Asian Settler Colonialism is a groundbreaking collection that examines the roles of Asians as settlers in Hawai‘i. Contributors from various fields and disciplines investigate aspects of Asian settler colonialism to illustrate its diverse operations and impact on Native Hawaiians. Essays range from analyses of Japanese, Korean, and Filipino settlement to accounts of Asian settler practices in the legislature, the prison industrial complex, and the U.S. military to critiques of Asian settlers’ claims to Hawai‘i in literature and the visual arts. (UH Press)

And finally, this work is not edited by Native Hawaiian people, but the book has two sections: Natives and settlers, so you’ll find their perspectives inside. I also think it is important for settlers to work through their position and so I have chosen to add this book to the list. Read the introductory chapter here!

I know it’s a horrible time, please take care and practice self-case! I’m here for hugs and talking!

Native Hawaiian #OwnVoices

Brendon — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 20:30:05 +0000

In the United States, November is Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month / Native American Heritage Month. Although we should be celebrating and honoring all Indigenous Peoples and First Nations year round, this month in particular is an intentional focus on standing with these communities and help to lift Indigenous Peoples voices and experiences. This month on my blog, I plan to feature many authors and posts in celebration of this month, focusing on Native Hawaiian authors and stories.

Why focus on Native Hawaiians?

Indigenous Peoples History Month is extremely important. It falls close to two federally recognized holidays that celebrate the genocide of Indigenous Peoples in the Americas. Native Hawaiians are Indigenous Peoples of the modern US State of Hawaii and are often lumped into the Asian Pacific Islander category. Folks with Native Hawaiian heritage may choose to identify within the API community or not; however, I think we (I use ‘we’ generally here to talk about non-Hawaiian people) forget that the islands of Hawaii were conquered by Europeans, ‘united’ under European colonization, emigrated by Protestant missionaries and eventually other Asian immigrants, used as a tactical military base/port, and finally becoming a state (which despite the overwhelming positive vote is still a point of contention). The general knowledge and perception of Hawaii is paradise, beaches, surfers, and vacation resorts. As a country and culture, we have completely erased the stories, experiences, voices, culture, and heritage of Native Hawaiian peoples. My goal this month is to provide more visibility to authors of Native Hawaiian decent, fighting against the systemic erasure of their voice.

Initial Research

My initial research into books and authors who identify as Native Hawaiian or part Native Hawaiian was very difficult. Most of the resources I found featured non-Hawaiian (mostly White men) authors writing about Hawaii OR authors who were born or lived in Hawaii with no Hawaiian ancestry. This disappointed me because they were all attributed as Hawaiian literature. Then I came across a very helpful site off of the University of Hawaii webpage (https://www.hawaii.edu/gened/hap/Native_Hawaiian_Authors.pdf) which had a compilation of Native Hawaiian authors compiled by Noenoe K. Silva in 2010. There I found poets, historians, fiction writers, journalists, and anthropologists. Their writings span from novels to medical books to historical texts to poetry collections. I ran into another problem with acquiring these books and written works. As I scoured my local library, I only found a couple of works which was disappointing. I did not let this get me down and I managed to find a couple of book sellers with two books I will review!

What can you expect?

First of all, thank you for reading my blog and thank you for support my efforts this month. I write for many reasons; however, it is nice to get supportive feedback and interaction from the blogging and book community. I have a tentative schedule of posts in my notes and I hope to add even more as the month goes on! I have a couple of book reviews, highlight of different authors, maybe some board game stuff, guest book reviews, guest posts looking at historical contexts, and guest posts featuring reading lists. Like I said before, I may have some other things in the works, but I am having a bit of trouble confirming a couple of things. This has been a great learning experience in trying to run a blog event and I cannot be more thankful for your ongoing support! Stay tuned this month for more content and I look forward to sharing it all with you!

Giveaway!

If you have not already entered my Twitter giveaway, please check it out! It is a Follow & RT giveaway for a copy of Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time: An Indigenous LGBT Scifi Anthology edited by Hope Nicholson. The giveaway will end November 15 and the winner will be selected on November 16! Check out my review of the book here!

Back to School: 4 Books for Educators

Brendon — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 17:35:23 +0000

Summer vacation is almost over and school is almost back in session. As someone who works in Higher Education, we are frantically preparing for students to return to campus and start a new academic semester. Each year, I look at different academic books, articles, and pedagogies that may help me become more of a liberation-focused educator. While working within an institution built for those who hold privilege in our country, we must fight against our socialization about what education is and what it is not. Below, I have recommended four books I think will help any educator at any level in the education system become an educator focused on the liberation of knowledge, teachers, and students.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire

“Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imposing their decisions, do not organize the people–they manipulate them. They do not liberate, nor are they liberated: they oppress.”

Pedagogy of the Oppressed fundamentally shifted how I think about and approach education. From education in the classroom, to leadership, Freire covers it all. The most impactful and meaningful chapter for me in this book is when Freire challenges the traditional banking method of education. In this method, the teacher’s knowledge and experiences are valued above the experiences and the knowledge of the students. As the educator, I tell the student what to know and how to know. Freire wants to shift this power dynamic to honor the entire learning community, giving voice and value to those we do not traditionally value. Until we shift our thinking about how we educate and how we lead and teach, we cannot liberate or be liberated.

Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by bell hooks

“To build community requires vigilant awareness of the work we must continually do to undermine all the socialization that leads us to behave in ways that perpetuate domination.”

bell hooks believes that education goes beyond the classroom, that the struggle to end racism and White supremacy is about community. This book is non-traiditonal in my opinion as it does not outline a clear pedagogy. But I think hooks gets to the heart of creating learning communities within and outside of the classroom using undervalued concepts such as love, shared knowledge, shared learning, service, spirituality, relationships, trust, and care. With seeing education becoming more transactional and more business-like these days, Teaching Community provides me with an alternative when approaching students and engaging them in learning.

Sentipensante (Sensing/Thinking) Pedagogy: Educating for Wholeness, Social Justice, and Liberation by Laura I. Rendón

“My core question guiding my inquiry was: What is the experience of creating a teaching and learning dream based on wholeness and consonance, respecting the harmonious rhythm between the outer experience of intellectualism and rational analysis and the inner dimension of insight, emotion, and awareness?”

Rendón’s Sentipensante Pedagogy is all about sensing and thinking and the connection between them. She provides a holistic view of education, educating for academics and educating for life. The pedagogy argues that our current educational system fights against wholeness and against liberation. In her writings and stories, Rendón is a master at connection, often finding the relationship we do not see or we have lost in our traditional form of education. This book gives me hope in the education field.

Multicultural Competence in Student Affairs by Raechele L. Pope, Amy L. Reynolds, and John A. Mueller

“The increasing complex cultural dynamics on college and university campuses across the country are making the work of student affairs professionals more challenging than ever…These complicated and difficult issues necessitate a new collection of knowledge and skills. In addition, innovative approaches are needed to address the individual needs of a diverse student body…”

This book is mainly written for those folks in student affairs/development/services in higher education (aka me :)). But I think the contents of this book can be applied on any level. Pope, Reynolds, and Mueller provide an easily digestible (with examples) framework to increase one’s multicultural competencies. The authors lay out their framework in awareness, knowledge, and skills and provides tangible ways to apply the theory. With so many theories being hard to translate into practice, I am always happy to see practical ones. With that being said, I utilize this book pretty much every week in my current role, working on my own competencies or framing activities in this theory in order to help others work on their competencies.