Living Justice is a space where we highlight the justice work PAAC members do, diving into the personal and theological motivations behind their work. We’ll explore the many different paths justice can take and how PAAC community members are bringing their faith to life by advancing justice in its myriad of forms.
Unsettling Asian American Theology
Decolonization is not a metaphor, Eve Tuck and Wayne Yang insist. Carelessly calling to decolonize things like schools and other such institutions metaphorizes decolonization. To do so kills the very possibility of decolonization and re-centers whiteness; it is yet another form of settler appropriation. What would it mean then to decolonize something like theology – and Asian American theology at that? I want to suggest that decolonizing Asian American theology requires giving up the search for physical belonging, replacing it with a theology of landlessness, and to be in solidarity with indigenous struggles for sovereignty.
Navigating Jesus & Boundaries, Part I
Though this passage is attributed to Paul, it echoes the radical love we see preached by Jesus in everything attributed to Him in the Bible. We’re told to love unconditionally, to give everything and then everything again, to take hatred and turn it around by offering the other cheek.
안녕, 사랑하는 아들 (Annyeong, saranghaneun adeul): The Duality of the Queer APIDA
Forced duality — growing up multiracial Asian American, fresh off the boat from Seoul, now in an all-white environment. My mother moved from Korea, forsaking the comfortable life she worked for, so that I could have the chance of one without someone commenting on my dirty blood. She thought it would be better.
Dear Hong Kong: We Are With You 親愛的香港：我們支持您!
Artwork by Airam Dato-On. Original Photo (c): yulokchan We write as Hong Kongers from the diaspora and those from other Asian backgrounds, united as people of faith, to express our concern and solidarity for the protests now taking place in Hong Kong....
PersPAACtives: Between Two Worlds
I graduated early from UC Davis with two bachelors in Psychology and Human Development with ambitions of pursuing a PhD in developmental psychology. I was volunteering in student research labs and about to apply to doctoral programs when everything, including my health, came to a halt.
PersPAActives: Music and Acceptance – A Mitski and Grace story
The aspects of my identity are fueled by tension and otherness. The battles of tension and otherness shout at each other, debate each other, lie to each other, chase each other. They torment me, define me, limit me.
They tell me: I am not queer enough. I am not Korean enough. I am not American enough. I am not feminine enough. I have heard it all from society, even from my own community.
PersPAACtives: And Still They Try to Tell Us
Transcript of a speech delivered by Jami Nakamura Lin at Chicago Writers Resist (January 15, 2017) When my grandfather, Tom Nakamura, entered the US Navy in 1946, he was like many other enlistees, if, at the age of 17, a bit on the young side. But like many American...
PersPAACtives: Fragments
A young boy you know well cautiously walks into a classroom. Arranging his pencils, he glances over at the card positioned on the corner of his desk. He thinks his name looks a bit strange in cursive. Some of the kids look inquisitively at his last name. A few think it’s funny, and a few think it’s really cool. Most don’t seem to care.
Sharing Our PersPAACtives
There is a diversity within our racial category that defies naming (AAPI/AANHPI/APIDA, etc). What assortment of letters fits who we are?
Letter: Living Justice
The religion I knew while growing up was about being right(eous), and I believed it was the only way to do religion. It didn’t sit well with me at times, but I didn’t know there were alternatives. I thought the Good News was that some of us, if we believed (and were very good but it wasn’t our goodness that saved us but we still had to be very good), we would be “saved.” The only thing that mattered in eternity was how right we were in our beliefs. Putting an end to injustice on earth wasn’t as important as convincing people of how certain we were that we were right(eous).
A Change of Plans
In January 2017, I was in deep in wedding planning mode. We were trying to save money on a DJ and trying to make decisions on some truly mundane choices. Should “Don’t Stop Believing” be at the beginning to get people on the dance floor or at the end as a final send off? Who can I trust to operate an iPhone to play “Concerning Hobbits” as my fiancée walks down the aisle, who will know how to fade out the volume at the correct time?
Pura Vida
As I write, my family is vacationing in Costa Rica. We spent the first portion near the base of the Arenal Volcano in the Northwest and then this last third in the Central Highlands, specifically the Los Angeles Cloud Forest. Among other ecotourist activities, we’ve gone mountain biking and white-water rafting, done a hanging bridges and canopy (i.e.,zipline) tour, looked for wildlife during nighttime and early morning hikes, and soaked in the hot springs like the self-respecting Asians we are.
