Pakistan: Bhutto Assassination

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benazir_Bhutto

Probably one of the most shocking news to hit the international community was the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the leader of the opposition party in Pakistan. There had been a great deal of tension in the area for some time with the dictator-like ways of current President Musharraf striving to maintain control of the nation by any means necessary. Who is to blame for such a heinous crime is something we would all like to know, but the reality is that whoever it is should be ashamed of themselves....

Its shocking the extent that individuals would go to retain power. Bhutto's death is not just a travesty because she was a political figure, but mainly because she was an individual who sought change and progression: who wanted to utilize her knowledge and experience to bring Pakistan into a better position in the international community. Her assassination sheds light on the unfortunate reality that progress is not always welcomed with open arms. Whether her party can truly rebuild in so short of time is something we can only cross our fingers and hope for...

This heinous act of murder is truly barbaric and a cowardly move on the hands of those who partook in this action. To take the life of an individual just because their views differed from yours or even that their course of making progress would clash with your desire to retain power/wealth/prestige is pathetic in so many ways. Every individual carries their own beliefs, experiences, etc. and no one has a right to challenge an individual in such a way as to be afraid of standing up for what you are proud of. Benazir Bhutto is truly someone to admire, especially for her desire to stand up for change, even when she knew that her life was constantly in danger. My prayers go out to her family and all those who placed their hope in her hands. The world we live in isnt perfect, but such acts are truly unacceptable. This act of terrorism should not be a wrench in the gears for progress, but hopefully Bhutto's party will be able to bring forth the dream and changes that Bhutto herself carried so proudly and passionately. There truly needs to be more leaders like her in this world...

Let us hope that Pakistan will be able to shift gears and be able to truly conduct matters in a way that gives the Pakastani government and its civilians the amount of respect and freedom that they all truly deserve.

OCA: Summer Internship

OCA Seeks Applicants for Summer Internship Program
Deadline to apply for summer internships: March 15, 2008

Washington, DC – OCA, a national Asian Pacific American organization dedicated to ensuring social justice for APAs, is seeking motivated and qualified students for its highly successful summer internship program. The internship will last approximately ten weeks and a stipend will be provided.

The purpose of the OCA Internship program is to cultivate future leadership by providing students with an opportunity to be involved in the political and public policy process. Summer interns will be placed at a federal agency, non-profit, or congressional office that matches their interest and work full-time. Past interns have been placed in the offices of Congresswoman Pelosi, Congresswoman Berkley, and Senator Durbin; at the Department of Transportation, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Management and Budget, the National Education Association, and the NAACP.

Interns can also be placed at the OCA National Center and work first hand with one of the largest APA organizations in the country. In addition to their placement, summer interns will be highly engaged in many OCA activities and be involved with grassroots organizing.
The OCA Summer Internship Program engages interns with numerous activities to incorporating all that Washington, DC has to offer. Interns participate in a summer brown bag series focusing on important issues in the APA and civil rights community. Interns have the opportunity to meet with members of Congress, APA staffers, and members of the APA Congressional Caucus. Interns also help research and develop toolkits that inform and determine best practices on important APA issues, such as hate crimes and bias, coalition building, and Asian American Studies.

In addition to the experience that Washington, DC has to offer, interns play a major role in our annual national convention held in Washington, DC on July 31 – August 2, 2008. The convention will feature speakers, entertainment and engage the entire community on pertinent issues. Once selected, applicants are strongly encouraged to make sure they are able to attend this signature event.

Applications and information can be found on the OCA National website at http://www.ocanational.org. Complete applications must be postmarked by March 15th and an interview will be done for selected applicants. Selection will be complete by April and a firm commitment is required at the time. Interns will be responsible for travel to and from Washington, DC and housing as well.

Internships are also available during the winter, spring and fall sessions at the OCA National Center.

MAASU LR 11/2-11/4: Denison University

One word: wow....

Denison University hosted this year's MAASU Leadership Retreat this past weekend and it was by far, one of the best experiences I have had in a long time. Besides the long 5+ hour drive to and from, it was an overall great time. Yellow Rage was the main act to perform on Friday night and their spoken word was amazing in that they conveyed so much passion and aggression in their words to greatly characterize their experiences and perception of the world. I loved it and definitely saw this as a great kickstart to the weekend ahead. Plus, their t-shirts were amazing...I love smell of free t-shirts (this is a joke...Im not trying to be creepy)....

The diversity of workshops on Saturday were amazing and from what I was able to gauge, were really able to enable students to learn more about their own leadership and what steps to take to actually improve it. Finishing it off was the Banquet that night with an amazing speaker, Northwestern's own Nitasha Sharma. I was definitely a fan of her knowledge of race relations and the utilization of hip hop into the Asian American community as an outlet to the tensions that individuals have been forced to confront in their lives due to their racial identities.

In my honest opinion, there is no such thing as natural-born leaders: I feel as though everyone has the potential to be a great leader in their own way. It is just a matter of finding your own strengths and following whatever it is you are passionate about. About a year and a half ago, I was the quietest kid you could find and now, most people around me would do anything to shut me up. Deep down, I know they love what I have to say (or at least that's what Im going to tell myself)....

Being a leader is a constant development with us learning so much along the way...it really is just about taking the first step and following your heart wherever it may lead. The Asian American community encompasses so much amazing things, but at the same time, we should never let it be sugarcoated and assume that the problems that are actually faced by Asian American individuals are not real or just a myth. The problems are there...it is up to us (those who want to develop a greater voice in this community) to stand up and shout out exactly why we are here. It is not always going to be an easy road but the beauty of this community is that there is always someone to help you with whatever idea or question you have....such as the current ECC (Executive Coordinating Committee) board and BOA (Board of Advisors). Don't ever hesitate to contact us about anything....you can find our information on www.maasu.org

Until next time...

REVAMP

It really is insane how quickly the time has flown since my last entry but I am definitely going to restart this blog the way that it should be handled. I do apologize to all those readers who come patiently to this site everyday hoping that it will be updated (to the 3 of you, thank you for your patience)....

Im only kidding but I do apologize for taking so much time to kick this back up. I have been bogged down by my own academic pursuits and extra-curricular endeavors but life is good and I have more time on my hands to handle this.

The one thing I want to mention is that I do plan on doing things a little differently in that I want this blog to be more informative in that I will throw topics of discussion and break it down (as if Im writing articles) with me occasionally analyzing a newsworthy moment so that we have a good spectrum of things. With that, let the revamping begin...

poll: do you think anyone would approve of changing the acronym of MAASU from Midwest Asian American Students Union to the Midwest Ajay Alexander Students Union?

yes? maybe? no?.....I would run it by the rest of ECC and the Board of Advisors though Im thinking this would probably result in losing all rights to running this blog and since I cannot do that to my fans (the aforementioned 3 people), I will hold off on this question for a later time...

=P

September 15th: Remember Balbir Singh Sodhi

It has been awhile since I last posted and for those who check this blog every so often, I do apologize for the time lapse. I have been pushing hard to prep for the LSATs and the workload has caught me off guard. Once my exam is over with on Sept 29, I assure you all will be well and Ill be back to making this blog as informative and effective as possible. For now, I received this email from Valarie Kaur, who did a documentary on Divided We Fall, in regards to the backlash against those who "looked like terrorists".....
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When the calendar page turns to September, it's difficult not to look at the 11^th day. It's a time to remember who was lost, who survived, who has been left behind. And how to live in the aftermath.

Everyone remembers September 11^th. But we must also never forget September 15^th.

In 2001, September 15^th fell, like it does this year, on a Saturday. Balbir Singh Sodhi, wearing the turban and beard of a Sikh man, went to Costco to stock new supplies for his gas station near Phoenix, Arizona. And to look for an American flag for his store. In the check-out line, he saw a donation box for the New York relief effort and emptied his pockets of $74 - all he had remaining with him. (Flags were sold out.)

A few hours later, Mr. Sodhi was dead, killed in front of gas station by a man who called himself a patriot.

That same day, Adel Karas, an Egyptian Christian in Los Angeles and Kimberly Lowe, a Native American in Oklahoma City were killed, too.

Mr. Sodhi, Mr. Karas and Ms. Lowe were the first of at least 19 people murdered as retribution in the aftermath of 9/11. Although our country was united in grief and sorrow, fear had the power to blind Americans to the faces of their neighbors, at home and abroad.

For those of you who have been following our film Divided We Fall, you know that we feature Mr. Sodhi, his family's story, and the story of an American city who came together in extraordinary compassion - a testament to what is possible when we share our common humanity.

On this day one year ago, we premiered the film in Phoenix, hosted by the local community, on the memorial of his death. Since we premiered, we have screened in 50 cities, opening spaces for deep dialogue in campuses and communities across the country. (We also won three awards, were featured on CNN, and have been generally too busy to send out updates on newsletters...we will recap the remarkable summer soon, we promise...)

In the year since we began our national film tour, we have been moved by the insights, stories, and memories people have shared with us. Everyone, even the very young, still feel the reverberations of September 11 ^th. They will never forget. We hope we are helping them to never forget Balbir Singh Sodhi, also.

We hope you are safe and healthy during these days of remembrance. Thank you for being a part of our extended DWF family. We are doing our best to make a difference.

Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath

Produced and Directed by Sharat Raju (sharat@dwf-film.com )

Produced, Written and Created by Valarie Kaur ( valarie@dwf-film.com)

Empathy...

A theme (I guess you can say) that I have grown to really embrace is one that focuses on the concept of empathy, which revolves around the idea of looking outside one's perspective and seeing the world through the eyes of another. I mean, how can we really understand what someone else is feeling unless we actually take a second to see how things are through their perspective. We all have different experiences and have grown up in various environments, which mean that certain words/actions may be taken to be offensive in certain contexts to some people than to others. Are some people more sensitive than others? Of course there are sensitive people (I at times can be sensitive to controversial situations), but it is not just sensitivity alone that results in individuals taking a certain road over another.

When I was in high school, I was bombarded by degrading remarks and harassed by a group of Indians (people of my same ethnicity) only because I didnt fit the supposed 'norm' of what it meant to be Indian. I didnt partake in the "recreational activities" that they did and didnt want to associate myself with that kind of behavior. They took as me thinking Im too good for them or something along those lines and for the last two years of my high school run, I felt a great deal of their wrath in so many ways: words, actions, threats, etc. It seems like years ago when this went down, but Ive grown from that. The scars remain (figuratively speaking) and I use those scars as a reminder of the kind of pain that people all over the world must be feeling. Regardless of the degree, pain is pain and we need to realize that sometimes our words/actions can hurt others in ways we may not fully understand. Our grasp of the world (our own perspectives) are limited: what we see and believe is not gospel. There is so much out there that we have yet to tackle or even taken steps to comprehend, but it's still out there.

Racism, terrorism, disease, etc. are only a few of the many problems that are affecting people all over the world. The unfortunate reality is that it is impossible to fully eradicate all the problems that plague the world we live in, but we (those of us who are privileged to live in this great United States) can take steps to help those less fortunate: those who wake up in the morning and feel as though no matter what they say or do, their day will not be any different from the day before and that process will continue indefinitely. Every human being deserves a chance to live their lives to the fullest with respect and appreciation. Im not saying you have to go out there and raise a couple trillion dollars to make a difference: donate to charity, volunteer, learn about issues affecting your community and educate those who seem to be confused or misguided. These are the little things that can make the biggest impact: it's just a matter of having faith in yourself and a drive to make change.

Regardless of what I experienced in high school, the irony is that it catapulted me to wanting to do so much more for the cultural community as a whole and really work hard in regards to advocacy. I hope that at least someone reading this entry will be inspired to make that type of difference in the world. There's nothing about me that makes me a better leader than anyone else: Im just someone who knows what he wants in life and just went straight for it. That's all Im asking....follow your passion and make a difference...

Hiatus

I apologize to all those who have been looking forward to reading the various blog entries that are aimed to educate the wider public on the issues and news-worthy events that are of great significance to the Asian American community (in some capacity). With the transition back into the academic setting (this being my senior year in college), it took me awhile to get back into the swing of things. Rest assured: I aim to let this blog continue riding the course that it was intended to do.

And so, it begins once again...

OCA's 2008 National Annual Convention

Save the Date!

OCA's 2008 National Annual Convention

July 31 - August 3, 2008

Washington Hilton | Washington DC

Celebrating 35 years of leadership and commitment!