Hey SAPACers,
We have 3 opportunities this week for you to engage in SAPAC’s spring and summer activities:
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YOUTH COMMITTEE MEETING
Monday, March 8, 2010 (tonight!)
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Cafe Bella, 3311 W. Fullerton, Chicago, IL
RSVP to info@sapac.org
Our Youth Committee has been hard at work planning a youth symposium. We have a vision, and at this meeting we’ll be discussing developing a youth application and promotional flyer and strategizing an outreach plan. If you’ve been wanting to work with youth in our community, this is a great time to get involved!
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2010 CENSUS OUTREACH
Saturday, March 13, 2010
12:00pm – 3:00pm
50th Ward/West Ridge neighborhood (Devon Ave.)
12:00pm – Meet & greet at Sukhadia, 2559 W. Devon Ave.
1:00pm – Meet at Indo-American Center, 6328 N. California Ave.
RSVP to info@sapac.org
It’s Census time, and it’s more important than ever to make sure our community is counted! Help us reach out to local business owners and residents and put up informational posters around the neighborhood. We’ll meet at 12:00 at Sukhadia to eat and get to know each other. Then we’ll head over to the Indo-American Center at 1:00 to start our outreach work.
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VOICES OF RESISTANCE 9 KICKOFF MEETING
Sunday, March 14, 2010
3:00pm – 5:00pm
Alliance Bakery, 1736 W. Division St., Chicago, IL 60622
RSVP to info@sapac.org
Join us to kick off planning for one of our most popular annual events! We’ll be discussing venue, theme, sponsors, and setting up a planning calendar.
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We hope you’ll join us for one or more of these meetings!
What is Voices of Resistance (VOR)? VOR seeks to create a safe space for South Asian artists to use their art as a dynamic means of social commentary that empowers and transforms. The event speaks to all of the faces, experiences, and perspectives of the South Asian Diaspora. We strongly encourage new and emerging artists to submit their work.
Last year, VOR was held at The Old Town School of Folk Music on August 9, 2009. We will begin planning for this year’s annual VOR event on March 14th.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
3:00pm – 5:00pm
Alliance Bakery, 1736 W. Division St., Chicago, IL 60622
RSVP to info@sapac.org
Join us to kick off planning for one of our most popular annual events! We’ll be discussing venue, theme, sponsors, and setting up a planning calendar.
Last weekend was, like, the best ever. Thanks to quick-thinking SAPAC friends, a few of us got tickets to see the one and only Aziz Ansari. He performed in Chicago on Saturday, February 27, for a DePaul University show. It was a surreal experience to be surrounded by college students and watch him live with a full house. If you missed his recent Comedy Central special, “Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening,” you can rent or buy it. They may re-air it too.
Although I was wearing my bling, hoping the fake crystals would catch his eye, I don’t think he noticed me in the center section, last row of the Mezzanine level. I was too lazy and hungry to stalk him afterward, or before at the airport/hotel/street, so our destined meeting was postponed. This may not seem like a big deal for kids these days, but when I was in college, we didn’t have no South Asian comedians performing to sold out crowds. Aziz is my hero.
Dan Levy opened for Aziz. I enjoyed Dan’s trash talking about Canada and his tale of receiving hate mail from vampire fans due to a moment of mistaken identity (he shares the same name with a Canadian MTV VJ). There are reviews out there from other college comedy shows with Aziz and Dan, done in a Top 10 list style. But I thought of doing my review in a Top 10 style BEFORE I even found those other ones. So, here’s my original review idea: since Aziz likes Top 10 lists, I’ll do one for his show.
Top 10 jokes/parts I loved from Aziz’s comedy show at DePaul (not the best list):
10. R. Kelly. He felt compelled to talk about R. Kelly since he was in Chicago. We appreciated it. RAAAAAAAANDY loves R. Kelly.
9. Rudeness. He doesn’t like rude people. Especially on airplanes with puppies who are mean to old people. They deserve to have their puppies killed. I totally agree.
Some of us have those friends who are able to take some time off to travel the globe. I have these friends. I look at them with a mixture of awe, jealousy, and a “how the hell did they do that” kinda look.
So, when I began reading about two friends’ journey, I didn’t think much of it at first as being new. And then I began to read about what they were going to attempt to do.
Anirvan and Barnali (both of whom I met through their ASATA connection, another progressive-y collective–this one in the Bay Area) have committed to a new way of traveling.
As they describe it, they are “spending a year trying to live aviation-free, traveling across continents, and talking to people exploring solutions to transportation and the climate crisis.” Ridiculously awesome.
As many of us travel back to our respective motherlands–for weddings, adventures, and hopes of reconnecting–Barnali and Anirvan have taken it to another level. They are exploring more responsible options for travel and engaging with local activists, scientists, and cool folks to share their stories.
They also talk about how to not continually submit ourselves to the “tourism industrial complex.” You know what I’m talking about–when we participate in making our people into subjects to observe or when we create “tourist-y” areas only to then dis-invest in them because they have become, well, too touristy.
Barnali and Anirvan’s adventure began with taking a container ship traveling from Seattle to Yokohama, Japan. It evokes memories of a time when our families sailed to their new homes and created our diasporic identities, so eloquently described in Minal Hajratwala’s Leaving India and Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies–stories of our people–some voluntarily and others not so–boarding the ships for South Africa, Fiji, and beyond.
You will love reading Anirvan and Barnali’s adventures like “Agriculture 2.0,” connecting urban dwellers with healthy local food, while supporting farmers and educating consumers and how they spent their holidays in Cambodia. This month, our fearless travelers went to Bangladesh talking to a wide range of people about climate change, development issues, social change, and art.
Year of No Flying is a really great example of good folks who practice what they preach, and while you or I are unlikely to hop onto a container ship in the near future, it will remind us how we can be more conscious of how we travel and contribute to the Tourist Industrial Complex.
Safe travels Barnali and Anirvan….
DePaul University’s student Activities Board is bringing comic Aziz Ansari to its downtown Merle Reskin Theatre this Saturday, Feb. 27. Tickets are only $5, but they’re sold out. Time to start bribing that distant cousin who’s a freshman at DePaul.
A few SAPAC members will be there–leave us a comment if you will be, too!
As if we needed to post it, catch Ansari in action on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” (probably NSFW):
Akram Khan, a London-born choreographer of Bangladeshi descent, brings sends his newest work, bahok, to the Museum of Contemporary Art this weekend, Feb. 25-28. (Apparently Khan himself is not coming, but his dance company is.) The full schedule includes
- A behind-the-scenes glimpse at a rehearsal — Thursday, Feb. 25, 10am-1pm (free with museum admission)
- Three performances — Friday, Feb. 26 – Sunday, Feb. 28 ($40/$32 MCA members/$10 students)
- A masterclass — Saturday, Feb. 27, 11am-1pm ($15/$10 with performance ticket)
Khan’s work looks very cool. Plus composer/musician Nitin Sawhney created an original score for the piece. (He’s also collaborated in the past with Anish Kapoor, known to Chicagoans as the creator of Millennium Park’s Cloud Gate, and entertainers Juliette Binoche and Kylie Minogue). Check out a video of Khan’s work:
EDIT: Time Out Chicago and the Chicago Tribune also posted nice articles about Khan’s company’s visit.
Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Indian American, Harvard-educated attorney, lost a close election for Illinois State Comptroller earlier this month in the primaries.
However, he may have another chance, at a higher office: Lieutenant Governor.
The Democrats are tossing around names to replace Scott Lee Cohen, who resigned over the weekend as candidate for lieutenant governor.
Democratic leaders don’t like talking about it publicly, but some believe the party’s fall ticket should be more diverse. They also believe that Cohen’s resignation allows the party a chance to add diversity, which is why two Asian Americans are getting serious buzz.
“A lot of people know us. I don’t need to re-introduce myself in a big way,” said Raja Krishnamoorthi.
Peoria-raised Krishnamoorthi says his losing effort in the democratic primary for state comptroller has proven his ability to win votes downstate and to raise money. Running a positive ad campaign, the 35-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer finished less than a percentage point behind nominee David Miller. He raised $1.1 million and said there’s more money to help the fall ticket if he’s selected.
“A lot of supporters who helped me in this race will provide that energy and most needed as a democratic party,” said Krishnamoorthi.
Another possible replacement candidate is Tammy Duckworth, who was unavailable for comment. Democratic sources tell ABC7 that some party leaders favor Duckworth or Krishnamoorthi because they are qualified Asian Americans and would add diversity to the fall ticket.
Every election cycle, I have friends that ask me questions about registering to vote, where to vote, how to pick judges, etc. I put together some information for IL voters that I hope you will find helpful. There are no biased opinions here — just facts about where you can find more information about your ballot and how to vote in this election. Please feel free to share this with others — esp. the ones you have a sneaking suspicion may be too shy to ask these questions! And please share any great resources you’ve found.
Thanks! Now get out and VOTE!
-Ramona
Can I still register to vote?
No. Regular voter registration ended Jan. 5 (the standard one month prior to an election), and grace period registration ended Jan. 26.
You should register to vote after this primary election so that you can vote in the regular election on Nov. 2.