Hello, good readers of this website! You know what time it is. Time to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Priscilla Huang.
Who are you?
I'm Priscilla. Some know me as Pfunk. My mom still calls me by my 4th grade soccer nickname, "Prix."
What are you?
Mom, feminist, activist, daughter of immigrants, lawyer, policy wonk, friend, struggling yogi and aspiring motorcycle rider.
Where are you?
I moved to south Orange County a few months ago, and am learning how to slow down and embrace the more laidback culture here.
Where are you from?
Most recently, I spent a year and a half in Walnut, CA at my parents' house recovering from 12 years of living and working in the Washington, DC area. Before that, I lived in the SF/Bay Area and went to undergrad in Boston.
As a kid, my family moved around a lot, so there are traces of Chicago, LA, Tucson and suburban Boston in me too.
What do you do?
Right now, I'm a part-time policy consultant and a full-time mother to two energetic boys under the age of five. I've worked for various AAPI advocacy organizations on health care, women's rights and immigrant rights, and also served as a consultant to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the last year of the Obama Administration.
A lot of people -- including, still, my parents -- ask me what it means to do policy work. I like to equate it to language translation -- I interpret bills and regulations to make them understandable to AAPI community members. I also translate the stories and struggles of AAPI communities into legislative and regulatory text that members of Congress and administrative officials can implement to create systemic change.
What are you all about?
There's a quote from the amazing Peggy Saika, one of the founding members of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, that I think captures who I am: "I'm nice... But don't fuck with me."
Asian American women are often stereotyped as docile and passive, and presumed to be ill equipped for leadership roles. I think I internalized some of this myself in my teens and early 20s when all too often, I questioned my leadership capabilities when I found myself in spaces where I was the only Asian American woman.
Fortunately, I found early in my career a community of badass Asian American women and women of color who spoke truth to power and actively worked to challenge traditional power structures, dismantle systems of oppression and model leadership based on love. I'm blessed that each of the AAPI organizations I've worked for was led by an Asian American woman who inspired and challenged me to grow as an advocate and a leader. Having these women as my friends and mentors helped me find the courage to speak out -- often as the sole Asian American female voice -- in the halls of Congress, the White House and other places of power I never imagined I would be.
You can rule the world with a community of fierce sisters at your side.
What makes you angry?
Mansplainers. Whitesplainers. White mansplainers in particular, although I've also had some heated debates with Asian mansplainers and White womansplainers.
I'm still fuming over the House vote on the so-called "American Health Care Act." What the fuck do a bunch of privileged white men know about women's health care? How dare they presume to know what women and their families need when it comes to our health and wellbeing?
I can't wait for November 2018, when I can vote to repeal and replace those elected officials who think being a woman is a pre-existing condition.
