I Can't Wait To Be An Old Asian American Woman

"I will do nothing else but sit in my favorite chair and let all my migrant muscles rest."



From the icy wilds and tiny desks of Alaska... I don't know about you, but Christy NaMee Eriksen can't wait to be an old Asian American woman. The Juneau-based poet and activist gives us a gorgeous gift: her wonderful, unique last-minute submission to NPR's 2018 Tiny Desk Contest.

Recorded on frozen Auke Lake and accompanied on guitar by Avery Stewart, she lists off all the awesome things she's legitimately looking forward to being and doing when she is an old Asian American woman. It's a thank you to Asian America and a thank you to ajummas everywhere.

To Find Your Place in the World

An animated video poem by Kelly Tsai



In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is often celebrated as a national day of service, spoken word artist Kelly Tsai shares this animated video poem "To Find Your Place in the World." Animated by award-winning illustrator Ryan Hartley Smith, the piece is dedicated to the 900,000 people who have served in Americorps and the millions more who improve our communities daily through acts of service, large and small.

Check it out:

Not Your Typical Makeup Tutorial

Spoken word video by Theanne Liu: for those who refuse to be silenced.



This video starts off like one of the ubiquitous makeup tutorials that populate YouTube... but then it becomes something different. Theanne Liu created this thoughtful spoken word piece to share about her personal experiences within Asian America -- "through learning about our history, understanding how we are racialized subjects, being in the diaspora, to dealing with various forms of racism and ethnosexualization."

Created for her Asian American Studies class on Race, Gender, and Sexuality at Northwestern University, the video is produced in the style of a makeup tutorial as a nod to the hypervisibility of Asian women on YouTube in the realm of beauty and fashion, while remaining underrepresented in other non-beauty-related video content.

Take a look:

Don't Be An Activist

Fong Tran and Chaz Ashley's spoken word piece is an ode to fellow activists and agents of change.



Sacramento-based community organizer and spoken word artist Fong Tran recently released his newest spoken word video with close collaborator Chaz Ashley, entitled "Don't Be an Activist." Wait, what?

It is, in fact, a loving ode to their fellow activists and agents of change.

"This video is in honor of the people that choose to stick out by speaking up, in honor of all the folks that choose the hard path because they understand it's the right one," Fong says. "We hope you find fuel from this piece."

Check it out:

"I am NOT a costume."

Halloween spoken word by Jason Chu



"Thug" parties with blackface costumes. "Oriental geisha" outfits and "Indian" headdresses. Halloween is no excuse for ignorance. Race is not a party. Culture is not a costume. Poet/emcee Jason Chu just dropped this spoken word piece in time for Halloween, because we all know that really awful, culturally insensitive costumes are out there and you will most certainly see them in full force this week.

Ai Wei Wei: The Seed, July 24

New multimedia spoken word performance mash-up at the Brooklyn Museum



If you're in New York City, you're invited to a new multimedia performance next week in Brooklyn... Ai Wei Wei: The Seed is a live music, video, dance and spoken word performance mash-up about the early roots of political artist Ai Wei Wei and his emergence as one of the world's foremost artists and thinkers.

The show goes up Thursday, July 24 at the Brooklyn Museum. The creative team behind the performance includes some of our friends, like Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai (Creative Direction, Spoken Word, Video), Jessica Chen (Choreography), Jason Kao Hwang (Music), Adriel Luis (Spoken Word, Video, Music), and Kit Yan (Spoken Word).

Here are some more details about the performance:

#1 Beauty Nail Salon

Spoken word written and performed by Paul Tran



Sharing this thoughtful and powerfully simple spoken word video, #1 BEAUTY NAIL SALON. Written and performed by award-winning poet Paul Tran, and directed by Jess X Chen, the piece offers provocative personal and political take on the Vietnamese beauty salon industry. Take a look:

Poet Franny Choi wields words like muthaf*ckin' machetes

To the Man Who Shouted "I Like Pork Fried Rice" at Me on the Street



Stop what you're doing and watch this video of poet Franny Choi performing her piece "Pork Fried Rice," dropping destruction and laying waste to a cat caller -- the man who shouted "I like pork fried rice" at her on the street. She kiiilllls this. A wordsmith's act of greasy revenge for all who have been on the receiving end of these countless ignorant-ass cracks. Take a look:

Spoken word for all the "Miss America" haters

Meet Ramya Ramana, 2014 New York City Youth Poet Laureate



Thanks to TWO-BROWNGIRLS for the heads up... Some powerful, moving spoken word for your Friday. Here's 18-year-old Ramya Ramana, 2014 New York City Youth Poet Laureate, performing her personal poem, "Miss America" last month at the NYC Votes 2014 Slam Final. For anyone who had words and clenched fists for all those racist haters after Nina Davuluri was crowned Miss America, this is for you:

Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai spins you around with #SelfCentered

360 degree interactive spoken word video asks: what would you do if you were the center of everything?



What would YOU do if you were the center of everything for a day? This comes from our good friend Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, who's been working her butt off on this 360 degree interactive spoken word video for her poem #SelfCentered. And it is awesome. Press play, and use your cursor to click and swipe left or right 360 around the video for the full effect:

Still Breathing: Spoken Word Artist G Yamazawa

Angry Asian Intern™ Cara Van Le interviews award-winning poet and performer George "G" Yamazawa.



Born and raised by Japanese immigrants in Durham, North Carolina, George Masao Yamazawa, Jr., or "G" for short, didn't always have it easy growing up. Other kids made fun of the shape of his eyes or called him Chinese, even after he corrected them. His relationship with his strict father wasn't always easy. It was, at times, abusive. His best friend passed away when he was in junior high. At 16, he was expelled from from school, and that's when G began to explore his family's religion, Buddhism, more deeply to fight his depression.

"Buddhism is basically what kept me afloat and invigorated me to find a passion that gave my life worth," he says. "That's when I found my love for poetry and the use of my voice."

Asian American youth speak out for immigration reform

Elevating the voices of Asian American youth in the immigration debate



Asian American youth! You have a stake in immigration reform. Chicago's Fighting Youth Shouting Out for Humanity (FYSH) -- a social justice-oriented youth leadership council of the Korean American Resource and Cultural Center -- collected over 1,000 signatures from young people all over the country in support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Featuring spoken word performances from local youth, this video campaign aims to elevate the voices of Asian American youth in the immigration debate:

Kickass poets and performers share the stage at LAPP Fest

A set from the 2013 DC Asian American/Pacific Islander Literary Arts & Performance Poetry Festival.


Last week, poets, literary and spoken word artists, and activists from across the United States convened in Washington DC for the 2013 DC Asian American/Pacific Islander Literary Arts & Performance Poetry Festival, aka "LAPP Fest." From the looks of it, it was an awesome gathering of folks using art for social change.

For folks who couldn't make it to the festival, here's an hour-long video of the LAPP Fest Showcase at The Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, featuring artists Gowri K., Adriel Luis, Regie Cabico, Simone Jacobson, Sahra Nguyen, Michelle Myers, Beau Sia and G Yamazawa. Very cool.

I couldn't figure out how to embed the video, so check it out on the Kennedy Center website.

Spoken word by Jason Chu: "A Thousand Names"

Here's another spoken word piece by rapper/poet Jason Chu, in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and in memory of the struggle and legacy those who came before -- "their names, their stories, their journeys." Our history: A Thousand Names.

"A Letter to JK Rowling from Cho Chang" by Rachel Rostad

This poet is angry as hell, and I like it. Check out Macalester College's Rachel Rostad performing her award-winning spoken word piece "A Letter to JK Rowling from Cho Chang" earlier this month at the College Union Poetry Slam Invitational in New York City. She has some critical words for the multigajillionaire author about the Asian characters in her bestselling wizard series:

Generation Return: Art & Justice Tour with Anida Yoeu Ali

This week, spoken word artist Anida Yoeu Ali embarks on the Generation Return: Art & Justice Tour. Through performance and video works, she'll present a body of work which provocatively considers the diasporic past/present contours of the Cambodian American experience. That's 15 stops, 11 cities and 2 countries -- traveling all the way from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to make this happen. Here's the tour schedule:

spoken word: "lin 467 to the future" by bao phi

A couple of weeks ago, I posted Lin. Sanity., a great spoken word piece by Giles Li, talking about what's so darn great about Jeremy Lin. Turns out, it was part of a spoken word trilogy. Here's part two: Lin 467 to the Future, written and performed by the incomparable Bao Phi. Video by Joua Lee. Take a look: