There is an election next week. If you find yourself voting that day, then good for you. You made a choice. If not, then good for you too, you also made a choice.

I don’t have a problem with voting. I really really don’t. I will vote on Election Day – I’ve already picked my candidates for every race and my votes on the ballot questions. So you know, I don’t hate on voting.

But I do have a problem with how much our society fetishizes voting. Every four years, there are all these national ad campaigns with big celebrities telling me I’m a fool if I don’t vote. What, I’m supposed to listen to goddamn Jessica Alba? Seriously? What does she know about anything that has to do with real life?

What these commercials ignore is that elections don’t just happen every four years. There are city or state or national elections in every intervening year, so why are we ignoring those?

And larger than that, we need to use our critical lens to make choices every single day, not just in voting booths. Say for example, if you’ve made a choice to use your workday to make money for the government or multinational corporations. Are you doing the most that you could do with every day? No I’m sure not, but then again, that’s fine, do you. I don’t judge, because every person has various factors affecting the way they make decisions. Doing what you do may be the right thing for you at the time you do it.

Or if you continue to drive yourself to work, even though you know there are alternatives that would use less gas. Or you patronize businesses that exploit immigrant labor. Or you consume mainstream media, all of which is right of center. Or you continue to watch pro sports, even though you know they are exploitative. Or you whatever. I do it all too. Again, not for me to judge, and I mean that sincerely.

But don’t tell me that because you vote every four years, you’re doing your part. Don’t fool yourself. There’s so much more we could all be doing that we’re not doing. Showing up on Election Day doesn’t mean we get a pass for another four years of middling political involvement.

Those powerful folks want you to think that voting represents the utmost in political participation. Ad campaigns come around because we’re supposed to believe that voting is the maximum level of participation for any of us, when the truth is: it’s much closer to the minimum.

The point is: we need to do a lot of work out here. Getting to a voting booth next week definitely means something, but just isn’t as impressive as the people in power want us to believe it is. It’s basically one step above putting a bumper sticker on your car.

Vote: it’s the least you can do.

No literally. It’s the LEAST you can do.

Slam poet takes center stage
Meghan Parmentier, 10/29/2008
From the Quinnipiac Chronicle

“I’m not going to stand on the stage tonight because I want to look into your eyes and see what I mean to you,” slam poet Giles Li said when he visited campus on Friday, Oct. 24 and performed to an audience of approximately 20 people.

Li, originally from Boston, was a personable performer, generating laughs from the audience several times. He reflected on his own past Halloweens and Christmases in poems, asked the audience to “Facebook him” because of a battle he is in to gain the most friends.

“I just want acceptance, that’s all,” Li said.

Read the rest here. Man I didn’t realize what a knucklehead I was until i read this article!

A lot of people are hating on this movie, but I can’t see why. A movie about Biggie’s life? What…too soon?

I guess the major beef people have with it is that Gravy plays Biggie. But I don’t know who else would have been the obvious better choice? Sean Kingston? Forrest Whitaker? Anthony Anderson?

Stop hating. I can’t wait for this flick – to come out on DVD so I can rent it from the Redbox…$12 is too much even for a movie about B.I.G.

There’s a lot of noise made every four years about the importance of voting. But there’s all kinds of funny business going on around elections. Visit BlackBoxVoting.com for more info. And see below for the most recent case of potential voter fraud.

From DemocracyNow.com

WV Voting Machines Switch Votes from Obama to McCain
Early voting in the presidential election has already begun in many states, and problems are already emerging at the polls. In West Virginia, voters in at least two counties using touchscreen voting machines have claimed their votes were switched from Democrat to Republican. Six voters reported having this problem in Jackson and Putnam Counties. In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. One voter, a retired nurse named Shelba Ketchum, said, “I hit Obama, and it switched to McCain. I am really concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines.” Election officials blamed voters for not being more careful. Both counties use machines made by Election Systems & Software.

As the San Diego Asian Film Festival closed its first leg this week, and the Boston Asian American Film Festival kicks off tonight, I do want to take a minute to remember one of the VIPs on the scene.

I moved to Washington DC in 2000, a month after finishing college because I knew I had to leave Boston behind to grow as a person. I lined up a very low-paying job on the civil rights scene and packed up the U-Haul. Arriving Wednesday night and starting work Thursday morning, I had close to no friends. I mean, I had friends, but not those who i developed on my own. It was all co-workers, other civil rights scenesters, and such and such.

A big part of me regretted leaving my family, and I battled homesickness by drinking heavily. I also gained about 10 pounds that summer. But it wasn’t all destructive behavior; I also caught wind of a group of people starting up an Asian American film festival in DC, and I decided to at least attend a meeting to see what was up. (It was college when I developed a love of writing and performing, but also filmmaking. I even made two short movies…which both…uh, no longer exist I hope.)

The guy leading the meeting was George Lin, a very unassuming but friendly guy who had dreamed up the DC APA Film Festival with a buddy one day and simply turned it into a reality. There was no self-doubt in this guy, he very strongly believed in his own abilities and those of the people around him to simply not get caught up in bull. George knew more than anyone that if you wanted to make it happen…shoot, you could just make it happen. George gave me a ride home that night, and in fact many nights after, as it seemed everyone else lived in Virginia while I was the only one in DC. George lived in Maryland, so he was stuck with the job of getting the little kid home safely. He was always a calming presence and capable of giving others strength without them knowing it. (I specifically remember his pep-talk to me on Election Night 2000 before dropping me off at my apartment.)

I was heavily involved with APA Film that year, and it was a great welcome to DC. APA Film, and in particular George, helped me think larger than my own just-out-of-college world. It was actually the opening night ceremony that I started down the road to an actual career as a spoken word performer; before that, it was just a hobby. (Another story for another time perhaps.)

That initial experience with George and APA Film, helped me feel I could actually follow through on bringing ideas to fruition. Some attempts have been less successful than others, but I never lost the nerve to take the first step. During my time in DC, I was a part of many nascent groups from the failed (APAREN) to the successful (DCAPJ) to the legendary (TLC – I see yall!). By 2002, I was thinking about what it would take to create a collective to support Asian American and Pacific Islander community-based artists in the DC area, but life intervened, and I ended up back in Boston.

And within a month of my return, we held the first ever Boston Progress Arts Collective meeting. And look at us now, still going strong – in fact, stronger – 6 years later. And without exaggeration, BPAC’s very existence was inspired by the work George put in to making his little idea a reality.

To nobody’s and everybody’s surprise, George left his job as a military scientist in 2003 and moved to San Diego to chase his dream of being more involved with not only showcasing, but producing films. His position as Programming Director at SDAFF made him a legitimate “bigshot” (haha) and helped draw more people into his world, no doubt making their lives that much brighter. His passion for our communities and for supporting arts and artists culminated in his co-producing the film Before We Close.

My unofficial tagline for any project nowadays is “we are only limited by our imagination.” George wasn’t the only person who exemplified this mindset, but he was probably the best at it. For many of us, thinking outside the box means thinking ourselves into another box. But George could leave and return to the box as often as he wanted, and always be wearing that same expression, that looked like it could break into full smile at any time. And every time, he would enthusiastically tell you where he had just been, and how he couldn’t wait to go back.

George passed away a few days ago at the age of 37 after a two decade long battle with illness. Rest in power bro.

In lieu of flowers and gifts, the family requests that charitable donations be made to The George C. Lin Memorial Fund established by his family which will provide grants to institutions that provide scholarships to students studying film, and for pheochromocytoma research and education. Please send checks to The San Diego Foundation, 2508 Historic Decatur Rd. Ste. 200, San Diego, CA 92106. Please write the name of the fund, The George C. Lin Memorial Fund, on the memo line of the check.

Li, Shih redefine ‘Asian,’ ‘artist’
Geoffrey Gaurano, 10/09/2008
From the Tufts Daily

Members of the Boston Progress Arts Collective plugged their mission of supporting Asian and Pacific Islander artists while undercutting stereotypes during a talk in the Granoff Music Center last night.

Guest speakers Giles Li and Eugene Shih told audience members that the aim of their group is to redefine the terms “Asian” and “artist” in order to eliminate preconceptions.

“We don’t necessarily have to be one specific type of artist or one specific type of Asian. We want to redefine Asian and artist in ways that are not static,” Li said. “I think we should strive not to fall into stereotypes.”

Li and Shih highlighted the organization’s projects, which create an environment to allow Asian and Pacific Islander artists to explore their creative endeavors. The organization has a radio station, an array of special events to showcase all forms of Asian and Pacific Islander art, and a monthly open mic night — New England’s only Asian-American open mic series, according to the speakers.

Students who attended the event were vocal about Asian and Pacific Islander artistic expression and showed interest in the organization’s various projects.

Sophomore James Lin, an artist himself, said the lecture piqued his interest in becoming more involved in the organization and in the Asian and Pacific Islander artist communities.

“I’m … into the artist scene, and being an Asian American myself, I found the lecture to be great,” Lin said. “I think their support is important, because the Asian American community isn’t always seen as creative.”

Tufts sophomore Erika O’Conor said she went to the lecture because it combined her interests in Asian Studies and music. Her class on Asian-American music prompted her to research the collective.

“I was already looking into the Boston Progress Arts Collective before the lecture, and I even have the Asian and Pacific Islander music radio station streamed into my iTunes,” O’Conor said.

O’Conor plans on getting involved with the organization. “I’m planning on going to open mic on Friday,” O’Conor said.

She said she admires the organization’s support for all types of Asian-American artists, as well as its mission to combat stereotypes.

“Asian Americans participate in all kinds of music, and I appreciate the statement that Boston Progress Arts Collective is trying to make,” O’Conor said.

Going by the popular Outsider = Reform algorithm that many Joe Sixpacks and Hockey Moms have been parroting, here’s a list of other people who would also be great reformist maverick Vice Presidents:

Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds
Rachel Ray
Osama bin Laden
LaDainian Tomlinson
Jerry O’Connell
The Numa Numa Kid
DJ Qbert
Jesse Camp
Christopher Knight
Jim McIlvaine