My Life: Growing Up Asian in America

by CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) (Editor), SuChin Pak (Introduction)

Overview

A collection of thirty heartfelt, witty, and hopeful thought pieces “that highlights the humanity and multitudes of being Asian American” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), for fans of Minor Feelings.

There are 23 million people, representing more than twenty countries, each with unique languages, histories, and cultures, clumped under one banner: Asian American. Though their experiences are individual, certain commonalities appear.

-The pressure to perform and the weight of the model minority myth.
-The proximity to whiteness (for many) and the resulting privileges.
-The desexualizing, exoticizing, and fetishizing of their bodies.
-The microaggressions.
-The erasure and overt racism.

Through a series of essays, poems, and comics, thirty creators give voice to moments that defined them and shed light on the immense diversity and complexity of the Asian American identity. Edited by CAPE and with an introduction by renowned journalist SuChin Pak, My Life: Growing Up Asian in America is a celebration of community, a call to action, and “a vital record of the Asian American experience” (Publishers Weekly). It’s the perfect gift for any occasion.

Featuring contributions from bestselling authors Melissa de la Cruz, Marie Lu, and Tanaïs; journalists Amna Nawaz, Edmund Lee, and Aisha Sultan; TV and film writers Teresa Hsiao, Heather Jeng Bladt, and Nathan Ramos-Park; and industry leaders Ellen K. Pao and Aneesh Raman, among many more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982195366
Publisher:	MTV Books
Publication date:	04/25/2023
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.38(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) has advanced Asian and Pacific Islander (API) representation on screen since 1991. Through industry-renowned talent development programs including the CAPE New Writers Fellowship and CAPE Leaders Fellowship, script consulting, and CAPE Database talent referrals, and the grassroots audience movement #GoldOpen, CAPE improves the landscape, relevance, and power of APIs in entertainment from the writers’ room to the boardroom to the living room. Learn more at CapeUSA.org and @CapeUSA on IG/Twitter.

SuChin Pak is a veteran journalist with more than twenty-five years of experience. She is best known for being the first Asian American reporter for MTV News. From hosting red carpet shows to reporting on some of the biggest headlines in news, Pak has been a dedicated journalist since the age of sixteen. She currently cohosts a podcast, Add to Cart, about consumerism. She has focused much of her work on issues involving social change.

Table of Contents

Introduction Suchin Pak 1

Time Teresa Hsiao 11

Listen Asshole Yellow Rage 15

Rishi's Night: A One-Act Monologue Play Moss Perricone 21

I Don't Want to Write Today Shing Yin Khor 32

Destiny Manifest H'Rina Detroy 48

Going Country Nathan Ramos-Park 53

Confessions of a Banana Heather Jeng Bladt 59

Bangla, in Black and White Tanais 69

The Ring Amna Nawaz 78

A bad day Catzie Vilayphonh 84

Fourteen Ways of Being Asian in America over Thirty-Six Years Melissa De La Cruz 89

Why We Don't Always Fight Edmund Lee 97

A Pair of Shorts Kao Kalia Yang 106

Slingshots of the Ignorant Aisha Sultan 114

Untitled Trung Le Nguyen 122

Things Better Left Unsaid Duong Nguyen Ca Dao 127

How Do I Begin to Speak of Your Perfection? Sokunthary Svay 133

On Being Black and Asian in America Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence 138

An Incomplete Silence Kim Tran 149

Ten Things You Should Know about Being an Asian from the South G Yamazawa 154

Unzipping Riss M. Neilson 158

The Question Mark Kramer 168

Working While Asian Ellen K. Pao 176

Facing Myself David Kwong 183

Places Gayle Gaviola 190

My First Rodeo Yoonj Kim 197

The Next Draft Aneesh Raman 205

Museum in Her Head Marie Lu 218

Afterword Michelle K. Sugihara 227

Acknowledgments 233

Resources 235

Quotation Sources 237

Biographies 239

Editorial Reviews

Taken all together, the individually significant pieces elevate and illuminate the multifaceted, intersectional experiences of Asian Americans across sectors and industries, giving voice to their struggles, achievements, and resilience....[E]normously engaging.

Booklist (starred review)

"A remarkable and tender look into the contemporary lives of Asian America. These stories highlight diverse voices as they pave the way for the next generation of Asian Americans to not only be seen, but to be heard. Both heartbreaking and healing—you need this book."

Carolyn Huynh

03/07/2022

In this heartfelt anthology, Asian American writers, executives, and artists reflect on their encounters with the “model minority myth,” their experiences “being seen as less than American,” the “wisdom and shortcomings of elders,” and other aspects of growing up in the U.S. In the introduction, MTV news correspondent SuChin Park discusses the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the Covid-19 pandemic and recalls being told by cameramen to “open my eyes” and “squint less.” In “Fourteen Ways of Being Asian in America over Thirty-Six Years,” novelist Melissa de la Cruz, who is “Filipino-Chinese-Spanish,” documents experiences with racism, including the “ugly and disgusting” online comments she received after writing a DC Comics graphic novel in which Bruce Wayne is Asian. Elsewhere, Japanese American poet G Yamazawa reminds himself that “when you were a boy/ being deemed as powerful of a man as Bruce Lee/ still made you feel weak/ and helpless,” and former Reddit CEO Ellen K. Pao discusses how the belief in meritocracy passed down by her Taiwanese immigrant parents was shattered by her early experiences in Silicon Valley. Enriched by the diversity of its contributors and the intimacy of their pieces, this is a vital record of the Asian American experience. (May)

Publishers Weekly