A Week In Review

I knew that this program would be the highlight of my summer, and it did not disappoint.

In the first couple of days, I had the pleasure of listening to keynote speakers such as Jordyn Holman, a business reporter at the New York Times, Chanel Lake and Kelly Uchima, and a wonderful discussion with Melanie Cherry–socks!

Their kind and informative perspectives shaped my understanding of Communications and Journalism. I learned, from a first hand perspective, the power of “being curious”–as it took Ms. Holman on a journey in Queens. I learned of the power of brand sponsorship from Ms. Lake and Ms. Uchima, and became fascinated with the perfectly curated lives of content creators and influencers that I saw everyday on my phone screen. From Ms. Cherry, I learned about socks! The power of a recognizable brand and their “publics”.

I also found new role models–in my professors, Dr. Rogelio Lopez and Professor Allan Lopez. We discussed the meaning of civic engagement, “encoding/decoding”, as well as how, during WW11, civic media was used as a tool for the Japanese Americans in concentration camps. We made zines, wrote a listicle, and learned about the basics of Journalism in Professor Lopez’ segment.

We also embarked on a couple field trips; on Thursday, to CAAM (California African American Museum), and JANM (Japanese American National Museum).

CAAM was absolutely gorgeous–the lobby-esque main room, flooded with light, was filled with large pencil portraits of women and nature. The stark contrast of the pencil lines against the white walls made me appreciate its beauty. As we peeked inside the exhibits, I was struck by the simplicity and thought behind a few of the pieces. Some of Simone Leigh’s work was incredibly simple to the eye–a set of multicolor iridescent ceramic teeth in a net was an homage to Ota Benga, a man that had been kidnapped from Congo and was put on “exhibition” in a Louisiana Purchase exhibition.

I had visited the Japanese American National Museum countless times before. When I was in 2nd grade, my local YMCA took us to JANM to learn how to fold an origami box. I had visited with my family, with my friends, and my little campers. In my later years I had entered through its giant glass doors weekly for a leadership program.

It felt different on Thursday. As I walked in there, black AYA polo and all, I felt surrounded and cornered–by a lovely JANM volunteer who taught a small group of us how to “say, speak, and understand the Japanese language in just under 5 minutes”. She taught us how to count from 1 to 5, complete with hand motions and all. It was a guaranteed way to remember new things, as she cheerfully explained.

Her warm, a bit bossy, and smiling demeanor kept a smile on my face for the rest of the trip. It was nice being treated as if I was a complete newcomer. Through the lens of civic media, I was able to read into the sources framed on the wall and in freestanding cases. I was particularly struck by a TIME magazine article on how to tell “the difference between a Chinese and a Jap”. In a documentary they showed later, I was surprised to learn of the parallels of the “otherism” applied to Muslims and JAs after 9/11 and Pearl Harbor.

I’m excited to see where the rest of this program leads.