#WHEREareyoufrom
The new MAASU iniative with an introduction by Jonathon Sun, our Advocacy Co-Chair.
This year, MAASU is starting a new
initiative in order to help other students
understand what Asian American culture in the Midwest looks like. Asian
American culture is everywhere while at
the same time nowhere. As the Midwest
Asian American Students Union, we believe that we should try to have a better
understanding of what Midwest Asian
American culture looks like. While pondering the thought of better understanding Asian American Culture some may
be lead to ask, “Is it even necessary to
pigeon hole the concept of Asian American culture?” It may be such a broad
idea that even the idea of trying to construct a box around it, may prove to be
impossible, however that doesn’t mean
we should not try. Thus MAASU would
like to proudly present the first season of
our thought exercise into Asian American Culture, #whereareyoufrom?
Often times Asian Americans are
asked, “Where are you from?” in the
hopes of eliciting the “Correct response”
as saying, “I am from such and such
Asian country.” However, many Asian
Americans are from the United States.
This kind of question can be defined as
a micro aggression, a seemingly harmless statement that in actuality has a lot
of offense to it. What makes this kind
of question offensive is the fact that it
challenges ones identity as an American.
Thus the first season of MAASU’s exploration into Asian American culture is to
explore where people really are from and
their experiences that they have. This
project is intended to not only capture
the experiences of people living and
growing up in the Midwest, but to capture their family histories and struggles
as well.
As noted this is the first season of this
exploration. Each year, MAASU will
continue to look into different aspects of
In addition to sharing stories, we would also like to present different education
material that goes with the stories. Each of these stories, underscores a different
theme starting with the model minority myth, after this each of the stories we present will present a new word and material with it. The first story we have in this series
is founder of the Midwest Asian American Students Union Charles Chang. He
recounts his story of being the tough guy and being a role model to his family. His
story is read by Jonathon Sun.
Asian American culture through the
form of commonly asked questions,
such as “What are you?” or “Eww what’s
that smell?” Each of these questions will
lead to a larger overarching dialogue on
what makes Asian Americans, Asian
Americans. We hope to challenge other
students to engage with each other and
learn more about each other and their
pasts and their stories. Storytelling is
one of the most powerful tools we have
to learn about each and about ourselves.
It makes us recount our experiences and
really think about how we felt, how it
impacts us now, and legitimize our experiences. We have utilized the Storycorp
app, in order to compile all our stories,
so there is one location to access the
stories. In addition to accessing these
stories, we challenge you to gather your
own stories with your friends and families about where they are from and their
experiences growing up in the Midwest.
#whereareyoufrom
Often times, Asian Americans
are asked, “Where are you from?”
in the hopes of elciting the “Correct response” as saying, “I am
from such and such Asian country.”
However, many Asian Americans are born and raised elsewhere, beyon where their ancestors come from.
MAASU would like to explore
the Asian American culture with
YOU, to capture the experiences
of people growing up in the Midwest and their family’s histories
and struggles to survive.
Please click the hashtag below to
learn more and get involved!
#WhereAreYouFrom