Oakland Shooting / One Goh

This past Monday, a former student at Oakland’s Oikos University shot and killed seven people and wounded three others. According to Reuters, “the attack was the deadliest gun violence at a U.S. college since a Virginia Tech University student killed 32 people and wounded 25 others before taking his own life in 2007.”

For all involved, and for everyone watching, the shooting is a tragedy. Unfortunately, it’s also an opportunity for the media and netizens alike to speculate on possible motives and complicated factors like race, mental health and gun control. For the Asian American community, it’s a bitter reminder of past tragedies that we’d sooner forget–a looming specter of angst, shame, self-reflection, fatigue and other shitty feelings.

Because yes, like at VT the shooter is Asian. Korean, to be specific. And because we’re not living in a post-racial America that one fact means a helluva lot more than it should. Yes, One Goh was bullied and othered–which is HORRIBLE AND SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN TO ANYONE. But in this case it doesn’t excuse him from taking SEVEN LIVES.

Anyone who condones either bullying or murder is part of the problem–and we all know (or should know) that.

So, please, I beg the media and you netizens to write and talk about about this issue with awareness, sensitivity and respect. And I hope we all keep the victims in mind as we try for the nth time to figure out what this means for the AAPI community–if it means anything at all.

Muse-Sick Fix

It’s Friday. And there are a lot of shitty, terrible things happening in the world. And sometimes when I feel like there’s no end in sight for the uphill battles that marginalized people have to fight, I put on pop music. Because that’s what you gotta do.

Today I’m listening to Korean rap star Yoon Mi Rae (real name: Tasha Reid) kill it (both literally and lyrically) in her latest single, “Get It In.” Check out the official music video below, which I’d describe as Kill Bill + ill rhymes and beats.

Yoon Mi Rae is an American performer of mixed race (Black and Korean) who moved to South Korea and rose to fame as “Korea’s best female rapper.” She first debuted as “Tasha “or “T” and was highly regarded for releasing a song called “Black Happiness,” in which she discussed the difficulties of having a mixed heritage.

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