Asian-American Students United, in conjunction with 10 other student groups, introduced about 50 Northwestern students to a collection of performances Sunday by traditional Asian dance groups, slam poets and hip-hop musicians.
The performance, called “Night Vision,” was the culmination of Asiantation, a day of events and workshops designed to address “the unique challenges” faced by NU’s Asian-American students.
According to AASU President Howard Lien, a Weinberg senior, these challenges stem mostly from the “model-minority” stereotypes associated with Asian-American identity.
This stereotype, along with methods for combating it, were among the topics discussed by about 30 students who attended Asiantation, which began Sunday afternoon and lasted until the end of the Night Vision performances.
Lien said Night Vision was a good way to end the day’s festivities because it presented the issues facing Asian-American students and other minorities — “not only in an academic fashion but also on an emotional level.”
“It presented the issues in a way that youths today can understand them,” said Rosa Nguyen, a Weinberg sophomore.
The program included performances by the New York-based hip-hop group Kontrast, which mocked the “Asian questions” constantly posed to group members by their non-Asian friends and colleagues.
Among questions cited as an example: “Is it true that Asian guys are a little smaller down there?”
In response they sang “Mine is Bigger,” a song that evoked laughter and cheering from the audience.
However, the program took a somewhat somber tone when hip-hop poet Giles Li recalled the death of comedian Bob Hope — not because it marked the death of a famous entertainer but because it overshadowed the violent deaths of several members of the Asian-American community on the same day.
In his poem Li lamented “all the lives ended and altered by violence that never got their fair space in the newspaper.”
Li also performed a piece entitled “Dear Asian America,” in which he expressed his love for the Asian-American community, even as it is faced with “glass ceilings” and “oppressors who smile in your face while shaking your hand.”
“Some of the poems said pretty much what I thought, but they were expressed in a way that I couldn’t do it,” said Will Cheung, a Weinberg sophomore and member of AASU.
In addition to expressing the concerns they harbor about Asian-American stereotypes, some students who attended the event said it helped them find pride in their culture.
“It showed what Asian Americans are capable of and how they can be inspiring. They can be major figures in rap, hip-hop and poetry,” said Dhan Herath, a Weinberg freshman.
Herath was one of several students in the Night Vision audience who attended all of Asiantation. For Lien this was one of the biggest indications that the program was a success.
“Everyone who came to the first workshop stayed through the whole day, ” he said. “That’s amazing at a school like NU. It means they were interested enough and moved enough to stay the whole time.”
Weinberg freshman Alfie Tam said he originally signed up for the event to meet people but ended up gaining pride in his heritage.
“I learned a lot about Asian-American challenges,” he said.
Tam said the workshops helped “bring people together” and raise awareness about Asian-American stereotypes, particularly in the media and popular culture.
