Self Evident: Asian America's Stories

During the 48 hours of uncertainty after November 3, 2020, our producer James called over a dozen people — not to talk about Trump vs. Biden, but about the more systemic problems that would stick with us after all the votes were counted.

These conversations with family and friends led him to reexamine a pivotal moment in his civic education: When he founded a chapter of the Junior State of America in the midst of the 2000 Presidential race, and learned that the act of democracy was a lot tougher than it seemed.

After speaking with Cris Aguila and Karl Kristian Flores (two of our youngest voting-age listeners) about their frustrations with our we vote for President, James dug up the phone number of the high school student who leads the same Junior State chapter that he had started a generation ago… and ended this week of cynicism with a surprising moment of hope.

Reading and Listening

• “Stacey Abrams on minority rule, voting rights, and the future of Democracy” on the Ezra Klein Show by Vox Media
• “Are Asian Americans the Last Undecided Voters?” by Hua Hsu for The New Yorker 
• Cathy Park Hong and Ayad Akhtar discuss Ayad’s new novel, “Homeland Elegies” on the Bookable podcast by Loudtree Media
• “Grassroots Organizers Flipped Georgia Blue. Here’s How They Did It,” by Anoa Chang for Truthout
• “Lessons From the Pacific Islands — Adapting to Climate Change by Supporting Social and Ecological Resilience” by multiple researchers for Frontiers in Marine Science
• “Can I Tell You Something?” a book of poems by Karl Kristian Flores

Resources for Action

• “The Work Will Continue After Nov 3. Here’s how you can stay involved” by Anjali Enjeti for Mic
• “My Role in a Social Change Ecosystem: A Mid-Year Check-In” by Deepa Iyer
• A list of Georgia BIPOC-led voter outreach organizations that you can support right now with donations and volunteer work, created by They See Blue Georgia
• “Craft Talks 4 Georgia,” a series of audio craft talks to raise money for Fair Fight, to ensure the right to vote for marginalized and disenfranchised people in the Georgia run-off elections in January 2021

Credits

• Produced by James Boo
• Edited by Julia Shu
• Sound mix by Timothy Lou Ly
• Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound
• Self Evident theme music by Dorian Love

Shoutouts

Thanks to everyone who hopped on the phone during the 48 hours after the election, to share their in-the-moment feelings and their experiences with voting:

• Alex Laughlin
• Dorian Love
• Justine Lee
• Melissa Sebastian
• Marissiko Wheaton
• Rachel Ramirez
• Sidharth Gupta