Our producer Kristal hosts this episode, telling the very dark, twisting, fascinating and TRUE story of Sister Ping, Queen of the Snakeheads, arguably the most successful documented human smuggler in history and based right in the heart of New York’s Chinatown.

From warring Fujianese street gangs, to international money laundering, to sneaky-sneak side deals with the FBI, fans of the HBO Show Warrior (and women led organized crime syndications) will NOT want to miss this. 

Also, there is a movie soon to be released based on this sensational story!

Warning: Descriptions of Graphic Violence

Based on the book “The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream” by Patrick Radden Keefe

Links:

• Get the Book: https://bookshop.org/lists/producer-picks
• “Requiem for a Snakehead”, by Patrick Radden Keefe for The New Yorker
• Anticipate the Movie: SNAKEHEAD Rights Acquired
• Watch the Movie Trailer
• Interview with Brian Yang & Evan Leong about SNAKEHEAD the movie and Asian representation in media. 

Sister Ping photo credit: NY Daily News Archive/Getty

This episode is dedicated to our friend Jenny. 💖

Jordana is full of wishes. She wishes to be more connected to her Chinese culture. She wishes she knew more before engaging in hookup culture. She wishes she knew her birth parents. She wishes her two Jewish dads were ok with her wearing spaghetti straps. She wishes people were more ok with her emotions, her thoughts, her opinions – and if they’re not, actually, come to think of it…. she doesn’t care.

The thing about Jordana is, she’s not just a dreamer, she’s a doer. She KNOWS she will learn from her past, she INTENDS to cultivate a better relationship with her parents, and she PLANS to go back to China one day to live, work, and search for her birth parents.

From learning how to set boundaries to dismantling her drive to be hyper productive, this episode has a little something for everyone.

Learn more about Jordana’s adoption journey and poetry @ https://jordanalevine.tumblr.com/

Read Jordana’s article on hookup culture @ https://bloommagazine.uk/loverelationships/what-i-wish-someone-told-me-before-i-engaged-in-hookup-culture

On the inaugural episode of Real Asian Voices, Sho Morikawa opens up about his experience as an Asian American trans man. From telling his Asian parents (while navigating language barriers) to telling his girlfriend he’s trans, Sho shares and bares all, with humor, vulnerability, and awe-worthy honesty.

“People who identify as queer … their identity tends to be more fluid, and that may or may not have to do with the fact that once they identify with the queer community, you’re exposed to more diverse types of people, and you become more educated in the different nuances of gender identity — It’s not just about identifying as a man or a woman.” – Sho Morikawa

Instagram: @greatestshoman
Photo Cred: @graceful_captures

Resources from Sho for trans people and/or for trans allies:

@translifeline (https://translifeline.org)
@translawcenter (https://transgenderlawcenter.org) largest American transgender-led civil rights org
@getplume (https://getplume.co) new expert, convenient, and safe app-based gender affirming medical care/hormone therapy for trans people in USA
@pinkmantaray (https://pinkmantaray.com) Schuyler Bailar is the first openly trans NCAA D1 athlete! also Asian American! and now he does amazing trans educational stuff on IG

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the course of the parent/child relationship never did run smooth. Why didn’t our Asian immigrant parents talk to us about their/our feelings? Was that because they didn’t love us, or were they just dealing with their own trauma?

How many of you now, as parents, are grappling with how to raise kids, trying to uphold the values of your honored ancestors while teaching them empathy so they don’t grow up to be racist a-holes?

Also – what do you do when your Asian kid comes home from school, asking you if they’re White? 😬

From acknowledging the strength of her parents who came to the US (literally by boat), to recognizing her own privilege, to raising a bevy of 3 children (all under the age of 7), superwoman Kristine very candidly shares her journey of parenting during a pandemic.

Mentioned Links:
www.instagram.com/asianlitforkids/
www.instagram.com/asiansformentalhealth/

Ever been called a Coconut 🥥 or a Banana 🍌? No, not the yummy tropical fruit, but the racial slur.

Reclaiming the pejorative word in her upcoming book “Coconut” is Nisha Patel – a self proclaimed queer, fat, femme, disabled poet laureate and artist of color. A poetry slam champion, poetry publishing house founder, writer in residence at a library, and prolific public performer, what really makes Nisha a badass is not her awe-inspiring array of accomplishments, but her clear sense of self, her strength in the face of asshat haters, and her indomitable spirit.

From wrangling with racism, sexism, and ableism to just living as an artist with Asian immigrant parents, Nisha tackles it all – with uncompromising candor and inimitable style.

Learn more at nishapatel.ca
Facebook: anothernisha
Instagram: anothernisha
Twitter: anothernisha

Nisha’s book comes out April 1, 2021! Read an excerpt HERE or ORDER HERE for US listeners.

“In her debut collection, Canadian National Slam Champion Nisha Patel commands her formidable insight and youthful, engaged voice to relay experiences of racism, sexuality, empowerment, grief, and love. These are vitally political, feminist poems for young women of colour, with bold portrayals of confession, hurt, and healing.

Coconut rises fiercely like the sun. These poems bestow light and warmth and the ability to witness the world, but they ask for more than basking; they ask readers to grow and warn that they can be burnt. Above all, Nisha Patel’s work questions and challenges propriety and what it means to be a good woman, second-generation immigrant, daughter, consumer, and lover.”

We work out, we eat healthy, we go to the doctor when we don’t feel well. Why don’t we treat our minds and hearts with the same level of care? Why is mental health still not prioritized, especially amongst Asians, and why is there ANY negative stigma at all towards one of the BEST THINGS YOU CAN EVER DO FOR YOURSELF?

Therapy – No Shame, All Gain.

If listening to amazing mental help therapist Diana in this episode doesn’t make you realize how AMAZING therapists can be, this podcast host will shave her head.

Additional Resources from Diana

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: If you or someone you know is having thoughts of wanting to not be around, being better off dead, or wishing to hurt themselves, please do consider taking action and reaching out to a medical or mental health professional or calling the National Suicide Hotline or call 1-800-273-8255

National Domestic Violence Hotline: If you are experiencing violence and abuse at home, there are resources, safety ideas, and support available through the National DV Hotline or call 800.799.SAFE (7233) to maintain your digital privacy and safety. 

Asian Mental Health Collective is a great resource for FAQs, Asian American stories and experiences, and resources for getting connected to care. https://www.asianmhc.org

Try online therapy on any of the various platforms out there now like Better Help, https://www.betterhelp.com, or Talkspace, https://www.talkspace.com. 

PSA to all Asians: Did you know that dating outside your ethnicity can make you LESS Asian? We didn’t either. Meet Alicia, a first-gen Vietnamese American, Master of Public Health student who struggles daily not to become “Less Vietnamese” as she dates someone Black. 

SARCASM. You are not less of ANYTHING by dating outside your race. In this episode, Alicia shares the eternal joy of tolerating the opinions of relatives regarding one’s dating life.

News Flash! Your life is NOT over after a divorce (or two!) Also, not staying with the same human until you die does NOT make you a failure – no matter what your Asian family says.

Thank goodness for Grace, a defiant, daring, and dating divorcée – listen and learn, and then love – however you damn well please.

Further Learning – Grace Recommends: Ester Perel | Modern Love and Relationships
Relationships and community | 33 min talk with 22 min Q&A

“The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives.”

Imagine being a newly grad, arts focused young professional with immigrant parents who want you to be a doctor or lawyer (no joke) during the height of a global pandemic while living at home. How do we NOT let ourselves be defined by the external, cultural, familial, societal, and self applied pressures to ‘succeed’ in the job market? How do we stay motivated, creative, active – when it’s honestly hard enough to just get out of bed?

Also – we dish a bit about Bling Empire. Hate it or Love it, the reality show featuring Real Life ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is a hot topic on the internets. Either way, Angela and I agree – support Asian (diverse) representation!

Also – Watch HBO’s Warrior.

Erica is mouthy, opinionated, rebellious.  An artist, photographer, and musician hailing from Singapore, this F bomb dropping young lady sounds off on the struggles of being a creative, refusing to be a cog in the corporate machine, Asian on Asian racism, and giving her grandma tattoos during quarantine. From fighting the power of parental disapproval to surprisingly sage advice on dating, you don’t want to miss out on Erica’s wild, winsome wisdom!

*Recorded 6/12/2020

Check out Erica’s singing here. Make up and photography by Erica as well. 🤯