The Color of Truth the daily happenings of a community activist

The Language Divide

Phone Call:

Mom: Hey, I need your work email address so we can try to get a discount for our new cell phone service.

Me: Ok, do you have a pen?

Mom: Yes, go ahead.

Me: S, like Scott. Chan, then the @ sign.

Mom: What? What's the @ sign?

Me: What? You know, the sign that looks like an A, with something around it.

Mom: What?

Me: Uhmmm are you calling the phone guy? You can just say "at" and he should know.

Mom: No, we're going in tomorrow to talk to him. Ok anyways, what's after @?

Me: A, P, A, L, C dot

Mom: What's dot?

Me: Huh? You know, dot, period.

Mom: Huh?

Me: Just take your pen, and poke the ink end to the paper...

Mom: Oh...ok..I think I got it.

Me: Ok, dot O, R, G.

Mom: Can you just email your brother and have him show me?

Me: Yes.

Brotherly Conversation

Slowing Down

I was reading in the most recent GOOD magazine about the need to just...SLOW DOWN. We're so caught up in getting things done fast, that we often don't take the time to appreciate what's going on around us. One specific article was talking about how our thirst for speed in technology, has left the art of writing letters to one another, an ancient practice. There is so much that comes with writing and receiving letters. The time and energy that goes in to writing, and then the nebulous wait for when a letter might actually come (or if it'll even come)...that's what we need more of today.

SO, I've taken it upon myself to write letters to my friends. I think it will help me connect with people in a different way, and it'll be a fun experiment to see how slowing down can affect my overall lifestyle.

Conveniently, I accidentally bought 100 stamps today at the post office. I asked for a roll and paid with my credit card without really thinking twice. (For some reason I thought stamps came in rolls of 24) It wasn't until I was back in the office that I realized I had been charged $44!

$44 is a lot of money, but if I can invest it in this little fun experiment of mine, I think I've gotten myself quite the deal.

If you want a letter, I shall consider writing you one. Email me your address

What’s for dinner?

There was also bell peppers cooked with some tofu, but this looked more fun in a picture. (and this is really two meals here)

Divided We Stand

I'm beginning to believe more and more that it is human nature to simply be divisive. As hard as we try to unify under a common cause or belief, we will never fail to create divisions.

I suppose that is an obvious statement to come up with; the world is filled with such different viewpoints and minds and it would be a bit ludicrous to blanket one truth over them all. No, that is not what I have a problem with. What I have a problem with is groups and individuals who say they are about unifying and prove only to be hypocrites.

More specifically, I have found this in two worlds: nonprofits and churches.

You would think the nonprofit world would be a safespace for all community members. What could be wrong when you have people with common beliefs, all together working to help community members with a variety of problems and issues. However, nonprofits sometimes prove to be a breeding ground for complacency and group think. There is a underlying tone that nonprofit workers should be liberal and somewhat "down" with the same issues.

Please, someone help me find a nonprofit worker who is proud to say he or she is conservative or Republican. Find me someone who is willing to openly voice their opinions against immigrant rights, abortions, health care reform, gang violence. What are we doing to ourselves nonprofit folks? How can we grow if the only time we face different voices and opinions is in the "battlefield"? Why can we not engage in conversations at the work place as friends, rather than on the field as enemies? I'm sure many believe that having such thoughts in the organization works against progress. Things might be accomplished slower, but what's really getting in the way of progress is making win/lose situations, and forcing people to take a side.

Similarly, churches and organized religion are guilty of the same shit. The church, which should be a place of hope, compassion, love, and a beacon to connect many different people, has become something much uglier. It is a weapon that helps disconnect people.

Church members are taught to get to know their community better, but sadly this does not go much further than the church congregation/other "believers". A bubble forms and the diversity of thoughts are greatly limited. Oh and because it is a bubble, it's hard to tell you're in it, and what you see from the inside looking out, is a distorted version of reality. Yes, think of the bubble imagery please.

Sitting in church the past few months, I've found it hypocritical. On the one hand, we are taught the importance of embracing those who are different from us. However, this is only from the viewpoint of trying to convert people.

"We should welcome gays to our congregation...but we need to help our brothers and sisters understand what they are doing is a sin."

Or what gets me is using the terms "believers" and "nonbelievers". Seriously, who are you to call people "nonbelievers," and then have this high and mighty tone? Don't you think that divides? People who have different beliefs should not be shunned; think of how much more you can gain by talking to these people, than simply calling them names and trying to convert them.

If we want to grow, we need to embrace those who are different from us, and let us do it in the context of friendship, not as enemies. Nonprofits and churches are great mediums for progress and change, lets maximize what we can do.

Even though it may already be a lost battle, I have no intent of giving up on nonprofits or church. I have a personal crusade to grow through being around others who are different from me. Sure, it may be awkward, frustrating or even painful, and sure there are times where I will want to give in to complacency, but I will stay resolute because I still have so much more to grow.

Redistricting Press Conference

Why is Mr. Warren Furutani looking so serious?

Press conference on the need for API's to apply to be a part of the redistricting commission coming up. In a nutshell, there's going to be a commission of 14 Californians, who will help decide how to rewrite the districts across the state. They will be chosen by:

1. Of all the applications, the clerk chooses 120 to go to the next round.

2. In the next round, 8 spots are chosen by a BINGO BALL lottery system.

3. Of those 8, they choose the final 6.

Yah, that's how this commission is being chosen. The problem is that not enough API's are applying. We make up about 4% of the application pool right now, when we represent nearly 15% of the state!

Sad times. More info on the application process here.

National Human Trafficking Day

New human trafficking mural unveiled at the Museum of Tolerance

I had the opportunity to attend a press conference this morning at the Museum of Tolerance, regarding how today is National Human Trafficking Day. There were a lot of big name people at the event, including Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, but what hit me most were the survivor's stories.

Flor: She told her story of how someone from her village in Mexico came and approached her about doing some work in America, to help pay for her family's needs. It seemed legit, but before leaving, she had to give up her passport and other forms of ID as a "safety precaution". She ended up coming to America, and forced to work in the garment industry. 10 minutes to eat a day, not allowed to talk to others, and no real way out. She eventually was able to escape and found refuge.

At first, she was too scared to help put the people who trafficked her behind bars. She was worried for her families safety in Mexico. Eventually she agreed to help, but the person who was responsible for trafficking her, only received 6 months. After those 6 months, the woman went back and tried to contact Flor's mother. (to scare her)

Mimi: She started off telling her story in a calm manner, but as she got in to the meat of it, she started breaking down and crying. Her story was different from Flor's. She's from Indonesia, and was promised a chance to make money to send back to her family. When she arrived, she was put in a house, where she became a servant for the next 7 years. She worked 17-24 hours a day (house chores, watching children, giving massages, etc), for 7 full years before finally escaping. She was not allowed to speak to anyone, and she said it drove her almost insane being so lonely.

Quilt square created by a survivor of human trafficking.

I keep saying this, but I really think God wants me to do something about human trafficking. I keep running in to the issue over and over again, and I'm always left thinking...Scott you gotta do something about this shit. I don't think I'm being asked to leave my job and join an organization that works on human trafficking specifically. I think it has something to do with how I have the knack of connecting people and growing coalition.

I'll figure this out.

More pictures here