We Are The 99%: Chinese American Youth Edition
The Chinese Progressive Association organizes low income and working class Chinese immigrants in San Francisco. Some of their youth members have come together to tell their stories in solidarity with the Occupy movement, and I keep seeing their photos shared on Facebook. Their stories are heartbreaking, enraging, depressing, and, at the same time, inspiring. These kids should be wallowing in despair but instead they’re still fighting for a better future for themselves and their families.
A reality check for all of us, especially in light of the backlash against the Occupy movement and this kind of bullshit.
[Chinese Progressive Association website]
[Chinese Progressive Association on FB]
Filed under: #OccupySF, #occupywallstreet, #OWS, Chinese Progressive Association, Chinese-Americans, CPASF, Occupy Protests, Reality Checks, We Are 99%, We Are the 99 Percent, We Are the 99%, Youth Protests
[...] By Guest Contributor Jen Wang, cross-posted from Disgrasian [...]
Good post! I’ve been suspicious of that “mythical bootstraps college student” ever since I read it.
Many people in this country have been taught that being poor is being lazy and its simply not true; whether asian, black, hispanic or white there are so many who work SO hard and still aren’t making it. F*** you mythical bootstraps college student!
The “mythical bootstraps college student” reminded me of Reagan’s “Welfare Queen” stereotype. Both seem to be based on a lack of fact, and seem to have developed solely to promote a specific political agenda. At the time that Reagan was bemoaning the “Welfare Queens,” the average welfare recipient was white, had one child, and was on welfare for 24 months.