CHRIS BACKLEY/Daily Bruin Arash Davari
raps at a spoken word event on Monday in Kerckhoff Art Gallery
hosted by Concerned Asian Pacific Students Students for Action.
By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Reporter
Through art rather than protest signs, students of various
backgrounds fought against being grouped into a single category
Monday.
In a room filled with drawings, paintings and poems by Asian
American artists, spectators packed the Kerckhoff Art Gallery to
listen to their peers showcase their talent and ideas in a
spoken-word venue organized by Concerned Asian Pacific Students for
Action.
Monday’s forum, called Verbal “Eyes,” was the
first in a series of events that comprise a three-week multimedia
exhibit titled AP “Eyes.”
CAPSA member Tadashi Nakamura, the MC for the event, told the
audience of about 70 that he was fighting for social change.
“Activism isn’t the only way to express
ourselves,” Nakamura said. “Art is a good way of
expressing that; it’s time to raise our own
consciousness.”
One of the most pressing issues addressed at the event was that
Asian Americans should be recognized as having distinct
cultures.
“One of the most important issues affecting us is just
acknowledging that the community is very diverse,” said Greg
Hom, a third-year environmental studies student and CAPSA
member.
For example, Hom said, issues that affect Chinese people
don’t necessarily affect Koreans or Laotians.
“We come from such different places and that has to be
recognized,” he said. “You can’t just lump all
Asians in one group.”
The event included an open mic segment which allowed members of
the audience to step up to the microphone and express their
thoughts through improvisational performance.
Two performers, Cheryl Samson and Paul Jisung Kim, welcomed the
offer.
Samson, a fourth-year sociology student at UC Irvine, performed
a song about social liberation and denounced Proposition 21, which
voters passed last year allowing juveniles who commit violent
crimes to be sentenced as adults.
“It’s good to see art talking about issues that are
important to students,” Samson said. “It is a good way
of educating people about these issues.”
She then joined Kim, a senior at Cypress High School in L.A., in
a dual recital, after which Kim gave a solo performance with
beatboxing that energized the crowd.
Kim said the crowd at Monday’s event was one of the most
receptive he has seen.
“I’ve been to other spoken word venues in L.A. and
Orange County, and they can be dull at times,” he said.
In addition to the spoken word and song performances, which
included one by the Asian American theatre group “Lapu, the
Coyote that Cares,” visual art was on prominent display in
the gallery.
Among the pieces in the exhibit were sketches, paintings,
illustrated poetry and personal collages, as well as a collage
produced by third-graders from Wilton Place School in Los
Angeles.
By far the largest piece on display was an in-depth chronology
of important historical events in the numerous cultures that form
the conventional Asian American demographic. The timeline spanned
the walls of the gallery.
Though the exhibit will be on display over the next three weeks,
Hom said it is not enough.
“It should be out there for longer, but we can’t
afford to put the art up for very long,” he said.
Johneric Concordia, a counselor for Search to Involve Pilipino
Americans, who performed Monday, reiterated the vital need to
distinguish Asian Americans from each other.
“We share a common situation and history, but at the same
time we’re totally different,” he said.
Once Asian Americans make it clear they are not just one common
body, Hom said there will be no need to place so much emphasis on
race.
“We have to show how diverse the group is, to break down
race and show how meaningless the term is,” Hom said.
The next event in the AP “Eyes” series open to
students is “Our Generation’s Mission,” designed
to spark student involvement in community organizing. It is
scheduled for April 18 at the Kerckhoff Art Gallery.