I Don't Like This Time On the Clock of the World
Thought Process: Winter 2025 (Volume 2, Issue 1)
In This Issue:
Musing: I’d Rather Not
Welcome to 2025 & the Year of the Snake!
Surviving: Things That Have Helped
Out & About!
Upcoming Events!
Bookstore Baby!
Musing: I’d Rather Not
When I was a history teacher, I used to flip through textbooks and wonder what average people, those whose names didn’t make it into the history books, would say about the time period they were living through. What does it feel like to be an average person living through such historically poignant times? In recent years, as times have continued to be “unprecedented,” I’ve often remarked, “What a time to be alive!” or asked, “What historical time period are we living in?” I suppose they were my own way of asking Grace Lee Boggs’ famous, “What time is it on the clock of the world?”
I’m learning that living through historically poignant times kinda sucks. They are confusing and jarring and unintelligible. They do not have the clarity of hindsight.
So I’m here to say that whatever time this is to be alive, I don’t like it. And whatever historical time this is that we are living in, I’m not enjoying it. And I’m finding a certain freedom in admitting to myself that as much as I’m still going to
move forward
build
organize
resist
choose joy
I’m not loving these times that are
disillusioning
disappointing
disorienting
distressing
depressing
And whatever time it is on the clock of the world, I’d rather not.
Welcome to 2025 & the Year of the Snake!
Welcome to the first Thought Process Newsletter of 2025! This means that this newsletter has been in existence for a *whole year* and now officially has a **Volume 2.** And if that isn’t something worth celebrating then give me a sec to think of something else to celebrate cause mama needs a drink right now. Cheers!
Surviving: Things That Have Helped
FREE Online Trainings
At the end of 2024 I took two FREE online trainings through Right To Be. One was a bystander intervention training in collaboration with Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, and the other was about standing up to street harassment in collaboration with Self Offense. Since then I’ve come across many opportunities for Know Your Rights trainings by various local organizations and the ACLU to help protect our communities. AAPI Women Lead has also been compiling a great Solidarity in Action Resource Guide.
Despair is sometimes a lack of imagination. Taking advantage of these free resources helped me feel more empowered and gave me ideas in places I felt stuck. They walked me through different scary scenarios and allowed me to imagine how I could react in ways that felt doable and also aligned with my values.
Don’t take these resources for granted! Even better, do a training with a friend or two so you can talk about it afterwards and share ideas.
“People ARE doing things. You will meet those people when YOU start doing things.” - Sherrilyn Ifill
Vibe Check - It’s A Relay Race feat. Maurice Mitchell
This Vibe Check episode, an interview between host Sam and Maurice Mitchell of the Working Families Party, was the most compelling, expansive, sanity-making conversation about American politics I have heard in a long time. Highly recommend it!
Local Protests
On MLK Jr/Inauguration Day, I participated in a protest in San Jose with a couple of friends. While all protests carry varying amounts of risk, the description and location made me feel comfortable bringing my eldest kid who really wanted to go. We made some cardboard signs and discussed best practices and contingency plans just in case, which this mom is relieved were not needed.
The news reported that around 600 people showed up, and it was a great experience. Honestly, having a venue where it was appropriate to yell loudly and chant together about things we were upset about was cathartic because right now a lot of us need to yell at something. More than anything, coming together with this diverse group of people energized me and helped me see that there are others who are resisting too. Protesting is only something I do once in a while, but I’m looking for more opportunities that fit the amount of risk I’m willing to take.
Transitioning My Online Spaces
In short, I’m planning to gradually migrate from Instagram to Flashes by Bluesky when it drops (supposedly on Feb 25th). Come find me there! @eeewhysee.bsky.social
Calm with Kyle’s Beginner Vagus Nerve Exercise
Gotta give another plug for this easy exercise for calming your nervous system by Kyle Poon!
Out & About
Emerge Graduation
In December I had the distinct privilege of attending the first graduation ceremony of the Emerge Program, a 10-12 week program by Concrete Development, Inc. (CDI) that provides holistic trauma-informed leadership development to young people ages 14-26 who have been flagged as high-risk for substance use, recidivism, or community violence in Stockton, California.
CDI’s approach is groundbreaking in a few ways: 1) Program participants are paid money for attending. This allows attendees to worry less about missing work and also provided some stability to those experiencing housing insecurity, giving them more margin to focus on learning and healing without worrying that their time spent in the program would lead to further financial hardship. 2) Many of the program mentors are formally incarcerated individuals from the same neighborhoods who have also gone through CDI’s leadership development programs. Many of the youth commented on how important it was for them to have mentors who looked like them and could truly relate to their situation, allowing them to feel safer to be honest about their struggles and get the help they really needed. Also, mentors shared how meaningful it was for them to give back to their own communities, working to disrupt the cycles of trauma and violence happening in their neighborhoods.
I was truly blown away by the depth of work CDI is doing. People often complain about how the prison system should work to rehabilitate rather than punish, but CDI is actually in the trenches doing that hard, gritty, powerful work. Like most non-profits who rely on grants for funding, CDI is also caught in the chaotic tailspin of our current presidential administration. If you are looking for organizations to donate to, please consider the life-changing work of Concrete Development, Inc.
During the evening I also met Keith Perez-Stevens, the father of one of the graduates and who is also a CDI program alum. He was excited to share that the documentary In All Truth, which he co-produced about him re-entering society after being incarcerated for 10 years, was available to stream here. It costs a little money to rent or buy, but not a lot. It literally starts when his ride, the filmmaker, picks him up in the prison parking lot and follows his first few days returning home.
Lunar New Year with TAFNC
To ring in the Year of the Snake, I was invited along with fellow Taiwanese American author Jocelyn Chung (When Love Is More Than Words) by amazing organizer Leona Chen to host the 2nd generation breakout session during the Taiwanese American Federation of Northern California’s (TAFNC) annual Lunar New Year celebration. For those unfamiliar, TAFNC is an organization of 1st generation Taiwanese immigrants in the Bay Area and they’ve been having this annual celebration for over 50 years. Actually, I have several memories from childhood of my family going to this celebration when they were in Hayward in the 1980s; I even sang in a children’s choir on stage. Now the event takes place at the Taiwan Economic & Cultural Office in Milpitas with a bento lunch, stage performances, and a Taiwanese keynote speaker for an audience of mostly 1st generation Taiwanese immigrant elders.
While our main task was to host a 2nd gen book conversation in English, Jocelyn and I were also tasked with making 5-minute presentations about our books to the main audience (of mostly 1st gen elders), preferably in Taiwanese or Mandarin. I think most 2nd gens can understand how terrifying this scenario feels, so Jocelyn and I chose to stand on stage next to each other for extra support. Jocelyn opted to speak in Taiwanese but still needed to write down her entire speech phonetically on a piece of paper. I will never forget hearing Jocelyn’s unwavering voice as she read her speech aloud, and then looking down to see her hands shaking while clutching her paper. I felt so proud of her. I opted to present in English and talked about racism to a crowd of 350 Taiwanese elders - something I would have previously told you was impossible. Now I know that things like this only feel impossible when you assume you have to do it alone. Working with Leona and Jocelyn as a team made it more possible. Taking it step-by-step together made it possible.
And both Jocelyn and I ended up selling all our books that day! While the event wasn’t without certain challenges, being together with my Taiwanese community really warmed my heart to a degree that I found surprising and endearing.
Here’s a little video I made of the event:
Celebrating Author Friends!
In February I got to attend book tour events for fellow authors Bianca Mabute-Louie and OiYan Poon! So proud to be a part of the growing canon of Asian American literature!
Sheng Wang!
I was beyond thrilled to be invited by prolific Taiwanese American community organizer HoChie Tsai to a private lunch featuring my favorite comedian Sheng Wang at Piglet & Co. in San Francisco! So honored to be included with other Taiwanese American creatives, small business owners, and community builders to celebrate Sheng’s comedy tour coming through San Francisco!
Upcoming Events!
I’ve got some exciting events coming up! If you’d like to stay updated with all the latest details, check out the events page on my website!
Saturday, March 8th - I’ll be on a panel during the Asian Women Are Strong Conference in celebration of International Women’s Day in San Francisco. This FREE event at the Asian Art Museum from 10am-5pm. Check out more details and register here.
Monday, April 7th - I’m heading to New York! Join me for a fantastic evening talking about Louder Than the Lies with journalist & writer Hannah Bae at The World’s Borough Bookshop in Queens. This will be my first time visiting Queens!
Wednesday, April 30 - To kick of AANHPI Heritage Month, I’ll be on a panel hosted by Litquake, San Francisco’s Literary Festival . I’ll be joining fellow Bay Area authors Karen Fang (Background Artist: The Life and Work of Tyrus Wong), Helen Hsu (The Healing Trauma Workbook for Asian Americans), and Satsuki Ina (The Poet and the Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest). Starts at 6:30pm at the San Francisco Library Koret Auditorium.
Bookstore Baby!
To close this newsletter, here are some shots of my book baby in different bookstores!
It’s been cool and kind of surreal having a book out in the world. I’m really grateful to have a platform to share about Louder Than the Lies and help Asian Americans learn about our racial experiences and reflect on how we can challenge the systems of injustice around us. Would greatly appreciate if people left book reviews on StoryGraph, Goodreads, Amazon, or wherever you would also look for book reviews!
Thank you for taking the time to read this longer-than-I-expected newsletter. Happy year of the snake!
Ellie
www.ellieyangcamp.com
Always a good time for love.