Racial Irritations and Tiny Aggressions

One can easily unintentionally offend others!

Even the ones most ready to remind others to stop being offensive can easily unintentionally offend others!

For example, there is a movement on college campuses and on social media to  raise awareness about "microaggressions", which has been usually referred to  as irritating someone with stereotypical questions or assumptions.


But, the term "microaggression" can easily be taken the wrong way.

There is a reason why people in Hawaii (and  other Pacific Islands) would hesitate to use the term "microagressions"


That's because out in the Pacific,  the word "micro" is a racially loaded word used to refer to Micronesians, a group of Pacific Islanders who have ancestral ties to islands in the western Pacific Islands (ie. Guam, Northern Marianas, Palau, Marshall Islands, Chuuk, Pohnpei (Ponape), Kosrae, Yap, Nauru, Kiribati, and more).

Many of those Micronesian islands were (and some still are) US territories with low economic opportunity. Many from those islands come to Hawaii for economic opportunity and face culture shock and racist discrimination.

(Learn more at http://www.civilbeat.com/2015/10/an-untold-story-of-american-immigration/)

One of the commonly used racial slurs is "micro", which like other racial slurs, can be used by the people of that group (ie. "I'm a micro", "I'm a n-----a", "I'm a haole") but is also commonly used as racist attacks (ie. "f'----n micro", " you f------ haole", "those n-----rs")!


The thing with racial words is that ears perk up when they are heard!

I mean we all know all conversation come to a screeching halt if some non-black person in (for example) Atlanta uses the N-word!

The same would happen if someone in Hawaii uses any word with the word "micro".

Even innocent words like "microwaves" have been use to insult Micronesians!

Which is why there is NO movement to "raise awareness about microaggressions" at the University of Hawaii campuses. Because that word "microaggressions" would obviously sound stigmatizing towards the Micronesian population.


Being that I'm in Hawaii, and much of my facebook has Hawaii ties, even I hesitate to post any article with the title "microaggression" or to even type the word "microaggression" in the posts because people WILL take that word in the wrong way!


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So I strongly suggest to racial activists everywhere to STOP using the term "microaggression"


Just use terms like "stupid questions", "racial irritations" or "racial assumptions" in case you want to refer to situations where someone irritate you with questions and assumptions based on racial/gender/etc stereotypes! 



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Also, while some questions are insulting (ie. "where are you REALLY from"), I don't think every question should take be taken personally.  I'm NOT offended if someone asks me a question about a Mexican cultural aspect that I don't have much personal experience with! Sometimes, a question is just a question! 

no guarantees against bullies

I was riding on the bus going home today, where I  heard a woman telling a young girl (early elementary age) "you have to hit those girls picking on you, and they'll leave you alone!"

It's one thing to train children to stand up for themselves, but telling them "if you hit back, the bullies will leave you alone" is GIVING THEM UNREALISTIC HOPES!

The chances are, bullies pick on people they can outnumber! That's the whole point!

You hit someone who has more allies than you, you are not only going to get a beat down, the bullies are going to continue remind you that they gave you a beat down! 

Children know that, that's why they don't hit back against bullies who outnumber them! 

Also, YOU BETTER BE CAREFUL WITH THIS "you need to hit those who bully you" advice because once you train someone to lose control of their anger....................... that is hard to turn off that advice later in life! 

And then what? You hit a person who pissed you off, then you'll  get arrested , convicted, then you'll really be living with the professional bullies ........ in prison! 

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Teach the kids to stand up for themselves using words! Teach the kids physical self-defense! 

But DO NOT give them unrealistic Hollywood fiction BS cliche's like "you hit your bullies, they'll leave you alone"

Life is  NOT A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE!  



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PS: here's some blog posts on this topic

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2014/01/locker-room-manhood-and-bullying.html

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/03/dealing-with-bullies.html

Public Statement on due process

Here in Hawaii, you can testify about bills in the legislature online. You don't even have to attend the meeting to be heard!

I did just that when Hawaii Free Press (a conservative news website) had an article listing gun-related bills being discussed in the Hawaii state legislature.

I rarely have time to attend legislative meetings, so I send some online testimony via http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/

Well, some reporter from the Associated Press (yes, a national press agency) found my quote, 

and not only was it posted in the article (which has been posted in newspapers in various cities), the facebook post advertising that article in the Star-Advertiser  had my quote on it!

And my quote being quoted?

"Gun Owners object to bill allowing seizure of weapons from mentally ill."

http://www.staradvertiser.com/breaking-news/gun-owners-object-to-bill-allowing-seizure-of-weapons-from-mentally-ill/

“Doing something about gun violence doesn’t make it OK to take someone’s gun possession rights away without due process,” Pablo Wegesend said in opposition to the bill.

Now, when a statement becomes public, I tend to clarify myself just in case someone wants to twist my words.

So in response, I posted this in the comments related to that article!

OK, my quote was an online testimony, didn't expect to see it displayed prominently, but I stand by what I said about due process! Anyone who loses a right has the right to question the authorities, who sometimes make mistakes (sometimes on purpose).

Authorities should prove beyond a reasonable doubt before taking anyone's rights away!

If someone is proven to be too dangerous to have a gun, he/she is too dangerous to be out of jail. But that has to be proven through a legal process in which the accused gets to question the accuser!

I'm not saying we should automatically believe an accused person begging for his/her rights, but we shouldn't automatically believe a law enforcement authority either!


You want to talk about the "dangers of the mentally ill?"  What exactly does that mean anyways?  

Being "mentally ill" doesn't mean you are dangerous! 


Here are some great comments to that Star Advertiser article in which I was quoted!



comment from "choyd" 

The question is what defines mentally ill? Furthermore, someone who is mentally ill is not necessarily a threat to others or themselves.

I understand the intent behind this bill, and unlike Winston, I don’t think we should be arming the mentally deranged, but mentally ill does not equate to mentally deranged. Having a friend who talks to imaginary friends but otherwise isn’t a threat to anyone having his right to firearms taking away would be trampling of civil rights. But, someone who is clearly a danger to others and themselves should have their firearm rights at least temporarily suspended.

and another comment

HawaiiCheeseBall says: March 30, 2016 at 3:12 pm
An emergency hospitalization does no necessarily mean a persons is a threat to him/herself or other. There are many reasons for emergency hospitalizations. However, the proposed law does not seem unreasonable. You do not want someone going through a psychotic episode having access to a gun, that’s a recipe for disaster. The main thing is that the law and accompanying administrative rules spell out the conditions that must be present before a firearm can be confiscated, and a reasonable process for the return of the firearm to the owner. 

Again, I have to make myself clear, I am NOT saying everyone should go out and get a gun!

I am NOT saying we should give "slaps on wrists" for someone who committed a dangerous act! 

I am NOT saying that we shouldn't take gun violence seriously!

I am NOT saying we shouldn't any threats seriously!


I am just asking that any confiscation (whether it's guns, cars, whatevers) by a legal authority should be done with due process!

I am just asking that anyone who is facing confiscation should have the right to question his/her accusers!

I hope my quote (being more public and more viral than I expected) will at least get the lawmakers to implement due process procedures before taking away any individual's rights and property!

I'm now a professional musician

Earlier this week, I had a blog post "One step closer to be a professional musician!" 
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2016/03/one-step-closer-to-be-professional.html

My entrepreneurial dreams are being realized. I have become a digital musician and independent contractor. 

Now, Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior finally has some music for sale!


2 songs are now available via CD Baby, an independent distribution company. Both are instrumental tracks. 

You can find those songs at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/PablotheMadTigerWarrior


CD Baby, despite it's name, isn't just about CDs, it also sells online downloads.  So far, I'm just focused on selling singles so at this time, I'll just stick with selling downloads. When I'm ready to put out whole albums, then I'll sell CDs.


Anyways, here's a few things I want to share



1) Distribution (and why CD Baby?)


In the pre-internet days, music distribution is about getting your music into record stores.

Smaller record labels would make deals with larger corporations to get their music into stores nationwide  (for example  Nothing Records and Death Row Records once had distribution deals with Interscope in the 90's to get their items in the stores).

But with the internet, music distribution has changed! Much of the music transaction has moved online, with many people buying downloads via iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music and more. Also, many people are streaming music from Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music and more.


To get your music on all those forums, online distribution companies like TuneCore, CD Baby and Reverb Nation get your music there! Submit some songs, pay a fee, and those music distribution companies will get your music on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, SlackerRadio and more! Those music distribution companies also have deals with Performance Rights Organizations (ie. ASCAP, BMI) that would collect publishing royalty payments whenever your song gets played on radio, nightclubs, and even the stereos of businesses.


Unlike traditional record companies,  online music distribution companies (ie TuneCore, CD Baby, ReverbNation)  do not  manage artists, nor do they really do marketing campaigns, nor do they fund tours or music videos. The musicians are on their own for that!

But the great side of that is

• I manage my music content. No corporate person telling me what music to make
• I retain ownership of copyright
• I get most of the revenue, whereas musicians in traditional record labels get chump change! 

The first online music distribution company I heard about was TuneCore.

TuneCore does have cheaper fees for artists to submit songs. TuneCore also lets you keep 100% of all the revenue.

The problem is, to keep your song on their distribution system, you have to pay annual fees. In other words, you don't pay annual fee per song, Tune Core will erase your song from iTunes, Google Play, etc.

If you can't pay any more annual fees per song because you're dead, your musical legacy is wiped off the entire TuneCore distribution network!

With CD Baby, you already paid your one-time fee

Here's an article making comparisons between TuneCore, CD Baby, and ReverbNation

http://howtorunaband.com/digital-distribution-reverbnation-vs-cdbaby-vs-tunecore/

screenshot from http://howtorunaband.com/digital-distribution-reverbnation-vs-cdbaby-vs-tunecore/

more from that article

Which Service to Choose?

In my opinion, CDBaby. Don’t take my opinion as gold, but here are the reasons why I would choose CDBaby over the other two services.

1. What if your band breaks up?

Who’s going to be stuck paying for these fees? You love what you’ve done with your band, and you want your tunes to be available forever. Also, it’d be nice to keep receiving the occasional payment for your years of hard work. But, if you’re paying hundreds of dollars per year in subscription fees, you’re a bit screwed without a touring band to support those costs.

With CDBaby, you don’t have to worry about this.

2. Changes in cost

Tunecore used to cost $34.95 per year and just raised their costs to $49.99 per year (over much bashing in the media). Now, you’re stuck with higher yearly fees unless you cancel and start over with a different service.

With CDBaby, you don’t have to worry about this. You’ve already paid.

3. Losing all your reviews, tags, and social clout

If you want to change services or discontinue your yearly subscription, your music will be removed from every digital distribution platform. That means all your reviews, tags, likes, shares, streams, etc. All gone in a blink of an eye.

With CDBaby, again, no worries.

4. Compound costs are unsustainable.

Consider a band that stays together for 10 years and has released 5 albums. They will be paying around $250 per year. Now, they’ve also released multiple singles over that time. Let’s say they have 10 singles, so they’ll be paying $99.50 per year, as well.

It may not sound like much, but a single can be recorded for about $300.

CDBaby, you’ve only paid that amount once. Not yearly.

5. You have to sell a lot of music to justify the costs

Considering you are probably getting chump change per download, you would have to be selling hundreds of downloads per year to simply cover the costs.

With CDBaby, you can earn over time to cover the initial cost. If your sales don’t do well, you can still make up the initial costs over a period of time. (Long tail sales.)

What this chart and article doesn't tell you is that CD Baby charges even more (for it's one-time fee) if you want CD Baby to collect publishing royalty payments.  But at least with that option, you collect more money in the long run!



2) Licensing

Another way musicians make money is if their song gets used in movies, advertisements and video games.

CD Baby does offer the Sync Licensing Option, in which they chose who is using your music in ads/films/games/etc.  I decided not to chose that option.

I don't want my music used to advertise alcohol, political campaigns I don't agree with, or any products I'm boycotting!

So anyone who wants to use my music for their advertisements, films, shows, or video games, just contact me at madtigerwarrior@yahoo.com. Same applies for anyone who wants to sample my tracks for their songs!


3) back to iTunes, Google Play et al

CD Baby does sell their musician's songs on their website, and also distributes them (with musician's permission) to other online stores (ie. iTunes, Google Play, etc.)

CD Baby gets first dibs. Which is why CD Baby gets to sell my songs for downloads first. In about a month, my songs should appear on iTunes, Google Play, etc.

I am boycotting anything related to Amazon for now. I started the boycott when reports emerge that the company tracks every movement by their employee, even how often they use the bathroom. As someone who takes medication to control my over-active bladder, that alone make me want to boycott Amazon. To make it even worse, Amazon was reported to have an abusive work environment in even more ways.

Learn more at "Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace" 
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?_r=0



While I don't expect every workplace to be utopias, great companies will solve those types of problems instead of encouraging those problems.


I use Barnes & Nobles to buy my books and CDs. 

And I don't sell my music via Amazon unless I hear news reports about improving work culture at Amazon!




 4) What the future holds

For now, I'll just stick with releasing 2 songs per month. I don't want to over-burden my fans with too much stuff at once!

Hopefully, if there's enough songs of a similar style, I might even release an album!


It will take a while for payments to come in (if they actually come, since some songs have spent years on iTunes without a single buyer).  I'm definitely not quitting my day job anytime soon!

One step closer to be a professional musician!

My entrepreneurial dreams are being realized. I have become a digital musician and independent contractor. 


As earlier blog posts indicate, my music will be released under the stage name Pablo The Mad Tiger Warrior





I have chosen CD Baby as an online music distributor! If things go right on their end, you should see at least 2 tracks soon available for download via iTunes, Google Play, CD Baby and more!



Here's the official webpage for Pablo The Mad Tiger Warrior

http://pablothemadtigerwarrior.blogspot.com/





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and for the debut track on YouTube

Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior's 

Jam with the Arp Stab

There's more coming soon! 

last name changes

For those of us on social media, most of us have thoughts we kinda want to share, but afraid it will piss of those on our friend's list!

I'm really open with my thoughts on political & social issues, whether it's mega-divisive issues like gun control, abortion, drug policy,  police abuse, cultural "appropriation" and the like!

But for my thoughts on people changing last names when they marry?   

I hate that tradition, but  many of my facebook friends did just that!  I sure don't want to alienate at least a 1/3 of my friends on something so very personal!

Well, today, I got prompted by an article about a woman who reluctantly took her husband's last name, then went back to her maiden name.

"Why I’m Returning to My Maiden Name" by Em LaFave Olson

https://medium.com/@emlafaveolson/why-i-m-returning-to-my-maiden-name-e89eaf705d93#.n2t63txmp

How utterly dispiriting that we have created a world and naming lineage where a married woman cannot carry on her family’s name and legacy. When a girl is born, we speak, feel and act as if it’s the end of the line. That she is not equal to a man in this way. Perhaps the most ironic part is that it is the woman that physically carries and births a new generation.

more 

When the time finally arrived to make the decision for my own name, there wasn’t an easy answer. I felt personally conflicted for a while, (as I came to learn, many women do). Ten years after our first conversation about marriage I had grown up a lot and shaped my own identity.

more

For the two years after our wedding day, the examples piled up. The awkward transitioning of social handles and my public identity, not being able to recognize high school friends social profiles after they’d changed their names, 

and this

After two years with my new last name, LaFave, I knew for sure it was time to turn back. I shared this with Rob, and he was understandably hurt.

But I asked him to see it from my perspective, would you ever change your name to my name? “No”, he said. “I wouldn’t”.

So together we came up with an option we hadn’t considered the first time around (inspired by our friends Ted & Fiona). A name that celebrated our individuality but also showed our shared commitment to this new family we had created by joining together in partnership. We’ll each keep our last name and take the other’s name as our middle name. 

( I do know one high school classmate who took that route, with her AND her husband combining last names)

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Here is my facebook post sharing how I related to that article

I could relate to this in some way, since I got my mom's last name! At the time of my birth, my parent's weren't officially married! After I became an adult, my parent's got officially married and my mom took my dad's last name! My reaction was "WTF you changing your name now?" I was mad my mom didn't keep her last name, but she insisted that I respect her choice!

I dont mean to offend those of you who chose to change your last name when you got married! I hope it don't piss you off to the point you expell me from your fb friends list! I'm just expressing how an article related to my life, that's all!

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Yes, I wasn't happy when my mom changed her last name! That announcement took me by surprise after they came back from a Las Vegas vacation (yeah, I know, the cliches) and said "hey, we finally married" and "mom's has dad's last name now"

This traumatized BIG TIME because for all my childhood and adolesence, I thought it was cool that my mom kept her last name! While my mother wasn't a feminist activist (or any type of activist) I just thought, hey, we're a modernized family! 

Little did I know that the only reason they didn't get officially get married (or changed last names) before I turned 18 was for .................single parent benefits! 

Yeah, I know, benefits! 

And after I told my mother my reactions to all this, she said that at the time, she didn't understood how all this would've influenced her children! 

Little did she know that by waiting until I graduated from high school before she officially married my dad was going to influence my thoughts on marriage and last names!

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But yeah, I do list her now official  name (with my dad's last name) on forms for "emergency contacts" as well as any letters I sent to her via mail!

It's her name, not mines. I just have to live with that fact!

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But as for me, I DO NOT want future wife to take my last name! I want her to keep her last name! I want her to keep her own identity! 

Because as far as I'm concerned, taking a spouse's last name is saying "I'm his property".  Well, I don't view adults as my property! Adults should keep their own identity, even if they get married!

By the way, most marriages don't last. The politically incorrect reality is that people change, relationships change, and people going their separate ways isn't some type of "liberal evil" but just reality!

So yeah, even if you find someone you love so much that you want to spend the rest of your life together ................

• don't be other people's property
• keep your own identity
• be your own person
• stay your own person
• keep your own name

If he/she loves you, then he/she will accept that!

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PS: Again, I dont mean to traumatize those who chose to take their husband's last name, Do you what you want!  I'm just stating my reasons for my thought!

PS #2: After posting my facebook post, a classmate from a Southeast Asian country stated 

" I got my own name, no affiliation with either my mom or dad. That's the culture for most back home :)" 

grin emoticon

Oscars, Hollywood, Chris Rock and diversity

Last month, we had the Oscar's Awards, a show that celebrates "the best in motion pictures." But much controversy came when all the nominees in the actors/actresses categories were of European ancestry!

Chris Rock was already scheduled to be the host before the nominees were announced.  So it was expected that Chris Rock would make fun of the whole "#OscarSoWhite" at the Oscars!

Chris Rock did validate the concerns that African-American actors get overlooked for awards & opportunities, but then mentioned that out of 80+ Oscar Award ceremonies, about 70 also had an "all-white" slate of actor/actress nominees, though for much of the time

Transcript of Chris Rock's 2016 Oscar monologue

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/29/movies/chris-rock-monologue.html?smtyp=cur&_r=0

It’s the 88th Academy Awards. It’s the 88th Academy Awards, which means this whole no black nominees thing has happened at least 71 other times. O.K.?

You gotta figure that it happened in the 50s, in the 60s — you know, in the 60s, one of those years Sidney didn’t put out a movie. I’m sure there were no black nominees some of those years. Say ‘62 or ‘63, and black people did not protest.

Why? Because we had real things to protest at the time, you know? We had real things to protest; you know, we’re too busy being raped and lynched to care about who won best cinematographer.

You know, when your grandmother’s swinging from a tree, it’s really hard to care about best documentary foreign short.

 But with much of the talk has been surrounded by the lack of diversity in Hollywood, Chris Rock only focused on  "black-white relations".

Oh, he did mentioned Asians, in a controversial  on-stage skit involving 3 Asian-American children.

http://www.upworthy.com/the-nasty-asian-jokes-at-the-oscars-highlighted-hollywoods-other-big-race-problem?c=ufb1

A couple of jokes, however, came at the expense of a group just as frequently ignored and stereotyped by Hollywood: Asian-Americans.

In one bit, Rock brought out three kids to represent "PriceWaterhouseCoopers accountants," a joke which appeared to trade on the stereotype that Asian and Asian-American kids are good at math.

"It's OK, it's OK, thanks guys, thanks a lot. If anybody is upset about that joke just tweet about it on your phone, that was also made by these guys," Rock said, apparently, jokingly, referring to the charge that iPhones are often made under poor labor conditions at the FoxCon factory in Shanghai. 

While that joke is nowhere near as brutal as other jokes about those of Asian ancestry, it did trigger some sensitivities among Asian-Americans, who felt stigmatized and ignored by the larger society.

some articles on the issue
"Asian-American jab at Oscars reveals deeper diversity woes"
http://www.staradvertiser.com/breaking-news/asian-american-jab-at-oscars-reveals-deeper-diversity-woes/

"Beyond Black and White: How the 2016 Oscars’ Treatment of Asians Undercut Its Message of Inclusion"

http://www.slashfilm.com/2016-oscars-asian/








But what about Latinos! Chris Rock totally missed an opportunity, as I noted in the following facebook post!

Many were focused on Chris Rock's joke on Asians, but very few actually question his comedy bit where he questioned African-American movie goers in "Compton". There is no movie theater in Compton ( a fact publicized when "Straight Outta Compton" hit the theaters). Actually, that theater was in Crenshaw-Baldwin Hills (ie border between "the hood" and "the burbs").

Also, if that interview actually took place in Compton, then you would've seen a lot more Latinos in the background, since Compton now has more Latinos than African-Americans. Crenshaw is still mostly African-American, which was another reason why that clip was filmed there instead of Compton!

So much for Chris Rock & celebrating diversity

The reason I mentioned this include


1) many people are under the mistaken impression that just Compton is still an "African-American majority" community, when it is now mostly Latinos! Yes, some African-Americans still live there, but they're not the majority there any more!


2) Chris Rock was fooling people not familiar with South Central Los Angeles and that there is a difference between Compton, Watts, Inglewood and Crenshaw!

3)  If Chris Rock really did the comedy skit in Compton, this could've been an opportunity to do some outreach with the Latino community! It would've been a great way to show both African-American and Latino voices in a comedy skit! Compton also has some Polynesians and other ethnicities in the mix and they could've been added to the skit!

4) again, Chris Rock is perpetuating the old image of the USA as just being "black & white" while ignoring other non-white minorities!




as for that so-called "Compton" theater that is actually in Crenshaw-Baldwin Hills area, you can learn more from the following article

"Where was Oscar host Chris Rock's 'Compton' movie theater? Not in Compton"
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/la-et-ct-oscars-2016-chris-rock-compton-movie-theater-20160229-story.html

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Enough of Chris Rock (for now), I want to share another post about Hollywood & diversity!


The post was in response to a New York Times article the difficulties non-white actors/actresses go through in in auditioning for roles


"Don't Call Me the Black 'Seth Rogan' "
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/opinion/sunday/dont-call-me-the-black-seth-rogen.html



And here's my  facebook post

There has been stories of non-white actors going through what they fell are auditioning for degrading roles! I understand the frustration, but really, if you're auditioning for a role in someone else's story, then you're just there to tell someone else's story! 

Better to go independent and make your own films and tell your own story!

Easier said than done, but it has been done!