Whose voices need to be heard right now? Whose story is being told?

Sunny Side Updates Week 24 with The Brain is a Noodle

Almost a week ago, eight people (six Asian women) were shot in the Atlanta area. Their names are Delaina Ashley Yaun, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Paul Andre Michels, Elcias R Hernandez-Ortiz, Hyun Jung Grant, Soon Chung Park, Yong Ae Yue.

In the first hours after this story broke, the Atlanta police centred and explained the shooter’s actions as “having a bad day”, starkly contrasting that victims’ names were released in news reports with misspellings.

I was angry; I still am. With this anger, I’d like to ask you:

Whose voice need to be heard right now? Whose story is being told?

Instead of a shortform prompt this week, I am asking everyone to use this time:

to amplify voices you think should be heard,
to provide support for those who need it, and
to engage in those who have remained in silence, particularly those in privileged positions or hold power in some way that could enact change

Amplifying Voices

A number of BIPOC writers on this platform have shared their perspective. Please take the time to read and share (e.g., to friends, to family, to social media).

Li Charmaine Anne has compiled a list of resources for those interested in allyship, as well as her own perspectives navigating this world as an Asian woman.

On Safety as an Asian Woman

It’s not always safe to go out as an Asian woman, but I lean on the strength of my ancestors before me.

li-charmaine-anne.medium.com

Allison Gaines & Dayon Cotton have well-researched articles on both recent and more distant history fueling the rise of anti-Asian hate.

It Started With ‘China Virus’ and Now We’re Here

Atlanta area attack on Asian Americans shows growing threat of white domestic terrorism

readcultured.com

Why The Toxic Fetish Of Asian Women Is Getting People Killed

The dehumanizing of Asian women by the global community is getting people killed

medium.com

This is by no means an exhaustive list. I only had the bandwidth to read things from writers I already genuinely trusted to treat a delicate, raw and traumatizing topic with well-supported research and respect. I will continue to share related resources on Twitter.

Silence speaks just as loudly — so speak up and take action

A handful of people reached out to check if I’m okay during this time, and in short, I’m okay. Though I am an Asian woman, I am fortunate enough to have never seen the worst that racism has to offer.

Yet, I also notice the silence of those who did not speak up.

I notice that my school and department, after “committing to diversity efforts” remained silent under the silent pretense that “we’re Canadian, we’re kinder”. Even though we literally just read “The Skin We’re In” by Desmond Cole in book club, and several faculty voiced that they were “shocked and humbled to learn that racism exists to this degree in Canada”. Even when just months ago, Asian students within the department had been harassed.

I notice my white friends remaining quite passive about this, even when I’m directly discussing how distressed I am with them, getting responses like “yeah that sucks” as if I was talking about stubbing a toe or something, and then immediately getting brushed into their other grad school stressors.

If you haven’t yet, please reach out to your close friends and check-up on them.

The opinion is mixed on this because everyone going through this traumatic situation will need something different. It’s also been noted that often people are reaching out to minoritized folks and expecting minoritized folks to assuage their guilt. Don’t be like that. Don’t take generic advice and shove it someone’s face when they tell you that this isn’t what they need right now. And don’t reach out to someone you haven’t spoken to since fourth grade to “check off” this advice.

If you don’t think reaching out and sending support is a good fit right now, send your financial support.

Anti-Asian Violence Resources

Anti-Asian racism and violent attacks on Asian elderly have only increased in recent months. Since COVID-19 became news…

anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co

Or, as counsellor and advocate Jiyoun Kim has pointed out a few days ago in her story, use your privilege and engage in conversation with colleagues who have remained silent on it and challenge them to act. Often these conversations fall on BIPOC shoulders at a time when honestly, we don’t have the bandwidth at this moment.

It’s quite unusual for me to stray from the usual newsletter format, so thank you for bearing with me so far. I’m proud to be a part of a community that is supportive and hope that support extends to issues that matter.

Note: This is a reminder that this is not a shortform prompt, but if you choose to submit something related to this topic this week, please be aware of your own social location and whether your voice needs to be prioritized right now or whether you’re speaking over others, and please give ample thought to whose voices should be centred.

The Brain is a Noodle*

*This is factually incorrect. Please absolutely do not go out and eat brains.

🍜 Piping Hot New(dle) Pieces of the Week

Challenge: *highlight* the ones you bookmarked/ read and make sure everyone gets highlighted at least once! ❤

🧠🍜 [1] The Brain Is a Noodle by Sruthi Korlakunta ‘The Brain is a Noodle And eyes are a kaleidoscope The heart wants what it wants The mind mostly says “Nope”.’

🧠🍜 [2] There is a House by Adam Deitsch ‘There’s a house in the Capitol we fill with members…’

🧠🍜 [3] “Can We Just Pause the Spinning?” — Women Should Be So Lucky by Em Unravelling ‘Easy for you, Mr. Tall White Man, wearing your privilege like a tailored suit. Imagine that life. Imagine the ease of it. Imagine if women got to press pause, ever. To opt out, like you can choose to.’

🧠🍜 [4] Change is in the Air or Desperately Needs to be. by Michael Burg, MD ‘A safe six-foot social distancing “policy” is useful for so many reasons. When that distance is violated, say in an elevator, one often finds that others haven’t been around people, showers or laundry facilities for far too long.’

🧠🍜 [5] Rapaciousness by Dr. Fatima Imam ‘Greedy for the dignity of all living beings. Greedy for stringent laws against animal cruelty. Greedy for gender equality. Greedy for more love. ‘

🧠🍜 [6] Say Nose to Plastic Surgery by Carlos Garbiras ‘Maybe my daughter’s nose does look like my mother’s nose But since that nose is gone, I guess we will never know.’

🧠🍜 [7] Dracula’s Kryptonite by Jupiter Grant ‘A haiku on that pungent but flavoursome bulb, Allium sativum’

🧠🍜 [8] NO by Tasneem Kagalwalla ‘No… No’s a word you learned early on pretty much, soon after you were born every time you would stick your finger in another kids eyeball’

🧠🍜 [9] Heart Rate by Rochelle Silva ‘Fun Poetry Prompt: something with the initials HR’

🧠🍜 [10] A Year Already? by Adam Deitsch ‘it’s been twelve long months twelve months of fear, sorrow, tears yet still we find joy’

🧠🍜 [11] Ail Confit by Denise G ‘The remaining olive oil is infused with garlic and I pour it through a fine sieve into a glass bottle to be used for other recipes. Or, it is simply delicious sopped up by warm fresh baguette as well.’

🧠🍜 [12] Care of the Body by Alan Henley ‘Demanding perpetual upkeep- a valve job, an oil change, new paint or periodic tune up, proper exercise and nutrition in exchange for the pleasure’

🧠🍜 [13] I Wasn’t Hungry Until We Walked By by Dena Ogden ‘Strong smells trigger more than memories.’

🧠🍜 [14] Hope Reigns by Jenine Bsharah Baines ‘Hope’s coronation. Despair is dead. Long live Trust. Seeds of trees of Faith implanted within our hearts to shade us when the sun burns.’

🧠🍜 [15] Forgotten by Tasneem Kagalwalla ‘I have forgotten you like a dime in a jukebox the rhythm that once made my heart beat my hips sway’

🧠🍜 [16] Take A Break by Jen Eve ‘Don’t feel guilty if you need to take a break Sleep and sit down… Do whatever it takes to get back on track with a clear mind’

🧠🍜 [17] Hey You — Scrap All of Your Goals This Instant by E M ‘Screw it, I’ll say it: Twitter is an invaluable resource.’

🧠🍜 [18] Window by Blank Voice ‘ It was a big deal for me coming out of it. To all who is out there, needing a little love and affection, you are not alone. Let’s be there for each other. Let’s grow together.’

🧠🍜 [19] Garlic Knows, Garlic Sense by Yan Huang ‘Maybe garlic is what we need to feel good’

🧠🍜 [20] A Rude Limerick About the Rude by Michael Burg, MD ‘Rude limericks tie for first with prurient ones for most “likely to get read”’

🧠🍜 [21] Looking Glass by LS ‘what if what we’re all seeing when we look into mirrors isn’t what we’re seeing’

🧠🍜 [22] We Need to Change Our Attitudes by Adam Deitsch ‘Some of us deny the crisis exists. Some of us feel angry. Some of us try to bargain with others over a compromise in their actions.’

🧠🍜 [23] Enemy by Dennett ‘ So many wonderful foods and spices are now off-limits to me. Food holds no interest anymore. In fact, I’d prefer to eat nothing at all than to eat only what I can.’

🧠🍜 [24] Ignite the Fire by Tree Langdon ‘Allium sativum ‘

🧠🍜 [25] A Poem For Me. But Really For the One I Adore. by Not quite Steve Fisher ‘The smoke adheres to a crumbling heart Shortcircuiting synapses aeons apart Of course this was all taught in schools,’

🧠🍜 [26] A Fun Onomatopoetic Prompt by Michael Burg, MD ‘From Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! to Yoikes! (and I’ll add “zing”), your best “onomatopoeticisms” flooded in. Thanks!’

🧠🍜 [27] Image by LS ‘how far behind you think you are when you’re so far ahead the magic of perspective’

🧠🍜 [28] Baked Garlic Ooze by Eva Rotolo ‘ I was in my twenties and purchased elephant garlic bulbs at the Farmer’s Market. I’d never seen garlic that big. I looked up how to cook it and discovered it can be baked in its skin and eaten as a paste or used in cooking.’

🧠🍜 [29] Comforting Curries by Shaista Malik ‘Garlic along with onion, ginger, and spices is the essential part of the curries made in Pakistan. Every household has a jar of blended garlic in its refrigerator.’

🧠🍜 [30] The everyday life by Jac Gautreau ‘The dip in the mattress that cradles your hip The comfort of the ragged sweatshirt A favorite chair, a trusted knife Such are the joys of the everyday life’

🧠🍜 [31] A Giggle And A Growl by Jennifer McDougall ‘“Sooo,” whispers Hubby, clinking our wine glasses brimming with milk the shade and smell of its maker’s udder. As I stole from her teats, she’d blurted an earthy moo and whooshed me with her manure-dipped tail.’

🧠🍜 [32] One Thin Dime — My Limerick’s Earnings by Michael Burg, MD ‘When I started writing the poem below, my rude limerick — about rude readers who clap only once — had earned a dime. I was delighted. It seemed just; a paucity of lucre for a “poem” about a paucity of applause.’

🧠🍜 [33] The Rights Gone Wrong by Kasun Ranasinghe ‘1945, a world ablaze in hellfire, Doused and smothered by blood and sacrifice, The time of tyrants and persecution, Came to an end with a bitter resolution.’

🧠🍜 [34] A Fool’s Errand by Stuart Englander ‘The end is nigh, and only Hmph and Guffaw remain.’

🧠🍜 [35] Home by LS ‘Maybe “home” is an illusion. Or just the bodies we live in. We learn all the things we’ve been looking for, on the outside, aren’t there. Those things don’t exist anymore.’

🧠🍜 [36] Stop Spitting On The Roads In India by Dr. Preeti Singh ‘The one thing I would like to change in India is that people should stop spitting on the roads. It is extremely dangerous.’

🧠🍜 [37] Human Resources by Dr. Preeti Singh ‘Human resources, The lifeblood of a workplace, Without whom no letter can be typed, No work can be done.’

🧠🍜 [38] Poem Bowers by Penofgold ‘*the shower* this morn was a place of transformation, of transmutation… of transportation to seven ideas for poems — i can’t plant all in earthy homes,’

🧠🍜 [39] Change Your Attitude and Protect Nature by Brajendra Kumar ‘We need to change our thoughts especially for nature and natural resources. Undoubtedly, we all enjoy nature, natural resources, natural power.’

🧠🍜 [40] Let’s Change for the Better by Dr. Fatima Imam ‘2020 brought trauma into billions of lives and unprecedented distress because of unemployment, forced bankruptcies, and loss of loved ones. The most astonishing factor was the naked greed of people who emptied grocery stores’ shelves to hoard and create massive shortages for basic necessities. ‘

🧠🍜 [41] The Withering by Rachel Ramkaran (she/her) ‘No one marvels at fallen leaves when the first gust of spring breeze comes, carrying with its breath the putridity of autumn’s decay’

🧠🍜 [42] 017 — Free Form — Love in the Tub by Aaron Kemp ‘I love the hard, enamel tub Contains everything I need like facial rub A slippery bar of soap Cream coloured, vanilla flavoured, and no, you can’t borrow it. Nope.’

🧠🍜 [43] The Tranquilizing Tears by Bhavna Narula ‘Tears are free-spirited They flow as and when they like Grazing the cheeks as they go along Trying to soothe the wrenching heart’

🧠🍜 [44] The Forever Junk by Adam Deitsch ‘I would ask you to cut as much single-use plastic out of your daily lives as possible; but I’m sure you’ve heard all that before and I know for some people — especially those with certain medical conditions — that this may be hard to do, but the faster we shift from the current dynamic, the better we will all be.’

🧠🍜 [45] Hibiscus Rosa-sinensis by R. Rangan PhD ‘As I sat reflecting on this prompt, I found myself gazing at a hibiscus shrub in the yard eagerly waiting for summer, hence the attempt.’

🧠🍜 [46] I’m Tired… by Adam Deitsch ‘I’m tired of being at home all the time. I’m tired of doing dishes and laundry. I’m tired of having anxiety from going to the grocery story. I’m tired of longing to do something.’

🧠🍜 Thank you to the Noodle Team!

challenge: pick 3 writers you haven’t met yet and get acquainted with their pieces!

🧠🍜 Join us at The Brain is a Noodle! 🧠🍜

Submit to 🧠The Brain is a Noodle🍜!

The Brain is a Noodle is inviting writers like you to submit poetry and articles!

medium.com

Lastly:

Hop on the jumbo thread!