Racebending.com » Follow Friday

Follow Friday: Jennifer 8. Lee, author and journalist

Mike — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:00:41 +0000

Welcome to another Follow Friday segment. Every Friday, we’ll be featuring a different writers, artists, activists, and all-around awesome people who have contributed something unique to the American cultural and social landscape. These are people to watch, who you can follow online!

This week, we’re spotlighting writer Jennifer 8. Lee: journalist for The New York Times and author of the bestselling book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles.

While with the Times, Lee wrote on a wide range of topics. From the cancellation of pensions for NY teachers to the empowerment of at-risk youths through art, Lee has exhibited a sharp eye for human stories that relate to larger social issues. She’s covered the battle for New York’s welfare system to provide better translation services for immigrants and highlighted the unique impact of Passover on a New York Chinese restaurant.

Her book has been featured in Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly, and Readers Digest. It’s become the centerpiece of college curricula and been featured on The Colbert Report and Good Morning America.

Her book begins as an investigation of the origins of the Chinese fortune cookie – an investigation that leads her through a sampling of America’s forty thousand Chinese restaurants and on a globetrotting journey from the shrines of Kyoto to the birthplace of General Tso. In the process, she describes the Chinese American story, and asserts something quite unexpected: that what we in the U.S. think of as “Chinese food” is actually more American than apple pie.

General Tso’s chicken – fried, battered, and sweet – has its origins in New York City, as a dish engineered to appeal to the American palate. Lee uses American Chinese food to explore concepts of culture, immigration, assimilation, and society. Lee’s writing is sharp and entertaining, sometimes poignant, and always engaging.

Her writing process is recorded on her blog. Lately, she’s used her blog to update her followers on her speaking events or quirky stories about American Chinese food. And of course, she reposts reader reactions, such as this note from a Chinese American immigrant (recorded with typos and all):

I read the prefcace of the book that Jennifer wrote,I was pretty touched by what she wrote at the first page, I dont rememebr the exact words she used but the gist was: To Mom and Dad, who struggled their life so that we can chase our own passion….
..I was almost crying, when I read that….”

Some may look at the fortune cookie, or at an Asian American, and ask, “Where are you from?” Lee answers that question with a story that is wholly, undeniably American.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, the Racebending.com staff read her book and absolutely loved it. It’s a pitch-perfect blend of entertainment and history, with an Asian American twist.

Lee’s Twitter is a constant source of interesting news tidbits, foodie tips, and entertaining commentary about hot events from a journalist on the ground – from the TED talks to SXSW. For more on Jennifer 8. Lee or her book, check out the links below.

@jenny8lee on Twitter
The New York Times archive of Jennifer 8. Lee’s articles
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles official site
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles blog
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles on Amazon

Follow Friday: Deric A. Hughes

Mike — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:00:04 +0000

Deric’s original series Living in Infamy (co-created with fellow writer Ben Raab) is an offbeat take on the comic book world – following a little suburban town populated by reformed supervillains in the federal witness protection program.

The series garnered critical acclaim from aficionados of comic books and the publication quickly sold out. It’s since launched as a featured product at Wowio.com, where it can be viewed for free and downloaded for a small charge.

In addition to working on a comic series produced by John Woo, Deric is one of the folks behind Afterworld, a multimillion dollar web series set in a (surprise) post-apocalyptic world. Not just any webseries, Afterworld is an ambitious blend of computer-generated video and interactive media. It’s been so successful that its original run has been extended into a second season. The same company also created Gemini Division, starring Rosario Dawson – with Deric as web content producer.

Currently, Deric is working on the highly-anticipated second season of Warehouse 13. If you haven’t seen the series yet, there’s still time to catch up before the new season premieres on July 13th. The last five episodes can be viewed on Hulu and the rest of the series is available on-demand at Amazon.com.

As with everything Deric works on, it’s easy to see that Warehouse 13 isn’t your typical scifi story. The writing team boasts seasoned pros such as Drew Greenberg, Bob Goodman, and Ben Raab. The writers have a clear love of the genre – even (or especially) when they’re poking fun at it. The show is a snappy blend of humor, action, and drama: never taking itself too seriously, often over-the-top, always engaging. The characters and their stories are what carry us from episode to episode and we can’t wait to see what they’ve got in store for us next season.

If you enjoy having insight into an established writer’s creative process, or just want to revel in nerdy references to everything from Star Trek to Iron Man, we highly recommend you follow Deric on his Twitter, @DBlackanese.

Links:

Follow Friday: Jay Smooth of Ill Doctrine

Mike — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:22:08 +0000

Welcome to our first Follow Friday segment. Every Friday, we’ll be featuring a different writers, artists, activists, and all-around awesome people who have contributed something unique to the American cultural and social landscape.

We’d like to start by featuring Jay Smooth, the creator of New York’s longest-running hip hop radio show. He’s been a long-time speaker, writer, and advocate of race issues. His blog, Ill Doctrine, is a consistent source of interesting commentaries on hip hop – and great, insightful material on race relations in America.

If you’re starting out as an activist or advocate, or you’re just some random folks who think it’s important to talk about race (like us), then Jay Smooth is a fantastic example and perfect guide on what to do and how to talk about race. His videos and commentaries are clever, often hilarious, and always precisely on-target.

But don’t take our word for it: check out one of his most popular videos below, entitled “How to Tell Someone They Sound Racist.” And when you’re done, follow Jay on Twitter and subscribe to his YouTube.

Links: