Bamboo Girl gets a facelift!

It ain't THAT kind of facelift, silly!

As you can see, the Bamboo Girl website has been revamped! The reconstruction was launched just yesterday, Friday, April 20th.

The Emporium is much nicer to look at, forms are easier to complete, and there are lots of lil screens to click and fill. So it'll give you a better way to get involved, while in the meantime perusing what's new at Bamboo Girl, and learning what's going on in my part of the world. Much props to Honey Mae at Azimuth Designs. She rocks my world.

The Campaign for Safer Subway Stations

The CSSS was launched in response to the recent rape, beating, and robbery of an API sister in the Canal Street Subway Station of Chinatown. The perpetrator is 15 years old and is pleading not guilty (though he was chased down and caught by witnesses.) The Campaign is working on bringing awareness to this assault and to the fact that the Canal Street Subway Station passageway, as well as other subway station passageways, are not safe at all. We're also working on bringing the perpetrator to justice. It is being co-coordinated by Ermena M. Vinluan and myself.

The Campaign's brochure, press release, and petition are now available for circulation! We will be distributing them soon, so look out in your mailboxes! another reason to sign up on the Bamboo Girl email list! hint hint)

Endorsers of CSSS include:
Asian American Women Alliance
Equality Now
FilCRA-Filipino Civil Rights Advocates
Gabriela Network - NY/NJ Chapter
Kilawin Kolektibo
New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault
NYU Asian/Pacific/American Studies and Institute
NYU Metropolitan Studies Program
NYU Office for African American, Latino, Asian American Student Services (OASIS)
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA)-NY Chapter
Take Back the Night of Rutgers University
The Street Harassment Project
United Sikh Association
Women Self Defense Coalition of Rutgers University
V-Day: Until the Violence Stops

Check check out the upcoming event:

"Voice Up!"
* an evening of spoken word, poetry, and performance art *
Wednesday, May 2, 2001
7pm
@ Bluestockings
172 Allen St., NYC
subway trains: F to 2nd Ave., J to Delancey/Essex St.

Performers include:
Jennifer C. Armas, Christyne Bacareza Balance, Maria Boncher, Sheelagh Cabalda, Martha Cabrera Estévez, Street Theater Players of The Street Harassment Project, the poets of Feedback (API American spoken word troupe based in NYC), and yours truly.

"Voice Up!" will be a night of celebrating women's fierceness, bringing about awareness of sexual assault against women, and fundraising for the CSSS costs in publicizing the Campaign's goals. And to answer some questions I've been asked about the event, although the evening is centered on women, all are welcome (meaning gals and guys.) Hope you can come!

For more info, or if you would like to help out with the Campaign, contact Ermena or I at:

phone: 212.894.3748 x3365
email: CSSSny@aol.com
address: CSSS, c/o M. Alcantara-Tan, POB 507, NY, NY 10159-0507

Ditch the tampons!
And I'm still a big advocate of the The Keeper! It's the most economical, environmental, and getting-in-touch-with-your-body item out there for those of us who are visited monthly (if you catch my drift.) To order your own, check out www.sisterskeeper.com/bamboogirl.

Stay strong,
Sabrina Margarita
Editrix
Bamboo Girl Zine

write me at: pob 507, ny, ny 10159-0507, or bamboogirl@aol.com me!

Bamboo Girl's selling the Keeper! Ditch the tampons!
Find out more about this eco-friendly alternative to toxic shock tampons and bulky machine bleached pads!
Please view my affiliate site at: www.sisterskeeper.com/bamboogirl You'll never go back to pads and tampons!!

* UPDATE FROM THE BOO *

15 April 2001
Kamusta!

Line-Up:
1) Campaign for Safer Subway Stations "Voice Up!" Event *update*
2) Bamboo Girl at American Museum of Natural History
3) New Bamboo Girl Site
4) David L. Eng Book Launching

1.) Campaign for Safer Subway Stations *update*
The CSSS was launched in response to the recent rape, beating, and robbery of an API sister in the Canal Street Subway Station of Chinatown. The perpetrator is 15 years old and is pleading not guilty (though he was chased down and caught by witnesses.) The Campaign is working on bringing awareness to this assault and to the fact that the Canal Street Subway Station passageway, as well as other subway station passageways, are not safe at all. We're also working on bringing the perpetrator to justice. It is being co-coordinated by Ermena M. Vinluan and myself.

The Campaign's brochure, press release, and petition are now available for circulation! We will be distributing them soon, so look out in your mailboxes! another reason to sign up on the Bamboo Girl email list! hint hint)

Endorsers of CSSS include:
Asian American Women Alliance
Equality Now
FilCRA-Filipino Civil Rights Advocates
Gabriela Network - NY/NJ Chapter
Kilawin Kolektibo
New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault
NYU Asian/Pacific/American Studies and Institute
NYU Metropolitan Studies Program
NYU Office for African American, Latino, Asian American StudentServices (OASIS)
Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA)-NY Chapter
Take Back the Night of Rutgers University
The Street Harassment Project
United Sikh Association
Women Self Defense Coalition of Rutgers University
V-Day: Until the Violence Stops

Check check out the upcoming event:

"Voice Up!"
* an evening of spoken word, poetry, and performance art *
Wednesday, May 2, 2001
7pm
@ Bluestockings
172 Allen St., NYC
subway trains: F to 2nd Ave., J to Delancey/Essex St.

Performers include:
Jennifer C. Armas, Christyne Bacareza Balance, Maria Boncher, Sheelagh Cabalda, Martha Cabrera Estévez, Street Theater Players of The Street Harassment Project, the poets of Feedback (API American spoken word troupe based in NYC), and yours truly.

"Voice Up!" will be a night of celebrating women's fierceness, bringing about awareness of sexual assault against women, and fundraising for the CSSS costs in publicizing the Campaign's goals. Hope you can come!

For more info, or if you would like to help out with the Campaign, contact Ermena or I at:

phone: 212.894.3748 x3365
email: CSSSny@aol.com
address: CSSS, c/o M. Alcantara-Tan, POB 507, NY, NY 10159-0507

2.) Bamboo Girl at the American Museum of Natural History
On April 6, the American Museum of Natural History presented "A Box Within A Box: Multiple Heritages in Spoken Word," part of the "Asian Pacific America: Mixing It Up" program. Panelists included: Bruna Mori, Beverly Yuen Thompson, and I. Jesse "Bandung" Heiwa was the incredible moderator. After reading a few of our own works, it was opened up to the audience for Q and A. There was a good exchange of what it means to be a mixed blood Asian, other people of color issues, and their relations to identity. At that moment, a White male audience member spoke up, saying that we were perpetuating stereotypes by categorizing ourselves and that we're making such a big deal of being mixed and of identifying as people of color, "I'm mixed too, I'm Scottish and Irish, but I don't have these kinds of identity issues..." He was quite exasperated with the whole people of color voicing out thing and shook his head. A few of us on the panel kinda quietly smiled at each other, because, like most other people of color, we always hear this kind of stuff. But since we didn't feel like going into White Privilege 101, especially since we were trying to respect the Museum's need to keep things PG, we concentrated more on our personal experiences. Some of the people of color in the audience, particularly a Puerto Rican elder, spoke up and expoused some words of wisdom. The White dude tried to monopolize the floor by continuing to press the issue, but Jesse was able to redirect the focus to the entire floor, so that a larger breadth of discussion could happen. It was a good exchange all in all. It was funny because some of the panelists and some of the audience members came up to us afterwards, and were like, "what was UP with that guy?" The interesting thing is that this one guy's point of view is only an example of the larger picture - most people of color pick up on this frustration from many White folks who don't understand why we identify a certain way, or at all. Then we are forced into the position of Educator. I know that some don't mind it, but I also know that most do.

3.)New Bamboo Girl Site
The revised site is almost here! The revisions I've seen thus far makes it much easier to navigate, and is updated for the year 2001!

4.) David L. Eng Book Launching

Columbia University English professor David L. Eng just released a book entitled, "Racial Castration: Managing Masculinity in Asian America." This book addresses a very important topic that has plagued Asian/Asian American males - one that judges many of them unfairly in the rest of America's eyes. According to the Asian American Writers Workshop, who will be holding the book launching on 4/19 at 7pm, the book is "a provocative study of Asian American gender issues." If I remember correctly, it is published by Duke University Press.

On a somewhat related note, the cafe near me, which changes their displays in their window on a consistent basis, just put up a smiling Asian male mannequin torso in a big bin of laundry, filled with clothes, as part of their recent display. All of the other non-Asian mannequins were placed in standing, glamorous poses. Why the special (derogatory and stereotypical) treatment? Something to think about.

And with the recent happenings between China and the U.S., it may happen that the Anti-Asian sentiments in the U.S. will only grow, and the bashings of Asians (referencing Vincent Chin, Syracuse University, UC-Davis and SUNY-Binghamton, just to name a few) that is already present, much of it unreported, will only increase. Watch each others' backs!

Stay strong,
Sabrina Margarita
Editrix
Bamboo Girl Zine

write me at: pob 507, ny, ny 10159-0507, or email me!