Welcome back to Across the Board today we are featuring Wesley Wu, treasurer at AHM NYU (Asian Heritage Month). Wesley is currently a junior in Stern studying Finance and Marketing with a minor in Music. He wants to tell everyone:

Come to AHM’s Spring Festival on February 25th! Also, shoutout to Alison B Cheng!

Alison, everyone at NYU clearly misses you. Please come back from London :(

Now let’s get started!

Tell us about AHM’s vision:

Asian heritage month is a very different organization, a lot of our members are very passionate about bringing awareness to Asian American issues. Asian American can include not just orientals but the whole Asian continent and we’re very excited about that. At the same time we also want to be a club that can have fun and thats what makes it difficult sometimes because we’re trying to balance having fun and appealing to the NYU community to bring awareness to Asian American Issues. (Wesley: Basically, more money please!!)

What is your favorite thing about AHM?

We have these two very particular presidents (Nancy and Andrea). We say that Nancy is the social face and Andrea is the one that gets everything done. Nancy is outgoing, loves meeting new people, and is very active in the Asian American community. Andrea is very serious but you can always rely on her to get everything done… Not that Nancy can’t do that (Let the record show, Wesley seems nervous). But they have instilled a culture where everyone can be friends with each other, everyone in AHM likes each other and I think that’s awesome (Let the record show, he is missing an AHM meeting for this interview).

Would you rather have tiny hands or tiny feet?

Oh boy… uh…… (hesitation) I would rather have tiny feet because if I had tiny hands I wouldn’t be able to play violin, guitar or piano (Hui: That is a humblebrag) HOLD ON, I can’t play league also, definitely tiny feet.

Follow-up Question: Can you play these instruments?

Yes.

Who is Wesley Wu?

I don’t really define myself with anyone or anything, but if there’s one thing, it’s being Taiwanese. Being Taiwanese is amazing for no apparent reason though our food and people are #1. Otherwise, I’m just an awkward, asian kid who enjoys video games and anime, and an inclination towards rap and crude humour.

Where is your favorite place to eat?

Does it have to be in Manhattan? (No) There isn’t a particular place, but I love Philly cheesesteak, like real Philly cheesesteak not the Halal cart ones. In Philadelphia they give you real pieces of meat and at the Halal carts its just not the same! And you can customize the cheesesteak! Cheese, onion, bacon…

Who is your role model?

Neil Patrick Harris hands down, he is the classiest guy I know and he does whatever the hell he wants. (Harris-Burtka family are group costume goals)

How do you like your bubble tea?

First off, Coco’s. Is it winter or summer? (Urm… winter) It has to be hot, 50% sugar, and that’s it nothing else. (What flavor?) Regular, black milk tea, basic. But when you’re thirsty you have to get it cold, whatever the weather.

Who do you nominate for next week?

TASS

Check our AHM’s Facebook page if you are interested in joining or attending their events! Thank you for tuning in on another week of Across the Board and see you guys next week when we interview a member from TASS!

Happy Monday Generasian-ers! In anticipation for our Fall 2015 Launch Party tomorrow, today’s Music Monday is dedicated to our speaker Kelly Tsai. 

Kelly Tsai is an award-winning writer, performer, director, and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work as a performance poet has been featured at over 700 venues worldwide including the White House, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Apollo Theater in Harlem, BAM, MTV Iggy, HBO’s “East of Main Street: Asians Aloud” and three seasons of HBO’s “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry.” She has performed at events that have featured leaders and entertainers as diverse as Bill Clinton, Gloria Steinem, Donna Brazile, Tyra Banks, Harry Belafonte, and Drake

Throughout her career, Kelly has been active and committed to using the arts as leverage for social change for issues like cultural identity, feminism, domestic violence prevention, immigration reform, law enforcement reform, sexual assault prevention, and voter enfranchisement. We are both honored and excited to have her as our guest speaker for this semester’s launch party.

Go check out her Youtube Channel to view more of her awesome work!

Wishing you a wonderful week~

So, the 60th Annual Grammy Nominations were announced yesterday morning, and somehow it left me with more mixed emotions than I’ve felt in a long time. On the one hand, we have many reasons to celebrate this year–the 2018 list of nominees is the most diverse group in all of Grammy history, especially when it comes to Black and LGBTQIA inclusion. Jay-Z, Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar, and more were all (deservedly) nominated for record of the year. Kesha and Lady Gaga were both nominated for two Grammys each, and out songwriter Justin Tranter was nominated for his first award as well. 

When it comes to inclusion in the entertainment industry, we’ve come a long way, and these nominees are just one example of that. Unfortunately, this progress has not been reflected within the Asian American community, as you can clearly see by the lack of Asian nominees for the 2018 Grammys. I can’t say I’m surprised, considering there aren’t really any huge Asian American names in the music industry. But it’s not because we’re not trying–it’s because those who run the system aren’t listening. This year I got the chance to discover Alice Gao, Niki Zefanya, Yaeji, and several other incredible Asian artists whose music deserves recognition–but none of them are getting the attention they deserve. 

While Grammy nomination entries can by submitted by any artists/record companies with commercially released music, all submissions are reviewed by a group of over 350 experts in the fields of jazz, R&B, rock, classical, new age, and more. These experts within the Academy go through several rounds of screening, being advised to vote in up to 15 categories in their areas of expertise as well as the 4 general categories (Record of The Year, Album of the Year, Song of The Year, and Best New Artist). Unfortunately, if you are a lesser known artist in the US (aka most Asian American artists) signed to a label with more well known artists, your label will most likely submit their song/album to be considered for Grammy nomination over yours. At the end of the day, it’s pretty much a self fulfilling prophesy. Since Asian American artists are almost never well known enough to qualify for the final rounds of nomination, their work is not often submitted. As a result, Asian Americans are continuously left out of the mainstream. The whole thing is a cycle that seems to have no end. 

Don’t get me wrong, I believe we should celebrate the victories we achieve, but I’m honestly so tired of writing and complaining about Asian American representation. You guys have heard it all before and I’m not here to preach the same message all over again, but my soul is tired y’all. While we should celebrate and cheer on our fellow POC, let’s remember that the entertainment industry is still far, far, from being the all inclusive community that we so desperately need. 

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