The Wind Still Blows.
The wind blows hard n heavy - my ethics do not shift.
The waves grow large & ride over human-made structures - my ethics do not sway.
The ground quakes & shakes, underneath my feet - my ethics stay grounded.
The skies scream & exert the many pains from suffering abusive human exploitation.
My ethics feel matched, while my heart/spirit feels bittersweetness.
The wind still blows, despite it all.
- Que P. Banh.
#Resistance against imperialism & colonialism is in my blood. It goes back much further than the USA invasion on Vietnam. It goes back several generations on both my patriarch & matriarch ancestors sides. Several of my ancestors in China were murdered by imperialists for resisting indoctrination & trying to fight back. Several of my ancestors in Vietnam were murdered by French colonizers while fighting back & trying to protect their families & ancestral lands. Part of my ancestral duties is to keep on resisting the colonial/imperial evil forces. I owe at least that, to all my ancestors who sacrificed their lives so I could live & speak out, today.
Big Auntie honoured her former fellow resistance fighters with a long & somber incense filled ceremony at her home today. We have never attended any colonial public remembrance day ceremonies - except when me & my brothers were forced to, in our public school times, which was mandatory for all students. We have spent some time during past remembrance days with some Canadian veterans here, who have dedicated the rest of their lives to fighting for peace. Despite them being called traitors by folks who enjoy war/violence more than working very hard towards peace. They are the real heroes from past war times - they understand wars should NEVER be glorified but avoided.
#ThrowbackThursday
1996.
In #DaLat - central highlands area of #Vietnam.
With Mom & my 4th Auntie(one of Mom's younger sisters).
When we visited the Van Hanh Zen Monastery. It's home to the giant golden Buddha statue - the largest one in Da Lat - it is 50 feet tall.
#AsianMastodon #Teochew #VietnameseIndigenous #VietnamTrip #FamilyTrip #OverseasFamily #WarSurvivors #AsianDiaspora #FamilyMemories #FamilyPhotos #BornInSaigon #FamilyBonding #TootSEA #SouthEastAsia #GenX
A family that fled war in #Syria and settled in #Sooke seven years ago wants to build a #BowlingAlley and #restaurant in the community.
Luis Almhanna said the proposal will see 12 to 16 bowling lanes with a bar and pizza place on the ground floor and a Mediterranean-style restaurant on a second floor.
The family is expected to take their plans to Sooke council in September to rezone a single-family home property at 6727 West Coast Rd., close to the #OtterPoint Road intersection and Sooke’s core.
Almhanna said the family is holding an #InformationSession for public input and feedback on what they would like to see in the project. It takes place on Sunday, between 10 a.m. and noon at 2365 Church Rd. That’s the site of the Almhannas’ other business, Homeyland Daycare.
#Tsouke #Entrepreneurs #SmallBusiness #BusinessProposal #WarSurvivors #FormerWarRefugees #YYJ #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PNW
This video resonates with me & my family a lot. However, our family's experience as #Teochew #WarRefugees, leaving Saigon, was a lot more nightmarish & much more violent than this Mom's experience. One of my Aunties had joined the Vietcong as a medic & communications officer, after quitting her job as an ICU nurse & lived in tunnels for several years. We also had no family or friends who were already living in North America so trying to integrate into life here was more challenging.
I can understand everything they say in Teochew. There's only a few words they say differently than we do - I'll do a video with my Mom soon to point out the differences. They speak a form of Teochew #diaspora in Vietnam, that most of us #Gaginang refer to as #Vietnam villagers Teochew. We speak the Teochew that #Saigon gaginang used since early #displacement from #China years back(a long, long time ago).
https://youtu.be/GymTavOd2vU?si=4rtnL-P01O5xTSEK
#AsianMastodon #OurPeoples #AsianLanguages #Chinese #linguistics #DisctinctLanguage #AsianDiaspora #TootSEA #SouthEastAsian #languages #POCvoices #WarSurvivors #DisplacementVoices #SurvivorsOfVietnamWar
We finished our medical appointments.
I got some x-rays done on my elbows after the denturist appointment too. Dentures adjustments were done on both lower & upper parts. They aren't rubbing & cutting into some parts of my mouth now. I'll be back at denturist, on as needed basis for next few weeks/months.
Mom had quite a bit of blood taken today. She is quite lightheaded now so she's eating & taking a nap after.
I changed my plans to hang out with a galpal to Wednesday. I have to go to Island Mediquip to get replacement key for my mobility scooter. I lost my keys for it, sometime last week. The shop isn't too far away so going to boot there & back home.
It's super hot out. I want to relax in the shade with some ice cream 🍨
#AsianMastodon #Teochew #MomAndDaughter #FamilySelfie #Gaginang #WarSurvivors #PeopleWithDisabilities
Again, please see pinned posts with videos of #antimasker #police abusing our #HumanRights & #HealthSafety rights - in our own home. After refusing to leave for a strictly #covid #CardiacArrest 911 call. After being told to leave. After being told my Dad has #PTSD from abusive cops in past. After being told, this is a #WarSurvivors family & #cops aren't welcomed unless absolutely necessary & it wasn't necessary.
#SaanichPolice #AbuseOfPower #SystematicRacism #VictoriaBC #YYJ #bigots #Saanich
My #BoycottIsrael stickers - plastered on our mailbox & on front of our porch table ✌️🍉🇵🇸🍉🙏☮️💗
We're a family of #USInvasion on #Vietnam #WarSurvivors in #solidarity with #Palestinians & all #oppressed peoples of the world. We've suffered similar #WarCrimes & atrocities & ecocidal crimes by foreign oppressors. Decades later, we're still fighting for justice & reparations. USA needs to be put on trial for many #CrimesAgainstHumanity.
#StopGenocide #AntiWar #ProPeace #BDSmovement #StopApartheid
#Quotes #War #PTSD #WarSurvivors
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
This book (All Quiet on the Western Front) is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war. -Erich Maria Remarque, novelist (22 Jun 1898-1970)
