for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, here is my playlist of music and resources by Asian artists out here in the diaspora:

to those of us not born or living in Asia, those of us who have lost connection to our language and our culture, who share struggles with being exotified and tokenized, of internalized self-loathing, of trying to escape Asian stereotypes while still trying to feel Asian enough, of not knowing where we belong and who we are, of trying to prove that the struggle our immigrant parents went through was worth it, for those of us who face systematic violence and elimination through islamophobia, of feelings of isolation from being an ocean away from your family and never getting to visit them, but also those of us who are carving out and creating spaces for each other where we don’t see ourselves, who actively dismantle anti-blackness in our own communities, who decolonize our minds and our work to remind us of our responsibilities as settlers on indigenous land, who are helping to inspire the next generation, telling us that we are worth the fight, that we deserve to be here, and that we don’t have to take any of this shit. This is a thank you to each of these artists that inspires me daily, and also to the many more that are not on this list.

Your Best American Girl by Mitski
Sounds That Mark Our Words by Casey Mecjia
I Think You’re Alright by Jay Som
Sloka by Saraswathi Jones
Atalanta / Whalesong by Yamantaka// Sonic Titan
Resident Alien by Doctors & Engineers
Part-Time Woman by Vivek Shraya
The Woman That Loves You by Japanese Breakfast
Kitty in the Tree by Bitter Party
Baby’s Got It by Maylee Todd
World Gong Crazy by Han Han x Datu x Hataw
Eid Mubarak by The Kominas

The Great White North: the myth of multiculturalism in Canada featuring Yamantaka // Sonic Titan and Casey Mecija
The Sound and Fury of Mitski
Street Music-Culture in Taiwan project by Wendy Hsu of Bitter Party
100% Mixed Story featuring Maylee Todd
Han Han bring Pinoy pride to Wavelength
Real Life: Love, Loss, and Kimchi featuring Japanese Breakfast
Seeking Single White Male short film and essay by Vivek Shraya
Meet Jay Som: the New Queer Voice of Indie Rock
Meet the Desi Artists Fighting Back Against Trump with Punk Rock and ‘Post-Colonial Pop’ featuring Doctors & Engineers, The Kominas, and Saraswathi Jones