December 2020 Newsletter
PAAWBAC News | December 21, 2020
Seasons Greeting to All!
We hope this finds you as well and as safe as can be, under these circumstances. As the Bay Area copes with new, stricter stay-at-home orders, we share the pandemic fatigue that is affecting so many. And yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel, with the promise of a COVID-19 vaccine becoming widely available soon.
Another cause for celebration is the election of the first Asian and Black woman to be elected Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris. This historic win is even more special because of Senator Harris’s roots in the Bay Area: born in Oakland to immigrant parents who met as activists pursuing doctoral degrees at U.C. Berkeley; attended elementary school in Berkeley; and served as District Attorney in San Francisco. She went on to become the first Asian, Black, and woman to serve as California’s Attorney General, and then became the second Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate. Read and watch more about Senator Harris here: https://abc7news.com/politics/1st-black-asian-woman-elected-vp-watch-kamala-harris-journey/7641318/.
As the holidays are here, we thought we would provide a “giving guide” for any late gifts you might be looking for, highlighting a few businesses owned by PAAWBAC Warriors or Monarch awardees, or those that we have supported. As for year-end charitable contributions, consider our list of several local non-profit organizations making a difference for Asian Pacific Americans.
Last but not least, in this edition, we feature an interview with Cynthia Tom, the founder of A PLACE OF HER OWN, an arts-based healing program for Asian and women of color which PAAWBAC has supported for its innovative and unique approach but, as you will see, she is busy with so much more.
However you celebrate, we hope you have a safe and healthy holiday season, and send our very best wishes for a brighter 2021. Please feel free to share any thoughts with us at paawbac@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
PAAWBAC Board of Directors
PAAWBAC Community in the News . . .
Phil Ting, Assemblymember for District 19 of San Francisco, secured legislation to rename part of State Route 35 as the “Alice Peña Bulos Memorial Highway.” Alice was a founder of PAAWBAC, a giant in the Filipino-American Community, and a 1987 Woman Warrior.
Giving Guide
Holiday giving (so tempting you will want to treat yourself, not just others!)
https://5yina.com/ 5Yina organic skin care products, developed by practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine, including founder Angela Chau Gray (2016 PAAWBAC Monarch), who was spotlighted in our September newsletter.
https://www.socolachocolates.com/ Socola Chocolatier, because who doesn’t love chocolate? Recently featured in Forbes Magazine! Support founders Wendy and Susan Lieu (2012 PAAWBAC Monarch).
http://www.firstvoice.org/books Give a child a gift of stories with a signed limited edition copy of Mermaid Meat or Stories for Children and the People Who Love Them by Brenda Wong Aoki (1996 Woman Warrior), a prolific playwright, performer, and storyteller. http://www.firstvoice.org/brendawongaoki Or check out albums available via streaming or download, featuring Brenda and Mark Izu as storytellers and musicians. http://www.firstvoice.org/digital-music-store
AtelierCynthiaTom: “Merch as meditation” -- everyday products that encourage self-affirmations, intuition, and nurturing self-care. Read more about Cynthia in our interview below.
Charitable giving
Asian Women’s Shelter’s mission is to eliminate domestic violence by promoting the social, economic, and political self-determination of women and all survivors of violence and oppression.
Gum Moon addresses the unmet needs of women & families in transition by providing a safe sanctuary to live in and enrichment programs that help develop life skills.
J-Sei brings generations and families together to nurture and pass on Nikkei values through a broad array of senior services and cultural programs in the East Bay.
Kimochi is a San Francisco based senior center that has provided culturally sensitive, Japanese language-based programs and services to Bay Area seniors and their families since 1971. If you make a donation before 12/31/20, your donation will be matched through a challenge grant.
Rally Family Visitation Center supports families experiencing conflict by providing a safe, positive, neutral environment staffed by highly trained and licensed mental health professionals and volunteers who supervise visits and exchanges between children and parents.
San Francisco Hep B Free - Bay Area is a multicounty campaign to turn the San Francisco Bay Area into the first hepatitis B free area in the nation.
Self-Help for the Elderly has provided assistance and support to seniors in the San Francisco area since 1966.
Yu-Ai Kai is a multi-service senior community center located in San Jose’s historic Japantown, that serves 3,000 seniors and their families annually. Donations enable an opportunity for a homebound senior to receive a freshly cooked, hot meal that is made on-site by supporting the Senior Nutrition Program’s Meals on Wheels.
Donations to PAAWBAC are always greatly appreciated as well, see button below.
Spotlight
INTERVIEW WITH CYNTHIA TOM "A PLACE OF HER OWN"
(Edited for length and clarity)
As part of our goal to share updates on programs that we have supported, PAAWBAC met with Cynthia Tom, a Chinese American artist, curator, and entrepreneur. She founded AtelierCynthiaTom, showcasing products that encourage self-discovery, intuition, and nurture self-care, which complements A PLACE OF HER OWN (PLACE), her arts based healing program for womxn of color.
PAAWBAC: Please tell us about your background and how you got into the work that you are doing today - a very creative approach to helping others.
Cynthia Tom: Art has been in my life since I was a child, having made art from “found objects,” like broken plates and glass. Both my parents were artists, but never claimed to be.
About 30 years ago I began my work as an artist focused aesthetically on Asian women and beautiful surreal clothing. Art became a way to heal traumas from generational and cultural challenges of immigrant families. Social justice for women of color has been a dominant passion; my mother and her mother were both trafficked by my grandfather. Art as a form of expression is a perfect platform for sharing publicly. The sharing sparks healing. In 2009, as the Board President of the Asian American Women Artists Association, PLACE grew out of my desire to help others this way. We asked, “If you had a place of your own, what would it be?” Since 2016, PAAWBAC has been a sponsor for several API women in the programs.
P: What motivates you to do this work?
CT: I’ve always felt a calling to represent an Asian empowered female with my cultural surrealism.
We are powerful and need to unravel from colonizing thoughts; patriarchy is invisibly deep and keeps us competitive and separate, self-loathing and second. In sharing what heals me, I see these same art projects help others release their patterns of self-doubt and unworthiness, to find wisdom and confidence, through trusting intuition. I love helping artists and non-artists alike create art with “found” objects. They become metaphors for how to live your life.
P: Who would be your ideal participant in PLACE programs? Why?
CT: “Do you ever wonder why you keep repeating the same negative pattern or chose the wrong partners?” I work to help women to recognize and release negative patterns that no longer serve them, and grow their self-awareness. Some participant profiles include: those who repeatedly doubt their worth, struggle with perfectionism, overwork to the point of physical illness, feel responsible for everyone, always put themselves second, or stay in abusive situations.
P: How are you personally and professionally adjusting to our “new normal”? How has this pandemic changed your perspective and your programs?
CT: “When there is disruption, it is not a punishment, it is an invitation.”, a quote from Sonia Choquette, a spiritual leader. That’s how PLACE and I are working this year. I can’t showcase my work at my art studio. I have been creating collages at home. I soft launched AtelierCynthiaTom, where I combine my art and the healing lessons from PLACE onto everyday products like tote bags. Surprisingly, some of my orders are international.
We had to pivot PLACE workshop to Zoom, extending the program 3 months and instead of an exhibition, we presented online 2020 A PLACE OF HER OWN Artists' TALKfor the women to share their healing journeys and aspirations. This new online culture helped us reach an international audience. We are creating topic workshops for Zoom; currently, we have: 1) Intuitive Collage (you turn off your analytical brain); 2) SoulCollage ® (to access your inner wisdom); 3) Belief Rocks: Naming Beliefs that Hold You Back; 4) Love Letters to Myself (learn to say kind things to your little self); 5) Exploring Hungry Ghosts (looking at chronic heartache or ancestral patterns of trauma).
P: What is meaningful about your partnership with PAAWBAC? How can PAAWBAC continue to support your personal and program goals?
CT: Since art grants have mostly disappeared, financial support is even more critical, to support participants who can pay little or nothing. More importantly, we are honored to be recognized by PAAWBAC, with its amazing network of influential API women; the credibility is immeasurable. We hope to continue our partnership by expanding our services to more API women. It has been difficult as many API women are afraid to express themselves, share family stories or explore their distress. API communities bury their authentic selves underneath the myth of the model minority, many suffer in silence, many remain powerless in isolation. We hope to open up the conversation.
For my art, perhaps consider becoming an art collector or shopping for products by local artisans, like myself. Take a look at my website, AtelierCynthiaTom. Since it is created from my intuition, you might find something that resonates with your spirit. Supporting an artist’s work can be affordable and joyous. PAAWBAC can help more API women become aware of A PLACE OF HER OWN programs by networking, introducing us to new partners, and referrals to resources for small entrepreneurs, e.g., business mentors, consultants for contracting, bookkeeping/accounting, product pricing, and marketing ideas.
We thank Cynthia Tom for her time and wish her the very best in her personal and professional endeavors. Please support Cynthia, the artist, and her program.
Cynthia’s art work has been shown at Legion of Honor, de Young Museum, SOMArts Cultural Center, Los Gatos Museum of Art, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and more. www.CynthiaTom.com or https://www.instagram.com/cynthiatom.art/
2020 Flying Lessons: Inquire Within - Cynthia Tom shares her 30 year artistic journey towards healing, womxn's empowerment and community service.