ECAASU: A Conference of Asian American Empowerment

Over this past weekend, I attended an Asian American conference called ECAASU, which stands for East Coast Asian American Student Union, in New Brunswick, NJ. It was hosted by Rutgers University. It sounded very interesting, so I caravanned up there with some friends from the colleges of Old Dominion and VCU, coordinated by Janille De Guzman, Yul Kwon’s personal assistant. We had a great time learning and networking. I spoke with Calvin Sun of ECAASU National about ECAASU’s background.

Calvin Sun-ECAASU National Board

Mai: Please tell me what ECAASU is all about.
Calvin: ECAASU is the oldest, largest conference for Asian Americans in the world. It has the most number of delegates and it started in 1970. The expanse of ECAASU is huge. People are from Texas here, Wisconsin, Virginia, everywhere. So what it is right now is that it is almost gaining non-profit status and its national board is one year old. The original concept is that when the conference board finishes it is their responsibility to teach the next year’s school how to run ECAASU. However that format is kind of flawed in that when you’re done with something as big as ECAASU you just don’t want to do anything. You don’t want to deal with helping people run the next conference. It’s really hard to create that sense of communication. The national board was formed in order to create that extra layer of security. Let’s say the next years conference board drops the ball, the national board will step in to run the conference on their own if the shit hits the fan. But it doesn’t want to, it just can, and it puts some assurance that people don’t drop the ball. The national board is there to answer any questions and create institutional memory; it makes it sustain a sense of continuity for ECAASU to last a long time.

There were also some wonderful speakers who came to ECAASU, like Parry Shen, Jeff Yang, Keith Chow, and Jerry Ma of Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, Phil Yu: AngryAsianMan, Councilman John Liu, Cathy Bao Bean, Philip Poczik, and Pooja Makhijani. We saw performances by step teams from various colleges, traditional dancing from Chinese and South Asian troupes, comedy from Danny Cho (Mad T.V.), spoken word artists Giles Li, Bao Phi, and Kelly Tsai, hereandnow theatre company, music band Tim Be Told, and Fre3h Dance Troupe, LLC.

I was able to ask Danny Cho, who is a standup comic based out of L.A., a few questions.

Danny Cho and me

Mai: Where did you grow up, and how did you decide that you would become a comedian?
Danny: I grew up in East L.A. and I was the only Asian kid in a Latino neighborhood. It was a feeding ground as far as terms of material and life experiences, the racism that I dealt with, all the fighting, and all the cultural clashes. The reason I did stand up is basically through a dare. My friends in high school said you’re funny dude but I bet you can’t do it on stage. And me being one of those guys that are almost idiotic if you dare me I’ll do it. So they dared me. I went to a nightclub in South Central L.A. and I was the only Asian kid in there. Long story short, I won the open night light. From then on I was kind of bit by the comedy bug, and here I am today ten years later.

Mai: How did you become a character on the comedy show Mad T.V.?
Danny: Bobby Lee is sort of like my big brother in this business. Bobby Lee called me one day and he said, “Hey we need someone fat and retarded looking”. Verbatim that is what he said. So I said, “Ok what time do you need me there?” He said, “Noon”. So from then on that character was a recurring character. Bobby got me my first agent that I still have today. Because of Bobby Lee a lot of things I’m currently apart of he’s the one that started it all for me.

Mai: What are your long term plans for the future?
Danny: Ideally, what I want to do is stand up. If I can make a comfortable living doing stand up—that’s my goal. I don’t need to be in movies or I don’t need to win an Academy Award or anything. I think for me to get there I need to basically get some sort of notoriety. Like, “Oh, that’s that dude in that movie, or that’s that dude or that’s that guy.” Because at the end of the day this is a business and they want people to put asses in the seats. So far, I’m nobody, so I need to put asses in the seats. For that to happen I need to do commercials, TV, and movies. I know I can’t act. If I see myself on film I cringe, I’m a horrible actor. But you know for some weird reason people think I’m funny looking so they cast me in a lot of stuff. That’s how it’s been, even in commercials. Before I came to this conference I filmed a T-Mobile commercial and the character they wanted was this fat but cocky basketball player that talked smack to Dwayne Wayne.

Mai: Do you plan on having your own show? Something like The Danny Cho Show?
Danny: A part of me likes to keep it real; the reality of it is the people that get those shows have hustled for 20 plus years. Like Russell Peters, dude has been doing it for 20 years. Jo Koy has hit is 20 year mark and Bobby Lee is past his 20 year mark. Everyone that is a household name has been doing it for 20 years and now that there are more comics coming out. I would say it’s harder for an Asian American to be on their own show. So yes, if the opportunity comes, I’d jump at the chance.

At the ECAASU conference I attended Phil Yu’s workshop. He explained what his site was all about and went over some issues of how Asian Americans are portrayed in the media: television, movies, advertisements, etc. After the workshop I was able to talk to him for a few minutes.

Phil Yu-AngryAsianMan and me

Mai: Please tell me about your background
Phil: I’m Korean-American; I grew up in the San Francisco Bay area in the South Bay near San Jose. I lived there pretty much all my life up until college.

Mai: What inspired you to do your blog?
Phil: It’s interesting because I really didn’t have a plan when I set up the blog. The blog was very much a place where I wanted to write about the stuff I was thinking about like stuff I would see in the news, and the media. I started a place to bounce those ideas back off, onto the internet. So I just started writing, it really wasn’t like a conscious effort to say, “Hey everyone listen to me.” I was kind of putting it out there. I didn’t expect anyone to read it. It grew a readership over the years and became a following.

Mai: Do you blog full-time?
Phil: No, I have a day job, but my blog is my passion, and I’m dedicated to it full-time.

Mai: How do you feel about the images that are seen in the media in regards to the Asian male and do you see it getting any better?
Phil: Well, I think looking back from when I started my site I’ve actually seen vast improvements of Asian American men, but Asian Americans in general have been perceived in the media. They have had a lot more exposure, a lot more positive images, and a lot of them being just regular old Americans trying to get by doing their thing. Whether it’s from dramas like Lost, Heroes, reality shows like Survivor, Top Chef, you really get to see examples of Asian Americans being on top of their game, just like being good at what they do, just being regular folks.

I think that’s the most powerful thing. The thing I complain about the most in terms of Asian American representation is not just that, “Oh, Asians are always seen in a bad light,” but Asians are always as one-dimensional. They’re complicated. I’d like more nuanced, interesting, and three-dimensional depictions of Asians. That, to me, is actually what will make things pave a way for a lot better representation for the future.

Mai: Do you have a favorite show on TV?
Phil: My favorite TV show right now is Lost, hands down. It’s the most interesting show, they’re doing things which no other show could get away with, and they are doing it very intelligently. It’s fascinating, and I’m hanging by a thread every week.

Mai: What are your hobbies?
Phil: I’m a bookworm, and I consume a lot of media. I like to eat, but I don’t like cooking.

Mai: Is this your first ECAASU?
Phil: It is my first, and I’ve heard about it for years. It’s very impressive and very well-organized. It’s a lot of great enthusiasm from students. It’s a really interesting place to be in terms of the future, the community, activism, and what people are doing to make a difference. It’s really inspiring.

I was also able to take a few pictures with some of the performers and speakers at ECAASU:

Parry Shen and me

Parry Shen is the actor from the movie Better Luck Tomorrow. He was there with Jeff Yang, Keith Chow, and Jerry Ma promoting their book, Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology. I pre-ordered my copy right at the conference. They also signed a small poster that sticks inside the book that they will send you.

Kelly Tsai and me

Kelly Tsai is a spoken word artist that I have now had the pleasure of listening to live thanks to attending the ECAASU conference. I have seen her on HBO’s series Def Poetry Jam.

music band Tim Be Told and me

These guys performed a super hawt performance for ECAASU’s opening night! OMG they were so awesome live! My favorite song by them is “Gravity’s Hold.” After the opening night I met them at their table and took this photo with them. I also bought their cd and t-shirt, which all of them signed. They were very kind guys! Check them out here: Tim Be Told and on their Face book page.

I had such a wonderful experience at ECAASU this year that I’m planning to attend it again next year. UPenn won the bid for ECAASU 2010. Maybe I’ll see some of you there!