Episode 51: I Am Not A Fortune Cookie (w/ Vicky Truong)

Seeing Color

Hey everyone. I hope you are all doing ok. The recent passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is bringing up a lot of complicated feelings for me, as I am sure it is for many people. Of course, we must remember the shift in power in the Supreme Court is just one of many things that has been failing over the course of US democracy. It means come this November, voting for the US elections is important, but so are all the local elections and difficult discussions about what it means to exist on this planet where we are all entangled with each other. Yeah...I just don't know. Yeah.

Anyway, for this week, I am returning to an older recording I did with Vicky Truong while I was living in Berlin over a year ago. Born in Australia, raised by a half Chinese-Teochew half Vietnamese father, and a half Chinese-Teochew (ti-jiu) half Thai mother, Vicky grew up with an abundance of different cuisines and cultures. She lived in France for three years where she worked in the Fashion Industry before moving to Berlin working as a teacher, activist, and artist. I met Vicky through a few Asian diaspora centered events where I learned more about the work Vicky was doing. Vicky started Rice is Life, a project celebrating Chinese Teochew, Vietnamese, Thai and Australian foods. Vicky also leads a diversity and inclusion workshop series called Eye to Eye, which we talk about in our conversation. We also chat about her growing up in Australia, appreciating our cultural heritage, and how an unfortunate event at Berlin Art Week helped lead her to the work she does today. Listening to this brought back many memories to my time in Berlin and how far away it seems now. In any case, as always, stay safe, stay healthy, and please vote this November.

Links Mentioned:

• Vicky Truong's Website
• Vicky's Instagram
• D.A.M.N. (Deutsche Asiat*innen, Make Noise)
• korientation
• I Am Not A Fortune Cookie
• Zairong Xiang
• Hornback Ad
• Nobuyoshi Aracki

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