You are not alone - Kobukson

What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there is something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it is there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. - Morpheus

Hey you! Out there in the cold

Getting lonely, getting old, can you feel me?

Hey you! Standing in the aisles

With itchy feet and fading smiles, can you feel me?

Hey you! Don't help them to bury the live

Don't give in without a fight...

- Pink Floyd

Hey you. You are a fellow Asian-American brother. Here, in the New World, there is no Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Japanese, Cambodian, Laotian, or what have you. We don't have time for bullshit. Here, we all speak English, and share a common experience. And if you are a fellow brother, who has lived through what might be called the Asian-American Male Experience, and are still standing...congratulations. This is what we are here to talk about.

Maybe you are still in school or maybe you are like me, neck-deep in the "Real World". You go about your daily life reading magazines, newspapers, watching TV, listening to the radio. You spend a great deal of your time absorbing what other people think or say. People, who for the most, have a different mentality and worldview than you. Going on and on about things that you quite frankly don't give a damn fuck about most of the time.

When were YOU, an Asian-American man, the primary intended audience of anything in particular and not just, at best, a mere after-thought? When was the last time you heard or saw anybody specifically dedicated to speaking on your behalf, as an Asian-American man? When was the last time you saw or heard anything...anything...that spoke true to our experience and that which validate our existence? About issues which affect us and concerns that matter most deeply to us?

You are a member of a group that is one of the least acknowledged in society and simultaneously, one of the least likely to stand up to do anything about it. Well, fellas, that's got to change.

I believe that the average Asian-American man goes through a life of quiet desperation, carrying some heavy burdens. You know what I am talking about. I also believe that the average Asian-American man struggles largely in isolation. Who can really understand our thoughts, frustrations, fears, doubts, worries, pain...our confusion? Do we even talk about things and try to see where we stand with each other, fellow Asian-American brothers, and not just in the safety and anonymity of virtual space, but in meatspace as well, face-to-face, within our own personal domains? I am not sure if that is happening.

You are an embattled Asian-American man, trying to make some sense of the world that he lives in, wondering if there anyone out there who feels him. You are frustrated with yourself as well as with society. You long for times of refreshing yet you endure long periods of emotionally barren droughts. You are sick and tired of "business-as-usual", the uncoordinated anger, and some of the blatent stupidity that can exist, in most of the Asian-American forums that you haunt on a regular basis.

Gentlemen, we have some tough issues. We need to bring a new level of intelligence and maturity to our discussions. We need innovative thinkers, opinionaters, and doers...folks who can think outside of the box, because that is what it's gonna take to solve our problems. The road to empowerment, both individually and collectively, starts with ourselves.

Let's help each other, fellow Asian-American brothers. You are not crazy. There's more than enough of us out there who feel the same things, experience the same struggles. We can't all be crazy. Let's start expressing ourselves but with maturity and dignity. Let's be real with ourselves also. Be very VERY real. Let's poll our collective thoughts, wisdom, and experience. Let's challenge one another. A tough world is easier to face if one knows that there are many others like him out there who share the same thoughts and feel the same pain. Let's help each other in the spirit of mutual encouragement and upliftling. Because if we don't do that for ourselves....who will?