In the film monkey
dance, there were teenagers who were acculturating to America. One of them was
a gymnast, another liked to hangout with friends a lot, and another worked and
liked to stay out late. The acculturation seemed to let these people create
their own identity, which can sometimes conflict with their parents’ traditional
side. I am guessing the teenagers were second generation so they would be more
into American lifestyle than their parents. I think the resistance comes from
them wanting to create their own identity, and that requires them to step out
of the traditional side to explore more of what the world has. They are taking
a stand to develop their own lives. The gymnast was doing some breaking in his
routine. Breaking is part of hip hop culture, which is all about freestyle and
expressing your own self. I think the monkey dance is a way for these teenagers
to express their traditional and personal self. It’s their own dance.
The chapter talked
about the Laotian community and their youth. The model minority myth makes it
seem like the API community is only interested in math or science studies. They
were not considered to be political activists at all. The APEN group was trying
to challenge this and take political action to get a better representation of
the API community and get their views into the system. They did door to door
knocking to get people to sign their petition against proposition 227, which
stops bilingual education. They wanted multilingual education and better school
counseling. I think good school counseling is really important for academic
success. It can provide motivation and academic support to help the student
keep going in school, and it can be a place for advice and seeing other
perspectives. I think this all contributes to better mental health. I think the
activism allowed the Laotian community to gain a stronger identity in America.
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