Protesting at H&M

Protesting at H&M
Originally uploaded by jasmined.

Frannie Richards, a Filipino-American woman, was harassed based on her ethnicity and gender by an employee at the H&M store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

This morning, I joined a peaceful protest with Filipinos, friends of Filipinos, and other supporters. Check out my pictures!

On a personal note: I was a few minutes late, but I got a sign and jumped right into the line. More than protesting H&M’s intolerance and ignorance, we were celebrating our strength, and showing support for a woman who did the brave thing and went public with what was done to her. Sometime it’s seems like it may be easy to just swallow the bullshit and try to forget about the slights and mistreatment from others. But it’s always worth more to do what is right.

And if what we’re doing is celebrating our ethnicity, we really should have had some lumpia. Would this have been the first protest in Chicago history to feature snacks?

Philippine Medical Community 1, Desperate Housewives 0

• Hung Wins ‘Top Chef 3′: Yay! I didn’t catch the whole ep, but I saw the announcement of the winner, and I actually cried a little bit, I was so elated. Hung look ecstatic, as did his fellow finalists Casey and Dale. A great trio, to be sure, but Hung was my fave. He appeared on WGN Morning News here in Chicago, making a delicious-looking stir fry and being utterly charming. [Angry Asian Man]
• ‘Desperate Housewives’ Filipino joke draws ire: ABC may actually edit the episode to remove the offending dialogue. [LAT]
• Woman Says She Was Harassed For Ethnicity At H&M: Protest is Saturday morning at 10:00 AM in front of the store. Contact me for details. [CBS2 Chicago]

Linkage Tunnel: Burma

As they marched through the streets of Myanmar’s cities last week leading the biggest antigovernment protests in two decades, some barefoot monks held their begging bowls before them. But instead of asking for their daily donations of food, they held the bowls upside down, the black lacquer surfaces reflecting the light.

What Makes A Monk Mad (NYT)
Also: US Campaign for Burma