Oakland x Asian x Mom Podcast

Aimee Eng, former Board Member of the Oakland Unified School Board, joins us to speak about her family's roots of living and serving in Oakland over multiple generations. Aimee's rich familial and personal history includes anecdotes about public service, allies who supported her family, and treasured Oakland favorites. She also shares about the joys and challenges of her decade long tenure on the school board. We appreciate Aimee's expressiveness and energy as well as her resilience and grace.

Send us your questions or feedback via voice message or answer the Q&A in the Spotify app. Thank you!

Sarah and I catch up as we are in summer mode, swapping observations and random thoughts that go from stunningly comfortable overalls to Korean - Filipino couplings (or the lack thereof) to childhood "benevolent lies" to Expose (yup, the 80-90s Top 40 girl band). We're all over the place which is exactly what summer sometimes feels like. Thanks for hanging with us.

In this next mini episode we share our thoughts on how we get stuff on the cheap or for free and the tactics we use to avoid annoying fees. And of course, there's all the randomness that goes along with our conversation, including my discovery of a surprising life skill that Sarah has yet to learn.

Happy 2023. For the start of this new year, OAM will be hosting a series of mini-episodes on random, but relevant topics. TBH, these conversations between Sarah and I are really just recordings of our usual banter with a sprinkling of what's been on our mind and in our texts this week. 

For our first conversation, Sarah starts us off with the age ol' question about the quintessential Asian condiment: Soy Sauce. 

We recorded this episode a few days before the lunar new year weekend, a time when many in our API communities look forward to food, traditions, and celebration. Thus like many of you, we were shocked, heartbroken, and deeply saddened to hear about the tragedies in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay. We mourn the loss of lives  - many who were beloved elders --  and continue to hope and pray for peace in our communities. Take good care everyone. 

Welcome to our Oakland Asian Dad friend, Miguel! We spoke with Miguel about growing up in the Philippines, coming to the States, and raising Asian American daughters here in Oakland. Miguel and his partner are raising their kids in a multicultural and multilingual household with intentionality about paying equal attention to the multiple identities represented in their family. We touched on the issue of raising kids with similar characteristics as ourselves, and how we hope our daughters have deep confidence in themselves and take up space pn their own terms. We hope this will be an inspirational and humorous perspective on parenting the next generation of young women. 

On this episode, we talk to fellow Oakland Asian mom Celia about the journey and hopes of raising Asian American sons. The three of us have known each other for a long time, and this was a particularly meaningful conversation. We talk about how our upbringing in Asian immigrant families has shaped how we parent, how living in the Bay Area helps to affirm and strengthen our sons' identities , and about raising sons in majority Asian schools and schools where they are the minority. We also talk about how important it is to help our sons develop a strong sense of self and pride in who they are to equip them as Asian American men. Make sure you listen to the full episode so you know what Celia's Asian mom super power is - it's a good one.

Welcome to the OAM's next series which focuses on "Raising Asian American Sons" and who better to interview that our own partners. For the first time, Sarah and I invite our hubbies (Stephen, Sarah's husband and James, Cheryl's) and our mutual friend, Greg, to talk about...what else (no surprise) parenting, identity, and community. We asked these fathers to share about their experiences growing up and how those experiences have influenced what kind of relationship they want with their own sons. These guys were open and vulnerable and overall really good sports! We loved their dad-joke energy and we think you will also love hearing their fatherly insights and the tenderness they show their sons. 

For our first episode of Season 2, we invited a friend of ours, Gala, who works at the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. Gala shares about her experiences working at Interfaith, offers wisdom on pursuing a decolonized faith and humbly speaks about the challenges of integrating anti-racist practices into her personal and community life. We appreciate Gala's candor, humility, and reflective spirit and the reminder of how our favorite song can be nourishing to our spirit and bodies. For the resources that Gala mentions, check out the links added in these episode notes: 

Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity:https://www.im4humanintegrity.org/

Coming Full Circle - The process of decolonization among post-1965 Filipino Americans Professor Leny Strobel: https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Full-Circle-Decolonization-Post-1965/dp/1522842373

SamaSama Cooperative: https://samasamacooperative.org/

In this Season One closer, Cheryl and Sarah take questions from you, our loyal listeners. 

We're branching out a bit geographically for this episode and talking to Diana, a multiracial Asian and white mom hailing from Hayward. Diana talks to us about her work as an academic librarian at Cal State East Bay (RIP CSU Hayward), how she got involved with SURJ, which organizes white people for racial justice, and what it's like being a multiracial woman in that space. We also heard about Diana's childhood in Dixon, California, about her identity as a yonsei (4th gen Japanese American), and the cultural breaks caused by internment. We appreciated hearing about how Diana lives with deep and thoughtful intentionality about cultivating connections with her Japanese American heritage and committing to an antiracist family life.  

To learn more about SURJ, visit https://www.surjbayarea.org/

And check out the delicious Japanese food at Sapporo in Hayward: https://www.sapporohayward.com/

On this episode, we talk to our very pregnant friend Michelle about all of the hopes and expectations that accompany first time motherhood, including navigating a multiethnic and multilingual partnership with her Oakland born-and-raised husband. This was a sweet and nostalgic episode for Cheryl and Sarah, as we recalled our own journeys to motherhood, and funny stories around birth and first time parenting. 

We welcome Andrea, a mom we met when all our kids went to preschool together, to speak about growing up in a mixed family that spans generations and places: Hawaii, Japan, Peru and the Bay Area.  Andrea, an long time educator of Oakland Unified School District, shares about how her early experiences related to language and immigration shaped her passion for language justice and heart for newcomers. Working in education for 20+ years, Andrea has made an indelible impact on a generation of OUSD students she has taught. She shares some fun teacher stories that speak to her longevity -- stories full of meaningful run-ins with former students that reflect the depth of her impact and care. Andrea drops some pearls of wisdom for young professionals who seek a career in education...wisdom that can really apply to all of us in professions in which we use not only our critical thinking skills but also our emotional energy. Lastly, we also hear about how motherhood shifted her work boundaries and how her daily routine as an Oakland teacher has made Oakland feel like home. 

On this episode, we meet our friend Shuli, the brains, heart, and soul behind Asian Lit for Kids, an Instagram account featuring quality Asian American children's literature. Shuli talks to us about what motivated her to start the account, and the need for more stories about our community, written in our own voices. We also talk about what Shuli loves about Oakland and Malaysia, thoughtfully raising pan-Asian kids, and the book she will someday write, and how Asian moms can't help but bring something when they come over even when they are explicitly asked not to!

Though Shuli has a lot on her plate as a mom, full-time educator, and running Asian Lit for Kids, it's clear that she is really leaning into her passions and gifts. On a technical note, you may hear a tuba-like sound throughout this recording, which we tried to troubleshoot and finally found out it was an ill-fitting cell phone charger, so we hope you find that somewhat amusing. Thank you for listening, and you can follow both @AsianLitforKids and @OaklandAsianMom on Instagram.

In this mini-episode, we ask ourselves a question we posed to a past guest (Jane of Episode 9): "What would we be doing if we weren't a social worker or attorney?" We came up with a few alternate professions, circled back to the Asian immigrant sacrifice narrative, chatted about semi-famous creatives we know while adding to our list of Filipino celebrities. A bit of a free-flowing conversation and one that made us think about pursuing our "old" dreams now...or one day...maybe?

On this episode, we talk to our new friend Jane, a Korean American public interest attorney and mother of young kids. Jane works for a local nonprofit in our neighborhood, representing Latinx clients with their immigration needs. Jane talks about entering this space with cultural humility, as well as how her own story as an immigrant and a child of immigrants bridges language and cultural gaps with the community she serves. I also loved hearing how she talks to her kids about her work and experience as a working mom during the pandemic. We also talk about what would Jane do if she wasn't an attorney, which launched us into a whole different conversation...including Jane's favorite Fruitvale taco truck. 

In honor of Father's Day, we interview Oakland Asian Dad and Uncle, Albert, who shares about the pressures (and academic secrets) of growing up in Cupertino, CA and how that experience has influenced his own parenting style. Albert, who has Taiwanese/Chinese/Filipino roots, also talks about the challenges and joys of raising his three kids in the Fruitvale and offers some meaningful advice to Asian American families living in Oakland...all while befriending the Baby Tiger within him. We both were touched by the stories Albert shared, especially his insights about how our kids are truly living out what it means to form diverse friendships and live out unique and beautiful experiences that are different from our own childhoods. 

We’re talking to our friend and neighbor Ja Young about raising multiracial and multiethnic (Korean! Black! White! Filipino! Chinese!) kids, what we love about our people, the joy and complexity of passing down culture and language, including the grief and inadequacy that we sometimes feel as mothers trying to raise children deeply rooted in and proud of who they are. 

Join us as we talk to a Korean American mother, Suzy, and her teenage Korean/Chinese (with Vietnam roots) daughter, Sierra, from the Fruitvale about their relationship over the years and how their "fiery" dynamic has led to much mutual love, appreciation, and admiration. For all us mothers who have young kids and wonder..."what will our relationship look like in the near future..?," this is a sweet conversation that gives us some foreshadowing of what may come. 

And Suzy, this is for you: #ooo!thatcroptopisalittleshort

Super librarian/local celebrity Annabelle from the Cesar Chavez branch of the Oakland Public Library joins us to talk about how she became a librarian, what she misses about her work because of Covid, a bit of Cesar Chavez library history, being asked by patrons "where are you from?," how she incorporates reading in her child's life, and her mom's well-meaning but questionable advice about staying safe. And, we grill her about why the Filipino Instant Pot Cookbook is NOT available at the Oakland Public Library! Stay tuned. 

Our reflections about friendships nowadays, over time, and over seasons of life... pre and post covid. 

Meet Cheryl's mom, Auntie Cora, who shares her story about coming to the U.S. as a newly married person, being a working mom for over 30 years, and reflections on taking care of her grandchildren in her home (which is lovingly known as "Nona's school.")

Cheryl and Sarah share what has brought them joy during the pandemic. 

Get to know us, Cheryl and Sarah (your hosts), how we met, and why we wanted to start this podcast. 

[Correction: Cheryl mentions that an actor, H.S., is half Filipino. She was off and apologizes. H.S.'s grandfather was half Filipino/half African American. Cheryl wants to add the note that this grandfather was on the mom's side.]

Listen to Cheryl, Angela, Jill and Jody share about their couples' group, affectionately called the Oakland Love Lab. These couples have been providing support and space for each other for ten years. 

A very mini intro about our podcast!