Black Lives Matter Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Michelle Krusiec: Acclaimed Actor, Writer, and Director Talks About Dealing with Institutional Racism and her Sources of Inspiration Ep 279

Felicia Lin — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:35:55 +0000

Last September I had the pleasure of interviewing actor, writer and director Michelle Krusiec. Her IMDB page displays an impressive list of acting roles dating back to 1992.

We talked about the different phases of her career starting with her one-woman show, Made in Taiwan, which earned her much critical acclaim. She wrote, directed and acted in it in her 20s. Then there was her first main character role in a feature film, Saving Face, a film that put her on my radar and so many others’ in 2004. In 2020 she portrayed the legendary Anna May Wong in the Netflix series Hollywood. Stepping into that role helped her to rethink the institutionalized racism that she’s experienced as an actor. Michelle also talked about her directorial projects, and expressed her thoughts on the SAG-AFTRA strike, and so much more.

March is Women’s History Month and so we thought this would be the perfect time to release the first episode of the Trailblazing Taiwanese Women’s series sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association, which was founded in 1988. To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

How she got on the path of acting
The stereotypical Asian roles she took on early in her career
The struggles she’s faced in her acting career
How playing the role of Anna May Wong helped her to rethink the institutional racism that she’s faced as an actor
Her first leading role in a feature film (Saving Face)
How she grew up she didn’t see many people who looked like her on television and longed to change that
How Michelle prepared for her role in Saving Face by going to Taiwan to learn Mandarin
How Michelle prepared for her role as Anna May Wong in the Netflix series Hollywood
Michelle’s directing projects
Michelle’s one woman show Made in Taiwan and how it opened doors for her and got her a deal with ABC TV
How anti-Asian hate became more prevalent during the pandemic but was around long before
Her upbringing and how it impacted her early career
Michelle’s Washington Post op ed piece
How a fortune teller impacted Michelle’s adoption
The connection between Made in Taiwan and Michelle’s short film, Bite
Michelle’s short film Nian
Michelle’s thoughts on motherhood and parenthood
The writing/directing projects that Michelle is working on
Michelle’s thoughts on the SAG-AFTRA strike
Michelle’s support for SB 805, a bill that supported funding for nonprofit theaters
How Michelle was affected by the BLM (Black Lives Matter) demonstrations that arose during the pandemic
Michelle’s advice to others who want to pursue acting or directing
Michelle’s connection to Taiwan

Sergeant Steven Lee: NYPD Whistleblower Fights to Reform Police Corruption Part 2 Ep 142

Felicia Lin — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 10:39:43 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

This is part two of my interview with Sergeant Steven Lee, a 16-year veteran of the NYPD, and whistleblower fighting to reform police corruption. Previously, in part one, we talked about Sergeant Lee’s undercover work and the police corruption that he’s witnessed. If you haven’t had a chance to hear part one, you might want to go back and listen to it first. In part two Steve talks about what happened after his undercover work and the related court case, his thoughts on how to combat corruption within the NYPD, and why he plans to run for State Assembly next year.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

What happened to Steve after his undercover work and the related court case
The corruption that Steve has seen in Internal Affairs Bureau of the NYPD
Steve’s suggestions for how to independently monitor the NYPD and Internal Affairs Bureau
How Steve believes that the police should identity with culture and customs of the communities they work in, and that there are enough police able to speak the languages spoken in their precincts
How Steve deals with the pressure of being a whistleblower
Steve’s 2020 run for State Assembly in District 40 and how he’s running again next year
What changes Steve has seen with the NYPD since the murder of George Floyd
Hoops over Hate
Ron Kim, Steve’s opponent for State Assembly in District 40

The Afara Collective: CoFounder Liz Williams Builds a Bridge for Systemic Racism Education Ep 140

Felicia Lin — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 12:12:19 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Liz Williams is one of the co-founders of The Afara Collective. She spent time in Taiwan as a Thomas Watson Fellow and a Fulbright Scholar. Jennifer Ho, heads Afara’s film club team, and is originally from Taiwan.

Liz and Jen talked about why the work of Afara matters to them, the types of training and programs that Afara will offer, and how Afara is about creating safe, brave spaces to have difficult conversations about systemic oppression, racism and bias.

Seeing how the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others last year sparked Black Lives Matter protests globally, and led to greater dialogue about systemic oppression and anti-racism, Liz and her co-founder Jules Sanders were inspired to create Afara.

Afara invites everyone, regardless of ethnic background to work on their personal biases.

Liz and Jen talked about why the work of Afara matters to them, the types of training and programs that Afara will offer, and how Afara is about creating safe, brave spaces through their systemic racism education courses and training.

Liz has been a guest on Talking Taiwan. In episode 88 she and Elissa Russell talked about Being Black in Taiwan and Racism in the United States.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

What inspired Liz and her co-founder Jules Sanders to create The Afara Collective?
What is the mission of The Afara Collective?
How Afara is about including everyone (regardless of ethnicity, not just Blacks and Whites) in the work of being an anti-racism
What does the word afara mean?
What is anti-racism?
How Afara is about creating safe spaces to discuss racism and bias
What have been the challenges in running The Afara Collective?
Their approach to working with and managing their team of volunteers
Afrara’s film club and book club
Afara’s See and Unseen Film Club
How Afara creates safe brave spaces for people to discover personal biases
The types of training, courses and programming that Afara offers
Afara’s Go Fund Me crowdfunding campaign
Afara’s vision of empathy in action

Talking Taiwan’s Top 5 of 2020 End of Year Review Ep 109

Felicia Lin — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 11:51:23 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Since March of this year, we’ve been publishing new episodes of Talking Taiwan on a weekly basis, so for our last episode of 2020, we thought it would be fun to look back and see which were the top five episodes of the year. It comes as no surprise that 2 of the episodes are related to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Through it all, it’s been amazing to see our listenership grow. In fact, I’ve really enjoyed hearing from listeners who’ve reached out to tell me how much they’ve enjoyed listening to Talking Taiwan. Thanks for all of the positive feedback. We look forward to continuing to deliver new episodes about interesting people and stories connected to Taiwan.

Which episode was your favorite of 2020? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Don’t forget to check out our new feature starting in the new year called “Talking Taiwan Shorts.” We will be creating 100 short one-minute videos for our YouTube channel highlighting a GREAT segment from one of our podcast episodes. Be sure to check out Talking Taiwan’s YouTube channel, or go to our website here for “Talking Taiwan Shorts.”

Below are links to the top five Talking Taiwan episodes of 2020. Wishing you a wonderful rest of 2020, and a Happy New Year!

CORRECTION: At the 15:32-minute in the interview, Dr. Keating remarks, “We are 75 years at the end of World War I.” What he meant to say is that, “We are 75 years at the end of World War II.”

Jason Chew Talks About Being a Filmmaker Ep 105

Felicia Lin — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 10:09:29 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

On this episode of Talking Taiwan I speak with Jason Chew about being a filmmaker. We talked about how he veered away from his traditional Taiwanese upbringing and parents’ expectations that he become a lawyer.

As a filmmaker, he’s worked with several different clients in both Taiwan (a funeral home and cosmetics company) and the U.S. He shared how one project with the NYPD required him to wear a bulletproof vest while cruising around with the NYPD to the scene of a crime.

When I asked him what inspires his creativity, Jason responded by asking “where don’t you find inspiration… everything could be inspiration.”

Check out the show notes on the Talking Taiwan website for some of the great film directors that have inspired Jason and a few of the classic films about Taiwan that he recommends.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Jason’s connection to musician Treya, who we interviewed in episode 55
Jason’s “traditional Taiwanese upbringing” and what a “traditional Taiwanese upbringing” means to him
How he went from being on the path to attend law school to applying for film school
What it was like attending NYU Film School in Singapore
What Jason’s film career has been like so far
The difference between film editing, shooting, and directing
What sets someone apart as a director
What is cinematography
Jason’s short films
The music video he worked on for Treya’s song Magic
The work that Jason did on the NYPD’s Domain Awareness System (DAS) which is a sort of monitoring service
How Jason and his colleagues rode around in an NYPD police car to crime scenes in response to alerts from the Shot Spotter, which is a series of microphones that listen for shots fired
Jason’s thoughts on Black Lives Matter
Jason’s work with Taiwanese companies
Jason’s parents’ reaction to his choice to pursue a career as a filmmaker instead of law
What inspires him as a cinematographer
The crowdfunding campaigns on student films that he’s worked on
Jason’s favorite films about Taiwan
Films that he recommends for people who would like to know more about Taiwan
Jason’s work on the short film A Father’s Son – A 90s Chinatown Noir Thriller, which is based on the characters from Henry Chang’s NYPD Detective Jack Yu crime series novels
What Jason enjoys the most about filmmaking
How the pandemic has affected Jason
What Jason is currently working on
Jason’s advice for people interested in pursuing filmmaking
Jason’s advice on how to push through tough challenging times

Raising Blasian Kids Part 2: A Conversation with Rolla Chng and Eileen Lin-Goutier Ep 95

Felicia Lin — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 04:23:51 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

This week’s episode of Talking Taiwan features part two of my conversation with Eileen Lin-Goutier and Rolla Chng about raising Blasian kids. This was definitely the longest interview that I’ve done for Talking Taiwan to date, which is why we split it up into two parts. In this episode, Eileen talks about the Facebook group for Taiwanese Moms with Blasian kids, and Rolla talks about her son and daughter’s cross-country road trip and the different concerns that she, their father Frantz and their uncle Tim had.

While much of conversation focused on parenting, we also got into a discussion about racism, the understanding of the Black experience amongst Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans, and human rights.

About Eileen Lin-Goutier:

Eileen was born and raised in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and moved to U.S. when she was in high school. While at the University of Virginia she founded the Taiwanese Language Club and served as the president of Taiwanese Student Association. She later kicked off her nonprofit career by working at the Formosan Association of Public Affairs (FAPA) for three years (2010-2013) managing FAPA’s Young Professionals Group (FAPA-YPG). Eileen has also served on the board of Taiwanese American Association of America’s (TAA) Greater Washington Chapter for several years by helping to plan local cultural events and Taiwanese American Heritage Week. Her nonprofit career was been guided by her belief in fighting for social justice, equity and human rights. Eileen met her Haitian American husband, Edwin through a love for food, family and passion for social and environmental causes. She currently lives in Washington D.C. with her family.

About Rolla Chng:

Rolla Chng was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. While at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she established the Taiwanese American Students Club (TASC) and helped to found the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association (ITASA). Rolla has been involved with the Taiwanese American Conference- East Coast (TAC/EC) in the 90s and early 2000s. She organized the second generation program for TAC/EC in 1998 and 2003, and has been a strong supporter of TAC/EC’s new iteration, Taiwanese American Next Generation (TANG). She raised her Haitian-Taiwanese American daughter and son in Baltimore City with their father, Master Frantz Cadet, owner of Cadet Martial Arts and Fitness. She began teaching math in Baltimore City Public Schools and community college when her children reached school age. After her children graduated from high school, she returned to her pre-family career of civil engineering.

About Rolla’s children:

Her daughter, Uiseng Francois, is on pandemic hiatus from her New York City gig playing a Jet in the Broadway revival of West Side Story. She is a second year BFA student in dance at Peabody Institute, and is currently continuing her studies, virtually, as she travels cross country. Rolla’s son Evains traveled with Uiseng during the first week of her cross-country trip, before entering his second year of a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

The Facebook group for Taiwanese Moms with Blasian kids that Eileen is a member of and what she’s learned from it
Topics commonly discussed in the Facebook group for Taiwanese Moms with Blasian kids
Skin colorism
How Eileen and Rolla balance educating their kids about both of their cultural backgrounds
How Rolla wanted to make sure that her kids were exposed to the Taiwanese language at an early age and that they visited Taiwan
How Eileen plans to teach her kids Taiwanese with the help of her parents and by planning to take them to Taiwanese school
The importance of language in understanding and connecting to one’s culture
Thoughts on the term “color blind” and raising kids to be “color blind”
People’s different reactions to using the term “Black”
Incidents that Rolla’s kids have had with the police or authorities
How Rolla’s kids feel about the police
The advice that Frantz would give his and Rolla’s kids and how it is different from Rolla
The concerns that Tim, Rolla’s brother and Frantz her partner have about Uiseng and Evains’ cross-country trip
How Rolla and Frantz co-parent
The importance of teaching your kids negotiation skills
Asian Black relations
The racism that Asians have toward Blacks
The understanding of the Black experience amongst Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans
Minority relations
How doing the right things and having an education does not exempt you from experiencing racism
Advice for parents of Blasian kids
Rolla’s advice for parents and her parenting philosophy
What the job of a parent is in raising their kids

Raising Blasian Kids Part 1: A Conversation with Rolla Chng and Eileen Lin-Goutier Ep 94

Felicia Lin — Sun, 13 Sep 2020 16:58:12 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

My guests on this episode of Talking Taiwan are Eileen Lin-Goutier and Rolla Chng. Both are Taiwanese American women with Black partners and are parents of Blasian kids. Eileen is a relatively new parent with a two-year-old daughter and Rolla has two grown children who are 19 and 20 years old. I thought it would be a good idea to bring together these two women at very different stages of the parenting journey to have a conversation about their perspectives on raising Blasian children.

There was so much to discuss that we’ve decided to split up the conversation into two parts. Join us next week for the second part of the conversation when Eileen will talk about the Facebook group for Taiwanese Moms with Blasian kids that she’s a part of, and what she’s learned from being a part of that group. Rolla will talk about her son and daughter’s cross-country road trip and the discussions that she, their father Frantz, and their uncle Tim had with them about it, beforehand.

About Eileen Lin-Goutier:

About Rolla Chng:

About Rolla’s children:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

How their parents/families first react to learning that their partner was Black
When their parents’ perceptions changed
How to deal with people’s reactions to them and their Blasian kids
Dealing with people’s perceptions of their kids as primarily Black
Acknowledging that as a parent you may unintentionally do things that hurt your kids
How they co-parent with their partners
Learning about the Black experience through their partner’s personal experiences
The Taiwanese experience and the role social justice in Eileen and Rolla’s lives
The importance of acknowledging the privilege that you have compared to other groups of people
Preparing their kids for encounters with the police or authority figures
The importance of instilling confidence in your kids to be comfortable with who they are
How to prepare your kids for any racism or bias they may encounter and make sure that they are safe
“The talk” that Black parents have with their kids
How Asian identity is perceived in the U.S.
The acceptance of Blasian people’s Asian identity
The participation of Rolla’s kids in Taiwanese American conferences and summer camps
Dealing with microaggressions that they have experienced
Eileen’s parenting questions for Rolla and Rolla’s advice

Jaleea Price Talks About Living in Taiwan Ep 90

Felicia Lin — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 04:00:47 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Jaleea Price, spoke with me about a broad range of topics beginning with her arrival and time in Taiwan. While in Taiwan she worked on the ICRT morning news show, co-founded D.A.P. (Descendants of African Peoples) with Elissa Russell (who was a guest on episode 88), and had two daughters. Now an arts educator based in Thailand, Jaleea she had recently gone through quarantine in Thailand and the U.K. when we spoke. She also spoke to me about TCKs, the racism that she’s experienced in the U.S. and Taiwan as a biracial woman and her thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Jaleea talks briefly about quarantining in Thailand and the U.K.
What brought her to Taiwan
Her connection to the Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan
Arriving in Taiwan alone without a cell phone and going to Internet cafes to communicate with her friends and family
What it was like working on the ICRT morning show
What it was like having young children in Taiwan
People’s reactions when they asked where she was from and she said that she was American
Her involvement with D.A.P. The Descendants of African Peoples group
The different ways that Black people from other parts of the world (e.g. Canada, France) identify themselves vs. American
The racism and discrimination that she’s experienced in the U.S. and Taiwan
Her thoughts on the murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter
Her experience of the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.K. and Thailand
Her privilege as a light-skinned woman of color
K-pop group BTS’s support of Black Lives Matter and takeover of #whitelivesmatter
What a TCK is
The Eastern and Western cultural differences in the birthing process
What she misses most about Taiwan

Being Black in Taiwan and Racism in the United States: Ep 88

Felicia Lin — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 12:33:41 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Elissa Russell and Elizabeth Williams are my guests on this episode of Talking Taiwan. We spoke about their experiences of living in Taiwan, the racism that they’ve experienced in Taiwan vs. the U.S. and Black Lives Matter. One thing that’s abundantly clear is that Taiwan has a very special place in their hearts.

Liz and Elissa spoke candidly on the topic of Black Lives Matter and the state of race relations in the United States. Thank you Liz and Elissa for your open-heartedness and for inviting my audience to continue the conversation with you. Contact info for Elissa and Liz is listed below in the Related Links section.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

What brought Elissa and Liz to Taiwan
Elissa and Liz talk about their experiences living in Taiwan
The racism that Liz and Elissa have experienced in Taiwan vs. the United States, and how they have handled it
Elissa and Liz share their perspectives on the segregation in Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles
Liz and Elissa offer their perspectives on Black Lives Matter
Elissa and Liz discuss how the killing of Ahmaud Arbery felt especially personal
The anti-racism initiative that Liz is working on
Being an ally vs. an accomplice
What actions people can take to support the Black Lives Matter and too educate themselves
How to have conversations with others about the Black Lives Matter movement

Black Lives Solidarity Global Initiative: Founders Stefanie Davis and Patrick Springer Ep 84

Felicia Lin — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 13:26:16 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Stefanie Davis and Patrick Springer are the founders of the Black Lives Solidarity Global Initiative, which organized a rally in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement on June 13th in Taipei’s 228 Peace Park. I spoke to Stefanie and Patrick about their experiences living as people of color in Taiwan and the U.S., the activities planned for the rally and their personal views of Black Lives Matter.

Here’s a description of the Black Lives Solidarity Global Initiative rally from their Facebook event page:

We cannot sit around as the stories of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Iyanna Dior, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown Jr., Pamela Turner, Atatiana Jefferson, and countless others become common occurrences- background noise to the daily news, their lives summarized as sound bites between the weather and sports updates.

We cannot sit idly by and watch as police brutality against innocent black and brown bodies continues to go unchecked around the world.

It is time for us to take a stand and make our voices known that we demand action against racism both abroad and at home. That injustice against one of us, is an injustice to all.

Join us in a legal and peaceful rally Saturday, June 13th, at 228 Peace Memorial Park in Taipei as we come together to lend our support and our voices to those around the world fighting for equality and for others right to simply breathe.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

• What brought Stefanie and Patrick to Taiwan and how long they have been here
• The racism that they have experienced in Taiwan and how it compares to what they’ve experienced in the U.S.
• How they talk to their students about race and nationality
• Patrick’s bar Arts & Crafts (in Taichung)
• How the Black Lives Solidarity Global Initiative (BLSGI) came about
• The events and activities planned at the June 13 BLSGI rally
• The Taipei Is Listening Forum
• How the BLSGI rally has put Taiwan on the map as one of the countries that has had a rally about the injustices happening to Black people in the U.S.
• The feedback they’ve received about the rally
• What Stefanie and Patrick hope that people take away from the experience of being at the rally or what they learned at the rally
• Common stereotypes that people have about Black people
• Facts and statistics that demonstrate some of the discrimination that Blacks in the U.S. experience
• The shooting of Atatiana Jefferson and arrest of Sandra Bland
• Where the funds raised at the rally went
• Patrick and Stefanie’s personal experiences with Black Lives Matter
• What advice Stefanie or Patrick have for non-Black people who want to understand the Black experience or who want to be allies
• What Black Lives Matter means to Stefanie and Patrick
• Facts and statistics based on US data and research that were shared at the BLSGI rally:

• More than 1/2 of young Black Americans know someone, including themselves, who has been harassed by the police.
• Black students are 3 times more likely to be suspended than white students for similar infractions.
• Black drivers are 30% more likely than white drivers to be pulled over by the police.
• For every $100 earned by white families -> Black families earn $57.30.
• Blacks Americans make up 13% of the nation’s population.
• Blacks Americans make 40% of prison populations.

Black Lives Matter Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Michelle Krusiec: Acclaimed Actor, Writer, and Director Talks About Dealing with Institutional Racism and her Sources of Inspiration Ep 279

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

Sergeant Steven Lee: NYPD Whistleblower Fights to Reform Police Corruption Part 2 Ep 142

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

The Afara Collective: CoFounder Liz Williams Builds a Bridge for Systemic Racism Education Ep 140

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

Talking Taiwan’s Top 5 of 2020 End of Year Review Ep 109

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Related Links:

Jason Chew Talks About Being a Filmmaker Ep 105

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

Raising Blasian Kids Part 2: A Conversation with Rolla Chng and Eileen Lin-Goutier Ep 95

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

Raising Blasian Kids Part 1: A Conversation with Rolla Chng and Eileen Lin-Goutier Ep 94

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

Jaleea Price Talks About Living in Taiwan Ep 90

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

Being Black in Taiwan and Racism in the United States: Ep 88

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

Black Lives Solidarity Global Initiative: Founders Stefanie Davis and Patrick Springer Ep 84

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links: