Board service is one way to give time, talent, and relationships to nonprofits. I’ve been fortunate to serve on several nonprofit boards and have led an organization that was governed by a board of directors. Through these experiences I’ve figured out what I like in board service, and where I think boards and nonprofits need to do better.

My favorite board experience was serving on the board of Neighborhood House in Seattle. The organization provides wraparound services for low-income families in place-based communities. Neighborhood House could have gone the way of many large, historically white normed multimillion dollar organizations, but instead the Executive Director (who’s since retired) and the board kept the organization very rooted to communities of color. It wasn’t easy, but it was the right thing to do for those it served and to keep the board very mission aligned.

Thinking back, what made that board service experience meaningful was the intentionality that went into the board experience. As a board we were very thoughtful about who we recruited for the board. I chaired the nominating committee and worked closely with the Executive Director. He was very clear about who he wanted serving on the board – people who were no drama, committed to the work, connected to the community in multiple ways.

We also kept clear notes on the board makeup and composition and recruited to fill strategic gaps. As an example, a nominating committee meeting would sound like this: “We’re missing someone with a finance or legal background so we’re in compliance with XX grant. We’re also looking for people connected to the Amharic community (because that is who Neighborhood House served). Do you know anyone who can fit these categories?” When we were clear about who we served and why, we could recruit board members more strategically.

We didn’t recruit people just because they were friends of someone, were wealthy, or politically connected – we intentionally looked for people with leadership qualities and deeply believed in and had a track record of working in ways connected to the mission. Connections and connected to donors were important, but they weren’t the first criteria.

When I led an organization, I tried to do the same with who we recruited for our board. Since we were a place-based organization, every board member had to either live or work in the region. I also looked for board members who were connected to people and places we wanted to connect with. This kept us connected to the people and helped us get our work more right.

Fundraising

The flip side of board recruitment is trying to pit fundraising versus community based board recruitment. I do not believe in this line of thinking. A board member who can write a large check or is connected to wealth is not more valuable than a board member who is connected to communities of color.

Organizations with diverse boards, including socio-economic wealth, will have new and different connections which can open up new avenues for funding or connections. Earlier today I was talking with friends, all women of color, one of them mentioned the ‘invisible networks’ that sustain us. These informal, and sometimes formal networks, are where we share and receive information that leads to the next idea, funding opportunities, etc.

Nonprofit boards who are open to diversity and not just recruiting board members with access to familiar wealth will have a better chance of tapping into these invisible networks. There is the added benefit of perhaps being more mission aligned because their boards are more connected to the communities they serve.

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Thank you to our Patreon subscribers. At this time I don’t offer ‘extras’ or bonuses for Patreons. I blog after working a full-time job, volunteer and family commitments thus it is hard to find time to create more content. Whatever level you are comfortable giving pays for back-end costs, research costs, supporting other POC efforts, etc. If your financial situation changes please make this one of the first things you turn-off — you can still access the same content and when/if you can re-subscribe I’ll appreciate it.

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Thank you for subscribing. Please check fakequity.com for the most up-to-date version of the post. I often make grammatical and stylistic corrections after the first publishing which shows up in your inbox. To subscribe — on the right sidebar (desktop version) is a subscribe box. To see what I’m reading and recommended books check out the Fakequity Bookshop. I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org where your purchases support local bookstores. I earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. The commission goes into purchasing books by POC authors or about disabilities to donate to high-poverty public schools.

Several years ago I made a spring cleaning list for Fakequity. It is time to make a part two, you can think of it as a rotational list, maybe you do this one on even years and the other list on odd years or some other fun rotation.

Start Cleaning

Clean out your hobby gear. Hobbies are great and often keep us connected to other parts of the community. Now is a good time to clean out your gear and make plans to share some of it with others. Maybe arrange a trade with others and make it a relational event, or a way to support POCs.

Evaluate your charity donations. Do the charities you support with time, money, or talent match your racial equity goals? If not maybe now is a good time to shift some of that time, talent, and funds to something more aligned with your beliefs.

Clean your entranceway. The entranceway is an often overlooked place of our house for a good cleaning. I recently wiped down the walls and dusted our entranceway, it made it look and feel much better. If your entranceway has a stairwell, make sure to wipe that down too, and baseboards.

Clean out your pantry. The other Fakequity spring cleaning list says to clean your refrigerator. This year clear out your dry goods pantry. Maybe you have extra noodles or rice paper wrappers from that time you tried a TikTok or Instagram recipe – are you really going to use the rest? I hope so, but if not pass the rest along or compost them.

Clean your vocabulary. We all use problematic language, maybe you let the word ‘guys’ even when speaking to not men. Or you say something ableist, now is a good time to make a conscious effort to be less racist and ableist.

While you’re cleaning your vocabulary, spring clean your keyboard. Pull out some alcohol wipes and literally wipe down your computer keys and phone. This has little to do with race, and more of the vein of a good hygiene practice, and I watched a reel of someone cleaning their keyboard so it is top of mind.

Spring clean your eating. We all need more veggies and fresh stuff in our diets, or maybe if you’re already on this path, you spring clean by trying something new. Stop by a farmer’s market or small ethnic grocery store and try some new to you produce. I recently tried nagaimo, a root veggie that becomes gummy when grated. I made Japanese okonomiyaki with it – a vegan version to get more veggies into the rotation.

Order your air filters for smoke and wild fire season. Some years we get lucky and don’t need air filters for smoke and wildfires, other years it is bad. Make sure you have a fresh filter on hand in case there is wildfire smoke. If you are economically privileged, make sure to donate to others who need this support too. Climate change is impacting fire risks. Learn about how Indigenous people around the world relate to fire and land management, and learn about how POCs are more heavily impacted by wildfires and other climate related disasters.

Finally, spring clean to make you feel good. Clean out things that don’t serve your social justice, racial equity, and overall life goals. Retiring an activity or possession that doesn’t align with your racial equity beliefs, may create space for something new to come in and bring you joy.

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Thank you to our Patreon subscribers. At this time I don’t offer ‘extras’ or bonuses for Patreons. I blog after working a full-time job, volunteer and family commitments thus it is hard to find time to create more content. Whatever level you are comfortable giving pays for back-end costs, research costs, supporting other POC efforts, etc. If your financial situation changes please make this one of the first things you turn-off — you can still access the same content and when/if you can re-subscribe I’ll appreciate it.

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Please donate to the relief efforts in Chuuk, Micronesia, the island was hit by flooding earlier this year. Pacific Islander Community Association of WA (PICA) and the First Chuukese WA Women Association are coordinating mutual aid. Please make a financial donation to support our Pacific Islander relations. If you are on Facebook or other social media, please share the post. Fakequity has made a contribution to the relief efforts, thank you to the Patreon supporters who made that possible.

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A few weeks ago, I had coffee with a younger women of color professional. She reached out asking for career advice and to network. Through conversation she shared where she works and it turns out I’m familiar with the organization. The organization is a white normed organization that has been around for a very long time. The organizations does good work and recognize the need to diversify, however, like many historically white organizations they have a lot more work to do around diversity and race.

Diversity isn’t a magic bullet

Diversity doesn’t magically make your work easier, better, or right. Another colleague said to me (paraphrasing) “You think if we attract and hire diverse people the work gets easier. In reality, it needs just as much management as before.”

Diversity often stretches skillsets and comfort levels. Managers need to learn and adapt to new ways of managing a changing team and coach the team through these changes too. It is hard work, but important work if you want long term success and retention of diverse employees.

Building and Belonging

The dynamics of a group always change when you add new members. As a manager and team members it is easy to know intellectualize this, but often exhaustion from having a vacancy, getting through the slog of the hiring process, and then onboarding the new member sets in. It is easy to want to believe the new person should make work life easier. But in reality, the new group is changing and this is where we need to spend time focused on those changing group dynamics – especially when folding in team members from different racial groups and different backgrounds.

Focusing on Building the Team and Belonging

When I had coffee with the younger colleague she shared her experience of being a ‘diversity hire’ at the historically white organization; it was clear she was feeling the impact of an organization that said it wanted her, but failed to show it. She talked about not feeling a sense of belonging and enjoyment in the workplace. She missed the sense of camaraderie and joviality she found at other workplaces – this place felt sterile with their unfamiliar whiteness.

As we talked, I asked about what led to the sense of isolation. She shared how meetings are structured and it is very business like, formal, and transactional – a format that worked before COVID when the organization was less diverse and had the benefit of being together in person more. The old team expected the new team members to slot into the previous structure versus bending, welcoming, and recognizing with diversity comes needing to adapt their practices as well. We talked about ways to survive the work environment. She shared she’s looking for other job opportunities, which I support since it takes organizations a long time to change. It is sad to see a talented person looking elsewhere when the onus is on the organization to change, not on people of color to change.

Building New Ways of Working

As your team diversifies here are some ideas to consider:

• Continually invest in training related to understanding how people work—racial equity training, anti-abelism training, anti-Blackness training, etc.
• An Executive Director colleague told me his organization invested in LinkedIn Learning and Masterclass. Their teams choose a few modules every quarter to review together, including modules related to race and justice.
• Never start a meeting with work – Spend time with some relationship building or an activity to allow people to get to know each other.
• Or never end a meeting with work — Another colleague said her department saves time at the end of every staff meeting for a “Two Truths and a Lie,” portion. She selects teammates ahead of time and emails them to see if they want to present, some opt-out. The entire team has fun and ends their meetings with some levity.  
• Manage for a changing team – Conflicts will arise based on the changing racial dynamics. Be ready to address them. Ignoring them doesn’t help the POCs feel like they belong or can thrive long term.

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Thank you to our Patreon subscribers. At this time I don’t offer ‘extras’ or bonuses for Patreons. I blog after working a full-time job, volunteer and family commitments thus it is hard to find time to create more content. Whatever level you are comfortable giving pays for back-end costs, research costs, supporting other POC efforts, etc. If your financial situation changes please make this one of the first things you turn-off — you can still access the same content and when/if you can re-subscribe I’ll appreciate it.

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Thank you for subscribing. Please check fakequity.com for the most up-to-date version of the post. I often make grammatical and stylistic corrections after the first publishing which shows up in your inbox. To subscribe — on the right sidebar (desktop version) is a subscribe box. To see what I’m reading and recommended books check out the Fakequity Bookshop. I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org where your purchases support local bookstores. I earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. The commission goes into purchasing books by POC authors or about disabilities to donate to high-poverty public schools.

I invited my middle schooler to share some of her favorite books. This installment is books by Asian authors, including a mix of graphic novels, chapter books, and her favorite web-novels (webtoons). She hopes you enjoy all of these books. Make sure to also check out her previous list of POC authored books. She still re-reads many of her previous recommendations. The recommendations and descriptions are by my middle schooler, I’ve edited the list for readability.

The Book List:

Unordinary is a book that questions stereotypes, such as perfectionism, and why some people are on top. It is a graphic novel set in a fantasy world, where people have superpowers and special abilities like time manipulation, or copying other people’s special abilities. It is a good book.

I’ll Be the One is a book about a girl who is overweight and enters a K-Pop audition. She is judged by others about her looks and weight and challenges the K-Pop stereotypes. It is about her journey on how she gets past those barriers. It is a realistic fiction chapter book; the first chapter book I’ve read this year.

K-Pop Confidential, I’m only around page 80, but so far I’m hooked. It is about what a K-Pop trainee goes through to become a K-Pop idol. It goes into a behind-the-scenes look at the K-Pop industry. This is a realistic fiction book, sadly there are no pictures of K-Pop stars.

Shiver is a manga collection of short horror stories, written and illustrated by Junji Ito. I learned about it from my friend. She showed me the book and I took it from her to finish reading it. I liked it so much that I bought a different book in the same series so we could trade. It is a fantasy fictional horror book. My brother thinks those words are synonyms, but I disagree.

A Silent Voice is about a girl who is Deaf and wears hearing aids. When she starts a new school she is bullied. Eventually, the girl transfers, and plot-twist the bullier is then bullied. Plot twist two – they grow up and reunite and are now friends. It is a manga with six books in the series so far.

If you like Webtoons here are my favorites:

Dark Moon: The Blood Alter is based on a K-Pop group Enhpyen’s album Dark Blood. Vampires, a girl with superpowers who starts a new school. Read it to learn more.

Operation True Love is slightly sci-fi because there is a phone that will tell the main character who loves her. She is about to die by a villain if she doesn’t get her love points up. The main character goes on a quest to get ‘love points’ to save herself.

Villain with a Crush is another sci-fi. People have superpowers and abilities. Rosa develops superpowers and is then feared because others don’t understand her new abilities. Is she good, or bad, and who’s side is she on? The story is a giant string of misunderstandings.

Avatar: The Last Airbender my mom made me leave this one on the list. I read one chapter and so far it is good.

Erin here: I’ll add a few non-Asian middle grade books to the list to round out the list.

Healer of the Water Monster was on the Seattle Public Library Global Reading Challenge list this year. I listened to it while walking the dog and loved the story about a Native American boy and his quest to save a water monster and to restore the rains and water to a drought-stricken area. It brings climate change to life through fiction. The companion book Heroes of the Water Monster is a must read after reading book one. That one touches on family and step-brother relationships too.

The Lost Years is not by a POC author, I’m including it here since it is set in Ukraine which is currently at war. Set during the early years of the COVID pandemic a 13-year-old boy, Matthew, is stuck at home with his centenarian great-grandmother and overworked mother. Matthew learns about his great-grandmother’s life in Ukraine during the 1930s USSR, living through famine.

For a nonfiction short book, She Persisted Simone Biles, is a good introduction to biographies. The 2024 Summer Olympics is coming up, so this book might help a young reader prepare for the summer sports extravaganza. She Persisted Naomi Osaka is coming out in July 2024; I’m excited about this book too.

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Thank you to our Patreon subscribers. At this time I don’t offer ‘extras’ or bonuses for Patreons. I blog after working a full-time job, volunteer and family commitments thus it is hard to find time to create more content. Whatever level you are comfortable giving pays for back-end costs, research costs, supporting other POC efforts, etc. If your financial situation changes please make this one of the first things you turn-off — you can still access the same content and when/if you can re-subscribe I’ll appreciate it.

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Thank you for subscribing. Please check fakequity.com for the most up-to-date version of the post. I often make grammatical and stylistic corrections after the first publishing which shows up in your inbox. To subscribe — on the right sidebar (desktop version) is a subscribe box. To see what I’m reading and recommended books check out the Fakequity Bookshop. I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org where your purchases support local bookstores. I earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. The commission goes into purchasing books by POC authors or about disabilities to donate to high-poverty public schools.

3/21 — when I’m writing, is World Down syndrome day, a good day, like everyday to work to learn more and to dismantle abelism.

I’ve written about this before, making statements after big tragic events – mass shootings, riots, disasters, war and violence. There is a formula – something happens, it is all over the news, people have feelings, statements are made saying there are thoughts and prayers, some may even say what they are doing to address the problem, then life goes back to normal.

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with a longtime friend. He was lamenting about how his organization is paralyzed about whether they should issue a statement about the devastation in Gaza, and the war between Israel and Hamas.  There are deep emotions on both sides.

As we talked, I mentioned I rarely issue statements. I don’t believe in making statements without action, and rarely are the conflicts in a space where we can directly impact the outcome. I do care, and I understand how statements and continued political pressure from many sides can create momentum. For me though that isn’t the right place to put my energy. I choose to reserve my time and energy into actions within my sphere of control. For others, statements are an important piece to creating political pressure and building a movement – I respect activists and organizers who move in those ways.

It’s about the conversations

International conflicts are not within my sphere of influence or control. I can’t stop the wars in Ukraine or Gaza. I can’t stop the killing of Black people by police. I can impact and influence people who I know and have relationships with.

In the immediate aftermath of the George Floyd killing many people had raw emotions— hurt, unease, disbelief, anger, denial, etc. I was feeling it too. I checked in with my team to see how we wanted to address the moment. As an organization we didn’t want to make a statement, instead we leaned on our collective skills and decided to host affinity groups to help people process what they were feeling – a non-Black POC space, Black people’s caucus, and a white people caucus.

After the 2016 presidential election, we did something similar. I called a friend and asked her to donate time and talent to facilitating a space for people to move through their feelings about the election of Trump. My friend skillfully facilitated a conversation and activity to help people move through their angst around Trump and move towards solidarity building. We asked the participants to extend their commitments further by supporting a POC led organization by volunteering or making a monetary donation.

These conversations and continued action were right for us. We leaned into how we operated with the principles of Color Brave Space – putting relationships first, creating a space for multiple truths and norms, focusing on collective goals, be kind and color brave, and to learn in public. Several friends have commented these principles were the heartbeat of our gatherings and we leaned into it through times of collective grieving and anger – the principles kept us ground and allowed us to have conversations that challenged each other’s perspectives.

Maybe for some of the people who participated in our past conversations, their views are deeper and if they do write a statement it is now more kind, color brave, and acknowledging of multiple truths.

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Thank you to our Patreon subscribers. At this time I don’t offer ‘extras’ or bonuses for Patreons. I blog after working a full-time job, volunteer and family commitments thus it is hard to find time to create more content. Whatever level you are comfortable giving pays for back-end costs, research costs, supporting other POC efforts, etc. If your financial situation changes please make this one of the first things you turn-off — you can still access the same content and when/if you can re-subscribe I’ll appreciate it.

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Thank you for subscribing. Please check fakequity.com for the most up-to-date version of the post. I often make grammatical and stylistic corrections after the first publishing which shows up in your inbox. To subscribe — on the right sidebar (desktop version) is a subscribe box. To see what I’m reading and recommended books check out the Fakequity Bookshop. I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org where your purchases support local bookstores. I earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. The commission goes into purchasing books by POC authors or about disabilities to donate to high-poverty public schools.

I’m not calling out specific white men – so if you identify as white and you identify as a man, and you know me don’t take this post personally, you don’t have to avoid me or be awkward around me – many of you already are either overly confident or get weird and try to give me all of your social justice credentials (I’ve had to endure many awkward conversations while white men explain why they aren’t typical white men).  

Are you really that fragile?

I’m tired of fragile white men who can’t take feedback or even slight pushback when someone tells them they need to consider a different way of thinking. Many of you have been told you’re right for most of your life. Rarely have you been questioned or asked to consider anything other than your own truth as being gospel truth. The thing is, that gospel truth is only YOUR truth, many of us may not agree but you are so fragile when anyone says anything otherwise you throw tantrums and we just throw up our hands and walk away – there are few direct consequences for your fragility.

Recently, I commented on an Instagram reel about how the white dog owner was perpetuating cultural appropriation by using a Hawaiian word. White men made up the bulk of the racist sub-comments. They couldn’t handle a little feedback saying a video they really don’t have a stake in might be wrong – protect whiteness at all costs. The white men also felt emboldened to type out what was on their minds, often rude and racist comments, and again no one checked them on their behavior – racism protects racism.

I’ve also seen white men throw tantrums in professional settings. It comes off as bullying and questioning. The peacocking behavior of puffing up the chest and needing to prove you are right is tiresome, especially when you’re not right. Dudes, there are better ways. I don’t need your tantrums, anger, or pretend nice. The amount of anger and passive aggressiveness POCs deal with is exhausting. Humility and being open to learning will go a long way. People don’t expect you to know everything, in fact, often it builds trust and respect to say “I’m not the expert on that, let me get back to you,” and then to follow up.

I’m not going to give you lessons on how to behave, you need to figure that out on your own. Many women of color and white allies have already given you lessons you probably have ignored. I know this will frustrate some of you who are like “You’re pointing out the problems but not telling me how to solve it, you are part of the problem.” I’ve been accused of that before. This is where I say, “It isn’t my job to teach you,” which will further annoy and possibly infuriate you. Recently I pointed out to a white male colleague why something is inequitable. He wrote back and said “What […] do you propose…” I wrote back a lengthy reply, complete with articles and links. I haven’t heard back. I gave a lot of free labor, thoughts, and teaching with no reply. I thought I was investing in a relationship to move a project forward, nope.

What I will give you is a reminder that there are better ways I hope you find some for yourselves.

I will drop this title if you want to learn more on your own time. Author Ijeoma Oluo did a fab job in her book Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America.

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Thank you to our Patreon subscribers. At this time I don’t offer ‘extras’ or bonuses for Patreons. I blog after working a full-time job, volunteer and family commitments thus it is hard to find time to create more content. Whatever level you are comfortable giving pays for back-end costs, research costs, supporting other POC efforts, etc. If your financial situation changes please make this one of the first things you turn-off — you can still access the same content and when/if you can re-subscribe I’ll appreciate it.

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Back in the 2000s and 2010s, diversity was the ‘in’ word. Organizations and companies set up diversity committees to ensure their company looked like a United Colors of Benetton ad – a multiracial group of people with different skin tones standing next to each other. It was a solid first attempt at breaking out of whiteness. Now we’re smarter than that and know that just throwing together a group of people doesn’t make them a cohesive unit, especially when putting together diverse adults.

We also know adding one person of color to an all-white group doesn’t change much. The power dynamics of the group will continue to favor whiteness. Having been that one POC in the room, I can also say it was often uncomfortable to have to bring up topics regarding race, who’s voices were missing, or other topics that went against the majority voice. For many POCs in those positions we know we need to disrupt the status quo, but it doesn’t mean we feel like we have security or belonging in that room. We need to be more thoughtful and change the dynamics of groups and rooms if we want to create deeper changes.

Socially Engineer Relationships

I’m a big fan of gently, but forcefully pushing people to get to know other people. If you think about a gathering you attended or an event you hosted with a group of people who didn’t know each other, what happened? I bet the people who know each other gravitated towards each other and the new people stood on the side or awkwardly moved about the room. As hosts and employers we need to do better at creating situations to integrate and force people to meet.

Recently, I met with a colleague who works for a large historically white-led and white-serving nonprofit. The organization is diversifying, but leadership and much of the staff, especially for the more tenured staff. My colleague is a POC and said while the organization is making changes it is hard to feel like she belongs there. The organization’s culture feels sterile and caters to whiteness.  

We brainstormed how to shift the culture of the organization to accepting POCs in the little ways she has the power to shift. We acknowledged it will be a long slog, that might be too slow for many of the POCs who have to work in it. This is also why leadership at all levels matters. We talked about ways she could influence her own team, and while others could poke and chip away at other parts of the organization.

In another example, I recently attended a small conference where it looked like many of the attendees knew each other from previous years. It was great to see so many enjoying themselves and reconnecting. That said, as a newcomer it was hard to break into the crowd and meet people. Having a sense of belonging takes more than throwing people into a reception room and providing them with drinks and appetizers. Socially engineering some forced ways for people to meet is helpful. It wasn’t until the end of the conference where we had to take several mini buses and vans and being stuck in there that I connected with people.

What to do…

Creating the feeling of belonging and inclusion take intentionality but aren’t hard. As a convener or host, you can do things like:

• Have name tags
• Assign seating or a way to force people to not sit with their friends, for online environments put people into breakout rooms  
• Provide conversation prompts (there are question banks on the Fakequity blog – here and here)
• Introduce people to each other
• Mix people up into different groups

For in-person office settings, having natural places where people gather is important. A kitchen table where people gather for lunch or snacks is a good place to start. Model using it and invite people to join you. I remember reading when Steve Jobs was building Apple’s campus, he wanted just one set of bathrooms in a central location to force people to bump into each other at that spot. He didn’t win that argument, but the idea is still true – people need places to organically grow relationships, synergy and belonging happen because of it.

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Thank you to our Patreon subscribers. At this time I don’t offer ‘extras’ or bonuses for Patreons. I blog after working a full-time job, volunteer and family commitments thus it is hard to find time to create more content. Whatever level you are comfortable giving pays for back-end costs, research costs, supporting other POC efforts, etc. If your financial situation changes please make this one of the first things you turn-off — you can still access the same content and when/if you can re-subscribe I’ll appreciate it.

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For this week’s blog post, I want to share a little about my Japanese American culture. Some of you may know about Girls’ day – Hinamatsuri, and for others this may be a completely new concept and holiday to learn about.

As a Japanese American, I grew up with many of the Japanese traditions, but they have been adapted in Hawai’i. One of the celebrations I grew up with is Japanese Girls’ Day, Hinamatsuri. Always celebrated on March 3, 3/3, it is one of five seasonal festivals in Japan. The other festivals are on 1/1 – New Year’s Day, 5/5 – Boys’ day and Children’s day, Kodomo no Hiこどもの日 – a holiday in Japan, 7/7 – bamboo festival, and 9/9 – Kiku Chrysanthemum festival. In Hawai’i, I only remember celebrating 1/1 since it is New Years day, 3/3 Girls’ Day, and 5/5 for Boys’ Day.

As a note, Hawai’i’s traditions are probably different from how Japanese people in Japan or other diaspora communities celebrate. Time, isolation, and proximity to other communities cause traditions to adapt and morph. In my view this is neither right or wrong, just the reality of migration and adaptation.

Girls’ day, represented by the peach flower, is celebrated with dolls. When a girl is born, she is given a set of dolls, hina ningyo or hinakazari (雛飾り), depicting the royal court of the Heian period wedding, to display on Girls’ day. These dolls are not to play with – display dolls, akin to a Christmas Nativity set that is put out once a year for a holiday. Sometimes these dolls are passed down through a family, or she’s gifted a new one. The dolls are set on a red cloth and arranged with the empress on the top and downward according to hierarchy. The dolls symbolize good health, prosperity, and traditionally a good marriage. It is also believed that displaying the dolls will ward off evil spirits.

My family didn’t put out a doll set. I vaguely remember making paper dolls at school or maybe in art class to honor the holiday.

Food

As a part of the Japanese diaspora and growing up in Hawai’i, I didn’t celebrate the holiday with a doll display. Instead, my mom would make a big pan of chi chi dango mochi to take to school and share.

Chichi dango is made of mochiko (rice flour), with conspicuous amounts of sugar, coconut milk and a few other ingredients. For a traditional Girls’ Day dessert, the batter is divided into three, and colored green, white, and pink to represent spring colors. My kids love chi chi dango and know to request it around Girls’ day. Their school friends also know to look for them around this time for a piece of the sweet dessert.

Other traditional foods include Chirashi-zushi (ちらし寿司) – served in a lacquered bowl it is more like a sushi rice bowl than rolled sushi, very festive. Ushiojiru (潮汁) is a clear clam-based soup with salt and sake – very spring flavors. And inarizushi (いなり寿司) is a favorite in our house, they look like pillow pockets of rice.

I hope you celebrate the girls in your life every day.

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It is mid-winter break so I also haven’t put a ton of thinking or research into the topic, even though it is an important one. It’s been rolling around in my head for a while.

In Fall 2023 I participated in the Marshall Memorial Fellowship, one of the signature programs of the German Marshall Fund. It was a privilege to spend three weeks traveling throughout Europe. As I wrote before Europe is impossibly far away from Hawai’i where I grew up, and only a hair closer to the West Coast where I now live. Before the fellowship, I rarely spent time thinking about international politics. I spend a lot of time thinking about city and local politics and policy. For many people and communities of color international politics don’t often feel relevant, and the media and policy think tanks rarely make the connections clear. I’ve heard communities of color ask why should we care about what happens abroad.

I get it. Local problems are in our face. they impact our neighbors and our friends. There is never enough money, attention, or time to solve everyone’s problems. There is also a feeling of if we can’t fix something like ensuring we have good schools, why are we funding and supporting international aid.

First, we should re-frame the conversation. Both are big problems and complex problems. One isn’t simpler to solve than the other. School funding, fentanyl addiction, local gun violence, and so on are problems that need to be fixed right now. The war in Ukraine and Gaza, immigration, climate change, and so on are also problems that needs solutions immediately. This is where we need to value both local and international problems.

For communities of color, it can feel like the conversation on international problems is sucking the oxygen out of the room. There is also a feeling of when will our problems receive attention; don’t tell us to wait cause we’ve always taken a backseat while other problems are fixed first. That said we also need to pay attention to and work on international problems as well.

It is only lately I’ve been paying closer attention to international politics. I still don’t understand 95% of it, but in paying attention the more I see the connections to local politics and policy. The conflict in Ukraine matters to communities of color because military action has always impacted communities of color. As an example, as artificial intelligence (AI) evolves and is used in military applications, such as removing the human element of harm with drones or the decision making around targets these can both be seen as advantageous to war efforts. But what happens when that technology is employed at the local level with law enforcement locally? What safeguards are in place to ensure it doesn’t harm communities of color? The questions are all interconnected and should haunt us.

Fentanyl usage and addiction is hurting many directly or indirectly in the US, especially in our communities of color. While the drug use is local, the problem extends from our borders to international politics when we look at the sources of the ingredients for the drugs. Communities of color cannot fix these problems on our own. This needs to be a coordinated local and international fix.

It is well-documented that climate change is impacting poor people of color differently than wealthier people. It is also true we need international solutions to get ahead of climate change. No individual community of color can fix it. Yet many of our communities of color are on the front line of finding solutions that work. The disconnect is are we listening to communities of color?

In a future post, I’ll explore more about what the international policy community needs to step up and build better relationships with communities of color to recognize the unique and different needs by communities of color.  

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Thank you to our Patreon subscribers. At this time I don’t offer ‘extras’ or bonuses for Patreons. I blog after working a full-time job, volunteer and family commitments thus it is hard to find time to create more content. Whatever level you are comfortable giving pays for back-end costs, research costs, supporting other POC efforts, etc. If your financial situation changes please make this one of the first things you turn-off — you can still access the same content and when/if you can re-subscribe I’ll appreciate it.

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Thank you for subscribing. Please check fakequity.com for the most up-to-date version of the post. I often make grammatical and stylistic corrections after the first publishing which shows up in your inbox. To subscribe — on the right sidebar (desktop version) is a subscribe box. To see what I’m reading and recommended books check out the Fakequity Bookshop. I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org where your purchases support local bookstores. I earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. The commission goes into purchasing books by POC authors or about disabilities to donate to high-poverty public schools.