![kiwizzo:
KIWI RUNS THE TOWN: Please sponsor me! Support our Young Men’s Program!
[Click here to DONATE NOW!!!]
Dearest Friends, Family, and Comrades
Growing up, I received all kinds of mixed messages about manhood and masculinity. As a Filipino man, those messages were even more complicated. Mainstream male standards of beauty, strength, intelligence, and coolness didn’t apply to us. And in turn, many Filipino & Asian men I knew fell pressure to these unrealistic expectations, overcompensating through toughness and bravado, often at the expense of the women in our families and community. At the root of all this was patriarchy, male supremacy, and heterosexism.
I was one of these men. Feeling invisible and powerless, I searched for my strength through substance use and gang violence. It got slightly better as I got older with the discovery of music and community organizing. But I still felt incomplete. And the realization I came to was that I needed to truly undo the patriarchy within me, and that it was going to be a lifelong process. A process made a little easier when one isn’t doing it alone.
Which is why I got into doing men’s work. Not just to provide men with alternatives or things to do, but to actually create a critical space for them to examine both the privilege and oppression they carry (a unique dynamic for Asian men in particular), to deconstruct masculinity and create a new, transformative, and holistic model of manhood, and to identify ways of being strong allies.
Last Summer, I was given an amazing opportunity to pilot a Young Men’s Program at Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice (ACRJ) in Oakland. It was the perfect space for my vision for this work, in an organization led by and for women and families. These 15 beautiful young Asian men came into this program with their whole selves, opening their minds and hearts to a newer, healthier way of being, and revealed the potential for conscious male allies to exist in our community.
Unfortunately, programs like this don’t have the funding (yet) to operate consistently and with the amount of time it deserves. And while the staff at ACRJ are working diligently to bring in money and resources, we could use a lot more support. This is where you come in!
On March 25th, I’m going to be running the Oakland Half-Marathon in dedication of our Young Men’s Program. By sponsoring me, you will be supporting programs such as these, as well as other important work ACRJ does.
Thank you for your support!
Much Love,
Kiwi/Jack
[Click here to DONATE NOW!!!]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly4893a6a61qctizzo1_1280.jpg)
KIWI RUNS THE TOWN: Please sponsor me! Support our Young Men’s Program!
Dearest Friends, Family, and Comrades
Growing up, I received all kinds of mixed messages about manhood and masculinity. As a Filipino man, those messages were even more complicated. Mainstream male standards of beauty, strength, intelligence, and coolness didn’t apply to us. And in turn, many Filipino & Asian men I knew fell pressure to these unrealistic expectations, overcompensating through toughness and bravado, often at the expense of the women in our families and community. At the root of all this was patriarchy, male supremacy, and heterosexism.
I was one of these men. Feeling invisible and powerless, I searched for my strength through substance use and gang violence. It got slightly better as I got older with the discovery of music and community organizing. But I still felt incomplete. And the realization I came to was that I needed to truly undo the patriarchy within me, and that it was going to be a lifelong process. A process made a little easier when one isn’t doing it alone.
Which is why I got into doing men’s work. Not just to provide men with alternatives or things to do, but to actually create a critical space for them to examine both the privilege and oppression they carry (a unique dynamic for Asian men in particular), to deconstruct masculinity and create a new, transformative, and holistic model of manhood, and to identify ways of being strong allies.
Last Summer, I was given an amazing opportunity to pilot a Young Men’s Program at Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice (ACRJ) in Oakland. It was the perfect space for my vision for this work, in an organization led by and for women and families. These 15 beautiful young Asian men came into this program with their whole selves, opening their minds and hearts to a newer, healthier way of being, and revealed the potential for conscious male allies to exist in our community.
Unfortunately, programs like this don’t have the funding (yet) to operate consistently and with the amount of time it deserves. And while the staff at ACRJ are working diligently to bring in money and resources, we could use a lot more support. This is where you come in!
On March 25th, I’m going to be running the Oakland Half-Marathon in dedication of our Young Men’s Program. By sponsoring me, you will be supporting programs such as these, as well as other important work ACRJ does.
Thank you for your support!
Much Love,
Kiwi/Jack
