DomingoYu.com

You've reached the home of DJ Chino, Domingo Yu, and Daniel D. Zarazua. Yes, we're all the same person, but each name has its role. As you browse the site, you'll quickly see that my interests revolve around urban music and education. On the music side of things I'm currently affiliated with Underground Resistance/Red Planet Records in Detroit. On the educational side I'm a teacher at Oakland Unity High School. Be sure to click on the student life gallery to get an idea of what's happening! I'm always trying to combine these two worlds and even though I'm California based at the moment I try to stay connected to my other homes, namely Detroit and Taiwan. Feel free to drop me a line! To check out my YouTube clips, click here.

Avatar retreads tired racial stereotypes

Posted December 29, 2009 6:38 pm (about 72 days ago)

Yesterday I added to the coffers of James Cameron and company, whose latest intake continues to surpass the GNP of several small countries (already grossing more than $600 million world-wide). There are plenty of reviews out there of course, but I was so taken aback that I thought I’d throw in my two cents. For those who know nothing about Avatar, it’s set about a century into the future and is about humans invading a planet for their natural resources. A Marine infiltrates the local populace through the use of an avatar, a representation of himself that looks similar to the locals, and ends up leading resistance against the humans, while falling in love in the process. The local population, know as Na’Vi are slender ...

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Interview with Taiwan's Warren Fox

Taipei-based, Seattle-bred renaissance man talks about martial arts, hip hop, and being Black in Taiwan. (Martial Arts photos courtesy of Justine Wang) (3 comments)

Recent Additions

• Doing It For the Kids Fundraiser-San Francisco, CA Gallery Happy hour fundraiser for various programs at Oakland Unity High School. Beyond good music and good people there was also live painting, with Principal Castillo and Vice Principal Zarazua as the subjects by Desi WOME! February 12th, 2010 at SOM Bar in San Francisco. Special thanks to Hakobo for hooking up the event. Juan Gomez for helping man the tables, and everyone who came out to support!
• Interview with Taiwan's Warren Fox (3 comments) Identity/Culture Journal Entry Taipei-based, Seattle-bred renaissance man talks about martial arts, hip hop, and being Black in Taiwan. (Martial Arts photos courtesy of Justine Wang)
• OGYMC Grand Opening-Oakland, CA Gallery Pics from The Oakland Green Youth Media Center, one of the city's gems. This center offers a variety of courses for youth, including music production, dance classes, leadership training. Participants and attendees included Colored Ink, Dr. Yvonne Cole (most famous as Keyshia Cole's foster mom), D'Wayne Wiggins, Grind For the Green, The Community Rejuvenation Project, and staff rom Youth Uprising. Pics were taken by Luis, a 9th grader at Oakland Unity High School, as well as a few by yours truly. They've been floating around a bit, but I finally got around to posting them here.
• Oakland Zoo Gallery A spontaneous visit to one of Oakland's gems. The day was overcast and the closing time wasn't too far off but I decided to go anyway. I'm an animal lover, but have mixed feelings about zoos. It's sad to see animals such as tigers and elephants confined to relatively small spaces. Watching chimpanzees watch us is always strange. Having said that, I get positive vibes from the Oakland Zoo staff and considering the alternatives for some of these animals (the tigers came from a circus), as well as their ability to make us care about their habitats, I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bath water!
• New mural at OGYMAC in Oakland (3 comments) Gallery Prep work for the Oakland Green Youth Media Arts Center Grand Opening. This new center for 12-24 year-olds offers a variety of programs including music production classes, tv shows, leadership training, dance classes, mural painting, and healthy living. This week's grand opening takes place on Thursday, January 14th, from 3-7 PM at 2718 Telegraph Ave. in Oakland and will feature dance and hip hop performances, as well as live painting and a reception.
• Angel Island, CA Gallery Pics from a recent trip that Oakland Unity High School took to this important piece of United States history. Angel Island is often called the "Ellis Island" of the West Coast. However, beyond processing immigrants they have little in common. Although immigrants processed at Angel Island came from all over, including Europe and Africa, the vast majority were of Chinese descent. More importantly, the majority of them were detained for weeks or even years, and even deported. For years the facilities which housed these immigrants were ignored but they've recently gone under renovation and offer tours. Despite the cold, this was a great trip for those interested in history and we had wonderful tour guides. Beyond the history component Angel Island offers hiking and camping for nature lovers.
• Avatar retreads tired racial stereotypes Blog / Journal Entry As with most futures not envisioned by people of color, the human population will still be predominately White. Beyond a few tokens, the rest of us still show up as the “others.”
• Washington D.C.-December 2009 Gallery Oakland Unity High School recently took 31 students to Washington D.C. as part of the The Close Up Program, whose purpose is to encourage students to be active citizens. Activities included a mock congress, a day on Capitol Hill, several workshops, and meeting with politicians, including Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. Of course there was a lot of sight-seeing, including major monuments and various museums. Other schools participated as well, representing places as diverse as Miami, Watts, Harlem, Hawai'i, and even Abu Dhabi. Here a handful of the hundreds of pics taken over the week. Of course the pics with students are more interesting but I figured I'd play it safe, in terms of what I post. Regardless, hopefully you can see that it was a phenomenal experience. I'd definitely recommend Close Up for any school and have to give a big thanks to Ms. Grant and Ms. Duros for making this happen at our school!
• Small Island Hip-hop Book Review Small Island is a complex, multi-layered book addressing a number of if issues such as race, gender, religion, and identity in general, set to the background of World War-II era England and Jamaica.
• New North Oakland Mural (2 comments) Gallery Not sure why, but by Tuesday morning the wall was painted back to its original, ugly green color.-11/10/09 Yesterday, The Community Rejuvenation Project completed a new mural in the Temescal district of Oakland with the theme “Save Our Kids, Stop the Arms Trade.” Connected to the main title are a number of cities, organizations, and other entities including Haliburton, the Oakland Police Department, Brooklyn, and community at large. While some may find some of the references to be controversial, the wall has already served its purpose in inspiring conversation and bringing the community together. Check out this link courtesy of New Village Press. Throughout the one-day project I stopped by a few times as I live near the mural’s site at 42nd Street and Telegraph. During each visit a number of people stopped by, including some neighbors with whom I’ve never had a proper conversation, which changed today. Everyone that I saw offered words of encouragement, appreciation and even coffee and food. A police squad car stopped by a couple of times and the second time I spoke with one of the officers who said that there was a complaint, which is why they came to investigate, but that he was glad to see the project happening as murals such as these beat the gang graffiti that often fills blank walls. I’ve lived near this wall for more than five years and it’s been either different shades of green or tagged up. This is a definite improvement and I’m glad that the building owner allowed this to happen! Much of the work that I’ve seen by Desi, a founder of the CRP and an after-school instructor at the school where I work, has been in East Oakland, so it was great to this so close to my residence. It definitely adds to the culture of the neighborhood and I look forward to seeing what happens next! Recently, the land near the mural had new plants added so these have both been pleasant surprises.
• Green Day and The Enlightment Period Curriculum I recently used this video in a World History class to see if students could apply themes we studied. This video deals with the idea of religion versus spirituality. While the majority of my teaching is standards based, I also like to work in these types of activities to keep things interesting and see if students are making connections.
• Interview on Waakao Taiwan Press Item After meeting up with Domingo Yu a few months ago on his recent visit to Taipei, his second home, we got a chance to sit and exchange a few words...and drinks with the traveler, teacher, dj and student of all things living and cultural. Waakao is happy to introduce this talented writer and dj who is also a mix of two cultures that rarely meet in Taiwan. Latin and Taiwanese.