My whole family owns/operates/works in Chinese restaurants so lemme tell you:
-We chop all our vegetables FRESH
-We butcher our own chicken from whole chickens (we strip the breasts/tenders from the torso; we debone the thigh meat)
-We use the bones to make chicken stock for our soups
-We roast our own pork/ribs in an in-house smoker
-We peel and devein all of our shrimp BY HAND (this is what i did as a kid)
-We make our own dumplings/wontons/egg roll/spring rolls/breaded shrimp BY HAND (none of these are frozen)
-We used to make our own dumpling dough from scratch, but it was a lot of work and we switched to premade but many other places still do this
-All sauces and marinates are made by hand (no premade/store bought)
-All gravy is made by hand from scratch
-All soups are made from scratch
-Egg Foo Young takes FOREVER TO MAKE (there are like 7 different steps and you can only make one order at a time)
-An average take out restaurant has 3-6 employees (oftentimes family)
-Most employees work 6 days a week/60-70 hours a week
-Many employees live with their employers, sometimes very far away from their families (ie a father sending money back to his wife and kids in China)
-Owners (such as my parents) usually work 7 days a week, 364 days a year (we close on thanksgiving)
-Oftentimes kids will be helping out/hanging around bc they can’t afford childcare (I’ve been cashiering since i was 10)
SO WITH ALL THIS IN MIND, it’s really hurtful when someone complains about our prices. Averaging $5-$10/person (which is FAST FOOD LEVEL PRICES), the food you get has fresh vegetables, fresh meat, no weird preservatives—all cooked to order.
“HOW MUCH did you say this cost??? WHEEEEW!”
“You’re taking all my money!”
“(Asks for extra thing) Why does that cost extra?”
“So what do i get for free for spending $20?”
“How’s your pork made? It ain’t dog meat, is it?”
—all hurtful things I’ve personally heard and had to grin and bear
For some reason, it seems people don’t respect Chinese restaurants. You would never treat a Western-owned restaurant like this. Even places like PF Chang and Panda Express (who DO NOT use fresh ingredients) can overcharge out the wazoo but no one complains because they’re oftentimes being served by Western faces.
It really hurts for people to act like my family’s hard work isn’t worth anything to them.
Treat your locally owned business with respect. Treat your Chinese restaurants with respect. Really think about the food you’re getting and all the work that goes into it. Think of all the hard working people behind bringing you this meal you’re about to enjoy, a meal you didn’t have to prepare (this goes for fast food too).
Above all else, TREAT OTHER HUMAN BEINGS WITH BASIC DIGNITY.
^^^ all of this. Read it.
As a chef, Asian food is very complex and intriguing. Please respect the craft!
Over his lifetime, acclaimed Nigerian photographer, J.D. Okhai Ojeikere, photographed thousands of hairstyles worn by Nigerian and African women. Today, these photographs have been seen around the world and continue to inspire stylists, hairdressers and photographers alike.
To pay homage to Ojeikere’s work, photographer Medina Dugger created the Chroma photo series, which she describes as “an ongoing series that celebrates women’s hairstyles in Lagos, Nigeria through a fanciful, contemporary lens.”
fuck, either i need some new tumblrs to follow or maybe people should stop (re)posting for what looks like hours on end. i checked 3 times to make sure i wasn’t accidentally on your tumblr..
We didn’t have a word for our, as you guys call, gay/lesbian people. So we coined that word as an umbrella for all our tribes. We never said, “Well, you’re transgender. You’re bisexual. You’re lesbian.” We never knew those terms. Those are all from Western culture, you know, LGBTQ and all that. So on some level, it’s about getting rid of labels. Those terms were forced upon us.
this week has been shit and at the very worst of it all has had me
wanting to throw all the men and/or masculine people into a garbage can.
if ima struggle, ima struggle with my people. SHOW ME THAT YOU ARE MY
PEOPLE.
and big ups to me for pushing past my discomfort and self-doubt around being fucking angry and letting it be known in yo face
the more i yell the more it feels not like a temperament i’m trying on for size but a bellow that has long existed within me it’s not a whole voice i needed to find but a tone that has bounced around my spirit too long it’s finally finding freedom frequencies to carry its flow
You guys should watch PBS documentary on Evangelical Christians who are against abortions but are pro gun rights. The way they think makes absolutely no sense.
It makes perfect sense when you realize that they’re not really Christians. They’re white nationalists aka racists hiding behind the bible. They utilize the fight against abortion to disguise their white nationalist baby breeding agenda.
Kochiyama was a civil rights activist who fought for the anti-war movement, black power, and atonement for Japanese internment.
2. Queen Liliuokalani
Adding historical context to the phrase “Yas Kween,” Queen Liliuokalani was the first female monarch of Hawaii and last sovereign of the Kamehameha dynasty (which ruled Hawaii since 1810) after its U.S. annex in 1898.
3. Sarojini Naidu
A child prodigy and poet, Naidu was the first female president of the India National Congress AND first female governor of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
4. Grace Lee Boggs
Considered the eldest human rights activist of our time, Boggs was a philosopher who fought for women’s rights, environmental justice, black power (alongside Angela Davis and Malcolm X), and labor rights.
5. Corazon Aquino
Having served as the first female president of the Philippines, Aquino’s leadership stemmed from opposition to then-dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
6.
Anna May Wong
Considered the first Chinese-American film star, Wong gained international recognition through dozens of movies in Hollywood and Europe.
7.
Trung Sisters
The Trung sisters, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, were freedom fighters who led a rebellion against the Chinese Han-dynasty with a group consisting mostly of women fighters in 40 A.D., briefly establishing a sovereign state.
8.
Aung San Suu Kyi
Winner of a Nobel Peace Prize and recipient of a Congressional Gold Medal, Suu Kyi is a politician and writer whose activism started with peaceful movements for democracy.
9.
Maya Lin
Lin is a designer and architect who, at the age of 21, designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. NBD.
10.
Phoolan Devi
Devi’s story bears remarkable similarities to a blockbuster film: Nicknamed “Bandit Queen,” she took up a life of burglary and ultimately became a gang leader after enduring sexual abuse from a young age.
11. Junko Tabei
A mountaineer, Tabei was the first woman to reach the top of Mount Everest in 1975 and, subsequently, was the first woman to climb the Seven Summits (the highest peaks of the seven continents!) in 1992.
