Social Justice Fried Rice
I hope you like fried rice. Or, social justice advocacy. Or social justice with a side of fried rice!
Because this article is all about how to make the meanest fried rice and the most meaningful social justice advocacy.
*** If you'd like to take a break from screen time and from reading, please listen to me read this blog article to/with you below. [The audio is 4 minutes 47 seconds long] ***
My Chinese grandma on my dad’s side and my Thai grandma on my mom’s side both agreed that the best fried rice had all the left-over produce in the fridge.
No matter how much or how little they had in their fridge, our home smelled so heavenly every time they made fried rice.
I apply this same time-tested tip to social justice advocacy- use what’s already in your fridge.
The most popular question I got from parents and social justice allies in 2020 was: “What can I do to help?”
My response was…you guessed it… “What’s already in your fridge?”
Whether you have carrots, eggs, collard greens…
Or intention, resilience, kindness, education, social network, ancestral blessing…
Use as many ingredients as you’d like.
Oh, and don’t forget the three ingredients EVERYONE has: privilege, power, and position (the 3 P’s).
Use them too.
If you’re racialized as White, identify as male, and belong in the upper social class, you’re in a position to have access to resources. You have even more privilege and power compared to other people with different intersecting identities.
That means you can choose to shift from “power-over” to “power-with” and share access and resources with others.
So, use as much of your 3 P’s as you want, depending on how spicy you want either of your fried rice or social justice practice to be.
If you’re reading this article and aren’t racialized as White, you have the 3 P’s too. Having the physical ability (eye sight and hearing abilities) and knowledge to read and understand English (literacy skills) are advantages that not everyone has.
Now that all the ingredients are in the wok (or pan), it’s time to add seasoning!
What’s your secret sauce? Your unique qualities that make this social justice fried rice irresistible.
My grandmothers’ secret sauce/ingredient to her actual fried rice is salted fish(and a pinch of passive aggressiveness…oh I missed her haha).
My secret sauce to social justice advocacy is human connection, humility, and persistence.
When I’m not on the streets marching, I can get people together, provide details in spreadsheets, organize and mobilize in a day!
Your secret sauce could be care and love for children. You may use it by providing childcare for your neighbors who want to attend a Black Lives Matter march.
If you make a great boba tea, bring it to the mutual aid meeting for extra nourishment.
What’s your unique secret sauce that you already have in your fridge?
I love using this fried rice example because so many of us get very charged when we hear the word “privilege.” And we get stuck in a shame spiral and become paralyzed by fear.
Fear of saying the wrong thing. Fear of getting cancelled.
Fear of being unskillful at this political-cultural analysis that’s new to some of us.
Privilege is neither good nor bad. What matters is how you use it.
It’s just one ingredient and you can decide how and how much to use it in your social justice practice.
The question isn’t “Do I have privilege?”
Because you do have privilege.
You also have persistence, passion, pain, power, hope, courage, compassion, skills, education, training, life experiences, humanity, and a long list full of other ingredients.
The question then becomes “How can I enrich my advocacy with all parts of me and all ingredients I have…with safety, boundary, and dignity?”
For more of my secret sauce (that you can’t quite find in your local Asian grocery stores) for the social justice fried rice, check out the In-Out-N-Through® Program.
Happy cooking!
PS. If you’re reading this article at midnight and wanting some fried rice with Chinese sausage, I got you haha. I love Khun Pailin’s fried rice recipe. Enjoy!