Not Quite: Asian Americans and the “Other” in the Era of the Pandemic

Join Sycamore Public Library during Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month as we host Dr. Ada Cheng, professor-turned-storyteller, solo performer, and storytelling show producer.

In this performance, Dr. Cheng explores several major themes: the meanings of home(land), racial profiling and the image of the perpetual foreigner, and anti-Asian racism under the pandemic. The performance is 45 minutes, followed by a 15-minute Q&A with Dr. Cheng.

The stories will address the following concepts.

• Having citizenship is different from having a sense of home in the United States.
• Othering immigrants of color through institutionalized practices, processes, and mechanisms.
• How we reproduce inequalities through individual practices in addition to structural inequities.
• The importance of intersectionality, such as the connection among gender, race, class, sexuality, immigration, and citizenship.
• Historical and rising anti-Asian racism under the Pandemic as well as the necessity for cross-racial solidarity and alliance-building.

Dr. Ada Cheng was a tenured professor in sociology at DePaul University from 2001-2016, a job she left she to pursue storytelling and performance full time. She uses storytelling to illustrate structural inequities, engage social critiques, and build intimate communities.