Secrets
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This blog post falls under the Asian American writers support category, though I don’t know if it could be its own category since I don’t blog about it nearly enough. When we talk about Kingstonism and other forms of orientalism that box us into stereotypes, it seems clear to me that interesting stories are out there. We just have to look for them.
I was looking at the DailyKos today. “Kos,” the owner of the site, linked the Time Magazine First Annual Blog index, where the editorial staff of Time describes and rates top blogs. Most of the blog choices for the first annual rating were what one would expect–the Daily Kos, the Huntington Post, and Gawker were all referenced and linked. Most of the other blogs were also pretty standard–Treehugger for environmentalists, Engadget for people who love gadgets, etc. Stuffwhitepeoplelike wasn’t there yet, but I’m guessing it’s just a matter of time.
However, one of the blogs listed stood out from all the rest. The blog is called PostSecret. The idea is simple: the blogger, Frank Warren, encourages people around the world to write their secrets on a handmade postcard and to send it to him anonymously. The only rules are that the secret must be truthful, and that the secret must have never been spoken before. He then scans and posts the postcards on his blog, which is updated every Sunday. Warren describes it as an “art project,” and it is. Some of the “secrets” are hackneyed and obvious, but many of the postcards seem to ask more questions than the statement would imply.
Like this one for example:
[written inside card]
SINCE MY SON WAS STILLBORN AT FULL TERM I HAVE SOMETIMES THOUGHT OF KIDNAPPING A BABY THERE ARE LOTS OF CARELESS UNDESERVING BAD PARENTS I WOULE BE A GOOD MOTHER I CANT HAVE ANOTHER BABY
What every happened to this woman? Where is she now? What is she doing? What is she thinking? What will she be doing in 20 years?
The art project is an awesome idea. There are so many stories that we don’t hear, but they are out there. It’s just a matter of engaging people.
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Ike
8:23 am | Apr 09, 2008Eh, after a year and a half of reading PostSecret, I’m not impressed. What it amounts to is a website centered around privileged whining. Not surprisingly, there are also a lot of racist postcards that are sent in.
http://www.racialicious.com/2008/01/09/black-people-dont-care-about-darfur-note-from-postsecret/
http://www.racialicious.com/2007/07/20/confession-of-racism-on-postsecret/
http://www.racialicious.com/2007/04/23/asians-scare-me/
jaehwan
11:30 am | Apr 09, 2008I’m going to have to disagree with you somewhat, Ike. I think it’s great that someone can confess their own racism. To me it’s a whole lot better than “I’m not racist…my girlfriend/boyfriend is Asian/black!” And in terms of the questions, I think that story also asks a lot. How will these people end up if they have a difference in what they feel about race and what they feel about the individual?
I do see how it might get tiresome after a year and a half though…