DEAR AMJAD, YOSSI and EZRA

 

DEAR AMJAD IRAQUI, YOSSI KLEIN HALEV, & EZRA KLEIN:

I am writing this letter to you after having listened to two episodes of the Ezra Klein podcast as follows:

• The November 7th episode where Ezra interviews Amjad, and
• The November 10th episode where Ezra interviews Yossi.

Thank you all for availing yourselves to these conversations which in turn allows me to confront and grapple with the difficult and conflicting narratives surrounding the current state of the Middle East.

OCTOBER 7th

October 7th is fresh on my mind because it seems like it happened just yesterday. My body responded to that day with my jaw dropping, my eyes weeping, and my heart aching for the people murdered and tortured by Hamas. Today, it's almost two months past October 7th. And before we know it, we will see October 7th shapeshift as it drifts farther away from us. As i see the brutal retaliation by Israel with countless deaths of innocent Palestinians, my jaw drops, my eyes weep, and my heart aches. My soul shakes into a single-word prayer on repeat. That single word is: Please. In Spanish it's por favor. In Korean, it's 제발.

To try to understand WHY October 7th happened, I know I need to understand a story that doesn't begin on that date. It begins more than 75 years ago, maybe longer than that, back to 1917 when Palestine was under British rule, and the British announced a "national home for the Jewish people" to be developed within historic Palestine (Balfour Declaration, November 9, 1917).

A student of mine who is of Arab descent joined me in taking on the challenge of also listening to your interviews, examining your conflicting narratives, and writing among many things in her paper that "both Palestine and people of Jewish descent share indigenous roots to this region and there needs to be a mutual agreement on this from both parties."

Let's assume that everyone can agree to that. Even with such an agreement there have been bad behaviors that get in the way of long-term hope for peace because no one seems to be able to move past the bad behaviors and the insatiable thirst to exact the next best revenge.

BAD BEHAVIORS

Bad behavior #1 of many: Israelis have been militarily occupying Palestinian territory. Extremist religious settlers have invaded much of this territory, inch by inch, in a way that threatens the very existence of the Palestinian people and subjugates their daily existence in oppressive and humiliating ways. Yossi: Even you point out that you (along with many Israelis) who have opposed Netanyahu and his regime's oppressive treatment of Palestinians were marching in protest against Netanyahu all the way up to October 6th, with the threat of an Israeli civil war in regards to this injustice, moving increasingly toward the realm of possibility. And how after October 7th, all of that changed, as the trauma inflicted by Hamas has banded Israelis together to respond not to what was immediately in front of them pre-October 7th but what they see immediately in front of them post-October 7th: fear and terror.

Bad behavior #2 of many: With the departure of Israelis from Gaza in 2005, Palestinians voted in Hamas to lead Gaza. Yossi: you describe Hamas as the materialization of an idea—that Israel needs to be destroyed—a materialization that views armed terrorism as a tactic that you, Amjad, characterize as being the only viable tactic that Hamas believes in, because Hamas believes other tactics as having been ineffective. When I listen to your explanation of this, I have to remind myself that what may sound logical on paper is illogical in real life. I reject the notion that armed terrorism is a tactic equally weighted and therefore interchangeable with other tactics.

PEACE & LIBERATION

My student who has seen in the media, the relentless bombing of Gaza, argues that Israel is now acting beyond the scope of self-defense and says, "This is not self-defense, it is execution for Palestinians." She further points out the irony of an Israel set on destroying Hamas since as Yossi points out, Hamas is not just a militia, but an idea. And ideas cannot be destroyed. Especially through bombs. My student concludes her piece fueled by righteous anger that "Peace isn't the answer; liberation is."

I understand her rage. Though I have never lived under occupation, my parents have. From 1910 to 1945, Japanese colonizers occupied the people of Korea, including my mom and dad. And on August 14, 1945, Korea became divided into a North and a South, split along the 38th parallel, marking the surrender of Japan and ushering in the end of WWII. This division was intended to be temporary. Some 78 years later, "temporary" can be used to describe the division ironically, certainly not realistically. It is a division that makes we Koreans fear half of ourselves and distrust and begrudge neighbors who look more like us, eat more like us, and have cultural mannerisms more like us than most of the world. And despite the sameness, they for 35 years colonized us. Occupied us. Humiliated us on the daily.

OCCUPIERS & OCCUPIED

As author Kathy Park Hong points out in her book Minor Feelings, Koreans are a people who have always been on the run as we:

... first went to Manchuria to escape the Japanese occupation, then to Seoul to escape the Soviet invasion, then to Busan to flee North Koreans, and finally to the United States to escape the South Korean dictatorship. And in this 21st century, we know that life in North Korea remains a nightmare, causing people who choose the potential terror that will be theirs if caught defecting, to try anyway.

How can neighbors with an ancestry so similar have constructed relations where one became occupier and the other occupied? This is a question that can be asked not only of the Japanese and Koreans but also the Israelis and Palestinians. How can neighbors who hold legitimate indigenous roots to a region and even share a Semitic identity (i.e., Semites are people who speak Semitic languages especially Hebrew and Arabic) be at once occupiers and the occupied?

I think there is a growing societal sentiment that in order to pursue justice, we need to become agnostic toward the idea of compassion. More and more, I see jaws not dropping and hearts not sinking unless there is assurance that it's safe to do so; that is, as long as the suffering can be framed to keep a pure tribal fidelity of narratives that say who is qualified to be viewed as victims and who is not. It is a rigid binary that I am sure exhausts even the most fervent tribal leaders.

GEORGE FLOYD

When the George Floyd murder happened a few years ago, the pain in the community had people saying assorted things. One thing that some people said was "defund the police." Other people said other things that weren't as sensational, which was essentially, to improve the police. And to improve human connection. To get people talking and interacting and connecting and caring to combat loneliness and to foster belonging. To get bad cops out of the force and to get leadership to negotiate and collaborate and create new and better ways of policing. 

THAT IS MY UNCLE

Before George Floyd was Rodney King. During the civil unrest that exploded in response to King's unwarranted beating by police in 1992, a weird tension developed between African Americans and Korean Americans in Los Angeles. Korean businesses were being looted and vandalized, with a narrative that justified this action, pointing to Koreans' stoic and unfriendly demeanors, along with their businesses profiting from African American patrons. There were ridiculous and hurtful sentences hurled from both communities.

Why do I bring this up? Because in that moment, I felt there was a hopelessness kicking in with people starting to believe that peace was less important than liberation. I felt a desperation when my uncle decided to arm himself to protect his business in Los Angeles as he and his community were being targeted as the oppressive enemy. On the one hand, I wanted to shout to my uncle: "Stop! We are in the same boat as them!" And on the other hand, I wanted to shout to the African American community: "Stop! That is my uncle! That is not Laurence Powell! That is not Daryl Gates!"

And the entire experience had me ask: How can freedom have value when the context is violence and terror?

I thank you for giving these interviews so that I can have the opportunity to strengthen my thinking. As President Obama recently stated, there is no way to speak the whole truth at once. We can speak a slice of truth. And if we dare to be truly brave, we can listen to, and grapple with other slices. I realize that to speak even one small slice, a lot of time and energy is required. I thank my student and also my trusted colleagues for joining me in investing this kind of time and energy at this moment. Perhaps they will join me and perhaps you will also join me in my current single-word prayer to God who I think can be accessed through many paths:

Dear God: 

Please. Por favor. 제발.

 

Hear my prayer. 

Amen.

Sincerely,

Jenny 

//

Amjad Iraqui is editor at +972 magazine and policy analyst at the Al-Shabeka think tank. Here is the link to his interview with Ezra Klein.

Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Here is the link to his interview with Ezra Klein.

Memorial Gathering at Good Neighbor Park

 

Thank you to the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marina at The City of Long Beach's for today's Memorial Gathering at Good Neighbor Park. I had the honor of remembering Gerardo in the company of many wonderful people, including how Gerardo's life was a master class on how to disarm the most tense situations through storytelling and also how he was all about valuing the cumulation of small steps toward the right direction. Poco a poco. Evolution. Not revolution.

Thank you in particular to the current Director of PRN in Long Beach, Brent Dennis who with his team made this day happen.

Thank you to a few of my trusted girlfriends for being there. And Also Valerie Davis (Gerardo's former work colleague) for being there.

Thank you for Hurley and his dog for sharing about the impact that Gerardo had not just as a manager but a leader. He distinguished that many can manage people but few can lead people.

I was able to share a passage from one of Gerardo's favorite authors: Antoine de Saint Exupery:

It was a lovely memorial and I am grateful. Thank you.

The memorial tree lives in Good Neighbor Park in Long Beach, off of Studebaker and Barrios, in case you ever want to visit it and have a moment of reflection.

The tree is young and doesn't yet cast a large shadow. And as Antoine de Saint Exupery reminds us in his work Wind, Sand and Stars:

"Old friends cannot be created out of hand. Nothing can match the treasure of common memories, of trials endured together, of quarrels and reconciliations and generous emotions. It is idle, having planted an acorn in the morning, to expect that afternoon to sit in the shade of the oak."

Best Season

Here. There. Everywhere. • Solo Art Show

September 30, 2023 • 6-9PM • Lido Peninsula

Artist Remarks: Jenny Doh

COMMON AS THEY ARE

Each of us have come here tonight from all sorts of places with all sorts of stories. All sorts of loss, all sorts of hurt, and all sorts of renewal.

What I want this show to accomplish is for the art to help us feel the innocence of childhood and the related pensiveness of adulthood. I want those shared feelings to help us acknowledge our commonalities. In these current times when we might feel the exhaustion of social divisions, there is no denying that our stories, as unique as they are, are also common as they are. Because we've all been through it. The innocence, the loss, the hurt, the renewal. 

BEST SEASON

The season I currently find myself in is no longer spring. It's also no longer summer. It's probably late fall or maybe early winter. I recently heard Presbyterian Pastor Bryan Eckelmann recount a story about a cute young toddler on the plane that they were both traveling on. The toddler was looking out the window and excitedly point to a plane and saying "Plane!" And then point to another and another saying "Plane! Plane!" Bryan then asked the parents of this boy whether the boy realized that he himself was on a plane. Because sometimes, we don't have the wide angle on us to realize that what delights us is what we are in.

As a kid when my season was spring, I didn't realize that I was in what many consider the best season. I just remember wanting to be in the next one, so I could do grown up things.  

When I was a new mom, I longed for a season in the future where my babies could feed and bathe themselves so i could sleep for a continuous eight hours in a clean shirt.

Consider with me, the beautiful words of Chinese poet Wu-Men as he writes:

Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,

A cool breeze in summer, snow in winter, 

If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, 

This is the best season of your life.

What delights us over there is also here. It's everywhere. You and me. We are always and already on that plane of the best season of life.

//

Thank you to event sponsors Emery Financial, Lisa Heaney and Adam Heaney.

Thank you to the organizing team: Matt Norred (Installation), Kiersten Short (gallerist), Shawn Marie Turi, Jordan McAuley, Hannah Cooper, & Iain Stewart (photography).

Thank you to musicians: Nick Yee, Destinee Alera, and Greg Remender

Photo gallery by Iain Stewart.

Baby, you can drive my car (to the art show)

 

Just to make sure you have all the info regarding parking for the Art Show this Saturday, September 30, 2023 from 6-9 pm, here's a map of Lido Marina Village. The red dot indicates where the show will be. If you are lucky to find street parking, it'll be free starting at 6PM. If you decide to park in the structure, here are things to keep in mind:

Again, the art show is not offering parking validation. You can visit any of the quaint bayside cantinas and have a drink/nibble or go for a stroll and they will validate you. Please don't lose your ticket. A lost ticket is $50. 

It's Here!

 

On behalf of the sponsors and organizing team, I'm delighted to welcome you to my solo art show where you'll experience a unique night of art, music, and human connection. The DATE and TIME: Saturday, September 30, 2023, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.

The LOCATION of the event is Emery Financial, 3532 Via Oporto, Suite 208, Newport Beach, CA 92663 (Gray building in Lido Marina Village, right next to Nobu restaurant. You can type in Nobu in Lido Marina Village in your GPS if you want to use a well-known landmark. From Via Oporto when facing the water, go up to the second floor.)

In Newport, street PARKING is free starting at 6PM. There aren't very many spots but they are there, especially if you are able to walk a few blocks. There is also covered paid parking that can be pricey. The Art Show will not validate parking but you can visit any of the quaint bayside cantinas for a drink or a nibble or go for a stroll. They will validate you. Other options include valet services at Nobu. Carpooling and Ubering from nearby may also be good options.

As you are getting close to the space and you need help navigating your way, please look for PINK arrows and also feel encouraged to text or call Shawn Marie at 714-422-8250

We are Lisa, Jordan, Kiersten, Hannah, Shawn Marie, and Jenny. We are ready to welcome you, help you feel connected, and enjoy the evening.

The Selfishness of Others by Kristin Dombek

It's become chic to be a victim. 

And it's easiest to point to the lowest hanging fruit—usually someone the "victim" once loved (and probably still loves) as the source of toxic boundary-less oppression. In The Selfishness of Others by Kristin Dombek, it is observed that in the 21st Century, the "victim" will probably go to the Internet for help and there, be told that, "yes, your loved one has the same disorder as the murderers, a new selfishness different in scope but not in quality from those characters who are the very incarnation of what we mean when we say evil. You'll read, in that sizable portion of the self-help Internet we might call, awkwardly, the narcisphere, a story that can change the way you see everything, if you start believing in it ... You're the hero (pages 6-7)."

Most of these victim-heroes frequently point to their anxiety and depression as evidence of the wrong that has been done to them as they pursue therapy or coaching that isn't free:

"In the company of these websites, you can begin your 'recovery journey' of healing. The websites lead you to books written by the same people who wrote the websites, books designed to deepen your understanding of the trap you've fallen into and how nearly impossible it is to get out without the support of (page 24)" any number of gurus and coaches making videos that they sell for 20 or 30 monthly bucks or more than that for individualized coaching. 

The "victim" spends countless hours hunched over a screen to find evidence within the mound of illogic to validate their situation. After all, asks Dombek, "How can the person who sucks the conversational air out of a room and the one who lights it up, the one who can't keep a job and the one who leads an organization, the one who is overly positive about herself and the one who is overly humble, the one who takes all and the one who gives all, have the same disorder? (page 23)"

Not only is it not free in terms of money, it's not free in terms of emotion as these para-professionals make bank on the unknowing victim-heroes and urge them to do the unimaginable, which is to cut off contact with the ones you once loved (and probably still love) by practicing either NC (no contact) or NCEV (no contact ever again). And they help put a "brave" sticker on such behavior and then lead you to the next step of the recovery journey, which is to practice radical self-love. To look at yourself in the mirror and fall in love with you, you, you. Nothing matters more than you. Fuck them all. 

You are the one that matters. 

You are the hero. 

You are.

You.  

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

In 2002, when Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides was published, I bought a copy. I was 35 years old. I knew it was a book about sexuality but I wasn't sure what about sexuality the story was EXACTLY about. I assumed it was about a homosexual person because back then, when sexuality was the word, that word had me leap to the letter L (as in Lesbian) or G (as in Gay) and maybe even B (as in Bisexual). Having lived my life as an H (as in Heterosexual, not Hermaphrodite) with a husband and two children to underscore my "normalness," it felt thrilling to occasionally enter portals of taboo through books, to explore stories about being with a man and also with a woman. For whatever reason, I never read Middlesex back then.

This year in 2023, I bought the book again and this time, I had a better idea about the portal I was entering. Sexuality in this story is less about L or G or B and more about I (as in Intersex) and T (as in Transgender but not the kind of T that is sweeping the current times with about 20 percent of the US youth population claiming T status through self-identification but rather, the 1.7 percent of the global population born as Intersex where sexual anatomy upon birth is neither male nor female because of the uncommon presence of an extra Y chromosome in the person's genes.) Once upon a time, Intersex used to be called H, as in Hermaphroditism. 

Calliope Stephanides is the protagonist of Middlesex where upon birth, she presents as female with sexual anatomy that is consistent with a girl. The beautiful and difficult story of Calliope and her Greek-American ancestry is one where she doesn't develop like other girls mainly because of the extra Y chromosome that her body has had at birth but doesn't get detected until much later. Through this discovery during her adolescence, Calliope decides to transition into Cal and exist more as male than female. Not all Intersex people transition to the gender that they were not assigned to at birth. Some decide to keep the original assignment. Cal represents the segment of Intersex people who do transition into the gender that they were not assigned to at birth because in hindsight and current sight and future sight, it feels more correct.

The first half of the book lays the fascinating historical context of Calliope's Greek ancestors who grew up in Mount Olympus in Asia Minor and immigrated to Detroit, Michigan and became the definition of American resilience. The incestuous intricacies of Calliope's ancestors help explain how chromosomes may have mutated to create Calliope. This aspect of the book could feel uneasy for those who don't like the word "mutation" or "aberration" or "abnormality" to describe any human, let alone one's child.

As a mom, I understand ferociously, that instinct.

I also understand that being born with an extra Y chromosome is different than an XY boy wanting to play with dolls or an XX girl wanting to dress like a boy. Or a 35 year old married woman wondering in the middle of the night what it would feel like to make love to a woman.

I've seen the best of America. I've lived it. The best of America protects the vulnerable. We protect the boy who plays with dolls, we protect the girl who dresses like a boy. The best of America also protects the 1.7 percent of the population like Calliope transitioning into Cal—who are at odds with chromosomes that make gender identity a true biological conundrum. 

I also think the best and level-headed segment of America protects parents who want to push the pause button for their kids and breathe a collective breath, especially when the extra Y chromosome isn't present, to help their children grapple with pink, blue, purple, dolls, balls, L, G, and B ... until they are fully mature and ready to take adult medical steps for T, as in Transgender. 

Commission Me

 

SUBJECT & STYLE 
Whether it's a portrait, still life, figurative, floral, or abstract, I am up for the challenge of creating a painting for you. Thank you for your interest. I'm assuming that your interest reflects your attraction to the style of my work, which is loose and expressive. Sometimes I call my style representational abstract. I also call it whimsical angst. My style is NOT hyper realism so if you want a painting to be an exact replica of an image, I'm not your artist. 

Please email me two images of the subject you have in mind and allow me to pick one from the two. Please do not email me any image that you do not want me to select. Images with high contrast (lots of light and shadow) are the best.

*PRICING* for ART 
Along with the images of your desired subject, a non-refundable $100 deposit Venmo is usually how we can start the process. The balance of the the work can be rendered after delivery of the work priced as follows for smaller (up to 8x10 inches); middler (up to 11x14 inches); larger (up to 30x30 inches):

• Smaller acrylic: $200 

• Middler acrylic: $240

• Larger acrylic: $400

NOTES: I've done commissions for much larger canvases and if that is your desire, we can discuss details. If you'd like the work to be done in oils or gouache, pricing will change slightly.

SHIPPING & MATERIALS
Shipping costs will be calculated and I will let you know how much that will be and ask you to add it to your final payment before I ship it. Better yet, if you have a FedEx account, I can ship it using your account number. Material costs will also be calculated in for works larger than 18x24 inches. If you are able to pick up the work from my Santa Ana studio, that would also work.

*ASTERISK*
If after you see the final painting you do not love it, you do not have to buy it. I will accept the deposit as payment for the work and keep/sell/repurpose the art. With very few exceptions, I will not repaint portions of a final painting.

My Travel Teaching Program

 

Thank you for your interest in having me travel to your space to teach art. I am grateful to be able to enter my new life chapter where I can once again say YES to travel teaching. I consider every invitation an honor and am committed to organizing and executing each workshop experience with artistic depth, elegance, meaning, fun, and approachability for learners of all levels. Here are some questions and answers to questions related to my travel teaching program:

Q: What sort of art workshops do you teach?
A: The following seven categories of art are generally what I teach. 

• Expressive Acrylic Painting: 1 full day up to 3 full days
• Expressive Watercolors & Stitches: 1 half day up to 2 full days 
• Expressive Gouache Painting: 1 half day up to 1 full day
• Wire Sculpture: 1 half day up to 1 full day 
• Cardboard Art: 1 half day up to 1 full day
• Free Motion Art Stitching: 1 half day up to 1 full day
• Art Journaling & Creative Lettering: 1 half day up to 1 full day 
• 1 half day = 3 hours
• 1 full day = 6 hours + 1 hour for lunch

Within the above categories, I can tailor the workshop with an emphasis that you're interested in. For example, within painting, we could focus on portraits, or figurative art, or florals, portals, or still life,  etcetera. 

Q: Do you provide tools and materials?
A: No. With each workshop, I provide a list of materials that each student needs to bring to the workshop. Also, the hosting studio would need to equip the area with tables, chairs, and any other items that would help each student feel comfortable to create in.

Q: Can you teach art in a corporate team-building setting?
A: Yes. I have experience leading corporate team-building experiences through art. As long as your office can provide the space, and each participant is provided with materials for the workshop, it can happen. 

Q: What is your rate?
A: The hosting studio will be in charge of collecting payment (with any overhead markup for the studio) and then paying me per the following rates: 

• 1 half day: $50 per student per half day
• 1 full day: $100 per student per day
• 2 full days: $200 per student for 2 total days
• 3 full days: $300 per student for 3 total days

*Some classes will have a kit fee ranging from $10 to $40 per student which I can either collect from students on the day of the workshop or the studio can collect on my behalf and then transfer to me.

Q: Do you need support for travel expenses?
A: If your space is far enough where I need lodging, I would love it if you could host me in your home/facility so that neither you nor I have to budget for lodging. If there is not a host facility, I would appreciate support to offset lodging costs that I incur. If I travel to your space by air, I would need support to offset air travel and potentially ground transportation. 

Q: Do you have an enrollment minimum/maximum?
A: My minimum enrollment is six to eight students. I have no maximum.

Q: Can you help promote the workshop?
A: Yes! I think promotion is a team effort and I feel very comfortable using all of my social media platforms to creatively and effectively promote my workshops.

Q: I've taken your workshop. I want to paint with you in a private or semi-private setting. Is that possible?
A: Yes! If you are able to travel to my home studio in Santa Ana with a brown bag lunch, a private full day would be $200 per day. If you are able to bring another person or two for a semi-private, it would be $180 per day per person.

Q: I have a small group of people who want to go to your studio to paint. Is that possible?
A: At this time, my home studio can accommodate 4-5 people for a full-on painting workshop so yes. Each person would need to bring a brown bag lunch and for out-of-towners, you'd need to research and secure your lodging and ground transportation.

Q: I have a small group of people who I want to host either in my home or our community center for a celebration and I want them to paint. Would you be available for that?
A: Yep. This would be possible. Send me an email at jenny@crescendoh.com to iron out the details.

Q; Anything else?
A: I'm super open to communicating with you to discuss the specifics of what you're looking for and using our best ideas to make the workshop happen. Please feel free to email me at jenny@crescendoh.com to start the conversation. Please take a look at my expressive style of art at @jennydoh on Instagram and also at jennydoh.com. Loose and expressive is what I'm drawn to and what I teach. I am grateful for your interest.

Thank you.

Photos below are of some workshops I've taught in past years in
wonderful studios across the nation with extraordinary hosts and inspiring learners.

(San Diego, 2023)

(Seattle, 2017)

(Houston, 2017)

(Corporate team-building, Santa Ana, 2018)

(Bakersfield, 2016)

(Portland)

(Shreveport, 2019)

(Denver, 2018)

(Portland)