Sonia Patel's Blog, page 6
March 27, 2020
Mental Health in Hawaii: Coronavirus & Quarantine
Check out this great article in Civil Beat by Brittany Lyte. https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/03/coronavirus-is-spiking-levels-of-anxiety-panic-and-stress/ I’m grateful to be included!
https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/03/cor...
March 10, 2020
February 12, 2020
December 19, 2019
SEX TRAFFICKING: THE MANY LEVELS OF VIOLENCE & OPPRESSION
Eva’s heartbreaking story published by both SLATE & SEARCHLIGHT NEW MEXICO reminded me of Rasa and the real life teenager she’s based on...violence and oppression on so many levels.
November 27, 2019
SOCIAL JUSTICE!
Here’s a link to the Social Justice Books website: https://socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/south-asian/#ya
November 13, 2019
IMPEACH TRUMP, NOT RANI, NOT ANY BOOK.
RANI PATEL IN FULL EFFECT and other books made a Fox news clip last night. And I’m pumped because it means RANI is making people uncomfortable, as she should. It’s uncomfortable being an incest and rape survivor. It’s uncomfortable surviving misogyny and oppression. Check out the email below for the link to the Fox news clip.
From: Equality Loudoun
Date: November 13, 2019 at 5:32:24 AM HST
To: contact@soniapatel.net
Subject: RANI PATEL IN FULL EFFECT Part of Controversy Over Diverse Library in Virginia
Hi,
I just came across your post https://soniapatel.net/blog/2019/10/12/rani-patel-in-full-effect-part-of-controversy-over-diverse-library-in-virginia
I want to thank you for taking the time to address the issue of diverse books and censorship. This matter is ongoing in Loudoun County. We were out in force for last night's school board meeting.
https://www.fox5dc.com/news/lgbtq-school-book-controversy-in-loudoun-county?fbclid=IwAR2PeVpFqb1WNAZ0exToNGKO0wWuRBqVdOeKFuuqhsAvvdNWTJuH4A1tAbw
People in purple support the diverse classroom library and our LGBTQ community. Footage from last night's meeting will be posted this afternoon.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/perversity-angry-parents-protest-lgbtq-books-in-loudoun-classrooms/2019/11/10/6dbe0024-01b3-11ea-9518-1e76abc088b6_story.html
If you are ever in the DC area, we would love to have you for an event! We recently partnered with a local bookshop, Scrawl books in Reston, for our #BigGayBookDrive. I am sure they would love to work together on an event with you.
Respectfully,
Equality LoudounSteering Committeewww.equalityloudoun.org
FB @EqualityLoudounOrgTwitter @EqualityLoCo
November 6, 2019
October 12, 2019
RANI PATEL IN FULL EFFECT Part of Controversy Over Diverse Library in Virginia
Incest. Rape. Drugs. Alcohol. Physical violence. Emotional abuse. Hip hop. Rap music. People of color. Misogyny. Feminism. Native Hawaiian oppression. Molokai. Real issues and place that some people in Virginia want to erase out of existence.
A vocal group of parents and concerned citizens in Loudoun County are trying to remove Rani Patel In Full Effect, among other young adult books, from a diverse classroom library collections established this year in their public school system (https://twitter.com/ReadingDanger/status/1182899701491916800). They’re concerned “that the new collection uses the concept of diversity as a Trojan horse to slip in titles that contain age-inappropriate, sexually explicit content (https://www.loudountimes.com/news/diverse-classroom-libraries-spark-debate-in-loudoun-county/article_62e8671c-eaa6-11e9-ac15-4f7856694f30.html).” The diverse book collection was created by the school system’s Division of Teaching and Learning so that “classroom and school libraries reflect our values and contribute to developing student identities; therefore, our collections must reflect and honor our student population and those around them. Access to books in the home, school, and classroom has a strong correlation with reading proficiency. Students who read more also have stronger vocabulary, background knowledge, and empathy (https://www.lcps.org/Page/221803).” Diverse race, culture, language, religion, disabilities/abilities, and LGBTQ were included in the collection.
As a child and adolescent psychiatrist, I’ve spent over sixteen years listening to and treating youth from all walks of life. Many of these youth are marginalized and have suffered horrific trauma. And this trauma actually harms their brain development at a biological level, resulting in long term difficulties with negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. These youth are hard pressed to find themselves represented in celebrated, best-selling young adult books. That’s why diverse books are crucial—both for them and for youth who may not be exposed to those types of hardships. Diverse books offer youth a chance to contemplate the human condition, learn about people, ideas, and experiences different from their own, build empathy, compassion, and understanding, find mirroring of their own experiences, and/or help them figure themselves out.
Though banning books is nothing new, removing or restricting books based on the objections of a group of people continues to be a threat to freedom of speech and choice. Censorship reinforces narrow-mindedness, racism, white privilege, and misogyny. But more than that, it’s akin to wiping out the existence of entire populations, ideas, and experiences.
Rani Patel In Full Effect is set on Molokai and based in part on my experiences growing up there and the experiences of girls and women I’ve treated from there, Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island. To ban Rani means to erase all of us women of color who’ve endured some or all of: rape, covert incest, overt incest, emotional abuse, and misogyny. To ban Rani means to erase how drugs and alcohol can impact a rural community. To ban Rani means to erase Native Hawaiian issues. To ban Rani means to erase Molokai.
October 3, 2019
September 11, 2019
FORTUNATE TO BE PART OF THIS GREAT PODCAST FROM CINCO PUNTOS PRESS!
“From the El Paso-based indie publisher, Cinco Puntos Press. Writers talk with each other about their books. This episodes features Sonia Patel, author of BLOODY SEOUL, chatting with Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee, co-authors of CHEF ROY CHOI AND THE STREET FOOD REMIX from Readers To Eaters. They had a wonderful conversation about the connection and comfort food can bring us, the concept of sohn maash in Korean culture, why we should make the world bigger instead of trying to fit in, and many more great things!”
