Editorial

New Year, New Resolutions

01 Jan 17

As we ring in the New Year, many of us are filled with resolutions – goals we conjured up from moments that either taught us something in 2016 or left us with regrets from 2016. I am excited to share both my personal and professional resolutions with the readers of Asia Today that have become like our extended family for completely different reasons. The personal one I hope inspires more to join me because it is one that is truly needed by South Asian Women in the United States and the professional one will benefit our readers in the coming year.

My personal resolution is inspired by a poem of Sarah McMane’s in which she beautifully incorporates Paddleford’s famous line “Never play the princess when you can be the queen.” A poem titled “For My Daughter” sends a strong message for women – a message we must send our sisters mothers, daughters, friends, especially now. We are raised in a culture where we are brought up to believe women are inferior; maybe there are those that are lucky to have parents and families that do not differentiate between a daughter and a son but even their daughters and sons will be influenced by this culture they are a part of through their extended families, friends, religious institutions, or social circles. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child and that village will also impact your impressionable children. We are descendants of a culture that has teaches our women they are inferior and, to top it off, we live in a country whose new President will add fuel to the fire by his ignorant, sexists, and backwards mentality. So, now more than ever, it is important to teach our daughters the sentiments behind McMane’s words: “:Never play the princess when you can be the queen: rule the kingdom, swing a scepter, wear a crown of gold. Don’t dance in glass slippers, crystal carving up your toes -- be a barefoot Amazon instead, for those shoes will surely shatter on your feet... Learn to speak with both your mind and heart. For the ground beneath will hold you, dear -- know that you are free. And never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.” And it is more important that you have a 2017 where you never have to look back and say “I wish...” because you have already made all your wishes come true!

For a more professional resolution as it relates to Asia Today, my goal is to highlight more of our events around the valley. While we have been successful in covering the public happenings around the valley whether they be religious/cultural celebrations or not for profit/charity events, there are a lot of unique private parties happening where our cameras have not yet reached. As we kick off 2017, we are introducing a new column titled “Happenings with a Twist.” This column will highlight a unique private party in the valley that is not tied to a commercial or not-for-profit cause. To make it into the Asia Today edition, there should be something unique about the event – it could be the venue, the food, the entertainment, anything that makes it not your typical, desi party! For a chance to get coverage in the upcoming editions, please submit your entries to editor@asiatodayaz.com. With this step forward, we are looking forward to growing in 2017 by highlighting moments a little closer to our readers’ homes. I look forward to all your entries!

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! Thank you for your continued support!