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Episode 107: Building Hoosier Asian American Power


Guests: Maria Douglas - Co-chair, Hoosier Asian American Power


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Welcome to the HoosLeft Podcast, a show about Indiana politics, history, and culture from an unapologetically leftist perspective. My name is Scott Aaron Rogers and I’m recording from Bloomington.


So this may be the last one of these I do in this format for awhile. I resolved in the new year to spend less time editing podcasts and more time just getting valuable information out there. As such, I’ve got a series of LIVE interviews scheduled in the coming weeks with statehouse candidates like Nate Stout and Sharon Wight, labor organizer Mark Gevaart, and the multi-talented Dana Black, with more to come. Plus we’ve got a series of virtual town halls on the books with congressional candidates Brad Meyer and Jackson Franklin on top of our regular Sunday morning news show. Lots of big things on the horizon here at HoosLeft and Progressive Indiana Network, but first this can’t-miss conversation with Maria Douglas, co-chair of Hoosier Asian American Power.


From her bio at their website, Maria “is a transracial Korean adoptee. She has lived in Monroe County for over 30 years and has a Master Degree in Social Work. Maria labels herself as a “Community Servant.” She is former Vice-chair and current member of the Monroe County Women’s Commission, Advisor for the Bloomington’s branch of the NAACP Youth Council and the chair of the Schools Subcommittee. She co-chairs the Civic Engagement Sub-committee for HAAP. Maria works, every day, to embody the mantras “if you see something, say something,” “better together,” and “if you can’t love yourself how the hell are you going to love somebody else.”


This interview is a wide-ranging conversation about Asian American history, identity, political invisibility, and power-building, grounded in both historical context and Maria’s personal experience and organizing work. I’ll frame the discussion by situating Asian American history within the broader (often sanitized) story Americans are taught, then hand it to Maria to unpack how Asian American communities have been erased, stereotyped, and fragmented — and what it takes to build political consciousness and collective power, particularly in Indiana.


But real quick, before we get to the interview, a big ask. This is an independent media project; we don’t paywall content; we don’t sell out to advertisers; we don’t have billionaire benefactors. Only individuals like you keep this thing going. It is a foundational principal of HoosLeft and the Progressive Indiana Network that we refuse to hide valuable information behind paywalls in the middle of a political crisis, even if that’s not in our financial best interest. So please, if you find value in this work, go to ProgressiveIndiana.net and subscribe at the paid level - it’s only $5 a month, or $50 a year, to help us build the infrastructure that will pop the right-wing media bubble in this state. You can make a one-time contribution to HoosLeft on Cash App (https://cash.app/$scottrog78) or Venmo (https://account.venmo.com/u/hoosleft) . Links are in the show notes.


If a paid subscription isn’t the cards for you right now, that’s okay. You can still help out by liking and sharing on social media, commenting, leaving reviews, providing feedback, and forwarding articles to your people. Get us next time. Mostly, we just want you here in this community of Hoosiers dedicated to making this state, and its government, work for all of us, not just the elite few. Please join us.


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Now, here is my conversations with Maria Douglas.





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In The Interview:


4:30—10:30 Introduction to the Asian-American Journey


Whitewashed American history glorifies European migration, brushes Native genocide under the rug, and talks SOME about the Black struggle, but rarely tells Asian-American stories.


Recommended Reading


Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White by Frank H. Wu (Bookshop (https://bookshop.org/p/books/yellow-r...) )


The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority by Ellen D. Wu (Bookshop (https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-colo...) )


10:30—21:30 Exploitation, Colorism, and Historical Parallels


How Chinese m...