From the Margins | Issue 10
Discover 7 powerful Asian American Substack writers covering activism, healing, social justice, culture, and community stories
Periphery is a publication dedicated to fostering greater understanding and appreciation of Asian cultures and experiences among a global readership. Subscribe to Periphery to diversify your reading and discover unique writing.
Announcements
Don’t forget to get your entries in for Periphery’s current submission period (deadline June 30)! Theme: desert. Submission guidelines.
- ’s DEBUT NOVEL, The Lights of Shantinagar is coming out next week on June 5, 2025!
Aspiring quantum physicist Sumi is newly married and has moved into her husband’s family home. Here she observes that the beguilingly tranquil middle-class town of Shantinagar is not very different from her beloved quantum world: the happenings in one house are cryptically entangled with things next door, objects mysteriously disappear and unexpected interactions reveal surprising truths.As the line between right and wrong begins to blur, new discoveries force the residents of Shantinagar to reflect on what they truly know about themselves and the ones they love. Meanwhile, Sumi must blend logic with love to make sense of her new circumstances.
The Lights of Shantinagar is a warm and lively portrait of family life set in modern India where new philosophies are reshaping old traditions and one woman’s astute observations can change everything.
Preorder Nidhi’s book here.
Do you have news you’d like included in next month’s issue? Email me at tiffany (at) peripherylit (dot) org by June 20, 2025.
This issue of “From the Margins” is brought to you of Silent No More.
I’ve been an advocate for others since I can remember from childhood through my teen years.
After graduating high school, I became politically active, lobbying on Capitol Hill, participating in forums, marching in demonstrations, and writing opinion pieces for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
In the early ’80s, my activism turned to one-on-one support as a volunteer for the local rape crisis center. In the latter part, my world turned upside down and I began the long journey of addressing my childhood abuse.
Since the ’90s on, music would become the focus of my activism as I brought original songs and written performance pieces to vigils for victims’ rights, asylum seekers, and candlelight memorials for the Students of Tiananmen Square.
I’m multi-racial, half Canadian French (father) and half Asian (mother). I strongly identify with my Asian roots, even as I was raised to be white and suppress the Asian in me under my father’s best efforts.
I’m so grateful to Tiffany Chu for giving me this opportunity to immerse myself in strong Asian voices this month.
Each one of these Substack writers speaks to a part of who I am—activist, healer, artist. They are all powerful.
Stop Fixing Yourself. You’re Not a Problem to Solve
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writes Another Shot at LifeAs a survivor of childhood grooming and sex abuse, the healing journey is central to my life. It’s the path I have walked to reclaim my identity and my voice. Akanksha writes about the healing journey. Her voice is compassionate, her insights invaluable.
In “Stop Fixing Yourself. You’re Not a Problem to Solve.”, she writes:
Most importantly, you don’t need to ‘fix’ yourself to deserve love and acceptance.
Move forward with curiosity about who you become—rather than fear about who you’re not. And watch your confidence soar.
This hit home, because in my healing, I’ve had to disentangle the deeply embedded message that I’m inherently flawed. So, for a long time, growing for me has meant fixing that. This article reminds me that it’s not about fixing but moving forward, with curiosity and kindness, closer to what and who I am becoming.
Akanksha brings this empowering perspective to all her writing.
The Angry Daughter
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writes Ask the PatientDr Zha is a primary care doctor who serves marginalized communities. She is a primary care physician and advocate for her patients. She writes about social justice, medical ethics/racism/misogyny, and reproductive rights. Oh, and she’s a children’s author. Her newly released book, Why We Eat Fried Peanuts, is about her great grandmother, “the most important ancestor without a name.”
The phrase, “most important ancestor without a name” went straight to my heart on so many levels.
An essay that deeply touched me is The Angry Daughter, where she connects with the daughter of a patient who was an immigrant to the US.
“What did you say?” Lynn asked, her guard still up.
I met her gaze. “My parents don’t speak English either,” I said. “And if I ever feared they weren’t treated fairly, I’d do exactly the same.”
Lynn’s shoulders loosened. The fire in her eyes was not extinguished, but tempered by something else—recognition. She waited for the “but.” It never came. Because this wasn’t the prelude to an excuse. It was a truth laid bare.
A silent pact between two daughters who refuse to let their parents be overlooked.
What I love about Dr Zed Zha’s writing is that she puts so much of herself into each telling without getting in the way of the story. It amplifies the story, making it both personal and universal.
She is present as a writer. I can imagine how present she is with her patients.
A Tyrant can’t fix your dating crises. You can.
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writes Huey Li and the NewsSometimes, things are so bad you have to laugh, and sometimes, you need a little help. Huey Li helps.
Let me give you a few examples from his essay/podcast episode, A tyrant can't fix your dating crises. You can.
“I’m not a dating expert, but I have some advice that I can guarantee will help you. You won’t believe how simple and costless they are.
Firstly, do the fucking dishes! Put it in your Tinder profile! I do dishes! Capitalized, OK?”
And this one:
You want to flirt? Stop sharing your stupid dickpics. Nobody gives a fuck about your private parts. Send something you just cooked. Dishpics, not dickpics. Get it?”
Then this one:
I read this article on Substack. The author is not a hardcore MAGA guy. He’s definitely well-read because he has a way bigger vocabulary than I do. I needed a dictionary to read that shit. But you know, nerds can be incels too. That guy’s basic argument was that feminism will kill “civilization” because straight men will lose their motivation to work.
Wow. If men are that fragile, maybe they should be replaced by AI. Like, get it over with. You know what I mean?
Huey Li writes about economy, politics and political science, and also just life. He does it with expertise, clarity and humor, and if he can’t do it with humor, he’ll stab it with all due sarcasm that’s quite satisfying.
What Was the China Doll?
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writes Half-Caste WomanFor most of American media history, what little there was of Asian representation reflected the bigotry and biases of the larger culture, blending diverse Asian cultures into two-dimensional stereotypes, one-size-fits-all.
Only recently is it beginning to change appreciably. Hopefully, it will forge on through today’s anti-diversity sentiments and decrees.
Katie Gee Salisbury, author of Not Your China Doll, a biography about Anna Mae Wong, is an amazing historian, researcher, and writer.
In What Was the China Doll?, she writes:
I came up with the title Not Your China Doll before I’d ever written a word of the book itself… I liked turning the idea of the China doll on its head, a stereotype that Anna May Wong was so often made to play, and remolding it into a statement of defiance. No, I will not play your China doll anymore. Because I have thoughts and dreams and a voice. I will not be bound by the fantasy you project onto me.
She weaves part of her story into her writings about other people, her perspective, what brought her to asking the questions she asks. I feel like I’m listening to a personal conversation with a well educated and empathic friend when I read her work.
Turning stereotypes on their heads, humanizing the people hidden behind them, and helping to see your own self clearer is the magic and prose of “Half-Caste Woman”.
Chinese woman detained by US border patrol dies by suicide
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writes The Rebel YellowThis newsletter is like a newsfeed of information. In the “About” section, they write:
We are a pioneering newsletter dedicated to amplifying Asian American stories. From community issues to global events, Rebel Yellow dives deep into the stories that matter to Asian Americans.
Within the essays the author(s) provide links to where they sourced their information. I appreciate that. I prefer essays that link to resources, where appropriate, but because the author(s) are anonymous, these links are even more important to me.
The opening introduction in The Rebel Yellow – Issue #53 shows the content covered in this issue.
A Chinese woman dies by suicide in U.S. border patrol custody — and Rep. Jayapal says “there’s no excuse.” The U.S. quietly bans romantic ties between diplomats and Chinese citizens, while Southeast Asia scrambles to respond to Trump’s tariff war. Plus: Myanmar turns to China after a deadly quake, and Gabbard drops climate change from the U.S. threat report.
Also inside: Miyazaki’s legacy meets AI art, a Black samurai sparks gaming’s latest culture war, and Japan’s royal family logs on to YouTube.
I like having “Rebel Yellow” as part of my news intake. It’s easy to have our community overlooked in legacy, or mainstream, and much of independent, media. Nice to have this information in one place.
Korean Table Manners
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writes Everything About KoreaI found out, courtesy of Ancestry.com, the family story I was raised on, that I was Chinese-Not-Japanese (all one word) was incorrect.
Not only am I, indeed, Japanese in addition to being Chinese, I’m also Korean. While I ran away to China in my mind, where I believed I had family, when I was being abused, and while I had memories of my time in Japan when I was very young and a deep heart connection there, I knew nothing about Korea.
I was delighted to find this publication by La Seoulite, a friendly introduction to Korean culture. His writing is conversational and informative.
One of the biggest cultural shocks—an unmitigated shock—came when I learned that a son-in-law could call his wife’s father by his first name. To any Korean, this is unthinkable. For those of you who may be dating a Korean (or Asian) boyfriend or girlfriend, you would do well to remember this.
This practice may be shared by different Asian cultures, but other practices are not. He, also, goes on to state that:
Unlike Japan and China, you’re not supposed to hold the rice (or soup) bowl in your hand close to your mouth. In the old days of Joseon up until a few decades ago, that was how street beggars ate, and you obviously don’t want to replicate that.
La Seoulite also posts videos of Korean music and art. I love the personal guide and story-telling way to learn about Korea.
“Refugee” for (white) me, but not for (brown and black) thee
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writes Katie PhangI lean toward discovering smaller or relatively unknown creatives, writers, and activists, because they are an essential part of the wealth of American Asian diversity, perspective and voice.
Katie Phang is neither small or unknown. She’s a well-known and respected legal analyst who recently left MSNBC. But I still picked her as part of this my recommendations, because she is someone I would have loved to have looked up to when I was growing up.
She’s a nod to my inner child.
Most of Katie Phang’s work is in videos, but she does write a few essays on her Substack. Refugee for (white) me, but not for (brown and black) thee is one. She writes:
[W]hile the doors to America have been decidedly slammed shut to true refugees who are attempting to escape persecution in their home countries, this Trump Administration is tripping over itself in its haste to roll out the red carpet for white Afrikaners.
Katie Phang is a brilliant legal analyst. She’s witty, funny, and articulate. She’s also practicing law again as a form of her advocacy for democracy as she continues to serve as a legal analyst.
I’m entering my 70’s this year, but she can still be someone I can look up to, maybe not to be like her, but to be like me with the same excellence and passion she holds for herself.
This issue of Periphery features was curated by
of Silent No More. Thank you, Demian! If you enjoyed these picks, be sure to subscribe to her Substack.
A very warm welcome to the newest additions to the Periphery Directory!
and .Glad to have you all in this growing community.
To join the directory, you can fill out the form here.
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