i am a shrimp, and these pages are my chips.

what: shrimp chips is a place for the exploration of arts & culture & politics coming out of the Asian diaspora today. it focuses primarily on the US, Canada, and UK but looks to histories across time and place. i’m hoping to write to and for my fellow diasporasians, because so often, we are not deemed a worthy audience to write to, even by folks within our own communities.

why: it’s shrimp chips, because shrimp chips are legendary snacks of the highest order, just like us!! shrimp chips come in all shapes and colors and sizes. shrimp chips unite the diaspora.* shrimp chips are food, and food is how we show love, and i hope this blog can do the same.

who: me.

a note: i don’t specifically include Pacific Islanders here, because i want to honor the fact that many Pacific Islanders feel more aligned with Native & Indigenous communities & struggles than they do with Asian ones. and while i like the idea of all of us being in community in such a way that warrants the AAPI/API/APA labels, i also acknowledge that those labels may feel untrue to many Pacific Islanders and that i personally can’t speak as confidently to the “PI” in “AAPI.”

*while shrimp chips are technically the provenance of Southeast and East Asia, the South Asian homies have been known to enjoy a shrimp chip or 20 too.