{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/0r9m32p207/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Episode 7: Mother Tongue"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2022-05-23 (released)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Audio"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eThis episode is also available in Tibetan. You can find it in our podcast feed. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor Tibetans in their native country and around the world, preserving the Tibetan language means preserving their culture. Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, these vital parts of Tibetan identity have been under grave threat. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor the past six decades, Tibetan refugees have managed to keep their culture alive in India, where they formed a democratic exile government once headed by the Dalai Lama. Since the US Immigration Act of 1990 provided immigration visas to 1000 of these refugees, exiled Tibetans have made homes away from home in America as well. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this episode, we’ll hear how the sizable Tibetan community in Queens has managed to preserve their mother tongue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eResources mentioned in the episode can be found below:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.tibetaction.net\"\u003eTibet Action Institute\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.tcnynj.org\"\u003eTibetan Community of New York\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.yindayincoaching.org\"\u003eYindayin Coaching\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\u003ca href=\"http://www.tendor.bandcamp.com\"\u003eTendor’s Songs\u003c/a\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis episode was produced by Tenzin Tsetan Choklay in conjunction with Anna Williams, and Natalie Milbrodt. It was hosted by J. Faye Yuan.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMixing and editing by Cory Choy with music composed by Elias Ravin. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVoiceover work by Tenzin Sangmo and Dan Harumi.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAdditional music by Tenzin Dorjee (Tendor).\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSpecial thanks to Tibet Action Institute, Tibetan Community of New York, Yindayin Coaching Center, and Yodon Thonden. \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis podcast has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this episode are those of its creators and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of National Endowment for the Humanities, Queens Public Library, the City University of New York, or their employees.\u003c/p\u003e (general)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eThis audio piece was produced by the Queens Memory Project and is available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License. For inquiries, please contact queensmemory@queenslibrary.org.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Tenzin Dorjee (Tendor) (Contributor)","Pema Dorjee (Contributor)","Dakpa Yeshi (Contributor)","Rinchen Dolma (Contributor)","J. Faye Yuan (Host)","Tenzin Tsetan Choklay (Producer)","Natalie Milbrodt (Producer)","Anna Williams (Executive Editor)","Elias Ravin (Composer)","Cory Choy (Sound Mixer and Editor)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English (primary)","Tibetan (secondary)"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eThis episode is also available in Tibetan. You can find it in our podcast feed.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eFor Tibetans in their native country and around the world, preserving the Tibetan language means preserving their culture. Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, these vital parts of Tibetan identity have been under grave threat.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eFor the past six decades, Tibetan refugees have managed to keep their culture alive in India, where they formed a democratic exile government once headed by the Dalai Lama. Since the US Immigration Act of 1990 provided immigration visas to 1000 of these refugees, exiled Tibetans have made homes away from home in America as well.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eIn this episode, we\u0026rsquo;ll hear how the sizable Tibetan community in Queens has managed to preserve their mother tongue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eResources mentioned in the episode can be found below:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003col\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.tibetaction.net\"\u003eTibet Action Institute\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.tcnynj.org\"\u003eTibetan Community of New York\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.yindayincoaching.org\"\u003eYindayin Coaching\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.tendor.bandcamp.com\"\u003eTendor\u0026rsquo;s Songs\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003c/ol\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThis episode was produced by Tenzin Tsetan Choklay in conjunction with Anna Williams, and Natalie Milbrodt. It was hosted by J. Faye Yuan.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eMixing and editing by Cory Choy with music composed by Elias Ravin.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eVoiceover work by Tenzin Sangmo and Dan Harumi.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eAdditional music by Tenzin Dorjee (Tendor).\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eSpecial thanks to Tibet Action Institute, Tibetan Community of New York, Yindayin Coaching Center, and Yodon Thonden.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr /\u003eThis podcast has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this episode are those of its creators and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of National Endowment for the Humanities, Queens Public Library, the City University of New York, or their employees.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eThis audio piece was produced by the Queens Memory Project and is available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License. For inquiries, please contact queensmemory@queenslibrary.org.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/159/952/small/Episode_7.png?1653315750","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - QMP_07_TenzinChoklay_Mother_Tongue_English_Master_2022-05-19.mp3"]},"duration":1464.456,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/159/952/small/Episode_7.png?1653315750","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/159/952/original/QMP_07_TenzinChoklay_Mother_Tongue_English_Master_2022-05-19.mp3?1653314715","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":1464.456,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: This episode of the Queens Memory Podcast has been produced in English. If you’d like to listen in Tibetan, you can find that version in our podcast feed as well.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1.0,18.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: You’re listening to Season 3 of the Queens Memory Podcast. My name is J. Faye Yuan, and I’m the Queens Memory Curator. In this season, “Our Major Minor Voices,” we feature stories from our neighbors of Asian descent in Queens, New York.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=18.0,37.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: Too often, these voices are deemed “minor” – as in “of a minority.” But in this series – as in our borough – they are a major force. One in four Queens residents identifies as Asian-American. The stories they tell reflect their ongoing struggles and triumphs. They are our stories – a vital part of who we are – and together they represent a snapshot of our ever-changing neighborhoods as they are now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=37.0,75.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: My Name is Tenzin Choklay and I'm here in Rego Park in queens and this is where my story starts.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=75.0,82.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: For Tibetans in their native country and around the world, preserving the Tibetan language means preserving their culture. Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, these vital parts of Tibetan identity have been under grave threat.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=82.0,97.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: For the past six decades, Tibetan refugees have managed to keep their culture alive in India, where they formed a democratic exile government once headed by the Dalai Lama. The US Immigration Act of 1990 provided immigration visas to 1000 of these refugees. Ever since, other exiled Tibetans have found their way to America and made homes away from home.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=97.0,119.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: In this episode, brought to you by our producer Tenzin Tsetan Choklay, we’ll hear how the sizable Tibetan community in Queens has managed to keep their mother tongue alive.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=119.0,130.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: First up: the story of one of those recipients of the 1000 immigrant visas in 1990.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=130.0,143.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: Tenzin Dorjee known as Tendor among his friends lives in the neighborhood of Rego Park with his wife and their two year old daughter. Tendor is pursuing a Phd in political science from Columbia University, and he also works for an organization called the Tibet Action Institute. They recently published a detailed report on how Tibetan children are being indoctrinated in colonial style Chinese boarding schools in Tibet.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=143.0,171.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: For Tendor, this is personal. He was born in north India to Tibetan refugee parents who taught in one of the numerous refugee schools started by the Dalai Lama.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=171.0,180.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Dorjee: Initially, these schools came to be in the 1960s, soon after His Holiness came to exile and you know after the Chinese invasion of Tibet. His main concern was the education of children and the preservation of Tibetan culture and identity among these children so that one generation is able to pass on the cultural, linguistic identity to the next generation.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=180.0,209.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: In 1992 when Tendor was just 13, his parents packed their bags and left India to resettle in America. Tendor and his younger sister were left in the care of the school. Then in 1998 Tendor and his sister finally moved to the US. He was just 18 at the time and the family settled in Boston. A year after his arrival in the country, Tendor went on to study International Relations at Brown University and later moved to New York to work for Students for a Free Tibet – a grassroots organization working for the Tibetan Freedom Movement.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=209.0,243.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Dorjee: I'll never forget the first day going to work in New York, coming down from Queens, getting out of the subway in Union Square, I walked all the way to avenue B, where the office was and along the way, yeah, I just felt like, you know, this energy, uh, in New York, which was so different from all the other places I had lived before. It seemed to me in that moment that, you know, New York was so diverse. The city didn't belong to any one group or any one person or any one category of people. So I really, in a strange way, I felt at home for the first time in my life, because I grew up as an exile as a refugee my whole life, you know we were stateless growing up.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=243.0,290.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: Tendor says it also helped a lot that his newfound home had a sizable, close-knit population of Tibetans. At the time, there were around 10,000 Tibetans in the city and sometimes as many as 5,000 – or 50% of the population -- would show up for Free Tibet rallies and events.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=290.0,305.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Dorjee: And culturally I think that Tibetans were automatically drawn to Queens where within Queens Jackson Heights ended up being a kind of the epicenter of the action. So right now in Jackson Heights, you know, you would find some 20 Tibetan restaurants. In many of the restaurants in Jackson Heights, you can see menus that are not just in English, but also in Tibetan. So yeah, it's not just multicultural, but a multilingual or bilingual kind of community space in that sense. It’s kind of become like a cultural capital for the Tibetan people.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=305.0,349.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: This freedom to be bilingual is incredibly important for Tendor and other Tibetans in Queens – especially since the children back home are not being allowed to speak in their mother tongue. It’s part of the indoctrination Tendor and his colleagues at the Tibet Action Institute have just reported on.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=349.0,365.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Dorjee: The situation right now in Tibet, the reason why, it's different, because you know, Chinese government's policies in Tibet have always been brutal and, and they've always been targeted at suppressing Tibetan identity, culture, uh, religion, tradition, right? But this time it's a new phase of acceleration and change for the worse because they are targeting something quite different. In the nineties, they tried to economically bring development or industrialization to what they call the Western regions, including Xinjiang - East Turkestan and Tibet. And the logic was that through developing Tibet economically Tibetans would embrace a Chinese identity and shed behind their Tibetan identity, but that also didn't work. It failed. Tibetans, you know, did not embrace Chinese identity. So now what's happening is, you know, after the uprising that we saw in Tibet in 2008, following that, the Chinese government has made a new policy of language replacement.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=365.0,450.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: The Tibetan Uprising of 2008 was a series of protests and demonstrations over the Chinese government’s mistreatment and persecution of the Tibetan people. Over a period of six to eight months more than 200 protests were reported from different parts of Tibet and the Chinese government is accused of using excessive force to clamp down peaceful protestors.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=450.0,470.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Dorjee: So now they are actually, over the last 10 years, they have established a network of boarding schools for Tibetans and in these boarding schools, enrollment is mandatory. So, you know, people might get the wrong idea from hearing the term boarding schools, because over here in America, you know, only rich people go to boarding schools but in Tibet, the kind of boarding schools that I'm talking about are colonial boarding schools whose main aim is to brainwash or indoctrinate the children and fundamentally to alter the language in which they communicate. And once you end up in those schools, you are basically separated from your family. So on one level you end up speaking and learning in Chinese. So you immediately start forgetting Tibetan as a mother tongue, on another level, you are spending the majority of your time at school and not at home, not with your parents. And one thing that's really disturbing over here is, you know, kids are not just cut off from their parents. They're also being cut off automatically from their grandparents. And that's really disturbing for the culture because so much of a cultural wealth of a people are transferred not only from parents to children, but from grandparents to children. So I think, yeah, this is really, really dangerous. And the report that Tibet Action produced last month is basically focussed on exposing this network of boarding schools in Tibet.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=470.0,563.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: According to this report, today, nearly 80% of Tibetan children aged 6 to 18 are being forced into these schools, which are reminiscent of the brutal residential schools for native children in the US and Canada that have made headlines lately.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=563.0,578.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: And while Tibetans inside Tibet face a threat to their language due to Chinese policies, Tibetans in exile face other kinds of challenges with regard to protecting their language just by virtue of being minorities in their respective host countries.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=578.0,592.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Dorjee: In general, I think preserving a language and keeping it alive in exile is extremely difficult, especially when you have such a small population in exile. And, in India, at least there is a cohesive community. the exile Tibetan government based in Dharamsala with His Holiness and its network of monastic institutions, educational institutions, all across India. So I would say over the last 60 or 70 years, the Tibetan government and the community has done a pretty phenomenal job, preserving the language, preserving the culture. But over here in America, I think there are many additional structural challenges that people face, even though there are greater freedoms at our disposal and you know when it comes to Tibetan Americans, you know, the population is very small and then on top of that, the Tibetan language, and say, the Uyghur language also, our languages are under threat and targeted for eradication in its ancestral home. So Tibetans over here, I think have this extra kind of burden, an extra responsibility. So that's really why you'll see Tibetan immigrants spending a special amount of time worrying about how to pass on the language to our next generation.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=592.0,683.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: If you’d like to learn more about Chinese boarding schools in Tibet, or read the full report created by the Tibet Action Institute, you can visit tibetaction.net, or follow them on Twitter @tibetaction.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=683.0,696.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: While Tendor’s work with the Institute brings to light the injustices going on in the schools back home, this next segment focuses on those who are working at providing Tibetan language education right here in Queens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=696.0,712.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: we are now here in the basement of the Tibetan Community Center in Woodside, Queens. A few hundred Tibetan-American children have gathered for the weekend Tibetan language classes. There are only a few proper classrooms in this space and to accommodate all the children, in the middle of the hall, they have put up makeshift dividers to create extra rooms.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=712.0,732.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: In 1991, a Tibetan monk from India was sent to Hawaii by his monastery to work at a Tibetan Buddhist center. His name is Pema Dorjee. After spending a few years in Hawaii, he moved to New York where he started the weekend Tibetan language classes that are still going on at the community center today. Pema Dorjee is now in his 70s.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=732.0,752.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Pema Dorjee: I think we were only about 1000 to 2000 Tibetans in NY area back then. I saw that our Tibetan children were becoming less and less Tibetan - in the ways that they spoke or conducted themselves. I also noticed that their attitude and way of thinking had also become very westernized and it concerned me. I wondered if our children in free countries have difficulty remaining Tibetans, imagine what is happening inside Tibet. So I spoke to my monastery and I was told I should do whatever I can to help the community. Then in 1996 I started the weekend language class. We had seven students when we first started. Then a year later, the number increased to 60 and 100. We didn't have a place of our own back then, so on different weekends, the classes took place at different venues. Sometimes we were in Queens, sometimes in Manhattan. It was difficult back then but in terms of all the expenses to buy stationery and food, I was spending my own income from the center because I had permission from my monastery to use this money to support the community.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=752.0,815.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: These days, the weekend school has found a home at the newly established Tibetan Community Center in Woodside, Queens, and they have about 400 students ranging from ages 5 to 17.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=815.0,825.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Pema Dorjee: Our curriculum is based on the one designed by the Tibetan Department of Education in India and our main focus from the beginning has been on teaching Tibetan language - spoken and written. I worked alone in the beginning and then we had three teachers and now we have around 30 teachers and volunteers working with us. Now we are in a good place. It’s not because of me but we have great support from the community.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=825.0,859.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: Dakpa Yeshi, a Tibetan from Eastern Tibet who now lives in Elmhurst, Queens is one of the teachers at the weekend class. He is among a small number of Tibetans who have managed to escape Tibet after the 2008 uprising. In between classes, he talks about the conditions back home.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=859.0,875.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Dakpa Yeshi: It is heartbreaking to hear these stories from inside Tibet because In 1959, Tibet was completely occupied by China and things were looking really bad. Then around the 80s, things improved a little bit but now it seems like we are going back to the period around 1959 because the Chinese are shutting down Tibetan run schools in Tibet. So far they have already shut down about 19 schools in my hometown and some of them are well-known Tibetan schools. Recently they have arrested 150 people for possessing pictures of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan writer Go Sherab was sentenced for 10 years imprisonment. These are all Chinese attempts to destroy our language and culture. They are implementing all the policies they can think of to eliminate Tibetan identity and we are in a dire situation.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=875.0,930.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: To  counteract what’s going on back home in Tibet, he says immigrant parents here need to play their part by preserving the Tibetan language at home.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=930.0,940.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Dakpa Yeshi: Generally it’s hard to preserve one’s language in a foreign land but in each and every Tibetan household if the parents can start with teaching their children the importance of our language, culture and identity, that can give a good headstart to the children. So parents can play a vital role in teaching children their mother-tongue. If that is done in combination with what we provide here at the weekend school, we can successfully preserve our language. Otherwise the key issue is that since Tibetan children do not have a lot of places outside their homes to use their language, it becomes difficult for them to understand its value. So to make this valuable, we need a combination of support from parents as well as teachers.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=940.0,978.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: Besides the teachers at the Community Center in Woodside, there are others in Queens making efforts to preserve Tibetan culture. Rinchen Dolma was born in Eastern Tibet but fled the country when she was just ten years old.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=978.0,990.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: So it's not just my story, but it's a story of thousands of, um, children, um, you know, who had the aspiration to pursue an education, a better life. Um, and especially for me, I think my parents envisioned a future where, you know, I can learn about my culture, history, you know, all of that on top of modern education. So looking back… I think when my parents decided to send me to India, I feel like they have been so brave and they took this risk - a risk that could have changed my life in the other way around as well. Right. It was really risky, especially crossing the border and all of that, but now I feel so grateful and I feel always, privileged to get all this opportunity. Yeah, so in the beginning it was obviously challenging for a 10 year old to leave home forever and then kind of coming to a boarding school where you don't know anything and it's a different country and the food, the climate, everything you have to adjust and adapt to it. But after that, like, I matured so much when I left home. I kind of felt like, oh, now I am on my own and I need to do what I need to do. And the reason why I left home is because of education. So I focused my entire like energy on education. Um, and I didn't really like have time to do other things and miss home.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=990.0,1078.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: Rinchen lived and studied in India for eight years. Then she studied in Norway and eventually made her way to Columbia University Teacher’s College, where she recently graduated with a degree in International Education Development.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1078.0,1090.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: For someone from a family of farmers in Tibet who left home at the age of ten, Rinchen has done extremely well for herself. She is now part of a group of Tibetan youngsters who run a coaching center called Yin-day-in, which in English means “Yes, Of course”.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1090.0,1106.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rinchen Dolma: Yin-da-yin coaching center was started by two of my colleagues in 2015. All of us are from Tibet. We felt that there is a gap, not just learning Tibetan language and culture, but as one of the newest immigrant communities in the US, we Tibetans are struggling in many aspect and education is a long term investment, not just in one generation, but we know that it can impact the following generations to come. So what do we mean to be a Tibetan, especially the first generation, um, students who are born in this country, how do we connect their, uh, cultural identity back to their American identity? Because in our own journeys, in our lives, we went through so many education systems, we changed place from one another, but there's always a sense of pride being Tibetan and being someone who can, you know, speak Tibetan and so I always felt like there is groundedness. Like, you always feel that you have a strong sense of who you are. So we thought as a new immigrant refugee community in this country, it is essential for the young Tibetans to be equipped with proper resources. So we started off from a very small humble beginning, and we are still like, you know, very small, but I feel like the impact that we had in the past six years is tremendous.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1106.0,1203.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: As Tibetan immigrants like Rinchen, Dakpa, and Pema Dorjee do their best to maintain their distinct Tibetan language, culture, and identity, they also find themselves in a moment when Asian-Americans from all backgrounds are coming together for collective activism. For some, like Tendor, this has created an internal conflict between national and collective identity.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1203.0,1224.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Dorjee: Yeah for me, I've had mixed relations and feelings about the term Asian American for a very long time, actually. Uh, when I first came to America and started college there were Asian American festivals, Asian American associations and groups. I tried going to some of them actually initially, but then I found that these associations or festivals were Asian American in label. Uh, but in terms of content, they were actually Chinese American, right. For people like me, you know, uh, Tibetan immigrants who came here as a political refugee - for many Tibetans, I think we had the same kind of shock or feeling of discomfort and besides Asia is such a big place, uh, lots of different communities, lots of different countries.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1224.0,1278.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: But since those early days, Tendor says, his feelings about the term ‘Asian-American’ have changed. People are starting to recognize that there is a lot of diversity within that category, and it’s become useful for taking collective action – especially in the past two years.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1278.0,1292.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Dorjee: But over the last two years in America that has changed anybody who looked a certain type of Asian was in danger. Right. All of a sudden, and you don't know when you are gonna get attacked, you don't know when you are gonna get abused, like whether it's verbal abuse or physical abuse. So anyway, all of us have been subject to that and that kind of treatment and injustice that we have passed through and struggled against over the last two years have given us some kind of a collective experience and a collective memory, a common cause. And that's why now I think on the political level, the term Asian American does make political sense in terms of, uh, having helped to build the foundation for the common struggle of people who have been discriminated for a long time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1292.0,1348.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: Ultimately, even this tension between maintaining Tibetan identity and embracing the Asian-American collective experience is cause for connection among Tibetan immigrants in Queens. In addition to his many other talents, Tendor is also a song-writer, and in his song “Old Friends” – written in the mother tongue – he speaks to the bonds that tie Queens Tibetans together.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1348.0,1370.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin Dorjee: [SONG / MUSIC ] April has arrived out here, But winter's wounds still endure And the sun can’t warm the icy air. Why roam through the windy streets As if hounded by demons and beasts! For once, let’s just stay indoors…","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1370.0,1377.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Tenzin T Choklay: For Queens Memory, I am Tenzin Tsetan Choklay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1377.0,1383.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: Join us next time for more stories from our Queens neighbors. The Queens Memory Podcast is a production of the Queens Memory Project. For full transcripts and show notes from this episode, visit QueensMemory dot org forward slash podcast. This episode was produced by Tenzin Tsetan Choklay in conjunction with Anna Williams, and Natalie Milbrodt. Mixing and editing by Cory Choy with music composed by Elias Ravin.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1383.0,1412.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: Voiceover work by Tenzin Sangmo and Dan Harumi.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1412.0,1416.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: Special thanks to the Tibetan Community of New York, Tibet Action Institute, Yindayin Coaching Center, and Yodon Thonden.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1416.0,1423.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: This podcast has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this episode are those of its creators and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of National Endowment for the Humanities, Queens Public Library, the City University of New York, or their employees.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1423.0,1446.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952/transcript/42906/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"J. Faye Yuan: I'm J. Faye Yuan. Listen with us next time on Queens Memory.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1826/collection_resources/74174/file/159952#t=1446.0,1464.456"}]}]}]}