APA Surfers: At Play in the Fields of the Lord (Feature) International Students Face Trouble With Visas in Post-Sept. 11 America (in National News) Creating Their Own Space (in Bay Area News) Fashion and Compassion (in Business) The Forgotten Giant (in Sports) APAs Capture Images of War (in A&E) Emil Amok: Let Us Occupy You! (in Opinion)

De-Bug organizer, Sundown Hazen, displays his multimedia projects featured in the open gallery. Photos by Samantha Kiyomi Witt.

Creating Their Own Space

Silicon Valley ‘De-Bug’ promotes youth entrepreneurs

By Samantha Kiyomi Witt
Special to AsianWeek

Silicon Valley is often characterized as the “hi-tech capitol” of the world — a term associated with hardworking businessmen and cutting edge technology. Silicon Valley De-Bug – the Voice of the Young and Temporary, a bilingual magazine written and edited by South Bay young adults, is working to improve this area by redefining the perception of its residents.

De-Bug is a term used for “correcting a problem on the assembly line.” As a publication, it offers the unrecognized voices of writers, artists and activists a chance to redefine and build a community through networking, event organizing and education.

Sundown Hazen, a student at San Jose State University and organizer/“information artist” for De-Bug, says the publication is more of a platform for a diverse community of creators and leaders to focus on a common goal rather than “just a magazine.”

Beginning in 2001, the De-Bug collective grew out of the experience of young workers in the hi-tech’s low wage division. Silicon Valley’s young adults were breaking the mold of the typical “dot-commer,” by “building careers and finding opportunities by creating their own paths outside of the traditional routes” in this time of unemployment and job instability. Through independent media such as cable access shows, hip-hop collectives and graffiti art, De-Bug strives to “provide a space for people to think critically on their experiences and how it relates to the world around them.”

On Oct. 19, De-Bug produced a day long event called “The Creators – Young Adults Becoming Entrepreneurs, Media Makers, Community Leaders” at Cupertino’s De Anza College. Showcasing performances by hip-hop artists such as Kaotic Souls and an open gallery of urban art by local artists, the goal of the event was to offer community networking and promote open discussion of the issues faced by “artists, organizers, producers and people just trying to make moves.”

Deejae Paeste displays one of his most recent pieces at the De-Bug gallery show.

Kefing Aperto-Berry, contributor to De-Bug, felt his passion for hip-hop music turned him into an entrepreneur. Aperto-Berry commented in a recent interview that his music has become “a training ground” and “a way to become a businessman.” He said, “When I would have a show, my invisibility changed.”

Dee Jae Paeste, a 17-year-old Filipino/Guamanian/French/Irish American featured artist, said he fell into the event almost accidentally. Just days prior, a friend encouraged Paeste to submit artwork and soon after he found himself with his own gallery table. “Being so young, this event is an important vehicle to get my artwork out,” he said.

Paeste works mostly in spraypaint, but recently has been dabbling in acrylic and oil mediums. He uses texture, color and symbolism to intrigue the viewer to spend time examining the theme of “substance and oblivia” — an exploration of the relationship between nature and technology. “My work represents what I think a lot of people around here feel. Living in the Silicon Valley there is so much technology around — there used to be beautiful groves and vineyards. Now it’s all getting torn down and being replaced with Starbucks,” Paeste said.

Paeste feels that the hip-hop and urban arts scene is making a comeback. “For awhile the scene was really dying,” he said, “Now is starting to pick back up. I think that I started at a really good time. This type of art is being taken more seriously and is now more widely accepted. I’ve gotten a lot of support from my school and the community.”

Besides volunteer work and involvement in the Filipino Youth Coalition, Paeste is currently involved with a new program at the YMCA in the South Bay that is focused on reciprocal teaching — a method designed to educate through one’s peers. Through this program he is spearheading a mural project that allows youth to apply their graffiti skills in a positive and legal way.

The skills Paeste acquires working in the community are something he is able to bring to the table at De-Bug meetings. The weekly meetings held every Tuesday at the San Jose Peace Center are open forums to discuss their community needs. One important factor of these meetings to Paeste is that “everyone has a say in it from different walks of life.”

As a younger voice in a community focused mainly on the older generations, De-Bug has faced many challenges. Hazen feels that organizing a group of such diverse young adults isn’t an easy task. “Defining what our goals as a group are is really difficult. We each have personal goals we want to achieve and the question is how do we maintain these and still help others attain their goals,” he said, “But, through these struggles, we help each other out and find solutions.”

Through organization, education and production of new independent media, Hazen hopes that De-Bug will gain more credibility in the future as a resource and growing movement in an often overlooked culture.

De-Bug open meetings are held every Tues., 5:30-7pm at the San Jose Peace Center. Email: svdebug@pacificnews.org or visit www.siliconvalleydebug.org for more information.