Mia Wenjen did not have the intention to write her latest children’s book, We Sing From the Heart: How The Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court. Wenjen and Simon Tam’s first meeting was years before Wenjen even had the idea to pen her story. Tam, who’s a current Cincinnati resident and lead singer of The Slants, was gathering letters of support for a lawsuit to obtain a copyright for his band’s name. He discovered Wenjen through her blog, Pragmatic Mom, where she discussed and documented children’s books through an Asian American lens. The band, The Slants, had been denied access to copyright given that the term used in the band’s name had often been used as a discriminatory phrase towards Asian Americans, but Tam, who is Asian American, was not using it in this way.
For Tam, this name was a reclaiming of a term that had been hurled at him since he was a young boy. In 2011, his band was denied a name copyright, leaving them vulnerable to others making a profit from their name and work. Wenjen found herself taken in by Tam’s eloquence, drive and the strides he made for Asian American representation. After a phone call explaining the details of the lawsuit, Wenjen agreed to write a letter for him. Her letter ended up being one of over 3,000 documents in support of Tam and The Slants. It wouldn’t be until 2017 that Wenjen would learn what became of Tam and his case.
“One day I was wondering what happened to Simon Tam, so I looked him up on social media and couldn’t believe my eyes,” Wenjen said. “Two weeks prior he had won in a Supreme Court decision the right to trademark his name, and I was so proud of him.”
In those years Wenjen had not heard from Tam, he had been busy navigating the daunting federal court system, all the way up to the Supreme Court in the landmark case Matal v. Tam. He was denied a copyright under the Disparagement Clause of the Lanham Act of 1946, which prohibits trademarks that “[consist] of or [comprise] immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter; or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute.” Tam argued that this denial was viewpoint discrimination as it would not be immoral to use the term as an Asian American. He won his case with a unanimous vote that found denying the copyright would violate free speech.
He never imagined what started as a lawsuit for artistic rights could end with him being part of a unanimous Supreme Court decision honoring his freedom of speech and creating a new precedent for artists.
“Honestly, I didn’t really know how to feel for a good 10 hours, it just felt unreal to me. From the moment I woke up, my phone was going off. I had 700 missed notifications, and I was in back-to-back calls and interviews all day with hundreds of outlets,” Tam said. “I didn’t even have time to process the decision until much later in the evening when I had a chance to talk to my mom about it.”
Tam’s case was not only a win for artists but a win for the Asian American community as well — and a win that recaptured the interest of Wenjen when she was reading Tam’s memoir Slanted: How an Asian American Troublemaker Took on the Supreme Court. While reading his memoir, Wenjen had vivid images of Tam’s story, but in the format of a children’s book. She recognized Tam as someone she would have liked her children to know and look up to as they were growing up, so why not make this a possibility for other children?
Tam was surprised when Wenjen came to him with the idea, but he was also excited and honored that Wenjen was willing to take on the task of telling his story in a way that translated to a younger audience. Wenjen was confident in her vision, having noted Tam’s eloquent philanthropic work focused on anti-bullying in schools.
“I think it’s always a little bit surreal, because for me, growing up, I didn’t really have anyone that looked like me in the music industry, entertainment or anything like that,” Tam said. “I just remember throughout my career thinking, like, I want to be able to do things that I wish I had growing up.”
Thus began a collaborative effort between the two, with Wenjen writing the story and Tam offering insight along the way. While the book was written for children, this project is far more than just a simple story; at its core, this book is about the power of embracing your identity and what can transpire from speaking up about what you believe in.
“There are definitely times in history, like the Japanese American internment camps, where people can go back and say, our Supreme Court failed us,” Wenjen said. “For example, the Associated Press did a survey and seven out of 10 Americans feel like the Supreme Court is partisan. I think the overall message is we all have to fight for democracy and fight bias and racism, and we can’t just turn a blind eye.”
According to the American Library Association, there was a 92% increase in books being challenged, compared to 2022, and pressure groups began to focus on public libraries as well as school libraries. In an age where books are being banned from schools and libraries at a growing rate, Wenjen and Tam’s story feels particularly profound, and Wenjen acknowledges this. Another prevalent theme in the book is that words have power, and that when you take ownership of words, you are able to take the power with you. For The Slants, this was using the derogatory term as their name, and for Wenjen, it was the act of writing this story.
To Tam, the value of stories can’t be stated enough. “I’ve always firmly believed that stories really matter, because when we’re able to tell our stories in a way that other people see themselves in it builds connection, builds empathy, certainly for people who come from communities that are traditionally marginalized.”
Wenjen’s story follows Tam from being a young boy encountering racism, to finding power in music, and eventually his fight for free speech with the Supreme Court. It’s about finding your voice and the power one person can have. Released in Oct. 2024, with a foreword by Simon Tam and featuring poppy art by Victor Bizar Gómez, We Sing From the Heart: How The Slants Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court is a punk-esque history that celebrates the Asian American community and the power of democracy.
For more information about We Sing From the Heart: How The Slants Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court and to buy a copy of the book, visit redcometpress.com/nonfiction/wesing.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s Nov. 27 print edition.
This post was originally published on here
