Judith Lam Tang
AUTHOR
Judith Lam Tang is a Chinese Canadian born of immigrants. She blogs at juicygreenmom.ca about climate activism and social justice, and can be found on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and X as @juicygreenmom. Her essays have been published in The Globe and Mail’s First Person column, The Festival Of Literary Diversity’s 2024 literary magazine (Voices From The Fold), and Edmonton Public Library’s Capital City Press Anthology Volume IV (2024).
She is the author of Hunter’s Special Squawk, a children’s book released in 2019, illustrated by her husband, Ron Tang. She is currently working on her first nonfiction book on the topic of internalized racism. She holds an Equitable and Inclusive Leadership Certificate through Canadian Equality Consulting, and serves on her local school board’s Equity Advisory Committee.
She lives with her husband, her daughter, and many plants.
How my writing life started…
My first memory of having writing “published” was in Kindergarten. I was in an academic challenge (AC) program where the AC teacher had all of the AC kids in the elementary school contribute to an annual Compendium. It was printed on regular printer paper with laminated covers and bound with the cheap plastic coils used in schools. The layout was done by pasting bits of paper onto another page and then photocopying it. Kids contributed poems, drawings, and short stories. I believe my first “poem” was a rhyming couplet - “Judith Lam likes strawberry jam.” (I mean - I was five.) Contributing to Compendium every year of my elementary life was transformative, regardless of how hokey the finished product might have looked. We all got to see our work “in print” with our names, which we could proudly show everyone.
And so my love for writing was born!
In junior high, I entered a writing contest where you had to write a story about a circus, and the prize was dinner and tickets to the Shrine Circus. I won the contest and they framed my little short story (entitled “The Case of the Missing Snake,” wherein the circus snake goes missing and we discover one of the circus workers made snakeskin boots out of it. Rather morbid, now that I think of it.) which I believe my mother still has to this day. She bragged about how I was a writer to everyone.
In high school, I found my niche at the school newspaper and poured all my energy into writing articles and becoming co-editor-in-chief with my BFF in Grades 11 and 12. I thought maybe I could pursue journalism in university… but that was quickly put out of my head as a viable profession for a high-achieving model minority child of immigrants! I completed a Bachelor of Arts and took Honours English classes I ADORED - but knew I was only taking them as electives because my goal (i.e., my parents’ goal) was for me to get a graduate degree in Speech Language Pathology, which I did because - that’s what an obedient daughter does. (Not saying I don’t enjoy Speech Language Pathology - it is a great profession and I still work as a SLP but… it’s not my PASSION.)
And so, when I turned 40 and found myself having an existential crisis about my racial identity which led me into completely uncharted territory, the desire to write took over. Desire is not really a strong enough word. It was more like I was possessed and could not deny that the writing had to pour out. Now I find myself immersed in self-education about writing, the publishing world, and writing as much as I possibly can. It has become an intrinsic part of my activism and advocacy.
Thank you for joining me on this journey!
How JUICY GREEN MOM started…
Hi! I started this blog as an eco-mom with a passion for green, toxin-free, sustainable living.
When I was a kid, I had my own Kids for Saving Earth club. I did a rainforest walkathon in elementary school to save however many acres of rainforest (I wonder if those acres are still there??). As a young adult, I was a light shade of green, but I didn’t actively search out information about environmental issues.
Things can sure change in a heartbeat!
My sister (5 years older than me) was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 31, and we had no family history of it. She is my only sibling and my best friend, so it was a huge shock. When she started learning about lifestyle changes to prevent the cancer from coming back, I jumped on board with her. It was overwhelming how much I didn’t know about what was in my food, skincare products, cleaning products, clothes, bedding, and so on. I started reading labels and keeping lists of ingredients to avoid in my wallet. It was a steep learning curve, and still is.
I shaved my head in solidarity with my sister before she started chemo in 2008.
Living greener can be daunting, because the more I learn about things, the more I learn that things are complicated. We have so many opportunities, so many moments of the day where we can choose to be just a little bit greener. It’s not easy being green... but we still have to try.
The more I learned, the more I saw that individuals have limited power to make change, but actually it takes COLLECTIVE ACTION to enact real change. So the direction of juicy green mom shifted more to climate awareness and advocacy.
As I learned MORE about climate activism and justice, I then saw that everything is intersectional. To be an intersectional environmentalist (a term coined by Leah Thomas) is to be a social justice activist.
PEOPLE AND PLANET.
What's with the "juicy" in juicy green mom?
You may be wondering why I call myself "juicy" green mom, and what's up with my logo. It stems from my days as a musician and designer. The name juicy d originated from a CD label my friend wrote on for my first recording session - a little play on words: "Ju's CD" vs. "juicy d". My husband (he wasn't my husband at the time, so perhaps a little foreshadowing at play!) designed the logo for me, and it has evolved with me over the years as my passions have changed with the stages of life.
Performing at a concert in 2003.