If you’re in the DC area next Wednesday and are concerned about hepatitis B & C (it causes 80% of liver cancers and disproportionally affects AAPIs, so you should), please join hundreds as they rally to demand Congress fully fund prevention and education programs.
Congress members and community health leaders from across the country will be in attendance, including representatives from over a dozen AAPI groups sponsored to fly in by the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Orgs (AAPCHO).
May 19 is World Hepatitis Day and there have already been huge steps made to eliminate a disease that kills someone literally every 35 seconds–let’s keep it up. Please add your voice to the cause if you can.
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While there were a lot of really fascinating documentaries shown at this year’s Hot Docs World Documentary Festival in Toronto this past week, one of the more stand out ones was “The House of Suh”. Directed by Iris Shim, the documentary shows the rise and demise of a Korean-American family that was so intriguing, it was made into a TV film called, “Bad To the Bone” in 1997 starring Kristy Swanson and Jeremy London.
I was able to sit down with Iris on the last day of the festival on Mother’s Day where we chatted over coffee about her film, identity and the state of the Asian American film industry in general. The podcast focuses just on the House of Suh but I’m thinking of releasing other parts of the conversation in my next podcast since we spoke for over an hour.
If you like what you hear, please show your support by supporting the artists and buy their CDs and DVDs using the links provided on this site. Most will soon be available on iTunes, so please support them there as well!
For any requests, comments, suggests, dedications or feedback, feel free to leave a comment at Popcast88.com or send an email to christine [at] popcast88.com.
Shopping With GASP!
This e-mail came in from Frida:
The only reason I can think of for the very popular news blog Huffington Post to devote a whole story called “Chinese Astronauts Ate Dogs in Space” is to incite gawkers over how “weird” and “gross” Chinese eating habits are. It’s what I call “baiting”– a seemingly professionally written news story whose only true purpose is to incite tabloid-worthy disgust and wank.
The readership of HuffPo tends to lean left-wing, and you would THINK more open-minded. If you read the comments accompanying the story, the majority of comments are extremely ignorant and mocking. One commenter outright writes that “Chinese people are disgusting.” Please note that EVERY HuffPo comment has to be APPROVED by a HuffPo moderator, so someone at HuffPo absolutely okay’ed such comments.
PLEASE call out Huffington Post on their decision to run this story and for their moderators to “okay” comments that are blatantly insulting, racist and ignorant. This is just another example of yellow-peril, aren’t-Orientals-weird, Sinophobia, this time from a supposedly “liberal minded” website and readership.
Thanks for your help.
I’m don’t have to call out Huffington Post, because Frida just did. So question for you, 8Asians readers: is this whole “OH NOEZ CHINESE ASTRONAUTS EAT DOGS” story similar to this post about commenters balking on a photo of Taiwanese shaved ice? Why or why not?
Group Art Show
Tree Show VI at GRSF, May 15, 2010 – Jun 9, 2010
Reception: Saturday, May 15, 6:30 pm – 10:00 pm
GRSF
618 Shrader Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
gr-sf.com
415-876-4773
Giant Robot is proud to present Tree Show VI. In the tradition of its predecessors, this group exhibition will feature arbor-inspired pieces by painters, illustrators, and other creators from street art, indie comics, printmaking, design, and crafty art backgrounds.
A reception featuring many of the artists will be held from 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, May 15. For more information about the show, GRSF, or Giant Robot magazine, please contact:
Eric Nakamura
Giant Robot Owner/Publisher
[email protected]
(310) 479-7311
Artists will include:
Apak
Andrice Arp
Sasha Barr
Robert Bellm
Bigfoot
Blinky
Aaron Brown
Lilli Carre
Christine Castro
Ako Castuera
Louise Chen
Chris Cilla
Greg Clarke
Jen Corace
Eleanor Davis
Ryan De La Hoz
Claire Donner
Dutch Door Press
Evah Fan
Mark Giglio
Jake Gillespie
Girafa
Narangkar Glover
Pete Glover
Katherine Guillen
Pamela Henderson
Jay Horinouchi
Martin Hsu
Yellena James
Timothy Karpinski
Miran Kim
Blaise Larmee
Daniel Lim
Philip Lumbang
Monica Magtoto
Aaron Martinez
Mark Nagata
Tru Nguyen
Mylan Nguyen
Saelee Oh
Andrew Perry
Ferris Plock
Albert Reyes
Grant Reynolds
Scrappers
Deth P. Sun
Daria Tessler
Joe To
Kelly Tunstall
Leslie Winchester
Connie Wong
Chelsea Wong
Anthony Wu
Lawrence Yang
Jeni Yang
I can’t remember how long attacks on Asian students have been going on at this Philadelphia high school, but I remember seeing links to it on Angry Asian Man a while back — in December, over thirty Asian immigrant students were attacked, with this latest story from Philly.com being the most recent. It’s disturbing, frustrating, and makes me incredibly sad. For some reason, these stories catch my eye; maybe because it’s close to home, and working with youth as my full-time job makes me sensitive to what’s going on at high schools.
But what gets me the most is that the violence is being targeted towards Asian students… and not a single, positive thing is being done in response.
The most recent assault victim and his family have been ignored at every point, whether complaint or inquiry. I can only imagine how emotionally debilitating it has been for the whole family, on top of the physical injuries he sustained in his body, which will stay with him for a long time. Not feeling safe at the place you spend eight hours a day can certainly do something to your psyche. The cherry on top of this whole situation: the principal of the school is getting a crazy huge bonus for doing and saying nothing about this situation.
Since I work (read: go to sports meets and games, do silly team building activities, facilitate discussion about reality in between) with youth, bullying and violence is often a topic that comes up with parents. Now that there are so many instruments of torture for young people, both virtual (Facebook and Myspace) and physical (bathroom doors and fists) it hear more and more of these troubling stories. The kids I work with attend a fairly diverse school, economically and racially, most of them are white and middle-class. I often hear of their interaction and friendship with the APA kids, and it makes me wonder how safe these kids feel at school. Though I never hear or see any overt racism, I fear the ways that the sleepy complacency of suburban life can often anesthetize us to some underlying problems that if not addressed meaningfully, which can explode to the surface in shocking moments of violence.
What’s ultimately at stake here for the APA community is a lot of things: at the very least, the continuous struggle of being caught in the middle in terms of identity and the right to a safe environment for education.
I do a little bit here and there, at least by mere virtue of being an APA in a sea of whiteness, and to “raise awareness,” but… is it enough? If nothing else, I am heartened and inspired by all the young APAs with their bold consciousness raising and courageous activism.
Here’s a General Mills cereal commercial with a bunch of cute kids, including an Asian American boy swimmer. I’m glad they didn’t make him wear the martial arts outfit, since we don’t all know Karate, Kung Fu or Tae Kwon Do.
By Leanne
So I was watching clips online of the Fashion & Beauty portion from The Today Show, which covers all the really important things that women need to know about, like “saving the planet and looking good” or “keeping your style in budget.” Then I come across “Unlock your hair’s health secret.”
Wouldn’t we all like to know what our hair has to tell us? Maybe I need to take an extra dose of Omega 3 or invest in some hats. I wish I knew, but they didn’t have anything about women with black hair. Why? Is it because we aren’t genetically predispositioned to anything that would put our health at risk? I doubt that.
Have you ever watched hair coloring commercials? Ever notice how they have blondes, brunettes, red heads, but never black? They have the product box float by with a girl on the front with black hair. But I want an actual person in the commercial doing hairography and making people swoon over how the light hits her hair! Is that too much to ask for? I know people other than goths or emos who dye their hair black. Why are we as Asian Americans (and African Americans) not represented in hair?
Is research not being done on black hair? Is the market not big enough out there that it would be a waste to put someone on television with their hair colored black? Black hair cannot only be associated with Wednesday of the Addams Family. Black is not evil. If anything, we as Asian Americans are envied for our silky, smooth, black locks. We should show it off.
I’ve never actually dyed my hair, but I know many Asian Americans do. There are probably people who want to look less Asian, and others who are just going with the trends. Whatever the reason may be, we spend so much money on products for our hair that I think we should have some that are tailored just for us. With the likes of Michelle Phan (RiceBunny) making a wave in the make-up industry and tons of designers in fashion, now we need someone to break into the hair market. I know you’re out there.
ABOUT LEANNE: Leanne Koh was born and raised in San Francisco, earned a BA in Asian American Studies from SFSU and currently still in school pursing a career in nursing. She is a community volunteer who has worked with Kearny Street Workshop (APAture) and with the Center for Asian American Media as a marketing intern for SFIAAFF. Finding a place for Asian Americans in mainstream media is the fuel that keeps her active in the community.
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage month! Welcome to our compilation series featuring all of our 8A bloggers celebrating, sharing and even complaining about our collective APA backgrounds. What better way to kick this off than talking about food?
Comfort food is a staple in any country, ethnicity or culture, but growing up in a Japanese American household meant that my definition of “food I like to eat when my feelings are sad” were quite different than the macaroni & cheese, potatoes and apple pies that I’d see on greasy diner menus or family sitcoms. The food that would evoke happy memories of my childhood were treats from my mother, whether it was toasted mochi slathered in butter and soy sauce or a dome of ketchup fried rice, covered in an egg omelete.
My ultimate comfort food was soboro donburi from my grandmother, who would top a bowl of rice exactly in half with sweet egg scramble and seasoned ground beef. I could never decide which side of the bowl was my favorite, so I’d carefully eat equal portions of egg and beef to make sure I could enjoy the dish at best as possible. I could never properly recreate my Obaachan’s flair with the donburi, where the eggs were a perfectly fluffy yellow while the ground beef was a perfect balance between savory and sweet. To this day, the flavor reminds me of my weekends with my grandparents in Downtown Los Angeles, where they spoiled me rotten.
I know I’m not the only one with these Asian versions of comfort food. The rest of the 8Asians writers also generously shared their take on dishes that evoked similar feelings and memories. You can read them, after the jump.
Republished with permission from Projekt NewSpeak.
Ever since I moved to Los Angeles from Williamsburg, VA over two months ago, I’ve been living my dream of becoming a social justice activist and actor. During my time here so far, I’ve been able to accomplish my goal of being an activist and within the APA community in this city, I’ve been able to meet wonderful folks that share my passion and for that, I am blessed.
Things haven’t been too shabby being an actor as well and today, I got my first break at Hollywood with a background role in the movie Young Americans starring Topher Grace and being a guy totally new to the entertainment business, it was exciting because not only did it pay, I get a SAG voucher for it. (To go into what SAG means will be cumbersome, so go look it up on Wikipedia if you don’t know and are really curious.) When the casting person dealing with the extras took one look at me and told me that I was assigned to the Math Olympians club, I was not surprised nor was I upset. Why?
As part of their East Coast tour, channelAPA.com sat down with Audio Fiction’s lead guitarist Charles Park and drummer/manager Mark O’Toole. This indie group has leveraged the online medium to their advantage from selling music through iTunes to getting on to the Rock Band Network Music Store. Charles Park breaks down what music means to him and how his guitar playing skills has given Audio Fiction a vibe it can’t live without. If you have Rock Band, be sure to get track Race the Hourglass by Audio Fiction and see if you can master the guitar skills of Charles Park. You can see an example of the game play here.
Recently, the San Francisco Hepatitis B Free Campaign launched a new controversial and in-your-face print, billboard and television advertising campaign in the Bay Area called “Which One Deserves to Die.” San Francisco has the highest rate of liver cancer in the United States due to the fact that 1 in 10 Asian Americans, most unbeknown to them, are infected with “Hep B” – a leading cause of that cancer. Asians make up over 30% of San Franciscans.
The campaign is being published in several languages including Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese targeting English-speaking doctors outside the Asian community who might not be aware of the prevalence of the disease amongst Asians.
We’ve blogged about Hepatitis B in the past and continue to do so since this disease affects Asian Americans disproportionately; Hep B is preventable, treatable and early treatment can save lives. And to my surprise, Hep B is not something that is screened normally when you donate blood. So the next time you have a checkup and blood work done, ask your doctor to check for Hep B.
And this is why you fill out the census, folks: so that such health awareness programs targeted to such specific demographics can get the much needed and appropriate federal aid that they deserve.
Asian American Now, The Next Generation: Asian American Comedians
Asian American comedians like Margaret Cho and Dat Phan have now become household names. But has mainstream exposure changed the perceptions and interpretations of Asian Americans in stand-up comedy? How do comics play off or subvert audience expectations and media-driven stereotypes? And how do these stereotypes, and comics’ personal identities, shape their material, performances, and careers?
Speakers:
Oanh Ha (moderator) of KQED Radio has reported on Asian American issues and Asia for the last decade. Her stories have explored the impact of globalization and the connections between Asia and America – from venture capital to Korean hip hop. Her stories have also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Newsday, and the Orange County Register.
Tina Kim started her comedy career in New York City. Since then, she has sold out her self-produced shows in venues across America. Tina blends her humor with stories about her wacky Korean family, dating, dieting, and much more. She has recently been featured on CNN, VH-1, Comics Unleashed and the Style Network.
Samson Koletkar was born and raised in Mumbai and now lives in San Francisco. His comedy offers a unique perspective on life as an Indian Jew in the West. His observations are refreshingly new and turn existing stereotypes on their head. Samson’s comedy often echoes the voice of the seldom-heard first-generation immigrants.
Edwin Li began working as a comedian at the age of 16. Since then, his earnestness and shameless curiosity have made him a favorite with comedy veterans and club owners alike. His rambunctious new set is a portrait of the wild, untamed energy of a young American man.
Darby Li Po Price, Ph.D. teaches Asian American and Ethnic Studies at Laney College in Oakland. His Ph.D. thesis at UC Berkeley focused on multiracial comedians. Darby received a Telly Award for his PBS documentary Crossing the Line: Multiracial Comedians.
Co-sponsored by Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (APICC), Center for Asian American Media, Hyphen magazine, and Kearny Street Workshop.
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APA Events
Feb 9: (Los Angeles, CA) East West Players presents THREE YEAR SWIM CLUB
Feb 9: (Los Angeles, CA) OR (Orphan Relief): China Care Bruin’s 4th Annual Awareness Night
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Feb 16: Adam WarRock and Kirby Krackle: West Cost Tour Dates!!!
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Feb 17: (Los Angeles, CA) All My Sons- Feb 18: (San Francisco, CA) NAAAP-SF Lunar New Year Gala 2012
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