8Asians.com | Archive | August, 2011

‘A Village Called Versailles’ Nominated for an Emmy

Congrats to director S. Leo Chiang, whose award-winning documentary A Village Called Versailles is up for yet another award– this time an Emmy Award, in the “Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story – Long Form” category. If you haven’t seen this inspirational film about how the Vietnamese American community of New Orleans has banded together after Hurricane Katrina, you can watch it instantly on Amazon. Hats off to the great work of Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation (MQVN CDC), as well as the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association (VAYLA).

Subscribe to our mailing list

Get the day's stories from 8Asians.com, delivered to your inbox every evening at 6:00pm PST.

White Girls Making Fun of Asians (Again)

By Edward | Thursday, August 11, 2011

8A TROLL White Girls Making Fun of Asians (Again) Over 5 months ago, I wrote a very “flattering” open letter to Alexandra Wallace because I sincerely believed that she was truly ranting and had to get some things off her chest. While it was ignorant and in poor taste, I wasn’t get upset by her video because if I had to be honest, I’ve been in that same ranting position before and it was just as ignorant. If anything, I was more amused than anything else.

In the past few days, I’ve seen this video of a girl’s tutorial on “how to be Asian” popping up all over the place. I have to say, I’m not even amused by this. Heck, I’m not even angry. I’m just completely exasperated to every degree because one, another non-Asian thinks it’s so funny to use Asians as cheap punching bags for jokes. Two, I’m seeing so many people in the Asian American community posting this stupid racist video. I’m so annoyed by this that I’m not even going to bother to embed this video on this article. The video is complete with yellow face, slanty eyes held in place by scotch tape, and a moronic sense of humor.

| Posted in Current Events, Discrimination | 25 Comments

Shopping With GASP!

Dreamchasers Block Party Wrap-Up

By Guest Writer | Thursday, August 11, 2011

8a dreamcatchers Dreamchasers Block Party Wrap Up

By Amy

A momentous event took place on Saturday, July 30th, 2011 at Barnes Park Amphitheater in Monterey Park, CA. The first ever Dreamchasers Block Party proved to be a spectacular charity benefit featuring several talented Asian American performers supporting the arts. Proceeds benefited Monterey Park’s very own Mark Keppel High School Aztec Singers.

| Posted in Entertainment, Local, Music, Southern California | No Comments

Asian American Senior Citizens Hit Hard By Recession

By Tim | Wednesday, August 10, 2011

8a recession Asian American Senior Citizens Hit Hard By Recession

In a roller-coaster week for many American’s finances, there was even worse news for Asian American elders. We already knew that Asian Americans were hit harder by the recession, and a new study from the Greenlining Institute shows that seniors of color have been especially hard hit by the recession, and in particular, there are pockets of poverty in the Asian American elder community, specifically mentioned were the Hmong, Korean and Cambodian communities.

| Posted in Current Events, Family, Lifestyles | 7 Comments

The Importance of Discussing Race in Parenting

No Comments

Daddy in a Strange Land blogger Jason Sperber addresses the value of addressing issues about race and racism in parenting today: “…I know that having a biracial black man in the White House and mixed folks as a Hollywood trend doesn’t equal the end of racism, and that colorblindness leaves us unable to see, and that sometimes it isn’t enough to just love our children and hope for the best but that we must equip them with the lessons of our past, the tools with which they can shape their world, and our guidance with which they can learn to do so.”

Was Jesus Asian?

By Koji Steven | Wednesday, August 10, 2011

8a jesus1 Was Jesus Asian?

I recently saw a painting of Jesus. He had blue eyes and blond hair. Did the real Jesus really have blond hair and blue eyes? I started to think about some of the other images of Jesus I’ve seen.

| Posted in Religion | 12 Comments

EVA Air’s ‘Hello Kitty’ Aircraft Flies In October

No Comments

For some reason, my male cousin is really into Hello Kitty and I saw him post this article on EVA Air’s ‘Hello Kitty’ aircraft set for a comeback ”EVA Airways, one of Taiwan’s major international carriers, will launch a new ‘Hello Kitty’ fuselage in October to celebrate the airline’s 20-year anniversary and spark renewed interest in travel between Taiwan and Japan.” The planes’ exteriors, interiors and accessories such as boarding passes, napkins, baggage tags and flight attendants’ aprons will all carry Hello Kitty. Pretty crazy, huh?

98-year-old Woman Makes 10th Degree Judo Black Belt

By Ernie | Wednesday, August 10, 2011

In the “this little old lady can kick your ass” news of the week, San Francisco’s Keiko Fukuda has earned Judo’s highest degree black belt. She is the only woman of sixteen 10th degree Judo black belts in in history, and at 98 years old, is the last living student of Jigoro Kano, the creator of Judo. You can watch a clip of her from a clip of the work-in-progress film Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful above.

Once she turns 100, I hope Willard Scott will do one of those Smucker’s Happy 100th Birthday segments from The Today Show on her: “Mabel Scott from Scottsdale enjoys playing bingo and eating apple sauce for dinner; Keiko Fukuda enjoys tossing women 75 younger than her by the hip!” That would rule.

| Posted in Lifestyles, Viral Like SARS | 1 Comment

Surviving Filipino Cotillion Season

By Jeff | Tuesday, August 9, 2011

“Where are you going?” I said to The Daughter.
“I’m going to the video shoot.”
“Okay. Wait, what?”

I had told The Daughter that she wouldn’t be getting a Cotillion for herself (we would rather spend the money for college), but I never knew that even without doing one, Cotillion season would still be an ordeal. For those who don’t know, a Cotillion or Debut is an 18^th birthday party popular among Filipinos. Think of it is a bas mitzvah or bar mitzvah for Filipinos but with a heavy emphasis on music, dancing, and pretentious ceremony. One was featured in the movie The Debut, and the video above should give you a pretty good idea what goes on. When The Daughter and her friends began to turn 18, Cotillion season had begun.

| Posted in Family, Lifestyles | 2 Comments

The United States Vs. Takaichi Sakai: Postscript, Part 5 of 5

By Koji Steven | Tuesday, August 9, 2011

citizenship back 1011x1024 The United States Vs. Takaichi Sakai: Postscript, Part 5 of 5

Even though my grandparents and their children were allowed to stay in the United States, it wasn’t until 1958 did they get their citizenship back.

The World War II experience probably affected my grandparents in ways that I could never know. I have heard that my grandmother would cry when people asked her about the camps. This is probably why no one in my family discussed those years and it wasn’t until I started working at the Japanese American National Museum did I find out what really happened.

| Posted in Discrimination, History | 1 Comment

Aziatix Releases New Album Nocturnal

By Susan | Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Last week, the APA group Aziatix released their second EP, Nocturnal. The album, which is a follow up to their debut self-titled AZIATIX, features 11 songs which are sure to become regulars on any R&B playlist. Take the slow, ballad-like “Slippin” Away” which I’ve been listening to on repeat for the last week. I’m not the only one, either–the music video has gained over 60,000 views since it was uploaded.

| Posted in Entertainment, Music | 4 Comments