8 Asians

When I first saw The Breakfast Club, as a clueless Asian American preteen, I immediately connected with this 80s brat pack teen flick. Throughout my evolution as an American high school teenager, I identified with almost all of the teen archetypes portrayed in the film. I started out high school as an awkward weirdo outcast (Ally Sheedy), quickly became a swim team jock (Emilio Estevez), fancied myself somewhat of a feminist non-conformist rebel (Judd Nelson), [...] Continue »

Inspiration is rarity these days. But when I read about these incredible women who are truly making a difference in their communities,  both locally and globally, I get super excited…and hopeful, which is also somewhat elusive these days. The White House has nominated 15 AAPI women are making waves with their dedication and hard work. “These fifteen women represent the strength and diversity of the AAPI community. These leaders–in business, advocacy, philanthropy, the arts and academia—are [...] Continue »

Jason Chu is back with a new spoken word piece for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2013. Filmed by Jason Poon and with help from Marc Liu, this piece is done “in memory of those who came before – their names, their stories, their journeys. Our history.” From Jason Chu: With May being Asian Pacific Heritage Month, I recently wrote a piece reflecting on culture and family. I decided to record the piece as a [...] Continue »

“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign . . . state or sovereignty  . . . ; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; . . . that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of [...] Continue »

So who makes the month of May the one that celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islanders heritage? The POTUS, if he proclaims it so. Yay us! ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH, 2013 – – – – – – – BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION

The U.S. Department of the Interior, The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the White House Office of Public Engagement will be holding a White House Forum on Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage on May 9, 2013 at the U.S. Department of the Interior, appropriately during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This will be a gathering of national leaders and scholars as well as community members to move [...] Continue »

One of the things I enjoy about the Internet and Democracy is that you have the opportunity to engage in dialogues and see different points of view. One of the things I don’t like is that often, people have already decided that the only logic that works is self-serving logic, the only dialogue worth paying attention to is the sound of their own voice, and the best perspective is their own. Thankfully, that’s not how [...] Continue »

Come kick off the 15th Season of one of the longest running free public arts series in downtown Los Angeles, highlighting new work in visual and performance arts from the Los Angeles and Asian American artistic community in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. Now celebrating 15 years, the Tuesday Night Cafe series is one of the longest-running free arts spaces in Downtown Los Angeles/Little Tokyo. The space features multidisciplinary arts and performances, including music, poetry, theatre, [...] Continue »

I consider myself a professional Asian American, which means that I work in the “community.” There are positives and negatives that come with being a professional Asian American. The biggest negative is that people tend to rant at me about the state of Asian America and the worst part is they want me to agree with them. Well, I’m sick of being ranted at. It’s my turn to rant. This is my rant on Asian [...] Continue »

Since its inception in 1991, the CAUSE Leadership Academy (formerly called CASIC, California Asian American Student Internship Coalition) has prepared elite student leaders to be in the forefront of California’s legislative arena. This program is especially dedicated to developing the leadership skills of college students who are interested in exploring a career in public office, public service or community advocacy. Previous students have been selected from Ivy League schools, the University of California system, community [...] Continue »

As mentioned earlier, on Valentine’s Day Houston Rockets basketball star Jeremy Lin launched his foundation, the Jeremy Lin Foundation, according to a report: “The Houston Rockets point guard hosted a gala Thursday night, the eve of All-Star Weekend, to unveil a foundation that will benefit three Houston organizations helping underprivileged children. Current NBA players Chandler Parsons, David Lee, Tyson Chandler, Stephen Curry, Steve Novak and Joakim Noah and retired Rockets center Yao Ming were among [...] Continue »

The last National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) San Francisco event I had attended was the Gateway to Leadership regional conference last Fall. Last week, in celebration of the Lunar New Year, NAAAP-SF – in collaboration with Kollaboration SF, organized a fashion show along with some Asian American musical performances (along with a lion dance) held and sponsored by Macy’s near Union Square. Click to expand photo. If you haven’t heard of Kollaboration, Kollaboration [...] Continue »