8 Asians

Last Saturday, February 2nd, I was able to attend the 2013 Lunar New Year Celebration in San Francisco sponsored by Verizon, which took place in Union Square and lasted all afternoon. The event was hosted by Nicki Sun and David So (who is very funny in person as well) kicked off by a traditional lion dance then several performances by different San Francisco Bay Area, including: Cheung Loong Lion Dance Troupe Hai Yan Dance Troupe [...] Continue »

A few weekends ago was the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that decided on the issue of abortion, allowing a woman the right to choose to have an abortion or not. To be honest, I did not know where Asian Americans fall on this issue until referencing the landmark Pew Research study on Asians Americans last year: “About half (54%) of Asian Americans say abortion should be legal in [...] Continue »

This past Wednesday, the Duke Student Government and Asian Students Association co-hosted a rally (“Race Is Not a Party: Rally for an Inclusive Duke”)  where over 500 students of all ethnicities gathered to protest over a racist Asian-themed fraternity party at a Duke fraternity over this Kappa Sigma past weekend. I first heard about the incident from a friend who sent me this Gawker article the other night since he knew I went to Duke: [...] Continue »

[In 2009, the decades-long civil war in Sri Lanka between the terrorist LTTE or Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan Government finally ended, but left behind a legacy of war that endures, further complicated by global climate change. In 2012, Johnny C traveled there to cover the forces of war, globalization, and climate change. Some names and organizations have been changed to protect the identities of those who participated in the events of this series.] There [...] Continue »

On January 22, the Guardian ran an article about how Taro Aso, Japan’s new finance minister, said: “Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being paid for by the government,” he said during a meeting of the national council on social security reforms. “The problem won’t be solved unless you let them hurry up and die.” [...] Continue »

Superbowl-bound quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s tattoos became famous after Kaepernick was criticized for having them, but that bad publicity turned into good news for Asian American Tattoo artist Nes Andrion.  Business is way up for the Reno, Nevada resident’s tattoo shop, Endless Ink.   Andrion is really proud that his art work will be seen across the world in the Superbowl as the San Francisco 49ers play the Baltimore Ravens. “I wanted to spread my art [...] Continue »

I first learned more and blogged about Japanese American internment camp detainee and civil rights icon Fred Korematsu when the State of California first had declared that January 30th would be known as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution. Well now, the state of Utah (where Koremtsu was detained at the Topaz internment camp in central Utah) will recognize this January 30th as as Fred Korematsu Day: “Utah Gov. Gary Herbert will sign [...] Continue »

[In 2009, the decades-long civil war in Sri Lanka between the terrorist LTTE or Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan Government finally ended, but left behind a legacy of war that endures, further complicated by global climate change. In 2012, Johnny C traveled there to cover the forces of war, globalization, and climate change. Some names and organizations have been changed to protect the identities of those who participated in the events of this series.] I [...] Continue »

There has been a series of violent muggings in East Harlem that appeared to target Asian Americans, and the suspect is named as Jason Commisso. In all the incidents the suspect followed the victims into their elevators, violently attacked them, and robbed them of their phones, purses or wallets. Commisso was caught using a credit card from one of the victims approximately 40 minutes after the attack. The list of assaults:

Last year, 2.06 million foreigners visited Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, the global Mecca of backpackers, with the cost of entry at $20 USD per day and $60 for one week, which turned the ancient Khmer temple remains into an El Dorado. In the same year, thousands of Cambodians still live with the legacy of Pol Pot, landmines, abject poverty, Prime Minister Hun Sen, the perpetual “shit on a stick” flavor of corrupt Third World leader that [...] Continue »

This past September, I blogged about Michelle Kwan getting engaged. Well, that was quick – she just got married this past Saturday, according to an exclusive by People Magazine: “On Saturday, Jan. 19, signaling a new beginning, she incorporated that same melody [Fields of Gold] into her wedding program. Kwan, 32, married Clay Pell, 31, director for strategic planning on the National Security staff at the White House, on Saturday at the First Unitarian Church [...] Continue »

After 8-year-old Hinna Zeejah of Oceanside, NY watched television coverage of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, she had one question, “Why do we have guns?” Hinna’s dad Farhan encouraged her to write a letter to President Barack Obama and drafted a letter that led to an invitation to the White House to meet and stand beside the President as he announced gun reform initiatives. Hinna and 3 other elementary school children were invited to [...] Continue »