8 Asians

12 Year old Filipina American Gabrielle Molina committed suicide last month,  citing cyberbullying in her suicide note.  She joins Audrie Potts and other teens and adolescents around the world for whom cyberbullying was a factor in their deaths.    One doesn’t hear about Filipino American suicides that often (one report claims that they have a lower suicide rate), but this one hit home because another young Filipino American, the brother of one of my sons’ classmates, also [...] Continue »

Open City magazine and the Asian American Writer’s Workshop are looking for emerging journalists and writers of color to apply for their 2013 Open City Fellowship through the Asian American Writer’s Workshop. They are looking for five new Fellows for their Open City Fellowship: “Open City, an online magazine published by the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, documents the pulse of metropolitan Asian America as it’s being lived on the streets of New York right now. [...] Continue »

New York City comptroller John Liu announced recently that he is running for mayor, which is not a surprise, since he has always seemed to have openly expressed his ambitions for higher office. As the first Asian American to be elected to city-wide office, it’s no surprise that Liu has such ambitions. He’s currently in 4th place according to Democratic polls. The major issue overshadowing Liu’s bid for mayor is a federal investigtaions of some [...] 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:

New York City’s top academic high schools like Bronx Science (pictured above) and Stuyvesant have one entrance criteria:  performance on the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT). While many Asian American families look at SHSAT preparation courses as a stepping stone to these elite schools and to a better life, others consider test prep to be an unfair advantage and are suing to have the system changed, saying that having one test as the entire [...] Continue »

“In the aftermath of [Hurricane] Sandy, Chinatown residents need your help! CAAAV offices will be open to collect food/water, batteries, and flashlights. Volunteers are needed to pass out flyers and food, check in on tenants, and more. Also, if have access to a photocopier, please contact them. CAAAV offices are located on 46 Hester Street and will be open starting at 10 am today (Wed).” – via the Asian American Writers’ Workshop

UPDATE 7/17/2012: Congrats to the winners: Jacky C, Jennifer B, and Lysabeth L! 8Asians is proud to be a media partner for the 35th annual Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) in New York City. AAIFF is the first and longest running festival in the U.S. to showcase the best in independent Asian and Asian American cinema. This year, the Festival will run from July 25 to August 5, with screenings at Clearview Chelsea Cinemas, [...] Continue »

I’m never too surprised when I hear right-wing talk radio hosts make racists comments, but it is still sad to hear about these incidents, especially when the attacks are against someone I know. Radio talk show hosts Bill Nojay (who happens also to be running for a different public office – New York State Assembly) and Bob Savage of The Bill Nojay Show this past week were reading a local newspaper headline and commenting on [...] Continue »

Nate Shinagawa winning his race for New York’s 23rd Congressional district Democratic nomination. Well, Shinagawa wasn’t the only Asian American New Yorker who on their primary fight: >”On Tuesday, Assemblywoman Meng scored a resounding victory in a four-way primary to become the Democratic nominee to represent a House district that includes portions of eastern and central Queens. Much of the area is now represented by Representative Gary S. Ackerman, who is retiring from Congress. … [...] Continue »

I’ve been meaning to write about Nate Shinagawa for a while. Now I have a better reason to. Shinagawa is currently a Tompkins County Legislature in upstate New York and just won the Democratic nomination for New York’s 23rd Congressional District Democratic nomination this past Tuesday: “In returns from 589 of the sprawling district’s 596 precincts at about 11:45 p.m., Shinagawa had 55 percent of the vote. Leslie Danks Burke had 37 percent and Melissa Dobson [...] Continue »

Earlier this week, New York State legislators introduced a bill that would ban the sale, trading, possession and distribution of shark fins, possibly as of 2013. California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington already ban shark fin and Florida, Illinois, Maryland and Virginia have legislation pending.    

On Thursday, New York City Councilman Peter Koo of Flushing, Queens announced that he’s switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. There are several reasons why he may have switched. Reports have surfaced that Koo had problems with the Queens County Republican Party. But more interestingly, some have speculated that Koo did it to increase his influence. As a Democrat, he could bring more city funds to his district. Moreover, he could serve as [...] Continue »