Free Euna Lee and Laura Ling
June 10, 2009
American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were detained by the North Korean government under unclear accusations of illegal border crossing and some vaguely defined crime against the Korean nation. They have been tried behind closed doors and have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has written a letter to North Korea seeking the release of the women on humanitarian grounds. Governor Schwarzenegger declares that California is ready to do everything in its power to bring the two women home. Even musician Mike Shinoda of the band Linkin Park has posted about this tragedy on his blog with links encouraging people to sign petitions and write to representatives.
3rd Annual APEX Community Leaders Reception
May 21, 2009
Many onlookers and even participants at heritage community events may see gatherings of Americans of Asian Pacific Islander (API) heritage as isolationist events. If Americans of API heritage want to be recognized not as foreigners from another land but as citizens of this land, then why would they gather based specifically on what makes them different from other Americans? There are indeed such API gatherings which are comprised simply of a lot of pontificating and preaching to the choir, events which serve to isolate the API from the larger American society more than anything else.
Though the 3rd Annual APEX Community Leaders Reception was of course heavily attended by API heritage Americans and VIPs were important API community leaders, this event was definitely not an isolationists event. On the contrary, the theme of the evening was “Building Bridges for Community Empowerment”.
Throughout the event, which was sponsored by Sempra, speakers highlighted the importance of building the bridges with each other, of networking with other Americans of API descent, in order to accomplish more as American citizens for the greater good of the country and the world.
Indeed, a good number of other VIP attendees of the events were “firsts” in their positions, a testament that they are the ground breakers opening the path for others to follow. In attendance was Lily Lee Chen, who was elected in 1984 as the first Chinese-American woman mayor in the history of the United States. Henry Charoen broke down walls when he became the first Thai-American to be elected to office in 2006. In 2008, Carol Liu was the first Chinese-American woman elected to the California State Senate.
Ann Shen Smith, Senior Vice President of Customer Service for Southern California Gas Company, pointed out that people were there that night because “we want to be successful, and we want to make a difference.”
As the first Chinese American to be appointed as Senior Judge at a United States District Court, Ronald S.W. Lew said, “Nobody can do this alone. I sure didn’t.” Suja Lowenthal, Council Member of the City of Long Beach, emphasized this again by saying, “None of us stands alone.”
Warren Furutani, California State Assembly Member of the 55th District, integrated it all by saying that we needed to network with each other in order to “sit at the table and participate as equals” in American society. Many other community leaders thanked Furutani as being the one who mentored them into taking on public positions. As the first API elected to the Los Angeles Unified School District(LAUSD) Board in 1987, he pushed the idea that there needs to be a “bridging of generations”, a handing off of the torch from one generation to the next so that the good work can be carried on.
Keynote speaker Norm Chow, UCLA Football Offensive Coordinator, did just that in his speech to the audience of young APEX professionals. He shared what he called the “6 Chowisms” to help the new generation carry on the important work of their predecessors:
1. Word Hard.
2. Keep your mouth shut so you can Listen and Learn.
3. Get back up on your feet when you fail.
4. Dream Big and Have a Plan.
5. Be a Good Person.
6. No Whining, No Complaining, and No Excuses.
If API are to rise in cultural and political power in America in order to make their positive mark on its landscape and thus on the world, it will indeed take this sort of dedication, steadfast character, and judicious learning to continue learning to cultivate a unique API legacy for the new century.
Call to Action: AA NHPI Days of Community Service The First 100 Days, APAHM & Everyday Thereafter
May 15, 2009
By Elena Ong
Because of what AA NHPIs did on November 4, 2008, CHANGE came to America, CHANGE came to Asian Pacific America.
Because of what AA NHPIs did on January 19, 2009, the Presidential Inaugural Committee´s National Day of Service, HOPE came to America, HOPE came to Asian America, HOPE came to Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander America.
From the First Day of the 2008 Presidential Election, to the First 200 Days of the Obama Administration, AA NHPIs throughout the nation, are answering President Obama´s Call for National Service.
By believing in HOPE, because HOPE saves lives.
Every day, as the clock ticks, 6,000 patients diagnosed with myelolyphoma HOPE to LIVE, but only half-a-million AA NHPIs are in the Be the Match Registry, not enough to help everyone who needs a bone marrow transplant, to live.
By creating SOLUTIONS, to keep HOPE alive. Read more
The Chicago JACL Embraces Change
April 17, 2009
Chicago, IL - “All I know is la la la la la means I love you….” The 64th inaugural of the Japanese American Citizens League, Chicago Chapter, kicked off with the tempered falsetto of DJ Dean Sakurai’s rendition of the Delfonics’ “La-La”(Means I Love You). The atmosphere was jovial and the crowd was in good spirits.
At 8:30 pm, Megan Nakano, Chapter President, installed the twelve Board Directors, who toasted to the 80th anniversary of the JACL, a civil rights organization, which similar to the North side neighborhood where its inauguration was taking place, is undergoing many contemporary changes.
Read more
Not ANOTHER Asian Gunman in Binghamton???
April 13, 2009
American headlines were led by the spectacular killings by Jiverly Wong at an immigration service center in Binghamton New York. His sister who lived with Jiverly at their parent’s house expressed disbelief that his brother was involved. She said that Jiverly was citizen who had immigrated from Vietnam and was taking language classes at the center that day. A neighbor who lived on the same block said the family was “quiet” and “they were good neighbors” but Jiverly barely spoke English. He borrowed his father’s car and blocked the rear entrance before entering in the front, guns ablaze. 14 persons were reported dead, and 37 were rescued from the American Civic Association. The victims include two receptionists, one of whom called 911 after playing dead. The other receptionist was killed, as were 13 who were trapped in a citizenship classroom.
Read more
The Robert Wone Case and the Real Cowards
March 27, 2009
It’s ironic that Attorney General Eric Holder called Americans cowards for being reluctant to talk about race. Holder was the attorney for the widow of the late Robert Wone, yet even he declined to name any possible suspects in the murderer case. In contrast to the high profile reaction to the murder of Vincent Chin which was fairly well known even outside of Asian American, even most Asians are unfamiliar with the case of the attorney for Radio Free Asia who was brutally stabbed one evening in 2006 while sleeping over with some old friends in D.C. It’s been called one of the most mysterious cases in D.C. since no one was charged with anything for over 2 years. Yet even after the three men who lived at the house of the murder scene were finally charged at the end of 2008 with obstruction of justice, no one but anonymous blog comments are willing to even speculate on the possible suspects. The only thing mysterious is how such a slam dunk case could remain in such obscurity.
The resident of 1509 Swann St seemed like nice enough neighbors. Joe Price was a former attorney at the civil rights group Equality Virgnia who knew Wone from their days
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Another Asian American to Join Obama’s Cabinet
March 4, 2009
Former Washington Gov. Gary Locke has been named as President Barack Obama’s third nominee for commerce secretary. Locke if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, will be the third Asian American to join the cabinet, after Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veteran Affairs and Stephen Chu, Secretary of Energy. Read more
Writer Kiyo Sato to Speak at Smithsonian
February 17, 2009
A survivor of the Japanese internment camps, Kiyo Sato, at 85 years young, has lived a remarkable life, and will be sharing her experiences during the Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American Program to mark the 67th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066, on Feb. 19 in Washington, D.C.
That order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, led to the internment of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II.
Federal Education Grant to Expand Programs for Asian American College Students
December 26, 2008
The U.S. Department of Education cut the ribbon on a historic new initiative in Washington, D.C. last month, awarding approximately $10 million in grants to six colleges that serve the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Read more
Guam Hopes for a Vote
December 21, 2008
Charmorus worry about increased American military presence
While Barack Obama’s election was a breakthrough for many groups of American voters, the people of Guam are still waiting for their vote to count. Read more
A Nobel Laureate in the White House
December 19, 2008
Nobel laureate Steven Chu named energy secretary
Physicist Steven Chu has a resume that’s longer than most, and it’s about to get a little bit longer. Read more
Break in D.C. Lawyer Murder Case
December 16, 2008
Three men indicted for obstruction of justice in mysterious 2006 murder of community-minded lawyer
WASHINGTON — On the night of Aug. 2, 2006, Robert Wone, general counsel for Radio Free Asia and president-elect of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association-D.C., was found stabbed to death at a friend’s Dupont Circle townhouse. Read more