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April 30, 2006

[API Events May 1-8]

Monday, May 1 – International

A list of local events is listed here for the May 1 day of action for immigrant rights.

Wednesday, May 3 – Oakland

Oakland Chinatown Community Organizations convene mayoral and District 2 candidates’ forum. Candidates who have confirmed their attendance includes Ignacio De La Fuente, Nancy Nadel, Pat Kernighan, Aimee Allison and Shirley Gee. (5pm-7:30pm, Lincoln Square Recreation Center Gymnasium, 250 10th Street, Oakland. www.ebaldc.org. Free).

Wednesday, May 3 – San Francisco

Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California hosts “Save Japantown Workshop” for the 21-41 Young Professional Networking group. The evening will start with a brief update on the sale of Japantown properties from the view of sansei and yonsei, then we will break into small groups to learn what would bring more young people to SF Japantown. (6pm, 1840 Sutter St., SF. RSVP required: 415.567.5505. www.jcccnc.org. Free).

Saturday, May 6 – SF

This will be the 56th annual Cameron Carnival. Cameron Carnival is an intergenerational activity where adults and youth work together to put on a carnival with concessions designed by youth, dunk tank, hot meals,
silent auction, homemade bake goods and more. Proceeds help to support our summer programs for youth. Cameron House is a faith-based community organization serving the changing needs of Chinatown and the Asian community of the San Francisco Bay Area. (11am-7pm, Cameron House. 920 Sacramento St., SF. 415.781.0401. www.cameronhouse.org. Free).

Sunday, May 7 – NYC

Kick off Asian Heritage Month with the 27th Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival at Union Square in New York City. The Heritage Festival is the largest Pan Asian outdoor event on the East Coast. (noon-6pm, Union Square Park, NYC. www.capaonline.org. Free).

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:42 PM | Comments (0)

[API Events May 1-8]

Monday, May 1 – International

A list of local events is listed here for the May 1 day of action for immigrant rights.

Wednesday, May 3 – Oakland

Wednesday, May 3 – San Francisco

Saturday, May 6 – SF

Sunday, May 7 – NYC

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:42 PM | Comments (0)

[API Events May 1-8]

Monday, May 1 � International

A list of local events is listed here for the May 1 day of action for immigrant rights.

Wednesday, May 3 � Oakland

Oakland Chinatown Community Organizations convene mayoral and District 2 candidates� forum. Candidates who have confirmed their attendance includes Ignacio De La Fuente, Nancy Nadel, Pat Kernighan, Aimee Allison and Shirley Gee. (5pm-7:30pm, Lincoln Square Recreation Center Gymnasium, 250 10th Street, Oakland. www.ebaldc.org. Free).

Wednesday, May 3 � San Francisco

Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California hosts �Save Japantown Workshop� for the 21-41 Young Professional Networking group. The evening will start with a brief update on the sale of Japantown properties from the view of sansei and yonsei, then we will break into small groups to learn what would bring more young people to SF Japantown. (6pm, 1840 Sutter St., SF. RSVP required: 415.567.5505. www.jcccnc.org. Free).

Saturday, May 6 � SF

Sunday, May 7 � NYC

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:42 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2006

Lodi Terrorist Suspect Found Guilty -- But Juror Reneges

So the verdict came out this week on the Lodi terrorist case: A jury convicted 23-year-old Pakistani American Hamid Hyatt guilty of giving material support to terrorists.

Meanwhile, a jury was unable to come to a decision regarding his 48-year-old father Umer Hyatt. But one of the jury members in Hamid’s case, 44-year-old Arcelia Lopez, came out today saying she was coerced into her decision. I think this speaks to the problems in our legal system with jurors being influenced by others. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Juror tells of pressure to convict terrorism suspect
She tells judge in Lodi case she regrets her guilty vote and accuses jury foreman of misconduct -- other panelists deny it

By Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sacramento -- One of 12 jurors who convicted a 23-year-old Lodi man Tuesday on charges that he trained for holy war disavowed the verdict late Thursday, alleging that she was bullied into a guilty finding amid a pattern of misconduct by fellow panelists.

"I never once throughout the deliberation process and the reading of the verdict believed Hamid Hayat to be guilty," Arcelia Lopez, a 44-year-old school nurse from Sacramento, said in a 2,000-word affidavit filed to the U.S. District Court in Sacramento by the defense just after 9 p.m.

Among other accusations, Lopez said the jury's foreman, near the start of the two-month trial, "gestured as if he was tying a rope around his neck" and said, "Hang him." Lopez said that the gesture was repeated throughout the trial and that she believed it was a reference to Hayat.

Hayat's attorney, Wazhma Mojaddidi, said Lopez's allegations should prompt U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell Jr. to grant the 23-year-old man a new trial. Hayat faces 30 to 39 years in prison at a July 14 sentencing.

Prosecutors could not be reached for comment at the late hour.

But one juror, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the accusations "a complete outrage" borne of "juror regret." The juror said Lopez changed her vote to guilty Monday, which at first made the juror uncomfortable.

"When she decided to change her vote, which was completely under her own will, I asked her flat-out to her face, in front of everybody, if she was changing her mind based on her own free will and the evidence presented (to) the jury," the juror said. "She said yes."

The juror, who declined to address specific misconduct allegations, continued: "We argued as jurors do -- that's deliberation. If she saw that as pressure, it was in her own mind. I don't think other jurors saw it that way."

Attempts to reach some jurors were unsuccessful. A few declined to comment.

The jury of six men and six women, after deliberating for nine days, found Hayat guilty of providing material support to terrorists by training at a camp in Pakistan and returning to the United States to await attack orders. He also was convicted of three counts of lying to the FBI.

Lopez, the final holdout for acquittal, acknowledged in Thursday's affidavit that, when polled by a clerk Tuesday, she "responded to the court that I agreed with the verdict."

"I deeply regret my decision," Lopez said in the affidavit, adding that she cried several times during deliberations and, on Saturday, sought treatment for migraine headaches at an emergency room.
James Wedick, a former FBI agent and the lead defense investigator, contacted Lopez on Wednesday and later asked her if she would allow the defense to prepare an affidavit.

Vikram Amar, a professor at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, said the judge is likely to investigate the allegations.

"In general, changes of heart by a juror are not a basis for undoing a verdict unless there are specific influences he or she can point to, like a bribe or a threat or some improper evidence that was looked at," Amar said.

Also on Tuesday, a separate jury of eight women and four men failed to agree on whether to convict Hayat's father, 48-year-old Umer Hayat, on two counts of lying. Prosecutors have not decided whether to retry Hayat, who is due back in court for a bail hearing today.

The dual trials in Sacramento centered on the FBI's videotaped interrogations of the Hayats in June at the bureau's office in the capital. The younger Hayat, already on the FBI's radar because of comments he made to an informant, had just returned from a two-year trip to Pakistan.

Prosecutors described the confessions as clear proof of guilt, but defense attorneys said the men have no experience with terrorist camps and were manipulated into telling agents whatever they wanted to hear.

Lopez said jurors inappropriately talked about media reports regarding the case. In particular, she said, jurors expressed interest in finding out what dismissed juror Andrea Clabaugh, 39, of Carmichael said to reporters March 22. Clabaugh had said the evidence to that point had not convinced her of Hayat's guilt.

One juror "suggested The Chronicle or the (Sacramento) Bee," Lopez recalled.
Burrell repeatedly admonished the jurors to avoid exposure to media reports about the case. Such exposure can be grounds to overturn a verdict.

Lopez said the foreman, Joseph Cote, 64, of Folsom, made offensive comments about Hayat during deliberations. She quoted him as saying, "If you put them in the same costume, then they all look alike."

The foreman sent a note last Friday to Burrell complaining that one juror "does not seem to fully comprehend the deliberation process." Lopez said this was a reference to her belief that Hayat was innocent.

Lopez said Cote "personally attacked me repeatedly as someone who couldn't process the information and who just couldn't see that (Hayat) was guilty, because he thought I didn't have the mental capacity to understand."

She said she didn't even know about Cote's note until Burrell responded in writing Monday morning, asking jurors to "please continue your deliberations."

Lopez said another juror, Rebecca Harris, 58, of Clements (San Joaquin County), brought in a long, typewritten note Monday and read it to the panel. Harris complained that her health was failing and, Lopez said, blamed it on her.

"The message of the statement was clearly to put pressure on me to change my vote," Lopez said in the affidavit. "She said that she herself couldn't take it anymore and that if I didn't change my vote, she would consider getting off the jury herself due to the stress."

In the end, "I explained to the other jurors that it was OK that I disagreed and that we did not have to have a unanimous verdict," Lopez said in the affidavit. "But they did not all agree. They continued to pressure me to change my vote. At this point I was under so much stress and pressure that I agreed to change my vote."

Alternate juror Montell Hall, 69, of Roseville, who did not sit through deliberations, said Thursday that the panel followed the rules when he was present.

"If there was any (misconduct), I would have been the one to do it," the semiretired engineer and consultant joked. "I was very outspoken, but I didn't talk about the trial (during testimony)."

Hall said he, too, would have voted for conviction.

"I was absolutely sure in my own mind that he was guilty," Hall said. "Mostly it was the confession that made me sure, and the way he acted during the confession. ... The kid was his own worst enemy."

Posted by neela at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)

Lodi Terrorist Suspect Found Guilty -- But Juror Reneges

So the verdict came out this week on the Lodi terrorist case: A jury convicted 23-year-old Pakistani American Hamid Hyatt guilty of giving material support to terrorists.

Juror tells of pressure to convict terrorism suspect
She tells judge in Lodi case she regrets her guilty vote and accuses jury foreman of misconduct -- other panelists deny it

By Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer

Prosecutors could not be reached for comment at the late hour.

Attempts to reach some jurors were unsuccessful. A few declined to comment.

Lopez, the final holdout for acquittal, acknowledged in Thursday's affidavit that, when polled by a clerk Tuesday, she "responded to the court that I agreed with the verdict."

Vikram Amar, a professor at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, said the judge is likely to investigate the allegations.

She said she didn't even know about Cote's note until Burrell responded in writing Monday morning, asking jurors to "please continue your deliberations."

Alternate juror Montell Hall, 69, of Roseville, who did not sit through deliberations, said Thursday that the panel followed the rules when he was present.

"If there was any (misconduct), I would have been the one to do it," the semiretired engineer and consultant joked. "I was very outspoken, but I didn't talk about the trial (during testimony)."

Hall said he, too, would have voted for conviction.

Posted by neela at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)

Lodi Terrorist Suspect Found Guilty -- But Juror Reneges

So the verdict came out this week on the Lodi terrorist case: A jury convicted 23-year-old Pakistani American Hamid Hyatt guilty of giving material support to terrorists.

Meanwhile, a jury was unable to come to a decision regarding his 48-year-old father Umer Hyatt. But one of the jury members in Hamid�s case, 44-year-old Arcelia Lopez, came out today saying she was coerced into her decision. I think this speaks to the problems in our legal system with jurors being influenced by others. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Juror tells of pressure to convict terrorism suspect
She tells judge in Lodi case she regrets her guilty vote and accuses jury foreman of misconduct -- other panelists deny it

By Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer

Prosecutors could not be reached for comment at the late hour.

Attempts to reach some jurors were unsuccessful. A few declined to comment.

Lopez, the final holdout for acquittal, acknowledged in Thursday's affidavit that, when polled by a clerk Tuesday, she "responded to the court that I agreed with the verdict."

Vikram Amar, a professor at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, said the judge is likely to investigate the allegations.

She said she didn't even know about Cote's note until Burrell responded in writing Monday morning, asking jurors to "please continue your deliberations."

Alternate juror Montell Hall, 69, of Roseville, who did not sit through deliberations, said Thursday that the panel followed the rules when he was present.

"If there was any (misconduct), I would have been the one to do it," the semiretired engineer and consultant joked. "I was very outspoken, but I didn't talk about the trial (during testimony)."

Hall said he, too, would have voted for conviction.

Posted by neela at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2006

Keep Free Speech on the Internet

Do you like reading the Hyphen Blog or other blogs like this? Do you blog yourself? Do you like getting your news source from somewhere other than the TV, radio, or the newspapers? If you say yes, then there's a serious threat going on right now.

The Internet is under attack and people need to be aware of it. Major telecom companies are trying to push for a "tiered" Internet that allow certain sites to get faster access if they pay up, and the ones that don't will get a slower speed, maybe even complete inaccessibility. So sites like hyphenmagazine.com and other non-corporate backed sites without a lot of money won't be able to reach as many people and as easily as it is now.

What does this mean? It basically means the first step towards the eradication of free speech on the Internet. Turning it into just another TV, radio or newspaper where the telecom companies essentially decides what you can and cannot see.

Find out more information at these sites:
freepress.net
savetheinternet.com
Congress readies new digital copyright bill

Please take action and sign the petition, or the very least be aware and find out what is really going on.

Posted by chao at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

Keep Free Speech on the Internet

Find out more information at these sites:
freepress.net
savetheinternet.com
Congress readies new digital copyright bill

Please take action and sign the petition, or the very least be aware and find out what is really going on.

Posted by chao at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

Keep Free Speech on the Internet

Find out more information at these sites:
freepress.net
savetheinternet.com
Congress readies new digital copyright bill

Please take action and sign the petition, or the very least be aware and find out what is really going on.

Posted by chao at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

Kid Punished for Filipino Eating Habits

I've got two stories for you. File the first one under appalling and ridiculous. A 7-year-old Filipino Canadian student has been repeatedly punished by his school for his eating habits. Basically, he's just eating Filipino style -- with a spoon and fork. The school administrators find this a "disgusting" habit.

When the mother contacted the principal, “He said, ‘Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.’

The mom filed a formal complaint.

The principal, not the kid, should be getting disciplined.

On the flip side, we have a story about striving for acceptance. Angela Chao Robertson has become the first person of African American heritage to compete for L.A.'s Miss Chinatown.

Robertson is half Chinese, half black. While she didn't win the crown, she did get on the court. Back in Hyphen #3, we ran a story about sports leagues and beauty pageants, asking whether these events actually built community, or it did the opposite by excluding mixed race people.

The L.A. competition seems fairly open:

While other Chinese pageants around the country require that the father be Chinese or that contestants speak either Mandarin or Cantonese, Los Angeles' event is considered one of the most inclusive, requiring only 25% Chinese heritage.

Posted by Melissa at 5:50 PM | Comments (20)

Kid Punished for Filipino Eating Habits

When the mother contacted the principal, “He said, ‘Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.’

The mom filed a formal complaint.

The principal, not the kid, should be getting disciplined.

On the flip side, we have a story about striving for acceptance. Angela Chao Robertson has become the first person of African American heritage to compete for L.A.'s Miss Chinatown.

The L.A. competition seems fairly open:

While other Chinese pageants around the country require that the father be Chinese or that contestants speak either Mandarin or Cantonese, Los Angeles' event is considered one of the most inclusive, requiring only 25% Chinese heritage.

Posted by Melissa at 5:50 PM | Comments (20)

Kid Punished for Filipino Eating Habits

When the mother contacted the principal, �He said, �Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.�

The mom filed a formal complaint.

The principal, not the kid, should be getting disciplined.

On the flip side, we have a story about striving for acceptance. Angela Chao Robertson has become the first person of African American heritage to compete for L.A.'s Miss Chinatown.

The L.A. competition seems fairly open:

While other Chinese pageants around the country require that the father be Chinese or that contestants speak either Mandarin or Cantonese, Los Angeles' event is considered one of the most inclusive, requiring only 25% Chinese heritage.

Posted by Melissa at 5:50 PM | Comments (18)

Dhamaal Seven Year Anniversary This Saturday

We’ve been hard at work here at Hyphen to put together our upcoming Music issue, which has got me thinking a lot about Asian American music and my own musical tastes.

I have pretty eclectic tastes these days. When riding the bus or walking around the city, you’ll find me favoring wordy Midwestern hip hop like Atmosphere and Denizen Cane’s crew Typical Cats. If you catch me getting ready to go out for a night on the town, I’ll be singing in my underwear to the likes of Patsy Cline and The Supremes. When I’m cleaning the bathroom or cooking a big meal, it’ll be either alt-country heroine Neko Case or India’s reigning diva Asha Bhosle.

But ever since I was 15 years old, just an angsty teenager in the flatlands of Ohio with a backpack full of party toys, I’ve been a proud speaker-geeking electronic music lover. I spent many a night dancing in dingy warehouses, roller skating rinks, basements and cavernous clubs in embarrassingly large pants and I loved every minute of it. I preferred the dark underground sounds of drum&bass – or jungle music, as we called it back then – but I wouldn’t hate on the house DJs coming through to my little town out of Chicago. There I was, one of the few Indian girls dancing all by my lonesome in a sea of white faces. Sigh. It was a bit lonely.

And then, all of a sudden, Talvin Singh released Anokha and I felt like I came home with the Asian Massive movement. Actually, I think it was British DJ State of Bengal’s 2000 release Visual Audio that was my ultimate musical moment. A gritty yet ambient drum & bass take on being bi-cultural, this album became my anthem. I wore out several CDs and kept burning new ones. One of my friends refused to ride in my car because there was a six-month period where I played the album on repeat. This was around the same time I moved to San Francisco. I continued my habit of dancing in dirty warehouses and speaker-geeking into the wee hours of the morning, usually to hard techno or drum&bass BUT I also found a new home at the relatively new monthly Dhamaal, at San Francisco’s Club 6. If you’ve never been to Club 6, the basement gets terribly sweaty and crowded, making it a great place to dance to the likes of dub DJ Maneesh the Twister and the gothic Janaka Selecta – Dhamaal’s founding members. And then when you’re all sweaty and beat down from the basement, you can come upstairs and cool off while listening to Riffat Sultana’s amazing Pakistani folk singing, which will make you jump around and then you’ll get all sweaty again.

The exciting thing is, this party is still going. In fact, this Saturday is Dhamaal’s 7-year anniversary – making them the longest-running Asian Massive/World Music electronica party in the world. That’s pretty serious. If you’re reading this and you’re in the Bay Area and you’ve never been to a Dhamaal party, I would really recommend heading out to this one. The party will feature world-famous Cheb-i-sabbah – but I wouldn’t miss Dhol-playing superstar Mitch Hyare or a live laptop/DJ set between up-and-comer Kush Arora and the always fresh Maneesh the Twister. And if you’re not in the Bay, I would highly recommend picking up Dhamaal’s debut album.

As you can tell, I sure am proud of these hometown boys. What local Asian American music acts are you all proud of out there?

Posted by neela at 12:18 PM | Comments (6)

Dhamaal Seven Year Anniversary This Saturday

We’ve been hard at work here at Hyphen to put together our upcoming Music issue, which has got me thinking a lot about Asian American music and my own musical tastes.

As you can tell, I sure am proud of these hometown boys. What local Asian American music acts are you all proud of out there?

Posted by neela at 12:18 PM | Comments (6)

Dhamaal Seven Year Anniversary This Saturday

We�ve been hard at work here at Hyphen to put together our upcoming Music issue, which has got me thinking a lot about Asian American music and my own musical tastes.

I have pretty eclectic tastes these days. When riding the bus or walking around the city, you�ll find me favoring wordy Midwestern hip hop like Atmosphere and Denizen Cane�s crew Typical Cats. If you catch me getting ready to go out for a night on the town, I�ll be singing in my underwear to the likes of Patsy Cline and The Supremes. When I�m cleaning the bathroom or cooking a big meal, it�ll be either alt-country heroine Neko Case or India�s reigning diva Asha Bhosle.

But ever since I was 15 years old, just an angsty teenager in the flatlands of Ohio with a backpack full of party toys, I�ve been a proud speaker-geeking electronic music lover. I spent many a night dancing in dingy warehouses, roller skating rinks, basements and cavernous clubs in embarrassingly large pants and I loved every minute of it. I preferred the dark underground sounds of drum&bass � or jungle music, as we called it back then � but I wouldn�t hate on the house DJs coming through to my little town out of Chicago. There I was, one of the few Indian girls dancing all by my lonesome in a sea of white faces. Sigh. It was a bit lonely.

And then, all of a sudden, Talvin Singh released Anokha and I felt like I came home with the Asian Massive movement. Actually, I think it was British DJ State of Bengal�s 2000 release Visual Audio that was my ultimate musical moment. A gritty yet ambient drum & bass take on being bi-cultural, this album became my anthem. I wore out several CDs and kept burning new ones. One of my friends refused to ride in my car because there was a six-month period where I played the album on repeat. This was around the same time I moved to San Francisco. I continued my habit of dancing in dirty warehouses and speaker-geeking into the wee hours of the morning, usually to hard techno or drum&bass BUT I also found a new home at the relatively new monthly Dhamaal, at San Francisco�s Club 6. If you�ve never been to Club 6, the basement gets terribly sweaty and crowded, making it a great place to dance to the likes of dub DJ Maneesh the Twister and the gothic Janaka Selecta � Dhamaal�s founding members. And then when you�re all sweaty and beat down from the basement, you can come upstairs and cool off while listening to Riffat Sultana�s amazing Pakistani folk singing, which will make you jump around and then you�ll get all sweaty again.

The exciting thing is, this party is still going. In fact, this Saturday is Dhamaal�s 7-year anniversary � making them the longest-running Asian Massive/World Music electronica party in the world. That�s pretty serious. If you�re reading this and you�re in the Bay Area and you�ve never been to a Dhamaal party, I would really recommend heading out to this one. The party will feature world-famous Cheb-i-sabbah � but I wouldn�t miss Dhol-playing superstar Mitch Hyare or a live laptop/DJ set between up-and-comer Kush Arora and the always fresh Maneesh the Twister. And if you�re not in the Bay, I would highly recommend picking up Dhamaal�s debut album.

As you can tell, I sure am proud of these hometown boys. What local Asian American music acts are you all proud of out there?

Posted by neela at 12:18 PM | Comments (6)

George Takei's Equality Trek

Star Trek's George Takei has been making the rounds, appearing on Howard Stern's new radio show and speaking up for gay and lesbian rights around the country since coming out publicly last year.

Here's an in-depth interview with Takei that's pretty interesting. He touches on a lot of topics: Star Trek's 40th anniversary, gay and lesbian rights, Howard Stern's quiet side and how none of the Trek alums get along with William Shatner (except for Leonard Nimoy).

Posted by harry at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)

George Takei's Equality Trek

Star Trek's George Takei has been making the rounds, appearing on Howard Stern's new radio show and speaking up for gay and lesbian rights around the country since coming out publicly last year.

Posted by harry at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)

George Takei's Equality Trek

Star Trek's George Takei has been making the rounds, appearing on Howard Stern's new radio show and speaking up for gay and lesbian rights around the country since coming out publicly last year.

Posted by harry at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)

April 26, 2006

The Ao Dai: Wearable Art (That you can do high kicks in)

Rarely have I been to an exhibit where the museum guests were wearing the same article of clothing as was on display. (Well, usually i don't go to exhibits where the art is wearable, that's true, too.)

But not so last weekend in San Jose, where I kept taking sneak peaks at the women and girls running around in ao dai (pronounced "ow yie" or "ow zie") --many of which were equally beautiful, if less ornate, than the pieces on show.

I have to say, the ao dai is the ideal outfit. The long tunic is form fitting enough to give you shape but covers up a host of figure faults, and the loose pants underneath mean you can ride bikes, squat, do high kicks, or conquer the world a la Katherine Hepburn, but Asian style.

I'm a skirt girl, not just because my fundamentalist Christian elementary school required dresses everyday. No, because I have such trouble finding pants that fit. and jeans? forget it. But when it's cold (can't wear snowpants under the skirt anymore, like in Kansas) sometimes you just want a little more. That's where the ao dai would be perfect.

However, you won't see me sporting one anytime soon. Why? Because I would feel like it's 1) cultural misappropriation or 2) fetishizing / calling attention to my Asian-ness in my workplace that is almost entirely white (not to mention confusing them with the whole Chinese vs. Vietnamese vs. Japanese thing [a lot of people think i'm japanese even though i'm Chinese American --it's a long story]).

I've been accused of being too literal, and perhaps it's true. I don't have a problem eating Vietnamese food or hanging Lao art on my walls, but I guess clothing is a claim of identity. Am I taking it too seriously to feel that I'd be pretending to be something that I'm not? Or, perhaps worse, "dressing up" as Vietnamese, as if it were a Halloween costume?

There was a white woman and her daughter at the exhibit wearing matching ao dai and I couldn't stop looking at them either, trying to figure out what they were about. Had they lived in Vietnam, did they hang out with the Vietnamese community, did they in fact have a "right" to be wearing one?

And I know, how ridiculous is that? How can you go around judging and drawing lines as to who can wear what? But after seeing so many people running around with chinese character tattoos, people ordering "chai tea," creepy men extolling the virtues of Asian women, you just start to be a little skeezed out by stuff like that. Very scientific analysis, skeezed out.

But I digress. I wanted to tell you that the exhibit, held for the next 3 months at the San Jose Quilt and Textile Museum, is definitely worth a trip. Even better if you stop for some pho on your way (i hear SJ's got the best in the bay area).

I like exhibits of things that are usable, or used... Things that were held in people's hands, absorbed their smells or held their food or ink or babies. And this is that kind of exhibit --you can see how tiny some of the women were, how meticulously their garments were sewn, and the crazy ways they've been adapted --with Indian quiliting techniques, as above, with ruffles and lace in the Victorian era, or with the psychedelic prints of the 60s. it's a small exhibit, but has an impressive range.

They've also got a menu of lectures through June, if you go for that kind of stuff. Find out more by clicking here.

Posted by jennifer at 10:47 AM | Comments (2)

The Ao Dai: Wearable Art (That you can do high kicks in)

They've also got a menu of lectures through June, if you go for that kind of stuff. Find out more by clicking here.

Posted by jennifer at 10:47 AM | Comments (2)

The Ao Dai: Wearable Art (That you can do high kicks in)

They've also got a menu of lectures through June, if you go for that kind of stuff. Find out more by clicking here.

Posted by jennifer at 10:47 AM | Comments (2)

April 25, 2006

Opal Mehta: Is this chick lit book Asian America's Million Little Pieces?

When I first read that Harvard sophomore Kaavya Vishwanathan got $500,000 from publishing company Little Brown & Company for a two-book deal, I was fascinated.

I was imagining that little Kaavya had written some kind of poetic Sylvia Plath-esque South Asian Bell Jar, documenting the darker side of growing up different in America. Or perhaps it was a J.D. Salinger-esque outsider novel about a South Asian teenager growing up in the aftermath of 9.11. I had fantastic dreams that she was our Zadie Smith, appearing on the literary horizon to shake up the Asian American literary community like a laptop-toting Joan of Arc.

Then I found out that How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life is really – as the New York Times described – "a chick-lit-meets-admissions-frenzy novel." Okay, I admit, it sounds funny – the over-achieving Opal Mehta wants nothing more than to get into Harvard and when the admissions officer tells her that she must be more than just scores and grades, she and her parents create the HOWGAL plan, or “How Opal Will Get a Life.” This plan includes “reading Teen People, watching Beyoncé videos, wearing Jimmy Choo spike heels and Habitual jeans.” When I read that the book had been optioned for a movie, I knew I would go see it when it came out and be entertained but I was also, well, kind of disappointed.

I actually already discussed this feeling of disappointment in detail back in issue seven when I did a little survey of Asian American chick lit (“Can I Get a Purse with That?”). Here’s was my main question in that article:

[A]fter perusing a handful of the Asian American chick lit titles out there—Caroline Hwang’s In Full Bloom (Plume), Kim Wong Keltner’s The Dim Sum of All Things (Avon Trade) and Buddha Baby (Avon Trade), and Kavita Daswani’s For Matrimonial Purposes (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)—I felt the same kind of pride I did when Miko, Barbie’s Pacific Islander friend, was introduced back in 1988: Is this something I should really be proud of?

Go ahead, call me a snob. I’ll accept this label. But I am more interested in reading and supporting new Asian American authors who are pushing past the model minority stereotypes and writing about class struggle, passion and politics in a way that doesn’t have to include discussions of brand-names and, in this case, super-elitist academic institutions. I think my critique of Viswanathan goes beyond her chick-lit genre, because this critique applies to authors like Jumpha Lahiri as well, and is more about my frustration with the lack of fiction out there about the working class South Asian community. Can we only write about first generation immigration experiences, living in the suburbs or the homeland? I don’t mean to favor subject-matter over writing quality but I think if South Asian writers continue to write about the same subjects and place their stories in the same settings, we are just limiting ourselves.

Now that I have gotten my rant about what Opal Mehta is about out of the way, I can move onto the plagarism scandal. Mehta’s own Harvard Crimson, the school paper that has so recently touted her fame, came at her Smoking Gun style and said that her Opal Mehta was surprisingly similar to Megan F. McCafferty’s Sloppy Firsts. The Crimson even goes on to show “13 instances in which Ms. Viswanathan's book closely paralleled Ms. McCafferty's work” (NY Times).

My first reaction was : “Well duh, all chick lit books are alike, that’s why they suck!!” But then Hyphen fiction editor Sabrina Tom had a slightly less inflammatory and, well, smarter comment. She said: “I think this has to do with the heightened attention in the press right now given to author's accused of making things up (James Frey and the whole J.T. Leroy weirdness). It’s not just chick lit books. All authors, essentially, borrow and steal. Which author, under microscopic scrutiny, could claim total originality?”

Anyway, even if I am not totally in the Viswanathan fan club, I don’t think the plagarism was intentional. And even if Viswanathan’s plot closely parralelled McCafferty’s – Opal Mehta’s South Asian-ness sets the book apart and makes it an original.

So, what’s the moral of this story? I’m not sure, maybe just that I am and will always be a literary snob or maybe that there are no original stories out there. Regardless, I still hope How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life is made into a movie, because more than we need a South Asian American Zadie Smith, we need a South Asian American Lindsey Lohan.

Posted by neela at 1:24 PM | Comments (29)

Opal Mehta: Is this chick lit book Asian America's Million Little Pieces?

When I first read that Harvard sophomore Kaavya Vishwanathan got $500,000 from publishing company Little Brown & Company for a two-book deal, I was fascinated.

[A]fter perusing a handful of the Asian American chick lit titles out there—Caroline Hwang’s In Full Bloom (Plume), Kim Wong Keltner’s The Dim Sum of All Things (Avon Trade) and Buddha Baby (Avon Trade), and Kavita Daswani’s For Matrimonial Purposes (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)—I felt the same kind of pride I did when Miko, Barbie’s Pacific Islander friend, was introduced back in 1988: Is this something I should really be proud of?

Posted by neela at 1:24 PM | Comments (29)

Opal Mehta: Is this chick lit book Asian America's Million Little Pieces?

When I first read that Harvard sophomore Kaavya Vishwanathan got $500,000 from publishing company Little Brown & Company for a two-book deal, I was fascinated.

Then I found out that How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life is really � as the New York Times described � "a chick-lit-meets-admissions-frenzy novel." Okay, I admit, it sounds funny � the over-achieving Opal Mehta wants nothing more than to get into Harvard and when the admissions officer tells her that she must be more than just scores and grades, she and her parents create the HOWGAL plan, or �How Opal Will Get a Life.� This plan includes �reading Teen People, watching Beyonc� videos, wearing Jimmy Choo spike heels and Habitual jeans.� When I read that the book had been optioned for a movie, I knew I would go see it when it came out and be entertained but I was also, well, kind of disappointed.

I actually already discussed this feeling of disappointment in detail back in issue seven when I did a little survey of Asian American chick lit (�Can I Get a Purse with That?�). Here�s was my main question in that article:

[A]fter perusing a handful of the Asian American chick lit titles out there�Caroline Hwang�s In Full Bloom (Plume), Kim Wong Keltner�s The Dim Sum of All Things (Avon Trade) and Buddha Baby (Avon Trade), and Kavita Daswani�s For Matrimonial Purposes (G.P. Putnam�s Sons)�I felt the same kind of pride I did when Miko, Barbie�s Pacific Islander friend, was introduced back in 1988: Is this something I should really be proud of?

Go ahead, call me a snob. I�ll accept this label. But I am more interested in reading and supporting new Asian American authors who are pushing past the model minority stereotypes and writing about class struggle, passion and politics in a way that doesn�t have to include discussions of brand-names and, in this case, super-elitist academic institutions. I think my critique of Viswanathan goes beyond her chick-lit genre, because this critique applies to authors like Jumpha Lahiri as well, and is more about my frustration with the lack of fiction out there about the working class South Asian community. Can we only write about first generation immigration experiences, living in the suburbs or the homeland? I don�t mean to favor subject-matter over writing quality but I think if South Asian writers continue to write about the same subjects and place their stories in the same settings, we are just limiting ourselves.

Now that I have gotten my rant about what Opal Mehta is about out of the way, I can move onto the plagarism scandal. Mehta�s own Harvard Crimson, the school paper that has so recently touted her fame, came at her Smoking Gun style and said that her Opal Mehta was surprisingly similar to Megan F. McCafferty�s Sloppy Firsts. The Crimson even goes on to show �13 instances in which Ms. Viswanathan's book closely paralleled Ms. McCafferty's work� (NY Times).

My first reaction was : �Well duh, all chick lit books are alike, that�s why they suck!!� But then Hyphen fiction editor Sabrina Tom had a slightly less inflammatory and, well, smarter comment. She said: �I think this has to do with the heightened attention in the press right now given to author's accused of making things up (James Frey and the whole J.T. Leroy weirdness). It�s not just chick lit books. All authors, essentially, borrow and steal. Which author, under microscopic scrutiny, could claim total originality?�

Anyway, even if I am not totally in the Viswanathan fan club, I don�t think the plagarism was intentional. And even if Viswanathan�s plot closely parralelled McCafferty�s � Opal Mehta�s South Asian-ness sets the book apart and makes it an original.

So, what�s the moral of this story? I�m not sure, maybe just that I am and will always be a literary snob or maybe that there are no original stories out there. Regardless, I still hope How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life is made into a movie, because more than we need a South Asian American Zadie Smith, we need a South Asian American Lindsey Lohan.

Posted by neela at 1:24 PM | Comments (29)

April 24, 2006

Immigrant Rights

There was an immigrant rights rally/demo Sunday in SF, including an API contingent.

(Momo Chang)

(John C. Liau)

Here's a discussion on our blog about immigration. Also, go here for more photos.

Posted by momo at 12:18 PM | Comments (2)

Immigrant Rights

There was an immigrant rights rally/demo Sunday in SF, including an API contingent.

(Momo Chang)

(John C. Liau)

Here's a discussion on our blog about immigration. Also, go here for more photos.

Posted by momo at 12:18 PM | Comments (2)

Immigrant Rights

There was an immigrant rights rally/demo Sunday in SF, including an API contingent.

(Momo Chang)

(John C. Liau)

Here's a discussion on our blog about immigration. Also, go here for more photos.

Posted by momo at 12:18 PM | Comments (2)

April 21, 2006

[API events April 24-30]

Thursday, April 27 – SF
circa%201972.gif
Asian Law Caucus’ 34th Anniversary Dinner with keynote speaker Ronald Takaki.
ALC is the nation's oldest legal and civil rights organization serving the low-income Asian Pacific American communities. (5:30-9:30, San Francisco Marriott. 55 Fourth St., SF. To RSVP go here or call 415-896-1701, x13. $175+).

Friday, April 28 – SF

Get your (H)API hour on for the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. NAPAWF's mission is to build an APA women's movement among those who believe in advancing social justice, and addressing the concerns and increasing the rights of APA women and girls. (5:30-8pm, Zebulon Café and Bar, 83 Natoma, SF. RSVP here).

Saturday, April 29 – Berkeley

Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present book launch at UC Berkeley with eds. Judy Yung, Him Mark Lai and presented with Prof. Ling-chi Wang. The anthology includes sixty-two primary documents and stories by Chinese Americans, provides an intimate and textured history of the Chinese in America from their arrival during the California Gold Rush to the present. Among the documents are letters, speeches, testimonies, oral histories, personal memoirs, poems, essays, and folksongs; many have never been published before or have been translated into English for the first time. (2pm, Heller Lounge, UC Berkeley MLK Student Union Building. Telegraph and Bancroft Ave., Berkeley. Free).

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

[API events April 24-30]

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

[API events April 24-30]

Thursday, April 27 � SF
circa%201972.gif
Asian Law Caucus� 34th Anniversary Dinner with keynote speaker Ronald Takaki.
ALC is the nation's oldest legal and civil rights organization serving the low-income Asian Pacific American communities. (5:30-9:30, San Francisco Marriott. 55 Fourth St., SF. To RSVP go here or call 415-896-1701, x13. $175+).

Friday, April 28 � SF

Get your (H)API hour on for the National Asian Pacific American Women�s Forum. NAPAWF's mission is to build an APA women's movement among those who believe in advancing social justice, and addressing the concerns and increasing the rights of APA women and girls. (5:30-8pm, Zebulon Caf� and Bar, 83 Natoma, SF. RSVP here).

Saturday, April 29 � Berkeley

Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present book launch at UC Berkeley with eds. Judy Yung, Him Mark Lai and presented with Prof. Ling-chi Wang. The anthology includes sixty-two primary documents and stories by Chinese Americans, provides an intimate and textured history of the Chinese in America from their arrival during the California Gold Rush to the present. Among the documents are letters, speeches, testimonies, oral histories, personal memoirs, poems, essays, and folksongs; many have never been published before or have been translated into English for the first time. (2pm, Heller Lounge, UC Berkeley MLK Student Union Building. Telegraph and Bancroft Ave., Berkeley. Free).

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

Asians Are Easy Targets Everywhere

By Sonny Le

The Chinatown has been looted and burned and Asians are fleeing for lives. Machete-wielding mobs rampaged through Honiara, the capital city of the Solomon Islands, in running battles with the police and peace-keepers. The uprising erupted on Tuesday in protest against alleged rigged election results.

Asians, primarily Chinese, have been the target of hostility and violence for their almost-monopoly control of the economy and close ties to the corrupt government of this South Pacific island nation, a member of the British Commonwealth. Solomon Islanders are Melanesians.

There has been scant report in the American press and with almost no mention about Chinatown and Asians. A lot more are being reported by the Aussie and Kiwi's presses. Links are below.

I don't know what you all think, but this is and should be so TIMELY and RELEVANT for us to discuss as the US immigration debate is raging on and the warning of potential backlash against Asians by Professor Ling-Chi Wang, as quoted in an entry posted by Harry Mok on this blog.

It's fine and good that we, Asians/Asian Americans, stand in SOLIDARITY with the progressives, Latinos and other communities in the marches and protests against the war in Iraq, draconian immigration laws and other civil rights and social justice matters.

However, it's MORE IMPORTANT that we take advantage of these occasions to make our voices heard, our faces stood out from the crowds and our presence felt. It feels like somehow we always get relegated to the sidelines or the background totally, even in the cities such as San Francisco where Asians are THE SECOND largest ethnic group at 35%, after white which is about 42%.

What would it take? I am not advocating for rude behavior like hogging the mic or elbowing our ways to the front during photo-ops. But my god, we HAVE GOT an image problem here!

The conversation threads on this blog speak volume.

The looting and burning of Chinatown in the Solomons bring back memory of growing up half-Chinese in small Mekong Delta towns of Vietnam. Vietnam in those days, like most Southeast Asian countries where more than 80% of the population eked out a subsistence living from the land, the poor farmers had to buy the seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and other farming essentials from merchants who were almost always of Chinese descent. A lot of the times, the farmers had to buy things on credit against their next crops. If the crops failed...oh well.

Once the crops were harvested, they had to deal with the middle men would be Chinese because they were the only ones who had the means to transport the crops, store and resell them to the open market. At much higher prices, of course. This is all part of business transaction. Nothing sinister or unethical about it. But the poor built up resentment...and poof...Chinatown burned.

It was not on the same level as racism in America, but it pointed to the level of passivity on the part of the Chinese merchant class. It pointed to the un-articulated and un-expressed sympathy and compassion that the Chinese had for the farming poor. It also pointed to the insularity of the Chinese community.

Even though my mother was a third-generation Chinese Vietnamese, many of her relatives maintained a way of life that was apart from the Vietnamese. And she herself grew up a "Chinese" until she met my father, who worked for my maternal grandfather as a bookkeeper right out of college.

What was happening in Vietnam was also happening else in the region. The Chinatown of Kuala Lumpur was looted and burned more than once, the last time was in 1969. The Chinatown in Jakarta, Indonesia was most recently looted and burned in 1989, with over 2,000 Chinese-Indonesians and their employees killed, many hacked to dead. Chinese in Manila have been frequent targets of kidnappings. Many prominent (read: wealthy) Chinese Filipinos now have to have round-the-clock armed-guard protection, even their children when they go to school.

Further back and a continent away, when the psychopathic dictator Idi Amin came to power in Uganda in 1972 he ordered all Asians, almost all of whom were of Indian descent, to leave Uganda within 90 days. Ugandans of Asian descent had been in Uganda for over a century and they were the backbone of the economy.

At the end, over 60,000 Indians were expelled from Uganda, many penniless because their businesses and properties were confiscated by Amin.

The same thing happened again in Tanzania, Kenya and Zimbabwe. In all these instances the governments that came in power were nationalists regaining independence from European colonial powers. Even though the Asians/Indians were prejudiced against by the British colonialists, the Black majority did not cut them any slack because they "controlled" the economy.

When Los Angeles Koreatown was looted and burned in 1992 in the aftermath of the trial against four police officers who had been videotaped beating up Rodney King, a Black motorist, America and the American political establishment did not come to the Koreans' rescue. Korean-owned businesses and Korean Americans were targeted even though they had nothing to do with the no-guilty verdict. For days on end the American press was fixated on coverage trying to understand and explain inner city-America's racial problems but not much attention was paid to the plight of the Korean Americans.

Asians in America have been the easy target since day one. We have to be able to achieve more than just being in "solidarity" with like-minded groups and exchanging platitudes about harmony and unity. It's not enough that we hold Chinese banquet fundraisers for elected officials and politicians of the day.

We have to not only able to hold those we support accountable but we also have to have a voice that has to be reckoned with.

Look at what happened to John Huang, Eugene and Nora Lum, Johnny Chung and Charlie Trie, among others, during Bill Clinton's presidency. They thought they had it covered by buying influence from the Clinton's administration and the Democratic Party with millions of dollars in donation and political contribution. They thought they had the political heavyweights in their corner, from Honolulu to Washington, DC. When table was turned on them, the Democrats hung them out to dry and the Asian American communities were dragged through the muck with them.

We have to stop being easy target. With China on the rise economically and politically and more universities like UC Berkeley being filled up with Asians from Asia and Asian Americans, once again, we, Asian Americans, the "foreigners," the "orientals" who will get picked on.

Sonny Le is a San Francisco-based media consultant and Hyphen advisory board member.

Posted by momo at 3:24 PM | Comments (5)

Asians Are Easy Targets Everywhere

By Sonny Le

There has been scant report in the American press and with almost no mention about Chinatown and Asians. A lot more are being reported by the Aussie and Kiwi's presses. Links are below.

What would it take? I am not advocating for rude behavior like hogging the mic or elbowing our ways to the front during photo-ops. But my god, we HAVE GOT an image problem here!

The conversation threads on this blog speak volume.

We have to not only able to hold those we support accountable but we also have to have a voice that has to be reckoned with.

Sonny Le is a San Francisco-based media consultant and Hyphen advisory board member.

Posted by momo at 3:24 PM | Comments (5)

Asians Are Easy Targets Everywhere

By Sonny Le

There has been scant report in the American press and with almost no mention about Chinatown and Asians. A lot more are being reported by the Aussie and Kiwi's presses. Links are below.

What would it take? I am not advocating for rude behavior like hogging the mic or elbowing our ways to the front during photo-ops. But my god, we HAVE GOT an image problem here!

The conversation threads on this blog speak volume.

We have to not only able to hold those we support accountable but we also have to have a voice that has to be reckoned with.

Sonny Le is a San Francisco-based media consultant and Hyphen advisory board member.

Posted by momo at 3:24 PM | Comments (5)

April 20, 2006

Asian Americans outnumber other groups at UC

Not exactly stop-the-presses news, but Asian Americans are the biggest racial group in the incoming class at the University of California.

Berkeley, UCLA and other campuses of the system have had large percentages of Asian Americans since the 1980s. It was only a matter of time before they outnumbered white students. As professor Ling-chi Wang says in the article, get ready for the possible backlash to the news.

Posted by harry at 1:31 PM | Comments (3)

Asian Americans outnumber other groups at UC

Not exactly stop-the-presses news, but Asian Americans are the biggest racial group in the incoming class at the University of California.

Posted by harry at 1:31 PM | Comments (3)

Asian Americans outnumber other groups at UC

Not exactly stop-the-presses news, but Asian Americans are the biggest racial group in the incoming class at the University of California.

Posted by harry at 1:31 PM | Comments (3)

Bitter Asian Man

Can we move beyond tired cliches, stereotypes and bruised egos?

By Sonny Le

Interspecies, I mean interracial, dating/sex/love seems to be the subject that has raised the most interest among Hyphen’s blog readers – 120 comments since July '05 and counting. The membership of the Bitter Asian Men Club (BAMC) seems to be growing by leaps and bounds as well.

By all indications, it may not cease to be an issue that has warranted such ferocious debates today even when the majority of Western Europe, North America, Australia – heck the rest of the world, for that matter, will be either Mexicans or Chinese because there is a certain amount of self-fulfilling prophecy involved on the part of the BAMC’s members.

While I empathize with and understand the sentiments expressed by the “imagined” and actually rejected Asian men out there, partisans in this debate tend to resort to tired clichés and stereotypes and, at times, down-right absurd responses in reaction to the question about their preference/choice of sex/love mates.

I always wonder what would have happened if Western Europe had not gone on a rampage in the name of Christianity. What would have happened if the conquistadors had been women? Like all forms of warfare, and just a matter of variation, men in conquest plunder the village of the defeated, destroy their culture, rape their women, humiliate and emasculate (castrate!) the men, literally and figuratively.

For those of us born, raised and schooled in North America and Western Europe, being captives of history borne out of the West’s successive religious crusades, conquests and colonization, our minds can’t seem to be able to look at sex and love simply a matter of the heart…and the proper usage of the tools. Together with an open mind, of course.

When I got off the boat in the San Francisco Bay in the early 1980s, somehow I did not get the memo that Asian men were not desirable. I always thought that I had the same equipment as other men, granted that there might be variations. Like other tasks and chores, practice makes perfect.

I was further boosted by the fact that I now had more choices. Had I remained in Vietnam, my choices for sex and love would have been quite limited. I figured, if I cast my net wide, the odds would be better: Asian women, 20%, white women, 20%, Latino women, 20%, Black women, 20%, Mestiso/Mixed-race women another 20%. Had I included the gay and bi category in this equation, my odds of getting some would have been even better.

Co-incidentally (don’t know which part of my brain that triggered it) I soon fell under the spell of punk and alt-rock music. In smoke-filled, ear-shattering, dark dungeons (these venues somehow tended to locate in the basement!) that were the punk music nightclubs, it was not all difficult to hook up, even for an FOB with a poor command of English. In this atmosphere, it did not take much for me to communicate what I wanted: Can I buy you a drink? Do you want to leave now? Let’s go somewhere. And with the hairdos, the clothes, not to mention the garish make-up, I did not look so bad among the punksters.

The subsequent conversations with these women now had been facilitated by some good loving the night before. They became much easier. Besides, we had punk music and our social/political beliefs to talk about.

However, it wasn’t long before the Yellow Peril-Hop Sing-Kato-Dr. Fu Manchu-Bruce Lee-The Green Berets-The Deer Hunter-Apocalypse Now virus entered my blood stream and began to play tricks with my otherwise fully-empowered Asian-born mind. As I became more “American,” I learned that the “White Men” had discovered literally everything, from the Yeti to the G-Spot. They have written books on which fork, among four on the table, to use when you take a woman out to a fancy restaurant on the first date. I also discovered that growing up without Hollywood and Madison Avenue, America’s brain trust and repositories of social code of conduct, moral values, tastes and aesthetics, I had been going about life all wrong. I now have to unlearn my backward oriental ways.

About the same time, December 2, 1990 to be exact, a reporter named Joan Walsh, whom I believe is now Salon’s editor-in-chief, wrote the 5,370-word article feature in the Sunday Magazine of then-real-newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner called “Asian Women, Caucasian Men.” The piece dealt with then-exploding interracial dating phenomena on the UC Berkeley campus that gave birth to the Bitter Asian Men Club. (ModelMinority.com somehow managed to keep it here in its archives).

The Asian men in this piece, and many that I have read since, didn’t come out looking so good themselves either. It seemed, like then and now, some members of BAMC are obsessed with being rejected by Asian women and that their only recourse is white women, knowing full well that they are not wanted here either.

I was aware of the prostitution industry that was an integral part of the American military adventures in Asia and that many of the soldiers ended up marrying former prostitutes, and even brought them home to moms and dads. But things like “Asian women fetish,” or white men “like rice” instead of “white bread” were a bit much for me. I understand that if one eats chicken for a while, a big slab of beef looks rather tempting. That’s OK. But not because there is something WRONG with the chicken.

Furthermore, I found the notion that some Asian women choose white men because Asian men remind them of their cousin/uncle/father/brother was rather absurd. You think white women say the same thing about white men?

“Mary Jo, honestly, I don’t think I want to go out with Billy Bob. He reminds me of my brother Jethro. His idea of fun is to watch NASCAR every weekend, except for his old high school’s football games. He chews tobacco & spits in the corner. And, boy, how much I hate it when he crushes those beer cans against his forehead.”

If the lackluster manhood on the part of the Asian men is in question, look at the rest of the country. Look at the domestic violence and date rape statistics and the perps that get picked up for the misdeeds. The majority of them don’t look Asian to me. Look at the social values shared by the majority of Americans (read: white), they don’t look all that enlightened to me. (Since we are talking about the mixing of the races in North America, Australia and Western Europe, so please leave the Asians in Asia and their problems out of the debate).

It all boils down to the fact that our minds have been poisoned by histories borne out of conquests. Contemporary liberal ideals about love and sex have been manufactured and maintained by the ruling elites where most of us are not even welcome to join their club. Read all the books about love and sex, watch all the videos and DVDs for the best pick-up lines, it still cannot beat practice. Rejection is part of the deal. My dad loved to say this: If you step on a pile of poop, wash your feet and keep on walking. You don’t cut them off.

Sonny Le is a San Francisco Bay-based communications consultant and an occasional pontificator who has the complete collection of John Hughes' 80's teen-comedy classics and Porky's I, II and III. He is also a Hyphen advisory board member.

He recommends the following books for your further edification: Jack Rutherford’s Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Harry Frankfurt’s On Bullshit, Karen Armstrong’s Islam: A Short History, The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions and many other fine titles. Or, "If books are too much, go to Wikipedia.com and type in 'Dark Ages,' 'The Age of Enlightenment' or 'Renaissance Period.' Learn about the histories of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company. Better yet, read a few history books not written by dead, or living, white people.”

Posted by momo at 10:54 AM | Comments (31)

Bitter Asian Man

Can we move beyond tired cliches, stereotypes and bruised egos?

By Sonny Le

Posted by momo at 10:54 AM | Comments (31)

Bitter Asian Man

Can we move beyond tired cliches, stereotypes and bruised egos?

By Sonny Le

Interspecies, I mean interracial, dating/sex/love seems to be the subject that has raised the most interest among Hyphen�s blog readers � 120 comments since July '05 and counting. The membership of the Bitter Asian Men Club (BAMC) seems to be growing by leaps and bounds as well.

By all indications, it may not cease to be an issue that has warranted such ferocious debates today even when the majority of Western Europe, North America, Australia � heck the rest of the world, for that matter, will be either Mexicans or Chinese because there is a certain amount of self-fulfilling prophecy involved on the part of the BAMC�s members.

While I empathize with and understand the sentiments expressed by the �imagined� and actually rejected Asian men out there, partisans in this debate tend to resort to tired clich�s and stereotypes and, at times, down-right absurd responses in reaction to the question about their preference/choice of sex/love mates.

For those of us born, raised and schooled in North America and Western Europe, being captives of history borne out of the West�s successive religious crusades, conquests and colonization, our minds can�t seem to be able to look at sex and love simply a matter of the heart�and the proper usage of the tools. Together with an open mind, of course.

Co-incidentally (don�t know which part of my brain that triggered it) I soon fell under the spell of punk and alt-rock music. In smoke-filled, ear-shattering, dark dungeons (these venues somehow tended to locate in the basement!) that were the punk music nightclubs, it was not all difficult to hook up, even for an FOB with a poor command of English. In this atmosphere, it did not take much for me to communicate what I wanted: Can I buy you a drink? Do you want to leave now? Let�s go somewhere. And with the hairdos, the clothes, not to mention the garish make-up, I did not look so bad among the punksters.

However, it wasn�t long before the Yellow Peril-Hop Sing-Kato-Dr. Fu Manchu-Bruce Lee-The Green Berets-The Deer Hunter-Apocalypse Now virus entered my blood stream and began to play tricks with my otherwise fully-empowered Asian-born mind. As I became more �American,� I learned that the �White Men� had discovered literally everything, from the Yeti to the G-Spot. They have written books on which fork, among four on the table, to use when you take a woman out to a fancy restaurant on the first date. I also discovered that growing up without Hollywood and Madison Avenue, America�s brain trust and repositories of social code of conduct, moral values, tastes and aesthetics, I had been going about life all wrong. I now have to unlearn my backward oriental ways.

About the same time, December 2, 1990 to be exact, a reporter named Joan Walsh, whom I believe is now Salon�s editor-in-chief, wrote the 5,370-word article feature in the Sunday Magazine of then-real-newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner called �Asian Women, Caucasian Men.� The piece dealt with then-exploding interracial dating phenomena on the UC Berkeley campus that gave birth to the Bitter Asian Men Club. (ModelMinority.com somehow managed to keep it here in its archives).

The Asian men in this piece, and many that I have read since, didn�t come out looking so good themselves either. It seemed, like then and now, some members of BAMC are obsessed with being rejected by Asian women and that their only recourse is white women, knowing full well that they are not wanted here either.

I was aware of the prostitution industry that was an integral part of the American military adventures in Asia and that many of the soldiers ended up marrying former prostitutes, and even brought them home to moms and dads. But things like �Asian women fetish,� or white men �like rice� instead of �white bread� were a bit much for me. I understand that if one eats chicken for a while, a big slab of beef looks rather tempting. That�s OK. But not because there is something WRONG with the chicken.

�Mary Jo, honestly, I don�t think I want to go out with Billy Bob. He reminds me of my brother Jethro. His idea of fun is to watch NASCAR every weekend, except for his old high school�s football games. He chews tobacco & spits in the corner. And, boy, how much I hate it when he crushes those beer cans against his forehead.�

If the lackluster manhood on the part of the Asian men is in question, look at the rest of the country. Look at the domestic violence and date rape statistics and the perps that get picked up for the misdeeds. The majority of them don�t look Asian to me. Look at the social values shared by the majority of Americans (read: white), they don�t look all that enlightened to me. (Since we are talking about the mixing of the races in North America, Australia and Western Europe, so please leave the Asians in Asia and their problems out of the debate).

He recommends the following books for your further edification: Jack Rutherford�s Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Harry Frankfurt�s On Bullshit, Karen Armstrong�s Islam: A Short History, The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions and many other fine titles. Or, "If books are too much, go to Wikipedia.com and type in 'Dark Ages,' 'The Age of Enlightenment' or 'Renaissance Period.' Learn about the histories of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company. Better yet, read a few history books not written by dead, or living, white people.�

Posted by momo at 10:54 AM | Comments (29)

April 19, 2006

The Great Quake's Effect on Chinatown

Better a day late than never. Yesterday was the 100th anniversary the San Francisco earthquake, and if you're here in the Bay Area, you've been inundated with centennial stories in the news.

Here are a few about what happened to the Chinese American community after the quake:

Out of Chaos came new Chinese America, from the San Francisco Chronicle.

And a couple of personal essays:

The quake that toppled taboos and built a family, from the Los Angeles Times.

San Francisco survivors, from the New York Times

Posted by harry at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

The Great Quake's Effect on Chinatown

Better a day late than never. Yesterday was the 100th anniversary the San Francisco earthquake, and if you're here in the Bay Area, you've been inundated with centennial stories in the news.

Here are a few about what happened to the Chinese American community after the quake:

Out of Chaos came new Chinese America, from the San Francisco Chronicle.

And a couple of personal essays:

The quake that toppled taboos and built a family, from the Los Angeles Times.

San Francisco survivors, from the New York Times

Posted by harry at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

The Great Quake's Effect on Chinatown

Better a day late than never. Yesterday was the 100th anniversary the San Francisco earthquake, and if you're here in the Bay Area, you've been inundated with centennial stories in the news.

Here are a few about what happened to the Chinese American community after the quake:

Out of Chaos came new Chinese America, from the San Francisco Chronicle.

And a couple of personal essays:

The quake that toppled taboos and built a family, from the Los Angeles Times.

San Francisco survivors, from the New York Times

Posted by harry at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2006

Cancer

This week is "National Muticultural Cancer Week." Well, whoop-dee-doo. It's always some week or another. And you know, a week of this or a week of that usually doesn't do much for me. It's just a week, and gone in a flash before the message barely gets out.

But this week is personal. The word cancer is personal.

There's a friend who's going through rounds of chemo now, and my grandmother who beat breast cancer last year, and a close friend who hardly ever talks about the time she had skin cancer, only mentioning in passing, "When I was sick..."

And then there is my friend Steven, who on this day three years ago lost his life to a rare and agressive cancer.

It happened suddenly. One night he had extreme abdomen pain and called 911. None of his roommates heard the paramedics knocking, so he crawled across the floor to open the door. This happened to him twice. They didn't know what it was at first. He was young (29) and fit (a rock climber) and a healthy eater (loved to cook). He was happy, always talking about saving up money to buy his girlfriend a nice engagement ring. Young healthy fit people are not supposed to get cancer. But he did. He was diagnosed right before his 30th birthday in February 2003. He was told he had a 20% chance. I thought I heard wrong at first. “A 20% chance of what?” I asked for clarification. Of survival, they said.

Everything moved quickly, the cancer, his life. He moved down to L.A. for treatment. And we – his friends – packed his belongings for him. Another friend drove his car down to L.A. I went to visit after his chemo. He was so frail and skinny, it was shocking. He needed help walking across the room. I was constantly on edge, and he was always reminding me to calm down. To calm down and be normal. Okay, I thought, my job is to be as normal as possible, and to be positive. I believed he would survive. I believed if we all believed he would beat it, he would, and then one day when we were all older, he could mention in passing, “When I was sick…”

Two months after his birthday, he died in the ICU. I went to Dallas, his hometown, a city I had never been to, to see him put in the ground.

I don’t know why I’m telling this story, except to say that maybe there is nothing you can do when cancer hits. You fight as hard as you can, and that is all you can do.

But it can’t hurt to know what the facts are. To know, for example, that cancer is the leading cause of death for Asian Americans. And that Asian American women have the fastest growing rate of breast cancer. You need to know this, because even doctors may not. Like the woman in this story in today’s Oakland Tribune who was told she was too young and too Asian to have breast cancer. (The story is by Momo Chang, a Hyphen editor.) Or that Asians are at higher risk of getting Hepatitis B which often doesn’t show symptoms, and when left untreated, can lead to liver cancer. We have much higher rates of liver and stomach cancers. And API women (along with Latinas) are also more likely to develop cervical cancer and also more likely to die from it.

You need to know, though I hope it never becomes personal to you.

To find materials about cancer in Asian languages, visit this database, which was recently launched by the American Cancer Society and the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training (AANCART).

Posted by Melissa at 5:27 PM | Comments (1)

Cancer

But this week is personal. The word cancer is personal.

And then there is my friend Steven, who on this day three years ago lost his life to a rare and agressive cancer.

Two months after his birthday, he died in the ICU. I went to Dallas, his hometown, a city I had never been to, to see him put in the ground.

I don’t know why I’m telling this story, except to say that maybe there is nothing you can do when cancer hits. You fight as hard as you can, and that is all you can do.

You need to know, though I hope it never becomes personal to you.

Posted by Melissa at 5:27 PM | Comments (1)

Cancer

But this week is personal. The word cancer is personal.

And then there is my friend Steven, who on this day three years ago lost his life to a rare and agressive cancer.

It happened suddenly. One night he had extreme abdomen pain and called 911. None of his roommates heard the paramedics knocking, so he crawled across the floor to open the door. This happened to him twice. They didn't know what it was at first. He was young (29) and fit (a rock climber) and a healthy eater (loved to cook). He was happy, always talking about saving up money to buy his girlfriend a nice engagement ring. Young healthy fit people are not supposed to get cancer. But he did. He was diagnosed right before his 30th birthday in February 2003. He was told he had a 20% chance. I thought I heard wrong at first. �A 20% chance of what?� I asked for clarification. Of survival, they said.

Everything moved quickly, the cancer, his life. He moved down to L.A. for treatment. And we � his friends � packed his belongings for him. Another friend drove his car down to L.A. I went to visit after his chemo. He was so frail and skinny, it was shocking. He needed help walking across the room. I was constantly on edge, and he was always reminding me to calm down. To calm down and be normal. Okay, I thought, my job is to be as normal as possible, and to be positive. I believed he would survive. I believed if we all believed he would beat it, he would, and then one day when we were all older, he could mention in passing, �When I was sick��

Two months after his birthday, he died in the ICU. I went to Dallas, his hometown, a city I had never been to, to see him put in the ground.

I don�t know why I�m telling this story, except to say that maybe there is nothing you can do when cancer hits. You fight as hard as you can, and that is all you can do.

But it can�t hurt to know what the facts are. To know, for example, that cancer is the leading cause of death for Asian Americans. And that Asian American women have the fastest growing rate of breast cancer. You need to know this, because even doctors may not. Like the woman in this story in today�s Oakland Tribune who was told she was too young and too Asian to have breast cancer. (The story is by Momo Chang, a Hyphen editor.) Or that Asians are at higher risk of getting Hepatitis B which often doesn�t show symptoms, and when left untreated, can lead to liver cancer. We have much higher rates of liver and stomach cancers. And API women (along with Latinas) are also more likely to develop cervical cancer and also more likely to die from it.

You need to know, though I hope it never becomes personal to you.

Posted by Melissa at 5:27 PM | Comments (1)

April 16, 2006

[API Events APRIL 17-23]

Ruin, Rubble and Race: The SF Earthquake and Post-Katrina America, 1906-2006...

Monday, April 17 – SF
Ruin Poster[2].jpg
Ruin, Rubble and Race: The SF Earthquake and Post-Katrina America, 1906-2006. Join a diverse group of community-based organizations and activists for a "People's Forum" to commemorate and critically reappraise what happened 100 years ago, and what must change today to save lives and prevent displacement of vulnerable, working people from the city's landscape. (6:30-8:30pm, Gordon J. Lau Elementary School, 950 Clay St., SF. 415.374.5429. Food and admission free).

Tuesday, April 18 – SF

Artist James Leong confronts his SF Chinatown roots in an installation that opens today and runs through August 20 at the Chinese Historical Society of America. In 1956, artist James Leong set sail for Norway, never to live again in his native San Francisco. Curated by Irene Poon Andersen, the show features Leong’s most recent paintings, which meld his guiding theme, nature, with the issue of Chinese ethnic identity in America. (Chinese Historical Society of America. 965 Clay Street, SF. Tues-Fri, 12-5; Sat-Sun, 12-4. 415.391.1188. www.chsa.org. $1-$3).

Thursday, April 20 – NYC

Two-time recipient of the Asian American Literary Award Mei-mei Berssenbrugge reads from her new work, I Love Artists: New & Selected Poems. Q&A, book-signing and reception. (7pm, Tilton Gallery, 8 East 76th Street, NYC. 212.737.2221. www.jacktiltongallery.com. Free).

Thursday, April 20 – SF

Chris Garcia and Ali Wong present “Rice and Beans,” a night of sketch comedy, improve and stand-up.” (7:30-9:30pm, The Dark Room, 2263 Mission St., SF. $10).

Thursday, April 20 – SF

This month’s Third Thursday is on big tobacco’s attack on Asia. Includes panelists, dinner and discussion. (7-9:30pm, Japanese Cultural & Community Center, 1840 Sutter St., SF. RSVP here. $5-$20).

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)

[API Events APRIL 17-23]

Ruin, Rubble and Race: The SF Earthquake and Post-Katrina America, 1906-2006...

Thursday, April 20 – SF

Chris Garcia and Ali Wong present “Rice and Beans,” a night of sketch comedy, improve and stand-up.” (7:30-9:30pm, The Dark Room, 2263 Mission St., SF. $10).

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)

[API Events APRIL 17-23]

Ruin, Rubble and Race: The SF Earthquake and Post-Katrina America, 1906-2006...

Monday, April 17 � SF
Ruin Poster[2].jpg
Ruin, Rubble and Race: The SF Earthquake and Post-Katrina America, 1906-2006. Join a diverse group of community-based organizations and activists for a "People's Forum" to commemorate and critically reappraise what happened 100 years ago, and what must change today to save lives and prevent displacement of vulnerable, working people from the city's landscape. (6:30-8:30pm, Gordon J. Lau Elementary School, 950 Clay St., SF. 415.374.5429. Food and admission free).

Tuesday, April 18 � SF

Artist James Leong confronts his SF Chinatown roots in an installation that opens today and runs through August 20 at the Chinese Historical Society of America. In 1956, artist James Leong set sail for Norway, never to live again in his native San Francisco. Curated by Irene Poon Andersen, the show features Leong�s most recent paintings, which meld his guiding theme, nature, with the issue of Chinese ethnic identity in America. (Chinese Historical Society of America. 965 Clay Street, SF. Tues-Fri, 12-5; Sat-Sun, 12-4. 415.391.1188. www.chsa.org. $1-$3).

Thursday, April 20 � NYC

Two-time recipient of the Asian American Literary Award Mei-mei Berssenbrugge reads from her new work, I Love Artists: New & Selected Poems. Q&A, book-signing and reception. (7pm, Tilton Gallery, 8 East 76th Street, NYC. 212.737.2221. www.jacktiltongallery.com. Free).

Thursday, April 20 � SF

Chris Garcia and Ali Wong present �Rice and Beans,� a night of sketch comedy, improve and stand-up.� (7:30-9:30pm, The Dark Room, 2263 Mission St., SF. $10).

Thursday, April 20 � SF

This month�s Third Thursday is on big tobacco�s attack on Asia. Includes panelists, dinner and discussion. (7-9:30pm, Japanese Cultural & Community Center, 1840 Sutter St., SF. RSVP here. $5-$20).

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2006

Asian Americans in the Immigration Debates

There has been so much going on this week with the immigration protests: On Monday, I stood in the flux of students, families and activists on Mission Street and felt the power of what was happening.

Longtime San Francisco Chinatown activist Norman Fong was in the lead of the Salon coverage of the protest. He said: “From my community in Chinatown, I see this as a good unifying issue.” It is really interesting to see the voices of other communities come up in the media coverage. New America Media – where I work – has been making a big effort to round up Asian American responses to HR 4437.

Now, there is a lot of talk stirring about the call for a national Day Without Immigrants boycott on May Day -- May 1st. There seems to be a lot of support building for this. It would be interesting to track how many Asian American organizations and businesses participate in this.

Speaking of immigrant communities that are affected by HR 4437 -- if you have never actually read the legislation, you should check it out, it’s nuts – I am curious about responses to these immigration reforms from other communities, especially the Arab American community. I feel like the media has been especially quiet concerning this group. Anyone seen or heard anything?

Posted by neela at 2:28 PM | Comments (53)

Asian Americans in the Immigration Debates

There has been so much going on this week with the immigration protests: On Monday, I stood in the flux of students, families and activists on Mission Street and felt the power of what was happening.

Posted by neela at 2:28 PM | Comments (53)

Asian Americans in the Immigration Debates

There has been so much going on this week with the immigration protests: On Monday, I stood in the flux of students, families and activists on Mission Street and felt the power of what was happening.

Longtime San Francisco Chinatown activist Norman Fong was in the lead of the Salon coverage of the protest. He said: �From my community in Chinatown, I see this as a good unifying issue.� It is really interesting to see the voices of other communities come up in the media coverage. New America Media � where I work � has been making a big effort to round up Asian American responses to HR 4437.

Speaking of immigrant communities that are affected by HR 4437 -- if you have never actually read the legislation, you should check it out, it�s nuts � I am curious about responses to these immigration reforms from other communities, especially the Arab American community. I feel like the media has been especially quiet concerning this group. Anyone seen or heard anything?

Posted by neela at 2:28 PM | Comments (53)

April 12, 2006

Slanty-eyed Adidas Shoes Offensive to Some

Some people are finding a limited-edition Adidas sneaker created by artist Barry McGee offensive because it it has an image of an Asian man with bowl-cut hair and slanted eyes.

I can see why. The image used has historically been a deregatory one, even if the artist's intent is not to offend anyone.

What do you think?

Posted by harry at 2:23 PM | Comments (44)

Slanty-eyed Adidas Shoes Offensive to Some

Some people are finding a limited-edition Adidas sneaker created by artist Barry McGee offensive because it it has an image of an Asian man with bowl-cut hair and slanted eyes.

I can see why. The image used has historically been a deregatory one, even if the artist's intent is not to offend anyone.

What do you think?

Posted by harry at 2:23 PM | Comments (44)

Slanty-eyed Adidas Shoes Offensive to Some

Some people are finding a limited-edition Adidas sneaker created by artist Barry McGee offensive because it it has an image of an Asian man with bowl-cut hair and slanted eyes.

I can see why. The image used has historically been a deregatory one, even if the artist's intent is not to offend anyone.

What do you think?

Posted by harry at 2:23 PM | Comments (44)

April 11, 2006

The Bruce Lee interview

You've probably seen parts of this interview over the years. It's very interesting to hear him talk. I was too young to really remember seeing him when he was alive. I hadn't seen this entire interview before.

Oh, if only David Carradine had not come along.

Posted by harry at 1:12 PM | Comments (8)

The Bruce Lee interview

Oh, if only David Carradine had not come along.

Posted by harry at 1:12 PM | Comments (8)

The Bruce Lee interview

Oh, if only David Carradine had not come along.

Posted by harry at 1:12 PM | Comments (8)

April 9, 2006

[API Events April 10-16]

Tuesday, April 11 – SF

Kearny Street Workshop presents the third annual Intergenerational Writers Lab with Jaime Jacinto, Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, and Philip Kan Gotanda. unique opportunity to meet some of our leading local writers, publishers, and performers and learn first-hand what drives the Bay Area's local independent publishing community. KSW started its publishing imprint in 1982, and was one of the first outlets for the publication of Asian Pacific American literature. (7:30pm, Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia St., SF. www.kearnystreet.org, www.theintersection.org $5-10 sliding scale).

Wednesday, April 12 – SF

The Chinese Historical Society of America presents Untold Stories of the 1906 Quake. Wednesday’s special event is a lecture with Erica Pan on the impact of the earthquake on the Chinatown community and the struggle to rebuild. (7pm, Chinese Historical Society of America, 965 Clay St., SF. 415.391.1188. www.chsa.org. Free).

Thursday, April 13 - SF

march 16 hearing group.gif

At the most recent part of Eddy Zheng's deportation hearing Wednesday, March 22, the immigration judge heard strong testimony from four expert witnesses about the value of rehabilitated ex-offenders in the community. The judge scheduled a final hearing for Thursday April 13 at 1pm, where he will hear testimony about the conditions that Eddy might face in China if he were deported. (1pm, 630 Sansome, Courtroom 937, SF. www.eddyzheng.com. Email achaddha@gmail.com for more information).

Saturday, April 15 – SF

“Cantonese Opera and the 1906 Earthquake,” a lecture by William Hu. Part of “Since the Quake: The rebirth of San Francisco’s Chinatown.” (10am, Chinese Historical Society of America, 965 Clay St., SF. 415.391.1188. www.chsa.org. Free).

Saturday, April 15 – Oakland

Intergenerational Discussion is Still Present Pasts' closing forum. Korean American War survivors from the San Francisco Bay Area and second generation Korean Americans dialogue about the legacies of the Korean War as a means of strengthening generational ties and Korean American voices for peace. (1-3pm, ProArts Gallery, 550 Second St., Oakland. www.stillpresentpasts.org, www.proartsgallery.org).

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:07 PM | Comments (1)

[API Events April 10-16]

Tuesday, April 11 – SF

Wednesday, April 12 – SF

Thursday, April 13 - SF

march 16 hearing group.gif

Saturday, April 15 – SF

Saturday, April 15 – Oakland

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:07 PM | Comments (1)

[API Events April 10-16]

Tuesday, April 11 � SF

Wednesday, April 12 � SF

The Chinese Historical Society of America presents Untold Stories of the 1906 Quake. Wednesday�s special event is a lecture with Erica Pan on the impact of the earthquake on the Chinatown community and the struggle to rebuild. (7pm, Chinese Historical Society of America, 965 Clay St., SF. 415.391.1188. www.chsa.org. Free).

Thursday, April 13 - SF

march 16 hearing group.gif

Saturday, April 15 � SF

�Cantonese Opera and the 1906 Earthquake,� a lecture by William Hu. Part of �Since the Quake: The rebirth of San Francisco�s Chinatown.� (10am, Chinese Historical Society of America, 965 Clay St., SF. 415.391.1188. www.chsa.org. Free).

Saturday, April 15 � Oakland

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API art events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:07 PM | Comments (1)

April 7, 2006

Where are Asian Americans in the Immigration Debate?

Looks like the immigration bill has stalled for now.

Where are Asian Americans in this debate, though? Not in the streets protesting. And sadly, not making much of a presence. Why? Apathy? Fear of rocking the boat? You can't tell me it's disinterest. After all, we are some of the country's newest immigrants. I hate to say it, but some of us seem to live up to the stereotype of meek quiet Asians.

Yesterday's California Report on NPR notes that the protests have been comprised mostly of Latinos and asks how Asian Americans see their role in the immigration debate. Audio clip here.

Posted by Melissa at 10:33 AM | Comments (8)

Where are Asian Americans in the Immigration Debate?

Looks like the immigration bill has stalled for now.

Yesterday's California Report on NPR notes that the protests have been comprised mostly of Latinos and asks how Asian Americans see their role in the immigration debate. Audio clip here.

Posted by Melissa at 10:33 AM | Comments (8)

Where are Asian Americans in the Immigration Debate?

Looks like the immigration bill has stalled for now.

Yesterday's California Report on NPR notes that the protests have been comprised mostly of Latinos and asks how Asian Americans see their role in the immigration debate. Audio clip here.

Posted by Melissa at 10:33 AM | Comments (8)

April 5, 2006

In Praise of Mistaken Asian Tattoos

I love these stories about people who get Asian language tattoos only to find out that it means something different than what they thought (or nothing at all). If you can't read it, why are you getting it tattooed? Serves you right. Cool Tat, Too Bad It's Gibberish

Posted by Melissa at 11:19 AM | Comments (2)

In Praise of Mistaken Asian Tattoos

Posted by Melissa at 11:19 AM | Comments (2)

In Praise of Mistaken Asian Tattoos

Posted by Melissa at 11:19 AM | Comments (2)

April 2, 2006

[API Events April 3-9]

Film, art, politics & community events this week in Chicago and the SF/Bay Area.

All Week – Chicago

The 11th Annual Chicago Asian American Showcase that Mel blogged about runs through April 13. (www.faaim.org).

Friday, April 7 – Oakland

vu_flyer_bw[1].jpg

VietUnity Community Forum: Building a Progressive Movement in the Vietnamese Community and Beyond. (7:30-9:30pm, EastSide Arts Alliance. 2587 International Blvd, Oakland. 510.238.8080 x306. Free).

Saturday, April 8 – San Francisco

The Chinese Historical Society of America presents the untold stories of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Since the Quake: The Rebirth of San Francisco Chinatown exhibit opens this week. Reading with Milly Lee, author of Earthquake!. (2pm, CHSA Learning Center. 965 Clay St., SF. 415.391.1188. www.chsa.org).

Saturday, April 8 – Oakland

Still Present Pasts: Korean Americans and the Forgotten War presents 6.25 history beneath the skin by Grace Mitchell, Hosu Kim and Hyun Lee is a collage of personal testimony, audio recording, body movement, and video projection that breaks the silence surrounding each performer’s own Korean War legacy. The spoken word performances will be followed by dance and music by Bay Area performance artist, Dohee Lee. (7-10pm, The Metro. 201 Broadway Ave, Oakland. www.oaklandmetro.org).

Saturday, April 8 – SF

San Francisco Peoples’ Organization presents an evening of art, community and politics. (7:30-midnight, 111 Minna St. www.111minnagallery. $10-20).

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API arts events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:06 PM | Comments (0)

[API Events April 3-9]

Film, art, politics & community events this week in Chicago and the SF/Bay Area.

All Week – Chicago

The 11th Annual Chicago Asian American Showcase that Mel blogged about runs through April 13. (www.faaim.org).

Friday, April 7 – Oakland

vu_flyer_bw[1].jpg

Saturday, April 8 – San Francisco

Saturday, April 8 – Oakland

Saturday, April 8 – SF

San Francisco Peoples’ Organization presents an evening of art, community and politics. (7:30-midnight, 111 Minna St. www.111minnagallery. $10-20).

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API arts events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:06 PM | Comments (0)

[API Events April 3-9]

Film, art, politics & community events this week in Chicago and the SF/Bay Area.

All Week � Chicago

The 11th Annual Chicago Asian American Showcase that Mel blogged about runs through April 13. (www.faaim.org).

Friday, April 7 � Oakland

vu_flyer_bw[1].jpg

Saturday, April 8 � San Francisco

Saturday, April 8 � Oakland

Still Present Pasts: Korean Americans and the Forgotten War presents 6.25 history beneath the skin by Grace Mitchell, Hosu Kim and Hyun Lee is a collage of personal testimony, audio recording, body movement, and video projection that breaks the silence surrounding each performer�s own Korean War legacy. The spoken word performances will be followed by dance and music by Bay Area performance artist, Dohee Lee. (7-10pm, The Metro. 201 Broadway Ave, Oakland. www.oaklandmetro.org).

Saturday, April 8 � SF

San Francisco Peoples� Organization presents an evening of art, community and politics. (7:30-midnight, 111 Minna St. www.111minnagallery. $10-20).

email events to: momo@hyphenmagazine.com.

Visit www.manja.org for up-to-date API arts events and news in the SF/Bay Area.

Posted by momo at 3:06 PM | Comments (0)