BAYANIHAN…KAPWA… MAKIBAKA! Guides Filipino Advocates for Justice (FAJ) to its Milestone 50th Anniversary
By Geraldine Alcid. Posted September 14, 2023. BAYANIHAN (Town, nation, or community) is the spirit of communal unity and cooperation. KAPWA (Kindred) means embracing our shared identity and caring for one another. MAKIBAKA (Struggle) is the term used to refer to people coming together for change through struggle. These three Tagalog words embody the spirit…
The Alameda Monster – A Charlie Chin Short Story
By Charlie Chin. Posted September 14, 2023. “What do you know about Cephalopods?” Carmen Chung stopped typing and looked up from her computer screen at her assistant, Olivia Kim. “What? You mean octopus?” “Yeah, you know, squids, octopus, that kind of thing?” Carmen was accustomed to being asked odd questions, it’s…
What’s the Matter with “Oppenheimer?”
by Eddie Wong. Posted on Aug. 27, 2023. Christopher Nolan’s hit film, “Oppenheimer” has stirred much commentary over the exclusion of any images or direct mention of the victims of the U.S. Army’s use of atomic bombs. Never mentioned in the film is the horrific toll on the Japanese people: an estimated 220,000 people killed…
MOSF 18.8: A Modest Proposal: Vivek Ramaswamy Takes My Civics Exam
Ramaswamy did not come off as deep in either policy or understanding of any of the issues or histories, from domestic affairs to national security. He’s a flashy, elbows-out, sloganeering punk who can’t be taken seriously for a second. He deserves eye rolls, not eyeballs. Maybe he’s chumming the water to prepare for the second coming of the Great White himself.
The Ballad of Ah Jake – A Charlie Chin Short Story
by Charlie Chin. Posted August 16, 2023 Harry and Margaret Yuen thought a small summer cabin up by Placerville, California would be fun. San Francisco Chinatown was crowded, dirty, and now, getting more expensive. Harry had seen his investment in that Tech company stock grow quickly and wanted to put his profits…
50 Years Ago, CANE Sounded The Alarm About Saving Japantown And The Need for Affordable Housing
By: John Ota. Posted August 12, 2023 50 years ago, CANE, the Committee Against Nihonmachi Eviction, addressed at least two matters that remain urgent, on-going issues today: saving Nihonmachi (Japantown) and the need for more affordable housing. Saving Japantown In recent years, many have raised concerns regarding the demise of the 43 Japantowns that once…
MOSF 18.7: “Shortcomings”: The Call Is Coming from Inside the Asian American House (EAAPAAO Part 4)
The beauty of Randall Park’s Shortcomings, based on Adrian Tomine’s award-winning graphic novel (which I somehow haven’t read yet), is that it comes at a time when decades of frustration about Asian American representation in media, and Việt Thanh Nguyễn’s more recent call for “narrative plenitude” have yielded actual palpable fruit. Shortcomings allows us to advance representation while also asking, “what do we really want?” This film gives us a splendid mirroring of Asian American insider talk and usually unseen and oppressively denied interiorities, and deserves a watching, and in my case, a rewatching.
On the Road to Find Out: My Journey in the JJ’84 & ’88 Presidential Campaigns
by Eddie Wong. Posted Aug. 2, 2023. Introduction: On July 14 and 15, 2023 over 100 Jesse Jackson campaign staff, volunteers and delegates gathered in Chicago for the 35th anniversary of Jackson’s historic 1988 campaign. Over a dozen speakers shared their remembrances of the campaigns, especially commenting on how the 1984 and 1988 campaigns set…
Fascination – A Dr. Gong, Chinese Herbalist Story, by Charlie Chin
by Charlie Chin. Posted July 21, 2023. Detective Carter was perplexed as he reviewed his notebook. The carefully penciled notes were clear. “June 20, 1910, 5th precinct, adult White male body found in Fisher’s Ally at Mott Street. Victim was beaten to death, skull crushed with blunt object. Locals identified the dead man…
Life of A Yellow Pearl: Reflections with Nobuko Miyamoto
by Diana Tsuchida. Posted July 20, 2023 Nobuko Miyamoto, a force of activism, creativity and intersectional solidarity, has been one of the community’s great thought leaders and advocates for independent storytelling for more than 50 years. With childhood aspirations to study ballet and dance, Nobuko’s passion for the arts was supported by her parents, which…