Cathy Dang: Organizing with Discipline, Rigor, Love and Revolutionary Heart

By Contributed | August 21, 2018

Interview and Editing by May Chen. Posted Aug. 21, 2018. Cathy Dang grew up in her parents’ nail salons. They were refugees from Vietnam, arriving in 1979. Cathy was born in Ridgewood, Queens, NYC. The family eventually moved to LA, where she worked continually in the family’s nail salon. College is where her political consciousness…

Book Review: A Time to Rise

By Contributed | August 21, 2018

A Time to Rise: Collective Memoirs of the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP) Edited by Rene Ciria Cruz, Cindy Domingo, and Bruce Occena Foreword by Augusto F. Espiritu Reviewed here by Florante Peter Ibanez (a former KDP member – Los Angeles/San Diego Chapters). Posted Aug. 21, 2018. This is a collective book project that began…

Chinatown Art Brigade: Social Practice, Cultural Resistance, and Defying Displacement

By Contributed | August 17, 2018

by Diane Wong. Posted Aug. 17, 2018. Manhattan’s Chinatown has been home to generations of socially engaged art collectives and continues to be a locus for Asian American political resistance, dissent, and movement. From the Basement Workshop and the Asian American Art Centre in the 1970s to Godzilla and Epoxy Art Group in the following…

Water is Life – Standing with Standing Rock

By Contributed | August 16, 2018

by Leon Sun. Posted Aug. 16, 2018. Artist and activist Leon Sun journeyed to Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in 2016 to join the water protectors at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline.  Upon his return, he also photographed several spirited “No DAPL” rallies  in San Francisco. In September 2016, I went with a primarily…

“When we’re doing things with other people, that’s where hope is.”

By Contributed | August 16, 2018

“When we’re doing things with other people, that’s where hope is. That is the only way to keep ourselves going.” – Emily Ja-Ming Lee, Director of San Francisco Rising Interview by Eddie Wong. Posted Aug. 16, 2018. Emily Ja-Ming Lee is an energetic, bright woman who has earned a reputation as one of the leading…

The Forgotten Zine of 1960s Asian-American Radicals

By Contributed | August 16, 2018

Posted Aug. 16, 2018. East Wind ezine wishes to thank Topic.com and writer Jaeah J. Lee for allowing us to link to her article about Gidra, the groundbreaking Asian American community newspaper that debuted in April 1969 in Los Angeles.  The article appeared online at Topic.com earlier this year. I asked Mike Murase, who is featured…

Write Back, Fight Back – essays from Reappropriate.com

By Contributed | August 9, 2018

Posted Aug. 9, 2018. “Write Back, Fight Back” is a weekly series of thought-provoking essays by Asian American and South Asian writers and activists at the Reappropriate.com, a blog founded by writer Jenn Fang. In her introduction to the series, she writes, “We – Asian American writers, thought leaders, and scholars -know that the political…

Why We All Lose With the Model Minority Myth

By Contributed | August 9, 2018

by Suzanne Lee and Lydia Lowe. Posted Aug. 9, 2018. Much is being made of a lawsuit alleging discrimination against Asian American applicants to Harvard University in order to reinforce the narrative that race should no longer be a factor in the admissions process. Plaintiffs allege that Asian American applicants with top scores for academics,…

Seize the Moment: Building AAPI Power

By Contributed | August 8, 2018

by Timmy Lu. Posted Aug. 8, 2018. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Civic Empowerment Education Fund (AAPIs for CE EF) is a recently formed organization that has played a crucial role developing grassroots community organizations’ ability to build power inside and outside the electoral arena. This is a modified version of remarks prepared by…

Jazz Pianist Mahiru Coda aka Mappy

By Contributed | August 8, 2018

by Shionoe. Posted Aug. 8, 2018. Mahiru Koda 甲田まひる a.k.a. Mappy is a precocious 17 year old jazz pianist from Tokyo. She learned classical piano and jazz techniques during the start of her musical career and listened to Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell for many hours. Mappy has good technique and range and has a…