12.31.2016

This Year's Angriest Posts

Not necessarily the angriest, just the most viewed posts of 2016.



Here we are again. At the close of another trip around the sun. It was a hell of a year. So here are the Angriest Posts. Not necessarily the angriest, just the 100 most viewed, shared and talked about published on Angry Asian Man in 2016. As always thank you for your support of this blog. One last look back...

12.30.2016

Pioneering artist Tyrus Wong dies at 106

His paintings served as the visual inspiration for Disney's 'Bambi.'



Tyrus Wong, the pioneering Chinese American artist who paintings served as visual inspiration for Disney's animated classic Bambi and other Hollywood works, died on Friday. He was 106.

Tyrus Wong, Pioneer 'Bambi' Artist, Dies at 106

Wong was a painter, muralist, ceramicist, lithographer, designer and kite maker. His professional career included working as a greeting card designer for Hallmark, a film production illustrator for Warner Brothers, and an inspirational sketch artist for Disney, where he most famously served as the lead artist for Bambi.

Wong's death was announced on the Facebook page for Tyrus, the 2015 documentary on his life and career.

"With his passing, we have lost a brilliant artist, motion picture & animation legend, Chinese American pioneer, and hero," the post read. "He survived Angel Island, the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Great Depression, discrimination, and the loss of Ruth, his soul mate and beloved wife of over 50 years. Yet Tyrus always faced adversity with dignity, courage -- and art."

Angry Reader of the Week: Alissa Ko

"I am a constant student, always trying to learn from people and about people."



What's up, internet? Let us close out the year with one more Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Alissa Ko.

12.29.2016

Ode to the Haiku Hotties Who Kept Their Shirts On

Guest Post by Ada Tseng



Last year, when we debuted the first Haikus With Hotties calendar, a tongue-in-cheek celebration of hot Asian American men and their ability to write Japanese poetry, we led with these two photos:

Our unofficial Haikus With Hotties ambassadors Yoshi and Peter Sudarso (Power Rangers, Apartment 210)

And our cover man, Shannon Kook (Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Conjuring)

So even though every single other person in the calendar - from Eugene Lee Yang and Randall Park to Godfrey Gao, Daniel Henney and Hari Kondabolu -- was fully clothed, we understood (and even thought it was funny) when some of the new hotties we approached for the 2017 calendar asked: "Do I have to take my shirt off?"

The answer was: Well, this time, we're calling it Haikus *On* Hotties, so YES, OBVIOUSLY.

12.28.2016

Feature film imagines the internment of Muslim Americans

What if America interned Muslim and Arab Americans like they did to Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor?



What if what happened to Japanese Americans during World War II happened again today to Muslim and Arab Americans? The feature film Executive Order 13800, written and directed by Mustafa Zeno, imagines such a scenario under President Donald Trump. It's happened before. Amidst the current political climate and actual discussion of a so-called Muslim "registry," it's looking more and more like it could happen again.

Executive Order 13800 is a drama following a Muslim American family after the U.S. experiences a 9/11-type terrorist attack. Following this national tragedy, President Trump issues Executive Order 13800, requiring all Muslim Americans to pack up their things and report to government site. Over the course of two weeks, the family's world turns upside down as they lose their civil rights and face an uncertain future.

The film is currently raising production funds through Indiegogo.

Shout Out To The Racists I've Met

Sophia Chang has a message to all "the myriad of douchebag racists" she's encountered since childhood.



Sophia Chang is a self-described "music business matriarch" who has worked with Paul Simon and has managed the likes of ODB, RZA, GZA, Q Tip, A Tribe Called Quest, Raphael Saadiq, and D'Angelo... and she doesn't take shit from anybody. Especially racist shit. During a recent college lecture, she closed out her talk with a message to all "the myriad of douchebag racists" she's encountered throughout her life.

Why I Support Affirmative Action at Harvard

Guest Post by Jason Fong



This month, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a national affiliation of civil rights organizations focused on serving the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, and several prospective AAPI Harvard students joined a diverse group of black, Latino, and Native American students to support Harvard's race conscious admissions program against attacks that the program intentionally discriminates against Asian American applicants. I am one of those students.

I joined this effort because like the majority of Asian Americans, I support affirmative action, but I also did so because I think our community needs to reflect upon our shared identity as Asian Americans, especially in light of recent lawsuits by a few disappointed Chinese Americans who blame race-conscious admissions programs for their failure to gain admission to their dream schools. With the composition of the United States Supreme Court skewing even more sharply to the right under a Trump administration, the narrow majority that upheld affirmative action in Fisher II could reverse by the time the lawsuit against Harvard reaches the highest court, putting race-conscious admissions policies throughout the country in serious jeopardy.

For me, this fight isn't about my Harvard application. In fact, I know that, like 95% of almost 40,000 applicants, I'm likely to be rejected. But I won't take it personally. I don't depend on Harvard to provide me with self-worth in an admissions letter. Like other institutions, it's looking out for itself -- and trying to build a class that it feels best serves its goals.

12.26.2016

Submit your film to LAAPFF 2017

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is now officially an Oscar-qualifying festival.



Hey filmmakers! Share your film with one of best fests around. This is your last-minute reminder that the final deadline is quickly approaching to submit your film to the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.

Presented by Visual Communications, LAAPFF is the leading showcase for new Asian Pacific American and Asian international cinema, providing a crucial launching point for the discovery and sustained support of Asian Pacific independent filmmakers and media artists from around the globe.

All films -- feature-length, shorts, narrative, documentary, animation, experimental -- need to be submitted and received through Withoutabox or Filmfreeway by Monday, January 2 at 5:00 PM PST.

12.25.2016

Read These Blogs


10 Times Asian Americans Took On Systemic Racism in 2016: Let us build on this work in 2017.

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10 Times Asian-Americans Fired Back Over Representation In 2016: BuzzFeed's Susan Cheng offers an abridged recap of the fight for better Asian American media representation in 2016.

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2016: The Year in Asian-Americans Fighting Back in Hollywood: Ghost in the Shell, The Great Wall, the live-action Mulan... It's time for Asian Americans to be making their own stories.

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An Open Letter to Tilda Swinton About Her 'Doctor Strange' Whitewashing Email to Margaret Cho: After Margaret Cho and Tilda Swinton's email exchanges about Swinton's casting in Doctor Strange were made public, Rebecca Sun offers some unsolicited advice to the woman who played The Ancient One.

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Tilda Swinton's Email To Margaret Cho Is Textbook White Feminism: "Her white feminism approach was evident in the way Swinton negated Cho's concerns about race, asking her to celebrate the gender rights achievements in the movie casting instead."

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When Swinton And Cho Talk Race, The Point's Lost In Translation: While Margaret Cho and Tilda Swinton's email exchange wasn't a fight, per se,, it was unpleasant in a way that might be familiar to people who have found themselves in Cho's position.

* * *


Visiting Two Japanese Internment Camps In Trump's America: On a visit to the Manzanar and Poston internment camps after the election, Esther Wang realized that the past has thrust itself into our present.

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Reviving 'The Mikado' in a Balancing Act of Taste: One of the most passionately debated stage works of our time is a 131-year-old operetta, Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado.

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A vast, mostly untapped donor base could propel John Chiang to become California's first Asian American governor: Many Asian Americans have donated money in the hopes that Democratic state Treasurer John Chiang will be California's next governor. Here is some background on Chiang.

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The Pussyhat Project is an empowering way to get involved with the upcoming Women's March: When Krista Suh heard about the upcoming Women's March on January 22, she thought of a practical project with a political message: the knitted "pussyhat."

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When Asian American Men Seek Therapy: The Invisible Struggle: Research shows that Asian Americans are less likely to reach out for help with mental health issues. Nicole Hsiang conducted a series of interviews with over twenty Asian American men in order to understand why this trend exists.

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'Rogue One' star and fan favorite Donnie Yen almost passed on the film: Donnie Yen almost passed on playing blind warrior monk Chirrut Imwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

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If You Can't Beat Them, Laugh at Them: How Asian America Responded to Hollywood in 2016: This past May, Will Choi and Keiko Agena co-hosted a sold-out comedy showcase, "Scarlet Johansson Presents," an effort to call out the constant whitewashing of Asian American characters and stories in Hollywood.

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The Asian American Literature That Got Me Through 2016: Need a reading list to help you through the days ahead? Here's a list of Asian American literature from 2016.

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27 Lessons Jessica Huang Has Taught Us: The unique wisdom of your fave Taiwanese American TV mom.

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BD Wong Will Never Die: The perennial guest star talks about faking Mandarin for Mr. Robot and how disappearing will get you cast in a top-secret new Jurassic Park movie.

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On Peak Jet Li, Martial Arts Cinema, and the Beauty of Fist of Legend: "When he was at the height of his powers, few were as magnificent to watch as Jet Li. And, at that apex, came 1994's Fist of Legend, a masterpiece of martial arts cinema."



12.23.2016

This is not leaked footage from the Mulan remake. It's better.

Chinese kids perform a pretty faithful re-creation of "Honor To Us All."



Leaked! Here is footage from the upcoming live action remake of Mulan. Just kidding. I'm not exactly sure what this is, but it features a bunch of Chinese kids performing a pretty faithful re-creation of the "Honor to Us All" number from Disney's 1998 animated feature Mulan. According to a Facebook comment, it's from a show called Little Actors and Actresses, in which kids perform their own takes on classic movies and TV shows.

Check it out:

Sikh gurdwara vandalized with swastikas and profanity

The Sikh Society of Calgary was found defaced with spray-painted hate symbols.



This one comes to us from Canada... but I'm okay with blaming Trump for this too. In Calgary, police are investigating a possible hate crime after someone vandalized a Sikh gurdwara with hate graffiti.

Swastikas spray painted on Sikh gurdwara in Calgary

On Thursday morning, the grounds of the Sikh Society of Calgary were found defaced with graffiti depicting a swastika and profanity. The six affected areas included several exterior building walls, doors and a sign.

Man pleads no contest in hate crime against Sikh man

David Hook accused Balmeet Singh of "trying to blow up this country" before throwing a drink at him.



This week in Bakersfield, California, a man accused of yelling racial slurs, threatening violence and throwing a drink at a Sikh man back in September has pleaded no contest to hate crime charges.

Man accused in Sikh hate crime takes plea deal

40-year-old David Hook was accused of attacking Balmeet Singh outside a restaurant on September 30. Hook approached Singh and began cursing and yelling racial slurs at him. He told Singh, "You're trying to blow up this country. I should... kill you right now," before throwing a cup of soda on him.

Singh shared about the incident in a video posted to YouTube in October:

12.22.2016

OCA launches AAPI Hate Crimes Reporting Website

Tool aims to monitor hate incidents towards AAPIs across the country.



This week, OCA - Asian Pacific America Advocates launched its new Hate Incident Reporting Website, where victims and advocates can report hate incidents that will be tracked by the OCA National Center. The website, aapihatecrimes.org, will help maintain a database of incidents of hate against the AAPI community.

A hate incident may involve harassment, bullying, physical injury, or property damage where the offender is motivated by discrimination against the victim based on his/her race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, and/or disability.

Of course, you should always report any hate crimes to your local law enforcement first, but if you also submit your information to the AAPI Hate Crimes Reporting Website, the data tracked from this project will help expose hate incidents towards AAPIs across the country and inform community responses.

"After Vincent Chin was murdered in a hate crime in 1982, he could have been easily forgotten," said Leslie Moe-Kaiser, OCA National President. "Instead, the Asian American community came together to demand justice and our community emerged stronger than ever. Similar to the time preceding Vincent's murder, we are now living in a time when we must choose between doing nothing or fighting back... We must show that our community will fight for fair and equal treatment for all."

Report a hate incident here.



12.21.2016

Q & A with The OA's Ian Alexander

Trans teen actor debuts in the mysterious new Netflix series. Guest Post by Jes Vu.



In a time where representation is such a hot topic in Hollywood, Netflix's The OA does something few have done: cast an actual Asian transgender teenage boy as an Asian transgender teenage boy. Vietnamese-American teen Ian Alexander is one of multiple Asian actors in The OA's main cast alongside Filipino/Puerto Rican-American Brandon Perea and British Pakistani Riz Ahmed (in a recurring role). Continuing the spotlight from his response to a viral anti-trans photo, Ian makes his on-screen acting debut as Buck Vu in the newly-released show having been cast from an online open casting call in 2015.

Growing up in places including Japan, Hawai'i, and D.C. have helped shape Ian. The fifteen-year-old high school junior has had more experiences than most teenagers his age, and his passion knows no bounds. He's politically-vocal, a huge admirer of actors and filmmakers like Jen Richards (Her Story) and Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) and relentless as a Marvel fanboy (he's "Team Bucky" for those who are curious). Ian had time to sit down and talk about his upbringing and the show (don't worry, there are no spoilers here).

Gene Luen Yang is writing a 'Fresh Off The Boat' comic book

Acclaimed cartoonist will adapt a special issue for Free Comic Book Day 2017.



Your favorite Taiwanese American television family is jumping from the TV to the pages of a comic book. BOOM! Studios is teaming up with 20th Century Fox to release a special comic book edition of Fresh Off The Boat for Free Comic Book Day 2017. And it's going to be written by none other than Gene Luen Yang.

Boom To Adapt ABC's Fresh Off The Boat As A Comic With Gene Luen Yang For Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day is an annual event by the comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. And on this glorious day, the first Saturday of May, you can head over to your local comic book retailer where they'll be giving away free comic books from publishers like DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image and more. There's something for everybody -- including Fresh Off The Boat fans, apparently.

The Sex Talk, Saying 'I Love You' and Other Awkward Asian Parent Conversations

Jubilee Project's latest video series attempts to "bridge the gap" within Asian American families.



Jubilee Project's latest video series for NBC Asian America, The Bridge, brings together Asian American parents and their children face to face to discuss some topics they may never have broached before -- everything from their family immigration history to love and, yes, sex. (You can actually see mom, dad and kid sweating when the sex talk comes up.) It's both squirmy awkward and tearfully moving.

Check out all the episodes of "The Bridge" below. My favorite installment is Episode 5, where parent and kid stand and wordlessly stare at each other, face to face. You are not ready.

Richard Marx subdues unruly passenger on Korean Air flight

Asians Behaving Badly... Unruly Air Passenger Edition!



On Tuesday, during a Korean Air flight from Hanoi to Seoul, a passenger got unruly and had to be restrained. It's a good thing Richard Marx was on board to help out. Yes, Grammy-winning singer Richard Marx helped restrain a passenger who became violent and attacked the flight's crew and passengers.

Singer Richard Marx Subdues Unruly Passenger Aboard Korean Air Flight

Marx and his wife Daisy Fuentes were on the flight to Korea when a guy sitting in the next row "got crazy." According to Fuentes, who posted photos of the incident on social media, the agitated passenger started pushing female flight attendants and pulling them by the hair. That's when Marx got involved.

The singer/songwriter, known for such hits as "Endless Summer Nights," "Right Here Waiting" and "Now and Forever" stepped up to help to restrain the passenger, who had to be subdued and secured with a rope. The entire ordeal apparently lasted four hours, with guy getting loose from his restraints three times.

12.19.2016

Filipino veterans to be awarded Congressional Gold Medal

President Obama signs the Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act.



On Thursday, President Obama signed the "Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act," awarding a Congressional Gold Medal, our nation's highest civilian honor, to the thousands of Filipino veterans who fought for the United States during World War II.

S. 1555, sponsored by Senator Mazie Hirono and Representative Tulsi Gabbard, honors more than 260,000 Filipino and Filipino American soldiers who fought under U.S. command during the second world war. The bill unanimously passed in both chambers of Congress earlier this year.

"The Filipino veterans of World War II overcame many challenges in their fight for compensation, family reunification, and verification of wartime service," Senator Hirono said in a statement, calling the medal a long overdue but fitting tribute. "By signing our bill into law, President Obama recognized these veterans' courage and perseverance, both during the war and in the decades of battles for benefits that followed."

12.18.2016

Read These Blogs


My Family Was Interned. Now They're With Trump. A Japanese American woman tries to understand how her relatives who endured internment during World War II also voted for Donald Trump.

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The Times regrets publishing letters about the Japanese American internment that weren't 'civil, fact-based discourse': Los Angeles Times publishes some of the many letters responding to its ill-formed decision to run two letters in defense of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

* * *

'Politically Correct': The Phrase Has Gone From Wisdom To Weapon: How did this phrase turn from a socially conscious practice to mean "hypersensitive" or "cowardly"?

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Comedians in the Age of Trump: Forget Your Stupid Toupee Jokes: Standup comic Aparna Nancherla on the social responsibility of comedians to challenge people's thinking under a Trump presidency.

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Trump Grill Could Be the Worst Restaurant in America: If you haven't read Tina Nguyen's scathing review of the Trump Grill restaurant for Vanity Fair, you're missing out.

12.16.2016

Angry Reader of the Week: Yuji Okumoto

"If you fail, at least you failed doing what you love."



Hey, everybody! You know what time it is. It's time to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Yuji Okumoto.

Stop the Unjust Deportations of the Minnesota 8 #ReleaseMN8

Cross-Posted from 18 Million Rising



This past summer, 8 Cambodian Americans in Minnesota ("MN 8") were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for unjust deportation. Families, friends, and neighbors have banded together by launching the #ReleaseMN8 campaign. Watch their call to action video here.

What is happening is unjust because the Obama Administration pledged to deport felons, not families. Unjust deportation is an important Asian American issue and families are fighting to stay together (e.g. the Adam Crapser Korean Adoptee case). Now the next Trump Administration may escalate attacks on Asian American families, even though we understand that deporting people who contribute to society is a waste of time and money.

12.14.2016

Customers leave racist "tip" for waitress

"Build that wall, Trump Daddy"



More dispatches from Trump America... A waitress in Virginia received a hateful message from a group of teenage diners who left the message, "Build that wall, Trump Daddy" on the check.

Virginia Beach IHOP server receives hateful message from customer

Rachel Mau, a server at the IHOP in Virginia Beach, says the incident occurred when she waited on a group of high school students on Saturday morning. On one of the receipts, in the area where customers are supposed to add a tip, they left the xenophobic reference to Donald Trump's proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

On the split bill's other receipt, the customers simply wrote "Nah."

Vandals hang noose in Southeast Asian youth center

"I don't think it's a joke, I think we were sent a CLEAR message."



So this keeps happening. Over the weekend, a youth support center serving the Southeast Asian community in Providence, Rhode Island was broken into and vandalized, with a noose hung from the ceiling.

Sometime between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, someone broke into the offices of Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM). According to Executive Director Sarath Suong, chairs were found stacked on top of each other, scissors and rulers arranged weirdly, all the drawers opened, two knives stabbed into a table, and a rope fashioned into a noose hanging from the ceiling.

Suong shared photos of noose on Facebook:

12.13.2016

A Response To Letters Defending The Japanese Internment In The LA Times

Don't let people distort this history or it could be repeated again. Guest Post by Joseph Shoji Lachman.



This is a response to "Were the stories about Japanese internment during World War II unbalanced? Two letter writers think so" in the LA Times. Here is a reminder of something else they published many years ago:

A viper is nonetheless a viper wherever the egg is hatched—so a Japanese-American, born of Japanese parents—grows up to be a Japanese, not an American. — Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1942 (Source)

I had hoped we had learned a lesson and moved past this kind of hateful rhetoric, but it seems history is trying to repeat itself.

On December 7th, the U.S. commemorated the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, a truly horrific tragedy that will live on in American memory forever. In our household, we also remember December 6th. Two years ago on that day my grandmother, Margaret Shoji, passed away. My only regret was that I never talked to her about her experiences during the Internment, when our family and 120,000 other people of Japanese descent were denied basic rights, and forced into the internment camps. This was a civil rights travesty and one of the most shameful episodes of American history. But we all know that, don't we?

Apparently, we are supposed to have an "open debate" about the Internment, including justifications and rationalizations of what happened. I was surprised to see a "rational" defense of the Internment appearing in the LA Times in 2016, but I decided to respond as best I could below.

Asian American Students File to Join Harvard Lawsuit and Defend Affirmative Action

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



Advancing Justice – Los Angeles (AAAJ-LA) held a press conference moments ago to announce that lawyers with the group will represent two Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) high school students who wish to present their support of race-conscious affirmative action admission before the Supreme Court if and when the justices hear arguments next year about an anti-affirmative action lawsuit filed against the school by Edward Blum, the architect behind Abigail Fisher’s earlier failed attempts to dismantle affirmative action before the Court.

The two AAPI high school students represented by AAAJ-LA are current applicants to Harvard University, and both believe that race-conscious affirmative action is beneficial; AAAJ-LA filed paperwork yesterday to help the students join an existing group of diverse students who will have "amicus plus" status to present their support for affirmative action in a pending anti-affirmative action case, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.

In the Students for Fair Admissions case, lobbyist Edward Blum specifically recruited disgruntled Asian American students to serve as the next Abigail Fisher, in hopes of weaponizing a stereotyped, Model Minority Myth narrative of Asian Americans against other students of colour. Blum’s lawsuit alleging bias at Harvard was ultimately consolidated around the case of a still-unnamed Chinese American woman.

12.12.2016

'Who Killed Vincent Chin?' 16mm Film Screening

Saturday, December 17 at Chatham Square Library



If you're in New York, you are invited to a screening of the acclaimed documentary Who Killed Vincent Chin? as part of the Chatham Square Library's Chinese in America Film Series. They'll be showing a 16mm print of the film with associate producer Nancy Tong in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.

The Academy Award-nominated film tells the story of the fatal 1982 beating of Vincent Chin in Detroit, and the ensuing civil rights battle that galvanized the Asian American community.

It's happening Saturday afternoon, December 17 at Chatham Square Library. Here are more details:

It's the Return of Lao Ban Santa on 'Fresh Off The Boat'

Episode 308: "Where Are The Giggles" airs Tuesday, December 13, 9:00 pm on ABC



ABC's hit Asian American family sitcom Fresh Off The Boat airs Tuesday nights at 9:00pm. The comedy, inspired by the memoir of chef Eddie Huang, tells the story of the Huang family, a Taiwanese American family getting their immigrant hustle on in 1990s suburban Orlando, in pursuit of the American dream. Previous episodes are available for viewing on the ABC website

Fresh Off The Boat stars Randall Park as Louis, Constance Wu as Jessica, Hudson Yang as Eddie, Forrest Wheeler as Emery, Ian Chen as Evan, Lucille Soong as Grandma Huang Chelsey Crisp as Honey and Ray Wise as Marvin. In this week's special Christmas-themed episode, Evan is left home alone.

Here's a preview of episode 308, "Where Are The Giggles":

Korean church vandalized with swastikas

Police are investigating the graffiti as a possible hate crime.



In Orange County, police are investigating a possible hate crime after a Korean American church was vandalized with swastikas, German writing and other graffiti early Sunday morning.

Buena Park church vandalized with swastikas

Members of the True Light Christian Church in Buena Park found the church's outside walls tagged in red spray paint with the phrase "mein Ehrenheit" ("my honor"), a broken heart with the words "toxic love," as well as several swastikas. Because your racist scrawling just isn't complete without a fucking swastika.

Los Angeles Times publishes letters in defense of internment

"The interned Japanese were housed, fed, protected and cared for."



This is some kind of bullshit.

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times published two letters from readers arguing that the forced mass removal and incarceration of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II was necessary and justified.

The letters, published in the paper's print and online editions, were sent in response to a story by Carolina A. Miranda that ran last month regarding the internment camps. The letter-writers call Miranda's article "unbalanced," and attempt to make the case that "internment" was an imperative wartime measure.

One of the letter-writers, identifying himself as Steve Hawes, calls Miranda's reporting "another anti-U.S. remake of history," and argues that the internment was, in effect, ultimately for the good of "the Japanese." The other letter, penned by Dick Venn, calls for "a little bit balance" in Miranda's "one-way reporting."

No. Get out of here with that shit.

12.11.2016

Read These Blogs


New SPLC reports reveal alarming pattern of hate incidents and bullying across country since election: The Southern Poverty Law Center recently released two reports documenting how President-elect Donald Trump's own words have sparked hate incidents across the country and had a profoundly negative effect on the nation's schools. Note: there is an entire hate crime category dedicated to Trump.

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Trump Is a Great Storyteller. We Need to Be Better. "Great literature cannot exist if it is based on hate, fear, division, exclusion, scapegoating or the use of injustice. Bad literature and demagogues, on the other hand, exploit these very things, and they do so through telling the kind of demonizing stories good literary writers reject."

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Dorothea Lange's Censored Photographs of FDR's Japanese Concentration Camps: The military seized Dorothea Lange's photographs of Japanese American internment, quietly depositing them in the National Archives, where they remained mostly unseen and unpublished until 2006.

* * *

Still Against Hand-holding and Gaslighting: Still Standing Up For Myself: In the short time she was there as an invited artist, writer and poet Janice Sapigao experienced some serious racism, misogyny, ableism, and ageism at the San Jose State University Local Lit Author Fair. Some further thoughts while she awaits a formal apology.

* * *

I’m a Journalist and I Was Stopped From Covering Standing Rock: Canadian photojournalist Ed Ou was on his way to cover the protest at Standing Rock when U.S. border guards detained him for four hours and asked to search his cellphone before ultimately denying him entry into the United States.

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Jennifer Lawrence, please keep your butt off our ancestors: The actor made light of sitting on sacred rocks in Hawai'i during a Hunger Games shoot. But we're not laughing/

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What It's Like as an Asian-American Journalist to Interview a White Nationalist: ABC's Juju Chang recounts a heated interview with a white nationalist. Spoiler: It was hateful and disgusting.

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Will Grandma have a place in the new Chinatown-International District? As developers look to Seattle's Chinatown-International district for new high rises, the current community may lose their housing.

* * *

Bruce Lee Helped Me Come to Terms With the Death of My Son: First annoyed by the tourists who asked her for directions to Bruce Lee's grave, Linda Dahlstrom Anderson takes these interruptions as a lesson in mourning the death of her infant son.

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Meet the Desi Artists Fighting Back Against Trump with Punk Rock and 'Post-Colonial Pop': Doctors & Engineers, The Kominas, Saraswathi Jones, and more talk about resistance, heritage, and Islamophobia.

* * *

The New Crush: In his major motion picture debut, The Edge of Seventeen, Hayden Szeto steals scenes -- and hearts -- as a lovestruck teenager.



12.09.2016

2016 Asian American Poetry Books and Chapbooks

By Bryan Thao Worra. Cross-Posted from On The Other Side Of The Eye.


Following a month of research and asking over 388 Asian American poets, scholars, publishers, and community builders familiar with the academic, small press, mainstream, and underground Asian American literary scene, over 30 books and chapbooks of Asian American poetry have been identified for publication in 2016. I've posted a public album of the covers of these books on Facebook and Flickr with author information and book information as available.

I would also note that this year has an impressive showing among the Vietnamese and Filipina poets, and it's a delight to see the Hmong and Khmer communities have works put forward this year as well. A special thanks to Victoria Chang, Alyss Dixon, Mari L'Esperance, Grace Loh Prasad, Sun Yung Shin, and Marianne Villanueva for their assistance in putting this list together with me. I‘m particularly happy to see that this year has been a good year for many poets to debut their very first book or chapbook, because it’s so important for us to get more of our poetic voices out into the world, now more than ever.

Angry Reader of the Week: Jenapher Zheng

"I have become the person I needed 9 years ago."


Photo Credit: Russell Pikus

Hello, good people of the internet. It is time, once again, to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Jenapher Zheng.

12.08.2016

Writer and artist needed for graphic novel project

The Wing Luke Museum seeks professional artist and writer for story of Japanese American resisters.



Calling all writers and artists! The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience is launching a graphic novel project, and they're looking for a professional artist and writer to help make it happen. The project, entitled Inspiring Future Generations: Challenging the Forced Incarceration through Acts of Resistance, shares the history and significance of the Japanese American Resisters story.

The Wing is working with community stakeholders to develop content for a graphic novel, stand-alone chapter and curriculum guide, which will be distributed to schools and libraries and through the museum. An animated short produced by the Seattle Channel will also be made based on the stand-alone chapter.

This project is the second in a series of graphic novels. The first book Fighting for America: Nisei Soldiers by Lawrence Matsuda and Matt Sasaki, told the story of six World War II Japanese American military veterans.

Required materials for the submission deadline must be received no later than 4:30pm on Tuesday, January 3, 2017. For further information about the project, including the submission process, selection criteria and scope of work, view the two requests for qualifications below.

Riz Ahmed freestyles a 'Star Wars' rap on The Tonight Show

Jimmy Fallon challenges Riz MC to a turn on the "Freestyle Generator."



Actor and rapper Riz Ahmed, who can be seen in the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, was recently a guest on The Tonight Show, where Jimmy Fallon put the rapper's rhyming skills to the test. Ahmed, aka Riz MC, was challenged to spin the wheel of the "Freestyle Generator," in which he was given three random words and had to work them into a freestyle rap. Naturally, the three words were Star Wars-related.

But what in the world would he rhyme with "Lando Calrissian"?

Who the f*ck throws eggs at a solidarity vigil?

Little Tokyo hosted a vigil and rally in support of Muslim Americans and other immigrants.


Photo Credit: Josie Huang/KPCC

On Wednesday night in Los Angeles, community members led a march through Little Tokyo on the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, calling for solidarity with Muslim Americans during this time of heightened of xenophobia and discrimination. We've been here before. We know where this leads. This is a community leading a literal march to make sure that America does not go down this road again.

Japanese-Americans stand with Muslims in wake of attacks

What this article does not mention is that as the vigil, a diverse gathering of about 200 community folk, made its way down 2nd Street, someone threw eggs at the crowd from a third floor balcony of the Hikari Apartments. According to several friends who were there, the eggs were thrown as vigil participants were chanting "Muslims are welcome here." Thankfully, nobody was hit. But it's definitely a reminder that there are some shitty people out there.

The way some friends tell it...

12.07.2016

Apply to the 2017 Dat Winning Fellowship

A program for aspiring APIA writers interested in a career in sportswriting.



Hey writers! Are you interested in sports journalism?

The APIA sports blog Dat Winning is seeking applicants for the 2017 Dat Winning Fellowship, a program for aspiring Asian/Pacific Islander American writers interested in a career in sportswriting. The program is run in partnership with the Asian American Writers Workshop, VICE Sports, and NBC Asian America.

They're currently accepting applications for the 2017 program, which will run from February to August. Fellows will write and post six stories, as well as one long-form piece with the help of an established mentor. Mentors include Jay Caspian Kang, Andrew Keh, Mina Kimes, Ursula Liang, Sachin Shenolikar and Alex Wong.

The submission deadline was recently extended to December 31. There are no age requirements to apply -- you just have to identify ethnically as Asian/Pacific Islander American. For further information about the fellowship program, and to fill out the online application, head over to Dat Winning.



Was this guy's passport photo rejected by a racist robot?

"Subject eyes are closed."



Can robots be racist? Okay, we've heard all the jokes about Asians having small eyes. Fine. Get the f*ck over it. But here's how it can get really inconvenient. In New Zealand, an Asian man recently got his passport photo rejected when facial recognition software mistakenly registered his eyes as being closed.

New Zealand passport robot tells applicant of Asian descent to open eyes

Richard Lee was trying to renew his passport, but found his attempts repeatedly blocked by the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs' automated online passport system, claiming his photo did not meet the technical requirements. The reason given: his eyes were closed in the photo. But actually, his eyes are clearly open.

Lee posted a screen shot of the notification on Facebook:

12.06.2016

Joel Kim Booster developing comedy 'Birthright' for Fox

Booster will write and star in a single-camera comedy inspired by his own life.



Oooh, I would watch this. Fox has put in development Birthright, a single-camera comedy from writer/comedian Joel Kim Booster, based in part on his own life as a Korean American adoptee.

Joel Kim Booster To Topline Fox Comedy Project 'Birthright' Inspired By His Life

Written by and starring Booster, Birthright centers on "a child born in South Korea before being adopted by white, Midwestern evangelical parents. When it comes apparent to all involved that he's gay, the young fish out of water goes in search of his birth mother in the hope they can reconnect."

900+ Asian American Studies Scholars Issue Collective Statement Decrying Trump’s Proposed Muslim Registry

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate



Over 900 Asian American Studies scholars from across the United States issued a joint statement today decrying President-Elect Donald Trump’s proposal to create a national registry of Muslims and Muslim Americans.

Trump has repeatedly said that as president he would institute aggressive measures to limit immigration of Muslims into the country and to place Muslims currently within the United States’ borders under close scrutiny. He has promised to halt the entry of Syrian refugees and to also ban immigration from a number of countries -- including Pakistan and the Philippines -- with large Muslim populations. He is quoted as suggesting the creation of a national database of Muslim and Muslim Americans -- a proposal that is likely unconstitutional -- and he staffed his White House transition team with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the architect of the highly controversial NSEERS registry system which was used to monitor the movement of Muslim immigrants under George W. Bush and the first half of the Obama administration.

Earlier this month, Trump surrogate Carl Higbie went on Fox News to defend Trump’s alarming proposals to register Muslims and Muslims Americans. In an appearance on The Kelly File, Higbie suggested that Trump’s proposal for a national Muslim registry has legal precedent: Japanese American incarceration during World War II (for a note on language, see JACL’s Power of Words handbook).

It should come as no surprise that Asian American Studies scholars have something to say about that dubious line of reasoning.

12.05.2016

Jessica wants to be Jury Boss on 'Fresh Off The Boat'

Episode 307: "The Taming of the Dads" airs Tuesday, December 6, 9:00 pm on ABC



ABC's hit Asian American family sitcom Fresh Off The Boat airs Tuesday nights at 9:00pm. The comedy, inspired by the memoir of chef Eddie Huang, tells the story of the Huang family, a Taiwanese American family getting their immigrant hustle on in 1990s suburban Orlando, in pursuit of the American dream. Previous episodes are available for viewing on the ABC website

Fresh Off The Boat stars Randall Park as Louis, Constance Wu as Jessica, Hudson Yang as Eddie, Forrest Wheeler as Emery, Ian Chen as Evan, Chelsey Crisp as Honey and Lucille Soong as Grandma Huang. This week, Eddie and Alison hit a rough patch, and Jessica wants to be jury boss.

Here's a preview of episode 307, "The Taming of the Dads":

It's Asian Men! A Sexy Short Film

For anyone who thought 'Magic Mike' was sorely lacking some hot Asian men.



The sexy short film It's Asian Men!, directed by NaRhee Ahn, is a story about an Asian American wife and husband who get hot and bothered on a date night in, but the mood changes for the worse when they watch Magic Mike and see no hot sexy Asian men at all. (Thanks again, Hollywood.) But in the wife's dreams, she finds herself in an alternate all-Asian version of the film... then wakes up to a pleasant surprise.

WARNING: There is considerable shirtless gyrating.

Sammy Lee, first Asian American man to win Olympic gold, dies at 96

Dr. Lee won consecutive gold medals in platform diving at the 1948 London and 1952 Helsinki Games.


Dr. Sammy Lee in 2012.

Dr. Sammy Lee, the first Asian American man to win an Olympic gold medal and the first American to win consecutive gold medals in platform diving, died of complications from pneumonia on Friday. He was 96.

Sammy Lee, diver who became first Asian American to win Olympic medal, dies at 96

Lee won a gold medal in 10-meter platform diving and a bronze in 3-meter springboard diving at the 1948 Olympics in London, and a gold in platform diving at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, becoming the first male diver to win back-to-back gold medals in two different Olympics -- and at age 32, the oldest to win an Olympic diving title. He was named to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1990.

(By the way, 1948 was a hell of a year for Asian Americans at the Olympics. At the same Olympic Games in London, Vicki Manolo Draves became the first Asian American woman to win an Olympic gold medal, and the first woman to win springboard and platform gold medals in the same Olympics.)

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