If you've ever wanted to see a white dude dressed as Christopher Columbus get slapped in the face with a fistful of kimchi -- really, who hasn't? -- look no further than this great video from Bad Appetite Magazine.
As if that alone wasn't awesome enough, the actual video features a couple of legit Korean moms talking about how to make kimchi. Or rather, offering a few critical thoughts on one guy's kimchi-making technique.
The video, produced by our friend Jenny Yang, is a response to "Brad Makes Kimchi," a recent video by Bon Appétit, in which a white dude named Brad shows you how to make kimchi. Nothing wrong with a white dude named Brad showing you how to make kimchi, but we definitely didn't need anybody to "de-mystify" it, as he puts it. The Columbus-ing vibe of it all bugged the hell out of a lot of folks.
So let us turn to a trusted source: Korean moms. What do the experts think of Brad and his kimchi?
Hey look, just another racist asshole harassing an Asian woman on public transit.
Can't a person just ride on public transit in peace without getting harassed by racist pieces of shit?
In Southern California, a man was caught on camera verbally assaulting an Asian American woman, insulting her appearance and saying, among other things, "we're going to nuke you guys" and to "go back to Asia."
Jeanne Heo says she was riding the Metro when this guy approached her, asking if she was American and if she spoke English, to which she replied "yes" and then proceeded to ignore him. Which is a perfectly appropriate response in a situation like this. But this fucking guy apparently wouldn't let it go.
While exiting the Metro at the North Hollywood station, he asked Heo, "Where are your genetics from? Do you happen to be from Korea?" When she asked back, "Why do you want to know?" the guy apparently went off.
Heo recorded their interaction and shared it on Twitter.
By Karthick Ramakrishnan and Janelle Wong. Cross-Posted from AAPI Data.
Karthick Ramakrishnan, director, and Janelle Wong, senior researcher, wrote this letter with respect to H3361, a bill in Massachusetts that seeks to improve state data collection on Asian Americans
We write as the Executive Director and Senior Researcher, respectively, at AAPI Data—the leading repository for data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. We are also professors with over four decades of collective experience with original survey data collections on Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations and analyses of demographic and administrative data collected at the national and state levels.
Our research findings, as well as those in dozens of other studies, have shown that there are critical differences in life chances among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders that track by detailed origin. Thus, for example, Southeast Asian refugee populations have a distinct set of mental health needs that derive from wartime experiences of individuals and family members. Also, population health risks such as chronic Hepatitis B, childhood obesity, and cardiovascular disease vary significantly by detailed Asian origin. Importantly, language needs also vary dramatically by Asian detailed origin, with some groups such as Indian Americans and Filipino Americans having relatively high levels of English proficiency, and other groups such as Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean Americans have the relatively low levels of English proficiency.
One lucky reader will win a pair of Hasbro 3.75-inch Last Jedi action figures.
UPDATE: The giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered!
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A month after the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and I'm still pretty crazy about Kelly Marie Tran as Resistance tech hero Rose Tico. And I'm not afraid to admit that I've amassed a fairly substantial collection of Rose-related action figures, books and other merchandise. Yeah, I'm fanatical like that.
Each figure, produced by Hasbro, is detailed with movie-inspired design and includes character-inspired accessories. They can be paired with Hasbro's Force Link gear (sold separately) to activate authentic figure phrases, lights and sounds. Recommended for kids ages 4 and up, and you know, grown-ass adults too.
One lucky reader will receive both figures. Here's how to enter for your chance to win:
Including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
There must have been some 24 karat magic in the air.
Bruno Mars was the big winner Sunday night at the 60th annual Grammy Awards, sweeping the major categories and picking up seven wins, including the coveted Album of the Year and Record of the Year.
The Filipino American music-multi-hyphenate also cleaned up in four other categories, picking up trophies for Song of the Year, Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for "That's What I Like," and Best R&B Album for 24K Magic. Throw in the Grammy for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and Mr. Mars officially walked away from the proceedings as the year's most decorated artist.
Bruno also rocked a rousing Cross-Colours-soaked, 1990s-inspired live performance of "Finesse" with Cardi B, complete with retro dance moves. The only thing missing were the Fly Girls.
I saw the worst in America when my husband was murdered, but I've also seen its best: "I have witnessed the worst of America. My husband Srinu was murdered last February in Olathe. A man full of ignorance and hatred will stand trial for it. The life Srinu and I had together, the plans we made, the family we hoped to build here, all vanished in a moment of senseless anti-immigrant rage. But I have seen the best of America too. And I still believe America is the land of dreams."
Watch a performance from San Jose Taiko's Swingposium: Big Band Music and Dance from Camp.
What do you get when you mix taiko with big band and swing dancing? A super-fun time, as evidenced by this awesome performance from San Jose Taiko's Swingposium: Big Band Music and Dance from Camp, an immersive show performed and produced last year with Epic Immersive and Wesley Jazz Ensemble.
The piece, "Singing in the Present," is a mash-up of San Jose Taiko's signature song, "Gendai ni Ikiru (Living in the Present)" and Benny Goodman's swing classic, "Sing Sing Sing." And it looks like it was a blast.
"Sweet and charming things are highly underappreciated."
All right, folks. 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 Daniel Chong.
In this sweet video for HiHo, part of their "Kids Meet" series, see what happens when a bunch of precocious kids meet Jordan Nicholson, a Seattle-based photographer who was born with TAR Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that is characterized by the absence of the radius bone in the forearm.
Or, as Jordan puts it, "I have small arms."
The kids have questions for Jordan. And it's pretty darn adorable.
Kim Nak Chhoeun, 42, came to the U.S. as a refugee when he was 6 years old.
From the Los Angeles Times: Most associate Trump's rhetoric about deportations with Latinos, given his vows to build a border wall, his assertions that Mexican immigrants are "rapists" and drug dealers, and his decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for immigrants brought to this country illegally as children, most of whom are Latino.
But immigration activists say the roundups of people of Cambodian and Vietnamese descent are unprecedented and have sparked anxiety in Asian immigrant communities.
"People may think it's just Latinos being threatened when it comes to deportations. But there are all sorts of immigrants affected, and we can't stay silent," said Laboni Hoq, litigation director for the Los Angeles chapter of the civil rights organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice.
"This is a political issue. The administration is cracking down to deliver on campaign promises, and they are going community by community to make their actions known."
"Let me tell you now, if you no speak English, I will send you home."
You'd think that basic professionalism (and you know, decency) would stop someone from writing insulting, racist remarks in their workplace correspondence. Tell that to human resources employee who is now out of a job after mocking an Asian American prospective job applicant's English in an email.
Minh Huynh is a Vietnamese immigrant who is still working on his English. He speaks Vietnamese and Cantonese; English is his third language, my friends. He had inquired via email about a job at Dash Delivery LLC in Seattle. The reply he received, from hiring manager Bruce Peterson, blatantly mocked Mr. Huynh's English skills, stating, "Let me tell you now, if you no speak English, I will send you home."
Mr. Huynh's daughter, Emily, saw Peterson's email and posted a screenshot on Twitter, calling out the response as "very unprofessional and passive aggressive." Once the internet got hold of story, it was on.
"I march today for Asian-American women who have been ignored, or judged or fetishized."
Constance Wu is not taking your shit. At Saturday's Women's March in Los Angeles, the Fresh Off The Boat star took to the stage and shared about the first time she refused a man's sexual advances.
"He called me a bitch," she recalled.
She went on to call out the men who have expressed discomfort and paranoia with the rise of #MeToo, #TimesUp and other movements fighting back against systemic sexism, misogyny and harassment.
"This movement is not about catering our voices to accommodate your comfort," Wu proclaimed to cheers. "We are not here to suppress our perspectives for your relief. We are here because we deserve our voices and perspectives too."
What I've Learned from My 4-Year-Old: "Let that not happen to me, that I become like him. Let me empathize with him, so that I can understand him and feel for him as a human being, even as I oppose him in almost all matters."
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There Are No Good Immigrants Here: Mash-Up Americans co-founder Amy S. Choi tackles the delicate dance between rage and gratitude for this country she calls home.
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Asians were 'refuse and dregs' in the 1880s. Is that how Trump sees Haitians and Africans?: Buck Gee and Albert Shen respond to reports that Trump referred to Haiti and African countries with a derogatory term. “Last week's disturbing comments about Haitian and African immigrants echo the same racial stereotyping that cruelly branded our grandparents from Asia as the most debased people on the face of the earth.'"
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How GOP made family reunification a dirty word: Professor Karthick Ramakrishnan points out how Trump and the GOP are shifting family migration into a negative narrative in order to enforce strict and racist immigration policies.
The Gentrification of Los Angeles Chinatown: How Do We Talk About It?: Frances Huynh on the continued efforts to fight gentrification in her neighborhood in L.A.'s Chinatown, volunteering with the Chinatown Community for Equitable Development, and finding effective ways to talk about the changing city.
Chloe Kim Is Just Getting Started: The Winter Games in Pyeongchang will transform this Korean-American snowboarding sensation into a household name -- and maybe a hero. When you're 17, aren't the Olympics enough already?
"...It would be easier to list what doesn't make me angry."
Hello 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 Beth Nguyen.
Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.
What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. Each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.
On this episode, we welcome champion figure skater, former Olympian and coach Tiffany Chin. We talk about Tiffany's journey to becoming, as Jeff puts it, "The First Great Asian American Hope" of skating, the changing state of the sport, and why so many Asian Americans are now excelling on the ice.
Panel Discussion on Thursday, January 18 at East West Players
If you're in Los Angeles, Center Theatre Group and East West Players invite you to attend a community conversation, Asian American Representation: The Politics of Casting. The panel discussion will feature myself, Jeff Yang, Amy Hill and Alice Tuan talking about what it means to cast and perform Asian American roles, against the backdrop of historical Hollywood racism, growing awareness of stereotypes, whitewashing and the demand for more nuanced and equitable representation.
It's happening Thursday, January 18 at East West Players in Little Tokyo. Here are more details:
The ladies of Ajumma EXP crash the produce aisle in celebration of Korean American Day.
Ajumma EXP strikes back! This is how you celebrate Korean American Day.
If you didn't know, January 13 was Korean American Day, commemorating the arrival of the first Korean immigrants to the United States in 1903. And if you were shopping at Zion Market in San Diego on Saturday, you may have seen a badass flash mob of ajummas getting their commemoration on. Hard.
Ajumma EXP describe themselves as "a crew of fierce women who embrace growing older, getting wiser, and being able to laugh at ourselves." Following their stunning debut last fall at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, the ladies of Ajumma EXP recently brought their visor-clad fierceness to the food court and produce section at the local Korean market, busting a move to J.J. Fad's "Supersonic." It was glorious.
Awesome fan edit re-imagines fight scene from Fist of Fury. With lightsabers.
Bruce Lee died in 1973, four years before the original Star Wars hit theaters. Now, Enter the Dragon and A New Hope are two very different movies, but if you've ever wondered what Bruce might look like kicking ass in a galaxy far, far away, or imagined what kind of damage he could do with a lightsaber... here you go.
YouTube user Patrick Nan re-edited a fight scene from Fist of Fury... with lightsabers. Lightsaber nunchucks. Nan says he was inspired by this cool work of fan art, which imagined Bruce wielding this unholy union of a weapon, and just took it one logical step further. In reality, this weapon would likely be extremely impractical and hilariously dangerous to wield. But if anyone could do it, it's Bruce.
The edit totally works, and is immensely entertaining. Take a look:
Photographer says she felt "violated" during a date with the comedian.
From Vulture: Comedian and actor Aziz Ansari has been accused by a New York–based photographer of sexual misconduct during a date. Speaking anonymously with Babe, the 23-year-old woman claims she met Ansari at an Emmys after-party in L.A. last fall. They exchanged numbers, which led to a date in Manhattan about a week later. The woman said the date began normally, with dinner at an outdoor oyster bar, but when they went to Ansari's apartment afterward, things quickly escalated to a point of discomfort.
"In a second, his hand was on my breast," the woman recounted. "It was 30 minutes of me getting up and moving and him following and sticking his fingers down my throat again. It was really repetitive. It felt like a fucking game... most of my discomfort was expressed in me pulling away and mumbling. I know that my hand stopped moving at some points, I stopped moving my lips and turned cold." When the woman reiterated her reluctance to do anything sexual that evening, Ansari reportedly listened at first, but soon chose to persist anyway...
Say the words as plainly as Trump does: "There is no logical interpretation of Trump's words other than as an assertion of white supremacist purpose, in which he explicitly states what has been the implied core mission of Trumpism all along: To Make America White Again... All of this is why it's important for news audiences to hear another word in association with Trump: 'Racist.'"
January Nonfiction: "The Birthday Banquet" by Jaime Woo "I think of my grandmother sometimes and wonder what hypothetical good it would do to come out to her at this point. "It’d probably kill her," my partner says. The truth is that I am not ready for another version of my grandmother, one who might reject me, just as she is not ready for another version of me."
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Father's sacrifice helps Kim become snowboard star: Chloe Kim has the chance to become the youngest female snowboarder to win Olympic gold when the 2018 Pyeongchang Games kick off in South Korea next month and the American teen says she owes much of her success to her dedicated dad.
Locally Produced MeSseD Dives Beneath the Sewer Grates: Jay B. Kalagayan's comic books series MeSseD follows the life and times of Filipino sewer worker Lilliput and her coworkers as they use science to battle whatever's waiting for them in the darkness.
Donald Trump had a "Where Are You From?" moment with a Korean American intelligence analyst.
By now, you've heard about Donald Trump's recent remarks describing Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as "shithole countries." And by now, none of this should surprise you. Given the consistent, overwhelming evidence of Trump's ridiculous inability to grasp anything beyond his own wealthy white male entitlement, we passed the point of surprise a long time ago. If you're surprised, it's on you.
And so, here is another entry into the long log of Trump's unsurprising racism and sexism. Amid the "shithole" backlash, NBC News reports on a previous exchange, in which Trump asked an Asian American intelligence analyst about where her "people" are from, then referred to her as a "pretty Korean lady," and suggested that she should be involved with his administration's talks with North Korea.
Yup. Trump pulled a "Where are you from?"
It's an annoying, perpetual line of questioning that some of us Asian Americans are way too familiar with. In this case, it came from the President of the United States, but it ran its predictable course like a steady river.
Hello, good readers! It's that time again. 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 Eugene Cordero.
(Clockwise from top left) Saagar Shaikh, Mike Bow, D'Lo, Sean Miura, Yoshi Sudarso, Jake Choi, Peter Sudarso, Chris Pang, Simu Liu, and Ilram Choi. Photo by Sthanlee B. Mirador/Sipa USA.
First, we exchanged Haikus With Hotties. Then we put Haikus On Hotties. It's our third year making hot Asian man calendars to celebrate our favorite talented creative Asian men in the media, and this year, fans wrote Haikus For Hotties, and each spread is designed into a magazine cover, as a nod to the fact that Asian American men (and women, for that matter) are now sometimes featured inside the magazine, but still rarely on the cover.
"Contested Histories: Art and Artifacts from the Allen Hendershott Eaton Collection" goes on view.
From the Los Angeles Times: A collection of artworks and other artifacts from Japanese American internment camps made headlines in spring 2015 when protesters successfully steered these pieces of American history away from the auction block, where they could have fallen into private hands. The protesters' goal: Put the pieces on public exhibition instead.
Mission accomplished. On Sunday, every item in the collection (or digital representations of them) will go on view at the Japanese American National Museum’s Hirasaki National Resource Center in Los Angeles. Titled "Contested Histories: Art and Artifacts from the Allen Hendershott Eaton Collection," the exhibition includes more than 450 paintings, photographs, sculptures, pieces of jewelry and other objects made by hand in camps where about 120,000 people of Japanese descent were incarcerated during World War II.
Master of None star is the first Asian American lead actor to win a Golden Globe for television.
In case you missed it, Aziz Ansari made a little history on Sunday night at the 75th Golden Globe Awards. The comedian and star of Netflix's Master of None took home the the trophy for Best Actor In A Television Series Musical or Comedy, making him the first Asian American lead actor to win a Golden Globe for television.
"I genuinely didn't think I would win because all the websites said I was going to lose," Ansari joked during his acceptance speech. He was up against some pretty heavy hitters in category, including Anthony Anderson for Black-ish, Kevin Bacon for I Love Dick, William H. Macy for Shameless and Eric McCormack for Will & Grace.
In addition to thanking his cast and crew, Ansari thanked the entire country of Italy "for all the amazing food we ate in season two," and, of course, his parents, for giving him "so much love."
Karen Chen, Mirai Nagasu, Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Madison Chock, and Maia and Alex Shibutani.
Look at all those all-American faces on the podium at the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championship! And by all-American, I mean Asian American, set to represent the U.S. next month at the Winter Olympics.
The U.S. will send three ladies, three men, three ice dance and one pairs team to compete in Pyeongchang, South Korea. For the interests of this blog, skating on behalf of Team Asian America are Karen Chen, Mirai Nagasu, Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Madison Chock, and Maia and Alex Shibutani.
The Redemption Of Figure Skater Mirai Nagasu: Four years ago Mirai Nagasu placed third at the national championships, but controversially was not selected for the Olympics. This year, things went differently.
Kristi Yamaguchi, Unlaced: On the eve of the National Championships, Nicole Chung and champion skater Kristi Yamaguchi discuss life after the Olympics, what it means to be 'the first,' and the state of figure skating in 2018.
Hey, everybody! 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 Laura Sirikul.
Jimmy Ma performs to "Turn Down For What" at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
A few years ago, the International Skating Union changed its rules to allow skaters to use songs with lyrics in their routines, a decision designed to shake up traditional performances set to classical music.
I suppose it was only a matter of time before somebody performed to Lil Jon.
For Jimmy Ma, the time is now. On Thursday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the 22-year-old skater from Queens competed in the mens' short program with a routine that included "Turn Down For What" by DJ Snake and Lil Jon. And nothing will ever be the same again.
Sophia Vuelo sworn in to become the first Hmong American to serve as a judge in Minnesota.
This week in Minnesota, Sophia Vuelo was sworn in as the 29th member of the Ramsey County District Court bench, becoming the state's first Hmong American judge, and only one of a few in the country.
Vuelo has nearly 20 years experience as an attorney in both the private and public sectors, working as both a prosecutor and public defender. She was running her own law firm specializing in juvenile protection, family and criminal law when Gov. Mark Dayton appointed her to replace retired Judge Margaret Marrinan.
She is the first Hmong American to serve as a judge in Minnesota, and believed to be only the third Hmong American judge in the United States.
Established in 2014, the fellowship program is an intensive 10-12-week, full-time volunteer program that develops the leadership of a new generation of activists and organizers who are deeply invested in building the power of and improving the lives of working-class Asian immigrant communities.
The fellowship program runs June 4 to August 16, 2018. Fellows will be placed with a community-based organization, where they will spend at least 8-10 weeks, working with the organization, immigrant leaders, and the local community. Host organizations are located in California, the Midwest, Northeast, and North Carolina, where they are working in Chinese, Khmer, Filipino, Hmong, Muslim, South Asian, Vietnamese communities.
Japanese Breakfast puts a gorgeous spin on The Mamas and The Papas classic.
Singer/songwriter Michelle Zauner, who makes music as Japanese Breakfast, recently shared this devastatingly gorgeous synth-tastic cover of the Mamas and The Papas' 1965 folk-rock classic "California Dreamin'" she recorded during a session for SiriusXMU. Wait until that beat drops.
'Harold and Kumar' star talks to NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour.
Actor John Cho was recently interviewed on one of my favorite podcasts, NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. He talks to host Linda Holmes about why he misses doing broad comedies, what appealed to him about joining The Exorcist, what it's like being the subject of intense internet fandom (see: #StarringJohnCho), and his latest film, the charming indie drama Columbus. They also lament the late, great Selfie.
