#KeepPJHome: ICE is targeting the Cambodian community for deportation... and this man might be on the top of its list.

Guest Post by Thi Bui.



Last week, I caught up with Borey Ai aka PJ, whom I wrote about in this piece for The Nib:

Refugee to Detainee: How the U.S. is Deporting Those Seeking a Safe Haven

It's been twelve weeks since PJ was released from ICE detention, two years since he was released from a life sentence in prison for a crime he committed at the age of fourteen. The #KeepPJHome campaign is going strong. Hundreds of postcards have been mailed to California Governor Jerry Brown, asking him to grant PJ a pardon in light of his rehabilitation and years of service to others as a counselor and advocate for juvenile justice reform.

We sat on a grassy knoll overlooking Oakland's Lake Merritt. PJ told me it's been a long time since he sat down in a park. We chatted about how you can rent kayaks and sailboats on the lake. He asked me if there were things I've always wanted to do since I was a kid, and I replied that I've been using my adulthood to catch up on them. I asked, "What about you?"

"So many things," he answered with a smile that looked mostly optimistic but which I couldn't help thinking was incredibly sad at the same time. I thought about a life, humans in cages, and how Americans don't feel safe even though the US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Meanwhile, PJ played with a small dog that came to lie down in his shadow and chatted with her owner, an elderly woman with a walker.

A short while later, an electronic beep told him it was time to change the battery on his ankle monitor. He put a fresh battery into the bulky plastic contraption under his sock as we discussed the process of getting a 47-hour pass from his parole officer to go to Stockton to visit his mother and see his childhood haunts.

All of these lingering effects of imprisonment go away if PJ receives a pardon.

Asian AF Presents: The Stars of Crazy Rich Asians

Monday, August 6 at UCB Inner Sanctum Cafe & Stage in Los Angeles.



Comedy fans in Los Angeles, you do not want to miss this one. In celebration of the upcoming theatrical release of Crazy Rich Asians, our friends at Asian AF have put together the Crazy Rich Asians Comedy Show, featuring standup from the stars of the Warner Bros. romantic comedy. The lineup includes Ken Jeong, Ronny Chieng, Nico Santos and Jimmy O. Yang, who are all part of the movie's cast.

This is going to be a blast. It's happening Monday, August 6 at the UCB Inner Sanctum Cafe & Stage in Los Angeles. Admission is free! But seating is first come, first served. So get there, and there early!

[UPDATE: Response to the show has apparently been pretty crazy, so in order to ensure a safe and orderly evening, they're instituting a RSVP list. Reserve yourself here.]

[UPDATE:] Okay, the show sold out in like five minutes.

Here are some more details about the show:

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Two Years After #StarringJohnCho, John Cho Is Finally a Leading Man
"I want the future to be where it's completely normal to see an Asian American family on-screen," says actor John Cho, who stars in the hyper-modern thriller Searching, opening later this month.

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How Elite Schools Stay So White
"In our highly unequal society, education systems have consistently found ways to favor elite, white applicants, whether it's through slippery definitions of "merit," giving added weight to athletes or children of alumni, or fighting to change admissions policies to schools in which Asians are more overrepresented rather than those where whites are."

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Seven grassroots Asian American groups rocking this nation
Grassroots organizers in Asian American groups across the country have been changing local communities and therefore, the nation, for decades with or without media coverage. Their work is rooted in the fundamental belief that social issues are systemic and need to be addressed at their core. Here are seven organizations relentlessly leading the fight.

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On Monolids And The Language Of Beauty
Crystal Hana Kim talks about her fraught relationship with her monolid, and how in the beauty world, certain standards are lauded as "natural," well others are made alien.

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On Falling in Love with the Language I've Spoken My Entire Life
Lucy Tan rediscovers Chinese through the fiction of Eileen Chang.

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Film Criticism Is Lacking Diversity — I’m Trying To Find A Fix Within Myself
64 percent of the reviews of last year's top-grossing movies were written by white men. One entertainment reporter/fledgling critic is doing her part to be part of the change.

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Kevin Kwan Goes Hollywood
Crazy Rich Asians author Kevin Kwan is happy to be the public face of the movie adaptation. But he'd be happier if somebody else were doing it for him.

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'Iron Fist' Was Always Racist — and the Netflix Show Isn't Helping
Nothing says "Asian" like a mystical white dude standing in Chinatown.

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How Ali Wong's Stand-Up Became The 30-Something Woman's 'What To Expect'
Ali Wong's comedy special Hard Knock Wife is truth serum for all the moms out there looking for camaraderie, and all the pregnant women searching for unfiltered guidance.

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Yes, they came as refugees, but on 'Queen Sugar' this family from Vietnam gets to be so much more
When Ava Duvernay created the Vietnamese American family for her show Queen Sugar, she made sure the character depicitions were culturally competent -- and get an actual, full story.

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Olympian Mirai Nagasu on struggling with self-acceptance as a figure skater
Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu opens up about her struggles with self-acceptance in a sport where looks sometimes seem to matter nearly as much as the physical feats themselves — and how pal Adam Rippon helped her learn to laugh at herself.

* * *
The Sisters Ishibashi celebrate being a Japanese American showbiz family
Showbiz sisters Brittany, Brooke, and Brianna Ishibashi are producing a series of vignettes based on their experiences growing up as a Japanese American Osmonds family.

Angry Reader of the Week: Victoria Park

"Hugger of people and trees."



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 Victoria Park.

Kelly Marie Tran will be back in Star Wars: Episode IX

It's official.



Rose will be back. It was pretty much assumed, but it is confirmed that Kelly Marie Tran will indeed be back in the next installment of the Star Wars saga. Lucasfilm officially unveiled the new and returning cast for Episode IX, which will include Tran reprising her role as fearless Resistance tech Rose Tico.

Take that, haters. From the official announcement:

Radio hosts suspended for calling New Jersey's Sikh attorney general "turban man"

"If that offends you, then don't wear the turban."



A pair of New Jersey radio hosts have been suspended for referring to the state's Sikh attorney general as "turban man" during their program this week. Because you can always count on talk radio to keep it classy.

Radio Hosts Suspended After Calling New Jersey Attorney General 'Turban Man'

On Wednesday's edition of New Jersey 101.5's popular mid-day program The Dennis & Judi Show, hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco were discussing Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal's recent order to suspend marijuana prosecutions. Malloy said he couldn't remember the attorney general's name, so he'd just refer to him as "the guy with the turban."

"Turban maaaaaan!" Franco replied, in a sing-song voice.

"If that offends you, then don't wear the turban," Malloy said. "And maybe I'll remember your name."

Grewal, who was born and raised in New Jersey, is the first Sikh American Attorney General in United States history. He responded to Malloy and Franco's comments on Twitter, calling it "small-minded intolerance."

Researcher and activist Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga dies at 93

Former incarceree uncovered instrumental evidence for the Japanese American redress movement.



Activist and researcher Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, best known as a hero of the Japanese American redress campaign that culminated in the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, died last week. She was 93.

The Civil Liberties Act of 1988, signed by President Ronald Reagan, granted reparations, and perhaps more importantly, an official apology to Japanese Americans who had been removed from the West Coast and incarcerated without trial by the United States government during World War II.

Herzig-Yoshinaga was a high school senior when she was incarcerated with her family at the Manzanar Relocation Center. After the war, while living in New York in the 1960s, she became involved with Asian Americans for Action, and engaged in a variety of political protests and demonstrations, including efforts to end the war in Vietnam and demonstrations against nuclear research.

After to moving to Washington DC in 1978, Herzig-Yoshinaga began looking through the information on the wartime exclusion and incarceration, which was publicly accessible in the National Archives. Over several years, she retrieved and cataloged thousands and significant documents -- including a key piece of "buried" evidence that would become instrumental in the movement for redress.

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When History Repeats Itself: Asian Immigrants in the Era of Trump
Asian immigrants have a long, difficult history in the United States. So why does America know so little about it?

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The Last Straw
Alice Wong on the burden the straw ban has on people with disabilities: "Plastic is seen as cheap, "anti-luxury," wasteful, and harmful to the environment. All true. Plastic is also an essential part of my health and wellness. With my neuromuscular disability, plastic straws are necessary tools for my hydration and nutrition."

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Young Jean Lee's Unsafe Spaces
Playwright Young Jean Lee, the first Asian American woman to have a play on Broadway, takes aim at identity and watches the audience squirm in her latest work, Straight White Men.

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How We Create Personal Myths (and Why They Matter)
Angela Chen talks about her family's separation as a two-year-old: "My parental separation was vastly less traumatic than what is happening to children at the border. But this narrative lives inside me"

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In Search of Water-Boiled Fish
After eight years and hundreds of miles, why a cherished dish remains elusive.

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Katherine Lo's New Hotel Touts Progressive Politics, Right Down the Street from the Trump International
Kat Lo of Eaton DC envisions her hotel to be a space to support and foster progressive politics.

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How a Chinese cook helped establish Yosemite and the National Park Service
"Hundreds of Chinese go to Yosemite... Imagine what the experience would be for them if they knew that Chinese worked on these roads over a hundred years ago."

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At a storied Chinatown bakery, four generations labor to learn lessons of family
A Los Angeles institution, Phoenix Bakery is one of five remaining businesses that opened when Chinatown was first established. IT turns 80 this year. How has it survived?

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Exploring the 'Futureface' of America with Alex Wagner: podcast & transcript
Alex Wagner, author of the new memoir Futureface, talks about identity and what it means to be "American" when so many of our ancestors originally came here from somewhere else.

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Comics of Asian Descent, Tired of Being Invisible, Put Themselves Onstage
Welcome to Asian AF, a monthly showcase for actors, storytellers and comedians of Asian descent that regularly sells out U.C.B. theaters in Los Angeles and New York. The evenings are not the first of their kind, but they're part of a larger quest for representation by performers who had felt invisible in the comedy ecosystem.

* * *
A Superstar In China, Daniel Wu Emerges In His Native California
Over two decades, Daniel Wu has played leading roles in everything from romantic comedies to kung fu costume dramas. He's become a celebrity across Asia. But AMC's action drama Into the Badlands is the first starring role in the United States for the California native.

* * *
Matt Groening still doesn't understand the problem with Apu
In a new interview with the New York Times published Wednesday, Simpsons creator Matt Groening seemed to indicate he still doesn’t get what the criticism of the character Apu is all about.

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4 Animated Indian Characters who are Better Developed than Apu from 'The Simpsons'
Apu isn't the only Indian cartoon character. Here are four more that are written to be fully realized people.

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5 myths about Bruce Lee, debunked by the author of his new biography
Friday marked the 45th anniversary of Bruce Lee’s death. As his fans reflect on his life and career, the author of his recent biography, Bruce Lee: A Life shares few insights from his extensive research and interview process.

This is What Marvel Executive Jeph Loeb Wore to the Iron Fist Panel at San Diego Comic-Con

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



Marvel is quickly making a name for itself as the comic book company of unadulterated racial insensitivity and Orientalism.

While comic book fans from around the world gather in San Diego this weekend at the annual San Diego Comic-Con, attendees to the Marvel's Iron Fist panel bore witness to a breath-takingly boorish stunt by Marvel Television head, Jeph Loeb. To kick off the panel, Loeb appeared to introduce the second season of the Netflix television show. In apparent reference to criticism of the show's first season, Loeb came on stage dressed as Daniel-San from The Karate Kid -- complete with karate gi and headband -- and joked that he had trained with Mr. Miyagi in preparation for hostile fans at the panel. Shortly thereafter, actor Jessica Henwick (Colleen Wing) -- who may or may not have been in on some sort of pre-scripted act with Loeb -- demanded that Loeb remove the outfit, and Loeb obliged.

There is nothing that excuses the racial insensitivity of this pointless and ugly stunt.

Father of Parkland school shooting survivors killed in armed robbery

61-year-old Ayub Ali was fatally shot at his convenience store on Tuesday.



Damn. In Florida, the father of two students who survived the Parkland school shooting in February was shot and killed Tuesday during an armed robbery at his own convenience store.

Father of Parkland School Shooting Survivors Killed in North Lauderdale Armed Robbery

61-year-old Ayub Ali was working at Aunt Molly's Food Store in North Lauderdale when a man walked in and pulled a gun on him. Surveillance video released by the Broward County Sheriff's Office shows the suspect following Ali around the counter and forcing him to open the cash register at gunpoint.

According to deputies, after robbing the register and leaving the store, the suspect returned to shoot Ali. He was later transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Angry Reader of the Week: Paul Sun-Hyung Lee

"Ask me about my proton pack."



Hey, everybody! What is up. It's 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 Paul Sun-Hyung Lee.

Lewis Tan and Tzi Ma join the cast of 'Wu Assassins'

Netflix action crime series stars Iko Uwais and Byron Mann.



A Netflix martial arts action crime series about ancient triads and mystical assassins set in San Francisco's Chinatown, starring an Asian-centric cast? Count me in. It was recently announced that Lewis Tan and Tzi Ma have signed on as series regulars on Wu Assassins, alongside stars Iko Uwais and Byron Mann.

'Wu Assassins': Katheryn Winnick, Lewis Tan, Tommy Flanagan & Tzi Ma Join Netflix Martial Arts Drama

Wu Assassins stars Iko Uwais as Kai Jin, who becomes the latest and last Wu Assassin, chosen to round up the powers of an ancient triad and restore balance once again. You may remember watching Uwais kicking crazy amounts of ass in the The Raid movies, because your life was probably never quite the same again.

First look at George Takei's autobiographical graphic novel

'They Called Us Enemy' due out in summer 2019.



Actor, author and activist George Takei, best known for playing Sulu in Star Trek, is teaming with IDW Publishing for a new graphic memoir about his childhood in American internment camps during World War II.

They Called Us Enemy revisits Takei's haunting childhood in American concentration camps, as one of 120,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II. To be released in summer 2019, the memoir will be co-written by Takei, Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, with art from Harmony Becker.

Here's the first look at the cover art:

Angry Asian Man for a Free, Open Internet

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, it was always apparent to me that there was a significant lack of Asian faces in TV and movies. So when I saw people who looked like me on the screen, for better or for worse, it always felt like a big deal.

That’s a big reason why I started Angry Asian Man in 2001. I wanted to write about content that I cared about -- media and news and everything in between for Asian American pop culture enthusiasts. I didn’t think anyone would read it but my friends, but the Internet made my blog accessible to Asian Americans spread out across the U.S.

Without Net Neutrality, I’m not sure if Angry Asian Man would exist in the same way today. Asian American narratives would still be out on the margins if the Internet didn’t allow open platforms to share our own stories.

I'm joining forces with 18MillionRising.org because it's so important that we make sure the House votes to save Net Neutrality. Contact your representative today and demand that they save Net Neutrality.

There are now 177 House representatives who support the Congressional Review Act (CRA) -- which could overturn the FCC's decision to end Net Neutrality rules. These rules are bad for our community, and bad for business and innovation. As a result, members of both parties are coming around to support the vote, like Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO).

Soon, AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast will start throttling speeds and creating fast and slow lanes on the Internet. As an Asian American who lives and works on the Internet, I’m worried that independent creators of color like me will be cut off from their audiences and be forced to pay high fees to even be seen by audiences hungry for our work.

A bipartisan majority of Senators already voted to stop the FCC earlier this year. Now we need 41 more votes in the House to force to save Net Neutrality. Will you tell your representative to sign the discharge petition and bring the CRA resolution to the floor for a vote today?

For the free and open internet,

Phil Yu

Angry Asian Man

(Thanks, Laura & 18 Million Rising)

A Filipino American DJ finds her groove in 'Flip the Record'

Marie Jamora's retro short is screening as part of the PBS Online Film Festival.



A little-known but lasting explosion of hip hop culture grew out of the Filipino American community of 1980s San Francisco. The short film Flip the Record, written and directed by Marie Jamora, takes us into the beat of an aspiring mobile DJ crew in '84. Vanessa, sick of the constraints and boring piano lessons in her conservative Filipino American household, starts teaching herself on the sly how to scratch on her older brother's turntables. Flip the Record follows Ness as she discovers her talents and place in the local music scene of the era.

After screening on the festival circuit, Flip the Record is now available to watch as part of the 2018 PBS Online Film Festival. The key to this film is in the feel of the details, from the retro fashion to the fresh dance moves, and even the hot-off-the-press homemade business cards. And of course, the music. It's a fun, vibrant look back at an influential but overlooked era in Filipino American pop culture.

Check it out:

So you've got a problem with our anti-Trump lawn sign...

"Get the fuck off my property."



On this edition of White People Feel Entitled To Tell You Shit... In North Carolina, a man felt to compelled to get out of his pickup truck, walk on to the property of an Asian American household and express his negative feelings towards the anti-Trump sign on their lawn... before calling them the N-word, among other things.

The incident, which occurred on Sunday, seems to have been sparked by the lawn sign that reads "Fuck Donald Trump." (The other signs include "Refugees Welcome Here" and "Black Lives Matter.") Truck Guy claims to take issue with the vulgar language, not the political sentiment -- "I voted for Bernie Sanders," he declares -- but then proceeds direct several varations of "fuck" at the house's residents.

Then, abandoning the flimsy pretense that this was actually about civility or decency, the guy runs off towards his truck, turning around to call them the N-word while making a vulgar gesture towards his own crotch. The guy eventually drives off, but not before declaring, among other things, that he "built this country" and warning that refugees will "steal everything you own" (according to Google, he cites).

Most of the altercation was recorded on video and shared to social media:

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Sandra Oh on Her Emmy Nomination for Killing Eve: 'It’s Not Just Me at This Moment’
An interview with Sandra Oh, who is the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated for a leading actress Emmy for her excellent work as Eve Polastri on the BBC America spy thriller Killing Eve.

* * *
Sandra Oh's Emmy nomination represents a new wave in Hollywood
"It feels like we are experiencing a significant ripple in Hollywood, suggesting that a deeper and more persistent change is about to occur. And it's something Asian actors and creators have been waiting for, for decades."

* * *
#PrettyPlaneGirl and White Exploitation of Women of Color
UGH. If you’ve been following the #PrettyPlaneGirl and #PlaneBae story, you’ve watched exactly how toxic social media can be for Asian women specifically, and how white people profit off of people of color in general.

* * *
Dr. Eugene Gu Accused Of Sexual Misconduct, Responds In The Worst Possible Way
In a bizarre and disappointing story, a medical student accuses famous #Resistance figure Dr. Eugene Gu of sexual assault and harassment.

* * *
I Know What Incarceration Does to Families. It Happened to Mine.
"History is repeating itself. This time without even the pretext of war, and with added heartbreaking cruelty."

* * *
From Bangladesh to the United States: An Advocate's Story
"My immigration story has shaped my work -- and my whole life -- in profound ways."

* * *
Watch What Happened When These Two Men Swapped Grindr Profiles
"What The Flip?" examines how racial stereotypes play out in the queer dating scene. In the debut episode, a gay Asian man and a gay white man swap profiles to see how their interactions with prospective suitors differ.

* * *
Do You Eat Dog?
The practice of eating dog meat is at the center of many racist stereotypes about Asians. Is it possible to reexamine both the stereotype and the practice?

* * *
'Hold These Truths' Remembers One Man's Refusal to Cede His Civil Rights During WWII
Joel de la Fuente stars as Japanese American civil rights icon Gordon Hirabayashi in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's 2018/2019 season opener, the Bay Area premiere of Jeanne Sakata's Hold These Truths.

* * *
Incantations: The SCOTUS Decision in Trump v. Hawaii
"We live in a legal regime akin to a witch-demon-evil spirit system, currently being used to weave a fascism that is quickly moving from proto to actual. In the face of this, I put out a call for contributions of magic spells in response to SCOTUS’ Trump v. Hawaii decision and the incarceration of children and families in ICE concentration camps."

* * *
Meals You Can Eat on the New York City Subway
Turns out, you can eat all kinds of food on the subway. A comic by Connie Sun.

* * *
Severed Ties: An Interview with Dickson Lam
Dickson Lam talks about cultural memory, cross-generational trauma, and familial separation in his new memoir Paper Sons.

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Crazy Rich Asians Star Henry Golding Says It's Fair to Question His Casting
Henry Golding might be relatively unknown right now, but for the star of this summer's hotly anticipated Crazy Rich Asians -- the 31-year-old's first ever acting gig -- that's all about to change.

Angry Reader of the Week: Nina Yang Bongiovi

"My heart is in Oakland, my serenity is in Hawaii, and my bloodlines are in Taipei and in Shanghai."



All right. You know what's up, everybody. 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 Nina Yang Bongiovi.

Darren Criss makes history with Emmy nomination

'American Crime Story' star is the first Filipino American to receive a lead actor Emmy nomination.



Well, hey. Alongside Sandra Oh's historic lead actress Emmy nomination, Darren Criss scored himself a nod for best lead actor in a limited series or TV movie for American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace., making him only the second actor of Asian descent to be nominated in the category, and the first ever Filipino American to receive a lead actor Emmy nomination. Heck, is he first Filipino American actor to receive an Emmy nomination, ever? Somebody please confirm.

Criss received wide acclaim for his haunting star turn as real-life killer Andrew Cunanan (who was Filipino American, like Criss). Season two of the FX true crime anthology series chronicled Cunanan's notorious 1997 murder spree, in which he killed four men before shooting famed fashion designer Gianni Versace in Miami.

Overall, the series garnered a total of 18 nominations, including nods for co-stars Edgar Ramirez, Finn Witrock and Ricky Martin(!). Criss is considered a front-runner in the limited series lead actor category, which includes Antonio Banderas (Genius), Benedict Cumberbatch (Patrick Melrose), Jeff Daniels (The Looming Tower), Jesse Plemons (USS Callister) and John Legend (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert).

Just give Sandra Oh all the Emmy awards

'Killing Eve' star is the first Asian actress ever nominated for lead in a drama series.



Well, would you look at that. The 2018 Emmy Awards nominations were announced this morning. Among the surprises and snubs, something historic: Sandra Oh's lead actress nomination for Killing Eve. The nod makes Oh the first actress of Asian descent to be nominated for an Emmy for lead actress in a drama series.

Sandra Oh Is the First Asian Actress Nominated for Lead in a Drama Series

Oh stars in the critically acclaimed BBC America spy thriller as Eve Polastri, a MI5 officer who is pusuing a wily assassin played by Jodie Comer. While their fierce cat-and-mouse chase plays out across Europe, both women slowly become obsessed with one another. It's a brilliant show, and Oh is pitch perfect in the kind of lead role she should have been playing years ago. She deserves the nomination. Hell, she should win.

The 46-year-old Korean Canadian happened to be with fellow Asian (American) actor Michelle Krusiec when she got the news of her Emmy nomination. They had been discussing Hansol Jung's play Wild Goose Dreams when Oh finally glanced at her phone and realized it had been blowing up on silent.

"I really love the fact that when all those calls were going off, my phone was on silent," Oh tells Vulture, "[because] Michelle and I were talking about this play about a North Korean refugee."

Going On the Heroine’s Journey and Finding Hope in the Dark

Guest Post by Sarah Kuhn



Heroine's Journey, the third book in my series starring Asian American superheroines, came out last week. It's the end of a trilogy -- but also the launch point for a new one because I just signed on to continue the series with three new books and a novella! I could not be more thrilled and I still can't believe I get to write more adventures, romance, and ridiculous battles against things like demonic cupcakes for these girls.

But there was a moment when I definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent thought I would never finish Heroine's Journey. Like, ever.

The issue was, shall we say, multi-fold. First, since becoming a "professional" "author," I have more demands on my time, more deadlines to stay on top of, and more reasons to procrastinate on Twitter. Second, I chose personally difficult subject matter. Heroine's Journey belongs to Bea Tanaka, little sister of Evie Tanaka, the fire-wielding protagonist of the first book. Bea is impulsive, tempestuous, and bad at sharing food. She has a power that's akin to mind control and a moral compass that could easily turn supervillain when things go bananas. She's also still grieving the death of her mother a decade earlier, and her conviction that this loss has messed her up for the rest of her life is a big part of what she has to deal with in the book. I lost my own mother to cancer right after I graduated from college, and all these years later, the topic still feels delicate to write about, talk about, or even bring up. I never thought I'd put it in a book -- but that's where the book, and Bea, wanted to go.

And third, of course, is the general state of the world these days, which feels like an endless stream of trash fires raining down upon us, our basic human rights, and any social and political progress we've made the last few decades. I don't know a single writer who hasn't been affected by this, who hasn't struggled to get words on the page since the current administration took power.

Rally for Rose Tico at San Diego Comic-Con

By Keith Chow. Cross-Posted from The Nerds of Color



It goes without saying that we are huge fans of Rose Tico and Kelly Marie Tran here at The Nerds of Color. Unfortunately, there’s a significant portion of Star Wars fandom that doesn't agree. Even worse, they’ve taken their disdain for a fictional character and used it to harass the actress so much that she had to delete her Instagram.

Online harassment in the Star Wars community -- and fandom, writ large -- is nothing new. Recently, Phantom Menace actor Ahmed Best revealed he contemplated suicide as a result of the fan backlash to his portrayal of Jar Jar Binks. Just the other day, a cadre of angry fanboys cried foul and singled out StarWars.com personality Andi Gutierrez over a mug she owns. But as Rose Tico famously said at the end of The Last Jedi:

A 2,000-Mile Bike Ride for Citizenship for All

Citizenship for All: Journey to Justice is a 37-day bike trip from Seattle to San Diego.



This summer, get on your bike and join the Dream Riders!

Citizenship for All: Journey to Justice is a 37-day bike trip from Seattle to San Diego, happening August 1 to September 6, and organized by National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC). Dream Riders from all over the country will be riding and making stops in 33 cities to talk about the importance of citizenship for all, and what citizenship means for marginalized communities.

The national Citizenship For All campaign rejects attempts to tear families apart and cut immigration on the backs of undocumented youth, and demands instead a clear pathway to citizenship for all non-citizens who have been denied this opportunity, including undocumented immigrants, temporary protected status recipients, diversity visa holders, and intercountry adoptees. The campaign also believes in a broader definition of "citizenship" that demands equal rights for every member of our society, regardless of their immigration status, race, or any other identity marker.

The border-to-border bike journey will be an opportunity to educate and engage diverse communities about the campaign and offer the opportunity to seed cross-cultural alliances that are critical to building a transformational movement towards justice for all.

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Here's What's Going On With Affirmative Action And School Admissions
School may be out, but there has been no lack of news this summer on race and admissions: an announcement from Jeff Sessions, a Harvard lawsuit, changes in the Supreme Court and proposals for selective high schools in New York City. Here's a rundown of the facts in place, and the latest developments, according to NPR.

* * *
‘A Huge Blind Spot': Why New York Asians Feel Overlooked
In New York City's efforts to desegregate its elite public high schools, many Asian Americans feel silenced and targeted. Community leaders say that in New York, far from being the "model minority," they are the overlooked minority, taken for granted in the city's calculus of political power.

* * *
Telling the wrong story about racial discrimination in education
"While many assume that high performance on standardized tests results from hard work and studying, research suggests otherwise. Among the most important predictors of test scores are parents' education and income."

* * *
Asian-Americans on being "likable" in the modern workplace
A lawsuit claiming Harvard ranked Asian-American students lower on personality traits like "likability" reflects stereotypes that persist in the workforce, too.

* * *
‘Choose the important over the urgent,' and more writing advice from Min Jin Lee
Min Jin Lee, author of the historical novel Pachinko, shares her daily writing routine, the best writer's advice she's ever received, and the overlooked books she thinks are important to read now.

* * *
After Inheriting My Grandmother's Jewelry, I'm Finally Embracing My Chinese Background
"My grandmother never had a doubt of who she was, and by passing down her heirloom jewelry, she's showing me who I am and my family roots."

* * *
Brown Girls Creator Fatimah Asghar on Turning Microagressions Into Dark Comedy
"I've found my chosen family in queer communities of color and with other queer Muslims. What I long for most are spaces where I don't have to explain myself, in which my identities are not contradictory, places where I get to be my full self. Where I -- not a man or husband—decide who I am."

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New Bruce Lee bio debunks myths about the 'kung fu Jesus'
A new biography debunks some of the most popular myths -- and exposes new truths -- about Bruce Lee.

Angry Reader of the Week: Raymond C. Lai

"All around medium talent."



Hey, everybody! Thanks for checking in. 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 Raymond C. Lai.

Apply to AAWW's Open City Fellowships

Now accepting applications for the Neighborhoods Fellowship and the Muslim Communities Fellowship



Hey, writers! They Asian American Writers' Workshop is accepting applications for the Open City Fellowships.

Specifically: the Neighborhoods Fellowship, a unique opportunity for emerging Asian American writers to publish narrative nonfiction over the span of six months on the vibrant Asian American communities of New York City; and the Muslim Communities Fellowship, a six-month opportunity for NYC-based writers from Middle Eastern and North and East African communities and Muslim writers of color to write about the Muslim American communities in the city.

Both fellowships offer a $2,500 grant, skill-building workshops, and publishing opportunities to write about the Asian immigrant and Muslim communities of New York City. The fellowship is six months long, beginning in September 2018 and ending in March 2019.

Here are some more details:

Read These Blogs

How the Supreme Court Replaced One Injustice With Another
Karen Korematsu's father, Fred, defied Executive Order 9066 and was imprisoned. His case against the federal government famously landed in the Supreme Court. Now, with the recent decision on Trump's travel ban, Karen sees how one injustice has been replaced with another.

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I Was Detained in a U.S. Internment Camp. Here's Why America's Current Tragedies Have the Same Causes
Norman Y. Mineta served as a cabinet member under George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He and his family were also incarcerated during World War II -- and today, Trump's policies and rhetoric eerily echoes the political climate of Mineta's childhood.

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Ours is a History of Resistance
Karin Wang, Executive Director of the public interest law program at UCLA, on Asian immigrants challenging racism and changing American history through court cases.

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Just stop with the slanted-eye racist gestures
SIGH. After South Korea's 2-0 World Cup victory over Germany, racism and insensitivity once again.

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I Found My Birth Mother. It Didn't Rock My Life -- And That's OK
There's seemed to be an uptick in international adoptees searching for their biological parents. Amy Westerman was one of them -- traveling to the Philippines to meet her birth mother.

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Mission Accomplished
In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger stunned the nation when it broke apart 73 seconds into flight. This is the story of the soccer ball that survived -- and the family that sent it into space, twice.

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How The Instant Pot Became A New Immigrant Classic
The creator wanted to facilitate a comfort dish for each of the newest clans in North America: porridge for the Chinese, dal for Indians, beans for Latinos.

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A Day In The Life Of The San Gabriel Valley's Hardest Working Dim Sum Makers
Kenny Chen gives a behind-the-scenes look into NBC Seafood, a well-oiled machine that churns out hundreds of delicious morsels of dim sum staples every day.

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'Seven Seconds' Creator Veena Sud On How Lack Of Asian American Representation Influenced Her Career
Veena Sud, creator of the Netflix series Seven Seconds and AMC's The Killing, vows to make sure more stories from marginalized communities make it to the screen.

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Treya Lam and the Shape of a Person
An in-depth profile of Grammy Award winning musician Treya Lam.

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BD Wong Doesn't Want Fame -- He Wants Success
The 57-year-old actor is the most enduring character of Jurassic World, and an off-Broadway legend. So when is he going to be front and center?