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A photographer's journey to reconnect with his Chinese American identity
"These images tell the story of not only those who were brave enough to build new lives in America but the story of the generations that came after; how they persisted with their dreams and fought for their culture to exist in a society that wasn't welcoming."

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What Corky Lee Taught Me
Photographer An Rong Xu pays tribute to Corky, who passed away in January last year. For decades, Lee worked to not only document the day-to-day lives of Asian Americans, but also to correct American history that left out Asian Americans.

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A Genocide Left Their Families In A Cycle Of Trauma. Now, A Generation Of Cambodian Americans is Finding A Path Toward Healing.
Immigrating to the U.S. meant pushing aside the pain caused by Khmer Rouge atrocities. For those who grew up in the aftermath, moving forward means working with their elders to process damaging memories.

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How a Family Fruit Stand Became Northern California's Best-Kept Pie Secret
After 70 years, the family-run market and destination pie stop Ikeda's maintains its charm off I-80.

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The Ballad Of Chol Soo Lee: How Asian Americans United To Free A Man Wrongly Convicted Of Murder
Chol Soo Lee seemed an unlikely candidate to inspire a movement, but that's what happened when he was wrongly convicted of a San Francisco gangland murder in 1974.

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Asians in Hollywood Are Finally Showing Their True Selves, Flaws and All
"The power of Everything Everywhere All At Once lies in its comfort of not performatively overcorrecting for the non-Asian audience. An Asian film need not get upon stilts to drive the point home that 'these are not your typical Asians.' We've already passed the audition. The characters should simply be because there is room for everyone."

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'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Star Christina Chong Discusses Her Heartbreaking Childhood Connection to La'an Noonien-Singh
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds star Christina Chong discusses turning pain into strength and using all those emotions to better capture and understand the complexities of her character.

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Remembering a Victim of an Anti-Asian Attack, a Hundred and Fifty Years Later
Gene Tong, a popular herbal-medicine doctor in Los Angeles, was hanged by a mob during one of the worst mass lynchings in American history.

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James Hong Really Is Everything, Everywhere, All at Once
The 93-year-old vet has more than 450 credits under his belt -- and, as of this week, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Smuggled, Heartbroken and Triumphant: How 3 Comics Tell the Immigrant Story
The profound and painful tribulations of the Asian American journey are centered in Asian American Eyz'd: An Immigrant Comedy Special — a film project by Ana Tuazon Parsons, Nicky Endres and Aidan Park.

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How TikTok's king of poses teaches his 4 million followers to take better photos
Photographer David Suh teaches his 4 million TikTok followers how to pose with confidence.

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In their search for love, South Asians swipe right on dating apps catered for them
Mirchi is among the growing world of dating apps created by and catering to South Asians.

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Ellen Pao on What Asian American Women Need from Workplaces
TIME talked to four Asian American women who have built successful careers within their own industries while advocating alongside other AAPI professionals to build better workplaces for their communities.

James Hong: The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Finally! After seven decades in show business with over 600 film and television roles to his name -- perhaps the most credited Hollywood actor in history -- legendary actor James Hong is being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At 93 years old, he is the oldest actor yet to receive this distinction.

Most recently, you may have seen him playing Michelle Yeoh's father in Daniels' genre-bending multiverse epic Everything Everywhere All at Once. Here's a featurette from A24 with his cast mates including Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, talking about Hong and his pioneering career:

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The term 'Asian American' has a radical history
"Asian American" is a term that is both ambitious and contentious, depending on who you ask... There are significant limitations to a single category that encompasses such a vast and diverse population. But despite its imperfect nature, scholars of Asian American history say that the term's origins suggest that it has immense potential, too.

* * * More people now incorrectly blame Asian Americans for Covid than at height of pandemic
A new report finds that the percentage of Americans who say Asian Americans are responsible for Covid-19 nearly doubled from 2021 to 2022.

* * * Horrified by the surge of anti-Asian violence, she's giving her community tools to protect themselves
Medical studnet Michelle Tran was horrified by the spike in anti-Asian violence and wanted to do something to help her community. She co-founded Soar Over Hate, a nonprofit that works to support and protect AAPI communities in New York and San Francisco.

* * * A Story of Succession on a New Jersey Farm, in 'Seasons'
Nevia No's mother, who emigrated from what is now North Korea, was embarrassed of her chosen profession as a farmer; in turn, Gabriella Canal and Michael Fearon's documentary about Bodhitree Farm focusses on Nevia’s desire to pass on her work to her own daughter.

* * * Some of the Most Influential Asian American Literature of All Time
"This post was originally going to be called 'The Most Influential Asian American Literature of All Time' but who on earth could write that post?"

* * * From ‘Turning Red’ to ‘Everything Everywhere,’ the Asian (North) American mom goes mainstream
Imperfect, complex Asian American moms are the center of many recent mainstream narratives.

* * * Wayne Wang Still Isn't Satisfied
On the 40th anniversary of his breakthrough drama, Chan Is Missing, director Wayne Wang says a new generation of Asian American filmmakers must make more challenging work.

* * * Memories of a Vibrant Moment in Asian American Cinema
"To understand our contemporary moment, we must look back at the 1980s and ’90s, when cultural media organizations and film festivals that supported Asian American filmmakers robustly programmed a diversity of aesthetic approaches."

* * * Young Hollywood Was Asian
The playboys, half-castes, outsiders, and sirens who made motion pictures.

* * * 'Fresh Off the Boat' Was Just the Start
Though Fresh Off the Boat has ended, executive producers Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar are continuing to lead TV’s expansion in Asian American and Pacific Islander representation.

'Quantum Leap' Reboot Starring Raymond Lee is a Go

NBC picks up reboot of popular 1990s sci-fi time travel drama.



NBC has given a series order to Quantum Leap, a reboot of the popular 1990s sci-fi time travel drama. A Quantum Leap reboot was inevitable. What was not inevitable, but is awesome: it stars Raymond Lee.

The original series starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Backett, a scientist who finds himself trapped in the past, "leaping" into the bodies of different people on a regular basis and sorting out their problems whilst trying to get back to his own time. The show ran for five seasons and actually ended with Sam never returning home.

The reboot is set in present time. It's been 30 years since Sam stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now a new team has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it.

It was previously reported that Lee will play Ben Seong, who is described as both a scientist and man of faith. He's a world-renowned physicist working on the Quantum Leap time travel project. Other cast members include Caitlin Bassett, Ernie Hudson, Mason Alexander Park and Nanrisa Lee.

I was such a huge fan of the original show, so I welcome this reboot. But the fact that Quantum Leap will star an Asian American lead is kind of mind-blowing. Hell yeah, Raymond Lee. Count me in.

More here: ‘Quantum Leap’ Reboot Picked Up To Series By NBC

Call For Submissions: AAPI Poetry Anthology

Upcoming anthology of AAPI spoken word, slam, and poetry of oral traditions to be published in 2024.



Attention, poets! Haymarket Books invites Asian American and Pacific Islander poets, spoken word poets, slam poets, and poets who consider themselves part of various oral traditions to submit their work for an anthology of AAPI spoken word, slam, and poetry of oral traditions to be published in 2024.

This anthology (title pending) seeks to celebrate poetry from the space where Asia, the Pacific, and “America” meet. This project seeks to interrogate what we mean when we say “AAPI poetry,” lean into the complexities of solidarity-building, and highlight what connects our stories. Gathering prominent spoken word artists of the 80s and 90s with contemporary voices in literary publishing, this collection makes a case for the importance of the oral tradition in accountings of Asian/Pacific American literary histories and futures. We seek an aesthetically, demographically, and politically diverse range of poetic work, with an ultimate commitment to fighting—and imagining beyond—imperialism across our diasporas. The editorial team of this anthology are Franny Choi, Terisa Siagatonu, No'u Revilla, and Bao Phi.

You can submit up to three poems for consideration. The deadline is July 1, 2022. For further information, go here: OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

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Column: What we got wrong about Black and Korean communities after the L.A. riots
"Korean immigrants left their homeland trying to achieve it, and many lost their belief in it after the riots. But was the American dream ever real if Black people never had equal access to it?"

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Op-Ed: For my Korean-Black family, the aftermath of the L.A. riots cut deep
Helena Ku Rhee remembers her cousin Louise and the rift that the L.A. uprisings caused within her family.

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Charges of racism and red-baiting in race for congressional seat created to elevate Asian Americans A new Southern California congressional district was created expressly to empower Asian Americans. But the race to represent the district has turned into a mud-slinging battle rife with accusations of racism, sexism and red-baiting between two Asian American candidates.

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Can Nail Techs Win Better Working Conditions?
They hope legislation will establish standards for safety and determine wages and benefits.

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I Made My Mom See "Everything Everywhere All At Once" And We Both Cried
After Scaachi Koul made her mom watch the film, she prodded her to discuss intergenerational trauma.

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The Guardian of Bruce Lee's Legacy
Jeff Chin has dedicated his life to promoting the martial arts legend’s philosophy of pride and self-love.

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What do Olivia Rodrigo, Saweetie, H.E.R., Bruno Mars, Elle King and Remy Martin have in common? Me.
"Filipino Americans are not easily categorized. But we still need to see our dreams being lived by people who share our heritage."

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How the AAPI Community Is Redefining the Humble Fortune Cookie Fortune cookie makers have turned the confection into a medium for social activism.