College Administrator Placed on Leave for Defacing Mural

Things to Know From Angry Asian America


Bellevue College administrator placed on leave for altering display on Japanese American incarceration
A Bellevue College vice president has been placed on administrative leave for altering a mural of two Japanese American children in a World War II incarceration camp by removing a reference to anti-Japanese agitation by Eastside businessmen. Gayle Colston Barge, vice president of institutional advancement, is on paid administrative leave "as a result of her actions, and while we process the impact of this incident on our community," according to a statement from Bellevue's president.

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Coronavirus is coming to get these little white kids.
Coronavirus rumors lead some parents to keep kids home from school
In Southern California, freaked out parents at a Newport Beach elementary school are reportedly keeping their children home amid demands that the school district examine new transfer students for coronavirus infection. A rumor has apparently spread among parents that several new students -- possibly from foreign countries affected by the contagion -- are on their way to Newport Coast Elementary. Cue the pandemic panic.

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Cambodian refugee deported 2 years ago returns to US
A Cambodian refugee who says he was wrongly deported nearly two years ago was reunited with his family in Massachusetts last week, becoming the fourth such refugee -- and first on the East Coast -- to be allowed back into the country since the Trump administration stepped up deportations of Southeast Asians.

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Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend: Ali Wong
Ali Wong feels very new about being Conan O'Brien's friend. The Baby Cobra comedian joins Conan on his podcast to talk about her father's love of pajama pants, why travel is the hardest part of stand-up, the mysterious metrics of Netflix, and maintaining her strong sense of Asian American identity.

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Quibi Sets "Woke" Japanese Game Show 'Let's Go Atsuko!'
Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka, one of the funniest people I know, is bringing her twerk-friendly comedy to Quibi with her woke Japanese game show appropriately titled Let's Go Atsuko! In the new series, Game master Okatsuka will lead two civilian contestants through the surreal universe inside her grandma's fridge. In every episode, each contestant -- perhaps unwisely -- will tell Okatsuka one thing they love and one thing they fear. These facts can and will be used against them to create tailor-made challenges that test the players' "street smarts." I guess I need to figure out what Quibi is.

The Creator of the Famous 'Konami Code' Has Died

Things to Know From Angry Asian America



Kazuhisa Hashimoto, creator of the famous ‘Konami Code,’ has died
Up. Up. Down. Down. Left. Right. Left. Right. B. A. Start. It’s the most famous sequence of button pushes in video game history, and its creator, Kazuhisa Hashimoto, has died. He was reportedly 61.

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Elderly Man Robbed Of Recycling In SF's Bayview-Hunters Point Identified
Police in San Francisco announced that investigators have identified the man who was threatened and attacked over the weekend as he was robbed of recycling he had collected in Bayview-Hunters Point.

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Bellevue College apologizes after administrator alters mural depicting Japanese American internment
Bellevue College has apologized after one of its vice presidents altered a mural of two Japanese American children in a World War II incarceration camp by whiting out a reference to anti-Japanese agitation by local businessmen in the accompanying artist description. Created by Seattle artist Erin Shigaki, the art installation "Never Again Is Now" includes an 11-foot-tall mural of two children photographed at a California incarceration camp. Last week, professors were notified that someone had removed one sentence in a paragraph about Japanese immigrants and their connection to Bellevue.

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Olivia Liang Cast as Lead of CW's 'Kung Fu' Reboot
Olivia Liang will star as the lead in the pilot of CW's reimagining of the 1970s TV show Kung Fu. In the new series, written by Christina M. Kim, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman, Nicky Chen, to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice -- all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

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I Will Make You Mine
Ahead of its world premiere next month at SXSW, here is the trailer for I Will Make You Mine, the directorial debut from our friend Lynn Chen. The film follows three characters: Rachel (Chen), who lives in luxury with her cheating husband; Professor Erika (Ayako Fujitani), who is trying her best to juggle her career and raising her daughter Sachiko (Ayami Riley Tomine); and struggling musician Yea-Ming Chen (who plays a version of herself). They all may have different lives, but they share one common bond: a flawed romantic history with singer-songwriter Goh Nakamura(who also plays a version of himself). As seen in the trailer above, when Goh comes back into their lives, the past comes back and makes things a tad bit complicated. The film will be released on May 26 from Gravitas Ventures.