Justin Chon is back to break your heart with 'Ms. Purple'

Watch the new trailer for the Sundance sibling drama.



Justin Chon does it again. The writer/director/actor continues to make his mark as an auteur with his latest feature Ms. Purple, the follow-up to his critically acclaimed Gook and the second installment of a family drama trilogy. Ms. Purple, which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, hits theaters this fall.

The films tells the story of siblings Kasie and Carey, who were raised and are now seemingly stuck in Koreatown, Los Angeles. Abandoned by their mother and brought up by their father, the siblings continue to struggle with deep emotional wounds from the difficulty of the parental dynamic. Now, with their father on his death bed, the estranged Carey comes home to help Kasie care for him. As they reunite over their dying father, Kasie and Carey confront their shared past, attempting to mend their relationship.

The new trailer offers your first look at the film:

Korean American adoptee faces unjust deportation

Guest Post by Jenny Wills



Earlier this week, an immigration judge ruled that Korean American adoptee, Adam Crapser, will not be granted relief from pending deportation to South Korea. Crapser, who is married and has three small children, was adopted by an American couple at the age of three and is alienated from his birth country and culture.

According to the Associated Press, Crapser survived years of childhood abuse and neglect. Seven years after he and his older sister were brought to the U.S. as transnational adoptees, their adoptive parents relinquished them, leaving them vulnerable to a foster care system that immediately separated the siblings.

While under the guardianship of Thomas and Dolly Crapser, the couple was arrested on charges of physical child abuse, sexual abuse, and rape. Although both denied the charges, Thomas Crapser served ninety days in jail; Dolly Crapser received three years of probation. One of the events that led to Adam Crapser being threatened with deportation was an arrest when he broke into the Crapsers' home to retrieve the few items that came with him from the Korean orphanage: a pair of shoes and a Korean bible.

Korean American Parents Stand Up for Their LGBTQ Children

Guest post by Clara Yoon, A Mom from Korean American Rainbow Parents (KARP)


As I help plan the first-ever Korean American LGBTQ Seminar for family members, allies and the broader immigrant community, I cannot help but wonder: which moment was it that enabled me to become the loud and proud mother of a bisexual, transgender son that I am today?

Was it when my child, at the tender age of fourteen, declared in an angry burst that he was a boy? In that moment, my husband and I felt confused, afraid and angry.

Was it when I started frantically searching for words to describe LGBTQ terminology in Korean so that I could talk to extended family about my son's new name and gender pronouns? I remember feeling frustrated and depressed about the lack of resources available.

Was it when I discovered the Dari Project's bilingual anthology of LGBTQ stories, giving me a glimpse of the barriers that Korean American LGBTQ people face in their everyday lives?

Was it when I felt heartbroken to hear of LGBTQ youths in Korea who run away from their abusive homes and schools, and of the struggles to build safe spaces to house and protect them?

Was it when I met Joanne Lee, a Korean American mom from Madison who lost her 16-year-old transgender son to depression? After her son Skylar's death, Joanne started touring U.S. cities to share his story and speak about the importance of family acceptance.

Was it when I started sobbing uncontrollably on the bus back home from Philadelphia, where I had spent a beautiful weekend with my son attending the Trans Health Conference? I had just read his Facebook post on the Orlando tragedy. He spoke of how, for the first time in his life, he felt afraid. Even so, he vowed to fight back as part of the queer community. I felt helpless as a parent, because I fully realized in that moment that I couldn't always protect my son, and that this world is still not safe for him and others in the LGBTQ community.

Throwback comedy 'Seoul Searching' hits theaters in June

Benson Lee's coming-of-age comedy opens in New York City on June 17 and Los Angeles on June 24.



At long last, after crowd-pleasing hit festival run -- including a world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival -- the indie coming-of-age comedy Seoul Searching hits theaters in limited release next month.

Based on writer/director Benson Lee's own experiences as a teenager, Seoul Searching tells the story of a group of teens from all over the world who converge in Seoul during the summer of 1986 to participate in a government-sponsored program to help them connect with their heritage.

Starring an international all-Asian cast of fresh faces and seasoned performers, the film pays homage to the classic John Hughes dramedies of the eighties, while putting a fresh Asian American spin on the genre with nostalgia, hilarity and heart. This is the movie my generation wished we could have seen while growing up.

Here's the recently released theatrical trailer on iTunes:

Susan Ahn Cuddy, First Asian American Woman in U.S. Navy, Dies at 100

Pioneering Korean American servicewoman dedicated her life to family and country.



A pioneer has passed. Susan Ahn Cuddy, the first female gunnery officer in the United States Navy and the first Korean American to serve in U.S. Naval Intelligence, died Wednesday. She was 100 years old.

'Living Legend' Susan Ahn Cuddy Passes Away at 100

Born in Los Angeles in 1915, Cuddy was the eldest daughter of Korean independence activist Ahn Chang-ho and his wife Helen Ahn, who were among the earliest Korean immigrants to arrive in America.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Cuddy enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces in 1942, becoming the first Asian American woman in the U.S. Navy. She served until 1946, reaching the rank of lieutenant, and went on to work for U.S. Navy Intelligence, the Library of Congress and the National Security Agency, before retiring in 1959.

According to her son Philip Cuddy, she passed away peacefully at her home in Northridge, California.

More on her pioneering life and career, from her bio:

Video shows McDonald's employee attacking customer

Korean American community groups are calling for a boycott of the restaurant.



In New York, several Korean American community organizations are calling for a boycott of a McDonald's restaurant in Queens after an employee was caught on video hitting a Korean patron with a broomstick, and allegedly refusing service and shouting, "We don't serve coffee to people like you!"

Korean-Americans Seek Boycott After an Attack in a McDonald's in Queens

The incident occurred last February at the McDonald's location on Main Street in Flushing. The customer, 62-year-old James Jin Kim claimed that the employee, Rooshi Sajjad, attacked him after he complained about the slow pace of service. In response, the employee yelled at Mr. Kim, and told him "Get out of my restaurant!" When Mr. Kim began recording video on his phone, Sajjad attacked him with a broom handle.

The restaurant's security cameras caught the incident on video:

Fund This: 'Spa Night' - A Korean American Film about coming out

A closeted teenager follows his desires and finds more than he bargains for at the Korean spa.



Here's a cool feature film project that's asking for some crowdfunding support... Writer/director Andrew Ahn's Spa Night is a indie coming-of-age drama about a closeted Korean American teenager who follows his desires and finds more than he bargains for at the Korean spa. The film's Kickstarter campaign is winding down and they're making a final push for help from the community to make it happen.

Here's a video of Andrew explaining a little background on the film:

Peace brokered between McDonald's and Elderly Koreans

Flushing restaurant reaches agreement limiting number of hours customers can sit



It seems a little silly that a congresswoman and state legislators had to get involved to settle the much-publicized dispute between a McDonald's location in Queens and a group of elderly Korean patrons who refused to leave in a timely fashion. But that's what it took. They've apparently made peace.

Elderly Patrons End Dispute With a McDonald's in Queens

The Flushing fast food restaurant has become a regular gathering place for local Korean seniors who take up seats and stay for hours, much to the management's dismay. The situation has escalated in recent months, and police have actually been called in to remove customers. And now the community has gotten involved.

But it seems they've reached an agreement. Management has agreed to ease the 20-minute seating limit during off-peak hours and post signs stating the policy in Korean and Mandarin. In turn, the seniors will give up their seats during the busy hours if other diners are looking for a place to sit. Boycott averted.

McDonald's versus the Elderly Sitting Koreans

Flushing McDonald's is the happening hot spot for Korean seniors, much to restaurant's dismay



A McDonald's in Queens has become the unlikely site of a cranky conflict between the fast food restaurant and a group of elderly Korean patrons. The McDonald's, located in Flushing, says the group drives away business by sitting for hours. Seems like a silly thing to quarrel about, but the New York Times has taken notice:

Fighting a McDonald’s in Queens for the Right to Sit. And Sit. And Sit.

Whether the restaurant likes it or not, that McDonald's location has become a regular gathering place for local Korean seniors -- and a growing problem for the restaurant, which says the patrons who colonize the seats on a daily basis are quashing business, taking up tables for hours. The group, however, says they are paying customers who are entitled to take their time.

The situation has reportedly escalated in recent months. Harsh words exchanged, coffee spilled, and cops called to the scene. Doesn't this McDonald's know that you don't mess with elderly Koreans?

Fund This: An adoptee reunites with his birth family in aka Dan

Dan Matthews, a Korean American adoptee, meets his birth family -- and his twin brother -- for the first time.



If you read his awesome guest post from a couple of weeks ago, you know that my good friend Dan Matthews, a musician and generally cool guy, has been in Korea this summer on the journey of his life.

Dan, a Korean American adoptee who grew up in California, recently went on a search for this birth parents... and found them. He not only has a biological family in South Korea, where he traveled to meet them for the first time, Dan also has a twin brother. Whaaaaat. Needless to say, this has been an identity-altering trip.

And the cameras have been rolling. aka Dan is a documentary project following Dan's journey to Korea for the International Korean Adoptee Association, performing his first live concert in Korea, and of course, his reunion with his birth family. The project will also include a full-length music album inspired by his experiences.

Here's Dan in a nationally-televised interview for Korea's Arirang Today:

Casting Call: Korean American indie film Seoul Searching

Spreading the word about the upcoming feature film project Seoul Searching, from writer/director Benson Lee, the filmmaker behind the documentary Planet B-Boy and the soon-to-be-released Battle of the Year. His latest film is an 1980s-era Korean American teenage coming-of-age story based on his own experiences, and he's on a mission to cast actors through Facebook. Here's Benson with an introduction to the project:

fund this: the dari project

The Dari Project is an all-volunteer, grassroots effort to develop resources to increase awareness and acceptance in Korean American communities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people of Korean descent.

They're currently fundraising to publish the first collection of personal narratives of LGBTQ Koreans as a bilingual resource for LGBTQ Koreans and their friends and families. To make this happen, they need community support.

Here's some more information on the project:

Obama nominates Judge Lucy Koh to federal bench

If confirmed, Koh would become the first Korean American federal court judge in the country.

On Wednesday, President Obama nominated Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Lucy H. Koh for a federal judgeship in California's Northern District Court. If confirmed, she would become the first Korean American federal court judge in the country.

Obama nominates Santa Clara County Judge Lucy Koh to federal bench.

Although relatively new to the state court bench, Koh has an extensive background in federal practice as a lawyer, working as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and Washington. She also was a partner at the McDermott, Will and Emery law firm in Palo Alto, representing technology companies in patent, trade secret and commercial civil cases.

Before her state court appointment, Koh was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California from 1997 to 2000. Previously, she served as special assistant to the U.S. deputy attorney general in Washington, D.C., and special counsel for the U.S.