Click Here For Rapid Response Efforts in the Twin Cities

And Other Items of Note From Angry Asian America.

AAPIs United in the Twin Cities

This newly established website was created by community volunteers and allies to provide rapid response resources in support of AAPI families and communities who have been harmed by ICE surge in Minnesota. Click through the links for various rapid response efforts underway led by -- and for -- Hmong, Southeast Asian American, and other AAPI communities in the greater Twin Cities.

St. Paul activist Thao Xiong taken by ICE

On Wednesday, immigration agents detained a volunteer food shelf delivery driver at a St. Paul community center. Over the objections of staffers and legal observers, federal agents approached, handcuffed and detained Thao Xiong in the center parking lot, where they can be seen on video forcing him into one of three black SUVs. "I showed them my documents already,” Xiong can be heard attempting to explain.

ICE is a Continuation of American History

"I’m not writing this to call anyone out or even correct anyone. This shit is incredibly bad. But I really do hope that all these people who are just now taking the red pill and seeing America for what it is will also see that it always has been this way and can join forces with us. Those people organizing in Minneapolis and St. Paul (and all the other cities brutalized by ICE) are heroes. I want those people to know they are not inventing something new. They are continuing the fight that has always existed in this country. They should be proud of that, and they should feel connected to that. The Japanese Americans could have used people like that in 1942."

Japanese American soldiers once branded ‘enemy aliens’ to be promoted posthumously

Seven Japanese American soldiers will be promoted to officer ranks in a solemn ceremony Monday, eight decades after they died fighting for the U.S. during World War II despite having been branded "enemy aliens."

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26 New Asian and Pacific Islander Books for your 2026 TBR

A helpful roundup of 26 new books by Asian and Pacific Islander authors to read in 2026.

They Call Us Los Angeles Wildfires

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. (Almost) 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.

In this episode, we welcome our friends, author/podcaster R Scott Okamoto and filmmaker/professor Renee Tajima-Pena, to share their reflections on the devastating wildfires that have ravaged parts of greater Los Angeles. Scott shares about the terrifying experience of evacuating from the approaching inferno, while Renee scrambled (and dodged road closures) to save her family's treasures and traditions. The discuss the profound loss for the history and community of Altadena and the incredible heart in Los Angeles's response to this moment.

They Call Us Bruce 233: They Call Us Asians in Baseball

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. (Almost) 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.

In this episode, we welcome Kim Cooper and Scott Okamoto, co-hosts of the podcast Asians in Baseball, just in time for spring training. They discuss the current renaissance of Asian and Asian American players in Major League Baseball; becoming a baseball fan in this extraordinary moment; Shohei Otani's ass; the Lenn Sakata Fan Club; and the unifying love of Kim Ha-Seong. Also: The Good, The Bad, and The WTF of Asians in baseball.

They Call Us Bruce 180: They Call Us Thankful 2022

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. (Almost) 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.

In this episode, we welcome some good friends from the Potluck Podcast Collective: Ada Tseng (Los Angeles Times, Saturday School), Scott Okamoto (Asians in Baseball, Chapel Probation), and Kim Cooper (Asians in Baseball, Korean Drama Podcast) to celebrate friendsgiving and play a very special Thanksgiving edition of their signature segment: Thanks, No Thanks and WTF.

Do the Eyes Have It?

Guest Post by R. Scott Okamoto



I submit this post as a reminder to myself the state of things for Asians in America. Even as we support Black Lives Matter, fight for humane treatment of immigrants, and do everything we can to help white men adjust to their shrinking dominion (no, not really), I raise my hand and ask America, "Do you see us?" I still don't think you do. Things are changing, yes. Having a couple of television shows with Asian American principal casts has felt like a revolution in mainstream America. My congressperson is Judy Chu. In so many ways, life is great and getting better. And yet...

My parents tell a story of life in Omaha, Nebraska, where my dad went to dental school in the mid-1960s. While at a gas station, they noticed a family staring at them. The mother pointed and said to her kids, "Oh, look at the cute little chinaman!" Today, I live in Pasadena, California. I play guitar in a band. I played baseball. I grew up hunting and fishing. I was an English professor for 15 years, and I was born at Fort Dix, New Jersey where my dad was a Captain serving his second stint in the army. So much Americana, it is to laugh.

A few weeks ago, as I made my way out of a crowded taco shop, an older black man made room for me, put his hands together, smiled, and bowed. It seemed a genuine gesture on his part. When I didn't return the bow because I was still trying to figure out what the hell he was doing, he just kept smiling and bowing as I exited the shop. And then I felt kind of bad for not bowing back. And then I felt kind of pissed because he saw me as a foreigner. One block from my house. In Pasadena. In 2016. I'm a 4th generation American, but it often feels like this is how people see me (thanks to my son, Ethan, for the graphics):

Angry Reader of the Week: Scott Okamoto

Hey, everybody. Gather 'round, because 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 Scott Okamoto.