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Damn. I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.



All right, I'm back. Sort of. I took a much-needed break last week to get a breath of fresh air and recharge the batteries. Good stuff. I'm going to be honest: I was not quite ready to return. But it's time to fire up the laptop and get back to the sweaty business of blogging. Many things happened while I was away. I hope you'll pardon me as I shake off the vacation brain, sift through a truckload of emails and get back up to speed.

While I was away, I asked a bunch of folks to contribute guest posts to keep things going around here. Huge thank you to everyone who hooked it up during my break. Here's a roundup of everybody's contributions:

AMC's Into the Badlands: The Time is Now

Guest Post by Keith Chow



I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from Keith Chow, cross-posted from The Nerds of Color.

As we near the end of 2015, one thing is for sure: it's a great time to be an Asian American television consumer. For the first time in history, you'll need two hands to count the number of major television programs to feature Asian American leads! On ABC alone, you have shows like Fresh of the Boat, Dr. Ken, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Quantico.

This Sunday night, the biggest network of them all -- AMC -- throws its hat into the ring with Into the Badlands, a dystopian martial arts drama starring Daniel Wu. And I can safely say the show is unlike anything you've ever seen before.

Asian Humans of New York

Guest Post by Minh-Ha T. Pham



I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from Minh-Ha T. Pham, author of 'Asians Wear Clothes on the Internet: Race, Gender, and the Work of Personal Style Bloggin.'

My guest post pays tribute to New York City, with a special focus on my home borough of Brooklyn. In it, I spotlight Asian New Yorkers in the fields of fashion, food, and photography. Here are their stories, told mostly in their own words. (All photos are used with permission and courtesy of the featured individuals unless otherwise noted.)

6 Years, 6 Lessons (and 1 to Grow On): Opening Federal Government's Doors to the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community

Guest Post by Kiran Ahuja, Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (2009-2015)


Photo credit: Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from Kiran Ahuja, exiting Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as the Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), housed within the Department of Education, for the past six years. The Initiative is working to improve the quality of life and opportunities for AAPIs through increased access to, and participation in, federal programs in which they may be underserved. During my time, I learned a lot, so I wanted to take the opportunity to share with you some of my big takeaways – so here are the Top 6 Lessons (and 1 to grow on) learned as Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

A Comics Artist Shamelessly Plugs Some of Her Amazingly Talented Asian American Friends and Colleagues

Guest Post by Wendy Xu



I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from comics artist Wendy Xu.

Wendy here. I'm a comics artist. I'm currently working on a webcomic (more on that later), and my recent projects include pencils in a comic displayed as part of the New York Historical Society's Chinese in America exhibit, as well as had a short comic in Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology. I've also printed and sold my short witch comics at indie cons like MOCCA and SPX.

I was drawing one night when I got an email from Phil inviting me to write a guest post for Angry Asian Man. Since comics and graphic novels dominate my entire life, from my day job to what I do off-hours, this is -- you guessed it -- about comics. Mostly, I wanted to use the opportunity to showcase and shamelessly plug some of my amazingly talented Asian American friends and colleagues, all of them up-and-comers in the comics industry who undoubtedly have long and illustrious careers ahead of them.

I once heard Marvel talent Alitha Martinez say at a panel, "To be in this industry, you have to be good. You have to be very, very good, because at least hundreds of other people want to be doing what you're doing." Outside of the Big Two of Marvel and DC, there are many other artists in the independent comics world creating, publishing and selling their own stories -- and they are all, indeed, very, very good. Editors and new readers, pay attention!

Featured in this interview are: Trung Nguyen, Shivana Sookdeo, Alice Meichi Li and Arielle Jovellanos.

The Final Frontier: Captain Demora Sulu

Guest Post by Sarah Kuhn



I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's Sarah Kuhn on her favorite Star Trek hero.

The announcement came down earlier this month: there's a new Star Trek series in the works. Geek Twitter lit up with an avalanche of conflicting thoughts and feelings, "Hooray!" mingling with "How dare they?!" and "Also, what the fuck is CBS All Access?"

I only had one thought and it was immediate, specific, and all-consuming: How can we get Demora Sulu to be captain of the Enterprise?

Why are Asians so rare on Shonda Rhimes' hit TV shows?

Guest Post by Gil Asakawa



I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's Gil Asakawa (who watches a lot of television).

My wife Erin and I love junk-food TV. From The Blacklist and Blindspot to Grimm and Castle, we turn into small-screen zombies at night, depending on our DVR to serve up our shows. But there's one junk-food TV brand that we've decided to strike from out diet, and delete from our DVR.

After years of devouring the medical soap series Grey's Anatomy, a couple of seasons of the media-political soap Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, the most recent ABC hit series written and produced by Shonda Rhimes, we've gone cold turkey on her shows.

Here's why: Rhimes is a terrific storyteller, and pioneering producer who casts African Americans in prominent or starring roles in her series. But except for Sandra Oh's keystone character, the irascible but brilliant surgeon Cristina Yang, Asians are either non-existent or generally fringe-ified. It's almost as if with Oh's departure from Shondaland (Rhimes' production company and the realm where all these shows dwell), the box for Asian stars was checked off: "Done."

Top Five Reasons Why Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders Should Support Affirmative Action

Guest Post by Nicole Ochi, Supervising Attorney, Advancing Justice - LA


I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from Nicole Ochi, Supervising Attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles.

Last week, in partnership with more than 160 Asian American and and Pacific Islander organizations, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (Advancing Justice) and Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), filed an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of University of Texas Austin’s ("UT-Austin") race conscious admissions policy. So, why did more than 160 AAPI-serving organizations, from large, pan-Asian national organizations and professional associations, to student and grassroots groups serving Arab, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities stand together to tell the nation’s highest court that it should uphold UT-Austin’s race conscious admissions policy for a second time?

Here are the top 5 reasons:

Turning the Big 1-2: Behind the Scenes of 'Fresh Off The Boat'

Guest Post by Hudson Yang


Eddie has cool T-shirts, but I have cool T-shirts too.
I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from Hudson Yang, star of ABC's Fresh Off The Boat.

So this week's episode of Fresh Off The Boat, "The Big One-Two," was about Eddie turning 12, and actually I turned 12 a few weeks ago too.

I don't feel that different as a 12 year old than I did as an 11 year old. I do get more privileges. My dad lets me sit up front in the car sometimes. And I'm treated differently, beause I'm older and I can't get away with being irresponsible all the time. I have to help with the dishes and laundry, and I have to take care of my seven-year-old brother Skyler more. And I have to watch how I act around him, because I see that he's watching what I do all the time, and I want him to have a good role model.

My Favorite Asian American Photographers

Guest Post by An Rong Xu


I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from photographer and filmmaker An Rong Xu.

Hi all, this is An Rong Xu, I'm a photographer, and film maker based in New York City. I'm a big believer in sharing, so I'm going to share with you, a few of my favorite Asian American Photographers, as well as why I love them.

Full disclosure: a few of them are good friends of mine. Also, these are my own views and opinions, so if you have any questions, comments, or want to tell me about the next great talent, holla at your boy.

Conversations with My Parents in <Chinese> & English

Guest Post by Connie Sun



I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's a comic strip from Connie Sun.

There is nothing more central to my Asian-American identity than trying to hold on to enough Chinese to communicate with my immigrant parents.

Is Glenn Rhee the Most Beloved Asian American Male in the U.S.?

Guest Post by Ken Fong


I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from Ken Fong.

Spoiler alert: If you haven't kept up with The Walking Dead, don't read any farther.

A little more than three weeks ago, multitudes of fans of this hit show on AMC exploded with a collective shriek of disbelief that no doubt attracted multitudes of unwanted zombies to wherever they were watching when actor Steven Yeun's character Glenn Rhee was killed by hordes of the now-infamous reanimated corpses.

For those of us who hadn't read the graphic novel before the show aired, we were de-lighted when, during Episode 1 of Season 1, it turned out that the voice on the radio that guided Sheriff Rick to safety from the "walkers" surrounding the tank belonged to an Asian American character, Glenn Rhee. Even though I was creeped out by the horrific hordes of undead, I was immediately hooked on one of the few current TV shows that featured an Asian American in a heroic-without-being-a-badass-martial-artist role.

The Folks Behind 'Off the Menu: Asian America' Share Their Favorite Food Stories

Guest Post by Momo Chang



I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's Momo Chang of the Center for Asian American Media.

Hello, my name is Momo Chang, and I’m the Content Manager at the Center for Asian American Media, and a freelance journalist. CAAM is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian Americans by funding, producing, distributing and exhibiting works in film, TV and digital media. As part of my job, I’ve had the great fortune to work on a multimedia food project entitled Off the Menu: Asian America, a companion website of food stories, essays and recipes to support the film by the same name.

Off the Menu: Asian America is a PBS documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Grace Lee, which premieres nationally on Monday, December 8, 2015 (check local listings). Co-produced by CAAM and KQED, Off the Menu is a road trip into the kitchens, factories, temples and farms of Asian Pacific America that explores how our relationship to food reflects our evolving community. To celebrate the release of the film, we’re also holding an #OfftheMenuAsianAmerica recipe contest.

I asked some of the filmmakers of Off the Menu: Asian America and some of the talented folks who contributed their personal essays, photos, artwork, recipes and articles to the website, about their favorite foods or food moments with the Angry Asian Man blog. Here’s what they said:

The Real Yi-Fen Chou: What a Fake Asian Poet Taught Us about Actual Asian Poets

Guest Post by Timothy Yu


I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from Professor Timothy Yu.

The message landed in my inbox late on a weekend night: Have you seen this? Attached was a link to a contributor's note to The Best American Poetry 2015, an anthology edited annually by a different well-known poet. The bio was for a poet named Yi-Fen Chou, one of 75 included in this year's anthology. But Yi-Fen Chou was not Yi-Fen Chou at all:

Trumping anchor babies and birth tourists

Guest Post by Vincent Pham



I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from Professor Vincent Pham.

In August 2013, Donald Trump jumped into the political scene, spouting China's destruction of the U.S. economy and his distrust of President Obama's claims to legitimate birthright citizenship. The general public and mainstream media counted him out as crazy, figuring such comments would make him a long shot at being a legitimate presidential candidate. Yet, in 2015, we have him hosting Saturday Night Live and near the top of the Republican polls. He's still bashing China and now he's talking about anchor babies and birth tourism.

Seriously, what is going on here? And why should us readers of Angry Asian Man care?

Our Time Now: An Asian American Actor's Journey to Broadway

Guest Post by Greg Watanabe

Greg Watanabe in 'Allegiance'
I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from actor Greg Watanabe.

As I type this, I'm sitting backstage at the Longacre Theatre on a break before tonight's preview of Allegiance. We open on the 8th, which may have passed by the time this is posted.

To get an idea of what being in this show means to me, you have to understand a little of my background.

Protect L.A.'s Koreatown

Guest Post by tk lê



I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's one from tk lê, Angry Asian Intern.

I love Koreatown. From Far East Movement to Parker (aka Dumbfoundead) to Roy Choi and the entire cast of Ktown -- as many before me have said and shown, the neighborhood is filled with small businesses to satiate practically any of my child-of-immigrant cravings, and at any time of the day. The local mail store that opens before the post office does, the bar down the street that lets me bring my own mixers, and the endless fried and spicy things to cure all that ails me... Yes, I love Ktown for all these things.

I also love the community here. As one of the densest populations in all of Los Angeles, Ktown is filled with people. Workers who catch the bus before sunrise, God-fearers who worship with megaphones, gardeners who harvest fresh vegetables between brick and concrete. People -- mostly working class people of color -- exist here, they live and they thrive and they struggle. They play and they work and they party.

Ktown is not, as a developer named Mike Hakim has said, a community full of "rapists" and "pedophiles." (This is on public record. Go to the 11-minute mark.)

1984: When death paid me a visit

Guest Post by Vishavjit Singh


I'm on vacation! This week, I'm taking a much-needed break to recharge the batteries and get a change of scenery. To keep things going around here, I've enlisted the help of several friends of the blog to submit guest posts on various topics of their choosing. Here's cartoonist Vishavjit Singh.

"To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth." - Voltaire

Death is one of the few constants in life. It waits for every one of us. We find ways to ignore it, battle it, make attempts to prolong its arrival but come it does. We grudgingly accept its inevitability but there are times that death makes it appearance in ways for us to hold its couriers in contempt. Times when a few of our species sink into the depths of darkness to orchestrate, execute plans of the most sinister kind to snatch innocent lives. This death haunts us with its memories long after its departure.

Death of this kind paid a visit thirty-one years ago in the first few days of November to my family home. I was far away from Washington DC, the city of my birth residing with my family in a two bedroom apartment in one of oldest capitals in the world, Delhi in India.

Angry Asian Vacation

Excuse me as I take a little break from the sweaty business of blogging.



Aloha! I am out of here. I've packed my bags and skipped town for a much-needed vacation. Excuse me as I take a little break from the sweaty business of blogging. No computer-ing! I'll be sipping drinks by the pool, reading a book and/or watching the crap out of Aziz Ansari's Master of None on Netflix.

But don't worry! Things will keep going around here. There will still be updated content. I've enlisted the help of a bunch of smart friends who will be contributing guests posts on various topics while I'm away. I've got you covered. Enjoy their posts, be good to one another and I'll see you when I get back.

Stay Angry.