Read These Blogs

Chloe Kim Is Proof There's No Definable Way To Be Asian-American
"With her blond streaks and love of tteokbokki, she's resolved the messy confusion of being a hyphenate in part by choosing not to resolve it all." Everyone's favorite golden girl, Korean-American Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, has all at once become a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

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Kim Yo Jong, Chloe Kim, and the Shifting Images of Asian and Asian American Women at the Olympics
Gold medal winning snowboarding sweetheart Chloe Kim has shown us that we might be moving beyond some of the old, tired tropes about Asian American women.

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Inside the halfpipe finals with Chloe Kim's Korean family
Nearly a decade after Chloe Kim's dad quit his job to help get her to the Olympics, he finally got to see his "American dream" win the gold medal in the snowboarding halfpipe in PyeongChang.

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I'm Korean American, And I Can't Watch The Pyeongchang Olympics
R.O. Kwon wasn't prepared for how much it would hurt to see North and South Koreans competing, together, so close to the border that keeps them apart.

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American hero Michelle Kwan still gets emotional when she looks at how far figure skating has come
Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan looks at how far figure skating more than a decade after retiring.

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'Strong' Black Woman? 'Smart' Asian Man? The Downside To Positive Stereotypes:
"Why does it hurt to say something positive? Why wouldn't you want people to think you're good at math?" Because once you buy that there's a connection between race and ability, it's a slippery slope to the bad stuff

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'You've Hijacked My Heart': Valentines That Fight Islamophobia With Humor
In these trying and Islamophobic times, it's important to maintain a good sense of humor. Tanzila "Taz" Ahmed's punny, blush-worthy Muslim Valentine's Day cards do just that.

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The Spelling Bee
When Snap Judgment producer Davey Kim was in eighth grade, he went to the regional level spelling bee with his best friend...and took R-E-V-E-N-G-E.

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The Forgotten Zine of 1960s Asian-American Radicals
For a group of leftist Asian American students at UCLA, establishing an Asian American identity took more than meetings -- it took a magazine. A look back at Gidra.

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Stories From the Margins: An Interview with Documentary Filmmaker Nanfu Wang
Documentary filmmaker Nanfu Wang's I Am Another You challenges the audience to rethink social issues such as homelessness and mental illness, as well as what personal freedom feels and looks like.

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"Saturday Night Live" Has Never Had An Asian Woman Cast Member — And That Needs To Change
In its over 40 years on air, Saturday Night Live has never had an Asian woman cast member, despite some excellent rising stars in comedy.

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Actor Douglas Kim won $2.4 million playing poker. Now he's betting on himself.
In 2006, Douglas Kim, a newly minted Duke University economics graduate, became the youngest player at 22 to earn a spot at the final table at the World Series of Poker. He won $2.4 million. Now he's using his winnings to try to beat the odds in Hollywood.

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‘Fresh Off The Boat' Kid Stars Talk Lunar New Year, Immigrant Roots
"It's a time for reflection, for thanking those who came before or who may have helped us get to where we are today," Fresh Off The Boat star Forrest Wheeler says.

Angry Reader of the Week: Derek Nguyen

"I'm an optimist at heart and a cynic in the head."



Hey, everybody! It is time, once again, 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 Derek Nguyen.

Another Parade: The Olympics and LGBTQ Asians and Pacific Islanders

Guest Post by Glenn D. Magpantay, Executive Director of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance



Sports was never my thing. In high school gym class, I would always be the last person to be picked for a team. No one wanted me. I was too fat. Too slow. And I was uncomfortable in my body. The jocks called me queer for being effeminate.

But, today, I’m captivated by the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. They show us how we can be all of who we are—that we can live our lives authentically and achieve our fullest potential in whatever we do. They also remind me that the world is still a dangerous place to be LGBTQ.

Teacher protected students during Florida school shooting

When gunfire started, Parkland math teacher Shanthi Viswanathan kept a cool head.



From the Sun-Sentinel: "Mrs. V" knew something wasn't right when the second fire alarm of the day sounded shortly before classes were to end at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High.

Rather than let her Algebra II students out, Shanthi Viswanathan made them get on the floor in the corner of the room. But first she put paper over the window in the class door so no one could see in.

Her actions probably saved her students, said Dawn Jarboe, whose son Brian was in the class.

More here: Florida school shooting: Teacher protected her kids from chaos — and from cops

Radio host fired for making lewd comments about Chloe Kim

Barstool Radio's Patrick Connor called the 17-year-old snowboarder "a little hot piece of ass."



From Yahoo! Sports: When you're a grown man and call a 17-year-old Olympic gold medalist "a little hot piece of ass," things likely won't end too well for you.

Patrick Connor has lost at least one of his jobs after making that comment about American snowboarder Chloe Kim on Tuesday, when he was on "Dialed In with Dallas Braden," a show on Barstool Radio's SiriusXM channel.

On Wednesday, San Francisco radio station KNBR, where Connor is known as "PCon," fired him.

KNBR program director Jeremiah Crowe told media outlets, "Be advised that Patrick Connor is no longer with Cumulus Media," which owns the station.

More here: Radio host fired after sexually suggestive comment about 17-year-old Chloe Kim

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 34: They Call Us Valentine's Day

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. 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.

On this Valentine's Day-themed episode, we welcome Tanzila "Taz" Ahmed -- activist, storyteller, and co-host of the #GoodMuslimBadlimPodcast. We talk about romantic comedies, Muslim Valentine's Day Cards, and that time Taz brought a fake date to an ex's wedding.

New York Times Editor Thinks American-Born Mirai Nagasu Is An Immigrant

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.



Perpetual Foreigner stereotype alert: shortly after US figure skater Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to land a triple axel in an Olympic competition, New York Times Opinion section editor Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) tweeted "Immigrants: they get the job done," a line from Hamilton.

The implication from Weiss' tweet was obvious: Nagasu should be celebrated as an American immigrant. One problem, though: Nagasu was born in Montebello, California. And yet, for Weiss, the place of Nagasu's birth doesn't seem to matter: instead, the colour of her skin appears to have marked Nagasu as foreign.

Why is it that American media personalities commenting on the Winter Olympics can never seem to remember that Asian Americans are American, too? Let's not forget the infamous headline: in 1998, MSNBC published a headline declaring that "American Beats Out Kwan," implying that US figure skater Michelle Kwan wasn't an American. Now again, a mainstream media commentator can't seem to figure out that Mirai Nagasu isn't an immigrant.

Seventeen Angry Years

Happy Angryversary.



Greetings, good readers of this website. Today is Valentine's Day, and I hope you observe or ignore it in whatever way you see fit. I just wanted to note that today, by complete coincidence, also happens to officially mark the 17th anniversary of Angry Asian Man. Seventeen! Pretty sure I did the math right.

On this day, seventeen years ago, I cranked the knob that launched the very first iteration of this blog, in all its rough, rudimentary splendor. I had no idea that it would become a "thing." I had no idea where it would take me. And I had no idea it would become my professional and personal calling. But here we are.

I do this little commemoration every year, and every year, I still shake my head and ask myself, how did I get here? The answer is you, the awesome circle of friends and followers that have rallied around this little blog, encouraged by passion and fueled this little project, day by day and post by post over the last seventeen years. This hustle is not easy, dear readers, but you've kept it going, and I'm grateful.

Welcome to The Chloe Kim Show

17-year-old snowboarder wins gold in the Olympic women's halfpipe.



As was foretold in the ancient texts, Chloe Kim fulfilled her destiny as snowboarding's golden girl, wowing the world, 1080ing into our hearts and snatching a gold medal from the sky. Everyone expected it, but still, nobody was ready. On Tuesday morning in PyeongChang, the 17-year-old snowboarder from Southern California, all smiles, won gold in the women's halfpipe. And she made it look easy.

Her first run set an extremely high bar, landing a backside air, frontside 1080, cab 720, frontside 900, McTwist and frontside inverted 720. (I have no idea what exactly these terms mean -- I just know they variously allude to awesome high-flying flippy things.) That run earned her a top score of 93.75, giving her a huge lead over the rest of the field... and eventually, the gold medal -- we just didn't quite know it yet.

Her name is Mirai Nagasu and this is her triple axel

She is the first American woman to land a triple axel at the Olympics.



See that face? That's the fierce, fiery "fuck yeah!" you get to proclaim, right there in the middle of ice, when you make history. On Sunday, figure skater Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to land a triple axel at the Olympics, helping the U.S. secure the bronze medal in team figure skating.

Nagasu, who landed the notoriously difficult jump in the first minute of her routine, joins Midori Ito and Mao Asada as the only women to ever complete the triple axel in Olympic competition. The judges rewarded her with a personal-best and season-best score of 137.53.

Read These Blogs

NBC apologizes to Koreans for Olympics coverage that praised Japan’s brutal occupation
One analyst's "incorrect and insensitive" comments on Korea and Japan during the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics has people wondering how the hell this guy got hired as an "expert."

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One Giant Leap
Nathan Chen, the Quad King, has figure skating's most daring move down cold. Will he take the sport to new heights at the Olympics?

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Michelle Kwan reflects on 1998 Olympics 20 years later
Michelle Kwan captured the silver medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Twenty years later, she reflects on her memories from Nagano.

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Kid Fearless
For snowboard star Chloe Kim, dropping into the halfpipe is far less daunting than grasping how to be American and Korean at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

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72 Percent Of Asian-American Elders, Their Families Targeted By Fraud: Report
Limited English proficiency could be one reason why aging aging Asian American and Pacific Islanders are susceptible to fradulent offers and scams.

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His 2020 Campaign Message: The Robots Are Coming
Andrew Yang, a well-connected New York businessman, is mounting a longer-than-long-shot bid for the White House in 2020. He is likely the only candidate who will be focusing on the coming robot apocalypse.

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#DesiWallofShame Targets the Trump Faithful
South Asian Americans are well-represented in the Trump administration, and that infuriates some members of the community, which overwhelmingly supported Hillary Clinton. And so the Desi Wall of Shame was born.

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Why The "Glass Skin" Trend Feels Problematic To Me As A Tan Asian Woman
"For centuries, skin tone preferences have been linked to and used to identify social class across Asia."

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When Your Mom Is the Longtime Manager of Wu-Tang Members and Your Dad Is a Shaolin Monk
Jian Hong Shi must have had some interesting "bring your kids to work" days with her parents.

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What to Expect from Altered Carbon's "Asian Man in a White Body" Storyline
For those concerned about the new Netflix sci-fi series Altered Carbon and how they handle the conceit of an Asian man in a white man's body, here's a thorough explanation to help you figure out how you feel about it.

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What Fresh Off the Boat does with its Mandarin speaker that The Cloverfield Paradox couldn’t
First-generation grandma vs. an international space professional.

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Rachael Yamagata Talks About Showcasing Songs and Stories on Intimate Solo Tour
Singer Rachael Yamagata is out on an intimate, stripped down tour that puts audiences in her living room.

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This New Super-Man & The JLC exclusive kicks off a bold new direction
Gene Luen Yang's New Super-Man is being re-branded as New Super-Man And The Justice League Of China.

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Michelle Yeoh discusses her accent and the role of women in Star Trek: Discovery
Michelle Yeoh speaks about her role as Philippa Georgiou in Star Terk: Discovery and the importance of representation on our television screens.

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SungWon Cho used to make goofy voices for fun. Now he's got millions of fans
"There have been plenty of unique celebrity origin stories, but it's unlikely that anyone else got their start by singing songs in the voice of the Disney character Goofy and posting them to Tumblr and YouTube."

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5 Questions With Randall Park of ABC's 'Fresh Off the Boat'
Randall Park is silly.

Angry Reader of the Week: Yvonne Hana Yi

"But at Starbucks, I'm Evan."



Hello, internet friends. Gather 'round, because it is time, once again, 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 Yvonne Hana Yi.

Awesome amateur sketch helps police identify theft suspect

Hung Phuoc Nguyen is wanted on two counts of theft by unlawful taking.



An amateur hand-drawn sketch helped investigators identify a suspect accused of theft at a Pennsylvania farmers market. Take a good look at that sketch, then look at the suspect's mug shot. I know. Awesome.

According to police, Hung Phuoc Nguyen pretended to be an employee at a stand inside Central Market in Lancaster. When an actual employee stepped away, Nguyen took cash from a customer then ran off.

A witness provided a rough sketch -- really rough sketch -- of the suspect to officers. The drawing, along with the physical description, somehow helped remind investigators of a potential suspect.

The 14 Asian Americans Competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Representing Team Asian America in PyeongChang.



The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea kick off on Friday. Of the 244 athletes representing Team USA in 15 disciplines across seven sports, 14 are Asian American, competing in figure skating, snowboarding and speed skating. And some are serious contenders for gold. (Did we mention the fact that half of the U.S. figure skating team is Asian American?) Here they are, representing Team Asian America. [UPDATE: Team Asian America's athlete count in PyeongChang has been bumped up to include long track speed skater Jerica Tandiman and Chris Kinney of the men's bobsled team.]

Superman is going to smash the Klan

Gene Luen Yang joins the roster of DC Comics' new imprints aimed at young readers.



Battling racists? This is a job for Superman! DC Comics recently announced two new youth-oriented original graphic novel imprints, DC Ink, which will focus on young adult readers, and DC Zoom, which will focus on middle grade readers. Both imprints will feature work by an acclaimed, all-star roster of talent, but one title in particular caught our attention: Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang.

There's not a lot to go on yet, outside of DC's press release, but the title alone instantly conjures up imagery of the Man of Steel punching out white hooded assholes. And that's kind of fun. Story-wise, it might be the kind of thing that gives you pause -- racism is real; will these themes be handles with some sensitivity?

Then you see that Gene Luen Yang is writing it, and it's allllll good. That's all I need to know.

"If anyone can make a bold statement with Superman, it is Gene Yang," Michele Wells, the vice president for content strategy at DC, told The New York Times.

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 33: They Call Us Third Waiter From The Left

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. 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.

On this very special episode, recorded live last month at the David Henry Hwang Theater, we join playwright Alice Tuan and actress Amy Hill for a panel discussion, "Asian American Representation: The Politics of Casting," presented by Center Theatre Group and East West Players.

Read These Blogs

Making Fun of How South Asians Talk: A History: Donald Trump's reported mockery of Narendra Modi's accent is a disturbing reminder of the long tradition of using "brown voice" for caricature.

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It Takes More than Grit: Reframing Asian American Academic Achievement: Sociologist Jennifer Lee calls for the disaggregation of the category of “Asian" to explore how class and geographic differences can both end the model minority myth and help affect meaningful policy change for many groups.

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The Forgotten Asian Refugees Fed Into The U.S. Prison System: The U.S. took in Asian refugees after the Vietnam War, only to put many on a deportation path. A record number could be fed into this system in 2018.

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If You Get The Asian Glow, Alcohol Could Be Way Worse For Your Bo: Many of us may have already guessed this, but... a new study suggests that people who get an alcohol-induced red flush may see more DNA damage than those who don't.

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Q&A: Thi Bui: Thi Bui's graphic memoir The Best We Could Do is a finalist for the National Books Critics Circle Award in autobiography. For this Reading Women podcast, Bui talks about her writing process and the importance of reading stories from refugees.

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How Krista Suh Turned the 'Pussyhat' Into a Symbol of Female Empowerment: Pussyhat Project creator Krista Suh reveals how she got the idea for a cat-eared hat that became a political symbol one year ago at the first Women's March.

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John Cho & Vivian Bang Get REAL About "Unconscious Bias" Against Asian-Americans In Hollywood: Both John Cho and Vivian Bang acted in films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival -- finding roles to break free from the limiting tropes often written for Asian characters in film.

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What makes Hasan Minhaj America's sharpest voice: Comedian Hasan Minhaj talks to GQ India about his craft and being a brown comedian in Trump's America.

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Manny Jacinto Is No Dummy - He Just Plays One on The Good Place: In The Good Place, Jason Mendoza is the show's sweetest (and funniest and dumbest) character. In real life, for Manny Jacinto, it turns out playing an idiot means taking your role very seriously.

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Brandon Lee Turned Down Role to Play His Father in 'Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story': The late Brandon Lee, who would have turned 53 on February 1, was once offered the chance to play his father, the late martial arts legend Bruce Lee, on film -- but the young actor felt it would have been wrong.

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Meet Chloe Kim, the 17-year-old snowboarder poised to rule the PyeongChang Olympics: "Chloe Kim’s appeal is easy to understand. With a snowboard strapped to her feet, she can twirl and flip and generally send eyeballs rattling in sockets better than any teenage girl who ever has set foot on snow."

Angry Reader of the Week: David Magdael

"I am always on the lookout for stories that we have not heard about or are still in the margins."



Hello, good people of the internet! It is time, once again, 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 David Magdael.

May your daughters grow up to be badass snowboarders

Super Bowl commercial pays tribute to the sacrifices of snowboarder Chloe Kim's dad.



Behind so many great athletes, there's a parent who made a thousand sacrifices. In the case of 17-year-old champion snowboarder Chloe Kim, it was her dad Jong-Jin Kim, whose love and dedication to his Olympic-bound daughter are highlighted in this moving Super Bowl commercial for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

And whooo, it tugs at the heartstrings.

In the 60-second spot, set to Ray Charles' rendition of "America the Beautiful," we see Mr. Kim arriving late to pick up Chloe for snowboarding practice. We later seen him leave his job in order to support his daughter's snowboarding career full time. After that, he's there every step of the way, from practice to rides to competition.

The commercial closes with Chloe driving home from a competition, with her father happily asleep in the passenger seat, holding her trophy. Damn, I'm getting a little choked up while just writing about it.

Real Korean Moms React to "Brad Makes Kimchi"

Let us turn to a trusted source.



If you've ever wanted to see a white dude dressed as Christopher Columbus get slapped in the face with a fistful of kimchi -- really, who hasn't? -- look no further than this great video from Bad Appetite Magazine.

As if that alone wasn't awesome enough, the actual video features a couple of legit Korean moms talking about how to make kimchi. Or rather, offering a few critical thoughts on one guy's kimchi-making technique.

The video, produced by our friend Jenny Yang, is a response to "Brad Makes Kimchi," a recent video by Bon Appétit, in which a white dude named Brad shows you how to make kimchi. Nothing wrong with a white dude named Brad showing you how to make kimchi, but we definitely didn't need anybody to "de-mystify" it, as he puts it. The Columbus-ing vibe of it all bugged the hell out of a lot of folks.

So let us turn to a trusted source: Korean moms. What do the experts think of Brad and his kimchi?

"God bless Trump. We're going to nuke you guys."

Hey look, just another racist asshole harassing an Asian woman on public transit.



Can't a person just ride on public transit in peace without getting harassed by racist pieces of shit?

In Southern California, a man was caught on camera verbally assaulting an Asian American woman, insulting her appearance and saying, among other things, "we're going to nuke you guys" and to "go back to Asia."

Jeanne Heo says she was riding the Metro when this guy approached her, asking if she was American and if she spoke English, to which she replied "yes" and then proceeded to ignore him. Which is a perfectly appropriate response in a situation like this. But this fucking guy apparently wouldn't let it go.

While exiting the Metro at the North Hollywood station, he asked Heo, "Where are your genetics from? Do you happen to be from Korea?" When she asked back, "Why do you want to know?" the guy apparently went off.

Heo recorded their interaction and shared it on Twitter.

Ethnicity data is critical to address the diverse needs of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

By Karthick Ramakrishnan and Janelle Wong. Cross-Posted from AAPI Data.



Karthick Ramakrishnan, director, and Janelle Wong, senior researcher, wrote this letter with respect to H3361, a bill in Massachusetts that seeks to improve state data collection on Asian Americans

We write as the Executive Director and Senior Researcher, respectively, at AAPI Data—the leading repository for data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. We are also professors with over four decades of collective experience with original survey data collections on Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations and analyses of demographic and administrative data collected at the national and state levels.

Our research findings, as well as those in dozens of other studies, have shown that there are critical differences in life chances among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders that track by detailed origin. Thus, for example, Southeast Asian refugee populations have a distinct set of mental health needs that derive from wartime experiences of individuals and family members. Also, population health risks such as chronic Hepatitis B, childhood obesity, and cardiovascular disease vary significantly by detailed Asian origin. Importantly, language needs also vary dramatically by Asian detailed origin, with some groups such as Indian Americans and Filipino Americans having relatively high levels of English proficiency, and other groups such as Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean Americans have the relatively low levels of English proficiency.

GIVEAWAY: Win Star Wars Rose Tico Action Figures

One lucky reader will win a pair of Hasbro 3.75-inch Last Jedi action figures.



UPDATE: The giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered!

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A month after the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and I'm still pretty crazy about Kelly Marie Tran as Resistance tech hero Rose Tico. And I'm not afraid to admit that I've amassed a fairly substantial collection of Rose-related action figures, books and other merchandise. Yeah, I'm fanatical like that.

But in my unchecked fanaticism, I've picked up a couple of duplicate action figures. So here's a giveaway for you, the good readers of this website. I'm giving a pair of action figures: one 3.75" Resistance Tech Rose Force Link Figure and one 3.75" Rose (First Order Disguise) Force Link Figure/BB-8/BB-9E Pack.

Each figure, produced by Hasbro, is detailed with movie-inspired design and includes character-inspired accessories. They can be paired with Hasbro's Force Link gear (sold separately) to activate authentic figure phrases, lights and sounds. Recommended for kids ages 4 and up, and you know, grown-ass adults too.

One lucky reader will receive both figures. Here's how to enter for your chance to win:

Bruno Mars won all the Grammys

Including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.



There must have been some 24 karat magic in the air.

Bruno Mars was the big winner Sunday night at the 60th annual Grammy Awards, sweeping the major categories and picking up seven wins, including the coveted Album of the Year and Record of the Year.

The Filipino American music-multi-hyphenate also cleaned up in four other categories, picking up trophies for Song of the Year, Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for "That's What I Like," and Best R&B Album for 24K Magic. Throw in the Grammy for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and Mr. Mars officially walked away from the proceedings as the year's most decorated artist.

Bruno also rocked a rousing Cross-Colours-soaked, 1990s-inspired live performance of "Finesse" with Cardi B, complete with retro dance moves. The only thing missing were the Fly Girls.

Read These Blogs

I Give Up On Trying To Explain Why The Fetishization Of Asian Women Is Bad: Kristina Wong has tried several times, in several different ways, to explain that the fetishization of Asian women is not only dehumanizing, but puts them at risk for violence. Now she's tired of explaining herself.

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I saw the worst in America when my husband was murdered, but I've also seen its best: "I have witnessed the worst of America. My husband Srinu was murdered last February in Olathe. A man full of ignorance and hatred will stand trial for it. The life Srinu and I had together, the plans we made, the family we hoped to build here, all vanished in a moment of senseless anti-immigrant rage. But I have seen the best of America too. And I still believe America is the land of dreams."

* * *
Yes, your ancestors probably did come here legally - because 'illegal' immigration is less than a century old: What constitutes "legal" immigration has been a moving target throughout our history. Americans who crow about their law-abiding ancestors may want to learn a little more about immigration history before wishing for a return to the "good old days."

* * *
My Inheritance Was My Father's Last Lesson To Me And I Am Still Learning It: "After my father died, I received an inheritance at 18. As an adult, I've had to reckon with how deeply money is connected to pain in my life."

* * *
There Are Literally No Asians Or Latinos Nominated For Acting Oscars This Year: This is basically the same news with the Academy Awards almost every year. But if you're keeping score...

* * *
How Francis Lam, son of immigrants, became the voice of America's food culture: A profile of Francis Lam, cookbook editor and new host of the powerhouse radio show The Splendid Kitchen.

* * *
Awkwafina on Ocean's 8, Asian Tokenization, and K-Pop: Actress, rapper, and personality Awkwafina will be in this year's Crazy Rich Asians and Oceans 8. And she can "smell a tokenized role from 10 feet away."

* * *
Interview: Writer Amy Chu Talks Making the Asian Sidekick Into the Asian Hero in Green Horne: Comic book writer Amy Chu's latest project is a new Green Hornet series with artist German Erramouspe.

* * *
Asian and Asian American winners at Sundance Film Festival 2018: Asian and Asian American filmmakers were recognized on Saturday night at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony held in Park City, which concluded Sunday.

When taiko meets big band and swing dancing!

Watch a performance from San Jose Taiko's Swingposium: Big Band Music and Dance from Camp.



What do you get when you mix taiko with big band and swing dancing? A super-fun time, as evidenced by this awesome performance from San Jose Taiko's Swingposium: Big Band Music and Dance from Camp, an immersive show performed and produced last year with Epic Immersive and Wesley Jazz Ensemble.

The piece, "Singing in the Present," is a mash-up of San Jose Taiko's signature song, "Gendai ni Ikiru (Living in the Present)" and Benny Goodman's swing classic, "Sing Sing Sing." And it looks like it was a blast.

Angry Reader of the Week: Daniel Chong

"Sweet and charming things are highly underappreciated."



All right, folks. You know what time it is. 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 Daniel Chong.

Kids meet a photographer with TAR Syndrome. It's adorable.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"



In this sweet video for HiHo, part of their "Kids Meet" series, see what happens when a bunch of precocious kids meet Jordan Nicholson, a Seattle-based photographer who was born with TAR Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that is characterized by the absence of the radius bone in the forearm.

Or, as Jordan puts it, "I have small arms."

The kids have questions for Jordan. And it's pretty darn adorable.

Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants targeted for deportation

"We can't stay silent."


Kim Nak Chhoeun, 42, came to the U.S. as a refugee when he was 6 years old.
From the Los Angeles Times: Most associate Trump's rhetoric about deportations with Latinos, given his vows to build a border wall, his assertions that Mexican immigrants are "rapists" and drug dealers, and his decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program for immigrants brought to this country illegally as children, most of whom are Latino.

But immigration activists say the roundups of people of Cambodian and Vietnamese descent are unprecedented and have sparked anxiety in Asian immigrant communities.

"People may think it's just Latinos being threatened when it comes to deportations. But there are all sorts of immigrants affected, and we can't stay silent," said Laboni Hoq, litigation director for the Los Angeles chapter of the civil rights organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

"This is a political issue. The administration is cracking down to deliver on campaign promises, and they are going community by community to make their actions known."

More here: As more Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants are targeted for deportation, advocates say they 'can't stay silent'

Hiring manager fired for mocking job applicant's English

"Let me tell you now, if you no speak English, I will send you home."



You'd think that basic professionalism (and you know, decency) would stop someone from writing insulting, racist remarks in their workplace correspondence. Tell that to human resources employee who is now out of a job after mocking an Asian American prospective job applicant's English in an email.

Minh Huynh is a Vietnamese immigrant who is still working on his English. He speaks Vietnamese and Cantonese; English is his third language, my friends. He had inquired via email about a job at Dash Delivery LLC in Seattle. The reply he received, from hiring manager Bruce Peterson, blatantly mocked Mr. Huynh's English skills, stating, "Let me tell you now, if you no speak English, I will send you home."

Mr. Huynh's daughter, Emily, saw Peterson's email and posted a screenshot on Twitter, calling out the response as "very unprofessional and passive aggressive." Once the internet got hold of story, it was on.

Constance Wu has had it with your "bitch-ass things"

"I march today for Asian-American women who have been ignored, or judged or fetishized."



Constance Wu is not taking your shit. At Saturday's Women's March in Los Angeles, the Fresh Off The Boat star took to the stage and shared about the first time she refused a man's sexual advances.

"He called me a bitch," she recalled.

She went on to call out the men who have expressed discomfort and paranoia with the rise of #MeToo, #TimesUp and other movements fighting back against systemic sexism, misogyny and harassment.

"This movement is not about catering our voices to accommodate your comfort," Wu proclaimed to cheers. "We are not here to suppress our perspectives for your relief. We are here because we deserve our voices and perspectives too."

Wu's speech begins at around the 14:00 mark:

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Duckworth slams Trump: I won't be lectured on military needs by a 'five-deferment draft dodger': Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) tore into President Trump on the Senate floor Saturday, calling him a "five-deferment draft dodger" and slamming him for his comments toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

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What I've Learned from My 4-Year-Old: "Let that not happen to me, that I become like him. Let me empathize with him, so that I can understand him and feel for him as a human being, even as I oppose him in almost all matters."

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There Are No Good Immigrants Here: Mash-Up Americans co-founder Amy S. Choi tackles the delicate dance between rage and gratitude for this country she calls home.

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Asians were 'refuse and dregs' in the 1880s. Is that how Trump sees Haitians and Africans?: Buck Gee and Albert Shen respond to reports that Trump referred to Haiti and African countries with a derogatory term. “Last week's disturbing comments about Haitian and African immigrants echo the same racial stereotyping that cruelly branded our grandparents from Asia as the most debased people on the face of the earth.'"

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How GOP made family reunification a dirty word: Professor Karthick Ramakrishnan points out how Trump and the GOP are shifting family migration into a negative narrative in order to enforce strict and racist immigration policies.

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Commentary: I'm a Korean American. Why Is Trump Questioning How American I Am?: Jessica Lee, director of policy and advocacy of the Council of Korean Americans, breaks down what's problematic about Donald Trump's remarks to a Korean American intelligence officer.

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The Gentrification of Los Angeles Chinatown: How Do We Talk About It?: Frances Huynh on the continued efforts to fight gentrification in her neighborhood in L.A.'s Chinatown, volunteering with the Chinatown Community for Equitable Development, and finding effective ways to talk about the changing city.

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Darren Criss on Not Whitewashing Half-Filipino Andrew Cunanan In 'Versace' - Turn It On Podcast: The fact that Darren Criss shared an ethnic background with Andrew Cunanan was serendipitous for the American Crime Story producers when casting the role.

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The Deracination of Andrew Cunanan: But... why is The Assassination of Gianni Versace interested in its protagonist's sexuality but not his race?

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Meet Amber Yang. She's trying to prevent a space debris catastrophe: Amber Yang watched Gravity as a high school student, and has started college with a mission: Preventing a space debris catastrophe.

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Meet the Filipina-American rapper making music about bi-culturalism and empowerment: Ruby Ibarra uses hip hop to talk about her experiences as a first-generation Filipino American. In this interview, she talks about her early musical influences and how her lyrics reflect important memories and current issues.

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Ann Curry's New PBS Show “We'll Meet Again" Premieres Jan. 23 — Exclusive Q&A: Award-winning journalist and former NBC News anchor and international correspondent Ann Curry has a new show on PBS, We'll Meet Again.

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Chloe Kim Is Just Getting Started: The Winter Games in Pyeongchang will transform this Korean-American snowboarding sensation into a household name -- and maybe a hero. When you're 17, aren't the Olympics enough already?

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How to Shop a Korean Supermarket: a Chef's Guide to Hmart: Chef Deuki Hong shows Food & Wine his favorite Korean grocery picks ahead of HMart's first food hall opening in Austin.

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Watch: Bruce Lee’s Favorite Dish Is Hidden in Seattle’s Oldest Chinese Restaurant: Eater's "Cooking in America" visits Tai Tung, Seattle's oldest Chinese restaurant -- where Bruce Lee used to enjoy beef in oyster sauce.

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Shazad Latif on playing a man with PTSD and the twists and turns of Star Trek: Discovery: Shazad Latif, who plays troubled Starfleet officer Ash Tyler on Star Trek: Discovery, talks about the challenges of portraying such a conflicted character, keeping Ash's true identity a secret, and South Asian representation.

Angry Reader of the Week: Beth (Bich Minh) Nguyen

"...It would be easier to list what doesn't make me angry."



Hello everybody! You know what time it is. 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 Beth Nguyen.

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 32: They Call Us Tiffany Chin

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. 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.

On this episode, we welcome champion figure skater, former Olympian and coach Tiffany Chin. We talk about Tiffany's journey to becoming, as Jeff puts it, "The First Great Asian American Hope" of skating, the changing state of the sport, and why so many Asian Americans are now excelling on the ice.

Asian American Representation: The Politics of Casting

Panel Discussion on Thursday, January 18 at East West Players



If you're in Los Angeles, Center Theatre Group and East West Players invite you to attend a community conversation, Asian American Representation: The Politics of Casting. The panel discussion will feature myself, Jeff Yang, Amy Hill and Alice Tuan talking about what it means to cast and perform Asian American roles, against the backdrop of historical Hollywood racism, growing awareness of stereotypes, whitewashing and the demand for more nuanced and equitable representation.

It's happening Thursday, January 18 at East West Players in Little Tokyo. Here are more details:

Visors! Perms! Flash Mob at the Korean Market!

The ladies of Ajumma EXP crash the produce aisle in celebration of Korean American Day.



Ajumma EXP strikes back! This is how you celebrate Korean American Day.

If you didn't know, January 13 was Korean American Day, commemorating the arrival of the first Korean immigrants to the United States in 1903. And if you were shopping at Zion Market in San Diego on Saturday, you may have seen a badass flash mob of ajummas getting their commemoration on. Hard.

Ajumma EXP describe themselves as "a crew of fierce women who embrace growing older, getting wiser, and being able to laugh at ourselves." Following their stunning debut last fall at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, the ladies of Ajumma EXP recently brought their visor-clad fierceness to the food court and produce section at the local Korean market, busting a move to J.J. Fad's "Supersonic." It was glorious.

Check it out:

Bruce Lee, Jedi Master

Awesome fan edit re-imagines fight scene from Fist of Fury. With lightsabers.



Bruce Lee died in 1973, four years before the original Star Wars hit theaters. Now, Enter the Dragon and A New Hope are two very different movies, but if you've ever wondered what Bruce might look like kicking ass in a galaxy far, far away, or imagined what kind of damage he could do with a lightsaber... here you go.

YouTube user Patrick Nan re-edited a fight scene from Fist of Fury... with lightsabers. Lightsaber nunchucks. Nan says he was inspired by this cool work of fan art, which imagined Bruce wielding this unholy union of a weapon, and just took it one logical step further. In reality, this weapon would likely be extremely impractical and hilariously dangerous to wield. But if anyone could do it, it's Bruce.

The edit totally works, and is immensely entertaining. Take a look:

Aziz Ansari accused of sexual misconduct

Photographer says she felt "violated" during a date with the comedian.



From Vulture: Comedian and actor Aziz Ansari has been accused by a New York–based photographer of sexual misconduct during a date. Speaking anonymously with Babe, the 23-year-old woman claims she met Ansari at an Emmys after-party in L.A. last fall. They exchanged numbers, which led to a date in Manhattan about a week later. The woman said the date began normally, with dinner at an outdoor oyster bar, but when they went to Ansari's apartment afterward, things quickly escalated to a point of discomfort.

"In a second, his hand was on my breast," the woman recounted. "It was 30 minutes of me getting up and moving and him following and sticking his fingers down my throat again. It was really repetitive. It felt like a fucking game... most of my discomfort was expressed in me pulling away and mumbling. I know that my hand stopped moving at some points, I stopped moving my lips and turned cold." When the woman reiterated her reluctance to do anything sexual that evening, Ansari reportedly listened at first, but soon chose to persist anyway...

More here: Aziz Ansari Accused of Sexual Misconduct by Photographer

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How a man's first-ever tweet, about Obama's respect, proved more popular than Trump’s bluster: Gary Lee, former White House staffer under Barack Obama, had never tweeted before Saturday, shared a story that illustrated a stark contrast between his former boss and the current president.

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Say the words as plainly as Trump does: "There is no logical interpretation of Trump's words other than as an assertion of white supremacist purpose, in which he explicitly states what has been the implied core mission of Trumpism all along: To Make America White Again... All of this is why it's important for news audiences to hear another word in association with Trump: 'Racist.'"

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White Identity Politics, Failsons, and Being the First Asian American Woman Playwright On Broadway: An Interview with Young Jean Lee Young Jean Lee’s play, Straight White Men, delves into white identity politics. Her play will make its Broadway debut in June.

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January Nonfiction: "The Birthday Banquet" by Jaime Woo "I think of my grandmother sometimes and wonder what hypothetical good it would do to come out to her at this point. "It’d probably kill her," my partner says. The truth is that I am not ready for another version of my grandmother, one who might reject me, just as she is not ready for another version of me."

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Father's sacrifice helps Kim become snowboard star: Chloe Kim has the chance to become the youngest female snowboarder to win Olympic gold when the 2018 Pyeongchang Games kick off in South Korea next month and the American teen says she owes much of her success to her dedicated dad.

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How The Last Jedi's Rose Changed When Kelly Marie Tran Was Cast: Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson says the character of Rose Tico fundamentally changed when Kelly Marie Tran was cast.

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Locally Produced MeSseD Dives Beneath the Sewer Grates: Jay B. Kalagayan's comic books series MeSseD follows the life and times of Filipino sewer worker Lilliput and her coworkers as they use science to battle whatever's waiting for them in the darkness.

Trump wanted the "Pretty Korean Lady" to negotiate with North Korea

Donald Trump had a "Where Are You From?" moment with a Korean American intelligence analyst.



By now, you've heard about Donald Trump's recent remarks describing Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as "shithole countries." And by now, none of this should surprise you. Given the consistent, overwhelming evidence of Trump's ridiculous inability to grasp anything beyond his own wealthy white male entitlement, we passed the point of surprise a long time ago. If you're surprised, it's on you.

And so, here is another entry into the long log of Trump's unsurprising racism and sexism. Amid the "shithole" backlash, NBC News reports on a previous exchange, in which Trump asked an Asian American intelligence analyst about where her "people" are from, then referred to her as a "pretty Korean lady," and suggested that she should be involved with his administration's talks with North Korea.

Yup. Trump pulled a "Where are you from?"

It's an annoying, perpetual line of questioning that some of us Asian Americans are way too familiar with. In this case, it came from the President of the United States, but it ran its predictable course like a steady river.

Angry Reader of the Week: Eugene Cordero

"I play pretend."



Hello, good readers! It's that time again. 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 Eugene Cordero.

5 Lessons From Hot Asian Men For 2018

Guest Post by Ada Tseng, Professor of Hotness


(Clockwise from top left) Saagar Shaikh, Mike Bow, D'Lo, Sean Miura, Yoshi Sudarso, Jake Choi, Peter Sudarso, Chris Pang, Simu Liu, and Ilram Choi. Photo by Sthanlee B. Mirador/Sipa USA.

First, we exchanged Haikus With Hotties. Then we put Haikus On Hotties. It's our third year making hot Asian man calendars to celebrate our favorite talented creative Asian men in the media, and this year, fans wrote Haikus For Hotties, and each spread is designed into a magazine cover, as a nod to the fact that Asian American men (and women, for that matter) are now sometimes featured inside the magazine, but still rarely on the cover.

When art from internment camps falls into the right hands

"Contested Histories: Art and Artifacts from the Allen Hendershott Eaton Collection" goes on view.



From the Los Angeles Times: A collection of artworks and other artifacts from Japanese American internment camps made headlines in spring 2015 when protesters successfully steered these pieces of American history away from the auction block, where they could have fallen into private hands. The protesters' goal: Put the pieces on public exhibition instead.

Mission accomplished. On Sunday, every item in the collection (or digital representations of them) will go on view at the Japanese American National Museum’s Hirasaki National Resource Center in Los Angeles. Titled "Contested Histories: Art and Artifacts from the Allen Hendershott Eaton Collection," the exhibition includes more than 450 paintings, photographs, sculptures, pieces of jewelry and other objects made by hand in camps where about 120,000 people of Japanese descent were incarcerated during World War II.

More here: Contested art and artifacts from Japanese American internment camps go on view

Aziz Ansari makes history with Golden Globe win

Master of None star is the first Asian American lead actor to win a Golden Globe for television.



In case you missed it, Aziz Ansari made a little history on Sunday night at the 75th Golden Globe Awards. The comedian and star of Netflix's Master of None took home the the trophy for Best Actor In A Television Series Musical or Comedy, making him the first Asian American lead actor to win a Golden Globe for television.

"I genuinely didn't think I would win because all the websites said I was going to lose," Ansari joked during his acceptance speech. He was up against some pretty heavy hitters in category, including Anthony Anderson for Black-ish, Kevin Bacon for I Love Dick, William H. Macy for Shameless and Eric McCormack for Will & Grace.

In addition to thanking his cast and crew, Ansari thanked the entire country of Italy "for all the amazing food we ate in season two," and, of course, his parents, for giving him "so much love."