Here we go. Who said there are no Asian American movie stars? After teasing us with a juicy sliver of footage last week, the full official trailer for Crazy Rich Asians has finally dropped. And it is hot damn glorious.
If you haven't heard about this movie, you will. Based on the bestselling novel by Kevin Kwan, and directed by Jon M. Chu, the contemporary fish-out-of-water romantic comedy is the first major Hollywood studio movie featuring an all-Asian cast in over 25 years. And judging from the trailer, it's going to be a blast.
Fresh Off The Boat's Constance Wu stars as Rachel Chu, a Chinese American economics professor who accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young (newcomer Henry Golding), to his best friend's wedding in Singapore. But she soon learns that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. Not only is his family impossibly wealthy, he's perhaps the most eligible bachelor in Asia, and every single woman in his ultra-rarefied social class is incredibly jealous of Rachel and wants to bring her down.
Meet the journalism student who found out she won a Pulitzer in class
23-year-old Mariel Padilla, a grad student at Columbia Journalism School, won a Pulitzer for her reporting on the opioid epidemic for The Cincinatti Enquirer. In addition to helping to write "Seven Days of Heroin," Padilla created a much-needed database for better coverage of the crisis.
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1965 to Today: Moving Towards a Majority-Minority America
With the Trump Administration's eye on xenophobic immigration policies, America's family-based, legal immigration system -- the one that shaped Alton Wang's family -- is under attack.
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'No job, no money': Life in Vietnam for immigrants deported by U.S.
Despite a bilateral agreement that Vietnamese immigrants who arrived in the U.S. prior to 1995, many of this population have been deported. Many deportees say adjusting to life in Vietnam has been difficult, especially since they are viewed with suspicion by Vietnamese officials and have trouble finding work.
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Why Your Mother Can't Drive
"Your mother can't drive because when all her high school friends were getting permits, she was an undocumented teen with a MetroCard but no I.D." Cinelle Barnes on intergenerational trauma and growing up undocumented.
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Here's Why You've Never Heard Of The Titanic's Chinese Survivors
Wait, what?! A century ago, a racist press either muddied or completely ignored the names of Chinese survivors of the fatal Titanic voyage -- part of the reason why you've probably never heard about these people.
Greetings, internet friends. As we do every week, it is 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 Lori Kido Lopez.
New footage teases the upcoming full trailer for hotly anticipated romantic comedy.
At long last, here it is! Your first glimpse at the Crazy Rich Asians movie. The official full trailer drops on Monday, but Warner Bros. is first giving us a little tease of the hotly anticipated summer romantic comedy.
Based on the bestselling novel by Kevin Kwan, Crazy Rich Asians follows Rachel Chu, an American-born Chinese economics professor, who travels to her boyfriend Nick's hometown of Singapore for his best friend's wedding. Before long, she learns his secret: Nick's family is rich. Crazy Rich. Not only is his family impossibly wealthy, he's perhaps the most eligible bachelor in Asia, and every single woman in his ultra-rarefied social class is incredibly jealous of Rachel and wants to bring her down.
Crazy Rich Asians is directed by Jon M. Chu, written by Adele Lim and Peter Chiarelli, and stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Jimmy O. Yang, Chris Pang, Sonoya Mizuno and more.
Why We Need To Remember Stockton, California's Filipino American Legacy
When the Little Manila Center in Stockton, California, was vandalized with what its community considered hate speech, it was a vivid reminder Filipinos are not exempt from the same hate that plagued the city a century ago.
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'Roseanne': When a Punch Line Feels Like a Gut Punch
"This isn't just about a couple lines on a TV show. This isn't just about Twitter or outrage or political correctness or even race, per se. To me, this is about attention. This is about the basic human need to have someone say: "I see you. You matter."
How to Disobey Your Tiger Parents, in 14 Easy Steps
"I know a lot about disobeying immigrant tiger parents. I didn’t take the conventional route of becoming a doctor or going into tech, as many Asian parents want. Instead, I nurtured lofty ideas about living radically: My heroes were Malcolm X, James Baldwin and Dorothy Day."
South Asian Actors Are Fighting Hollywood's Racism
South Asian characters used to be written as the underdogs and sidekicks. Now, the stereotyped are speaking out and creating their own content -- and America is listening.
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Why the new wave of East Asian authors is targeting YA
Seeking new pathways for telling the fiction they want, authors like Emily X. R. Pan, Maurene Goo, and Mary H.K. Choi are writing stories targeting young adults.
"I tell stories, I ask questions, a lot of questions."
Hey, everybody! 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 Leena Pendharkar.
Orientalism Is Alive And Well In American Cinema
The rage directed at critics of Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs is a reminder of how many people don't want to believe that an homage can also slight the culture it's putting onscreen.
'Roseanne': Is the Show Really 'Just Like Us'?
It's hard to tell if the characters in the Roseanne revival are mocking diversity or being ironic, but some of us aren't interested in sticking around to find out.
The Pregnancy Film That Every Republican Needs to See
Writer/directorr Leena Pendharkar writes about how her own pregnancy troubles inspired her new feature film 20 Weeks, which opens in theaters and digitally on April 13.
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Counter Revolution
Melissa Hung's grandparents from China risked everything to start a humble grocery story in an unlikely place -- El Paso, Texas -- and changed their family forever.
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Hamburgers or Dumplings?
Sometimes the fairy tale version of our family history is the one we want to believe.
"When I get angry, I write. I write for two reasons: love and revenge."
Photo: Sahra Vang Nguyen
Greetings, good people of the internet! 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 Emily P. Lawsin.
"The cast is top notch. The guy who plays the father is very handsome."
Let's get real, fellow Fresh Off The Boat fans: the show is at risk of being canceled.
Creatively, Fresh Off The Boat is still one of the joys of prime time television. But after wrapping its unprecedented fourth season last month to middle-of-the-road ratings, the ABC comedy is firmly on "the bubble." Its future is uncertain, and renewal is not guaranteed. So if you want to see another season of your favorite Asian American family comedy, this is the time to raise your voice and let the network know what's up.
Who better to lead the charge than the show's star? In this video for USA Today's "Save Our Shows 2018" feature, Randall Park, who plays patriarch Louis Huang, makes an impassioned plea, literally getting on his knees and begging ABC to renew his show. He also offers some solid reasons to bring the show back.
"The cast is top notch," Park explains. "The guy who plays the father is very handsome. It also happens to be, in my opinion, the best show on network television. Or at least the best show about an Asian American family on network television. Out of all those shows -- there's so many of them -- and ours is definitely the best."
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 playwright Lauren Yee and performer Jane Lui, fresh off the world premiere run of their groundbreaking play Cambodian Rock Band, which joins the story of family secrets, Cambodia's darkest hour, and the incredible sounds of Cambodian psychedelic surf rock.
"I will do nothing else but sit in my favorite chair and let all my migrant muscles rest."
From the icy wilds and tiny desks of Alaska... I don't know about you, but Christy NaMee Eriksen can't wait to be an old Asian American woman. The Juneau-based poet and activist gives us a gorgeous gift: her wonderful, unique last-minute submission to NPR's 2018 Tiny Desk Contest.
Recorded on frozen Auke Lake and accompanied on guitar by Avery Stewart, she lists off all the awesome things she's legitimately looking forward to being and doing when she is an old Asian American woman. It's a thank you to Asian America and a thank you to ajummas everywhere.
It's 2018. Can we all agree that some phrases are racist and just need to be retired? In West Virginia, both the governor and a state school board official have recently been on record using the term "chinaman."
Back in February, at a live streamed town hall meeting, Governor Jim Justice was discussing issues that later led into a statewide public school workers strike. He was trying to dissuade teachers from backing a proposed tax increase to fund more substantial pay raises, saying the bill had no chance of passage in the legislature.
"There's not a Chinaman's chance in the whole wide world that will happen," Justice said. "It's not getting out of committee."
May this be your semi-regular reminder that "chinaman" is a racial slur.
Aside from the fact that Justice clearly doesn't know -- or doesn't care -- that he's using a slur, this was just plain unnecessary. How was the governor's point enhanced by slapping the phrase "Chinaman's chance" on top of this statement? Like, "in the whole wide world" wasn't enough hyperbole? Had to throw in that racial slur for good measure, because hey, it sounds funny. Or "silly," as the governor would later claim, two days later.
"I use a lot of silly phrases and stuff like that," Justice said. "If that offended somebody, then I'm sorry."
Asian Americans think an elite college degree will shelter them from discrimination. It won't
Many Asian Americans believe a degree from an elite college or university -- and preferably an Ivy League one -- is a necessary step to a successful career, and a safeguard against discrimination in the labor market. But there is also growing evidence that this faith in elite credentials may be misplaced.
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The bitter lie behind the census’s citizenship question
Adding a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census would be disastrous for everyone, with communities that are already at greater risk of being undercounted -- including people of color, young children, and low-income rural and urban residents -- suffering the most.
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A Snapshot Of How Asian-Americans Are Changing The South
According to census data, the Asian American population in the South has grown by 69 percent in ten years, and now has the power to influence elections, schools and culture.
I Thought Going To Korea Would Help Me Find Home
"When I moved to Seoul after growing up in America, I was a foreigner who looked native. I ended up staying for three years -- but eventually I had to go home."
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The Sunken Place and the Model Minority Myth
"I sometimes wish I could go back in time and be my own guardian angel. I would reach down into that dark place of the Model Minority Myth and pull the younger me out. I would tell myself, "Baby, you got this. The best thing you can do is to ignore these goras.'"
What It's Like to Watch Isle of Dogs As a Japanese Speaker
"When the first trailer arrived for Isle of Dogs last fall, I had three immediate, consecutive reactions: One: Oh, no. Two: Wait, I take that back. I'm going to be a good critic and reserve judgement until the week of March 23. Three: This is exhausting."
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How to Fall in Love Over Text
To write her young-adult novel Emergency Contact, Mary H.K. Choi had to figure out how to render texts between a pair of teens without sounding like "an out-of-touch old person."
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Jimmy O. Yang Of 'Silicon Valley': Asians Who Aren't Hunks Need Screen Time, Too! Silicon Valley star Jimmy O. Yang chats about his new book How to American: An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents, his own immigrant experience, Asian masculinity, and the untold impact that one movie, Ninja Assassin, had for Asian men.
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Fresh off Olympic glory, Chloe Kim says she hopes to use her platform to fight bullying
Snowboarder Chloe Kim, who became a household name last month when she took home gold for Team USA at the Winter Olympics, said her favorite part about her overnight rise to fame has been the free food. But she also hopes to use her platform to fight bullying, something she faced growing up.
"Passively observing the arts is part of the past."
Hey, 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 Leslie Ito.
Featuring Ross Butler, Grace Park, Karrueche Tran, Chloe Bennet and more.
Kore Asian Media (formerly KoreAm Journal and Audrey Magazine) is giving out copies of its annual limited edition print magazine. Want one? Order your free copy here -- you just have to cover the shipping.
This year's special issue celebrates "The New Hollywood," focusing on APAs in entertainment who are out there making their mark, challenging the status quo and transforming Hollywood in their own ways.
The full-color, 142-page issue features a fold-out cover showcasing stars Ross Butler, Grace Park, Karrueche Tran, Chloe Bennet, Leonardo Nam, Ludi Lin, BD Wong, Awkwafina, Justin Chon, Wendy Nguyen, Lana Condor and Jo Koy. Inside, feature stories include profiles on the likes of Mitski, Ally Maki, Celina Jade, Danny Pudi, Amy Okuda, Min Liang Tan and more.
Fresh Off The Boat showrunner Nahnatchka Khan will make her feature film directorial debut.
This dream project just gets better and better... Fresh Off The Boat showrunner Nahnatchka Khan will make her feature film directorial debut on Netflix's untitled romantic comedy project starring Randall Park and Ali Wong.
We've been dying to hear some more news about this project -- previously described by Ali Wong as "our version of When Harry Met Sally" -- ever since it was just a mere social media prayer, then announced last August as an actual upcoming feature for Netflix. Now the project has a director.
We also get some new details about the story. Park and Wong's script, written with Michael Golamco, follows two childhood sweethearts who have a falling-out and don't speak for 15 years. They reconnect as adults when Sasha, now a celebrity chef opening a restaurant in San Francisco, runs into Marcus, a happily struggling musician still living at home working for his dad -- and discover the old sparks are still there.
Christopher Wray defended his previous portrayal of Chinese people in the U.S. as threats.
From Huffington Post: Despite backlash from Asian-American civil rights groups, FBI chief Christopher Wray defended his previous portrayal of Chinese people in the U.S. as threats.
In an interview with NBC News published on Wednesday, Wray addressed the controversial statements he made during a hearing with the Senate intelligence committee.
Lauren Yee, playwright on the verge
Playwright Lauren Yee, whose original play Cambodian Rock Band just closed at the South Coast Repertory Theatre, has become a leading force for showcasing Asian American stories and talent on the stage.
How 88rising Is Making a Place for Asians in Hip-Hop
With artists like Rich Brian and Higher Brothers, Sean Miyashiro's company 88rising has rapidly become an authority on how to create Asian and American pop-culture crossovers.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi's Kelly Marie Tran Has a Story to Tell
Even within a cast of charmers like Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran carved out her own space in The Last Jedi with a big-hearted performance as Rose Tico. So what comes after Star Wars?
Now Trending on TV: The Sexy Asian Hunk
A new class of handsome actors—including Manny Jacinto on The Good Place and Vincent Rodriguez III on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend—are finally putting to rest the absurd question 'Can Asian guys be sexy?'
Jon Jon Briones Explains How He Transformed Into Andrew Cunanan's Father Pete
Jon Jon Briones delivers an unsettling performance as Andrew Cunanan's father Pete in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. In this interview, Briones talks about how he got into character and what he hopes people will take away from the performance.
"...better to disappoint my parents for a couple of years than to disappoint myself for the rest of my life."
Good people of the internet! It is 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 Jimmy O. Yang.
"Konnichiwa." Wow. So you know one fucking Japanese word. Slow clap.
It's one thing -- annoying as shit -- when some fool tries to bust one of these on you in a bar or on the street. (Asian folk, raise your hand if you've been on the receiving end of an unsolicited "konnichiwa" or a "ni hao.") It's wholly inappropriate when it happens during a hearing of the United States Congress.
But that's what happened Thursday during a hearing of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii), who is Japanese American, was pressing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke about re-funding a National Park Service program that offers grants towards the preservation of incarceration sites where Japanese Americans -- including Hanabusa's grandparents -- were held during World War II.
"Are you committed to continue to grant programs that are identified, I believe, as the Japanese American Confinement Sites grants program which were funded in 2017? Will we see them funded again in 2018?" Hanabusa asked.
Zinke's response: "Oh, konnichiwa."
I imagine Rep. Hanabusa had to summon every molecule of her being to suppress an eye roll.
Bruce fans, get yourself to Seattle. The multi-year Do You Know Bruce? exhibition series at the Wing Luke Museum provides fresh and untold perspectives on Bruce Lee's life and his connection to Seattle. Part 4, A Dragon Lives Here, focuses on the martial arts icon's close local ties.
Bruce Lee spent some of his most formative years in Seattle -- learning English, attending university, meeting his future wife, and establishing his first martial arts studio. In this all-new exhibit, retrace Seattle locales special to Bruce Lee and get an up-close look at how this city also shaped his trailblazing approach.
"Bruce Lee is part of Seattle's legacy of entrepreneurship and innovation," says comedian and host of CNN's United Shades of America (and professed Bruce Lee superfan) W. Kamau Bell, who is featured in the museum's intro video for A Dragon Lives Here. "They may not know it yet, but they will: a dragon lives here."
Leaked 'Last Jedi' deleted scene leaves Rose Tico with a bad taste in her mouth.
If you were dying to see more of Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, here you go. In this deleted scene from the upcoming DVD release, leaked from what appears to be a Korean subtitled version, we see Rose and Finn on their knees, captured by the First Order. What we didn't see in the theatrical cut: Rose taking a big ol' bite out of General Hux's gloved finger when he gets a little too close.
Golden West College faculty member placed on leave after being caught on camera making a racist remark.
Because you never know when you're gonna need it. Protip: in case of sudden, unexpected racist public encounters, always keep your camera ready to catch that shit go down. A Southern California college professor was recently caught on camera telling an Asian American couple to "go back to your home country."
58-year-old Tarin Olson, a teacher and counselor at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California, was filmed telling Tony Kao and his wife that they should "go back to your home country" while they were walking in Long Beach. They were apparently on a neighborhood stroll with their baby when Olson just "nonchalantly" offered them this unwelcome advice, without provocation, as she was passing them on the sidewalk.
Kao says this wasn't their first encounter with Olson, only this time they heard her clearly.
"A few weeks back we believed we walked past the same lady and also heard her mumble something to that effect but ignored it and thought we misheard," Kao shared in a March 1 Facebook post that has since gone viral. "But this time as she walked away, I yelled to her, 'WHAT YOU SAY?'
Kao's wife recorded part of their interaction. As you can see, once Olson realizes they've got a camera on her, she tries to get the fuck out of there. But not before telling them, again, where to go.
Former patient Albert Wong took several hostages before killing himself and three employees.
A former soldier and former patient of a veterans home in California took three employees hostage on Friday in a seven-hour standoff before authorities found him and three mental health professionals dead.
Authorities say 36-year-old Albert Wong, armed with a rifle, burst into a morning gathering at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville, a treatment facility for elderly or disabled veterans. He took five hostages after exchanging gunfire with a Napa County sheriff's deputy. He later released two hostages.
When police stormed the facility hours later, they found Wong dead, along with three of home's employees, 42-year-old Clinical Director Jennifer Golick, 48-year-old Executive Director Christine Loeber, and 29-year-old Clinical Psychologist Jennifer Gonzalez -- all fatally shot.
Oscar Nominee Kumail Nanjiani Still Gets Mistaken For Other Brown Stars
Kumail Nanjiani is an Oscar-nominated actor, comedian and writer. But all his fame and accomplishments apparently haven't shielded him from a scenario faced by many Asian-Americans -- getting mistaken for his brown colleagues.
Asian Americans Are Not Your Model Minority
The San Gabriel Valley, a major hub of U.S. Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian communities, grapples with poverty and a disproportionate number of cancer deaths, according to a new study.
Ms. Marvelous
By fostering a space for women and minorities in an industry once known as a boys club, Sana Amanat, VP of content and character development for Marvel, has changed the face of comics.
The ‘Shib Sibs Talk Asian Representation, Stereotypes And K-Pop
Maia and Alex Shibutani are the "Shib Sibs," the brother-and-sister figure skating pair who took it all the way to PyeongChang this year. They take some time to talk about growing up Japanese American in Colorado and Michigan, and always being aware of being put into various boxes.
Anna Akana, The New Queen Bee
Anna Akana, star of YouTube Red's Youth & Consequences talks to PAPER about representation, breaking out of the mold, and pitching a pink tent on Hollywood Boulevard.
"Definitely read all questions ahead of time before starting."
Hey, folks! Here's what's up. It's time for 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 Andrew Ti.
Barbie's new "Shero" line celebrates modern-day role models from around the world.
Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Chloe Kim, still radiating awesomeness from her dominating, inspirational halfpipe win at the PyeongChang Winter Games, is being honored with a Barbie doll in her likeness.
The doll is part of Barbie's "Shero" program, unveiled ahead of International Women's Day on March 8 and honoring modern-day role models from around the world.
The Chloe Kim doll bears a striking resemblance to the teen snowboarder, right down to the shade of her signature blond locks. She comes equipped with, of course, a snowboard and looks appropriately outfitted for a championship halfpipe run... but does she come with a gold medal too?
A car ran a red light and drove through a crowd of people in Brooklyn.
Tony Award-winning Broadway actress Ruthie Ann Miles was in critical condition Monday after she was struck by a car in Brooklyn in an accident that killed her 4-year-old daughter and another child.
Miles was walking with a friend, Lauren Lew, and their kids in Park Slope when a white Volvo reportedly ran a red light, drove through the intersection and plowed through a crowd of people in the crosswalk. Miles and Lew were both injured in the crash. Miles' 4-year-old daughter Abigail and Lew's 1-year-old son Joshua were killed. A fifth victim, a 46-year-old man, was also hit.
Miles, who is currently expecting her second child, was critically injured but listed in stable condition.
Getty Images apparently can't distinguish between two totally different Asian ladies in blue-ish dresses.
On Sunday night, Star Wars: The Last Jedi star Kelly Marie Tran made her debut on the Oscars red carpet, looking hot as hell in a stunning blue Jenny Packham gown. Looking awesome... then promptly misidentified as another Asian American woman on the red carpet, Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu. Oops.
All Look Same strikes again. It seems that whoever was on caption-writing duty at Getty Images, one of the world's leading photo agencies, had some trouble distinguishing between two totally different Asian ladies in blue-ish dresses, misidentifying Tran as Nagasu, and vice versa, in a number of their captions.
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 April Reign, creator of the viral hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. Recorded on the eve of the 90th Academy Awards, we discuss Black Panther, the tired old excuses of the Hollywood establishment, and where the movement for diversity and inclusion goes from here.
Author Viet Thanh Nguyen on the struggles of being a refugee in America
Acclaimed author Viet Thanh Nguyen serves as editor of the upcoming essay collection The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives. Read an excerpt from the book's introductory essay, in which Nguyen describes his own refugee experience in stunning, at times painful detail.
But That's Another Story: Min Jin Lee
A great interview with Pachinko author and National Book Award finalist Min Jin Lee, who talks about George Eliot's Middlemarch, imposter syndrome, and her lifelong obsession with wisdom.
Ugly Delicious star David Chang gains 'appreciation' for Asian-American successes Ugly Delicious, the new eight-part Netflix food show from Momofuku restaurateur David Chang, addresses the silly, profound, and sometimes uncomfortable bonds between the food we eat and the people with whom food associates -- if that origin can even be truly known.
"Passivity is generally unattractive. Passion is almost always attractive."
All right, everybody. It's 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 Raymond Lee.
February 21 - April 1 at JACCC's Aratani Theatre in Little Tokyo.
Los Angeles! Don't miss your chance to see the Broadway musical Allegiance, now on stage in Little Tokyo.
Inspired by true events, and starring George Takei, Allegiance is the story of the Kimura family, whose lives are upended when they and 120,000 other Japanese Americans are forced to leave their homes following the events of Pearl Harbor. An uplifting testament to the human spirit, Allegiance follows the Kimuras as they fight between duty and defiance, custom and change, family bonds and forbidden loves.
Presented by East West Players and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, the Los Angeles premiere of Allegiance is running now through April 1 at JACCC's Aratani Theatre in Little Tokyo, with the Opening Night performance and reception on February 28.
'Order 9066' from American Public Media and the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
Hear the voices and stories of Japanese American Incarceration from the real people who endured it.
Order 9066 is a landmark new podcast series that chronicles the Japanese American Incarceration during World War II. Through vivid, first-person accounts from those who lived through it, the series explores how this shocking violation of American democracy came to pass, and its legacy in the present.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 just months after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Roughly 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were forced from their homes and sent to one of ten "relocation centers," imprisoned behind barbed wire during the war. Two-thirds of them were American citizens.
Produced by American Public Media in collaboration with the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, the series launched on February 19 -- the anniversary of the executive order's signing.
Asian-American Women In Hollywood Say It's Twice As Hard For Them To Say #MeToo
Harvey Weinstein's fall from power may have opened the floodgates in Hollywood, but Asian American actors and producers say a lack of representation makes it harder for them to speak up. Asian American women in Hollywood say it's twice as hard for them to say #MeToo.
Dining in the Japanese Internment Camps
Laurel Fujii talks to her grandaunt Eiko, who recalls the drastic lifestyle, diet and dining habits that ruptured the Japanese American family and culture during World War II.
Asian American Medical Students Still Face Discrimination
A recent study suggests that minority medical students are significantly less likely than white medical students to be members of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society, which may affect future opportunities.
‘Annihilation’ and Hollywood’s Erasure of Asians
The creatives behind the film Annihilation can explain why two characters were cast as white women. But the time for excusing Hollywood's continued erasure of Asians must end.
In the illustrious Hollywood tradition of movies about white dudes who are better at being Asian than actual Asians, here's your first look at the Yakuza period thriller The Outsider, in which Jared Leto becomes a Japanese gangster. Wait, whaaat? Yup. The Netflix original movie follows a white guy who works his way up the ranks to become a rare non-Japanese member of the fearsome Yakuza.
The official synopsis reads: "Set in post-WWII Japan, an imprisoned American soldier (Leto) is released with the help of his Yakuza cellmate. Now free, he sets out to earn their respect and repay his debt while navigating the dangerous criminal underworld." I assume this means that the white guy will do a lot of way crazier shit than any of the Japanese guys, to prove his worth. And romance some Japanese ladies along the way, of course.
Also: The snowboarding champ finds out she's on a box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes. (It's adorable.)
Chloe Kim is everywhere. Even on your cereal box. Fresh off her gold medal win at the PyeongChang winter games, the 17-year-old Olympic halfpipe snowboarder stopped by Wednesday night's episode of The Tonight Show Fallon Five, the five-minute Olympics broadcast version of Jimmy Fallon's late night talk show.
Now that she's America's snowboard sweetheart, Chloe took the opportunity to have some fun with her newfound fame. She and Fallon went down to NBC Studios to photobomb unsuspecting fans who were taking photos at 30 Rockefeller Center. While tourists posed on an Olympic-style mock medal podium, Kim and Fallon snuck up behind them to crash their pics with goofy poses. Surprise!
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 Olympics episode, we welcome Hannah -- Phil's sister - fresh off the plane from South Korea, where she attended the Winter Games in PyeongChang. From triple axels to twizzles to mctwists, we discuss the Olympic triumphs and trials of Team Asian America.
15-year-old Peter Wang, a JROTC cadet, was shot repeatedly while holding a door open to let others escape.
From CNN: Peter Wang, a 15-year-old JROTC cadet, died in last week's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. According to his friends, he was shot repeatedly while holding a door open to let other people escape.
"His selfless and heroic actions have led to the survival of dozens in the area. Wang died a hero, and deserves to be treated as such, and deserves a full honors military burial," reads the petition. As of Monday afternoon, it had more than 25,000 signatures.
Hoboken mayor Ravi Bhalla says death threats have been made against him and his family.
From NJ.com: Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla is publicly acknowledging death threats that have made against him and his family.
In a statement issued Friday afternoon following a security breach at City Hall Thursday, Bhalla said he and his family have been threatened and that the city is working with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force to improve security at City Hall.
"This incident, along with death threats to me and my family, is an unfortunate reminder that we need to take security seriously," Bhalla said.
