Honouring (the) Movement: Bruce Lee, Grace Lee Boggs, and The Search for Asian American Liberation

Guest Post by Jenn Fang



I was too young for Bruce Lee's classic films; movies like Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon were filmed and released over a decade before my birth. Instead, I grew up on Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, a family-friendly retelling of the legendary martial artist's life story. As a child, I watched Dragon with a studied eye, enthralled in equal parts by the (melo)dramatic details of Lee's biography as I was by the scenes of a slender man crouching low, arms loosely flexed, torso bending like a reed in moving water, dark eyes simmering with cool confidence, a high-pitched noise emerging through pursed lips. Two heartbeats of breathless anticipation, and then an explosion of carefully timed, blink-and-you'll-miss-it strikes impossible for any opponent to withstand. Badassery, thy name is Bruce Lee.

When I learned later in life that a course in Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee's signature martial art, could satisfy my alma mater's physical fitness requirement, I was instantly fixated upon the idea of enrolling. Nothing seemed more awesome than becoming a student of the martial art developed by the legendary Bruce Lee.

Sadly, the Jeet Kune Do class conflicted with a core class requirement for my major. I ended up taking six semesters of karate, instead.

Gay Asian Group in NYC Condemns NYS Senate Candidate SJ Jung's Comments on LGBTQ People

Guest Post by GAPIMNY



Since 1990, the Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY) has provided a supportive space for our hundreds of queer and trans A/P/A members who experience racism, homophobia and transphobia -- from strangers, from other social justice movements and even from our own family members.

We will continue to hold that space in the face of homophobic statements made by S.J. Jung, a candidate for New York State Senate who promised supporters that he would try to ban pictures of same-sex couples from school textbooks. Jung’s comments reflect that the prejudices our communities face can come from people who say they are advocates for Asian Americans, immigrants, youth, seniors, or even all New Yorkers. When people like Mr. Jung speak of inclusion and protecting "the rights and freedoms of all," where does that leave LGBTQ API people?

If Jung wants to erase us, he’s going to have to work a little harder.

A Really Sikh and Hairy Online Store Launch!

Guest Post by Vishavjit Singh



By popular demand from fans of some really Sikh art at Sikhtoons.com, an online bazaar has been launched to offer a special collection of art for your visual entertainment, to make a statement and spark lively conversations.

The current political climate in the US and around the globe is ripe for some fun, edgy, humor laden turbanful and beardful art.

The store offers over three dozen products including t-shirts, prints, framed art, spiral notebooks, phone covers, duvet covers, pillows, mugs, tote bags, greeting cards and much more for all occasions and needs.

You don’t need to be Sikh or sport a turban and beard to enjoy the products in this store. You just need an impulse to appreciate art, wrap your head around turbans (metaphorically or literally) and be ready to get a little Sikh.

Remembering Uncle Bob

Guest Post by Karen L. Ishizuka


A traditional Filipino appellation of respect, anyone older than you is called auntie or uncle. But beyond protocol, Uncle Bob Santos was truly everyone's favorite Uncle Bob, Filipino or not. Greeted by a jaunty "Hey Kiddo!," whenever you saw him, you knew you could always count on him for lunch money, to bring 200 people to a demonstration or to keep a community from becoming gentrified.

He was called "the Asian American community's elder statesman and enduring rabble-rouser,"ⁱ "an advisor, mentor, confidante, and drinking buddy for a generation of our community's Jedi Knights,"ⁱⁱ and "a hero in an urban hamlet called the International District"ⁱⁱⁱ. And this was while he was still alive and raising hell. Now hailed as one of Seattle's greatest civil rights and social justice champions whose accomplishments you can read about in HistoryLink, his autobiography Hum Bows, Not Hot Dogs!: Memoirs of a Savvy Asian-American Activist (International Examiner Press, 2002), Gang of Four: Four Leaders, Four Communities, One Friendship (Chin Music Press, 2015), and the multitude of tributes by the many organizations he was a part of, the following remembrance is not so much on the importance of his achievements as the magnitude of his character.

Upset About Diversity in Hollywood? 'Single By 30' is a Step Towards a Promising Future.

Guest Post by Philip Wang



I'll admit upfront that this post is going to come off a bit self-serving considering I am one of the creator/directors of the show, but ultimately I hope you will see that it's less "tooting my own horn," and more trying to rally and unite the community behind new opportunities and perspectives!

Single By 30 is an eight-episode original show that comes out weekly on Wong Fu Productions YouTube channel through YouTube Red. It's a romantic dramedy starring Harry Shum Jr. and Kina Grannis. Here's why it's an important show that you might want to get behind.

Gene Wilder: Actor, Comic Genius, and Lover

Guest Post by David Henry Hwang



It is generally known that the lead roles in the play for which I'm best known, M. Butterfly, were originated by two amazing actors, John Lithgow and B.D. Wong. They blessed my work with their iconic performances on Broadway in 1988. However, my play might have had quite a different trajectory. Originally cast in the Lithgow role was another legendary actor, whose death was announced earlier today: Gene Wilder.

Best known for his immortal comic turns in movies like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Young Frankenstein, The Producers and Blazing Saddles, Gene was originally offered the role of Rene Gallimard, the French diplomat who carries on a 20 year affair with a Chinese actress, who he later discovers to be a man. Gene had started in theatre, but hadn't appeared on Broadway since the early-1960s, after which he'd become a movie star. Yet this part apparently intrigued him enough that he agreed to take it on.

Gene had some reservations about the script, though, so my producer Stuart Ostrow and I were privileged to enjoy several meetings with him at his home in Los Angeles. Always kind and generous, meticulous and probing, with a keen intelligence, he struggled with the fact that Gallimard serves both as my play's narrator, and one of its two major characters. "I don't know how to be 'Gallimard' and the 'Stage Manager' at the same time," he would declare, referencing the narrator character in Thorton Wilder's classic Our Town. We went back and forth debating, while all the time, a little voice in the back of my head was going, "This is so cool! I'm talking about my play with 'Dr. Fronkensteen!'"

Randall Park Interviews Ali Wong

Guest Post by Randall Park



Ali Wong is an amazing stand up comedian, actress and a writer on our beloved sitcom Fresh Off The Boat.

She is also one of my dearest friends. I’ve known Ali since her days as a cast member of Lapu The Coyote That Cares Theater, the UCLA Asian American theater company that I co-founded many years ago. Ali and I performed sketch and improv together in seedy restaurants to audiences that can be counted on one hand. I’ve seen her go from a fellow budding (and incredibly hard working) stand-up comedian to a brilliant (and still incredibly hard working) comedy superstar with her recent Netflix special Baby Cobra.

By the way, if you haven’t seen Baby Cobra, I suggest you turn off your computer right now, turn it back on, go to Netflix and watch it IMMEDIATELY. It is, in my opinion, a comedy classic. Right up there with all the greats.

Having known Ali for all these years, I have unique access to the mind of a master at her craft. Unlike the average journalist, I can ask her the deep, personal questions that reveal the true darkness behind the laughter, the tears of a clown, if you will. So with that, here is my in depth, at times uncomfortable, interview with my friend, the great comedian Ali Wong.

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A fatal crash and the thoughts a father lives with: Calvin Li was killed in a car crash last year shortly after graduating from high school. In March, his father committed to donating $1.2 million to endow a fellowship at the University of Maryland that will focus on issues facing children of Asian American immigrants.

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Why Asian-Pacific Islanders Care About Incarceration: For one, the U.S. Department of Justice statistics don't register enough Asian Pacific Islander prisoners to be included in reports. They are lumped in a category simply called "other."

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23andMe has a problem when it comes to ancestry reports for people of color: Lazy ethnographic data leaves many people of color wanting more from this genetic testing site.

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Too much boba is bad for you. A proposed change to California's data law could show who's most at risk. Why disaggregating data is important for the health of Asian American communities.

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When an Adoptee Adopts: Joy Osmanski on open adoption and her experience as an adoptee herself.

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Glare of Disdain In this autobiographical comic, Gene Luen Yang remembers the inexplicably uneasy race relations with his Indian American classmate -- and how the power of story helped bridge that gap.

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The Story Behind The Get Down's Kung Fu Connection: The legacy of Bruce Lee and classic kung fu cinema are all over The Get Down, the new Netflix series set in the earliest days of hip hop.

Watch Now: Films and Shows By, About or Starring Asian Americans

Guest Post by Momo Chang



Hey! Tired of #whitewashedout films? Don't fret, there are films that are made by, star or are about Asian Americans. And many of them are in theaters now or available via streaming.

The reality is, there are thousands of independent films out there that don't receive big reviews, a large marketing budget, or big-times stars behind them. While the cost of making an independent film has gone down, filmmakers have to push to let folks know that these titles even exist.

One advantage in today's media world is that even though many films can't compete in the immediate marketplace of Hollywood blockbusters, they may have a longer life span via streaming, Netflix, VOD and independent distribution.

Entities like the Center for Asian American Media, where I work as the Content Manager, and Angry Asian Man, draw attention to Asian American films and filmmakers. CAAM hosts the nation's largest showcase of Asian and Asian American films at our annual CAAMFest. There are also about a dozen more Asian American film festivals across the country. Many of the films listed below either debuted at our festival or were partially funded by CAAM.

Keep up with Asian American films, filmmakers and mediamakers by attending one of many Asian American film festivals is one way to keep tabs on what's new. Come out to CAAMFest in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area. Also, follow us on Facebook and Twitter for news about Asian Americans in media.

As for TV shows, we're watching those too. Fall TV season is about to begin, including these shows with significant Asian American casts: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Dr. Ken, Fresh Off the Boat, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Quantico and Elementary. Also, the Justin Lin-directed show Scorpion is back for another season. Two shows currently on HBO are The Night Of and Ballers, starring Riz Ahmed and The Rock, respectively. There's also mixed-race Blasian star Merle Dandridge on OWN's Greenleaf.

Here's to sharing more of our voices and stories. And, please let us know if we missed any.

— Momo Chang

A Conversation with a "Jungle" Asian American

Guest Post by Naomi Ko



Minnesota. It's cold, it's white. There aren't a lot of Asian Americans like me (first and second generation Korean Americans.) However, my home state hosts the largest population of Hmong Americans in the United States.

May Lee-Yang, a good friend and collaborator, is one of these Hmong Americans from Minnesota. She is an incredibly talented playwright, actor, performance artist, writer, producer, etc. She's a real Jane-of-all-trades.

We often joke about how she's a "jungle" Asian and I'm a "fancy" Asian. Yes, I know, it doesn't sound right. Some readers may be offended. But, as May is one of the pioneers in the Hmong American Theater movement, she believes this title better explains who the Hmong are to a public that don't know much about them at all.

Recently we talked about May's experience as a "jungle" Asian.

Angry Reader of the Week: Constance Wu

"I highly recommend letter writing."


Photo Credit: Constance's Dad
Greetings, 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 Constance Wu.

Fartherhood

Guest Post by Ed Lin



My wife Cindy and I hadn't planned to have kids, not before we were married, not in the years after.

We weren't hardcore against it, just not as pumped to procreate as you should be if that's what you want. We had a great punchline whenever we were on a plane or in line somewhere and a baby somewhere began to scream: Let's have kids!

We already had full lives. We were both working dayjobs. I was also writing books while she was also acting on stage, television and film. Our free time outside of these activities was spent supporting our artist friends, seeing their readings, plays and (at times questionable) performance art.

Things began to change, though, as we found ourselves on the deep end of our 30s. Our friends were having kids, staying home and being squares. That shrank our social circle but we were still as busy as a childless couple could be. Cindy landed a major film role and ended up quitting her dayjob -- no more sneaking out to auditions for her. After that, her acting gigs only ramped up. I landed a contract with a major publisher to write what turned out to be a mystery series set in New York's Chinatown in the 70s.

Our schedules conflicted and she would miss my readings and I would miss hers. You know you're making it when you miss each other's events, we remarked with wonder. We tried to carve out time for friends when possible, though.

One overdue appointment was to go out to New Jersey to see friends who had undertaken the Herculean task of having two kids. Two! It seemed like they had had the first one five seconds ago. Time, for us, wasn't going by quickly, necessarily. It's just that as adults we weren't subject to the same calendar events that people with kids are. We didn't notice back-to-school sales, snow days or summer-camp enrollments. Disregarding the months, New York City has two seasons, really. For us, the weather got cold and then it got warmer, and the subway sucked on the weekends, year in and year out.

Jersey is not even an hour away but it is a different world. I remember that we were thoroughly charmed by the house that our Jersey friends lived in. They had a dog that would freak out if it heard a photo click so you had to mute the phone to take its picture. But their kids! They were two little girls, I guess aged five and seven. They put on a magic show that was the funniest thing I'd seen in years. I laughed at the younger daughter for not being able to palm a card correctly and she burst into tears. I felt horrible about it and still do. I'd pay for her college if I could.

On the train ride back into the city I began to wonder what it would be like to live with children that were inexhaustible and happy.

Letter to My Younger Self

Guest Post by Kristina Wong.



As part of TEAM (Together Empowering Asian Minds), a new campaign to address mental health among Asian American women, APIA women are publishing letters to their younger selves.

Dear 12-year-old Kristina Wong,

It's me -- your older OLD ASS self writing from the future -- 2016!

If I remember you correctly, you are wearing two pairs of scrunchy socks over tacky bright leggings, your peers shun you as a "weirdo pervert," and you stay awake at night wondering if you'll ever engage in sexual activity.

Surprise Young Kristina! Nothing changes in the future! The difference is... you will actually forge a CAREER out of your awkwardness! That's right! You are going to grow up to be a PERFORMANCE ARTIST!

I know what you're thinking:

What the hell kind of doctor is a "performance artist"?
How will we break the news to Mommy and Daddy?
You mean I really won't have sex in the future... ever?

On Community Engagement: A Conversation with RadAzns TC

Guest Post by Bao Phi



RadAZNs TC (TC standing for Twin Cities) is a Minnesota Asian American activist group that conducted a series of door knocking campaigns in low income communities with Asian residents to talk about police brutality, anti-Blackness, and discrimination. Though many members of RadAZNs TC had been activists in myriad groups and causes for quite some time, many of them came together through movements and actions related to the shooting of Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old African American man who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police on November 15, 2015, in North Side Minneapolis.

Below is an interview I conducted with several members who were involved in the door knocking campaign -- Eunha Jeong Wood, Txoov Vaaj (Chong Vang), MK Nguyen, and contributions by Linda Her.

Another Great Wall

Guest Post by Oliver Wang



Readers of this site are already well aware of the recent kerfuffle over Zhang Yimou's upcoming action fantasy epic, The Great Wall, aka "that film where Matt Damon fights dragons in China." Unlike other Hollywood films with a Great White Savior Complex, The Great Wall is more complicated because it's both Chinese-directed and co-produced (Zhang himself has vigorously defended the film's cultural politics). Regardless, all the news about The Great Wall instantly reminded me of a very different Great Wall, one that also happened to be a Chinese/American co-production and though it was certainly less controversial, it was no less historical: Peter Wang's A Great Wall (1986).

Need Fashion Inspiration? Look No Further Than "Chinatown Pretty"

Guest Post by Jean Ho



When Phil asked me to write a guest post, I knew I wanted to highlight the creators of Chinatown Pretty, a street-style blog celebrating fashionable Asian American seniors and their stories in San Francisco Chinatown.

Photographer Andria Lo and writer Valerie Luu met through food -- Andria shot the photos for Valerie's Vietnamese pop-up restaurant and catering business, Rice Paper Scissors. Their inspiration for Chinatown Pretty? Man Ta, "the woman with the jade shoes," who Valerie first spotted getting off a bus somewhere between Chinatown and North Beach. She just knew she had to find out the story behind the chic octogenarian and her bright green kicks.

As it turns out, the sneakers are from a store on Stockton Street, and she owns ten pairs: "I wear them until they break," Man Ta told Valerie and Andria. A longtime Chinatown resident, she has since seen that store on Stockton shutter.

Work In Progress: Emotional Abuse and Violence in Our Communities

Guest Post by Juliet Shen.



I have always been a vocal person.

For four (almost five) years, I ran a blog called Fascinasians where I shared content about race, gender, feminism, and current events. Those who know me know that I am never one to shy away from conversation, and will probably be the first to openly discuss something I feel is unjust or wrong.

It has now been six months since my last relationship ended. After joining a sorority whose chapter philanthropy is fighting sexual violence, my passion for fighting domestic abuse grew and grew. Every friend who came to me and every person who shared their story with me stoked my fire. I did workshops on Asian American feminism and talked about toxic masculinity and warned people what to look out for to identify a dangerous situation or relationship. I never once thought that I would have to do it myself.

California's Proposed Bill to Disaggregate AAPI Data Significantly Weakened in New Amendments

By Jenn Fang. Cross-Posted from Reappropriate.


Attendees at a recent rally in support of AB1726, a data disaggregation scheduled to reach the CA Senate floor soon. (Photo Credit: @DiverseElders / Twitter)
After months of increasingly vitriolic debate that divided the AAPI community, California Assembly Bill 1726 (AB1726) was significantly amended on Friday. In its original version, AB1726 was the culmination of years of lobbying work by California's AAPI advocacy community, and it would have put in place measures to disaggregate healthcare and higher education data to reveal disparities faced by Southeast Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the state. Using the same ethnic options offered by the National Census, AB1726 would have expanded the ethnic self-identification choices offered in demographic studies conducted by state departments related to healthcare and higher education.

Last year, AB1726's predecessor, Assembly Bill 176, passed the California Legislature with near unanimous bipartisan support and the backing of several local California advocacy groups, only to be vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown. This cycle's AB1726 was expected to pass the Legislature with similarly minimal resistance, until it faced inexplicably intense backlash from grassroots Chinese American groups that had originally organized around SCA-5 (and protests against Jimmy Kimmel) in the state. What emerged was a vocal, deeply inflammatory, arguably paranoid resistance to AB1726, wherein opponents suggested while the bill was still in Committees that it would create a “backdoor” to reinstitute race-conscius affirmative action in the state.

How a data collection bill designed was supposed to circumvent California state law prohibiting race-conscious affirmative action in higher education remains unclear to me.

Yet, no one can deny this grassroots conservative Chinese American movement's growing clout.

Angry Asian American Parenting Guide

Guest Post by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang


Frances Kai-Hwa Wang and her four children at their favorite place for steamed buns and bibimbop, Eastern Accents bakery (Photo Credit: Mark Bialek)
When my oldest child was about 10 years old, I wrote an Asian American parenting book, because I knew everything and had four perfect children. Unfortunately, I did not publish that book then, because my children soon became teenagers, and suddenly I knew nothing and did everything wrong. Now, with two children off to college, one child with a perfect ACT score, and one more who is very tall, I am finally starting to get my confidence back.

So when I see younger Asian American friends struggle through the many challenges of raising Asian American babies, well, I just LOL.

Here are some of my best unsolicited Angry Asian American parenting tips for raising strong, proud, and ANGRY Asian American children.

Bruce Lee Onitsuka Tiger Corsair - Jeet Kune Do - LTD Edition

SPONSORED POST



Last year, Bruce Lee Enterprises teamed up with BAIT and Onitsuka Tiger to celebrate the legacy of the iconic martial arts star with a special limited-edition sneaker. BruceLee.com is offering a limited run of this leather shoe, which pays homage to the footwear worn by Lee in one of his classic films.