asian american

STRENGTHEN AND UNITE COMMUNITIES WITH CIVICS EDUCATION AND ENGLISH DEVELOPMENT (SUCCEED) ACT

Washington, D.C. – The Asian American Center for Advancing Justice commends U.S. Representative Mike Honda (D-Ca) for reintroducing the Strengthen and Unite Communities with Civics Education and English Development (SUCCEED) Act.  The bill would provide much-needed assistance to populations that are limited English proficient (LEP), allowing these vulnerable community members to learn English, integrate more quickly and fully into American society and maximize their social and economic contributions to our society.

“English language acquisition resources are hugely needed,” said Karen K. Narasaki, president and executive director of AAJC.  “More than 12% of Americans, over 37 million, in our country are foreign born, and that close to 55 million Americans speak a language other than English at home.”

LOS ANGELES, CA --   The Asian Pacific American Legal Center, a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, welcomes long-time public interest attorney Doreena Wong as the project director for APALC's Health Access Project

Wong, a long-time civil rights lawyer and expert on health policy and language access issues, spent the prior 11 years as a senior staff attorney at the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), which is a national public interest law firm focused on health care issues.  Wong is also a well-known social justice advocate who has helped to found several Asian/Pacific Islander lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights group, including API Equality-LA. 

She has also worked at other notable civil rights and public interest organizations, including the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco, the ACLU of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, the National Women's Law Center in Washington, D.C. and a Los Angeles civil rights firm specializing in enforcement of consent decrees in race discrimination cases.

Karin Wang, the Vice-President of Programs & Communications at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), will be honored today as the 2011 Woman of the Year for the 49th Assembly District. 

APALC, a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, is the nation’s largest legal and civil rights organization serving Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.  Before her current position, Wang directed APALC’s immigrant rights project and helped file a landmark civil rights complaint against Los Angeles County on behalf of limited English speaking welfare recipients, leading to major reforms to the department’s services to immigrants and payment of $1.7 million in back benefits.  Wang also ran the first Los Angeles field office of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, enforcing federal civil rights laws across the Southwest and the Pacific.

The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population in California grew significantly during the past decade, according to a preliminary analysis of newly released Census 2010 data conducted by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice.

Remaining among the state’s fastest-growing communities, AAPIs grew from 4,321,585 in 2000 to 5,556,592 in 2010, representing 33.6% growth in the last decade.  In comparison, the state’s overall population grew from 33,871,648 in 2000 to 37,253,956 in 2010, representing 10.0% growth.

AAPIs now constitute 15.5% of the state’s population, compared to 12.8% in 2000.  “Policymakers, the new Citizens Redistricting Commission, and local redistricting bodies must be accountable to the needs of the state’s substantial Asian American and Pacific Islander population,” stated Stewart Kwoh, president and executive director of APALC.

As white Americans move into the minority, some are claiming they're the ones now subject to racial oppression. Do they have a case?

For a small, nerdy cluster of folk -- social science and cultural studies wonks, market researchers, armchair political pundits -- this month is the Super Bowl, Oscars and Olympics rolled into one. That's because the next few weeks will see the gradual, yet grand unveiling of data from the 2010 U.S. Census, an event literally 10 years in the making.

If you live in the New York City tri-state area, you can also catch the film FREE on Channel 13, the local PBS station starting tonight! Air times are:

Sat, Jan 22, 10:40pm
Sun, Jan 23, 2:00am
Wed, Jan 26, 1:00am

We're also screening at the Cornell Cinema in Ithaca, NY on February 9th, and will have a few more have university screenings and Q&As this year, and we're gonna be back on cable VOD soon--so check our screenings page from time to time.  

Wikipedia describes the Russian word “pogrom” as a form of “violent riot, a mob attack, either approved or condoned by government or military authorities, directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other”. Education Week reports “The courage of Asian students to describe the harassment and violence they experienced at South Philadelphia High School led members of the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission to act on their behalf, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.”

SAN FRANCISCO -- President Obama revived the Bay Area judicial nominations of law Professor Goodwin Liu and U.S. Magistrate Edward Chen on Wednesday, setting the stage for a showdown with a strengthened Republican minority in the Senate.

In all, Obama renominated 42 candidates for federal judgeships who were denied Senate confirmation votes last year by Republican opposition. Besides Liu and Chen, they included Edward Davila, now a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge.

Davila, 58, an attorney for 20 years before his 2001 judicial appointment, won unanimous Senate Judiciary Committee approval last month and is likely to win confirmation once his nomination reaches the Senate floor. He would be the only Latino judge in the Northern District of California, based in San Francisco.

The outlook is cloudier for Liu and Chen, who were excluded from a bipartisan agreement last month that allowed confirmation votes on 19 non-controversial judicial nominees. Republicans gained six Senate seats in November and now have 47 in the 100-member chamber.

Motion Filed to Prevent SB 1070 from Unconstitutionally Curtailing Day Laborers’ 1^st Amendment Rights

PHOENIX – The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) and Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), as members of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, and a coalition of civil rights organizations today asked a federal court to prohibit Arizona from enforcing two key sections of SB 1070 targeting day labor, pending a final court ruling on the these provisions’ constitutionality. The law creates new criminal offenses, ostensibly relating to traffic safety, that apply only to individuals engaging in or receiving employment solicitation speech. According to the coalition, these provisions cause irreparable harm to day laborers and those who seek to employ them by curtailing their First Amendment rights.

LOS ANGELES, CA – Today the U.S. Senate failed to allow the DREAM Act to move forward. The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, is extremely disappointed with the Senate’s inaction but vows to continue the fight.

The DREAM Act would have given many undocumented immigrants who entered this country as children an opportunity to become U.S. citizens. The DREAM Act’s failure will impact Asians and Pacific Islanders (APIs) in California, where 40% of undocumented student in the University of California system are API. Not surprisingly, a recent poll found that Asian American voters overwhelmingly support the DREAM Act (76%). (Poll by Los Angeles Times/USC, with funding from APALC.)

ID Film Fest Survey--What is the best APIA Feature Film of all Time?

The organizers of ID Film Fest at the Japanese American National Museum want to know what your choice is for the most significant/impactful/well-made/best Asian Pacific Islander American feature film of all time.

The #1 film will be screened at ID Film Fest 2011, and the filmmakers and people involved will be invited to attend.

Survey can be found here at this link
http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=HNHENO_1562cef9

ID Film Fest 2010 included Los Angeles and World Premieres; an Asian American Independent Features Conference; Filmmaker's crash courses; and a live screenplay pitch competition.

Asian American and Latino Voters Constituted a Powerful Immigrant Vote on Election Day

LOS ANGELES, CA – The most accurate California poll for the top statewide races, the USC College/Los Angeles Times Poll undertook a rare bilingual survey of Latino and Asian American voters, supported by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) and the California Community Foundation. More than 800 interviews were conducted by bilingual interviewers with the option of Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean or Tagalog. This large and more representative sample of Latinos and Asian Americans provides an important look at the political leanings of these fast-growing voter demographics – and offers a glimpse at the future of politics in California.

WASHINGTON— As the lame-duck session comes to a close, Asian American and Pacific Islander student leaders from nearly 60 universities across the country sent a letter to Congress urging members to pass the DREAM Act before the end of the year.

Frustrated that passage of the historically bipartisan legislation has been blocked, members of the Youth Advisory Council, a project of the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), took action.

“The DREAM Act allows students to pursue their dreams and allows America to fulfill its claim as a nation found[ed] and built by immigrants,” Ling of Stony Brook University said. “It allows students who grew up in their communities to give back to the country that educated and raised them and makes sense from every perspective. These students did not willfully break the law because they were brought to the U.S. without their knowing of the immigration rules and should not be punished.”

One in 10 students who would be covered by the DREAM Act are Asian American while 65,000 DREAM-eligible students graduate from high school each year.

LOS ANGELES, CA– On December 7, 2010, a group of former and current Filipino American hospital employees filed a lawsuit against their employer, a hospital located in the Central Valley, for discrimination and harassment on the basis of national origin. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court, Eastern District of California. The action was filed against Central California Foundation for Health d/b/a/ Delano Regional Medical Center and Delano Health Associates, Inc. (collectively referred to as “DRMC” or “Defendants). The employees are represented by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (“APALC”), a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice.

The complaint states that DRMC discriminated against its Filipino American employees because of their national origin and subjected the Filipino American workers to severe and pervasive workplace harassment. DRMC prohibited Filipino American employees from speaking Tagalog and other Filipino languages under a broad-reaching English-only policy. DRMC singled out only Filipino American employees in enforcing the policy.

Minority students make up more than 50 percent of enrollments in California schools and a new report shows big differences between the education achievements of these groups.

“.....The state of Asian American, native Hawaiian, and pacific islander education in California” brings to light new information that Asian American students are struggling.

“There are particular subgroup in the Asian American pacific islander communities in the state of California that have much lower educational attainment levels then one might normally expect if you believe in the model minority myth”

Lois Takahashi is one of the study's co-authors. Takahashi says the “model minority” myth hurts the Asian American communities by assuming that they are smarter and better prepared than other minority groups.

She says the data in this study clearly show that particular subgroups among This minority such as Hmong immigrants from Southeast Asia are at the bottom rung of the educational ladder.

Washington — Asian American Center for Advancing Justice applauds Monday’s Georgia Supreme Court ruling that strives to protect the civil rights of criminal defendants who are not fluent in English.

Asian American Center for Advancing Justice members Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), Asian Law Caucus (ALC) and Asian American Institute (AAI), in collaboration with the Atlanta office of King & Spalding, filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Georgia Supreme Court in July highlighting the profound effect the absence of trained, qualified court interpreters can have on the outcome of cases involving defendants not fluent in English.

“For many in our community, English is learned as a second language,” said Marita Etcubañez, AAJC’s program director. “If a person cannot understand the charges and evidence against her, or her legal rights, how can justice be served?”

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Today, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) and the Asian Law Caucus (ALC), members of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, applauded the California Supreme Court in upholding California law AB 540 in the case, Martinez v. Regents of the University of California. AB 540 is a state law that allows both documented and undocumented students to attend California's college

s and universities and pay in-state tuition rates.

Last September, APALC and ALC, along with a coalition of nearly 80 Asian Pacific American (APA) civil rights, legal, social service, and community organizations, filed an amicus ("friend of the court") brief with the California Supreme Court, supporting immigrant college students' ability to pay in-state tuition under AB 540. The brief describes how thousands of APA students have been able to afford college under AB 540, how undocumented students would be harmed if AB 540 was eliminated, and how APA youth become undocumented and the challenges they face.

Introducing the ultimate world wide Asian food guide with reviews by Asian and Asian American celebrities.
Private travelers' network Privy.net has launched the "Privy 5 Los Angeles Guide" to help visitors and locals discover the best LA has to offer, particularly in the realm of authentic Asian cuisines such as the very top restaurants that serve Korean Barbeque,Shanghainese, Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, Dim Sum, Japanese Sushi,Hotpot and Vietnamese Pho.

Join VisualizAsian TONIGHT: Meet Jeff Yang and Bernard Chang! Editor of “Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology” & Bernard Chang, “Superman” Artitst.

Two experts in Asian American pop culture and comics. You'll hear the history of (or lack of) Asian superheroes in comic books, and what it's like to be drawing the Superman comic book! You can learn more about Jeff and Bernard

 
Last month was exciting in terms of entertainment news. Musicians made Asian American history, San Diego hosted its annual Asian Film Festival, Jon M. Chu’s career took off, Yao Ming returned to the basketball court, and Brenda Song received an award. Let’s get started!
Making beautiful music — for the mainstream!

For the week of Oct. 30, members of Far East Movement became the first Asian Americans to hit the top of the Billboard charts. Even more exciting was the fact that the number two spot was held by singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, who is of Filipino and Puerto Rican descent.
Far East Movement is made up of Kevin Nishimura “Kev Nish,” James Roh “Prohgress,” Jae Choung “J-Splif,” and Virman Coquia “DJ Virman.”
In a New York Daily News story, Oliver Wang, an assistant professor of sociology at California State University-Long Beach, said, “Far East Movement and Bruno Mars didn’t come just out of nowhere. There’s been a slow push to make it happen through social media. It’s finally hit that tipping point.”

San Diego’s Asian Film Festival: action-packed!

 
According to a preliminary exit poll released by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) on Nov. 4, the party preferences of Asian Americans typically reflect the sensibilities of their geographical location. In the traditionally Democratic northeastern states, Asian Americans voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates.
Likewise, in states like Georgia and Texas, Asian Americans favored Republicans.
However, on the whole, Asian Americans favored Democratic candidates. The AALDEF polled 3,500 Asian American voters in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Georgia. Sixty percent were registered Democrats, 19 were not enrolled in any political party, and 14 were registered Republicans.
These findings were echoed in the outcomes of political races involving Asian American candidates. Nearly all Democratic incumbents retained their seats. Nearly all Asian American Republican challengers in primarily Democratic districts (and Democratic challengers in Republican districts) lost their races. On the whole, there are far more Asian American Democrats in political office than Asian American Republicans.

OAKLAND, Calif.—Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou might have some words of advice for this city's first Asian-American mayor-elect, Jean Quan.

When he was elected president in 2008, at a time of great economic hardship and political instability, Ying-jeou famously said, “One day of excitement is enough.”

Quan should remember those words, says Kai Ping Liu, the veteran reporter who covered her mayoral campaign for the World Journal. Quan was declared Oakland’s next mayor on Wednesday, after a week of nail-biting suspense in one of the city’s tightest electoral races in recent years.

For Quan, “there is not much time to take the victory lap,” says Vincent Pan, executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. “She has to hit the ground running.”

Oakland’s unemployment rate hit 17.3 percent in September, much higher than the state average of 12.4 percent. A series of robberies and assaults this year have heightened racial tensions and suspicions, especially between African Americans and Asian Americans.

Far East Movement, the Los Angeles electro/rap group, reached a notable milestone recently. Not only did its third album, "Free Wired," debut at #24 on the Billboard charts, one of the highest charting debuts by any all-Asian American group, but its latest single, “Like a G6,” is the #1 single in the country (having already crowned digital charts for weeks).

By coincidence, on Oct. 12, 2010, the day "Free Wired" dropped, TV’s "Glee" featured Asian American actors Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina) and Harry Shum Jr. (Mike) joyfully singing and dancing their way through “Sing!” from "A Chorus Line." Three nights earlier, "Glee" star Jane Lynch hosted "Saturday Night Live" with musical guest Bruno Mars, the Filipino-Puerto Rican crooner whose iTunes-topping “Just the Way You Are” was just pushed aside by "Like a G6.”

This confluence seemed to be a long time coming. Prior to FM, the last group of Asian Pacific Islander descent to run the dance floor might have been the Jets, the Tongan-German, Minneapolis-based family band that had a string of dance/R&B hits, including “Curiosity” and “Crush on You.” That was back in 1985.

KoreAm -  "In the decade that I’ve been involved with the Asian American community, I’ve learned that there are many reasons people do this type of work. Usually, it’s inspired by an incredible urge to stimulate some sort of change. It supplies a sense of purpose, along with community and friends. Others accidentally fall into it, or do it very well. And some days, even for the most dedicated, it’s simply just a job."

"In this month’s cover story “Mad Man,” Phil and Jeff, arguably two of our community’s most influential cultural critics, have a conversation about the steady rise of what is now a crucial, frequently updated site on everything Asian American. In the interview, which details Phil’s path as a blogger and activist, I am reminded of all the marquee events that have helped define our wired pan-Asian generation: the budding of ethnic studies, the 90s apex for Asian American print, the spoken word and indie film spike, and of course, soon after, the return of the written word with the birth of the blog."

- Kai Ma, Editor-in-Chief KoreaAm

On Sunday, Asian-American actors Daniel Dae Kim (”Hawaii Five-O”), C. S. Lee (”Dexter”), Harry Shum Jr. (”Glee”), Ellen Wong (”Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”), and Aaron Yoo (”Friday the 13th”) talked casting, graduate school and stereotypes at the Asian Americans in Hollywood panel at the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

In particular, each of the actors stressed that their current status as recognizable faces didn’t happen overnight. Lee and Kim both studied acting at graduate school (Lee at Yale and Kim at NYU; the former even asked latter for advice about where he should go), and Shum Jr explained that he first moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to act. After realizing he could “kinda dance,” he built up his skills and his dancing ultimately took over. (For “Glee” fans, he added: No, he doesn’t really sing as badly as Mike Chang does, and yes, there will a continuing storyline for his character this season).