Hailee Steinfeld on Vogue cover: "I carry my Filipino heritage with so much pride"

 

The cover of Vogue Philippines features Hailee Steinfeld

OPINION

Actress Hailee Steinfeld made the cover of Vogue Philippines causing a stir in the Filipino Diaspora most of whom feel overlooked and unappreciated seeking representation

Hailee Steinfeld has been a conunbrum for Filipinos for a while as people debated if the Oscar-nominated actress was Filipino enough.

After gracing the cover of the March issue Vogue Philipppines, she hopes that question is put to bed. 

In the accompanying article, the 28-year old singer and actress said, “I carry my Filipino heritage with so much pride. And I feel like [it’s] deeply rooted in the values that my parents have instilled in both my brother and I: resilience and kindness and a deep sense of family.”

Steinfeld's father is white and her mother is one-forth Filipino. Her maternal grandfather, Ricardo Domasin, was half Filipino (from Panglao, Bohol) and half African, making the star at least one-eighth Filipino because -- lacking information on her maternal grandmother's ethnicity -- she could very well be one-sixteenth Filipino.

Part of excitement in posing for the cover  comes from being able to connect with her supporters and roots in the Philippines. 

Last Friday, Steinfeld shared a post on her Instagram account expressing her excitement about the achievement. She wrote:

"My first Vogue cover… …and Vogue Philippines, no less!! I’ve been dreaming of this. Feeling so grateful and beyond honored. Thank you, @voguephilippines, for this unforgettable moment—I’ll be beaming about it forever." 

Although born and raised in California, the fact that she has chosen to highlight the Filipino part of her background gives Filipinos, who often feel overlooked or unappreciated, a measure of pride that "one of their own" is making a name for herself in a world dominated by whites.

VOGUE PHILIPPINES / GREG SWALES

Hailee Steinfeld is proud of her Filipino heritage

Adding to the debate is that Steinfeld could easily pass for white and simply end the argument about her racial heritage right there. Her skin is not brown enough; her hair is not black enough; her eyes, well her eyes could be a giveaway. And her light complexion gives her an advantage denied people of darker skin color. None of those factors are not her fault.

"Purists" would deny her her heritage because she is not "Filipino enough," whatever that means.

Is there a cutoff point where a person can no longer be proud of their Filipino heritage? Is one-fourth, or one-eigth enough to be called Filipino? Is one-sixteenth? one-thirty-second?

I go by the one-drop rule established by US racist lawmakers in the early 20th century established at the time for determining the racial classification of children of mixed race, mainly directed at racially mixed Blacks (or Negroes).

Hailee Steinfeld has a Filipino among her forebearers, no matter how far back, and she is proud enough to claim her family ties, that should be good enough. Who would deny her of her mother and grandfather?

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

MSNBC axe shows hosted by Asian Americans

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, left, laments the cancellation of shows of (from right)
Alex Wagner, Joy Reid and Katie Phang.

MSNBC's only two Asian American hosts lost their jobs this week in a massive shakeup at the network drawing disappointment and criticism  from the AANHPI communities.

The decision to cancel the shows of Alex Wagner and Katie Phang immediately alarmed some members of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community, which has been historically underrepresented in mainstream media.

"“MSNBC's cancellation of shows hosted by Katie Phang, Alex Wagner, and other people of color is devastating," says a statement released by the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus made up by AANHPI members of Congress and their allies.

Phang and Wagner have been powerful voices, not only as journalists, but also as trailblazers for the Asian American community adding their unique facet to the network news prism.

"These anchors were among the few Asian Americans to host a show on cable television. They told our stories — elevating the voices of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, and those who often go unheard in our society. Their absence is a profound loss for the network," continued the statement from CAPAC.

Wagner and Phang were among the the journalists of color. who lost their shows in the network's shakeup. Most notably was the cancellation of the show hosted Joy Reid, The ReidOut, one of the most visible and outspoken Black television journalists on air. Also getting demoted are Latino host Jose Diaz-Balart, Jose Diaz-Balart Report‚" Black journalist Jonath an Capehart and Egyptian American Ayman Mohyeldin, who will team up to host The Weekend show.

"We are deeply concerned by the reported cancellations of The Katie Phang Show and Alex Wagner Tonight, two platforms that brought insightful analysis, diverse perspectives, and much-needed representation to our media landscape. Katie Phang and Alex Wagner have been powerful voices, not only as journalists, but also as trailblazers for the Asian American community," read a statement from The Asian American Foundation, the largest philanthropic foundation serving the AAPI community,

The loss of Phang and Wagner, a Burmese American, was deeply felt by the AANHPI community seeking for more presence and representation in media.

"We stand with Katie and Alex and remain committed to advocating to ensure that our stories, perspectives, and expertise remain an integral part of the national dialogue. For years, MSNBC and NBC Universal have played a critical role in elevating AAPI talent. As newsrooms work to build credibility with their audiences, we urge networks, producers, and decision-makers to recognize the importance of sustained AAPI representation—not as a trend, but as a necessity."

A 2024 study found that Asian American representation in the TV news workforce was the lowest it had ever been in over a decade. Representation matters. When Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) reporters and experts are at the table, they bring visibility to issues that are too often overlooked, challenge stereotypes, and inspire the next generation.

MSNBC didn't issue an official statement why the hosts lost their shows. The network shakeup was announced by  MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler who has been on the job only a month.

The news didn't sit well with fellow hosts at the network noted for its progressive perspective on the news.

Rachel Maddow, the face of MSNBC, criticized the decision on-air during her show Monday, after the network announced the program changes.She called the move “a bad mistake.” and "unnerving." 

“At a network where we’ve got two—count ’em, two—non-white hosts in primetime, both of our non-white hosts in primetime are losing their shows, as is [Asian host] Katie Phang on the weekend,” Maddow said. “And that feels worse than bad, no matter who replaces them. That feels indefensible, and I do not defend it.”

Kutler insisted Donald Trump's anti-DEI stance nor the new administration's radical conservatism were not factors in the decision. The network's changes were made based on "data analysis and programming strategy" that she believes will 'best position MNSBC for the year ahead, she said.

Election fatigue of viewers disappointed by the November outcome, may have been a factor in the changes as MSNBC overall ratings plummeted after the election. Ironically, as Trump took office in January and began his disastrous and disturbing  dismantling of the federal government, the network's latest ratings show an increase of 77% in viewership.

But you can't discount the expressed desire of SpinCo CEO Mark Lazarus for more Republican voices on the network. SpinCo is made up of mostly NBCU cable channels, which includes MSNBC, alongside Comcast's networks.

In April, as the dust hopefully settles, Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez, the current co-hosts of “The Weekend.”will step nto Reid's 7 p.m. timeslot. 

Taking over Wagner's hour at 9 p.m. will be former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, whose weekend shows have been gaining viewership.

While Reid made it clear she was leaving the network, MSNBC offered other assignments to Wagner and Phang.

Wagner, who "temporarily" lost her show to Maddow in an "experiment" for the first 100 days of the Donald Trump administration, will not be returning to her primetime time slot but reportedly will remain with the channel as a senior political analyst.

Katie Phang, left, often had AANHPI guests on topics rarely discussed by other TV hosts.

Phang - who will remain with MSNBC as a legal correspondent - defended her show. Her goal with the show had been to share 'important conversations with brilliant guests whose insight and analysis elevated the discussion."

Phang, still stung by MSNBC's decision, went on to say that she was "proud" of her three years of broadcasting on the channel.

'I was proud to platform more AAPI voices than any other cable show ever," she added, noting that her show will continue to air for the rest of March. 'I believe in democracy and in an independent Fourth Estate that fiercely guards its ability to hold power to account,' she wrote adding she will remain with the network as a legal analyst.

'Keeping our focus on doing the right thing will bring us out of one of America's darkest times."

'I was, and remain, proud to have been one of the only AAPI hosts with her name on a show," Phang continued. "Representation matters."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

How Asian immigrants to the US resisted pressures to assimilate, creating a vibrant American suburbia

The Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights is the second largest buddhist temple in the Western Hemisphere.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF  'THE CONVERSATION'

This article is adapted from UNASSIMILABLE: An Asian Diasporic Manifesto for the 21st Century, (HarperCollins, January 2025).

By Bianca Mabute-Louie (HarperCollins, January 2025).

I grew up in San Gabriel Valley — also referred to as SGV or the 626. SGV is an ethnoburb — an ethnic enclave — that grew out of the 1970s, with its own economy and ecosystem that includes banks, grocery stores, hair salons and restaurants.

Since many early Asian immigrants to this country were barred from accessing white institutions, working together to build and protect this ethnic ecosystem was a matter of survival and necessity.

Wei Li, a Chinese American geographer, first proposed the term “ethnoburb” to describe the hybridity of ethnic enclaves and middle-class suburbs: suburban ethnic clusters of people and businesses.

The ethnoburb demonstrates that we can create our own power and belonging — without learning English, without participating in white institutions, and Americanizing. It is a communal endeavour, one that requires everybody’s imagination and care.

The ‘Chinese Beverly Hills’

Fuelled by foreign capital, ethnoburb immigrants redefined the entire landscape of the suburb and instigated an economic boom. The growth of Chinese American banking institutions, along with the political and economic factors that prompted the migration of wealthy ethnic Chinese from Taiwan and Hong Kong, played an important role in facilitating the Chinese economic growth in Monterey Park, a city in San Gabriel Valley.

With their resources, Chinese immigrants bought homes and started businesses with distinct Chinese and Vietnamese language signs to cater to fellow Asian transplants. Valley Boulevard, which runs through 10 cities in San Gabriel Valley, became home to Asian-owned malls, commercial plazas, office complexes, shops, hotels and industrial plants, often with trilingual signage in Chinese, Vietnamese and English.

Asian immigrants transformed neglected strip malls into prosperous Asian marketplaces and forged a sense of permanence and community. Monterey Park, and eventually the rest of San Gabriel valley, began to be referred to as “Little Taipei” or the “Chinese Beverly Hills” by journalists and Chinese diasporic media.

By the 1980s, Monterey Park was known as “the first suburban Chinatown,” converting San Gabriel Valley from predominantly white suburbs into an Asian-majority ecosystem with a conspicuous and diverse first-generation, unassimilated immigrant presence.

Bypassing urban Chinatowns for the suburbs

The ethnoburb troubles the American construction of the suburbs as static sites of whiteness and socioeconomic mobility.

The majority of new immigrants, especially those with resources, bypassed urban ethnic enclaves like Chinatown that previously served as immigrant gateway cities and settled immediately into suburbs instead.

Min Zhou, a professor of sociology and Asian American Studies at UCLA, argues that the deliberate preservation of ethnic values, ties and institutions is what actually acclimates non-white immigrants to the U.S.

Zhou also says the direct insertion of new Asian immigrants into traditionally white middle-class suburbs offends the conventional understanding of immigration and assimilation. Ethnoburb immigrants were non-white, didn’t always speak English, made considerably less effort to acculturate into whiteness, and many of them were already educated and affluent. They broke the bounds of the American imagination of an immigrant.

In addition to higher levels of education and incomes, many ethnoburb immigrants also possessed expansive and transnational social networks that shaped their reluctance to acculturate. They did not need to learn English or go through the ethnic enclave to reach a middle-class dream of financial stability.

The ethnoburb was not a “staging ground” for somewhere better or whiter. The ethnoburb was the final desired destination.

In actuality, contrary to popular conceptions, the ethnoburb was not apolitical or insular at all. It was and remains a site of resistance against the confining, white imagination of suburbia. With the emergence of Monterey Park as an Asian ethnoburb, questions over group identity, spatial boundaries, and the character of Monterey Park became politicized.

White hostility in an ‘all-American’ city

Nativist white residents were at the forefront of erecting boundaries of belonging that stigmatized first-generation immigrants. In addition to Asian businesses changing the esthetic and cultural identity of Monterey Park, Asian immigrants took on local politics. This direct insertion of unassimilated Asian immigrants into traditionally white suburbs and its institutions troubled conventional American understandings of who an immigrant is, the norms they should follow, and how they should behave.

On Nov. 8, 1983, Lily Lee Chen, a first-generation immigrant from Taiwan, was inaugurated in Monterey Park as the first Chinese American mayor in the nation. Chen was relatable, charismatic, and not assimilated. The Los Angeles Times described Chen’s speech as “accented with pauses and grammatical errors, characteristic of someone speaking in their second language.”

In another Times article from 1985, Chen told the reporter that she enjoyed dressing in bright reds and jade greens, despite being told by her consultant to look more subdued because her bright colours made her appear “aggressive.” During her campaign, she was met with fierce resistance from white residents, who commonly took down her neighbourhood campaign signs.

As a response, Chen worked tirelessly on voter engagement among Asian Americans and Latinos, publishing multilingual voter handbooks, registering voters, and building relationships with ethnic communities, including working with Cesar Chavez to support the Latinos in Southern California.

The same year as Chen’s election, Monterey Park’s five-member city council became multiethnic, with two Mexican Americans, one Filipino American, one Chinese American, and one white council member.

As Monterey Park became touted as a “successful suburban melting pot” by journalists and even won an “All-American City” award in 1985 for its civic engagement and racial diversity, white flight accelerated and resentment festered among the minority of white residents.

The large influx and increasing influence of Chinese immigrants over a short period of time caused racial tension to build, with mounting struggles over cultural differences, language barriers, and explicit mistrust of immigrants. Chinese businesses, political candidates, religious institutions, and entrepreneurs became racialized targets of nativist animus.

A particularly contentious conflict emerged over the proliferation of business signs in languages other than English. In 1986, white hostility among the remaining white residents swept the council members of colour out of office, and replaced them with three long-established white residents, who promptly launched an anti-immigrant, “English-only” campaign attacking the proliferation of business signage in Chinese.

The “English-only” movement in Monterey Park reflects the struggle to control the identity and narrative of a built environment. It represents the tension between America’s idea of how immigrants should assimilate, and how ethnoburb immigrants instead created their own unassimilable institutions and communities.

Frank Arcuri, one of the Monterey Park residents and community activists who started the “English-only” petition campaign, insisted, “Immigrants are welcome here, but they must realize that English is the language we use in America… They must realize they are making a negative impact on our city. They must adapt to our ways. They must use our language and respect our culture.”

The nativist, inflammatory rhetoric Arcuri employed to speak about immigrants is as American as apple pie, comparable to replacement theory touted by white nationalist conspiracists today.

The English-only conflict illustrates the deeper, ideological tensions behind an increasingly diverse and polyglot constituency, composed of politically active immigrants, and nostalgic white residents desperately (and at times violently) clinging on to institutional power and a homogeneous past.

Asian immigrants defied assimilation theories

Traditionally, sociologists of immigration and assimilation theorists believed that all immigrant groups would eventually assimilate and integrate into white Protestant American institutions, culture, and society. They argued that doing so would be in the best interests of immigrants. They were also all white scholars. For the most part, what they theorized was true for European immigrants.

However, Asian immigrants in the ethnoburb remained proudly unassimilable and trans-national. While the ethnoburb was their final destination, they maintained diasporic ties. Many with socioeconomic privilege shuttled back and forth to their home countries.

It is our diasporic connections to our motherlands and our ethnic communities, not necessarily our assimilation into whiteness, that help us thrive in the U.S.

Bianca Mabute-Louie is a sociology PhD candidate at Rice University.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Yikes! Tulsi Gabbard to head US intelligence operations

SCREEN CAPTURE / CSPAN

Despite security concerns, Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed as Director of US Intelligence.

OPINION

Most of Donald Trump's controversial nominees to head several federal agencies and departments are terrible, but Tulsi Gabbard named as director of US intelligence stands out as seriously worrisome.

Gabbard, a Samoan American and former Democratic Congressmember representing Hawaii, was confirmed by the US Senate today (Feb. 12) with a vote 52 to 48. The Democrats were powerless to overcome the GOP majority and the Republicans, except for one, blindly voted to confirm her.

Only Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., dared to oppose Trump's nominee. After the vote, ne said that Gabbard "failed to demonstrate that she is prepared to assume this national trust."

"The nation should not have to worry that the intelligence assessments the President receives are tainted by a Director of National Intelligence with a history of alarming lapses in judgment," he added. McConnell was the sole Republican vote against her confirmation.

“During President Trump’s first term, he made clear his fondness for certain leaders of the world that are controversial such as Viktor Orban of Hungary, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Kim Jong Un of North Korea. So, he ends up picking a person to run America’s intelligence network who shares similarly terrible judgment on critical security matters," said Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill, in a passionate speech prior to  the Senate vote.

Gabbard 43, is a US Army Reservist who ran for the 2020 Democratic nominee for President. She will be responsible for leading 18 intelligence agencies, including the CIA and military intelligence, and managing billions of dollars in budget.

After her poor showing in her 2020 Presidential campaign, Gabbard continued to move rightward in her views finally becoming a Republican and a Trump endorsee.

As director of national intelligence, Gabbard will have access to top secret information, including US covert activities in foreign countries such as Russia and China, the US's primary global rivals. The department was created after the intelligence failures surrounding the 9/11 terrorist attacks exposed gaping holes in US intelligence gathering operations.

During her confirmation hearings, senators questioned her about her past statements expressing sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, often repeating, word-for-word Russian talking points during her campaign and in her public statements, including the claim that Russia had "legitimate security concerns" justifying Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Gabbard faced pointed questioning about her past defense of Snowden, a former security contractor who leaked classified documents revealing the scope of US surveillance programs.

Facing criminal charges for violating the Espionage Act, Snowden fled the US in 2013 and was granted asylum in Russia.

Some senators were noticeably frustrated at Gabbard’s refusal to call Snowden a traitor.

“Edward Snowden broke the law,” she said. “The fact is he also – even as he broke the law – released information that exposed egregious, illegal and unconstitutional programs.”

Gabbard, who generally expresses isolationist views, also traveled to Syria to meet with ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, a visit that drew criticism from the GOP and Democrats because of his widespread human rights abuses during his regime.

Despite major misgivings, the Republicans approved Trump's choice.

"Tulsi Gabbard is infamous for defending despots and other autocratic leaders in the world—including Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad—and traitors to the United States such as Edward Snowden. And her fondness for these oppressive, anti-democratic regimes does not go unreciprocated—they know her (and) they like her,” Durbin continued.

Gabbard also travelled to Syria in 2017 to meet with now-ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, a move that drew bipartisan condemnation given the accusations of widespread human rights abuses under his leadership.

During her confirmation hearings, Gabbard faced pointed questioning about her past defense of Snowden, a former security contractor who leaked classified documents revealing the scope of US surveillance overseas.

Facing criminal charges for violating the Espionage Act, Snowden fled the US in 2013 and was granted asylum in Russia.

Some senators, including a few Republicans, were particularly frustrated at Gabbard’s refusal to call Snowden a traitor.

“Edward Snowden broke the law,” she said. “The fact is he also – even as he broke the law – released information that exposed egregious, illegal and unconstitutional programs.”

Gabbard is infamous for defending despots and other autocratic leaders in the world—including Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad—and traitors to the United States such as Edward Snowden. And her fondness for these oppressive, anti-democratic regimes does not go unreciprocated—they know her [and] they like her,” Durbin continued.

Durbin highlighted examples on the floor of the anti-democratic regimes who are cheering for Gabbard’s confirmation—including hosts of Russian media who believe her nomination will “dismantle America,” and some on Russian state channels have even referred to her as their “girlfriend,” said Durbin. 

"Russian state TV also called her a Russian 'comrade' in President Trump’s emerging cabinet. A pro-Putin propagandist Vladimir Soloviev once called Gabbard “our friend.” Later, when asked if she was “some sort of Russian agent?” Soloviev replied: 'yes.' In a profile in a Russian state newspaper, it said of Gabbard’s nomination: 'The C.I.A. and the F.B.I. are trembling,' noting that Ukrainians consider her 'an agent of the Russian state.'"

Apparently, Durbin's legitimate security concerns were not enough to sway the Trump loyalists, formerly known as the Republican Party.

With Gabbard taking over the intelligence agencies, overseas assets, particularly in Russia, will be fearing for their lives if Gabbard releases their identities.

Putin must be raising a toast of vodka with the confirmation of Gabbard.

Durbin concluded his statement: "Tulsi Gabbard would not be qualified for an entry-level position within our intelligence community. And she is not qualified to lead it. Period. Some of the President’s cabinet nominees are hard to imagine because they are so unqualified. But for the position of DNI—putting someone unqualified in charge is not funny at all. It is life or death dangerous.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

California's AG Rob Bonta steps away from Governor's race

California Attorney General Rob Bonta would support Kamala Harris if shee runs for governor.

California's Attorney General Rob Bonta has decided to pull his name from the growing list of candidates vying for the next governor.

Bonta, who is the first Filipino Amrican AG for California, has been attorney general since 2021 and been deemed a strong candidate for governor since Gov. Gavin Newsom terms out in 2026.

Bonta on Wednesday expressed support for the possible gubernatorial campaign of former Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a Politico report.

"I would support her if she ran, I’ve always supported her in everything she’s done, She would be field-clearing,” he told Politico.

Bonta noted he was considering running for governor last year, but changed his mind after Donald Trump defeated Harris for President, reports Politico. At the time, he was polling second among Democrats likely to become California's governor.

Former Vice President Harris, now residing in Los Angeles, has not formally announced what her future plans are: whether to run for governor of her home state or make another run for President in 2028.

“I am staying in the fight,” she repeated during a phone call interview with Politico. But she did not elaborate, thus keeping her options open.

Some high-profile Californians have already declared their candidacy or considering a run for the state's top post. Besides Harris, they include: former Congressmember Katie Porter, Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmon, former State Controller Betty Yee and state Sen. Toni Atkins.

Despite dropping out of the Governor's race, Bonta's profile continues to rise since Trump took office Jan. 20 and has embraced his role as a outspoken protector of the civil rights of minorities and immigrants and defender of the US Constitution. In the almost three weeks since the inauguration, he has put himself in the frontline of the resistence against Trump. Bonta has filed and joined lawsuits against a number of Trump's executive order alowing other Democratic leaders such as Newsom to develop a more measured relationship with the unpredictable Trump.

Most recently, on Monday, Feb. 10, Bonta joined with 22 other Attorneys General filed a legal challenge against Trump's attempt to freeze up to $3 trillion in federal funding, including funding for former President Biden's Inflation Reducation Act and Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act. The courts agreed with the AGs and granted an injunction against the Trump action. However, Trump continues to ignore the court ordered injunction.

“The Trump Administration continued to improperly freeze vital federal funding more than a week after a court ordered it not to, jeopardizing California’s efforts to strengthen domestic energy security and the construction of critical infrastructure projects,” said Bonta. 

“No Administration is above the law. In every case we’ve filed to date, state attorneys general have successfully restrained the President’s abuse of executive power – and we will continue to hold him accountable; our democratic institutions depend on it. The court’s decision today is unequivocal: The Trump Administration must fully comply with the court’s order and immediately restore all federal funding while our litigation continues."

Bonta is the son of immigrantss from the Philippines. His parents fled the Philippines in 1972 during the martial law regime of strongman Ferdinand Marcos. In the US, they became involved with the United Farm Workers, working for the rights and improved working conditions of the largely immigrant agricultural work force. They instsilled a sense of justice in their son, which is why he became a lawyer, a State Assemblymember and finally his corrent justice as California's top attorney.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Critics Choice: Jon Chu wins Best Director for 'Wicked;" "Shogun" shines

Jon M. Chu was surprised at winning the Critics Choice award for Best Director.

Though overlooked by the Oscars, the motion picture critics named Jon M. Chu as their choice for Best Director for his work on Wicked.

Accepting his award, Chu caused the audience to gasp when he joked, I'm gonna win tht Oscar! at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards. “I’m not nominated, I’m not nominated,” he quickly addedsai as the crowd laughed at his soft jab at the upcoming Academy Awards.

"You don’t get a lot of times to celebrate when you’re making a movie. Ninety-five percent of the time, you’re torturing yourself and you have your cast and your crew every day sort of pulling you forward and building another bridge to get over the next thing,” Chu said. “So when a movie comes out and you see the world embrace it, that is everything to us as storytellers.”

FYI: For complete list of winners of the Critics Choice Awards

He continued, "It means the world to me personally and, for this movie, I think it deserves to be seen. I think it deserves to be loved and praised in all the ways - because it's the work of thousands of people, of human hands building every set piece, and all the work of the girls. It's been the journey of my life to witness that personally."

Clearly surprised at winning because most of his fellow nominees are also Oscar nominees, the Chinese American director went on to thank his family and cast: “This is for all the people who love artists. It’s a hard life to love an artist. We are selfish people. We are weird. But you guys pick us up ... America is the greatest place in the world. Yes, we have our issues. It’s the greatest place where dreams can come true. We can achieve stuff my parents could have never dreamed.”

In all, Wicked won a total of three awards. Besides Chu's Best Director nod, the movie won awards for Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales for Best Production Design, as well as Paul Tazewell for Best Costume Design.

For television productions, Shogun followed its big night at the Emmy's and the Golden Globes by taking home Critics Choice awards for Best Drama Series, Best Actor ina Drama Series for Hoyuki Sanada, Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Tadanobu Asano and Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Moeka Hoshi.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Report: Asian Americans have the longest life expectancies in the US

Asian Americans live longer than any other group in the nation, says a new study.

I was surprised when I heard from our county health workers that residents from Orinda, a financially high-end community lived 10 years longer than Bay Point, a  community I worked with, even though the two communities were only 20 miles apart.

The difference being that Bay Point was low-income and made up primarily by Latino and Black working families.

According to a recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Asian Americans have the longest life span than any other ethnicity in the United States and most of the world. For many Asian Americans, it’s around 84 — on par with life expectancies in Japan and Switzerland.

In contrast, the life expectancy among Native Americans in the western United States has dropped below 64 years, close to life expectancies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti.

“As long as we have these really severe disparities, we’re going to have this very low life expectancy,” said Kathleen Harris, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina. “It should not be that way for a country as rich as the US.”

Called “Ten Americas,” the analysis published late last year in The Lancet found that “one’s life expectancy varies dramatically depending on where one lives, the economic conditions in that location, and one’s racial and ethnic identity.” 

FYI: Read the Kaiser Family Foundation analysis

One of the reasons for the lifespan disparity may be education. A greater portion of the Asian American community are college educated.

“People with more education are more likely to seek out and adhere to health advice,” said Ali Mokdad, an epidemiologist at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, and an author of the paper. Education also offers more opportunities for full-time jobs with health benefits.

As I learned from my California county health department, another reason for the difference in life expectancy is the environment. While Orinda was a a lovely community with winding streets, homes in large lots and plenty of trees and parks.

Until recently, unincorporated Bay Point  had industrial chemical plants spewing pollutants that were harmful to the health of the residents. It's residents won a lawsuit against one industrial plant and has been 

Household income certainly played a role in the differences. “Money allows you to take steps to take care of yourself,” Mokdad said. The rich community in my county had an average household income of $250,000 while the Bay Point's household income average was slightly above $80,000.

Residents of the rich community have access to the best health insurance, best doctors and most importantly, the ability to take time off of work to tend to their health needs.

The group with the highest incomes in most years of the analysis was predominantly composed of white people, followed by many Asians. The latter, however, maintained the highest rates of college graduation, by far. About half finished college, compared with fewer than a third of other populations.

The study suggests that education partly accounts for differences among white people living in low-income counties, where the individual income averaged less than $32,363. Since 2000, white people in low-income counties in southeastern states — defined as those in Appalachia and the Lower Mississippi Valley — had far lower life expectancies than those in upper midwestern states including Montana, Nebraska, and Iowa. (The authors provide details on how the groups were defined and delineated in their report.)

Heart disease, car fatalities, diabetes, Covid-19, and other common causes of death are directly to blame. But research shows that the conditions of people’s lives, their behaviors, and their environments heavily influence why some populations are at higher risk than others.

As one can see in the accompanying chart, there was a sharp decline between 2019 and 2022. The US experienced a sharper decline and a slower rebound in life expectancy than pther countries, on average, due to increased mortality and premature death rates in the US from the pandemic. Updated life expectancy estimates in this chart collection show that in 2023, life expectancy in the US returned to pre-pandemic levels, but, on average, remains lower than that of comparable countries.

The worsening health of specific populations is a key reason the country’s overall life expectancy — at 75 years for men and 80 for women — is the shortest among wealthy nations.

Despite the tendency for US residents to believe their country is No. 1 in all aspects of living including healthcare. However, the Kaiser findings should have Americans questioning their healthcare ecosystem of private insurers and private hospitals overseen by the profit-motivated pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Perhaps, most disturbingly, among peer nations, the US has the highest per person healthcare spending, reaching an estimated $13,432 per capita in 2023. However, the higher spending on healthcare in the US. did not translate into longer lifespans. Healthcare spending has grown faster in the US than in peer countries, while life expectancy grows more slower in the US. than in peer countries. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

 

DOGE taking over government, seeks private financial info of millions of Amerians

WIKI COMMONS

Protests against the Elon Musk Dept. of Government Efficiency springs up nationwide.

OPINION

A coup is happening and most Americans don't even know the United States' democracy is under attack.

"An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government," a post on Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer's X account states, echoing remarks the lawmaker made during a press conference.

Through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, is Elon Musk getting the private information of millions of American taxpayers and Social Security beneficiaries?

That's a question that so-far has gone unanswered after Musk employeess, we don't even know of the workers of DOGE are government employees or part of Musk's private squad of techies?

That leads to the next question: What will DOGE/Musk do with that information? Who is looking over their shoulders to make sure they don't misuse the financial information for nefarious reasons, like lining the pockets of private billionaires?

The  ethos of the new technology: "move fast and break things," is running smackdab into the government's complicated and sometimes plodding process of gathering 360-degree input from interested parties including the public, which is designed to counter backroom deals by ensuring transparency.

"DOGE is not a real government agency," Schumer continued. "DOGE has no authority to make spending decisions. DOGE has no authority to shut programs down or to ignore federal law. DOGE’s conduct cannot be allowed to stand. Congress must take action to restore the rule of law." 

Musk was quick to respond on X: “Hysterical reactions like this is how you know that DOGE is doing work that really matters.”

Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts to slash government waste and streamline the federal bureaucracy include the hiring of several up-and-coming young software engineers tasked with "modernizing federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity."

Two of the six men, who are between the ages of 19 and 24, are Asian Americans, Akash Bobba and Ethan Shaotran. One of them, Edward Coristine, is a recent high school graduate is only 19 years old. The others given almost unlimted power and access to sensitive information are Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, andGavin Kliger.

The six young men's bios tell us how brilliant they are in technology, but not their knowledge of government processes. Being smart does not necessarily mean one is  automatically wise or discerning.

The six young men are one part of the more wide ranging goal of Musk's people  taking over key government positions. Already, Musk’s lackeys—including more senior staff from xAI, Tesla, and the Boring Company—have taken control of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and General Services Administration (GSA), and have gained access to the Treasury Department’s payment system, potentially allowing him access to a vast range of sensitive information about tens of millions of citizens, businesses, and more, reports Wired magazine.

“To the extent these individuals are exercising what would otherwise be relatively significant managerial control over two very large agencies that deal with very complex topics,” Nick Bednar, a professor at University of Minnesota’s school of law, tells Wired. “it is very unlikely they have the expertise to understand either the law or the administrative needs that surround these agencies.”

"DOGE is fulfilling President Trump’s commitment to making government more accountable, efficient and, most importantly, restoring proper stewardship of the American taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars," a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

"Those leading this mission with Elon Musk are doing so in full compliance with federal law, appropriate security clearances and as employees of the relevant agencies, not as outside advisors or entities," the spokesperson continued. "The ongoing operations of DOGE may be seen as disruptive by those entrenched in the federal bureaucracy, who resist change. While change can be uncomfortable, it is necessary and aligns with the mandate supported by more than 77 million American voters."

Democrats don't have the votes in either chamber of Congress, the Supreme Court has six solidly extreme conservative Justices and with Trump and Musk ignoring lawsuits and violating the Constitution purging the government of independent thinkers, it appears that the US is moving towards an authoritarian regime.

Thankfully, there are signs that the resistance to Trump's and Musk's actions is growing.

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• AANHPI advances come to a screeching halt under Trump
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On Sunday, CNN reported that DOGE personnel attempted to improperly access classified information and security systems at the US Agency for International Development and that top USAID security officials who thwarted the attempt were subsequently put on leave. The Associated Press reported that DOGE personnel had indeed accessed classified material.

 On Monday,  (Feb. 3) Democrats staged a protest outside USAID.The next day about a thousand people, including a dozen members of Congress, staged a protest outside the Treasury Department's offices against DOGE's questionable actions.  

On the same day, a loosely organized protest, Day Without Immigrants, was held with demonstrations scattered across the country to draw opposition against Trump's mass deportations. Protesters closed roads and some businesses closed as acts of sympathy.

On Wednesday, rallies were held across the US at state capitols drawing thousands of demonstrator protesting Trump's executive orders that temporarily halted federal grants, the withholding of funding for USAID projects around the world basically neutralizing the US efforts to counter China's growing influence in the world through its Belt and Road initiative.

Members of Congress joining the protest, including Maxine Waters, Al Green, Ayanna Pressley, and senators Chuck Schumer, Jeff Merkley and Richard Blumenthal. JRep. asmine Crockett, D-Texas, addressed the demonstrators: “We are not going to sit around while you go and desecrate our constitution. We are going to be in your face and on your asses!”

Blumenthal stated what many fear: “Every American’s information is at risk. What does Elon Musk do with everything he touches? He makes money!”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.