Asian Americans side with the Supreme Court's decision allowing vote-by-mail

Voting by mail has improved voter participation in US elections.

The US Supreme Court handed Asian American voting rights advocates a major victory on Sept 14, blocking an administration attempt to restrict mail-in ballots ahead of upcoming elections. In a 7-2 decision, the high court left a lower-court injunction in place, preventing sweeping new rules that advocates warned would cause mass confusion.

“You don’t change the rules after the game has started – especially if it means voters will lose. With this ruling, voters won, and the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration yet another loss,” said Aarti Kohli, executive director of Asian Law Caucus. 

“Millions of people who rely on mail-in ballots – many of whom would otherwise have a difficult time voting – will receive their ballots and be able to confidently return them.," Kohli added. "We made our opposition clear because no eligible voter should lose their voice because of a bureaucratic mistake they had no power to prevent. Today, that threat is off the table for this election. Americans can move forward with confidence." 

Only Justices Samuel Alita and Clarence Thomas, Trump loyalists, dissented. In a rare action, the other four conservative justices, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch disagreed with their colleagues and joined the liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagen and Ketanji Brown Jackson to issue the ruling.

The decision means that all 50 states can continue to use their existing processes for mail voting, which have proven for decades to be safe, secure, and reliable.

Hundreds of thousands of mail ballots are already being delivered to eligible voters, with millions more to follow this month. Many Americans rely on mail voting because disability, distance, or work or caregiving schedules make it difficult or impossible to get to their polling site in person.

With the injunction in place, USPS cannot refuse to deliver mail ballots for the November election. Nor can it require states to upload personal voter information into its new and untested online portal. 

The USPS rule that has been blocked by the courts would have put into effect Donald Trump’s March 31 executive order to restrict mail voting.

FYI: For local election guidance, sample ballots, and deadlines, check the National Association of Secretaries of State portal. To verify registration guidelines or look up specific regional election board contacts, you can navigate directly to the U.S. Vote Foundation.

The injunction stems from a lawsuit filed by a coalition of nonpartisan voter service and civic organizations that includes the Asian Law Caucus (ALC), Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)—mobilized quickly to fight the restrictions. 

"For Asian Americans and other voters who disproportionately rely on mail voting—including voters with disabilities and voters with limited English proficiency—this ruling was absolutely critical for securing their ability to vote,” said Ronak Patel, a staff attorney with AALDEF. “We are pleased that the Supreme Court recognized the importance of protecting access to the ballot from the blatant attempts by the Trump Administration to restrict it."

They argued that proposed changes would disproportionately harm naturalized citizens, voters with disabilities, and individuals with limited English proficiency. Community leaders emphasized that Asian Americans rely heavily on vote-by-mail options to safely and accurately review their ballots at home.

View from the edge

Poll after poll indicate that the Republicans are likely to lose control of Congress in November's midterm election.

The attempt to restrict voting by mail is just one of several GOP strategies to make voting harder for minorities and immigrant communities because they tend to lean towards the Democrats. 

The concern was particularly acute in the eight states where voters cast ballots almost entirely by mail: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington.

The "decision is a relief for the millions of voters who count on the mail to make their voices heard including naturalized citizens, voters with disabilities, and limited English proficient voters but it should never have come to this,” said Murtaza Khwaja, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta. 

“This administration keeps manufacturing uncertainty and chaos, testing how far it can go to rig the system against voters. The Supreme Court got this right: states run their own elections, not the White House. We will keep fighting alongside our partners to make sure every eligible voter can cast a ballot and trust that it counts.”

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Olivia Rodrigo’s Vogue Philippines cover shows she’s more than just a ‘Sad Girl’ anthem writer

Olivia Rodrigo wearing the terno on the cover of Vogue Philippines.

We need to talk about Olivia Rodrigo's hauntingly beautiful photo fashion shoot for Vogue Philippines.

When the Filipino American pop singer burst onto the scene three years ago, mainstream media quickly slapped a label on her: the voice of teenage heartbreak, the queen of the "sad girl" ballad. But her recent feature for Vogue Philippines shatters that narrow box. It proves that Rodrigo is a complex, culturally rooted artist stepping fully into her power.

For the Asian American community — and the Filipino diaspora in particular — this photo shoot is not just a high-fashion milestone. It is a profound moment of representation.

Reclaiming the terno, Reclaiming her identity

Stepping onto the cover in an oat-colored traditional terno with its iconic butterfly sleeves—masterfully crafted by Filipino designer Joey Samson—Rodrigo delivers a visual home run. This is not a pop star wearing a costume. This is a Filipino American woman claiming her heritage on a global stage.

By blending pieces from local creators like Dennis Lustico, Inno Sotto, and Bea Valdes with heavy hitters like Chanel and Prada, the spread bridges the gap between the diaspora and the homeland. It subverts the traditional Western gaze, placing Filipino craftsmanship exactly where it belongs: at the pinnacle of global luxury.

Beyond the "Sad Girl" trope: 

Critics love to minimize young women who write about heartbreak, often dismissing Rodrigo’s discography as mere diary entries for the brokenhearted. But look closer at the artistic choices behind this spread. Shot by Szilveszter Makó using hand-painted canvases and physical sets rather than digital manipulation, the imagery demands to be treated as fine art.

If anyone still doubts her substance, they only need to look at her actions off the stage. On Aug. 29, 2026, Rodrigo hosted the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields Music Festival in Irvine, California. Inspired by Sarah McLachlan’s legendary Lilith Fair, Rodrigo curated an all-women lineup — including Chappell Roan, Doechii, and Mitski— who all performed for free to ensure 100% of the proceeds went to charity.

The event was a massive triumph, raising a staggering $20 million for ten nonprofit organizations serving women and girls, including Planned Parenthood, the National Women's Law Center, and the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. 

With a baseline $10 million donation from Rodrigo's own Fund 4 Good initiative matched by philanthropist Melinda French Gates, the festival proved that Rodrigo isn't just venting into a microphone—she is actively organizing, funding, and driving systemic change for women's healthcare, reproductive rights, and economic empowerment.

This creative and philanthropic depth mirrors her musical evolution. As she prepares for her upcoming global tour and rides the wave of her third studio album, “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” Rodrigo is actively subverting the very tropes used to define her. She is taking the raw, emotional storytelling that made her famous and elevating it into a sophisticated exploration of identity, growth, and community resilience.

Photos by Szilveszter Makó

FYI: View the photos in Vogue Philippines. Read the the Olivia Rodrigo feature by visiting the Vogue Philippines Digital Feature or reading the main story on the Vogue Philippines Cover Article.

View from the edge

Beyond the striking aesthetics and the high-fashion editorial credits, Olivia Rodrigo’s cover appearance for Vogue Philippines feels less like a traditional pop-star victory lap and more like a cultural homecoming.

When you juxtapose her ethereal, dreamlike framing by photographer Szilveszter Makó with her real-world advocacy — like launching the all-women Daisy Chain Fields festival and directing the spotlight toward grassroots representation—the entire spread takes on a deeper weight. It reframes the global pop superstar not as an isolated product of Western hit-making machinery, but as an artist actively anchoring her identity in ancestral memory, community, and heritage.

Ultimately, seeing Rodrigo draped in contemporary design alongside nods to traditional terno sleeves does more than sell magazines. It subverts the narrow boxes that mainstream pop culture often tries to force young Asian American women into, proving that true stardom isn't about fitting a sanitized, uniform mold — it's about stepping fully into your roots, owning your multi-faceted power, and rewriting the narrative on your own terms.

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Emmys 2026: Hiro Murai makes history with his Emmy win

EMMY

Hiro Murai wins an Emmy for directing.

Hiro Murai smashed through a television glass ceiling at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. Murai took home the trophy for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.

He won a tan Emmy for helming the premiere episode, "Welcome to Widow's Bay!", of Apple TV+'s freshman horror-comedy Widow's Bay.

The Asan American  community has faced decades of exclusion from major television directing categories. This win marks a major milestone. Murai is the first Asian director ever to win the comedy directing Emmy. 

        FYI: Complete list of Emmy winners

He is only the third Asian director to win an Emmy in any directing category. He joins Lee Sung Jin (Beef) and Hwang Dong-hyuk (Squid Game).

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A decade in the making: 10 Emmy nominations

This historic win was no overnight fluke. Murai has two other Emmys as Executive Producer in other productions. Murai has put in years of groundbreaking work, earning 10 career Emmy nominations along the way: 

• 2018: Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (Atlanta, "Teddy Perkins")
• 2018: Outstanding Comedy Series (Atlanta as Co-Executive Producer)
• 2022: Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (Atlanta, "New Jazz")
• 2022: Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series (Station Eleven, "Wheel of Fire")
• 2023: Outstanding Comedy Series (The Bear as Executive Producer – WON)
• 2024: Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, "First Date")
• 2024: Outstanding Drama Series (Mr. & Mrs. Smith as Executive Producer)
• 2026: Outstanding Comedy Series (Widow's Bay as Executive Producer – WON)

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From music videos to peak TV

Born in Tokyo, Japan, and raised in Los Angeles, Murai first gained widespread acclaim for his surreal visual style in the music video circuit. He directed iconic visuals for artists like Earl Sweatshirt, FKA Twigs, Chet Faker, and Flying Lotus. 

His career-defining partnership with Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) produced the music video "This Is America," which earned him a Grammy Award. That collaboration directly translated to the screen, where Murai helped forge the distinct, dreamlike visual tone of FX's masterpiece Atlanta. He has since lent his signature directorial touch to other prestige hits, including HBO Max's Station Eleven, FX's The Bear, and Prime Video's Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

Other Asian American Emmy winners this year includes:

Joy Ngiaw – Won Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for an Animated Program for Apple TV+'s WondLa, making history as the first Malaysian to secure an Emmy Award.

Jongkun Park – Won Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie as part of the audio production team for Beef.

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Trump's video games are no laughing matter

If you’re looking for a laugh, the official White House video game portal is definitely not the place to find it.

While the Trump administration managed to lose its headline "Build the Wall" game to a swift copyright slap from The Tetris Company, the digital platform is still up and running. And for civil rights advocates, the remaining lineup isn't just bad policy—it’s a deeply disturbing look at how this administration views vulnerable human beings.

The Tetris Company made it clear that the gaming corporation it was not involved in the creation of and was opposed to the politics behind the White House game.

“At Tetris, we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them,” the company wrote in a social media statement on Friday.

“P.P.S. We take copyright infringement very seriously,” it added for good measure.

If you thought "Build the Wall" was out of line, the most toxic piece of digital media, "Rio Run," remains on Arcade.gov. This one takes the dehumanization of immigrants to an entirely new level.

Gamifying human misery

For communities of color who are tired of being used as political punchlines, "Rio Run" is a slap in the face. It’s a cynical rip-off of the classic game Snake, but instead of eating apples, the player controls a pixelated character meant to look like Donald Trump patrolling the Rio Grande.

The goal? Chase down black and brown 8-bit sprites representing migrants. Every time you catch one, they are transformed into orange prison jumpsuits to rack up your "deportation high score."

The rest of the site isn't much better, serving up a bizarre cocktail of policy trolling and vanity projects:

• "Supply Line:" A knockoff of the 1980s classic arcade game Tapper, where players aggressively trash school lunch food that doesn't meet "Make America Healthy Again" rules.

• "Trump Savings Tycoon:":  A basic cash-grab simulator where players literally catch falling diamonds and money bags to fill up a "Trump Account."

• "Flappy Bill:" A Flappy Bird clone featuring an eagle trying to dodge obstacles to fly legislation down the National Mall.

"Stop playing games with Llves"

Civil rights leaders, immigration advocates, and community organizers aren't letting this digital theater slide. They are calling out the portal for what it really is: a psychological tool designed to strip away empathy and desensitize the public to state-sanctioned violence.

Border defense activists have been quick to point out the dark irony. Leaders from groups like the Frontera Federation released scathing statements, noting that the administration has been playing games with real human lives for years, and now they’ve quite literally turned that cruelty into a smartphone app.

The gamification of immigration enforcement erases the complex, painful realities that AAPI immigrants navigate every day:

• Thousands of Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Laotian Americans originally arrived in the US as refugees escaping war and violence. Decades later, many face mandatory deportation due to old legal convictions, returning them to trauma they spent lifetimes trying to survive.

• Being deported often means exiled flight to countries individuals left as infants or young children—places where they may not speak the language, have zero family connections, and lack basic support structures.

View from the edge: Tech giants need to find a spine

The big question now is whether other massive gaming companies will follow the lead of Tetris.

Because Arcade.gov openly steals the visual aesthetics, logos, and mechanics of legendary gaming systems, activists are turning up the heat on corporate giants like Microsoft, Sega, Sony, and Nintendo. The message from the community is clear: if Tetris can stand up for its intellectual property and refuse to let its brand be weaponized for hate, these multi-billion-dollar conglomerates can do the exact same thing.

Meanwhile, community leaders and lawmakers are reminding the public not to lose sight of the bigger picture. While the White House wastes taxpayer time and digital real estate building arcades to troll its critics, real families are still dealing with the crushing weight of inflation and real-world global crises.

Turning enforcement into points-based entertainment dangerousely desensitizes the public—especially younger audiences—to human suffering, further stoking hostility against immigrant communities.

Turning mass deportation into an 8-bit playground might win applause at a rally and give some chuckles to white supremacists, but out here in the real world, the human cost is no game.

To the CEOs of Microsoft, Sega, Sony, and Nintendo: We're watching.

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9/11 anniversary: The towers came down and hate spilled forth

Twenty-five years ago, terrorists attacked America. 

9/11 united us ... and divided us. The comfort of "polite society" is often just a thin veneer for communities of color—a temporary ceasefire that lasts only until the next national crisis. When you compare the aftermath of September 11, 2001, to the COVID-19 pandemic, a clear pattern emerges: public fear is quickly turned into permission to hate.

Post-9/11 backlash

When the towers fell on 9/11, national trauma quickly morphed into open hostility toward anyone who didn't fit a traditional American image. Overnight, visible markers of faith and culture became targets. Muslim women wearing the hijab faced widespread harassment, but the anger didn't stop there. It targeted anyone perceived to be Middle Eastern or South Asian: Sikhs wearing turbans, any male with a dark beard, or people speaking Arabic.

Because of widespread public ignorance, the Sikh American community faced a severe brunt of this misplaced rage. Attacks against Sikh men were the immediate results.

• Explosion in Violence: FBI data showed that anti-Muslim hate crimes jumped over 1,600% in 2001 compared to the previous year.
  
  
• Impact on the Sikh Community: The Sikh Coalition documented over 300 acts of violence and discrimination in the first month alone, driven by attackers who didn't know — or care to know — the difference between a Sikh turban and the images on the news.
  
  
• The Ultimate Cost: Just four days after the attacks, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh gas station owner in Arizona, was murdered simply because of how he looked.
  
  

This hostility soon reached institutions. Discrimination lawsuits filed by the Trump regime's U.S. Department of Justice had to challenge employers like the New York Transit Authority, which tried to force Muslim and Sikh workers to remove their headwear or move out of public view. The message was simple: hide who you are, or stay out of sight.

COVID-19 and the return of old hostilities

Nearly two decades later, COVID-19 brought another massive crisis—this time a public health emergency. Once again, social norms collapsed almost immediately.

The underlying reaction was identical: take a common fear, find an easily identifiable group, and blame them. For Asian Americans, the pandemic revived old, harmful stereotypes of being "outsiders" or carrying disease. When public rhetoric labeled the health crisis the "Chinese Virus," it gave people an excuse to voice prejudice that had previously been kept quiet.

The data captured this sharp rise in hostility:

• Hate Crimes Doubled: Official FBI statistics showed anti-Asian hate incidents rising from 158 in 2019 to 746 in 2021.
  
  
• Widespread Incidents: Community tracking by Stop AAPI Hate logged over 6,600 self-reported cases of verbal abuse, shunning, and violence in the first year alone.
  
  
• Constant Fear: A Pew Research Center survey found that 81% of Asian Americans felt violence against their community was rising. In fact, 36% worried that wearing a protective face mask would draw unwanted suspicion, forcing people to choose between protecting their health and avoiding harassment on the street.
  
  

Pent-up hate broke down civil society.

Breaking the pattern

The Pandora's Box opened by 9/11 is still with us, allmost normalized and seeping into the institutions that were orignally supposed to protect us. 

We see it in the attacks against affirmative action and DEI policies, which weret attempts to open opportunities for people who don't have the economic means

 or have historically been denied thos opportunities;

We see it in the regime's immigration policies which have fallen mainly on people coming from countries other than Europe.

We see it in bureaucratic attempts to make it harder to vote, again falling on communities of color.

We see it in the political gerrymandering whose purpose is to deny ethnic enclaves from having more say on representation and policy making.

We see it in southern states resurrecting the statues extolling Confederate traitors.

We see it in the banning of books that tell the true history of the US or books that question the power structure and continues to perpetuate the myths of a white America

We see it in the threat to drastically reduce federal funding for programs designed to provide health care or services to people who normally can't afford it.

The hate incidents against Asian Americans, especially against South Asians, are continuing. Anti-South Asian slurs and violent threats in extremist online forums doubled between 2023 and 2024, remaining at high levels through 2025, according to data from Stop AAPI Hate.

The 9/11-fueled hate was still fa festering wound when the pandemic hit the US. It was like ripping off the scab and it was simple to expand hate attacks and feed the xenophobic fears against other Asians and Asian Americans. 

The 25th anniversary of attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon reminds us of how fragile social progress is when it relies on superficial politeness rather than real structural change. True safety won't come from waiting for mainstream attitudes to soften; it requires actively dismantling the underlying biases that make minority communities easy targets whenever a crisis strikes.

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