L.A. seeks to save Asian/American's historically significant sites.

Photograph: Wapacman at English Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

This monument for L.A.'s Filipinotown could be listed as a historic site of significance.

WITH ASIAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH  just a few weeks away, Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources has launched an initiative that could help preserve the history of the city's Asian/Americans.

The OHR is working on a historic context document that will identify sites of importance to Filipino-American, Chinese-American, Japanese-American and Thai-American groups, all of whom are currently underrepresented among official historical and cultural landmarks. 

To help fill that gap, the OHR was recently given a $72,000 grant by the National Park Service to fund the research. 

At the meeting of the Filipino/American community - held at the Edendale Branch Library, near historic Filipinotown - city officials explained their hope that community members would  help them identify the business, religious institutions, residences and other physical landmarks that should be nominated for preservation.

“I don’t think many people realize how impactful Filipinos were and are in Los Angeles, and it’s nice to see [the city] make some kind of account of our history here,” community member Ronald Bonilla told the Asian Journal. 

One of the City of Angel's original founders is Antonio Miranda Rodriguez, who was born in Sonora, Mexico and whose father is a "Manila Man."

Los Angeles is home to the largest Filipino population outside of the Philippines, and now that influence on local culture is being recognized as part of a city program to create an archive of things that are historically significant to the Filipino-American community in L.A. as well as other Asian-American groups in the city.

Identifying these landmarks for preservation now is particularly important to many activists because they’re concerned that, as gentrification continues to push through the city, the physical landmarks of immigrant communities may make way for high-end residences or shopping enclaves.

After the Asian/American historic context document is complete, OHR will work with all the communities to capture and preserve locations important to the themes of civil rights, labor history, segregation and cultural development.

While the meetings have already been held with the Chinese/American, Filipino/American and Thai/American communities, there are still opportunities to provide input or gather more information. The remaining meetings include:

Korean American Historic Context meeting - April 22
Japanese American Historic Context meeting - May 6

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AANHPI Heritage Month: A timeline of Asian America

ON THE EVE of May - Asian American & NativeHawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month - DiversityInc posted this historical timeline of Asians in America.

It is by no means complete. For instance, it left out the first recorded landing of Asians on the North American continent in 1587. However, it's a good jumping-off point for further study. We need to remember those who came before us and how far we still have to go.

Share it with your employers - or, share it with your employees. They all could benefit from knowing a little bit more about the community of which you're a part. Whether you are deeply involved or lingering around the edges, it is something you can't deny because others will always link you with it.

For students, share it with your history teachers. In most U.S. history classes, particularly in high school and middle school, Asians and Asian Americans barely get mentioned.

Time to change that.

EDITOR'S NOTE; For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

REVIEW: Salonga shines in 'Allegiance'

IT WAS the second performance of Allegiance, the Broadway musical inspired by the experiences of Star Trek's George Takei's family at the internment camps during World War II.

The show had debuted on a couple of days before and there was some discussion whether the lukewarm reviews would hamper attendance.

When I arrived, those doubts disappeared as I joined a long line outside the Longacre Theater and people were genuinely excited about the musical. It was a typical New York theater crowd, a lot of diversity but there was definitely more-than-usual number of Asian/Americans in the audience.

The story is a dark chapter in American history that needs to told and retold to expose the power of paranoia, xenophobia and unrelenting fear. Recent events in Paris and the reaction of some American leaders make the story more relevant to today's audiences.

For many in the audience familiar with the events of WWII, it was a refresher course. It brought the story of injustice and internment from an abstract to a human level. But for the majority of the non-Asian audience who just wanted to experience Broadway theater, Allegiance ma;y have tried to do too much. 

There was so much happening in the internment camp and the interpersonal relationships, love stories (including an interracial couple), the rising resistance and division among the internees, the political shenanigans in Washington DC between the members of the Japanese American Civilian League and Congress, the exploits of the the heroic 442nd Japanese American Regiment in Europe and, oh yeah, throw in dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, too. 

All together, it may have been all been a bit complex and overwhelming. This is all rich dramatic material full of inspirational moments but those moments got lost in the mishmash of so much happening that the big events cancelled each other out as what could have been high points in the storyline.

There's no doubt, Lea Salonga made a triumphal return to Broadway. Her performance  reminded everyone why she was such a hit in shows such as Miss Saigon and Les Miserable. Allegiance took advantage of having Salonga cast as the female lead and took every opportunity to show off her singing.

As good as Salonga's performance was, along with her cast mates Telly Leung, Michael Lee, Christopher Nomura, Greg Watanabe and Katie Rose Clark, Jay Kuo's lyrics and music did them no favors.

There was not a single song that was memorable, that brought a tear to your eye, brought you to your feet or had you humming after the show. Even "Higher" written especially to showcase Salonga fail ed to reach the level of showstopper. Kuo's music and numbers didn't hurt the production but it also didn't help it reach the level.

Besides Salonga, Leung's contagious energy and Nomura's powerful deep baritone were pleasant surprises.

Takei's dual roles in the show, as the elder Sammy and the elder Ochi-san, marked his debut on Broadway. Though he is not a singer, he showed a flare for comedic timing and exhibited a strong stage presence.

In fact, the cast was uniformly excellent and there was an artistic commitment to the material. What Allegiance demonstrates, and what revivals of King and I, Flower Drum Song and the recently departed Here Lies Love proves, is that there is an abundance of talent within the Asian American theater community.

**** (out of 5 stars) Go and see it!

Telly Leung led one of the few high-energy production numbers in "Allegiance."

TV's first Filipino American family debuts on 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'

Josh Chan (played by Vicente Rodriguez III, far right) introduces his Filipino/American family.

'CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND," continues to make Filipino/American history. 

I don't have the resources to verify this, but the musical-comedy's Thanksgiving episode airing this Monday (Nov. 16) on the CW Television Network, will feature, for the first time (to my knowledge):

• A Filipino/American family. Yes! There have been Filipino/American characters on American TV before but this is the first time that an entire family has been presented to a nationwide audience adding more dimension to the male lead's character.

And for only the second time:

• Dinaguan. Yes that tasty pork stew sometimes described as "chocolate meat" to soften the shock of non-Filipinos when they discover that it is pork stewed in pork blood. Don't knock it until you've tried it. The first time dinaguan appeared on network TV was during an episode of ER.

The character Josh Chan, played by Filipino American actor Vincent Rodriguez III, is the object of the title character's scary obsession. 

Up to now, not much is known about Josh but as the series has gone on, we've learned that his father is a radiologist and that he confides in his Filipino/American priest known as Fr. Brah played by the writer Rene Gube, who is also a writer for the show.

The Filipino angle has not been exploited on Crazy. The inter-racial relationship between Josh and Rebecca (played by creator Rachel Bloom) has not been an issue.  The relationship between the would-be romantic leads is between a crazy wannabe (perhaps mentally unbalanced) girlfriend and a hunk.

RELATED: Asian male stereotype battered in Crazy ex-Girlfriend

The premise of the show: Rebecca, a successful New York lawyer, who in a fit of dissatisfaction, follows a former not-quite boyfriend across the country to suburban West Covina, CA, where, not-so-coincidentally, Filipinos make up the largest ethnic group.

Does that sound like your typical girl-meets-boy love story? Far from it! That's what makes this show a delight. It's edgy and willing to tackle topics that most vapid sitcoms would steer away from (i.e. a father's love for her daughter "that sounds creepy" musical number on last week's episode.)

Creating an Asian male to be the object of Rebecca's unhealthy obsession is such a risk. Having his Filipino/American story fill out is exciting for those of us who grew up with similar immigrant families who up to now have been totally absent from the American consciousness. And now we're about to meet his family. America gets a peek into a slice of our country most of them have never seen.

Mabuhay, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend!

Here's a trailer followed by another short scene from this ground-breaking episode:

RELATED: Vote for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend for Peoples Choice Award

Ethnic studies bill vetoed by California governor

CALIFORNIA'S governor misses the point of ethnic studies. I'm disappointed that last week, California's Gov. Brown vetoed AB 101, which would have required developing a curriculum of ethnic studies in in California schools.

Brown called the bill unnecessary and "redundant" because, he says, ethnic studies guidelines are already being devised for California's schools.

Brown can be so frustrating sometimes. He is progressive enough to approve a ban for schools to use of a derogatory name for the First Americans for their school mascot or athletic team; but then he'll turn around and not see the value of ethnic studies and why it needs legislation.

California's students will have to wait until college before they are introduced to "real" history, before they realize that people of color can write books, invent things to improve our quality of life or that the white perspective is not the only way to look at the world, not only in a social context but also in other areas such as STEM, the economy or politics.

I attended a high school that is highly diversified. Today, no ethnic group holds the majority. In my work I come across graduates from my alma mater who agree that one of the most valuable things they learned by attending this California high school is how to get along with all kinds of different peoples. They felt that high school experience prepared them for the real world.

As our high schools become more segregated by the haves and have-nots; which more times than not, translates to mean white-majority schools vs. schools with a majority of its students are Latino, Asian or African/Americans; it becomes even more critical that we learn about each other, our different perspectives, our diverse culture and the different roads we travel on.

It is not divisive as some critics have claimed. If anything, it makes us more aware and that simplistic explanations for the way some people were treated, i.e. the Japanese internment during World War II, were not that simple.

Until our schools teach history - with all its flaws as well as its accomplishments and stops ignoring the impact of those flaws on people of color - we will need ethnic studies to counterbalance the warped view that is currently being presented to our students. Waiting for college to become enlightened may be too late because not everybody goes to college.

The carrying on by supporters of presidential candidate Donald Trump and the totally inaccurate statements by other GOP candidates is the product of the one-sided point of view presented by today's history texts.

The accurate telling of history is even more critical today when conservative activists are trying to rewrite history by soft-pedaling slavery,  i.e. calling African captives brought to the U.S. "workers" instead of "slaves;" saying the cause of the Civil War was over "states rights" instead of "slavery."

In California's public schools today, there are more students of color than whites. Are we telling the "minorities" - or the new majority - that their histories don't matter? How does that shape their place in the world? Are they forever grateful to the Euro/Americans for allowing us to live in the world that textbooks tell us was created by Europe's descendants? Do think less of themselves because their writers, thinkers, scientists, activists and educators aren't worth mentioning in the school books?

If this bill was in effect, it would not have been necessary for Assemblymember Rod Bonta to introduce a bill mandating that the Filipino role in the 1965 Grape Strike be included in the studies of labor or history.

We urge the authors of AB 101, led by author Assemblymember Luis Alejo, to reintroduce this measure in the next session.

The proposal to teach ethnic studies in our schools is not some radical proposal. The social and academic value of ethnic studies curricula is well documented. We Americans are not always the good guys. Knowing that we're not always on the right side teaches us humility and maybe it keeps us from using our military might to intervene where we have no business being. Everyone benefits, in all disciplines, when the truth is told.

Were Chinese explorers in America 3,300 years ago?

American Southwest petroglyphs is ancient Chinese script, says researcher.

RESEARCHER JOHN RUSKAMP has found evidence that Chinese explorers may have visited North America 3,300 years ago, centuries before Christopher Columbus landed on a Caribbean island thinking he had discovered a route to China. If his evidence survives scientific scrutiny, our country's historic turn towards Europe may do an about face.

He presents as evidence a series of petroglyphs that he says is actually ancient Chinese writings in the American southwest. He claims they indicate Asians were present in the Americas around  1,300 BC - nearly 2,800 years before Italian explorer Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

He said: "These ancient Chinese writings in North America cannot be fake, for the markings are very old as are the style of the scripts. 'As such the findings of this scientific study confirm that ancient Chinese people were exploring and positively interacting with the Native peoples over 2,500 years ago.

"The pattern of the finds suggests more of an expedition than settlement."

The 82 petroglyphs he discovered in scattered sites in New Mexico, California, Oklahoma, Utah, Arizona and Nevada appear to be an ancient script that was used by the Chinese after the end of the Shang Dynasty.

Ruskamp published an academic paper on the subject on his website in April and that is being peer reviewed.

One of his supporters is MacArthur Foundation Genius Award recipient Dr. David Keightley, an expert on Neolithic Chinese civilization at the University of California, Berkley. He has been helping to decipher the scripts found carved into the rocks.

Translation: “Set apart (for) 10 years together.”(Courtesy of John Ruskamp)

One of the series of ancient rock writings in Arizona indicates that the expedition may have been exploring America for ten years. It translates: "Set apart (for) 10 years together; declaring (to) return, (the) journey completed, (to the) house of the Sun; (the) journey completed together."

Dr. Michael Medrano, chief of the Division of Resource Management for the Petroglyph National Monument, has also studied the petroglyphs found by Mr Ruskamp. He told the Epoch Times: "These images do not readily appear to be associated with local tribal entities ... they appear to have antiquity to them."

There is a school of thought that maintains that Asian mariners arrived in the Americas before Columbus based on DNA similarities of Asian and native peoples and the pottery style of the indigenous people in Central and South America that resemble Asian pottery. 

However, barring archaeological evidence of a settlement or pottery shards, historians are reluctant to change their Eurocentric views of who "discovered" a land already populated by the original peoples who most likely, everyone agrees, journeyed to the Americas during one of the Ice Ages when there was a land bridge between Asia and Alaska. 

RELATED: Maps show we're a nation of immigrants

But consider what an ancient Chinese expedition might have looked like over 3000 years ago. (About the time that King Tutankhamen ruled ancient Egypt.) The explorers far from their home  would not have heavy equipment or pots with them. Besides the clothing they wore, they would carry wooden implements and weapons. All of it perishable or subject to deterioration over time. They would travel as light as possible therefore not leaving the "hard evidence" that would confirm their presence.

It also shows that contrary to popular belief, Europeans were not the only one with brave people willing to go into the unknown and that Asians were also also explorers, curious and daring.

If the petroglyphs are accepted as authentic, Ruskamp's findings could force another round of fierce debates among historians, archaeologists and other scientists over who really "discovered" America.

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Seattle apologizes for past discrimination against Chinese

The entrance to Seattle's Chinatown.

SEATTLE became one of the few cities in America to issue an apology for its racist past, specifically, the actions taken against the Chinese during the 19th century.

Sponsored by Council member Nick Licata, he said the resolution was presented to him by  the Organization of Chinese Americans-Asian Pacific American Advocates, and the Chinese American Citizens Alliance. 

The city council passed the resolution on July 2, perhaps the first of its kind in the nation.

“Discriminatory policies ripple from the past and still affect Chinese communities today. Awareness and recognition of shameful policies in our history is the first step to moving forward together,” Licata read from a statement.

"In the 1800s, a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment swept the United States including Washington Territory. Federal immigration laws were enacted to limit the number of Chinese in the United States, and to restrict their status by denying them the right to bring their families to join them and denying them the right to become U.S. Citizens. Local jurisdictions also passed Anti-Chinese legislation that were intended to restrict their ability to remain in the United States, and to economically support themselves. 

Visitors are greeted by dragons upon
entering Seattle's International District,
which includes Chinatown.

"Anti-Chinese sentiment erupted into physical violence in many locations including Seattle where the Chinese were forcibly removed.

"Despite these hardships, the Chinese continued to positively contribute to the growth and development of Seattle and established a community known in Seattle that continues to this day.

"Consistent with the City’s commitment to Race and Social Equity, this Resolution acknowledges this history, the significant positive contributions past and present of the Chinese to this City and re-affirms the City’s commitment to the civil rights of all people." 

The history of discriminatory anti-Chinese legislation began in Washington Territory, before statehood in 1889. The Territory passed measures that denied Chinese the right to vote in 1853; a poll tax in 1864; and a law prohibiting Chinese from owning land. The US Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, among other discriminatory acts.

In this environment, the Seattle City Council passed three discriminatory laws directed against Chinese in 1885, relating to living space, commercial licenses, and public laundries. In 1886, an anti-Chinese riot took place in Seattle, and a mob of 1500 forced 350 Chinese to leave Seattle. This was part of a regional and national pattern.

“The resolution is a strong and powerful statement that expresses gratitude for the contributions of the Chinese and denounces the racial discrimination towards the early Chinese pioneers,” said Doug Chin, board member of the Organization of Chinese Americans-Asian Pacific American Advocates. “It also recognizes the role of the Chinese in the history of this city and will make us feel that we are a valuable and integral part of Seattle.”

Previously, the City of Tacoma, Washington issued a similar apology as did the U.S. Congress and the State of California.

Last year, the council did away with the celebration of Oct. 12 as Columbus Day and turned it into Indigenous People's Day.

"If we are to address persistent issues of racial and economic inequality in Seattle, we must acknowledge the institutional racism of our past," said Mayor Ed Murray. "I commend the Council for making this statement of regret about our City's painful history of legal racial discrimination."


If it is seemingly impossible to have a national conversation on race, there is nothing to prevent local governments, especially in California (yes, I mean L.A. and S.F.), from following Seattle's example.

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The International Hotel lives on: funding needed for community programs

IT HAS BEEN 38 years since the forceful eviction of scores of elderly Filipinos and Chinese from San Francisco's International Hotel, the last bastion of old Manilatown.

The Manilatown Heritage Foundation was founded in 1994 to preserve the legacy of the historic Manilatown district of San Francisco and to preserve the legacy of the 1977 International Hotel Eviction. 

The foundation currently produces family-friendly, working-class affordable and community-sustaining educational programs in the areas of Arts & Culture, Historic Manilatown History & Legacy, Health & Wellness and Affordable Housing Advocacy.

In order to continue to offer these services and programs the foundation has launched a fundraiser through Booster, so even if you're in Europe, Alaska, Chicago or the Eastern Seaboard, you can help keep these programs free. The goal is to raise $5000 by August 18. The first 50 donations will get a commemorative yellow t-shirt with the iconic I-Hotel logo used during the struggle to preserve the hotel.

Originally used in the 1970s as a symbol of community solidarity around the I-Hotel eviction protests, the Tiger Logo is an iconic symbol for the I-Hotel community. The yellow and red T-shirt being featured this summer matches the Tiger Logo textile used during the 1977 protests and which continues to be displayed at the I-Hotel Center as one of its beloved artifacts. 

With the August 4th Eviction Commemoration just days away and with 2015 being the 10-year anniversary of our new International Hotel, this shirt would be a great way to show your continued support for affordable housing and tenants rights.

August 4th is an important historical date that ignited the Tenants Rights Movement in the United States. Over 3,000 people created a human barricade on August 4, 1977 to prevent the eviction of 196 mostly Filipino and Chinese low-income senior tenants of the International Hotel residential complex.

Equally important was that the I-Hotel became a rallying cry for scores of young Asian Americans by honoring their elders and learning about their past; all of which was nurtured by the growing Asian American student movement on college campuses that led to the Third World Student Strikes in the late 1960s and eventually to the creation of ethnic studies at various U.S. colleges.

The hotel struggle touched a nerve with many young people of the day. Among the veterans of that youth movement are current San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who was a young lawyer at the time of the evictions, and Superior Court Judge Rod Quidachay, who was a student leader at San Francisco State. Many others entered into careers in education, social services, journalism and politics to continue serving the community. 

Ultimately, the I-Hotel was torn down and remained as an empty pit for decades (So what was the rush in tearing it down?). Ironically, on the site today is affordable housing. That is where MHF has its home base as the I-Hotel Manilatown Center, located at the site of the original International Hotel: 868 Kearny Street, San Francisco, California. 

Long live the I-Hotel.

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Japanese American National Museum will house the internment camp art collection

Many of the artworks in the collection depicted life in the interment camps.

THE JAPANESE AMERICAN National Museum announced on May 2 that it will be taking the responsibility of caring and exhibiting the arts and crafts collection created by the Japanese Americans who were illegally incarcerated during World War II.

“The mission of the Japanese American National Museum is to share this story,” said JANM President and CEO Greg Kimura in a press release. “We honor the sacrifice of our forebears who suffered to prove their loyalty to the U.S. by ensuring that such Constitutional violations never happen again. 

"I’m very pleased that our museum, Rago Arts and Auction Center, and the John Ryan family of Connecticut, which possessed the artifacts, were able to reach an agreement that reflects our mutual interests. We all want to see these items appropriately preserved.“

The collection was due to be auctioned off in April by the New Jersey-based auction house. As news of the auction spread, widespread opposition quickly grew over the Internet. 

That is when George Takei stepped in. "Many of the photos picture peoples' grandparents and parents, and there's a strong emotional tie there," Takei told the LA Times. "To put that up on the auction block to the highest bidder, where it would just disappear into someone's collection, was insensitive."

So Takei -- who is a board member of the Japanese American National Museum, which is located in Los Angeles -- personally spoke with David Rago, a founding partner of Rago Arts.

"The most appropriate and obvious place for the collection was the Japanese American National Museum," Takei said. "I talked to David Rago after the uproar, and he was very thoughtful and receptive."

At the last minute, the auction was canceled, and the museum was able to acquire the entire collection.

The announcement about the exhibit came during the museum’s annual gala dinner, which honored Star Trek actor and activist Takei with its Distinguished Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement and Public Service.

As a child, Takei and his family were among those incarcerated during World War II. He wrote a musical, Allegiance, about the interment camps. Allegiance, starring Broadway star Lea Salonga, debuts in New York this fall.

“All of us can take to heart that our voices were heard and that these items will be preserved and the people who created them during a very dark period in our history will be honored.” Takei said in a statement.

George Takei remembers internment camps

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Kamala Harris wants to make history

Indian American to run for U.S. Senate

Kamala Harris with Gavin Newsom and President Obama.

IF ELECTED to the U.S. Senate, California Attorney General Kamala Harris would make history as the first Indian-American in the Upper House.

The 50-year old Harris was the first to declare her intention to run for the Senate seat being vacated by long-term Sen. Barbara Boxer, who last week announced that she would not run for a fifth term.

Her mother is Indian American and her father is Jamaican American, but growing up in the diverse East Bay, she has not had problems with her mixed heritage. "I grew up in a family where I had a strong sense of my culture and who I am, and I never felt insecure about that at all," she told the Associated Press. "Slowly, perhaps…, people will start to understand the diversity of the people."

Harris, the former District Attorney of San Francisco, handily won her second term as the state's top law enforcement officer last November.

She is considered one of the up-and-coming stars for the Democrats along with former S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is California's Lt. Governor. A day before Harris declared her candidacy, Newsom said he would not run for the Senate seat. It is highly expected that he will run for governor at the end of Gov. Jerry Brown's term in four years.

"I will be a fighter for the next generation on the critical issues facing our country. I will be a fighter for middle class families who are feeling the pinch of stagnant wages and diminishing opportunity," said Harris in a statement on her campaign website. 

A good friend of President Obama, she headed up his campaign in California in 2012. Her name has been linked to several vacancies in the Obama administration, including as a Supreme Court Justice.

Within hours of her announcement, Sen. Elizabeth Warren began campaigning for Harris' Senate bid. "Kamala Harris is a smart, tough, and experienced prosecutor who has consistently stood up to Wall Street," she told her supporters via email.

"Harris demanded real accountability from the lenders," Warren wrote. "She wasn’t intimidated by the big banks. When the negotiations in the National Mortgage Settlement weren’t tough enough on the banks, Kamala took a bold move. She said that her job was to protect the people of California, not help the big banks, so she pulled out of the group negotiations and later secured $20 billion in relief for struggling California homeowners." 

Besides going after the mortgage lenders and their tactics, as attorney general, she placed an emphasis on fighting organized street gangs and their links to international activities in drug dealing and human trafficking. 

Be declaring her candidacy so early, Harris may wrap up the early endorsements from powerful Democrats like Warren. In the November election, Harris was endorsed by senior Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Lt. Gov Gavin Newsom and Gov. Jerry Brown.

“It’s critical Senator Boxer’s seat stays in the hands of a champion for women and families,” said Marcy Stech, spokesperson for the powerful pro-woman Emily's List.

In a heavily Democratic state, the other candidates who have expressed interest in running for the Senate include two Latino Americans, former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villariagosa and Rep. Xavier Becerra. 

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