Olympics: Natalie Coughlin joins NBC coverage of the Rio Games

Natalie Coughlin, center, is welcomed by hosts Raj Mathai and Janelle Wang.

NBC BAY AREA announced that 12-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin will join the station's coverage of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. 

Coughlin, a native of the Bay Area, will join NBC Bay Area anchors Raj Mathai and Janelle Wang to make up a rare television occurrence, an all-Asian/American panel covering the Olympics.

In the initial telecast, the two veteran anchors, Raj Mathai and Janelle Wang, promised to delve into Couglin's Filipino/American heritage. 

The team will be together throughout the Olympics during the station's 6 p.m. newscast for The Olympic Moment of the Day with Natalie Coughlin, a special segment where they will discuss an unexpected winner or moment of the day. Topics will be driven by the Olympic stories that emerge from each day and can range anywhere from an Olympic athlete winning against all odds, to a historical record-breaking moment.

"We're thrilled to bring Natalie's expertise to our Olympic coverage and provide our viewers with specific details and insights of the moments they can't miss from the perspective of an Olympian," said Rich Cerussi, President and General Manager of NBC Bay Area. "She knows what it is like to train hard, comeback from a setback, and be a champion."

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Coughlin is the first American female athlete to win six medals in one Olympic Games and is also the first woman ever to win a 100m backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympic Games. She attended U.C. Berkeley where she became the first woman to swim the 100-meter backstroke in less than a minute. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Coughlin tied for the most medals of any female Olympian in history.

NBC Bay Area / KNTV Owned by NBCUniversal, NBC Bay Area / KNTV can be seen locally on Comcast 3 and 703 and over-the-air on 11. COZI TV, the station's digital network, offers a full schedule of America's most beloved and iconic television series, hit movies and original programming. Cozi TV can be seen locally on Comcast 186 and over-the-air on 11.3.

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AAPI Heritage Month: NBC presents 'Life Stories'

FOR ASIAN AMERICAN Pacific Islander Heritage Month, NBC will have a feature about AAPI individuals entitled Life Stories.

Rini Sampath

Influential and rising voices across America will tell us, in their own words, what the Asian American and Pacific Islander experience is to them.
One of the subjects is Rini Sampath which spotlight her journey as a daughter of immigrants arrived to America to seek better opportunities for their children to her achievement as USC’s first woman president (and first woman of color) in over a decade. 

Her portion of the show will be positioned with S. Leo Chiang and Johnny Symons’ OUT RUN, an equally politically-charged feature documentary on a revolutionary Philippine political party composed of LGBT aspirants for national office. 

From the trailer, other subjects include Vivek Murthy, Simran Jeet Singh, the a cappella singing group, the Filharmonics and more.

New episodes of Life Stories will be released Thursdays beginning May 5 and will be available on NBCAsianAmerica.com, NBC Asian America's Facebook page, NBC News' official YouTube channel, and the NBC News app available on mobile devices, Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire.

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Int'l Womens Day: Grace Lee Boggs

Civil rights advocate Grace Lee Boggs

One of the problems of having so many new immigrants in the Asian American  community - and we have recently surpassed Latinos as the fastest growing immigration rate - is that the new immigrants, through no fault of their own, have no knowledge of the American history that preceded their arrival especially in the area of civil rights.

This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when demonstrators tried to cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama and were pushed back by baton-wielding police.

Today, March 8,  is also International Womens Day.

I like what NBC News has done with the webpage they created honoring Asian American women's and their role in advancing civil rights - not only for Asian Americans, but for all Americans. Everyone should know that the advantages Asian Americans enjoy today is heavily indebted to the Civil Rights Movement, which is largely, and understandably, perceived as an African American story.

Mainstream media is quick to point out the misperception of a rocky relationship between Blacks and Asians, often using the model minority stereotype of AAPI to demean other minorities. That's why it is important to know the role of Grace Lee Boggs, the Third World Strike and just why was Martin Luther King wearing a Hawaiian lei when he marched across the bridge?

"Grace Lee Boggs [is] one of the great freedom fighters in the history of this nation… a revolutionary in spirit, heart, and mind," said black author and activist Cornel West.

The NBC page also highlights the heroines of the Asian American community that deserve to be remembered in US history books. our appreciation and respect. Some have passed away but many are still fighting the good fight.