VIEWS FROM THE EDGE
Time Magazine's top 100 list, Time 100 Next, that spotlights 100 rising stars who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, science, health and more includes 21 people of Asian descent from actress Awkwafina to 23-year old physicist Yuen Cao.
Among the Asian Americans named in the Time 100 Next list are actress Awkwafina of The Farewell, Bowen Yang of Saturday Night Live and Chanel Miller, a woman who went public about being sexually assaulted on the Stanford campus.
About Awkwafina, Sandra Oh wrote “I cannot express how pleased I am to see her meteoric rise. I’m not surprised because she is a complete original. There are so many things I can point to: Her timing. Her beautiful, melancholic face. And her unforgettable voice.”
Bowen Yang has been described as a potential breakout star on SNL. UPROXX wrote “he’s managed to accomplish some nearly impossible feats in his short time in front of the camera. He’s given us polished impersonations of world leaders and presidential candidates, he’s perfectly encapsulated the kind of woke bro who aspires to be a SoulCycle instructor, and he’s introduced us to China’s “Trade Daddy.”
Chanel Miller has been praised for her courage for coming forward publicly about being sexually assaulted on the Stanford campus. Known only as Emily Doe during the trial of Brock Turner, her book "Know My Name" has been her coming out. Goodreads says with her book, she “reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words… But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios.”
Amanda Nguyen is a survivor of rape who has turned her horrendous experience into a force for positive change. The group she founded, Rise, has passed 25 state and federal laws, protecting DNA evidence gathered from rape kits that have been credited with numerous prosecutions. She is also a 2018 Nobel Prize nominee.
Vijay Gupta uses his musical talents to help the homeless. He quit the Los Angeles Philharmonic where he worked as a violinist to teach music at homeless shelters and prisons. He is also a MacArthur Genius Fellow.
Varshini Prakash serves as executive director of the Sunrise Movement. Washington Governor Jay Inslee called her and her organization “some of the greatest sources for hope in our fight against the climate crisis.”
Alyssa Liu is a rising star in the ice skating world. At age 13, she became the youngest US Women’s Figure Skating champion in the world. Michelle Kwan said her quad lux “is pushing the technical envelope, and there’s no slowing down.”
Edward Leung was arrested last year and even though he's in jail, the 28-year-oldhas become the spiritual leader of the Hong Kong's months-long unrest. He coined the protestor's favorite chant, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.”
Dutee Chand in July became the first Indian sprinter to win the 100-m at the World University Games. This year, she became the first openly gay athlete in India. Her next goal is the 2020 Olympics.
Roya Rahmani is Afghanistan's first female envoy to the U.S. in 2018. Her ambassadorial appointment was also a message to the Taliban, of which she says, "are not our representatives.” Ending the war “should be decided by the people who are most affected by this process.”
Shinjiro Koizumi, Japan's current Environmental Minister, is only 28-years old but he's poised to become the country's next Prime Minister when Shinzo Abe steps down.
Nite Yun is a Cambodian American “changing America’s relationship to Cambodia, one exquisite dish at a time,” said Samin Nosrat, a chef, author and host of Netflix’s Salt Fat Acid Heat. Her restaurant in Oakland, CA, Nyum Bai, has quickly made a name for itself a year after opening.
Nite Yun is a Cambodian American “changing America’s relationship to Cambodia, one exquisite dish at a time,” said Samin Nosrat, a chef, author and host of Netflix’s Salt Fat Acid Heat. Her restaurant in Oakland, CA, Nyum Bai, has quickly made a name for itself a year after opening.
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| Blackpink is K-po'ss next big thing. |
Blackpink became the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella. While BTS is better known, the four-woman group has 31-million fiercely loyal social media followers. The group’s goal, they say, is to make music that helps listeners gain “confidence and boldness.”
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit's year-old Future Forward Party gained 17% of Thailand's Parliament. The billionaire scion of a car-parts empire has energized young Thais who are eagar to loosen the grip of the country's military rulers.
Mei Mei Hu is working on a cure for Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. Her company United Neuroscience is working on a vaccine to help the immune system produce antibodies to fight off these degenerative diseases.
Henry Golding catapulted onto the world stage with Crazy Rich Asians. He is now attained leading man status, especially noteworthy for Asian males. Michelle Yeoh calls him the perfect son.
Lilly Singh has turned her YouTube fame into her own show on NBC’s late night line up. As Jimmy Fallon wrote, ” You don’t rack up millions of fans all over the world without being someone people can relate to.”
Mei Mei Hu is working on a cure for Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. Her company United Neuroscience is working on a vaccine to help the immune system produce antibodies to fight off these degenerative diseases.
Henry Golding catapulted onto the world stage with Crazy Rich Asians. He is now attained leading man status, especially noteworthy for Asian males. Michelle Yeoh calls him the perfect son.
Lilly Singh has turned her YouTube fame into her own show on NBC’s late night line up. As Jimmy Fallon wrote, ” You don’t rack up millions of fans all over the world without being someone people can relate to.”
Yuen Cao, a 23-year old physicist, investigating what happens when two layers of graphene—a crystalline form of carbon, each just one atom thick—are laid atop each other. He discovered that if you twist the sheet, it forms great insulation. Twist it another way, it becomes an electricity superconductor with zero resistance.
Varun Sivaram, an energy innovator, he is chief technology officer of ReNew Power, India’s largest renewable-energy company, where he works to accelerate the expansion of renewables in a country critical to global efforts to stem climate change.
Kotchakorn Voraakhom, a landscape architect who designed Bangkok's first public park in a decade which is capable of absorbing one-million gallons of water to help control the flooding that inundates the city every year. She is in the process of designing a larger park that will include Asia's largest green roof
Jayathma Wickramanayake, a Sri Lankan, was appointed the United Nations’ Envoy on Youth in 2017—and the U.N. announced Youth 2030, a strategy to involve young people in U.N. initiatives and strengthen the organization’s focus on their needs, including sustainable development and economic empowerment. “
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