Chinese elderly attacked in Chinatown park

The beating in Portsmouth Square was captured on video.

ASAM NEWS

Another beating of the elderly in San Francisco Chinatown has been caught on video. This time it happened near the entrance of Portsmouth Square, a park where seniors gather day and night in the densely populated community, reported ABC7 News.

Authorities say all three victims are men in their mid to late 60’s. Fortunately all three escaped with minor injuries, but the video shows at least one of the victims being punched in the face and knocked to the ground.

“We can’t get enough law enforcement behind us to at least tell these people at least they can’t come to Chinatown to do this.,” said Betty Louie, a longtime Chinatown merchant.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin said the same suspects were seen last week. He said police believe the getaway car was the same one used in a purse snatching the night before.

This past summer, another beating in Chinatown lead to the arrest of two people.

“A couple of fellows behind me lifted me up. threw me on the ground . At that time I was unconscious,” recalled victim Walter Wong about the July beating to KTVU.

That beating led to increase security cameras in the neighborhood. The suspects in the latest beating are still on the loose.

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FilAm History: San Francisco lights up to mark Filipino American History Month

IF YOU'RE in San Francisco in the evening this month, head over to the Civic Center to see the city's tribute to Filipino American History Month. City Hall is awash in the colors of the Philippine flag, red, blue and yellow.

The city will formall celebrate the month with a proclamation that will be presented Oct. 19 in the City Hall Rotunda, amidst speeches and entertainment.

THE 2018 FILIPINO AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION

"Celebrating our History, Creating our Legacy"

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2018

5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Seating is limited and will begin at 5:00 pm

RSVP:  https://e.sparxo.com/FilAmHistoryMonth

The program will include a tribute to the late San Francisco State history Professor Dawn Mabalon.

For those who want to observe FilAm History Month is less formal event, try the monthly Night Market on Oct. 20 or the Lumpia Palooza on Oct. 27.

UNDSCVRD SF: "Pinay Power" A Filipino American History Month Celebration

This month featuring special performances and collaborations from rising Pinay artists ranging from hip-hop and rap to neo-soul, R&B, and more!

Sat, Oct 20, 4:00 pm-10 pm

Parking lots behind the Chronicle building, San Francisco

Lumpia Palooza

Lumpia Palooza

Sat, Oct 27, 11:00am

SoMa StrEat Food Park, San Francisco

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TGIF Feature: Asian cuisine is 'iconic' San Francisco food

REGULAR READERS of 'Views' know I love food: looking at it, cooking it, but most of all, eating it.

Time Out: San Francisco featured an article Wednesday (May 23) headlined "10 Iconic Dishes to Eat Like A Local in San Francisco."

There it was, it listed Filipino food, for someone who wanted to taste the real San Francisco Treat. For a cuisine that doesn't get as much recognition as it should, to be listed as one of the City's iconic dishes is a big deal.

I reprinted the short write-up below to include the links to some of the places it recommends.

Filipino Food: 

Filipino food is as integral to the Bay Area as our many other Asian cultures and cuisines. Daly City is ground zero, lined with Filipino bakeries, while SF offers mainstays like Masalaor 1608 Bistro. Pinoy Heritage‘s pop-ups offer some of the best Filipino food around, perfecting classics like pancit or sisig. Beloved Filipino food trucks line blocks, including The Sarap Shop and Jeepsilog, but the most famous is Senor Sisig which has been featured on numerous TV shows, popularizing sisig tacos, burritos and fries.  

Where to get it: Pinoy Heritage; Senor Sisig

If you're in San Francisco, give Filipino cuisine a try. 

The article also mentions: Dim sum at Yank Sing (but, there are plenty of other restaurants that offer dim sum in San Francisco. Tip: Not necessarily in old Chinatown.) and sushi.

There was also a nod to the growing appreciation of Burmese cuisine:

Tea Leaf Salad

Always the trendesetter, SF has been nomshing on Burmese food, one of the rarest cuisines in the U.S., for more than 30 years. (NYC recently got their only Burmese restaurant.) Since 1992, Burma Superstar’s original SF location has converted fans to the delights of Burmese food and tea leaf salad. From family-run Burmese Kitchen to hip Burma Love, SF houses many Burmese destinations. Our favorite is Mandalay, which is truly OG since 1984.

Where to get it: Mandalay

Asian cuisine definitely has had an impact on the food scene in the City by the Bay, whether it be through fusion or the real deals. Even chefs of other cuisines have noted the flavor popping effects of soy sauce or fish sauce.

Tourists always are struck by the "diversity" of the City. I think what they really mean (especially if they are from the Eastern Seaboard or the Midwest) when they say that is: "There's a whole lot of Asians around here." Indeed, AAPI peoples make up a good portion of the City. Walking down Market Street, the city's main thoroughfare, it might look like a cosmopolitan Asian metropolis with a half-dozen Asian languages being spoken by passersby and the smells of dozens of cuisines wafting out of kitchens and food trucks.

That diversity extends to the food. If you see a group of people lining up for one of the brick and mortar restaurants or a food truck, get in it for a real culinary adventure.

RELATED:

• Filipino food: the Rodney Dangerfield of ethnic cuisine
• Adobo and lumpia in the White House

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Drive to change San Francisco street named after anti-Asian politician

James Phelan ran for U.S. Senator with an anti-Asian message.

ASAM NEWS

FORMER SAN FRANCISCO Mayor James Phelan left a racist legacy for opposing Asian immigration and speaking about a “yellow peril.”
A street bearing the mayor’s family name runs by City College of San Francisco and into a residential neighborhood.

Supervisor Norman Yee is now pushing for a name change and is seeking input from the neighborhood as well as City College, which had independently also taken up the idea,” reports the San Francisco Examiner.

Yee says once there is consensus, he will bring the proposed new name to the Board of Supervisors.

Does a racist deserve a street named after him?

Phelan Avenue is actually named for the mayor’s father, but many feel the association is enough to strip the family of the honor of a street name.

“At a time when the country is rethinking who deserves to have statues and parks named after them, having a “street that an institution like City College is on named after someone whose family left a legacy of racism, doesn’t reflect [our] values,” City College English professor Alisa Messner told the Examiner.

According to the SF Weekly, names under consideration include Chinese/American historian and activist Him Mark Lai; African/American dancer and writer Thelma Johnson Streat; the Muwekma Ohlone tribe that first settled the region; or just “Freedom.”

Phelan ran the city from 1897 until 1902. He also ran for the Senate using the slogan “keep California White.”

He was also quoted as saying “California is a White man’s country, and the two races cannot live side by side in peace, and inasmuch as we discovered the country first and occupied it, we propose to hold it against either a peaceful or a war-like invasion.”

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Ed Lee memorial: San Francisco says goodbye to the 'humble' public servant

Former Mayor Willie Brown pays tribute to the late Mayor Ed Lee during the memorial in the City Hall rotunda.

ASAM NEWS

A STANDING-ROOM only crowd packed into City Hall for the memorial service of late San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee.

An overflow crowd also watched on a live stream in the San Francisco Main Library just a short walk away from city Hall and still more stood outside the steps of city hall and in front of hundreds of flowers left on the city hall steps.

Inside the crowd was gathered at the bottom of the steps with the Rotunda towering above them. An honor guard stood atop the steps before the memorial began.

Across the street from city hall, a giant American flag hung from two aerial ladders provided by the San Francisco Fire Department.

Lee was remembered as a genuine human being with no pretension. He genuinely cared about the people of San Francisco and the underrepresented.

Tania and Brianna Lee, the mayor’s two daughters, spoke on behalf of the family.

Holding back tears, the two thanked all those who have extended their condolences.

They talked about their father as an inspiration.

“Through out everything , his passion for service permeated everything he did.” They recalled their father taking them door knocking, campaigning and to community organizing meetings.

They joined their father during their high school years to paint over graffiti, despite their protest.But he always enticed them with promises of burritos later.

The two announced a charitable fund in their dad’s name at the San Francisco Foundation to continue his fight to end homelessness and other issues important to the city.

Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom followed the daughters. It was Newsom who Lee replaced after Newsom’s election as Lieutenant Governor.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” said Newsom about Lee’s death. He described Lee’s charisma as public service. He was “uncool in some ways, but had friends like Willie Mays and Joe Montana.”

“Decent, honorable humble human being who always wanted to do the right thing,” said Newsom about Lee. ”Ed’s life was about triumphing together.”

Newsom said cries of “Chinese must go” are part of our distant memory.

“Ed Lee was my friend. Ed Lee cared deeply about everyone in this room,” said Newsom.

Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) recalled how both she and Rep Jackie Speier (D-California) cried when they learned during their morning Democratic Caucus meeting of Lee’s passing. She recalled the last time she was with Lee.

“He always had that smile. He smiled and gave you that feeling that it would happen,” said Pelosi about Lee’s optimism.

The wife and daughters of the late Mayor Ed Lee listen to tributes to San Francisco's first Asian/American mayor.

Charlotte Malliard Schultz, the chief of protocol for the city of San Francisco, recalled how Lee described his speeches as “short because he was short.”

Schultz read words from former President Clinton who said he liked Mayor Lee the moment he met him. President Barack Obama said he was grateful for everything he did to “advance our shared vision and shape a future of great prosperity in San Francisco and throughout the nation.”

“Your golden sun will shine for me and Mayor Lee was a golden sun,” wrote Tony Bennett in a letter also read by Schultz. Bennett then sang those famous words from his classic song, I Left my Heart in San Francisco via video.”

Her husband, former Secretary of State George Schultz, described Lee as one the people could trust.

Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who was among those who convinced Lee to run for Mayor after his interim appointment, also spoke. He talked about how Lee never really wanted to become mayor. “I’m not sure Ed Lee wanted any job except one. He was one of the lawyers who handled the integrating of our fire department.” He joked that he has accepted more credit for Lee’s accomplishments than Lee has himself.

Another former San Francisco mayor also spoke.

“He was incredibly effective in government management with a proud history in civil rights,” said U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Feinstein recalled how Lee met his wife Anita in Hong Kong when Anita tutored Ed in Mandarin.

She also recalled the Ping Yuen rent strike lead by Lee for the Asian Law Caucus and listed a long resume of public service.

“Ed Lee’s 27 years of public service to the city of San Francisco is truly compelling and unique,” she said.

“This community showed a Chinese/American could reach the pinnacle of public service,” recalled Feinstein about Lee’s election as the first Asian/American Mayor in a major city. “A new generation of Asian/Americans now knows an Asian American can hold the highest office in this city.”

“Ed Lee is a very unusual political leader,” said California Governor Jerry Brown. He described Lee’s “infectious smile.” Every call from Lee was always pleasant. He asked for things with a “charm and humanity that was always welcomed.”

“Ed Lee was a real person. He was a person who communicated integrity and a love of love,” said Brown.

Acting Mayor London Breed said Lee meant a lot to the city, meant a lot to the Chinese American community.

Mayor Lee was like Beyonce with a moustache,” recalled Breed about a trip to China she took with Lee.

She thanked the family for sharing him with the city of San Francisco.

“San Francisco has been fighting for its values. Mayor Lee was a guardian against dangerous winds,” referring to the Trump administration. “Our mayor served others before himself. He fought for his city with a quiet dignity.”

Rabbi Beth Singer started off the memorial telling the two daughters and Mayor Lee’s wife Anita that there father truly touched a lot of people.

“Mayor Lee was not looking for more attention from the NRA. He was interested in a safer city and was not seeking attention for himself,” she said. “We will remember him.”

The service ended with the singing of "He’s Got the Whole World in his Hands."

Music was provided by the San Francisco Symphony along with the Glide Memorial ensemble and Beach Blanket Babylon’s Misa Malone.

The body of Mayor Lee was not  at today’s memorial. A private burial may have already been held or is being planned for later.

Among those who was planning to come was Jeannie Kim, owner of Sam Diner where Lee had his final breakfast, according to ABC7.

“We are going to dedicate this table, we’ll have a little plaque for him,” she said.
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Body of Mayor Ed Lee to lie in state at SF City Hall

ASAM NEWS

THE BODY of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee will lie under the rotunda of City Hall Friday (Dec. 15) for a day-long public viewing.

Viewing is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. and close by 7 that evening. according to SFGate.

Lee died early Tuesday morning after he suffered a heart attack Monday night while shopping for groceries at Safeway.

A memorial is scheduled for Sunday beginning at 3 and is open to the public.

The first Asian/American mayor of a major mainland city is only the fifth person to be given such an honor at City Hall.

The others are former San Francisco mayor George Christopher (2000), Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk (1978) and Ella Hill Hutch (1981), the city’s first African/American female supervisor.

RELATED: SF Mayor Ed Lee dies

Reactions and condolences continue to pour in from friends and allies across the country.

“A terrible hole has been created in the hearts of San Franciscans and any who had the pleasure of knowing Ed Lee as family or friend, as I did," said Rep. Judy Chu of Los Angeles. 

"History will remember him as the first Asian/American mayor of San Francisco. His constituents will remember him as a principled leader who, while overseeing a period of historic growth and prosperity, chose to champion the homeless and vulnerable while also making his city a global symbol of success. And I will remember him as a dear and wise friend.

“Growing up as the son of immigrants and one of six children in Seattle public housing, Ed faced both economic hardship and racial prejudice. As a lawyer, these experiences would continue to inspire his work, whether helping residents of a public housing project to organize or standing up for women and people of color in the workforce. His drive to succeed made him the first in his family to graduate college. Later, as mayor, his geniality made him a consensus builder, which enabled him to lift up communities so none would feel excluded," said Chu.

ABC7 reports flowers fill the Mayor’s office as well as part of the steps at City Hall.

The mayor’s staff is struggling to continue the city’s work, but say they know this is what Mayor Lee would have wanted.

(Views From the Edge contributed to this report.)

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San Francisco's Mayor Ed Lee dies

ASAM NEWS

SAN FRANCISCO Mayor Ed Lee, who became the nation’s first Asian/American mayor of a major U.S. city in 2011, died of a massive heart attack overnight at the age of 65.

ABC7 News reports Lee was grocery shopping last night when he suffered cardiac arrest.

Doctors at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital pronounced him dead at 1:11 a.m.

Lee was a non-politician politician. As a young activist attorney at the city’s Asian Law Caucus, he organized a rent strike at the Ping Yuen Housing Project in Chinatown in 1978. Despite some resistance from residents, the strike went on for six months and the city made improvements in living conditions.

Retired administrative law judge Steve Owyang who also served as Executive and Legal Affairs Secretary with California’s Fair Employment and Housing Commission, fondly remembers working with Lee.

“I am deeply saddened by Ed’s sudden passing, and my thoughts go out to his wife Anita and their daughters,” said Owyang to AsAmNews. “I remember working with him when we were law students in the mid-1970’s at Boalt Hall and at the Asian Law Caucus’s first San Francisco office on Waverly Place in Chinatown. Ed was completely dedicated to improving the lives of Chinatown residents.”

Lee had an affinity for affordable housing issues. He grew up in a government subsidized housing in Seattle. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, his parents struggled to raise six children. His father worked as a cook and his mother was a garment worker.

Lee worked his way up through the city bureaucracy. In 1989, Mayor Art Agnos appointed him as the city’s first investigator under the city’s Whistleblower Ordinance. Two years later, he became the executive director of the Human Rights Commission. By 2000, Mayor Willie Brown would appoint Lee the director of Public Works.

Lee became mayor in 2011 when then Mayor Gavin Newsom was elected Lieutenant Governor. The County Board of Supervisors struggled to rally around a temporary replacement for Newsom. After several votes, they settled on Lee who promised he would not run for election if appointed.

It was a believable promise. Lee had never run for public office before. He had no known ambitions to enter elective life.

He was just supposed to be a placeholder until his term expired in January 2012. But cries of Run Ed Run would be heard, largely coming from the city’s Chinese American community, who took pride in Lee becoming the city’s first Chinese American and Asian American mayor. One of the most outspoken supporters for Lee’s run was Chinatown power broker and consultant for the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce Rose Pak.

Not only did Lee run, but he won with the backing of the city’s moderate faction. In 2015, Lee won reelection without any major opposition.

However his popularity has waned since then due largely to San Francisco’s progressive faction who felt Lee did not do enough to increase the supply of affordable housing and catered too much to the business community, particularly the tech community.

Among his critics were members of Chinatown’s liberal faction. In fact, Pak turned on Lee when he appointed Julie Christensen to serve out the remainder of Supervisor David Chiu’s term in 2015 after Chiu won election to the State Assembly. Pak had lobbied Lee hard to appoint Cindy Chu, the chair of the city’s planning commission and a member of the Chinatown Community Development Center.

Lee has also been criticized by those to the extreme right. Twitter is full of hateful tweets from those who resent his strong support for San Francisco as a sanctuary city. Many of those trolls blamed Lee for the acquittal of the most serious charges against Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, the undocumented immigrant who faced trial in the fatal shooting of Kate Steinle in San Francisco.

Lee is survived by his wife Anita, his two daughters, Brianna and Tania.

The President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, London Breed, has stepped in as acting mayor under the city’s charter.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a breaking story. Check back later for more details.

Federal judge bars Trump reprisals against sanctuary governments

Asian Americans protest against Donald Trump's immigration policies.

IN A SEVERE SETBACK to the Trump administration, a federal judge in California said any attempt to cut off federal funding to sanctuary cities is "clearly unconstitutional."

U.S. District William H. Orrick on Tuesday barred the Trump administration from enforcing part of Donald Trump's January executive order that withheld funds from sanctuary cities — concluding that that action would be "clearly unconstitutional."

The ruling prevents Trump from withholding funds from jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal agencies to deport undocumented immigrants,Orrick issued a nationwide preliminary injunction — sought by San Francisco and Santa Clara counties in California — against enforcement of Section 9(a) of the January 25, 2017, executive order.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee

"San Francisco is and will remain a Sanctuary City. We know that Sanctuary Cities are safer, healthier, more productive places to live," said San Franciscco Mayor Ed Lee in a press release. "San Francisco’s Sanctuary City laws are in compliance with federal law. If the federal government believes there is a need to detain a serious criminal they can obtain a criminal warrant, which we will honor, as we always have."The court order comes days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned cities, counties and states theater refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement would lose millions of dollars in federal grants.

Orrick's order renders toothless the threat against those local governments - such as San Francisco and Santa Clara counties - that "refuse to comply."

Last Friday, the DOJ sent letters to those sanctuary jurisdictions across the nation from New York City to Los Angeles. 

“Failure to comply with this condition could result in the withholding of grant funds, suspension or termination of the grant, ineligibility for future [Office of Justice Programs] grants or subgrants, or other action, as appropriate,” according to the letter, signed by Alan Hanson, acting assistant attorney general for the Office of Justice Programs.

According to the press release, the jurisdictions have a deadline of June 30, 2017, to “provide documentation and an opinion from legal counsel” confirming their compliance.

Orrick's decision states the executive order goes beyond the president's authority under the 10th Amendment, which limits the federal government's authority over local governments. "The Executive Order uses coercive means in an attempt to force states and local jurisdictions to honor civil detainer requests, which are voluntary 'requests' precisely because the federal government cannot command states to comply with them under the Tenth Amendment," it reads.

The judge took into account the statements of Trump and Sessions in speeches and interviews that warned cities that they would lose public safety funds if they did not comply with federal immigration agents' attempts to locate and detain undocumented immigrants. "If there was doubt about the scope of the Order, the President and Attorney General have erased it with their public comments," Orrick wrote.

Orrick's ruling states the EO goes beyond the president's authority under the 10th Amendment, which places restrictions on how much authority the federal government could have over local jurisdictions. "The Executive Order uses coercive means in an attempt to force states and local jurisdictions to honor civil detainer requests, which are voluntary 'requests' precisely because the federal government cannot command states to comply with them under the Tenth Amendment," it reads.

Orrick's decision follows on other injunctions issued by federal judges in Washington, California, and Hawaii that have called into question the constitutionality of the president's other executive order pertaining to those traveling or immigrating from seven Muslim-majority countries. Last month, Federal Judge Derrick Watson of Hawaii further blocked the president's revised version of the same order.

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