Dear Shonda Rhimes, "Grey's Anatomy" is lacking something since Sandra Oh left the cast

DEAR SHONDA RHIMES, 
I love your television shows. I've watched Grey's Anatomy since the beginning. The list of your shows is impressive, starting with Grey's Anatomy, followed by Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder. Let's not forget Private Practice.

Not only are your shows full of people of color, the characters are complex and well rounded, the dialogue is witty, interesting and intelligent. What I really appreciate is that the characters portrayed by actors of color are strong characters. In two of the three shows currently being aired, the leads are African-American women.

You are a strong advocate for diversity on television. During a speech at the National Association of Broadcasters event on April 13, you expressed your frustration around people constantly questioning and discussing your choice to diversify the casts of her shows. You said:

Shonda Rhimes and Sandra Oh

"In Shondaland, our shows look like how the world looks. …To me, that was not some difficult, brave, special decision I made. It was a human one. Because I am a human. It wasn’t something we had to bravely fight for. … This is not the Jim Crow south. We’re not ignorant. So why wouldn’t we do that? I still can’t believe I get asked about it all the time as if being normal, TV looking like the normal world, is an innovation. … You’d think people would be embarrassed to ask the question in the 21st century. Write about the people asking the questions because I’m busy talking about something else, writing about something else."

One of the most interesting characters on Grey's Anatomy - some would argue that the most interesting character in all of television - was Dr.Christina Yang played by Sandra Oh. Yang is one of the most complete Asian characters in television, funny, acerbic, cold, warm, hard, vulnerable, sentimental, selfish and sexy. Viewers loved her despite her flaws. Or, maybe because of them.

Oh had taken Yang as far as she could. Yang was the most visible and recognizable Asian characters ever. After 10 years of Yang, Oh left the successful series to seek new challenges.

The show still hasn't adequately filled the void left when Yang left Seattle, even after the introduction of several new characters.

And here's my beef ...

The hospital where all these wonderful Rhimes-created characters work in Grey's Anatomy, is set in Seattle where Asians make up 14 percent of the population, the second largest racial group in the city according to the 2000 Census. Since then, Asians have been the fastest growing ethnic group so their percentage of the population should be even greater in 2015. In Grey's Anatomy make-believe Seattle hospital, via visual inspection, Asians make up near-zero percentage of the staff. Where are the Asian medical personnel?

Oh, there is that one nurse who has repeatedly been scene in operating room scenes. But does she count? Her face is half-covered with a surgical mask and in ten years, she hasn't said a word.

Add in the over-representation of Asians in the medical field compared to their percentage in the general population, and the disparity is even greater.

Russell Wong, why not?

The chart above shows that if Grey's Anatomy was to truly reflect the real world, there is a strong argument that there should be at least one Asian physician (or a nurse who talks) on the fictional hospital's staff.

C'mon Shonda, please introduce an Asian character so your cast can reflect the real "world," or, at least, reflect the Pacific Northwest where Asian Americans have a long and proud history. 

I know that the beauty of your casting is that race doesn't matter. Friends are friends, hookups are hookups; race doesn't enter into the picture in their relationships. The possibilities that opens with an Asian cast member can lead to a whole new treasure chest of storylines. 

In the overly promiscuous culture of Grey's Anatomy, it wouldn't be far-fetched to see a good-looking Asian male doctor attracting one of the always-looking-for-love/sex surgeons. Imagine Russell Wong in a lab coat or Sam Milby as a new resident physician; or Will Yun Lee as a rebellious brain surgeon. There are a lot of unemployed Asian hunks that would fit in perfectly with the existing cast. 

Rhonda, you broke the mold with the creation of  strong, assertive and sexy Dr. Christina Yang; and you can do it again. Help me, Rhonda.

###

TGIF FEATURE: There's a new Fab 4; youngest string quartet ever

AMAZING! These four youngsters have been playing with each since they were four. What is that? All of four years? 

The musical prodigies are from the Joyous Music School in Long Island, New York, this is perhaps the youngest string quartet ever. Above, they perform Katy Perry’s Firework. I dig the viola player's fedora. Too cool. Eight-year old cellist Justin Yu appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Watch out Yo Yo Ma.

Wait for the big finish!

Internment camp art will not be auctioned off; Japanese American protests works

Photo via Rago Arts & Auction Center

Watercolor by an unknown artist.

UPDATE: On Thursday, April 16, the auction house, Rago Arts and Auctions based in New Jersey, announced that they will remove the items made by internees of the Japanese American Detention Centers during WWII from their Auction of April 17.

"There is an essential discussion to be had about the sale of historical items that are a legacy of man's inhumanity to man. It extends beyond what is legal. It is something auction houses, galleries and dealers are faced with regularly," the auction house said. "We hope this controversy will be the beginning of a discourse on this issue.

A grass-roots campaign of a change.org petition, a Facebook page, and mediation by "Star Trek" actor George Takei has resulted in the auctioneer agreeing to pull about 400 artworks from the sale. Read more here.

THE SALE of artworks and crafts by Japanese Americans who were forcibly interned during World War II has the Japanese American community up in arms, comparing the auction house sale to a similar auction of Holocaust survivors' art, which was eventually cancelled because of protests from the Jewish community.

A report out of the Los Angeles-based Rafu Shimpo, a daily newspaper catering to the Japanese American community quoted Janice Mirikitani, former poet laureate of San Francisco. 

“I was shocked and appalled, to say the least, in seeing my cousin Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani’s photo up for sale in an auction. Jimmy has endured more adversity than most human beings could imagine, not only with the injustice of our incarceration in American concentration camps, but also his struggle for validation as an American citizen.

“He was homeless for years in the streets of New York, living off of the sale of his artwork. I had the honor of participating in a documentary about his life and his art, ‘The Cats of Mirikitani,’ which respectfully revealed his journey of perseverance and dignity.

“To ‘pimp’ the suffering of my family, my community is not only insulting, it is inhumane. I was as an infant incarcerated in a camp in Rohwer, Arkansas, so I have my own personal journey witnessing the aftermath of the camps on my mother’s life."

The artifacts were part of a collection of the late Allen H. Eaton, author of the 1952 book "Beauty Behind Barbed Wire." They are being sold by the auctioneer, Lambertville, N.J.-based Rago Arts and Auctions on behalf of the unnamed owner. The auction is slated for April 17.

New York Times antiques writer Eve M. Kahn writes: 

“The objects illustrate the resourcefulness of internees as they tried to preserve traditional artisanship and familiar habits. Cigarette boxes are made of string recycled from onion sacks. Wood carvings depict birds in flight. Plaques with family names were made to hang tar-paper homes.

“The highest prices, up to $1,200 apiece, are expected for oil paintings by Estelle Peck Ishigo (1899-1990), the white wife of a Japanese American aspiring actor, Arthur Ishigo. When Mr. Ishigo was sent to Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming, she joined him and documented how internees suffered and tried to adjust. The Rago lots include her scenes of children playing at riverbanks and hauling luggage between barracks.”

A “Japanese American History: Not for Sale” Facebook page has also been established. The description reads, in part: “We want to halt the profiteering of our ancestors’ and families tragic incarceration … When [Eaton] visited the camps to collect examples, he wrote that people ‘offered to give me things to the point of embarrassment, but not to sell them …’"

The auction house sent a reply to the Facebook page saying that the present owner of the collection is not in a financial position in which he can donate the items but it is the hope of the auctioneers that museums or other institutions can use the auction to acquire the artifacts for preservation and display.

An early offer from one Japanese American historical organization to purchase a portion of collection was rejected by the auction house even though the offer was beyond the actual value of the artifacts.

The sale is “a betrayal of those imprisoned people who thought their gifts would be used to educate, not be sold to the highest bidder in a national auction, pitting families against museums against private collectors,” states an online petition on Change.org. 

Toshi Abe, a board member of the Japanese American Citizens League and a spokesman for the group protesting the sale, told the New York Times that they seek to delay the auction. “We want time to really sort out what to do with this artwork,” he said.

From the  Eaton Colleciton

A watercolor of life at the Heart Mountain, Wyo. camp by Estelle Peck Ishigo, 1943.

Jimmy Kimmel sings Manny Pacquiao’s new song

OK, WE know that Manny Paquiao can't sing well. But we LOVE that he loves to sing, critics be damned.

Even though he vowed that he would quit trying to sing professionally a few months ago, the Filipino pugilist has come out with a new song that he says will be his entrance song when he enters the arena to fight Floyd Mayweather on May 2 in Las Vegas.

He sings in Tagalog (the lyrics are below) in a "We-Are-The-World"-style soaring patriotic song written by Lito Camo. The title of the song Lalaban Ako Para Sa Filipino (I am Going to Fight For Filipinos), are sung in Tagalog (with the help of auto-tune) by the Pacman himself.
 Here are the English translation of the lyrics:

I always ask in my mind why do we have to judge what you feel?

What should be the right basis so they can listen to us?

Do we have to be in a good status?

Even if i hurt myself, i still wanted to keep it within me and just be silent about it.

Even if my heart aches, its nothing to me as long as people from my country show their smiles and felt happy.

I will fight the whole world for my country bringing your name

I'm a Pinoy. We are Pinoy

I will fight the world with my life at stake.

I will fight for all Filipino

Even us, has our own dreams for our country

To help fellow countrymen, and give pride for our very own country

It doesn't matter who you are. Poor or rich if for the country we all fight together.

I will fight the whole world for my country bringing your name

I'm a Pinoy. We are Pinoy.

I will fight the world with my life at stake.

I will fight for all Filipino

I will fight, I will fight

I will fight the whole world for my country bringing your name

I'm a Pinoy. We are Pinoy.

I will fight the world with my life at stake.

I will fight for all Filipino

I will fight for my country.

Manny Paquiao in a still during the recording of Lalaban Ako Para Sa Filipino.

That's quite a contrast to Mayweather, 38, who arguably summed up his prime motivation when he rapped, "Lifestyle, you know what it is: getting money man", in his 2009 collaboration with Ludacris, Undisputed.

Pacquiao's new video has him singing to scenes from the aftermath of the destructive Typhoon Haiyan in 2014, and of course some of his fight footage. 
Pacquiao's latest singing attempt was honored - I say "honored" - by Jimmy Kimmel singing the same song in its original Tagalog on his show earlier this week. Not bad and kudos to his attempt to sing in the Filipino dialect. Kimmel did it straight without any malice or attempt to make it funny. But you can't help but be humored by his attempt in pronouncing the Tagalog lyrics.

That's quite an anthem that applies to situations beyond the boxing match.

The Paquiao-Mayweather fight will carry the bill of the "Fight-Of-The-Century" and will have the largest payout of any professional boxing match in history.

Even though both fighters are past their prime - the fight should have been taken five years ago - the match has long been anticipated and will be shown on Showtime and HBO at the same time at the record cost of about $90 pay-per-view.

Meet Josie Rizal, new virtual fighter is a Filipina

Fighters in the virtual world are fantasies. They are not meant to be realistic. I mean, just look at Josie Rizal.

JOSIE RIZAL is in the fight of her short life. Josie is not a real flesh-and-blood person. Nevertheless, she is stirring up a lot of controversy in the Philippines and among video gamers throughout the world.

Those familiar with Philippine history will recognize her name as a takeoff on one of the Philippines' revered national heroes, Jose Rizal, whose words and martyrdom inspired a revolution. 

She is a brand new character in the Tekken series. Mark "MarkMan" Julio, a Filipino, contributed to the creation of Josie's character. Josie made her debut March 31 in arcade versions of the popular video game. Whether or not she'll exist for the PlayStation 4 version of Tekken 7, remains to be seen as of this writing.

A Philippine government body is reportedly taking umbrage with the video game-makers'
 representation of  the country, its women and its national hero.

For the real Jose Rizal, the pen was mightier than the sword.

GMA Network reported that Dr. Leodenito Cañete, a coordinator for the National Commission for Culture and the Arts' (NCCA) Bayaning Bayan program, is calling out the video game's creator for the just introduced Filipino character in Tekken 7, the newest version of the Tekken series.

"It's hard for us to prevent other countries from making characters like this because Philippines is very popular around the world," Cañete explained.

However, it was later reported that the government body's secretariat clarified that Cañete is not an official of the government body instead "he is just a coordinator of one of the NCCA's numerous projects."

An NCCA official took to Instagram to clarify that the government body never took a position on Josie.

In addition to the NCCA coodinator, Adonis Durado, a famous artist in the Philippines weighed in against Josie Rizal because she has no trace of being a Filipino in her.

"The problem with Josie Rizal's character is too obvious: it doesn't have any trace of Filipino-ness-neither in her physical attributes nor in her outfit," Durado said according to Gulf News. For the record, Josie's outfit is red, yellow and blue, the colors of the Philippine flag. Maybe he prefers Josie to fight wearing a traditional terno or butterfly sleeves?

"If her fighting style is purportedly eskrima, where are the arnis sticks? So the Filipino-inspired name is simply a token," Durado added referring to the character's fighting skills. Obviously Durado is not a martial artist or he would know that eskrima also includes fighting techniques without weapons.

There has also been complaints that Josie isn't a "real" Filipino because she doesn't speak one of the Filipino dialects. Does that sound familiar? Folks from the Philippines always throw that in the face of Filipino Americans who never learned to speak one of the dialects. Do you have to speak one of the dialects to be a "true" Filipino?

In response, Tekken creator Katsuhiro Harada, said that this is a big to do about nothing. He may opt to delete the Filipino character when the PlayStation 4 version comes out.
Although he didn't mention Josie specifically, Harada did say some characters in “Tekken 7” are changing and may delay the release date of the video game on Sony’s next gaming console, but it is pretty apparent that he got pretty pissed at the government response, which he doesn't believe represents the response of Filipino gamers.

OK, I'll concede the sexist nature of video games. Josie's scanty costume emphasizes her - ahem - attributes. The video game industry clearly caters to fanboys.

Is Talim, above, more Filipina than Josie Rizal?
Does she speak Tagalog?

Josie is not the first virtual Filipina. Preceding Josie was Talim in the Soulcaliber series, who made her first appearance in the game’s third installment, Soulcaliber II (2002). She is included in the series'  subsequent versions.

Talim's back story: She is the daughter of the village’s shaman, raised as “the last babaylan (priestess)” of her community, the Village of the Wind Deity located in the “Visayan Islands (present-day Philippines).”

Her personality may be more to the liking of Filipino male officials. She is “strikingly meek, innocent, kind, moderate, and nice in contrast to the rest of the Soul Series cast, often attempting to dissuade opponents from fighting, and constantly showing mercy to her defeated enemies. Her comments often reveal self-doubt and worry. She often does not blame others for their actions,” is quick to forgive, and “overall is considered a kind-hearted character.”

Josie's back story hasn't been divulged yet. Based on her trailer video, she is not meek and she's more direct in her tactics. Literally, she doesn't pull any punches. She's described as cheerful, but at the end of her victory, she cries. Perhaps she is a reluctant fighter?

It seems this is a big hubbub over a pretty inconsequential matter. There are plenty of other things to fret about. Worrying about the Filipino-ness of a virtual character should be the least of anybody's concerns. 

Let Josie be!

Getting Started: Asians rally around Hillary Clinton candidacy for President

NO BIG SURPRISE, but Hillary Clinton announced today she is running for President of the United States. Rumors of her candidacy for President have been floating about for over a year so it is also no big surprise that her campaign has already started courting Asian American voters.

Clinton's candidacy was announced officially over YouTube as all the wannabe presidential candidates have been using the new technology to show their connectivity with the younger generation of voters and to demonstrate that they are not tied to old way of doing things.

Her YouTube video makes an appeal to everyday working Americans and their families, and uses the moment to show Clinton as a defender of those without influence, money, or power. That's most of us, eh?

The video wasn't quite the first official confirmation of Clinton's campaign — an email sent earlier Sunday by an aide to past donors from the 2008 campaign made the presidential run official. But the YouTube video is the public-facing announcement. 

Today's new media will play a bigger role in the campaigns than it did in 2012 and 2008, Last week, Clinton was able to bring senior Google exec Stephanie Hannon into her campaign to become its chief tech officer.

Clinton most likely will be treated as an incumbent in this race since no other Democratic challenger has declared. The most popular, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, has said she will not run. 

Hillary Clinton

President Obama has already stated that Clinton, his former Secretary of State, would make a fine president. His early support of Clinton, seems to dim the chances that Vice President Joe Biden would run in 2016. But you never know about Biden, he seems to enjoy the campaigning as much - or more - than anyone else in the limelight.

“We need Hillary Clinton in the White House,” said Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus during a rally last month in Los Angeles. “But how are we going to make this happen? We can only make it happen if the grassroots is activated, if the grassroots works hard in every sphere, in every corner of the United States.”

Chu, the first Chinese American elected to Congress, said the Asian American/Pacific Islander community, which is the fastest growing population in the country, can make a critical difference in battleground states.

A National Election Pool survey found that in the 2012 election, 73 percent of AAPI electorate voted for President Barack Obama's re-election.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to replicate that [type of voting] for Hillary,” said Melissa Ramoso, state chair of the Filipino American Democratic Caucus, adding that progressive Democratic Filipinos are pushing hard to help Clinton and hoping she will run. She told a reporter at that L.A. rally, “Our goal is for her to be supported by both [Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders].”
With over 500 days left before election day, Asian Americans seek to play a bigger role in the 2016 campaigns of all the candidates. 

The impact of Asian American voters though, is mostly viewed through mainstream media and how they paint the community. Let's hope that they've learned a few lessons since 2008 when CNN did this report questioning Asian American support for Obama and Clinton even though polls in California and Hawaii, the two states with the highest number of Asian Americans, showed overwhelming support for the Democratic candidates. 

The report received so much criticism by interviewing (and making fun of) those Asians with heavy accents and the report's initial erroneous premise, the network had to take if off the air.

And in Northern California, Clinton's campaign committee made a major faux pas in 2007 when a Clinton campaign staffer told a local reporter from a San Francisco-based Chinese language daily newspaper that an event wasn't open to "foreign press." Oops!

(Clinton apparently learned from that mistake, holding a special media event for the Asian-American papers in San Francisco and hiring an Asian-American man, Jin Chon, as a press secretary for specialty media.)

It is a long, long road to election day in Nov. 2016 and the journey is one full of pitfalls, mistakes and negative attacks. In this day and age of 24-hour news cycles, instant messaging on social media, nothing is secret or sacred. Sigh!

Lea Salonga hosts PBS documentary series during Asian American/Pacific American Heritage Month

The ubiquitous jeepneys of the Philippines are featured in a documentary being aired by PBS in May.

A TRIO of documentaries about the lives, triumphs and culture of Filipino Americans will gain its widest American audience yet when they are aired by Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in May. 

The three Filipino documentaries, “The Delano Manongs” by Marissa Aroy, “Jeepney” by Esy Casey and Sarah Friedland, and “Harana” by Benito Bautista, along with other documentaries were organized by the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), a non-profit organization that aims to present stories of Asian American experiences, will be part of a the month long series being held in celebration of the “Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.”

Tony Award winning actor, singer and Broadway performer Lea Salonga will be hosting the  month long series of documentaries. She is currently in rehearsals for "Allegiance" due to open on Broadway in the fall.

Lea Salonga will host the Asian American series.

The documentaries are making the rounds of the Asian American film festivals being held around the country this spring.

The Filipino films featured in the PBS series are:

“The Delano Manongs” by Marissa Aroy tells the story of farm labor organizer Larry Itliong and a group of Filipino farm workers who instigated one of the American farm labor movement’s finest hours – The Delano Grape Strike of 1965 that brought about the creation of the United Farm Workers Union (UFW). While the movement is known for Cesar Chavez’s leadership and considered a Chicano movement, Filipinos played a pivotal role. Filipino labor organizer, Larry Itliong, a cigar-chomping union veteran, organized a group of 1500 Filipinos to strike against the grape growers of Delano, California, beginning a collaboration between Filipinos, Chicanos and other ethnic workers that would go on for years.

“Jeepney” by Esy Casey and Sarah Friedland is about the artistic and vibrant modes of public transportation known as the jeepney representing a totem of tradition in the Philippines. Director Esy Casey goes beyond the exterior of the decorated ex-WWII military vehicles and follows the lives of three people who share a connection to the jeepney: Gerry, a witty driver who has deep affection for tradition; Lhudz, whose remarkable artwork appears on the vehicles; and Manny, who grew up near a US military base and watched the evolution of the jeepney. With the vivid and historically rich jeepney, the documentary uncovers deeply personal stories and the effects of globalization. 

"Harana” by Benito Bautista. After his father’s death, classically trained musician Florante Aguilar returns to the Philippines after 12 years. While there, he is re-introduced to the music of harana, a tradition where Filipino men would sing under the window to declare their love for a particular woman – a serenade. Florante travels to provinces and meets some of the surviving harana musicians. From there, they help a young man serenade his object of affection which grows into a resurgence of the long lost art. The men start performing in prestigious concert halls and record the first authentic harana album in 50 years. “Harana” captures a tender side of the Philippines that is rarely seen. The documentary film has received numerous awards worldwide.

Now ... wasn't that lovely? The documentary shows a tender side of Filipino men seldom seen in the U.S. I would love to see a resurgence of that custom. So much more  warmth, sincerity and passion than the twerking and in-your-face sex of that dominates so much of today's pop music scene. Indeed, their singing could melt any heart.

Among the other documentaries to be aired are:

“Soul Of A Banquet” By Wayne Wang
In the documentary “Soul Of A Banquet”, celebrated director Wayne Wang follows Cecilia Chiang, the woman who introduced America to authentic Chinese food. Her internationally renowned San Francisco restaurant The Mandarin opened in 1961 and changed the course of American cuisine. Through interviews with Alice Waters, Ruth Reichl, and Chiang herself, the documentary showcases Chiang’s remarkable food and paints a touching portrait of her life.“Lucky Chow” By Bruce Seidel
From Peking Duck in Manhattan’s Chinatown to the kimchi of Los Angeles’s Koreatown to the nationwide ramen renaissance, the six-episode travelogue takes audiences across the country to show us how Asian cuisine has transformed the landscape of food in the United States. The series also takes a look at some of the country’s most talented chefs including ramen chef Ivan Orkin, carpenter turned Thai chef Andy Ricker, Filipino Food Movement founder PJ Quesada, and Korean adoptee “Top Chef” winner Kristen Kish.

“Stateless” By Duc Nguyen
Directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Duc H. Nguyen, “Stateless” presents another side of immigration by following a group Vietnamese people who are not considered as a national by any state, or “stateless.” Through flashbacks and real time interviews, Nguyen uncovers the complicated international history and politics in the post Vietnam-American war era, which resulted in over 2,000 Vietnamese refugees or “Long-Stayers” in the Philippines trapped without nationality or citizenship.

“Memory Of Forgotten War”
By Deann Borshay Liem
Historians Bruce Cumings and Ji-Yeon Yuh curate four accounts from survivors of the Korean War (1950-1953) in “Memory Of Forgotten War”. Through newsreels, U.S. military footage, and archival photographs, the documentary gives historical context to these personal stories of loss, struggle, and struggle.

“This Is My Home Now” By Mariah Dunn Kramer and Dean MacLeod
“This Is My Home Now” documents the lives of four Montagnard youths whose families have come to American in the past decade from Asia. They live in two worlds—that of their parents and grandparents, who lived in the highlands of Viet Nam but fled from government persecution for their Christian religion and desire for autonomy—and one of constant learning and adaptation to be Americans in North Carolina. 

TGIF FEATURE: IZZY Man extolls his roots through hip-hop

Izzy Man, center, and his crew

IZZY MAN (Manoloto) has been making a name for himself in the world of hiphop. Based in NYC, he and his crew have been making it out to the West Coast and the Philippines to widen his fan base.

IZZY's championship performance (see video below) with his band and dancers at Kollaboration New York 8 on Sept. 28, 2013 at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts had the crowd on their feet. I love that he incorporates his heritage into his music. They start out with traditional Filipino rondalla with the dancers pairing up doing the 1, 2, 3 waltz step and then flip it into contemporary rap and hiphop moves. 

A native of Queens, NYC, 25-year old IZZY, paid homage to the city of New York by rapping about the being "at the top", and carrying around a businessman's staple accessory: a briefcase. 

IZZY is a Renaissance man: not only is he a rapper, but a producer, photographer, videographer, and businessman as well; he is the co-founder and creative director of DynastyStyle, a clothing company. "I think art is universal," he said, "and I want to be able to create all the time and in many different ways."

For more performances, click here ... and here, or just go to YouTube and type in his name.

Mindy Kaling's brother posed as a black to get into med school

Fighting affirmative action

Vijay Chokal-Ingam, left. His alter ego, Jojo, right.

MINDY KALING, comedian and actress, made a television commercial where she believed she was invisible because that's the way American society treats minorities - as if they weren't there - right in front of their noses.

Kaling's older brother Vijay Chokal-Ingam has authored a book, "Almost Black," that is stirring up so much controversy over race that Mindy may be wishing that he would simply vanish.

Kaling and her brother are children of immigrants from India. He applied to medical school with so-so academics and mediocre MedCAT scores and was ultimately rejected. After altering his appearance slightly, he applied to medical schools as a African American student and was accepted.

His premise, which probably has many white conservatives chortling with glee, is that affirmative action doesn't work because its beneficiaries (in his case: African Americans) with lower requirements exclude qualified candidates, especially Asian Americans. 

In his book, Chokal-Ingam says that he wants to fight what he calls a “system of legalized racism” in higher education. He applied to a score of medical schools but was accepted at only one, St. Louis University. We assume he didn't make the grade in all the other schools, which included Yale and Harvard.

A spokesman for St. Louis medical school said that Chokal-Ingam met their criteria and race was not factor. In his mind, Chokal-Ingam getting accepted in one - ONE - medical school proves that affirmative action was the deciding factor. 

"I was determined to become a doctor and I knew that admission standards for certain minorities under affirmative action were, let's say .. less stringent?" he writes on his website.

There's little evidence to suggest his posing as a "black" applicant helped him get into these schools. First, there is no point of comparison: Chokal-Ingam never applied to medical schools as an Indian-American.

“I hope the story of my experiences will be a catalyst for social change and opposition to affirmative action racism,” he wrote on his website.

His book and its conclusions have been roundly criticized and apparently went against the wish of his younger sister Mindy.

Kaling's press rep told Us Weekly: "Mindy has been estranged from her brother for years. She was not aware of his decision to apply to medical school under a different name and race."

Chokal-Ingam doesn't mention whether or not he reapplied to the same medical schools that rejected him the first time nor does he admit that the whole history of discrimination and bias against African Americans that still impacts their lives today had any influence on his second round of applications.

Posing as an African American student with the same grades and MCAT scores as the Indian American applicant, in 1999 he was accepted into St. Louis University School of Medicine but dropped out after two years.

“Not everything worked out as planned. Cops harassed me. Store clerks accused me of shoplifting. Women were either scared of me or couldn’t keep their hands off me. What started as a devious ploy to gain admission to medical school turned into a twisted social experiment.”

He got a brief taste of what it means to be African American but he failed to learn anything from those experiences. Instead, he positions himself in the same category of his alleged heroes Mahatma Ghandi, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King.

In his eyes, the story is about him as a victim, as a sacrificial lamb, but the real story is about him as a liar and an opportunist trying to achieve his 15 minutes of fame. 

As might be expected, he got some strong criticism in reaction.

"Whatever you feel about affirmative action, let's consider that one person's experience over a decade and a half ago -- an experience that ultimately didn't yield any deluge in acceptance letters anyway -- is not really indicative of the current state of college admissions," wrote Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams.

"Nor is it necessarily an exemplary window into the complex and mysterious vetting process of elite institutions," she added. "Instead, Chokal-Ingam's story is one of a successful woman's brother liberally using her name to drum up attention and controversy."

His famous younger sister tried to dissuade him from going public with his deed saying "it would bring shame to the family." He says the tension between him and his celebrity sister is common sibling rivalry.

Conservatives have been trying to pit Asian Americans against African Americans in the affirmative action debate for years now, arguing that qualified Asians have been denied college admission because of affirmative action even though polls show that Asian Americans favor affirmative action.

Currently there are lawsuits against Harvard and the University of North Carolina using that very argument even though the plaintiffs are not Asians but shadow organizations with questionable origins posing as civil rights advocates.

Right now, Chokal-Ingam is the conservatives' darling and I expect he'll milk it as much as he can in order to sell his book. I would not be surprised to see him on a Fox News talk show as Exhibit A in the "we're-not-racist because a person-of-color is the one attacking affirmative action" ploy.

If he really wanted the full black experience, he should try applying for jobs or a mortgage as an African American; he should explain to the police officer that he's not really black when he gets pulled over and harassed; he should try taking a stroll in a predominantly white neighborhood in Anywhere, USA.

I'm truly very sorry, Mindy.

RELATED: Asians and Affirmative Action

Yay & nay: Bruce Lee movies on the horizon

75th anniversary of a legend

Do I even have to identify who this is?

UNBELIEVABLE and as ridiculous as it may sound, a motion picture director wants to remake the ultimate Bruce Lee classic Enter The Dragon.

Additionally, besides Dragon, Bruce Lee's daughter is shopping around the idea of biopic of the fabled martial artist. It would be the second attempt in chronicling Lee and his journey to becoming the first Asian American matinee idol. The 1993 movie starring Jason Scott Lee, was not as successful as hoped for. You could possibly duplicate Lee's moves, you could speak his words, but you can't duplicate the charisma and sex appeal that emanated from the silver screen when Lee was present.

Remaking "Enter The Dragon" is tantamount to sacrilege. How could you improve on the original? Oh, I know - make the main character - the Bruce Lee role - a white guy. Are you kidding me? No way!!!!

But that's what Rush Hour director Brett Ratner suggested. Two names he floated were Scott Adkins and ... mixed martial arts champion Rhonda Rousey.

NO! NO! NO! NO! THAT WON'T DO!! NO! NO! NO! NO! 

Nothing against Adkins and Rousey, but it's not like white heroes are in short supply. Why take one of the very few Asian American heroic figures and ... oh, the horror!

There will never be another Bruce Lee. Don't even try!

Searching for heroes

Like a lot of other Asian American boys growing up in 1960s and 1970s America, Bruce Lee was an idol of mine. There's a bigger than life hero who looked a lot like me! Well, more or less. Getting Lee's fat-free physique is no easy task for someone who loves to eat.

I had been studying karate for a few years and loved going to martial arts movies. My friends and I would make the one-hour trip to San Francisco to watch samurai movies in Japantown and the kung fu movies in the old Great Star Theater in Chinatown. My world was peopled by the legendary director Akira Kurosawa and the Hong Kong producer Run Run Shaw.

Besides the costumes and complicated plot lines, those movies also provided a bevy of male role models beyond the white heroes offered by mainstream media. 

Who is that masked man? Bruce Lee as Kato.

Then came Bruce Lee - an Asian American! He was strong, handsome, principled and besides the boys needing someone they could look up to, equally important: the girls loved him.

Introduced to the American public as Kato, the Green Hornet's chauffeur and sidekick. He also demonstrated the deadly beauty of his style of fighting, jeet kune do, which he created out of a combination of different styles. Basically, he stole every scene he was  in. 

The day after the show was aired, my friends and I would talk about the episode: "Did you see what Kato did? Did you see that move?

He was so contrary to the stereotype of the emasculated Asian male - he oozed assertiveness, masculinity and sexiness - that unwittingly, he created another stereotype; that all Asians knew martial arts.

It was his off-screen heroics and persistence that made him more than just a movie idol. He knew he was bucking the odds in challenging Hollywood's perception of a leading man. So he conceived an idea so unique and unusual: A western with a Chinese monk wandering the American west.

Hollywood liked the idea - a lot - and as Hollywood tends to do, they cast a white guy in the lead role, makeup provided a heavier eyelid so that his eyes looked a little Asian and have him speak in Buddhist riddles. Ahh, Grasshopper, that's how the iconic TV show Kung Fu was born; stolen from Lee's idea.

Lee was fed up with the Hollywood system so he went to Hong Kong where he was very popular and began making his own movies. Enter The Dragon was the first of his overseas movies that Hollywood embraced and American audiences flocked to in droves. It was, in essence, an American production. Lee got American actors John Saxon and Jim Kelley, both real martial artists, to play opposite him, convinced one of his students, L.A. Laker center Kareem Abdul Jabar, to have a role. Robert Clouse directed and Lalo Schiffrin composed the music. 

Enter The Dragon was a huge commercial success and a real breakthrough for Asian Americans.  He knew he was a role model and of his impact on the Asian community. He fought for the little guy. He knew how important it would be - not just for him, personally, but for all Asians - for him to become a genuine American movie star. That film catapulted Bruce Lee into that stratosphere of celebrityhood reserved for only the exclusive few.

Most importantly to impressionable young Asian Americans searching for a role model ... he was one of us!

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
To learn more about Bruce Lee and activities surrounding the 75th anniversary of his birth, click here. The website includes a clip with Dan Inosante, a close friend who taught Lee and other Hollywood luminaries the Filipino martial art of escrima.

Here's a clip featuring Lee's wife Linda taken from the documentary I Am Bruce Lee.

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Rep. Tammy Duckworth running for U.S. Senate

Rep. Tammy Duckworth at the nation's capitol.

REP. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D, Ill.)  declared her candidacy for the U.S. Senate last week. She'll be challenging incumbent  Sen. Mark Kirk, a Republican. 

In her video announcing her intentions, she said:

"I'm running for the United States Senate in 2016 because it's time for Washington to be held accountable and to put Illinois' families and communities first," said Duckworth in the video. "I will fight my heart out to represent you with honor and integrity."

Duckworth, a self-described "daughter of a Marine, a wife, a new mom, and a combat veteran," talked about family issues on the video. She mentioned the need for more pre-kindergarten, affordable college loans and tax-cuts for small businesses and the middle-class.

"I believe that together we can build an America that is strong from the ground up," Duckworth said.

Duckworth is the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress in Illinois, the first disabled woman elected to the U.S. House, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.

My favorite video clip of Duckworth is below when, as a member of the House military overisight committee, she interviewed defense contractor Braulio Castillo whose company was receiving extra preference credit for his alleged "combat injury," which he got while playing football.

Duckworth lost both legs and part of her arm in 2004 when a rocket propelled grenade hit her helicopter while flying combat missions in Iraq so it was no surprise as a genuine combat veteran, she tore into him. I especially like the part when she said, "My feet hurt, too" without blinking an eye or waiting for the drum beat to accentuate her irony.

Raja Krishnamoorthi

A day after Duckworth made her announcement, another Asian American, Raja Krishnamoorthi said he'll run for Duckworth's seat in Congress. 

The former Illinois deputy treasurer made the announcement Tuesday, a day after Duckworth said she would enter the race for Kirk's seat. 

Duckworth defeated Krishnamoorthi in the 2012 Democratic primary for the 8th District northwest suburban Chicago seat in Congress.

The 41-year-old Krishnamoorthi lives in Schaumburg and was raised in Peoria. He is president of Sivananthan Labs and Episolar, Inc. 

Duckworth is the second Asian American woman to run for a Senate seat in 2016. The other candidates is California's Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is running to replace the outgoing Sen. Barbara Boxer. If elected, Harris would be the first Indian American to serve in the Senate.

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