Today's movement against injustice and anti-Asian hate emerged from Vincent Chin's murder

Wednesday marked the 39th anniversary of the racially motivated murder of Vincent Chin, a defining moment in the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. 

During a period of strong anti-Asian sentiment in Detroit, Michigan due to the rise of the Japanese automotive industry, Chin was assaulted and beaten to death by two former autoworkers who believed Chin was Japanese and blamed him for the loss of their jobs. 

“The brutal murder of Vincent Chin, and the injustice of letting his killers off with a slap on the wrist, was a defining moment in the history of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community – one which underscored the ongoing prejudice and invisibility AAPIs experience every day," said Rep. Judy Chu, D-CA, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus made up of the AAPI members of Congress. 

A week before his wedding, Chin and his friends were celebrating at his bachelor party at a club on the night of June 19, They group was saproached by Ronald Ebens, 43, and Michael Nitz, 23, his stepson, according to NBC News, who, witnesses said, blamed the men for being out of work because of car imports from Japan. 

Following a fight, Ebens and Nitz searched for the group, finding them at a nearby fast-food outlet, where Ebens attacked Chin with a baseball bat while Nitz held him down.

Convicted of manslaughter in a plea deal, Ebens and Nitz were sentenced to three years probation and a $3,000 fine with no jail time. The verdict lead to outrage and protests in the Asian American community. Kin Yee, the president of the Detroit Chinese Welfare Council, called the sentence "a license to kill for $3,000, provided you have a steady job or are a student and the victim is Chinese,'' according to The New York Times.

The attack and the resulting and the lenient sentence sparked outrage and led to the emergence of a pan-ethnic AAPI movement that has gained more energy and attention in amdst the recent surge of attacks against AAPI. 

"As we take time to remember Vincent’s death and honor his memory, we must also reflect on the movement and awareness that his life has inspired.," said Rep. Mark Takano, D-CA. "Vincent’s death is a constant reminder to the AAPI community, and to communities of color, that our fight against xenophobia is not over. We must continue to stay united against every form of hate and keep demanding justice.”

"Thanks to the AAPI movement that started nearly 40 years ago after Vincent Chin’s murder, our community is no longer invisible," added Chu. "While the same prejudice and xenophobia that killed Vincent continues to plague our society today, one major difference is that we now have an outpouring of support from other communities of color, religious groups, and even the President of the United States to address anti-Asian hate. But there is still more to do."

Andrew Yang: 'I am not going to be the next mayor of New York City'

Screen Capture / NBC

Updated, June 24.

As the votes came in Tuesday night, self-proclaimed "numbers guy" Andrew Yang knew what the numbers were telling him. He had to concede.

After being the frontrunner for months, Andrew Yang's mayoral campaign floundered in the last two weeks causing him to finished a distant fourth in a crowded field of men and women who wanted to be New York City's next mayor.

“I am a numbers guy, I am someone who traffics in what's happening by the numbers," said Yang. "I am not going to be the next mayor of New York City based upon the numbers that have come in tonight," Yang said Tuesday evening in a video filmed by Shant Shahrigian, a New York Daily News reporter.

"I am conceding this race, though we’re not sure ultimately who the next mayor is going to be. But whoever that person is, I will be very happy to work with them."

Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams was leading in votes early Wednesday morning but will likely not get the 50% needed for a clear-cut victory. Following Adams, were progressive favorite Maya Wiley and former Sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia. 

In NYC's ranked choice voting in which voters name their top five choices in order of preference, the second and third choice votes will be counted to determine who wins the Democratic nomination for mayor.

It wasn't supposed to end like this for Yang. Yang was supposed to win and become the city's first Asian American mayor.

When Yang entered the race for the Democratic nomination to become mayor of the nation's largest city, he enjoyed months as the frontrunner, campaigning as a nonpolitician bringing in new ideas and out-of-the-box thinking.

As months passed the excitement waned and interviews revealed that Yang was not into all the details of the policies and politics of the city and voters apparently lost confidence and voted for someone they've known for his years of public service as a borough president and a former police officer.

As of Thursday morning (June 24), Eric Adams remained in the lead, but none of the remaining candidates were able to win more than 50% of the votes. The final voting results will probably not be known until next month when all the ranked votes will be added to the totals.

And for the last word ...

Washington Spirit player Komi Yokohama comes out as transgender

WASHINGTON SPIRIT

Kumi Yokyama of the Washington Spirit professional soccer team.

Washington Spirit forward Kumi Yokoyama came out as transgender in a video interview on former Japan teammate Yūki Nagasato's YouTube channel.

“I’ve dated several women over the years but I had to stay closeted in Japan,” Yokoyama said in the interview, which was translated by The Japan Times.

“In Japan I’d always be asked if I had a boyfriend, but (in the United States) I’m asked if I have a boyfriend or girlfriend," said Yokoyama, who uses they/them pronouns.

Yokoyama becomes one of the highest-profile Japanese athletes to come out as transgender, saying living in the United States and Germany played a major factor in going public.

“I’ve dated several women over the years but I had to stay closeted in Japan,” Yokoyama said in the interview, which was translated by The Japan Times. “In Japan I’d always be asked if I had a boyfriend, but [in the United States] I’m asked if I have a boyfriend or girlfriend.

“When my girlfriend said there was no reason for me to stay closeted, it really hit me. Coming out wasn’t something I was enthusiastic about, but if I think about my life going forward, it would be harder to live closeted so I found the courage to come out.” 

The 27-year-old said they had top surgery to remove breast tissue seven years ago without hormonal treatments, as taking hormones would have put them at risk of failing doping tests. Yokoyama said they are planning to undergo more gender-affirming procedures once they retire.

“Lately the word ‘LGBTQ’ has become more commonly known in Japan and been covered by the media, but people in my position aren’t able to raise our voices and talk about it,” Yokoyama said. “Japan may be a small country, but if all of us speak up together then we can help raise awareness.”

This season, Yokoyama has played sparingly for the Washington Spirit. The team expressed its support for the player. "We support and are so proud of you Kumi," the team said. "Thank you for showing the world it's ok to embrace who you are!"

Yang campaign holds on to hope in NYC mayoral race

It's election day in New York City. and Andrew Yang.

Editor's Note: This article was edited on June 22, 11 a.m. to clarity that this is a primary election.

 

It is anybody's race for New York City mayor as voter's go to the polls today to determine who will be the city's Democratic nominee for mayor.

Andrew Yang seeks to become NYC's first Asian American mayor by running as an outsider who will offer a new path and new ideas hoping that will counter his lack of political experience. 

The winner of the Democratic primary will almost certainly be New York City's next mayor because of the huge edge Democrats have no matter who the Republican nominee will be.

Yang's early lead has disappeared and in most polls, the former presidential candidate finds himself behind Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president..

In the finals days of the mayoral campaign, Adams, an African American, accused Yang and former Sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia of creating an allyship to tamp down the Black vote.

"For them to come together like they are doing in the last three days, they're saying we can't trust a person of color to be the mayor of the City of New York when this city is overwhelmingly people of color," Adams said.

Yang responded, "I've been Asian all my entire life."

"Imagine an administration that is led by someone who cuts corners and breaks rules and is constantly under investigation and then attacks whenever he's criticized and then invokes race as the rationale for any criticism that's directed toward him, and then you imagine hundreds of managers taking their cues from this person," Yang told The New York Times on Monday.

“I’m not even going to respond," to Adams' attack said Garcia, who is white who grew up in a multi-racial family. In a statement, she accused Adams of “resorting to divisive politics that erode New York City’s democracy.”

Garcia and Yang have been appearing together in the days leading up to voting day, which is not uncommon in elections that use ranked voting. The candidates hope to get their ally's supporter's second or third choice vote, which will come into play if none of the candidates receive more than 50% of the ballots. With eight candidates running for mayor, it is likely that no one will have a majority of the votes.

Yang's early lead slowly dissipated because of his inexperience in campaigning and apparent lack of knowing the weeds of public policy and critical issues resulting in some embarrassing gaffs that might seem inconsequential but played into the media portrayal of him as not a "real" New Yorker, despite living in the city for 25 years.

His supporters say the attacks are a form of the "othering" of Asian Americans, reinforcing the stereotyping of AAPI as perpetual foreigners.

TWITTER

Andrew Yang rallies his New York City supporters. "Let's win this," he said.

In a bit of a jujitsu move, Yang turned his political inexperience into an asset by claiming the city needed new leadership with new ideas, not just the same old status quo. He's campaigned on public safety and revived a trimmed down version of his Universal Basic Income idea that was so popular during his presidential bid.

“We do feel like we are getting our voters out now," Yang's co-campaign manager Chris Coffey told Spectrum News. "It’s a very strong Asian number among folks who’ve already voted, Orthodox Jewish number is pretty good, Staten Island’s a little bit higher than it usually is, not by much, but a little bit.”

Yang's campaign to get strong support from young voters and those groups who are traditionally underpolled, including Orthodox Jews and Asian Americans.

“Our team just did a poll of the people that have actually voted and it had us in the lead," Yang said Friday. "The numbers show also that 30 to 40% of the voters are new voters and we think they’re coming out in droves for change.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: VOTE! New York City polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

TWITTER

Andrew Yang's whirlwind campaign stopped in Chinatown Monday  to speak against AAPI hate.

Much ado about Scooby-Doo

Velma is being brought to life by Indian American actor/producer Mindy Kaling, right.

A tempest is brewing over the roiling controversy of the ethnicity of Velma, one of Scooby-Doo's friends.

Isn't that a cartoon, you ask? What's the big deal? Apparently, it is a very big deal for some people. The reaction from certain sectors of our society is an indication of the lengths some people will go to protect white supremacy and the status of Whites, long the cultural, economic, and political dominant racial group in the U.S.

The latest dustup in our culture wars began when comedic actor Mindy Kaling, an Indian American, cast hereself as the voice actor for Velma, one of the team of human friends of the Great Dane, Scooby-Doo, a cartoon character that was popular in the later half of the 20th century.

Kaling is executive producer of a spin-off of the Scooby Doo character. titled Velma. In her production, Velma will be Indian American and voiced by Kaling.

The news of the reimagining of Velma drew strong criticism, some of which was racist. There were also defenders of Kaling's decision.

“I grew up with ‘Scooby-Doo’ and Velma, and for sure I could really see her as East Asian,” sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen told NBC. “Hopefully not in a model minority way but a quirky way that’s kind of bookish but she’s multifaceted. The fact that she could be nerdy, that was kind of revolutionary back then.”

"Why are people so mad abt Velma being East Asian in Mindy Kaling's version she's not real, she's not connected to any culture and if you don't like it scooby doo has been around for decades. There's like a billion white versions of Velma you can watch," tweeted one writer.

What critics don't remember is that Velma was Asian American in one version of the cartoon that didn't raise an eyebrow. Hayley Kiyoko, who is of Japanese descent, played Velma in two live-action TV movies that aired on Cartoon Network in 2009 and 2010.

Hayley Kyoko portrayed Velma in an earlier Scooby-Doo TV series.

Kaling is producing the 10-episode animated series which will be a comedic take on the brainy Velma's origins, for HBO Max. 

Kaling is a one-woman force in in Hollywood for changing the lack of Asian American presence onscreen. Her production company is responsible for Never Have I Ever, about an Indian American teen and the remake of Four Weddings and A Funeral. Her company is also producing Ms. Marvel, featuring a Pakistani American superhero.

H.E.R. releases her first album with 21 songs

H.E.R.'s album cover for "Back of My Mind."

Three years after exploding into the music charts with her first hit "Focus,"  the formerly enigmatic singer/songwriter known as H.E.R., aka Gabrielle Sarmiento Wilson, is finally releasing an album. 

Fresh from winning an Oscar at the 2021 Academy Awards when she won the best song Oscar for “Fight for You,” written for Judas And The Black Messiah, and a Grammy for Best Song for "I Can't Breathe" last March, the 23-year old Filipino American released her first and much anticipated, album, "Back of My Mind," on June 18.

“People always ask me, ‘What’s the message? Where does this come from? Is it personal experience?’” the singer says in a 55-second black-and-white trailer for the project. 

“And it’s always the thoughts that sit in the back of my mind. It’s always things that I’ve been through, things that I go through, or what I feel, and all those thoughts that I’m afraid to say sometimes," she continues. "Things that feel too honest or too vulnerable or too emotional or too aggressive … It’s all of those things that have been in the back of my mind for the past few years since my first project. It’s like a peek into my soul.”

Joining her on collaborations in the 21-track album are fellow artists Ty Dolla $ign, Cordae, Lil Baby, Thundercat, Yung Bleu, DJ Khaled, Bryson Tiller and YG, along with producers like Hit-Boy, KAYTRANADA, Cardiak, Rodney Jerkins, DJ Camper and more.

Days before the album's debut, she unveiled the single, including "We Made It" with Chris Brown, the second track on the album.

The NY Times also did a really good quick review of one of her new songs on the album, which can be viewed here.

“My responsibility as an artist is to say the things that sit in the back of people’s minds because they sit in mine,” she told NPR in an April interview.

Victoria's Secret undergoes massive brand change by ditching its "Angels"

Two women of Asian descent will help Victoria's Secret change its image associated with sexy lingerie and the skimpily clad models known as the Angels as the brand evolves by inspiring  women with products, experiences and initiatives that champion them and support their journey. 

Olympic skier Eileen Gu and actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas will be part of the VS Collecdtive by joining five other  women who have made an impact in their respective fields to update the lingerie-designer's image.

“When the world was changing, we were too slow to respond,” the company’s new chief executive, Martin Waters, was quoted as saying by The New York Times on Wednesday.

"I am so honored to be a part of such an inspiring group of women and to work with a brand that is looking to break boundaries and use their platform to uplift, champion and advocate for women across the world," said Gu, best known for her free-style jumps and flips while speeding downhill in her skis. "Working with The VS Collective, I hope to unite and inspire by sharing my story and experiences." 

Jonas added: "A new era always brings a sense of freedom, and the opportunity to play a part in shaping the evolution and future success of a heritage brand like Victoria's Secret is so exciting to me. As we work together to chart the path forward in a new and impactful way, I'm not only looking forward to developing future collections that are inclusive of all people, but I am most excited for new customers and for those who have always been a customer of Victoria's Secret to feel represented and like they belong."

The VS Collective is an ever-growing group of accomplished women who share a common passion to drive positive change. These extraordinary partners, with their unique backgrounds, interests and passions, will influence and shape the future of the world's largest and most recognizable brand for women. Through social, cultural and business relationships, The VS Collective will work to create new associate programs, revolutionary product collections, compelling and inspiring content, and rally support for causes vital to women.

Besides Gu and Jonas, the other women joining the VS Collective are:

Among the first to join The VS Collective are:

• Adut Akech – Refugee, Mental Wellness Supporter, Model
• Amanda de Cadenet – Journalist, Photographer, GirlGaze Founder & Equality Advocate
• Megan Rapinoe – LGBTQIA+ Activist, Pay Equity Crusader, Professional Soccer Player
• Paloma Elsesser – Body Advocate, Community Creator, Model
• Valentina Sampaio – LGBTQIA+ Activist, Actor, Model

"At Victoria's Secret, we are on an incredible journey to become the world's leading advocate for women," said Martin Waters, Victoria's Secret's Chief Executive Officer. "This is a dramatic shift for our brand, and it's a shift that we embrace from our core. These new initiatives are just the beginning. We are energized and humbled by the work ahead of us."

Andrew Yang drops in poll as New Yorkers cast their ballots for the city's next mayor

 

TWITTER

New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang cast his ballot Wednesday.

Updated June 18.

Since he declared his candidacy for New York City mayor, Andrew Yang led in the polls. No more.

According to a new survey, Yang is in second place with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams atop a poll conducted by the lobbying firm Capalino & Company with the Honan Strategy Group.

Adams is the choice of 26 percent of likely Democratic voters, with former presidential candidate Andrew Yang in second place with 15 percent support.

Former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and ex-City Hall counsel Maya Wiley are tied in third place, with 11 percent support each. The other four candidates are in single digits.

Still other surveys, such as the Marist poll released this week, place Yang in the middle of the pack

Early voting in the contest began last Saturday and will culminate on Election Day, June 22. In NYC's ranked voting, voters pick five of teh candidates in numerical order. If none of the candidates garner more than 50% -- which will likely occur -- the second and third choices will be added to their total.

The New York Post reports that tens of thousands of New Yorkers have already cast their votes: As of Wednesday, 84,132 ballots have come in through early voting, which kicked off on Saturday, according to the city Board of Elections.

“It was always going to be a very close race,” said Chris Coffey, a Yang co-campaign manager, in a phone interview with the Gotham Gazette. He also noted that the campaign’s internal numbers on early voting are positive. 

“We think we're winning in early voting based on who has voted, and identify them as Yang voters as they have been for a long time,” he said. “We think we're winning in early voting. Does that mean we're gonna win the entire election? I don’t know. But I don't at all accept that we are where Marist has us.”

Rondalla teacher and musician honored by the National Endowment of the Arts

TAGUMPAY DE LEON

Among this year's class of National Heritage fellows is a musician who specializes in rondalla, a traditional Spanish-influenced style of music from the Philippines using various string instruments.

On Tuesday, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced its newest class that includes nine  individuals and groups who represent the richness and breadth of America's folk and traditional arts. Tagumpay De Leon of Burbank, Calif. is among the inductees.

“The diverse art forms of the National Heritage Fellows allow us to experience and appreciate the rich cultural traditions that make up America,” said Ann Eilers, acting chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts. “It is inspiring how these artistic practices continue the legacy of generations past, while blending contemporary elements as they continue into the future.”

This year's class of fellows represents the cultural diversity of the United States and includes artists and creators from Filipino, African American, Mexican American, Native, Irish American and Puerto Rican backgrounds, whose array of mediums span many kinds of music, ribbon and lace work, tap dance and filmmaking.

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation.

The NEA is the only arts funder in America—public or private—that provides access to the arts in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Each year, we award thousands of grants to provide all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation. Fellows will be awarded $25,000 each.

De Leon is a master teacher and performer of rondalla, a traditional Spanish-influenced form of music from the Philippines. Within the Filipinx diaspora, the rondalla is profoundly meaningful as a key cultural symbol. 

De Leon has promoted this musical tradition to thousands of Filipinx Americans as fellow performers, students, and audience members. 

De Leon was born in 1945 in Nueva Ecija, Republic of the Philippines. His mother, Illuminada Mendoza, was an accomplished pianist. His father, National Artist Felipe Padilla De Leon, was a bandleader and composer. De Leon first studied the instruments he found around the house: the piano, the accordion, and the violin. When his siblings formed the De Leon Rondalla, he chose the upright bass to accompany them, an instrument at which he excelled. The De Leon children played for family and community functions in 1960s Manila.

De Leon emigrated to the United States in 1971, settled in Burbank, California, and began performing rondalla within the Filipinx diasporic community. De Leon first played bandurria (a 14-stringed tenor rondalla mandolin) and guitar with the Pamanlahi Dance Troupe, then worked with the Fil-Am Cultural Family Group under musical director Nitoy Gonzales of the famed Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company. De Leon joined the group as the assistant director in 1985 and performed widely in Southern California.

Within a broad network of West Coast Filipinx-American musicians and dancers, De Leon rose to prominence as a teacher of rondalla instruments, an ensemble leader, and an expert on instrumental repertoire. His own group, the Rondalla Club of Los Angeles (RCLA), continues to perform with new members and experienced instrumentalists alike who play the bandurria, laúd, octavina, guitar, and upright bass. According to one RCLA member, rather than preach the importance of history and tradition, De Leon’s stalwart reverence for their repertoire of traditional folk songs radiates outward to both fellow players and audiences.

De Leon uses both the classroom space and the performance stage to steward the rondalla tradition and transmit this rich heritage to the Filipinx American community. Since 1991, the RCLA has regularly performed at Pilipino Culture Nights in many Southern California colleges and universities. De Leon is a popular instructor at the University of California, Riverside, where he teaches rondalla to eager Filipinx-American undergraduates of all experience levels.

With the Fil-Am Family Cultural Group, De Leon performed at the Chateau-Gombert International Folk Dance Festival in Marseille, France, in 1990 and 1993. In 2002, De Leon was a master artist in Alliance for California Traditional Arts' Apprenticeship Program. When not teaching or performing, De Leon plays bass with the Filipino American Symphony Orchestra of Los Angeles.

For the second year, the NEA will commemorate the NEA National Heritage Fellows with a film that visits with the fellows where they live and practice these traditional art forms. On November 17, 2021, the virtual presentation will be webcast free to the public at arts.gov. More information will follow.

The National Heritage Fellowships are the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Including the 2021 class, the Arts Endowment has awarded 458 National Heritage Fellowships, recognizing artists working in more than 200 distinct art forms, including Japanese classical dancer Gertrude Yukie Tsutsumi, Tejano musician and singer Manuel "Cowboy" Donley, Passamaquoddy basketmaker Molly Neptune Parker, leatherworker James F. Jackson, oud player and composer Rahim AlHaj, and quilting community advocate Carolyn Mazloomi. 

More information about the National Heritage Fellows is available on the Arts Endowment’s website.

Affirmative action at risk; Supreme Court wants to hear from the Biden administration on the Harvard admissions complaint

Asian Americans demonstrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building.

ANALYSIS

The U.S. Supreme Court's action asking for the opinion of the Biden administration on the Harvard admissions case may indicate that the justices are unsure if the case merits a ruling from the nation's high court.

Critics of Harvard's admission process, which they claim discriminates against Asian American applicants, appealed the case to the Supreme Court hoping the justices' conservative majority would reverse the decisions of two lower courts and rule in their favor.

Although Trump's Department of Justice already filed a friend of the court brief in favor of the plaintiffs, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), most legal experts expect that the Biden DOJ would reverse that brief.

The justices reviewed the case Thursday to decide whether or not to accept to hear the appeal. Instead, they requested a “call for the views of the Solicitor General” — known as a CVSG, not an unusual action.

However, Biden has not yet named a Solicitor General. That role is being filled by Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.  In this case, the CVSG may delay a decision on the petition until the fall, though the case could still be heard during the Court’s 2021-2022 term that begins in October with a ruling delivered in 2022.

The Supreme Court set no deadline for the filing in the admissions case that is filed by SFFA on behalf of Asian American students, although none of the student plaintiffs offered in-person testimony in the lower courts. 

SFFA claims Harvard's consideration of race in evaluating a student's application works against Asian Americans who scored higher in standardized tests than some of the applicants who were accepted.

SFFA President Edward Blum, an anti-affirmative action crusader, wrote in an email that the Supreme Court’s invitation for the current administration's position was not unexpected.

“Students for Fair Admissions remains hopeful that, regardless of the views of the solicitor general, the justices will grant to hear our case and end race-based affirmative action in college admissions,” he wrote.

Harvard did not comment on the justices' decision.

John C. Yang, president of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, which filed a brief backing Harvard's admission practices, said that the evidence reviewed by the two lower courts is proof that the Supreme Court should deny SFFA’s petition. “We think the evidence is clear, as demonstrated by both the District Court and the 1st Circuit opinion that there was no discrimination against Asian Americans. And we don’t think that this is a case that is worthy of Supreme Court review,” said Yang.

Yang said the evidence also proved that using race as one among many factors in admissions has helped to increase diversity in higher education more broadly, and that it is a “permissible goal, according to a long line of Supreme Court precedents.”

“And we have seen the damage that has been done when race is not allowed to be considered. So from a statistical perspective, it is clear,” added Yang. Statistics confirm that Harvard dropped the consideration of race in its application process, African American and Hispanic enrollment would decline from 14 percent to 6 percent and 14 percent to 9 percent, respectively.

Initially, the SFFA complaint, which was first filed 2014, was portrayed by mainstream media emphasized the irony of a minority protesting a program meant to help them, giving the impression that the majority of Asian Americans were against affirmative action. That more sensational image was far from the truth.  Recent surveys by  API Data indicates that 70% of AAPI support affirmative action.

“But just as important to us is the humanity of this," said Yang. "We cannot see how a student can tell their story without including race in many of their applications.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution -- this aanalysis is news laced with opinion, readers are encouraged to seek multiple sources to form their own opinion.

California AAPI legislators proposed $210 million to fight impacts of AAPI hate

The California State Capitol in Sacramento.

Editor's Note: Updated 12 p.m., June 15 to provide links to documents.

California AAPI lawmakers are proposing appropriating $210 million in the state budget to help victims of anti-Asian hate crimes and to assist those Asian communities and businesses that have been greatly impacted by the pandemic.

Among the budget items being requested is $10 million for the establishment of an Office of Racial Equity.

“This is a really historic proposal because it's really a flashpoint for our community to stand up and to ask to be seen, but also ask to be heard,”  Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, told LAist.

The API Equity Budget, part of the state's 2021-2022 budget that was approved by the state legislature Monday, is being pushed by the API Legislative Caucus to address the rising number of racist attacks against AAPI.

"The California Asian Pacific Islander population has faced increased attacks against members of their community since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than one year ago," states a letter by scores of AAPI organizations. According to Stop AAPI Hate, over 1600 hate incidents occurred in California in the past year.

"California must take a strong stance against this violence and provide community support, services, prevention against these attacks, and cultural and economic development for the community. This proposal requests $210 million over a three-year period to address hate incidents against the AAPI community."

There are over 6 million Asian Americans in California; 15.5% of the state's population, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.

The budget proposal would provide funds to organizations combatting the hate incidents and the following:

• An Office of Racial Equity, including staffing
• The collection of disaggregated data
• Anti-hate programs in schools
• A racial bias task force
• An Interpreters' Corps
• Ethnic media outreach 
  

“Collecting the data and reporting on the data and getting in front of the media and other folks was really important,” state Senator Richard Pan, who chairs the API  Caucus, said of the coalition’s work. “Without that collaboration, without that effort, I’m sure we would have individual stories, but they would not have highlighted this challenge that we’re seeing.”

The state Senate passed their placeholder budget 30-8 and the Assembly 57-15 after about an hour of discussion in each chamber.

Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a $267 billion budget for 2021-2022 in May but the legislature added on to his budget Monday. The governor and legislature have until July 1 to arrive at a compromise budget and the back-and-forth negotiations will likely extend into the summer.

“California’s economy is coming roaring back," said Newsom after the legislature passed their proposal. "With the largest surplus in California history, we’re using this once-in-a-generation opportunity to create an economic recovery that will leave nobody behind – with money going directly back to Californians, the nation’s largest small business relief programs, and unprecedented investments to address California’s most persistent challenges such as homelessness, climate change and equity in our education system".

Dept. of Interior transfers federal land to Hawaiian land trust

Secretary of the Interior De Haaland

Eighty acres of federal property on the island of Oahu is being transferred to the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust that could provide homestead property for 200 to 400 Native Hawaiian families.

As action is part of the President Biden's administration’s commitment to honor relationships with Indigenous communities and uphold trust responsibilities, according to an announcement by Biden's Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves.

“The Native Hawaiian Community has waited more than 20 years for the federal government to address a $16.9 million credit owed by the United States to the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust,” said Secretary Haaland., the first Native American to head the Department of Interior.

“Today’s action is an important step in our commitment to resolving the Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act settlement. We thank the Department of Commerce, General Services Administration, State of Hawai‘i, and Native Hawaiian Community members who provided their input during consultation on this transfer.”

The surplus federal property is located at the former NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center on O‘ahu.

The lands are being transferred to the state of Hawaii’s Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for inclusion in the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust. The transfer will help fulfill the terms of a settlement agreement authorized by Congress in 1995 to compensate Native Hawaiians for the lost use of 1,500 acres of lands set aside as potential homelands but subsequently acquired and used by the U.S. Government for other purposes. 

The federal government owns and manages about 20% of the land in Hawaii, most of the land is reserved for recreational or military uses and only a small portion of the lands is developable.

“Residential lots on Oʻahu are of the highest demand from applicants on the waiting list. This land transfer is an opportunity for beneficiaries that is truly in line with the spirit of the Hawaiian Home Lands Recovery Act,” said William J. Aila, Jr., Chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

In 1998, the Interior Department and the state of Hawai‘i identified a site for transfer under the HHLRA. In 2000, that site became unavailable, leaving a credit of $16.9 million owed to the Trust by the United States.

The General Services Administration notified the state of Hawai‘i of the availability of NOAA’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center site in 2020. The former Pacific Tsunami Warning Center land represents the best available property offered to the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust by the United States, suitable for residential development, under the HHLRA. 

After an appraisal, environmental review, and consultation with the Native Hawaiian Community, the Interior Department notified the General Services Administration that the site is suitable and approved the conveyance to the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust to satisfy $10 million of the $16.9 million credit.

The state's Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, a state agency charged with facilitating the return of lands seized from Native Hawaiians in 1893 by a U.S.-backed group of sugar and pineapple plantation owners. The businessmen and their U.S. military co-conspirators deposed Queen Liliuokalani and lobbied the president for U.S. annexation of Hawaii, which occurred. In 1898, when the U.S. annexed the island chain, it took possession of 1.8 million uncompensated acres of former kingdom land.

Thousands of low-income Native Hawaiians, unable to afford property at the market rate, are on wait lists for homesteads as promised. A 2020 investigation by the Star Advertiser and Pro-Publica revealed that some of the federal lands had been sold by the U.S. Navy to private parties for development, bypassing the land trust. 

The so-called "workarounds" were approved by lawmakers, including the late Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka and current Senators Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz. Hirono and Schatz claim they were unaware of the workarounds but the practice must stop going forward.

On paper, the 203,000-acres in the land trust contains 7,800 acres on the Oahu, the most populated island in the Hawaii chain. However, much of the land is "defined by two large mountain ranges that create towering ridges, steep slopes, forests, beaches and sea cliffs. But in reality, just a fifth of that land is considered suitable for residential development. A full third of DHHL’s Oahu holdings are on terrain so rugged that it has been marked purely for conservation, including 1,400 acres of steep mountainside in the Hawaiian community of Waimanalo," writes the investigative articles.

“We are pleased that Native Hawaiians will now have access to the 80 acres in Ewa Beach where the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center once resided,” said Deputy Secretary Don Graves. “With this overdue transfer, this parcel of land will soon be called home for hundreds of Native Hawaiians."

The long-delayed action by the Interior Department holds the promise that it could be the first of such land transfers under the Biden administration, which couldn't come soon enough.

"About 11,000 Hawaiians are now seeking residential homesteads on Oahu," according to the report by Pro Publica and the Star Advertiser.  "The trust has only enough land to accommodate less than a third of those homestead-seekers in single-family homes, although it is moving to develop more multi-family housing. Many waitlisters are homeless, and thousands have died without getting a homestead lease."

Jeremy Lin will continue his basketball career with the Beijing Ducks

To the delight of his legions of fans in China, Jeremy Lin is back. The Chinese American free agent has signed on with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association.

“Beijing Shougang, I’m back!” the highly popular 32-year old told fans in Chinese on his social media account. Shougang are the owners of the CBA's Ducks.

“No regrets about the past, excited for the future. Still got a lot of basketball left in me and we’ll see where this road goes. Beijing Ducks, excited to be back this upcoming season! Thank you all for going on this journey with me,” he posted on Instagram.

After playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the NBA's G-League hoping to impress an NBA team. However, after the G-League season was over, no team offered him a contract even though his stats were better than some of the minor league players were picked up by an NBA team.

Last month, just before the NBA playoffs began, the veteran player realized that no team was going to give him a chance to return to the NBA. He wrote a long social media post that sounded like he was retiring with no regrets. In a subsequent post, he clarified that he was not retiring from professional basketball, leaving the door open for a return to the CBA where he led the Ducks to the semi-finals last season.

At one point during his 11-year career, Lin was the only Asian American basketball player in the National Basketball League. He signed with the Golden State Warriors in his first year, then bounced around the league with seven other teams. 

The high point of his NBA playing time was for several weeks  during the 2011-2012 season he became a media focus for his spectacular play with the New York Knicks giving rise to "Linsanity." Injuries prevented him from playing with the Knicks during the playoffs and followed him for the rest of his career.

While waiting for an NBA offer, Lin revealed that he was called a racial slur during a G-League game but he never revealed the player's name. Consequently, the California resident became a prominent spokesperson against the anti-Asian racism currently surging throughout the U.S.

Vietnamese American teen succeeds Amanda Gorman as National Youth Poet Laureate

ALEXANDRA HUYNH

After her inspirational reading of her poem at President Biden's inauguration, Amanda Gorman will be a tough act to follow but a California teenager believe she's up to the task, drawing from the deep well of her Vietnamese heritage.

Alexandra Huỳnh, 18, from Sacramento, California last month was named the nation's new Youth Poet Laureate, taking the baton from Gorman.

An alumna of Sacramento Area Youth Speaks, or SAYS, she is the country’s fifth National Youth Poet Laureate, which is presented by Urban Word, a New York-based youth literary arts and youth development organization.

“I just feel overwhelmingly grateful because I know this win is not mine alone — it’s my entire community’s, and I’m standing on the shoulders of my ancestors and all the sacrifices and wisdom that they’ve gained to bring me here,” Huỳnh said.

As National Youth Poet Laureate, Huynh will serve as a cultural ambassador for the United States using poetry as a platform for the literary arts and civic engagement.

Huynh will represent the National Youth Poet Laureate program and the national youth literary arts community through a series of performances and civic engagements through May 2022. Prior to being named the 2021 National Youth Poet Laureate, Huynh served as the Western Regional Ambassador for the United States.

A second-generation Vietnamese American, Huynh uses poetry as a tool of self-reclamation and social justice for marginalized communities, according to a press release from Urban Word.

Huynh says she has been writing song lyrics since age 7 and became serious about poetry in high school, especially after performing during a local poetry slam and sensing the added power of words when said out loud. 

She cites Ocean Vuong and Diana Khoi Nguyen as among her favorite writers, and she hopes to eventually publish her own work and see it translated into Vietnamese, her “mother tongue.”

“Vietnamese itself is a very poetic language,” she said. “In Vietnamese culture, poems are spoken every day. They're pop culture references. For me, having poetry in my life never felt like I was going against the grain.”

Huynh was selected from amongst four regional finalists. The previous National Youth Poet Laureate was Amanda Gorman, who became an international celebrity after reading at President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

“Her trajectory has changed what I thought was possible for a poet,” Huynh says, noting that Gorman has appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine and read at this year's Super Bowl. “She has encouraged me to dream big.”

This fall, as a first-year student at Stanford, Huynh aims to combine her passions for creative writing, science and civic engagement.

“I spend a lot of time in my head, so poetry is for me a sort of survival mechanism,” Huynh told USA Today. “I wouldn’t be able to move through the world with the same amount of clarity had I not worked it out first on the page.”

Asian American journalists win Pulitzer Prizes

On Friday, the Pulitzer Prize Board recognized the work of several Asian American journalists for their reporting in 2020.

The Pulitzer awarded two awards for Explanatory Reporting to Ed Yong of The Atlantic and a team of Reuters journalists that included Andrew Chung. 

The Pulitzer board awarded a prize to The Atlantic's science reporter Yong “for a series of lucid, definitive pieces on the COVID-19 pandemic that anticipated the course of the disease, synthesized the complex challenges the country faced, illuminated the U.S. government’s failures, and provided clear and accessible context for the scientific and human challenges it posed.”

Yong told Poynter in an email, “It’s surreal. I wish that the stories I wrote had never been necessary, but I’m proud to have been able to help my readers make sense of a crisis that often defied sense."

In a tweet, Yong wrote he will be splitting the $15,000 prize money “between everyone who worked on my pieces last year—every editor, copy editor, fact checker, artist, and more. Even when individuals win Pulitzers, their work depends on a community. I want to honor mine.”

A Pulitzer for Explanatory Reporting also went to a Reuters team for an exhaustive examination, powered by a pioneering data analysis of U.S. federal court cases, of the obscure legal doctrine of “qualified immunity” and how it shields police who use excessive force from prosecution.

One member of the Reuters crew includes Andrew Chung, a correspondent at Reuters covering the Supreme Court and related issues. Andrew joined Reuters in 2014 after more than a decade at the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper, where he reported both domestically and internationally and was most recently the Quebec Bureau Chief.

The Pulitzer for International Reporting went to a Buzzfeed team that includes Indian American journalist Megha Rajagopaian.

They won for a series of clear and compelling stories that used satellite imagery and architectural expertise, as well as interviews with two dozen former prisoners, to identify a vast new infrastructure built by the Chinese government for the mass detention of Muslims.

Rajagopalan is an award-winning international correspondent for BuzzFeed News, based in London. She has been a staff correspondent for BuzzFeed News based in China and Thailand as well as in Israel and the Palestinian territories, and before that she was a political correspondent for Reuters in China. She has reported from 23 countries in Asia and the Middle East on stories ranging from the North Korean nuclear crisis to the peace process in Afghanistan. Her work has been translated into 7 languages, been taught in classrooms at Columbia and NYU, and was anthologized in 2018's What Future: The Year's Best Writing on What's Next for People, Technology, and the Planet.

Prince Charles praises Filipino health care workers for their contributions to the United Kingdom

 

On the eve of Philippine Independence Day, the future king of Great Britain, expressed his gratitude to Filipino healthcare workers in the United Kingdom.

"To these wonderfully selfless people, I wanted to offer my most heartfelt gratitude for the outstanding care and comfort you give to your patients," Prince Charles said in a video message shared by British Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce on Friday, June 11.

June 12 is recognized as Philippine Independence Day, as the day when Filipinos declared their independence from Spain.

"You have made a truly remarkable contribution to the health and well-being of so many people across the country at such a difficult time," he added.

Prince Charles noted that the friendship between the two nations is “stronger than ever at a time when we have faced the unprecedented challenges of the coronavirus.”

“Those links have provided the foundation for us to work together towards a better future. We are more fortunate than we perhaps realize to have many thousands of nurses and other healthcare workers from the Philippines working in the UK particularly in the National Health Service,” the Prince of Wales said in his statement.

Over 200,000 Filipinos are living in the United Kingdom, many of them already British citizens, and are working in a variety of sectors such as information technology, engineering, aviation, education, health care, and hospitality.

An estimated 19,000 health care professionals of Philippine heritage are working in the National Health Service. About 13,000 are nurses.

Prince Charles added that the UK is "more fortunate than we perhaps realize" to have thousands of Filipino nurses and healthcare workers serving the nation.