Asian/Pacific American group plans 'checkpoints' in Washington, D.C.

A passenger is checked at the airport.

FIFTEEN YEARS ago, the United States changed when terrorists attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

President Bush warned us that the war against terrorism would be unlike any war we have ever experienced. At the time, most Americans had no idea how different the tactics would be and how our country would react.

I'm reminded of this every time I go through airport security, because of my dark complexion, goatee and shaved head, I draw the special attention of the guards. They tell me I'm picked at random as they pat me down, but I know better. It has happened too often to be random.

What I go through, though, is nothing compared to what thousands of our fellow citizens must undergo.

On the 15th anniversary of September 11th, organizers with the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) and KhushDC will take part in a performative action so other people will be able to experience the impact of Islamophobia and the legalized profiling of LGBTQ South Asian, Muslim and Black communities.

"We are creating 'checkpoints' in high-traffic areas of Washington D.C. that replicate the various 'checkpoints' experience every day by South Asian, Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern, and Black people experience every day – being stopped when passing through TSA, being denied service because of religious markers, being called terrorists, being kicked off of flights, etc. Black Muslims experience this profiling at an even higher frequency, leading to brutality or death at the hands of law enforcement," stated a press release from NQAPIA,
Numerous studies have documented the impact of Islamophobia. 

• A Gallup poll found that nearly half of all Muslims - 48 percent - reported that they, personally, had experienced racial or religious discrimination in the past year. 
• In a Columbia University survey, 28 percent of Muslim high school students in New York reported being stopped by police as a result of racial profiling. 
• A labor market study found a 10 percent decrease in earnings for Muslim and Arab men immediately after 9/11, with the effects greater in areas with a higher incidence of hate crimes. 

The "checkpoints" will be set up this Sunday, Sept. 11 between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. across D.C. in Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, Verizon Center (Chinatown), and other locations.

 

“I feel the aftershocks of 9/11 every day," said NQAPIA’s Organizing Director Sasha  W. "From profiling at the airport, to verbal harassment on the street, to surveillance outside my apartment, the policies enacted in the wake of 9/11 have legalized the profiling and surveillance of my people. I cannot feel ‘safe’ until the legalized profiling, surveillance, and harassment end.”  

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Filipino/American wins Human Rights Campaign award for gay role

Conrad Ricamora accepts the Visibility Award from the Human Rights Campaign.

Reprinted from AsAm News

CONRAD RICAMORA, who plays a gay character in the hit series How to Get Away with Murder on ABC, received the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award last month in Cleveland, reports LGBTQ Nation.

Ricamora was born in Manila. His father is of Filipino descent and his mother is German and Irish.

“I will say that it’s a little ironic to be getting the Visibility Award because so much of growing up as a kid was spent trying to be invisible,” said Ricamora. 

Ricamora grew up in Niceville, Florida (Yes, that's real place.) "That's just a little south of Alabama, he said. 

“It was rough, not only being gay, but having the colored skin that I have. I was terrified that someone would see me as gay and I was also terrified that I would see myself for what I naturally was.”

Ricamora began in 2014 playing the recurring role of Oliver, but by season 3 became a series regular. He is the only openly gay Asian American character on prime time television.

In a highlight reel prior to accepting the award, Ricamora said, “I want to tell any kid that is not living in a diverse community, that may be out in a small town somewhere, that feels ashamed of the shape of their eyes, or the color of their skin or who they are attracted to naturally, that you are loved.”

He originated the role of Ninoy Aquino in the Off-Broadway hit musical Here Lies Love. It was a chance for Ricamora to embrace his heritage, but also tell a new story and represent the Asian-American acting community. “Bringing acceptance and promoting equality and justice for Asian-Americans of all types is just really important,” he said.

Ricamora finished by thanking his parents “for providing the space and acceptance to grow into who I am.”

(Views From the Edge contributed to this report.)

Waiting for California Gov. Jerry Brown to sign 3 bills into law

California's Gov. Jerry Brown has hundreds of bills to sign this term.

WE'RE WAITING, trying to be patient, but we can't help that a little bit of doubt is starting to creep in.

California's Gov. Jerry Brown has three bills on his desk, waiting for his signature. There are three that are special significance to the AAPI communities.

AB1066 - Overtime for farmworkers
Championed by Latino and Asian American legislators, this bill was authored by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez. The legislation would give farmworkers the same protections as most of the American workforce. They would get overtime pay for working more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week. Right now, farmworkers operate under antiquated laws that don't pay overtime unless they work more than 10 hours a day or 60 hours a week. If signed into law, it would be the first such law in the nation. While the number of Filipinos in the fields have dwindled, in recent years there has been an influx of Hmong and Sikh immigrants who were farmers in their home countries and familiar with the physical demands of agricultural demands of agricultural work. It is opposed by powerful agricultural interests that the governor has supported in recent years. Brown vetoed an earlier version of the bill in June so it is uncertain where he stands on this version.

AB1736 - Disaggregated data collection
The AAPI community is often looked at one monolithic block when in reality there are dozens of languages and scores of nationalities and cultures. There are wide disparities in education, wealth and physical well-being, access to health care. Unfortunately, there is little data that support the differences we know exist. The differences are masked by the model minority myth that is assigned to everyone who have Asian or Pacific Island heritages. This bill authored by Filipino/American legislator, Assemblyman Rob Bonta, passed the Assembly and Senate with ease. The Accounting for Health and Education in Asian Pacific Islander Demographics Act is also known as the AHEAD Act. It is backed by AAPI civil rights and health organizations in the state. The bill would include more ethnicities in the Asian American label. According to the bill, the state would be required to collect data for Bangladeshi, Hmong, Indonesian, Pakistani, Taiwanese, Thai and other ethnicities.

Surprisingly, it has met some opposition from Chinese/Americans, largely recent immigrants, who fear that the law would be a back door to dismantling California's law forbidding the use of racially based affirmative action. To allay these fears and to hopefully ensure passage, Bonta has amended the bill to exclude the educational component. Brown vetoed a similar bill sponsored by Bonta last year.

AB2016 - Ethnic studies in high school
California has one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the nation. Ethnic minorities account for over 71 percent of the student population, with more than 90 languages spoken in the state’s school districts. A model curriculum would be developed to act as a guide which local school districts can adapt for their particular population. It allows diverse student body to learn something about their own and other people's culture in the context of California history. It gives local districts wide leeway to adapt the material to their students. The curricula could be taught in different fields of discipline, history, social sciences or the language arts.

AB2016  is endorsed by the State Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson, who wrote: "It is especially important that students build knowledge of the various racial and ethnic groups in our state. Incorporating ethnic studies courses into standard high school curriculum is a means to accomplish this. In doing so, students gain an encompassed outlook on other cultures while learning respect and tolerance. Additionally, it provides students with the opportunity to learn about their respective culture in the context of California’s history."

Gov. Brown has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto any of the hundreds pf bills on his desk. If he hasn't vetoed a bill and he doesn't sign the legislation by the end of the month, it automatically becomes law.

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The merger of race and politics spells an uncertain future for U.S.

IT'S LABOR DAY, 2016, the traditional start of the campaign season but this election cycle has been far from traditional. In fact, it would be safe to say, we have not seen anything like it in recent memory.

It has almost been a year when Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the President of the U.S. and the country has not been the same ever since. Even if the businessman/showman (of known worth) doesn't win, he's already done enough damage to the U.S. that will take years to recover from.

I know my friends and family get tired of me talking about race all the time ... but it is a hard topic to avoid these days. Everywhere I turn I'm cursed with viewing the world through the particular lens of an Asian/Filipino/American/Californian.

I try not to depress my friends about the current state of race relations so out of courtesey and in order to keep their friendship, I try to avoid the topic -- and get on some non-controversial topics like the movies or TV. Oops. There it is again - #OscarsSoWhite and #WhiteWashedOut tend to bring the conversation back to race - or the lack of substantial roles for AAPI actors; or romantic lead roles for Asian/American men and/or the proliferation of ass-kicking Asians.

How about education and the classes my young friends are taking or teaching? Darn it! It's hard to talk about education without dipping into the topics of affirmative action and the necessity for ethnic studies. Of course, there's that model minority thing still haunting Asian Americans where we're all supposed to be good in math, science and medicine and poor in the arts and creative expression.

Even when talking about the seemingly apolitical subject of sports, it is impossible to avoid the topic of race. Well there's the whole kerfuffle surrounding 49er backup quarterback Colin Kapernick and his refusal to stand during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner because, he says, how could he support a country that oppresses people of color? And the mascot of the Washington DC's NFL team is pure racist.

Politics -- well, there's no escaping the subject of race in this presidential election cycle. Race has dominated the political discussion ever since Trump declared his candidacy in a manner that ripped asunder common decency by berating Mexican immigrants. A fascinating article by Lee Drutman appeared in Vox recently and one of the things he pointed out that our attitudes towards African/Americans and Latino/Americans is closely tied to our political views. (Once again, another well-intentioned pundit ignored Asian/Americans.)

Take a look at the following two graphs indicating the feeling towards Hispanics (Latino/Americans) and Blacks (African/Americans) as it pertains to political persuasion.

Drutman correctly points out that in the past, we've had our racial differences and we had our political differences, but this year, the two seem to have merged. To read the complete Vox piece, click here.

I would love to see what the chart looks like for Hispanics after Donald Trump's immigration speech last week loaded with coded words and phrases intended to fire up his core group of apparently threatened white males, afraid of the demise of their exalted position on top of the heap and with it, the diminishment of their power and influence.

I was talking with another friend - at least, one of my few remaining friends - the other day and we both lamented the fact that the race-baiting and hate-filled rhetoric coming from the alt-right and repeated by their candidate for consumption in the print and broadcast media, have set back race relations by years, if not decades.

You'll note in the chart above that for African/Americans, today, they are looked upon even more poorly than the mid-1960s when we saw the passage of two historic pieces of legislation: the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, when Jim Crow laws and segregated schools were still socially accepted in large parts of the country.

The downward trend began with the ascendancy of the non-compromising, religiously driven Tea Party conservatives in 2004 and the curve became a slippery slope when the 2008 election came around that saw the election of the first African/American president. That may have been the last straw for the ultra-ultra conservatives. There are certain elements in our country who cannot bear having an African/American as the leader of the Free World and have vehmently denied that reality since Barack Obama was elected president.

During the ensuing eight years, the data being released by demographers was the last straw, pushing white nationalists, or the alt-right, into a frenzy - they were losing what they perceived as "their" country. By mid-century, non-Hispanic Whites (Euro/Americans), would be less than 50 percent of the U.S.

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By the time 2016 rolled around, by comparison, even the ultra-conservative Tea Party looked moderate compared to the new conservative radicals. They had to come up with a new name for the far, far, far right wing, the alt-right, which had been biding their time waiting for their candidate to make his appearance. Along came this loud, boisterous, media-savvy demagogue who fit their purposes perfectly.

Donald Trump opened the door to the alt-right, white supremacists, or white nationalists, as they sometimes call themselves, who for decades kept their dark views to themselves in polite society. As Trump discovered his base, he began fueling their fears with his anti-immigrant, anti-refugee hate rhetoric that is his trademark. The alt-right had found their messiah. 

With Pandora's Box opened, the KKK, survivalists, ultra-conservative evangelicals, fascists and neo-Nazis have come out of the dark corners of our society and all that pent-up racism has been unleashed because Trump, with the media unwittingly giving him a national platform, has made racism socially acceptable again. 

RELATED: Asian Americans lean towards Democrats

It is no wonder that people of color are shifting their allegiance to the Democrats, who appear to be more welcoming to the legions of African/American, Asian/American, Latino/American, Native Americans and Muslim/Americans. Asian/Americans, because of their entrepreneurship and perceived wealth in comparison to other groups, were once seen as prime candidates for the GOP but because of the anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from the right, even traditional conservative Vietnamese/Americans have no other choice but to lean towards the Democrats.

My hope is that the Democratic Party's apparent acceptance of people of color is more than just an Aikido-like strategy vs. the Republicans -- taking the GOP driving away minorities and pulling them into the Democratic fold -- simply as a means of defeating the other party. If the Democrats really want to represent the myriad peoples of our country, we will have to wait and see after the election. If Hillary Clinton wins, the people she chooses to surround herself will give us a good indication of her and the Democrats' sincerity and priorities. (No disrespect to Judge Merrick Garland, but an Asian/American on the Supreme Court would deflect a lot of doubt.)

What's being forgotten with all the attention  given to race: That is the widening chasm between between the rich and the poor, the shrinking middle-class and the economic inequities this income inequality creates. The growing disparities may be even a stronger discord than that caused by race.

Where race and wealth inequity intersect, most noticeable among the lower income of all races and ethnicities, we create the perfect mix of anger, social tension and an uncertain future, a bubbling cauldron that could explode in our faces.

With the changing demographics of the United States, we wonder if the Republican Party -- at least the moderate Republicans that I grew up with -- can survive the increasingly vitriolic demands of Trump's supporters surrounding the issues of race.

With its vicious internal three-way struggle for control between the alt-right, Tea Party and what's left of the moderate wing, there are those who are gleefully anticipating the demise of the Republican Party. I caution those who would applaud the GOP's disintegration: Be careful what you wish for. With the resurgence of the far ultra-conservatives, what steps into the void of our traditional two-party system might be even more frightening.

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Elaine Quijano makes history as first Asian/American debate moderator

FILIPINO/AMERICAN journalist Elaine Quijano has been named the moderator of the 2016 vice presidential debate, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced Friday (Sept. 2).

Quijano, 42, will make history as the first Asian/American to moderate a national debate in a general election campaign. She is also the first anchor of a digital network selected to moderate a nationally televised debate.

Elaine Quijano

“It’s an honor to be chosen to help bring the issues of this critical election to the public,” said Quijano, who was born and raised in the Chicago area. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism.

“Elaine connects today’s digital audiences with this historic 2016 campaign​,” said CBS News President David Rhodes. “Her perspective, dedication to political reporting, and important role on CBS News’s live-streaming platform make her an ideal choice to lead the only vice presidential debate this fall.”

Quijano leads political coverage on CBSN, the CBS News 24-hour digital streaming network, and has anchored CBSN coverage of primary, debate and political convention nights throughout the 2016 presidential campaign. Quijano anchors weekdays on CBSN as well as the Sunday edition of CBS Weekend News. Additionally, her reporting is regularly featured on “CBS This Morning” and the “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley.”

Based in New York, Quijano is a versatile correspondent whose deep journalism background includes covering the White House and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Quijano joined CBS News in 2010. Since then, she has traveled extensively and covered a variety of stories, including the Boston Marathon bombings, Superstorm Sandy, and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Quijano was also part of the CBS News team that received an Alfred I. duPont Award for the network’s coverage of the 2012 Newtown elementary school massacre.

Prior to joining CBS News, she worked for CNN as a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent. While there, she reported from various beats, including the White House, the Pentagon and the Supreme Court.

Quijano was named a White House correspondent for CNN in 2006 and covered the administrations of President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. During that time, she reported on the Bush administration’s war on terror, his failed push for comprehensive immigration reform and the financial crisis that emerged in the fall of 2008. She also traveled around the world, visiting a host of cities, including Kabul, Afghanistan, Islamabad, Pakistan and Beijing, China. Before being named a White House correspondent, she covered Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign and the campaign of vice presidential candidate John Edwards.

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Prior to that, Quijano was a correspondent for CNN Newsource, the Network’s affiliate news service. She was part of Newsource’s round-the-clock coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and reported for CNN affiliates across the nation. Quijano also traveled to Kuwait City just days before the U.S. launched its invasion of Iraq in 2003, and provided extended onsite coverage.

The vice presidential debate will cover a broad range of topics to help voters learn more about the candidates and their positions on the issues. The commission organizing the debates said the time will be divided into nine segments with about 10 minutes of discussion on each topic, and noted that the moderator alone will determine the questions to be asked.

In addition to the vice presidential debate, there are three presidential debates​​​ scheduled this fall between Donald Trump​ and Hillary Clinton​. The first, to be held September 26 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, will be moderated by NBC News’ Lester Holt. The second, on October 9, will be moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper and ABC News’ Martha Raddatz at Washington University in St. Louis; this debate will be a town-hall meeting style format that will also feature questions from the audience. The third debate, on October 19 at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, will be moderated by “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace.

The vice-president debate will be held Tuesday, October 4, at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. It will be the only debate between the two vice presidential nominees, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine and Republican Governor Mike Pence. The 90-minute debate will be presented live, without commercial interruption, at 9:00 p.m. ET on the CBS Television Network and CBSN.

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Bon Appetit: Two new Asian/American restaurants present some of the best new eats in the U.S.

A six-page 'Bon Appetit:' spread on the restaurant Bad Saint includes recipes.

AMONG the Best New Restaurants named by prestigious Bon Appetit magazine are two that feature Asian cuisines.

Written by Andrew Knowlton and Julia Kramer for the food magazine's September issue, the Top Ten Best New Restaurants include Washington DC's Bad Saint was No. 2 on the list and Baroo in Los Angeles was listed at No. 5.

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"I was flying solo, but everything about this 24-seat, no-reservation spot made me feel like family," wrote Knowlton. "Credit Filipino-American chef Tom Cunanan and co-owners Genevieve Villamora (the most gracious host I met all year) and Nick Pimentel, who’ve made this place their passion project. Their food is personal, but it’s so much more than just dishes they ate as kids. Bad Saint is the kind of place I spend all year searching for."

"We want a whole spectrum of sourness," said Villamora. "Your salivary glands should start working overtime as soon as you get near our dishes."

The caption under Kwang Uh's picture, Baroo's chef, reads: "One of the few items Buddhist monks are allowed to possess is a baroo, the bowl they use for their meals... Uh chose the name to reflect the Buddhist tents he's been studying since he was a teenager -- "not so much as a religious practice but a way of life," he says. Buddhist philosophy is part of Uh's life not just through his daily meditation; it also informs his cooking."

Like Bad Saint's dishes, Uh's creations are not the dishes your mom made at home. They are adaptations with the chef's personal tweaks. A simple rice bowl topped with vegetables  at Baroo might have a six-page recipe that includes exotic items such as charred celery leaves or shredded roasted seaweed.

Bon Appetit's pick for the No. 1 spot this year is Atlanta's Staplehouse, which specializes in Southern cooking.

Panel on Filipino Cuisine at L.A.  food & drink festival

If you're in the Los Angeles area this Labor Day Weekend, don't miss the final day (Se[t/4) Taste of L.A. being held on the Paramount Studio's back lot. Sample some of the city's best food and mixed drinks amid the sets of familiar movies and TV shows. 

It is not too late to attend Sunday Block Party starting at 11 a.m. Later that day, attend the Sunday panel on Filipino Cooking featuring Jonathan Gold, the L.A. Times food critic, Charles Olalia of the Rice Bar, Gary Mene of le computer and Alvin Cailan of the Egg Slut and AMBOY. It will be 10 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on the Taste Bar Stage. 

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Man sentenced for attempting to send U.S. military technology to Pakistan

Drone technology used by the U.S. military is highly sought by foreign governments.

A PAKISTANI national was sentenced today (Sept. 2 )to 33 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Marquez of the District of Arizona. Syed Vaqar Ashraf of Lahore, Pakistan,  reviously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally export technology used by U.S. military drones.
Ashraf, 71, attempted to procure gyroscopes and illegally ship them to Pakistan so they could be used by the Pakistani military, according to Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo of the District of Arizona.

In an effort to evade detection, Ashraf arranged for the gyroscopes to be purchased in the name of a shell company and caused the gyroscopes to be transshipped to Belgium. 

Ashraf then traveled to Belgium to inspect the gyroscopes and arrange for their final transport to Pakistan. 

On Aug. 26, 2014, Ashraf was arrested by the Belgium Federal Police at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents, who had been conducting an undercover investigation of Ashraf’s activities. 

Earlier this summer, Wenxia Man, was convicted in a San Diego court and sentenced to four years of prison for trying to send similar technology to China.

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Obama cites impact of climate change on Pacific nations; expands largest marine monument

On Midway Atoll, President Barack Obama looks over the new oceanic
preserve off the Hawaiian islands. 

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA once began his remarks in front of a gathering of Pacific Islanders gathered in Paris for climate talks, "I'm an island boy." He stopped in Hawaii on his way to Asia where he plans to have climate change as a theme throughout his trip.

“Few people understand, I think, the stakes better than our Pacific Island leaders, because they’re seeing already the impact,” he told a group of Pacific Island leaders and conservationists at the East-West Center in Honolulu. “Rising temperatures and sea levels pose an existential threat to your countries.”

“Crops are withering in the Marshall Islands. Kiribati bought land in another country because theirs may someday be submerged. High seas forced villagers from their homes in Fiji,” said Obama, who early in his first term billed himself as "America's first Pacific president." 

He also noted that he brought his children to Hawaii for Christmas vacation every year. “I want to make sure that when they are bringing their children here or grandchildren that they are able to appreciate the wonders of this island,” he said in closing.

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Earlier this week, he announced the expansion of the national monument off of Hawaii, vastly enlarging an area in a region that six presidents have sought to protect. 

On Thursday, Sept. 1, he landed on Midway Atoll, now a part of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which spans 582,578 square miles – roughly four times the size of California.

The enlarged monument is home to more than 7,000 species, including green turtles, endangered Hawaiian monk seals, various seabirds and a newly discovered octopus scientists nicknamed Casper. As many as a quarter of the species are found nowhere else on the planet.

The monument expansion is part of the president's legacy of conservation. In addition, the Obama Administration is announcing nearly $40 million in new programming to enhance resilience to climate change and advance clean-energy development by building regional, national, and local capacity in the Pacific Islands to prepare for and help mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. 

National Park Service

These steps come as sea level rise and the increased strength and frequency of catastrophic weather events pose an existential threat to places most vulnerable to their impacts, such as the Pacific Islands. In addition, and consistent with the theme of this year’s World Conservation Congress, the Administration is announcing policies to promote conservation and combat climate change by protecting wildlife, oceans, and lands.

Throughout the week, senior Administration officials, including Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, are attending the World Conservation Congress to discuss these steps and hear directly from leaders in government, business, NGOs, Indigenous groups, and youth groups on a broad range of topics related to conservation and climate change.

“I have to say that Teddy Roosevelt gets the credit for starting the national parks system,” Obama said, perhaps cementing his record on conservation, “but when you include a big chunk of the Pacific Ocean, we now have actually done more acreage than any other president.”

President Obama left Hawaii this morning for China where it is expected that a major announcement will be made regarding the involvement of the U.S. and China in the international climate agreement achieved in Paris in December.

UPDATED: President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed the agreement as expected, according to Scientific American.

Obama's visit to the island state where he was born perhaps will be his last as a sitting President. Towards the end of his East-West speech, he got a bit nostalgic noting that “a lot of my life started within a mile radius of here.”

He said his mother and father met “probably a couple hundred yards” from the East-West Center. He went to school about a mile from UH’s campus (at Punahou School), and he was born about a mile away (at Kapiolani Hospital).

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TGIF FEATURE: Jackie Chan to receive an Oscar

Lionsgate

Jackie Chan in last year's "Dragon Blade."

JACKIE CHAN, the martial artist and bonafide movie star, will be getting an Oscar after scores of films in a career that spans five decades.

It will be an honorary Oscar for the Hong Kong-born actor and he will receive the golden statuette at the Governors Awards on Nov. 12 instead of the regular Oscar telecast in early 2017, but it is an Oscar, nevertheless.

The international film star will receive an honorary Academy Award for his body of work, which is extensive with more than 100 movies in Asia and the U.S., including Rush Hour, Police Story, Shanghai Noon, The Karate Kid remake and more. 

The 62-year-old master of stunts and martial arts has often written, directed and produced the titles that he's starred in, and also lent his voice to the animated Kung Fu Panda movies. Chan, a former stunt man, was known for doing all his extraordinary stunts in complicated fight scenes.

Chan will accept his award alongside fellow honorees film editor Anne Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster and documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.

"The Honorary Award was created for artists like Jackie Chan, Anne Coates, Lynn Stalmaster and Frederick Wiseman -- true pioneers and legends in their crafts," Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in a statement. "The Board is proud to honor their extraordinary achievements, and we look forward to celebrating with them at the Governors Awards in November."

The Hong Kong-born Chan, 62, made his motion picture debut at eight years old, and segued into Hollywood films with 1996's Rumble in the Bronx. None of his films have been what you might call prestige films and Chan was doubly penalized for doing most of his work in a genre  not generally respected by "film makers" -- martial arts, or more derisively, "chopsocky," movies.

He believed he should have been nominated for his role as Mr. Miyagi in a remake of The Karate Kid, 10 years ago. When Chan didn't get nominated, he called out the Academy's selection process unfair. It has been 31 years since an Oscar was given to an Asian actor. The last Asian actor to win an Oscar was Haing S. Ngor, a Cambodian refugee who won the Academy Award in 1985 for his supporting role in The Killing Fields.
Chan is following in the footsteps of Robert Redford, who won an honorary Oscar in 2001, and Steve Martin, who got his in 2013. The 2015 honourees were Debbie Reynolds, Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands.

The Oscars' Honorary Award is given "to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy." 

Rise in Islamaphobia is creating new political awareness among Muslim/Americans

Ghazala and Khizr Khan's speech at the Democratic National Convention was one of the surprise impactful moments in the event held last July in Philadelphia.

THE PUSH to get more Muslim/Americans to vote has been going oneven before Donald Trump said he would ban all Muslims from entering America in order to get a handle on the terrorist threats that might be coming into the U.S. The proposed ban injected a sense of urgency to the campaign.

But it was the appearance and speech of a mild-mannered man and his wife at the Democratic National Convention and the aftermath that really underscored the need for more voter registration among the Muslim/American population.

When Khizr Khan spoke about the loss of his son, 27-year old Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed while serving in Iraq was going on smoothly uneventful when Khan challenged GOP candidate Donald Trump to read the Constitution. Many thought that might have been the unexpected emotional highlight of the convention. He pulled a copy of the Constitution out of his suit pocket, waved it in the air and offered to loan it to Trump. 

By then, he had the attention of all the delegates. "Have you ever been to Arlington cemetery?," asked Khan, looking directly into the TV cameras. "Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America. You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one." Standing ovation!

In response, Trump belittled Khan and the silence of his wife, Ghazala, who stood at Khazr Khan's side but was too emotional to speak.

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Trump's attacks drew the wrath of America's veterans and parents of soldiers who died in the Middle East. It threw Khan and his wife into the middle of the presidential campaign and gave a face and rallying point for the Muslim/American community. Trump's poll numbers plummeted from which he has yet to recover.

Robert McCaw, CAIR’s director of governmental affairs for the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told Yahoo News that since 2012 there have been a number of failed attempts to launch Muslim voter registration initiatives. And while he agrees that the Trump campaign has certainly motivated more Muslim voters to get involved in the election process this year, McCaw argues that the rise in registered Muslim voters is also partly the “gradual result of Muslim community becoming more engaged with electoral process.”

When CAIR launched its 2016 Muslims Vote campaign, the goal was to lead 1 million Muslim constituents to the voting booths.

American Muslims are the most diverse religious community in the country, said McCaw, noting that African-Americans make up one-third of the Muslim community, while the other two-thirds comprise immigrants — or the children of immigrants — from the Middle East and South Asia.

“It’s taken some time for immigrant Muslims to connect and work with domestic groups like the African-American community,” McCaw told Yahoo. “Only now are we getting to see the fruits of that labor.”

At the same time, McCaw said, Trump’s anti-Muslim agenda seems to be pushing the Democratic Party to work “twice as hard to engage Muslim voters,” who, although composing only 1 percent of the country’s population, are highly concentrated in key battleground states like Ohio, Virginia and Florida.

“I don’t know if there would have been half as many Muslims speaking onstage at the DNC if Trump had not brought them into the spotlight,” he said.

According to CAIR, 78 percent of Muslim voters cast their ballots for Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush in 2000, but ever since Sept. 11, 2001, American Muslims have been making a steady exodus from the GOP. Results of a CAIR poll of Muslim voters following the Super Tuesday primaries in March revealed that 46 percent supported Hillary Clinton, 25 percent backed Bernie Sanders, and only 11 percent favored Trump. The poll also found that the top issue concerning Muslim voters was rising Islamophobia in the U.S.

Like other AAPI voters, although their numbers are relatively small when compared to other ethnic groups, in some areas and states, Muslim voters could tilt elections.

According to the Pew Research Center, Muslims represent just 1 to 2 percent of the country’s population, but they tend to live in strategic places — swing states like Florida, Ohio and Virginia.

“When the vote is close, then in fact, the Muslim vote in those swing states can play a significant role. They ... will be seen as a significant minority community,” Georgetown University Islamic studies professor John Esposito said.

Esposito, who directs the university’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, said, “There certainly are Republican Muslims but they are a significant minority, and given [Republican presidential nominee Donald] Trump’s position with regards to Muslims … I don’t see many Muslims being attracted to Trump.”

To McCaw, as well as the leaders of the New Jersey Muslim Voter Project, 2016 marks the beginning of a new era of Muslim involvement in American politics.

Once registered, groups like the NJMVP and CAIR will need to work hard to get them to the polls this November. Past experience in their original countries may have tainted their voting experience, say Muslim/American leaders.

“The South Asian Muslim community is the least involved in politics because most of them are first-generation immigrants,” said Shawn Butt, one of the founders of the NJMVP with a small group of local Muslim leaders. In their countries of origin, said Butt, "We’ve seen absolute levels of corruption in politics, and we kind of bring that mindset that ‘It didn’t work back home, it’s not gonna work here, so why bother?’”

For many Muslim Americans — who have been the target of vitriol and discriminatory policy proposals throughout much of the 2016 campaign cycle — there’s never been a more important time to get out the vote.

“It’s the divisive rhetoric that makes us feel we’ve got to prove ourselves,” said Butt. He described its mission as “(mobilizing) the Muslim population, get them registered to vote, and push them to go out and vote come Election Day.”

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Trump's scary, scary speech on immigration

Donald Trump gave a fiery speech on immigration in Arizona Wednesday.

SO MUCH for all that talk about Donald Trump softening his stance on immigration and reaching out to minority voters.

GOP Presidential candidate Trump gave a frightening nativist tirade in Arizona that should put away any doubt that he has any empathy towards immigrants, whether they are here legally or undocumented.

Down in the polls against Sec. Hillary Clinton, Trump must think he has nothing to lose so instead of trying to reach out to Latinos and other immigrant communities as he tried in recent days, he instead, doubled down on the hate-filled rhetoric in one of the most vicious, ugly speeches by a presidential candidate that I can recall. 

KKK leader David Duke voiced his opinion of the speech via Twitter. No comment needed.

For immigrants from Asia, now the largest source of immigrants to the U.S., it was disappointing to hear that he would do away with DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and DAPA, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, which would affect thousands of undocumented Asian immigrants. "Everybody must go," said Trump.

RELATED: Trump says he would limit immigration from the Philippines

What was perhaps most startling was Trump's call to return immigration to its "historical norms," which could mean abolishing the 1965 immigration reforms that did away with the preferences giving  European immigrants an edge over the rest of the world.

Trump belied another pillar of his candidacy, which calls for a reduction of government, when he said he would add 5,000 Border Patrol agents, triple the number of agents for ICE, create a deportation task force and reiterated his call for building that damn wall on our southern border.

UPDATE (Sept. 1, 2016): Several of Trump's Latino supporters withdraw their endorsements

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