Pilot ordered for TV series about a Filipina doctor

SHANNYN SOSSAMON

A television pilot is in the works centering around a Filipina doctor, who becomes an undocumented immigrant.

Shannyn Sossamon has been cast as the lead character. Sossamon is of Irish, French, Dutch, Hawaiian Filipino, German and English descent, Deadline reports.

The Cleaning Lady is a drama based on the Argentinian series La Chica Que Limpia. 

The American remake is being written by Miranda Kwok and directed by Michael Offer, the pilot is a project of Kwok, Melissa Carter, Shay Mitchell’s Amore & Vita Productions, Warner Bros TV and Fox Entertainment. Mitchell, who starred in Pretty Little Liars, is a Filipina Canadian.

A Deadline synopsis of the one-hour darkly aspirational character drama tells the story of a Filipina doctor, Reyna Salonga played by Sossamon, who comes to the US for a medical treatment to save her ailing son. But when the system fails and pushes her into hiding, she refuses to be beaten down and marginalized. Instead, she becomes an on-call cleaning lady for the mob. Willing to do anything to save her son, Reyna walks the tightrope of morality, breaking the law for all the right reasons — and eventually forges her own path in the criminal underworld as she starts playing the game by her own rules.

Kwok, who will executive produce The Cleaning Lady, wrote and produced the CW Network's The 100, which will enter its seventh and final season later this year.

Sossamon, 31, was born in Hawaii and raised in Reno, Nevada. Her grandmother is of Hawaiian and Filipino descent.

The actress starred opposite Heath Ledger in A Knights Tale. After that role, she was cast as the love interest in several films and co-starred on the series, Wayward Pines and Sleepy Hollow.

Texas Primary: Ortiz Jones, Kulkarni pass their initial challenges

Sri Preston Kulkarni, left, and Gina Ortiz Jones seek to make Texas history in November.

Both AAPI candidates who want make history by representing Texas in Congress passed their first test with flying colors on Super Tuesday.

Democrats Sri Preston Kulkarni and Gina Ortiz Jones easily bested their Democratic rivals to face Republican challengers in November.

Ortiz Jones, who would become the first Filipino American and first gay representative for Texas if she wins in the contest for Congressional District 23, garnered two-thirds of the votes cast Tuesday (March 3).

"I’m honored to be the Democratic nominee in #TX23. I’ve dedicated my life to public service, and I’m running for Congress to expand the opportunities that allowed me to grow up healthy, get a quality education, and serve our country," Ortiz Jones tweeted Tuesday night.

"Folks in South and West Texas are ready to send a leader to Washington who will fight for quality, lower cost health care, responsible and compassionate immigration reform, and an economy that works for everyone," she said.

“We look forward to making sure that this district is finally well-represented,” said Jones, 39, a San Antonio native and former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer.

The incumbent, Republican Will Hurd, is not running for reelection after eking out a win over Ortiz Jones in 2018.

The two Republicans seeking to take his place, Tony Gonzales and Raul Gonzales, failed to win more than 50% of the total. As the two top vote-getters in a field of nine Republicans, they will have a runoff May 26,

Kulkarni, who also almost upset incumbent Republican Pete Olsen, in 2018, seeks to become the first Indian American congressmember from Texas. Olsen, like Hurd, chose not run again for Congress opening the door for a wide-open contest in November.

Kulkarni easily beat his  opponents to become the Democratic flag bearer in Congressional District 22.

As the victorious trend became evident Tuesday night, Kulkarni said: “I’m cautiously optimistic that we are going to be successful, but I really am proud, ecstatic about the fact that inclusion won today because we are running the most inclusive campaign across the country.

“We had 21 languages, reaching out to women who were registered but never voted in their lives, we reached out to all groups that have been ignored before, today was a victory for inclusion, last year we came in first place, but this year we had an even bigger margin because we were even more inclusive.”

As in CD 23, the two Republican frontrunners, Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls and conservative activist Kathaleen Wall are headed for a May 26 runoff to be the GOP candidate to run against Kulkarni in a contest that is rated to be a toss-up.

The AAPI Victory Fund, a political action committee, endorsed both Ortiz Jones and Kulkarni in their Primary runs.

Both of the Texas races are expected to be hotly contested in November. The Republican and Democratic national parties see the races for CD22 and CD23 critical to power their  influence in the House and will be pouring money into the campaigns. 

California Primary: Its deja vu all over again for Rep. TJ Cox

SCREEN CAPTURE / C-SPAN

Rep. TJ Cox expects another close contest in November.

It will be two familiar foes facing each other in California's Congressional District 21, a seat held by TJ Cox, the first Filipino American member of Congress from California.
It will be a November rematch for incumbent Democrat Cox against the Republican he narrowly beat in 2018, David Valadao.

On Super Tuesday, Valadao had more votes than Cox (53% vs. 36%) but in California's "jungle primary," the top two vote-getters in the primaries will face off in the general election, regardless of party affiliation. 
It took a few days to count all the ballots in 2018 when Cox barely defeated Valadao, by just 862 votes. And now Valadao, who served three terms, is hoping to take his old seat back.

Republicans have targeted District 21 in hopes to turn it red in their effort to regain control of the US House of Representatives.

But Democrats have increased their registered voters and Donald Trump's onerous immigration policies will weigh heavily in the Central Valley with its strong agricultural industry. The 21st District covers all of Kings County and parts of Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties.

That seat has become a focus of Republican efforts to retake control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Donald Trump lent his endorsement to Valadao during a visit to nearby Bakersfield last month.

"We all know this race will be decided in November. Remember, just two short years ago Mr. Valadao beat me in the primary by 26 points," said Cox in a statement. In November 2018, with more Democrats going to the polls, Cox was able to turn the table.

Beer commercial stirs pride of being a Filipino American

YOUTUBE

Jo Koy toasts his mother.

A touching beer commercial makes a little history by showing what a Filipino American is all about.

Normally, we don't show entire commercials on this blog but we're making an exception for this one done by Filipino American standup comedian Jo Koy and his mom because, hey, March is Women's History Month.

Koy is perhaps the hottest comedian right now. Not only is he filling sold-out sports arenas on his "Just Kidding" world tour he has a movie in the works featuring his Filipino American family.

He says that a lot of people forget to simply be grateful. "Sometimes we forget to say thank you to the ones you love. I toasted my mother and thanked her for everything she sacrificed, so I can chase my dream of being a comedian," says Koy.

We've seen other commercials with Filipinos in it but usually in the 30-seconds or couple of minutes it takes to extol its product, the character's ethnicity or story is secondary to selling the product.

In this ad, Sam Adams -- the beer -- is an afterthought to the  heart of the ad which features a mother and son relationship and their love for each other.. The product's role doesn't even come into the picture until the very end during the emotional toast.

In the commercial, Koy lifts a toast to his mother, Josie, who as a single mother, raised her children in Kent, Washington, near Seattle, to be proud of their Filipino roots, which play a major part of the comedian's routine. 

It is part of Sam Adams beer's "Toast Someone" ad campaign that was launched during the 2019 holiday season. Koy's commercial began airing last month.

The action of expressing gratitude has a positive impact on both the giver and receiver, but people are likely not doing it nearly as much as they should in their daily lives.

As part of the campaign, Sam Adams has also created a limited-edition Toast Someone two-pack carrier that fits two Boston Lagers and includes space for a written sentiment, because 49% of respondents in a survey stated that feeling awkward was the biggest barrier to expressing appreciation and we recognize a small prompt go a long way.
What I love about the commercial is that it shows two Filipinos as human beings with a very real mother-son relationship to which anyone could relate. No explanation is necessary.

By Josie's appearance, it is obvious that she is an immigrant. While non-Filipinos will her her accent, Filipinos will instantly recognize it her accent. 

The world might not instantly be cognizant of two very Filipino traits that show up in the commercial.  Filipinos will recognize the concept of utang na loob, indebtedness. In Koy's case, he feels deeply indebted towards his mother, and he shows the respect and honor that Filipinos reserve for elders. These two cultural traits, some might say, strongly influences the Filipino psyche.

When Koy and his mother toast, they both tear up in a moment of genuine emotion.

Another reason I'm so taken by the commercial is because it reminds me of my own mother, who as a military wife, had to raise her brood of three by herself for long stretches  of time while my father was stationed overseas. She learned to drive, paid the bills and managed to raise the three of us through the turbulent teens as we struggled to fit in.

How she did it in a strange land and strange language without the support of the rest of her family -- I'll never know.

She was a teacher in the Philippines but she sorted tomatoes in the nearby farms and canned tomatoes in a factory in town to supplement the meager military paycheck sent by my dad.

After graduating with a Bachelor's of Architecture degree from UC Berkeley, I made the announcement that I wanted to become a filmmaker/writer. To my surprise and contrary to the stereotypical Asian parents pushing their kids to careers as doctors and lawyers, my parents didn't object even though my earlier goal of becoming an architect was their dream, too.

After my father passed away and I began working as a journalist with a Filipino American  newspaper, she supported my decision all the way. 

Though their stories are mostly untold and their sacrifices unheralded, to the strong immigrant women who persisted through the trials and tribulations of acculturation, we join Koy in toasting, honoring and love to all the immigrant mothers. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Hank Azaria expresses remorse for voicing Apu in 'The Simpsons'

Hank Azaria, left, will no longer give voice to the cartoon character Apu.

ASAM NEWS

Voice actor Hank Azaria who played Apu on the long running show The Simpsons is opening up about his decision not to voice the character after three decades.
“What happened with this character is a window into an important issue,” Azaria told The New York Times. “It’s a good way to start the conversation. I can be accountable and try to make up for it as best I can.”

Azaria has long defended his characterization of the Indian American clerk at a convenience store. He refused to participate in Hari Kondabolu’s 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu despite persistent attempts by the comedian.

The voice actor now admits the documentary had an impact on him as he reflected on his own Jewish heritage.

“I started thinking, if that character were the only representation of Jewish people in American culture for 20 years, which was the case with Apu, I might not love that,” he said.

Producers of The Simpsons say they respect Azaria’s decision to pull away from the character. They have not said what will happen with Apu or if the character will return to the show with a new actor.

Two charged with money laundering $100 million in cryptocurrency

Hackers Tian Yinyin, left, and Li Jiadong were accused of money laundering.

Two Chinese nationals were charged with laundering over $100 million worth of cryptocurrency from a hack of a cryptocurrency exchange. The funds were stolen by North Korean actors in 2018, as detailed in the civil forfeiture complaint also unsealed today.

In the two-count indictment unsealed Monday (March 2)  in the District of Columbia, Tian Yinyin, and Li Jiadong, were charged with money laundering conspiracy and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

“These defendants allegedly laundered over a hundred million dollars worth of stolen cryptocurrency to obscure transactions for the benefit of actors based in North Korea,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today's actions underscore that the Department will pierce the veil of anonymity provided by cryptocurrencies to hold criminals accountable, no matter where they are located.”

“Today, we are publicly exposing a criminal network’s valuable support to North Korea’s cyber heist program and seizing the fruits of its crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

“North Korea continues to attack the growing worldwide ecosystem of virtual currency as a means to bypass the sanctions imposed on it by the United States and the United Nations Security Council," said Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Chief Don Fort. 

According to the pleadings, in 2018, North Korean co-conspirators hacked into a virtual currency exchange and stole nearly $250 million worth of virtual currency. The funds were then laundered through hundreds of automated cryptocurrency transactions aimed at preventing law enforcement from tracing the funds. The North Korean co-conspirators circumvented multiple virtual currency exchanges’ know-your-customer controls by submitting doctored photographs and falsified identification documentation. A portion of the laundered funds was used to pay for infrastructure used in North Korean hacking campaigns against the financial industry.

The pleadings further allege that between December 2017 and April 2019, Yinyin and Jiadong laundered over $100 million worth of virtual currency, which primarily came from virtual currency exchange hacks. The defendants operated through independent as well as linked accounts and provided virtual currency transmission services for a fee for customers. The defendants conducted business in the United States but at no time registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The pleadings further allege that the North Korean co-conspirators are tied to the theft of approximately $48.5 million worth of virtual currency from a South Korea-based virtual currency exchange in November 2019. As with the prior campaign, the North Korean co-conspirators are alleged to have laundered the stolen funds through hundreds of automated transactions and submitted doctored photographs and falsified identification documentation. The pleadings identify how the North Korean co-conspirators used infrastructure in North Korea as part of this campaign.

The civil forfeiture complaint specifically names 113 virtual currency accounts and addresses that were used by the defendants and unnamed co-conspirators to launder funds. The forfeiture complaint seeks to recover the funds, a portion of which has already been seized.

Monday, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also imposed sanctions on Yinyin, Liadong, and numerous cryptocurrency addresses related to their involvement in activities facilitating North Korean sanctions evasion based on their services and support for malicious cyber enabled activities linked to North Korean actors.

Authorities say a portion of the stolen money has already been recovered.

“The hacking of virtual currency exchanges and related money laundering for the benefit of North Korean actors poses a grave threat to the security and integrity of the global financial system,” said US Attorney Timothy J. Shea of the District of Columbia. “These charges should serve as a reminder that law enforcement, through its partnerships and collaboration, will uncover illegal activity here and abroad, and charge those responsible for unlawful acts and seize illicit funds even when in the form of virtual currency.”

India's citizenshp law dividing Indian American community

AAJ TV

Indian Americans protest India's citizenship law.

ASAM NEWS

Hundreds of Indian Americans protested the recent deaths of 46 protestors in Delhi, reports Indica News.

They rallied Friday in front of Indian consulates across the United States in support of demonstrators in India outraged at new policies which makes faith a basis for granting citizenship and backed by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Almost 4-dozen people opposed to the so called Citizenship Amendment Act were killed and more than 200 injured during demonstrations on February 23 in Delhi.

“I was there to have an opportunity to grieve with a community that understands how egregious the genocidal violence that occurred in Delhi was, and to be in a space that recognizes what this moment means in modern Indian history. ” Sana Qutubuddin, an activist with Alliance for Justice and Accountability, told Al Jazeera.

Among the groups protesting were Alliance for South Asians Taking Action, Chicago Against Hindu Fascism and Bay Area Against Hindu Fascism.

“These events are horrifying. And disturbingly, they are not entirely unexpected. They come after a series of exclusionary and unjust actions targeting religious and caste minorities and vulnerable populations, particularly since the re-election of Modi,” South Asian Americans Leading Together said in a statement sent to AsAm News.

“The Modi government is implementing a Hindu nationalist agenda, known as Hindutva, or right wing Hindu nationalism, which is rooted in the alarming notion that Hindus are racially and culturally superior to others. Similar to White supremacy, which South Asians (including Hindus) in the United States contend regularly with, Hindutva threatens the rights, bodies, freedoms, and livelihoods of non-Hindus in India,” the group said.

The division among Indians have been more visible and increasingly violent since Indian lawmakers passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill last December. The Citizenship Amendment Bill would give many citizens of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh the opportunity to apply for Indian citizenship based on their beliefs alone. But the Bill stipulates they must be Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Jain, Parsi or Buddhist; Muslims are not listed.

The controversy has spilled over into the Indian American community dividing the South Asians along religious lines.

Duriing his trip to South Asia last week, Donald Trump, failed to mention the controversial bill saying he did not want to interfere in a domestic manner. Trump's administration has instituted a policy banning travel from several countries with a Muslim-dominated population.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.

Analysis: Who do California's Asian Amerian voters support?

Super Tuesday is upon us and Asian American voters are ready to cast their ballots. There are over 4 million eligible AAPI voters in the Golden State, which has 415 delegates up for grabs.

The Democratic field of candidates has narrowed dramatically after the South Carolina primary. With Joe Biden's overwhelming victory in South Carolina, Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigeig and Amy Klobuchar have dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination to run against Donald Trump.

Fivethirtyeight.com says, "In California, which votes on Super Tuesday, Asian Americans make up 16 percent of the population, the largest percentage of any state except Hawaii. The state’s Asian American voters account for 12 percent of likely voters who are registered Democrats, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, which released a study of California voters last August. And that same research showed that 36 percent of Asian American likely voters in California are independents, compared to 43 percent who are Democrats, which means that if independents choose to cast a Democratic ballot, Asian Americans’ share of the primary electorate could be even higher."

The latest polls taken before the South Carolina primary shows Sanders favored in California, but momentum is in Biden's favor after his big win in South Carolina, drawing the overwhelming support of African Americans and moderate white voters.

Heading into Super Tuesday (but, before South Carolina), fivethirtyeight.com has four recent California polls with crosstab information on who Asian American voters are leaning toward voting for, and Sanders seems to have an edge, earning the most support in three of the four surveys the website looked at. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also did well across the board.

“I’m not sure how much that matters,” says Rep. Ro Khanna, the Indian American congressmember representing Silicon Valley, and Sanders' campaign co-chair. He adds, “I mean, (Biden’s) a formidable competitor, we’re treating him as such and we’re very confident we’re going to do well in a lot of Super Tuesday states. We think this is going to be a fight until the convention."

The chart below provided by fivethirtyeight was compiled before the outcome of the South Carolina Primary.

Sanders, whose campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, is Muslim American, was one of two Democratic candidates to attend the Islamic Society of North America’s annual conference in Houston over Labor Day weekend last year, an event that drew some 30,000 Muslims from all over the country.

Sanders has received endorsements from prominent Muslim American figures: Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim American women elected to Congress; and even millennial influencers like Hoda Katebi, a popular fashion writer, cultural critic, and political activist. A few weeks before Super Tuesday, Emgage PAC, which calls itself the biggest Muslim political action committee in the country, endorsed Sanders as well, according to Politico.

Biden, for his part, appears ready to give Sanders the Golden State and instead is focusing on states with large African American populations -- Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas. The Biden campaign has spent zero dollars on California TV ads, and a teeny, tiny, almost negligible amount ($4,000) on digital.

Biden also received and early endorsement of the AAPI Victory Fund, one of the more active AAPI political action committees.

One of the most visible Asian American surrogates for Biden is Olympic skater Michelle Kwan, a native Californian, but she has been absent from the Golden State in the runup to Super Tuesday.

Warren and her campaign manager Roger Lau first began talking about the importance of AAPI representation in government back when he was tapped for Warren’s Massachusett's senatorial campaign in 2011. They have been very deliberate in including more than 100 AAPI staffers throughout the campaign, including Mary Lou Akai-Ferguson, the national AAPI community engagement and organizing director for Warren for President who has led the campaign’s grassroots outreach efforts.

However the Warren campaign compiled an impressive list of AAPI celebrities and community leaders endorsing the Massachusetts senator, including such luminaries such as actress Constance Wu, authors Celeste Ng and Gina Apostol, CNN pundit Jeff Yang, former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao and prominent psychology professor Kevin Nadal. 

Warren "has called for more support for legal immigration, including redistributing unused visas to address the millions of backlogged individuals currently waiting for a way to enter the United States, as well as lower barriers to naturalization for green card holders — over a third of whom are Asian, who make up the largest group of naturalized citizens in the United States. She has declared that she will not just extend DACA, but provide a path to citizenship for DREAMers — and their families; about one in 10 DACA-eligible individuals in the U.S. are Asian,” the group noted.

To counter this list, the Sanders campaign compiled their own list of endorsements from prominent AAPI celebrities and leaders.

Is it Tulsi Gabbard's last hurrah?

Notice that Hawaii's Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is not even included in fivethirtyeight's calculations because she has done so poorly in the four early primaries and caucuses. 

In California, a candidate must win 15% of the votes in order to earn any of the delegates. It is unlikely that Gabbard will reach that threshold except for her appeal for the state's large Hawaiian, Samoan American and Hindu American subgroups.

Another candidate that shouldn't be discounted is former NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has spend a fortune in television, print and online advertising in California and Texas and other Super Tuesday states. It has been his campaign's strategy from the moment he announced his candidacy to ignore the first four contests and concentrate his considerable treasure chest on Super Tuesday. We'll see if this unusual strategy works for the billionaire.

With Californians Sen. Kamala Harris and tech billionaire Tom Steyer out of the race, along with Asian American Andrew Yang, the state's AAPI voters may go with the candidate who has put the most effort in winning their vote -- respect and reverence being important in most AAPI cultures. That would be Sen. Warren, who like Sanders propose a progressive agenda but hasn't been as strident nor did she have the well-established organization that Sanders never disbanded after his 2016 run against Hillary Clinton.

The big question is with moderates Steyer, Buttigeig and Klobuchar out of the race, where will their supporters go? And for the voters who opted to cast their votes early, if they didn't vote for the remaining candidates, their votes will amount to zero.

Will Michael Bloomberg's advertising campaign work?

“We are fighting this delegate by delegate,” said Roger Lau, Elizabeth Warren's campaign manager and the first AAPI to head a national political campaign. Although only has won eight delegates after South Carolina's Primary Saturday. Warren has a record of being able to win even in races where she initially trailed, Roger Lau adds. “I’m confident that we’re going to continue fighting all the way through until the convention.”


Two weeks ago, Warren put forth her “Working Agenda for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders,” and like Sanders, has invested heavily in multi-lingual campaign materials.


Besides, California and Texas, the other states voting Tuesday include Warren's home state of Massachusetts, Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, American Samoa, and Sander's home state of Vermont. Altogether these states and territory represent a third of the total Democratic delegates.

AAPI voters could play key roles in Texas where several AAPI candidates -- Filipino American Gina Ortiz Jones in the 23rd and Indian American Sri Preston Kulkarni in the 22nd -- running for Congress could spur  more AAPI voters to show up at the polls. The largest AAPI ethnic groups in Texas include: Indian (340,000), Vietnamese (258,000), Chinese (211,000), Filipino (170,000), Korean (101,000), and Pakistani (66,000), according to AAPI Data. AAPI voters make up about 5% of the electorate.

In Texas, Asian Americans are the fastest-growing demographic, according to the US Census. The Asian American community has grown by 42% since 2010. Evidence of the growing presence of AAPI communities -- every major city in Texas now hosts Lunar New Year celebrations and the "Howdy Modi" rally welcoming India's Prime MInister last year drew 50,000 Indian Americans to Houston.

In a Public Policy Polling survey of likely Texas Democratic primary voters released this week, 32% of Asian Americans supported Sanders, 29% supported Bloomberg, 20% supported Buttigieg and 9% supported Biden. But this poll was also taken before Biden's convincing win in South Carolina and before Buttigieg dropped out. 

On Sunday, both Buttigieg and Klobuchar gave ringing endorsements to Biden. We can assume that many of Buttigieg's and Klobuchar's moderate supporters in Texas and California would switch their preference to Biden or Bloomberg.

The Hmong American community, which has been politically active in Minnesota in the Twin Cities region and supporters of Minnesota Sen. Klobuchar, will likely take her endorsement seriously and vote for the moderate Biden.

Other states where AAPI could make a difference include Virginia and Colorado, representing 5.3% and 3% of the voters, respectively, according to AAPI Data.

Super Tuesday could be the make-or-break moment for several of the candidates and the moment the AAPI voters could help determine the outcome of the Democratic race for President.

Updated March 3, 9:30 a.m. for clarity.

Speaking up works; Publisher to stop offering racist children's book

E.J. Ramos David

Dr. E.J. Ramos David is no shrinking violet so when he saw a book denigrating his Filipino heritage, he immediately launched a Twitter campaign exposing the book's harmful effects on his children.

The good news is that the publisher agreed with David, a psychology professor at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, and vowed to remove the book from his stock.

The "Brown Skin, White Minds" author's latest campaign began when he went to the Anchorage school to  pick up his kids -- who are Filipino and Athabascan (Indigenous Alaskans).

"I picked them up from school just like everyday. We were driving home and then my 10-year old, my oldest son, from the back of the car, I heard him ask me if I ate balut. It seemed like out of nowhere ... but I just said yes, I have. Then, a few minutes later, I heard him say, 'What? They have maktak on here?'" David told The Arctic Sounder. "So, then I looked in my rearview mirror and I saw him reading a book."

The book his son was reading was Capstone Publishing's "Take Your Pick of Disgusting Foods" by G. G. Lake. It features descriptions of dishes from around the world.

David posted the book on Twitter: "My 7 yr-old came home with this book from his school library. It has 2 Filipino foods & 1 Alaska Native food. This book is explicitly telling my Filibascan kids that their cultures are 'disgusting.' It's 2020, & the books in our schools are still teaching our kids to be racist."

As most visitors to Southeast Asia or watchers of the TV show Survivor know, balut is boiled fertilized duck egg, most common in the Philippines.

Maktak (which appears in the book in question as "muktuk") is whale skin and blubber and is a traditional food of Alaska's indigenous people.

As social media does sometimes, David's tweet went viral and was quickly shared not only with the parents of his childrens' school but within less than a week, it caught the attention of the publisher.

Remarkably, the publisher agreed with David's assessment.

"It was actually a lot more than I expected," said David to the Arctic Sounder. "I'm happy. Creating some kind of change is not always going to be this easy. Many times, there's going to be a lot of resistance or a lot of denial, or even people arguing back and fighting back and doubling down on their bigotry. So, to get this quick and this easy and this powerful of a response was refreshing and I hope it happens more."

"They were decisive about it. They did not make any excuses. They acknowledged there was something wrong that happened. And then they corrected it immediately," continued David. 

Kudos to the publisher. If only more publishers were as quick to correct their mistakes. 

"We are mortified and ashamed," wrote @CapstonePub, the publisher's official account. "You are right to call this book out as racist and we are taking steps to remove it from active sale. We specialize in titles that attempt to reach reluctant readers; topics that are gross and disgusting are popular hooks. However, cultures and traditions never fit this description and the myopic view that produced this book is inexcusable. We will be reviewing our staff training and looking across our list to make sure we are not perpetuating the problem in other titles. We're deeply sorry that bringing this to our attention was necessary, but thank you for doing so."

The moral of the story: Don't be afraid to speak up. If you see something racist. Report it as racist. You don't have to be belligerent, but don't hedge your words just to be overly polite. Racist is racist.

David, who has written extensively on internalized oppression and postcolonial psychology, concludes:

"I just hope that this serves as a lesson to always speak up," he said. "Even when we think nothing might come of it, even when we might feel alone or even might feel afraid to speak up, we should still try to speak up because we never know who might be listening. We never know who might become our allies. We never know who might become our supporters. We never know. Things might actually change."

March could rival 'Asian August' for AAPI representation in Hollywood

Yifei Liu stars in the live-action movie 'Mulan,' debuting in March.

We need to come up with a name for March, which will be a huge month for launching Asian American projects on American television.

We dubbed" Asian August" for the 2018 debut of  Crazy Rich Asians with its all-Asian cast, the John Cho starrer Searching and on TV the YA romcom To All the Boys I Ever Loved with Lana Condor in the lead. Those projects opened the doors and eyes of Hollywood to the profitability and acceptability of Asian-led or Asian-themed movies and series.

March might not be as historic but it could be equally entertaining as Asian August was in 2018. March has two films and four TV projects being launched that could cement the idea of Asian and Asian American storylines and actors taking the lead.

As an exclamation point to #RepresentationMatters, the South Korean movie Parasite won the Oscar for Best Picture this year and is doing boffo business at the US box office despite having subtitles and an all-Korean cast.

Mulan, March 27 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this post was first published, the release of Mulan has been delayed because of the coronavirus.

Let's start with the biggest event: the long-awaited release of the live-action Mulan. The Disney film, the telling the ancient Chinese legend, is set to premiere on March 27, over 20 years after the release of the original animated hit film featuring the studio's first Asian "princess."

We've written about the upcoming movie in previous posts as it developed.A lot is riding on the film with a budget north of $100 million. Here are some of the major changes:

• It won't be a musical so actors won't be breaking into the iconic songs associated with the animated version. Instead, we'll hear the familiar notes as background music; 
• Mushu the dragon, originally voice by Eddie Murphy, won't be in the new pic even though it was one of the most beloved characters in the animated version; 
• Li Shang, Mulan's commanding officer and the romantic interest in the original, has been eliminated in the wake of #MeToo movement, according to director Niki Caro;
• New characters have been added: Gong Li plays a sorceress with magic powers, 
• The movie is starting in the hole after lead actress Yifei Liu voiced her support of the Hong Kong police, anti-government demonstrators vowed to boycott the film; In addition, the fears of the coronavirus may dampen box office expectations in China

Other well-known cast members include, Jet Li, Gong Li, Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Tzi Ma and Rosalind Chao, 

It was five years in the making but, at last, the live-action Mulan is finally here -- coronavirus or not!

Devs, March 5

The Sonoya Mizuno (Crazy Rich Asians, Ex Machina) limited series Devs will premiere March 5 on streaming network Hulu.

In Devs, an FX limited series, a young software engineer, Lily Chan, investigates the secret development division of her employer, a cutting-edge tech company based in Silicon Valley, which she believes is behind the murder of her boyfriend.

Devs stars Sonoya Mizuno as “Lily Chan;” Nick Offerman as “Forest,” the CEO of Amaya; Jin Ha as “Jamie,” Lily’s former boyfriend; Karl Glusman as “Sergei,” Lily’s boyfriend; Zach Grenier as “Kenton,” Amaya’s Head of Security; Stephen McKinley Henderson as “Stewart,” one of the top minds working in Amaya’s secret development division; Cailee Spaeny as the young, brilliant “Lyndon;” and Alison Pill as “Katie,” the gifted quantum physicist and second in command at Amaya.

Alex Garland writes, directs and serves as executive producer of Devs along with Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich of DNA TV, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Garrett Basch. The series is produced by FX Productions.

Go Back To China, March 6

Youtube influencer Anna Akana stars in Go Back to China, director Emily Ting’s follow-up to her 2015 movie, “Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong.” Akana will portray a Chinese American party girl who blows through most of her trust fund and is forced by her father to go back to China and work for the family toy business. Through her journey, she gets a much needed dose of reality check and comes to terms with her estranged family.

Even though Akana has over 2-million subscribers on her Youtube channel, this may be her big break as a leading woman. Advance reviews give the comedy a thumbs-up.

Family Karma, March 8

The Family Karma premieres Sunday, March 8 at 9/8c on Bravo. The Miami-based reality show centers on a group of Indian American friends and their families. Beautiful rich people in sexy Miami says Bravo might have a hit on it's hands. Arranged marriages, mixed couples, etc. Expect a lot of culture clashes between the parents and the young adults.

Mira, Royal Detective, March 20

Mira, Royal Detective will premiere in the U.S. on Friday, March 20 (11 a.m. EDT/PDT on Disney Channel and 7 p.m. EDT/PDT on Disney Junior). A  cast of Indian American stars from Dev Patel to Jameela Jamil provide the voices for the characters. Brown Asian American kids will finally see characters that look like them.

Almost Paradise, March 30

Philippine-based Almost Paradise debuts on Monday, March 30, 10 p.m. on the WGN America network. Created by Filipino American producer Dean Devlin, who has a score of box office hits, including Independence Day, Godzilla, The Librarian series, the Stargate franchise.

Shot on location in the Cebu, Philippines,  stars The Librarian star Christian Kane. The 10-episode action series hopes to make the most of the Hawaii-like appeal of the tropical island setting.

Almost Paradise centers on Alex Walker (Kane), a former US DEA agent who was forced into early retirement. Once the DEA’s most resourceful undercover operative, the combination of his partner’s betrayal and a life-threatening battle with hypertension has sent him as far from the madness as he can go… a small tropical island in the Philippine Archipelago. Despite his best efforts to begin a tranquil new life, he’s pulled back into a world of dangerous people and deadly situations, either through his friends in the local police or running into people from his old life. And the problem is, he likes it.

Naturally, the show will give the opportunity for breakout roles for lot of Southeast Asian talent, especially Samantha Richelle, a real-life Brunei princess, who portrays Kai Mendoza, a new detective in the local police force.

Back to my original question at the top of this post. Asian March? MarchAsian? Asian Spring? Help me out, readers. Any suggestions?

College apologizes after professor alters mural depicting incarceration of Japanese Americans

The plaque adjoining the artwork, (top) was taped over.

ASAM NEWS

The vice president of Bellevue College in Washington whited out part of a mural by a Japanese American artist depicting the incarceration camps from World War II, reports the Seattle Times.

The university is apologizing for the actions of Gayle Colston Barge who has been in her position for more than five years, according to her LinkedIn profile. The school placed Barge on administrative leave after her actions.

The mural features two Japanese American children from an incarceration camp along with a description of the horrendous experience.

According to Professor Leslie Lum, someone removed the sentence that read “After decades of anti-Japanese agitation, led by Eastside businessman Miller Freeman and others, the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans included the 60 families (300 individuals) who farmed Bellevue.”

Freeman — whose family became prominent real estate developers — owned several trade newspapers such as Pacific Fisherman, The Washington Farmer, The Town Crier and a handful others. His publications were an influential news source for businesses, but also became a platform for his anti-Japanese sentiments. Through his newspapers, he advocated for alien land laws in Washington. Freeman and others like him believed that there was no hope for Japanese people to ever become “real American.” He wrote in one Seattle Star editorial dated 1919: “Oil and water do not mix.”

The university says Barge first whited out the reference, then a new description was taped over the original.

” It was a mistake to alter the artist’s work,” school president Jerry Weber wrote in the letter sent to students and staff. “Removing the reference gave the impression that the administrator was attempting to remove or rewrite history, a history that directly impacts many today … Editing artistic works changes the message and meaning of the work.”

In a text to the Seattle Times, artist Erin Shigaki wrote “I feel the feelings associated with both sides of my family being forcibly removed from Seattle – erased, unimportant, disregarded, disrespected, shamed.”

Shikagi described herself as “traumatized” by the defacement.

The missing sentence has since been taped back over the whited-out portion.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.