Filipino workers’ lawsuit claims refinery "abandoned' them during hurricane

In 2021, Hrricane Ida damaged Gulf Coast refineries where hundreds of Filipinos worked.

A lawsuit brought by Filipino oil workers against a major offshore oil refinery brings attention to the huge role Filipinos are playing in the oil industry.

Filipino offshore workers allege that Grand Isle Shipyards brought them to Louisiana to work as welders and pipefitters but then underpaid them, unreasonably restricted their movements, and otherwise treated them worse than local and US-born workers.

When Hurricane Ida battered the Louisiana Gulf Coast with 150-mile winds in August 2021 thousands of people evacuated but the 10 Filipino workers named in the legal complaint allege the company "abandoned" them in a bunkhouse with little food or medicine.

“I could not think of anything to do but to pray and to pray,” Renato Decena told The Associated Press.
Among other issues cited in court documents, US-born workers could come and go as they pleased, but Filipino workers could not leave the building without risking deportation.

When COVID hit, it is alleged that Filipino workers were quarantined to a boat with limited medical supplies while US-born workers were sent to hotels.

“Not one medicine, not one tablet, not one vitamin. Nobody gave these things to us. We were on our own,” another worker, Rosel Hernandez told the AP.

When Hurricane Ida struck, the lawsuit alleges only Filipino workers were left to ride out the storm while the others evacuated. The litigation is pending and has not yet been set for trial.

The suit seeks class action status, in which case, could include up to 60 other Filipino employees of Grand Island.

The company has denied the allegations and filed a counterclaim accusing the workers of defamation and has not responded to media requests.

According to AP reports, the US District Judge Carl Barbier dismissed the defamation allegations in a Jan. 20 order but said the company could pursue them again once the workers’ lawsuit is concluded.The Filipino refinery workers who were recruited from the Philippines were allowed to come to the US under federally granted visas to the Louisiana-based company.

NOLA

Renato Decena and Rosel Hernandez are part of a lawsuit against Grand Island Shipyward.

Philippines' overseas workers (OFWs)

The lawsuit shines a light on yet another industry in which Filipinos have been recruited for their job skills.

According to statistics from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration., there are 40,000 Filipinos working in the offshore oil and gas industry in various parts of the world, said former Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr, who first approached refineries in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

About 2,000 of them are in the United States, including in Louisiana, which accounts for 23 percent of total US crude oil production.

“Although Filipinos first set foot in Louisiana as early as the 1700s, it was only in 2005 that workers from the Philippines began making their presence felt in the offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico,” Cuisia said.

Overseas employment of Filipino citizens has been a key part of the Philippines’ economy since the government of Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s, according to nonpartisan research and analysis organization the Migration Policy Institute.

It is well documented that the Philippines is a major source of health professionals worldwide. Teachers from the Philippines is also helping fill in the gap in some US school districts. Skilled workers from the Philippines are employed in the Middle East for construction workers, nurses and domestic workers.

The number of Filipino workers who were employed abroad during the period of April to September 2021 was estimated at 1.83 million.

The Philippines’ worldwide remittances — money sent back to family and friends from Filipino workers employed abroad — totaled more than $36 billion in 2021, or almost  10% of the country's GDP, according to data from the World Bank.

The economic strategy has been criticized because it makes the workers vulnerable to abuse by their employers. he recent rape and killing of Jullebee Cabilis Ranara, a pregnant Filipino worker in Kuwait has shaken the country to its core.

Ranara's charred body was found last month, discarded in the desert, says NPR. Kuwaiti media report that an autopsy revealed Ranara, a mother of two, was pregnant at the time of her death. The teenage son of her employer has been arrested as a suspect. An investigation is ongoing and the Philippines has temporarily suspended sending domestic workers to Kuwait, where 250,000 Filipinos reside.

Ranara's tragic story is not unusual for migrant workers. Human rights groups have reported that up to 10,000 migrant workers from South Asia, the Philippines, and other countries die in the Middle East each year, according to the Guardian.

In January of 2018, the Philippines suspended sending workers to Kuwait on Friday, a day after then-President Rodrigo Duterte said abuse by employers there had driven several domestic helpers to suicide. The last straw was the discovery of a Filipino domestic worker's body found in an apartment freezer.

Later in May, the Philippines issued a statement saying a new agreement offered “additional guarantees that we asked our Kuwaiti friends to extend.”

The vague statement lacking details added: “The more than 250,000 Filipinos in Kuwait can now be assured of prompt and effective assistance if needed.”

Strong demand for Filipino workers

Remittances have become such an important part of the Philippine economy that despite the vulnerability to abuse, the Philippines Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople predicted that 2023 will be a busy year for her office.

Ople said the DMW hopes to deploy more workers overseas in 2023, noting that the Philippines fielded 486,673 OFWs from July to November 2022, reports Rappler. She reported that there are emerging markets and pending bilateral labor talks with Romania, Hungary, and Portugal.

Portugal is interested in offering jobs to Filipinos for their tourism sector, while Singapore has also raised interest in hiring more Filipino health workers, she added.

The importance of OFWs to the Philippine economy speaks to the dire state of the Philippines, that cannot get investors to create jobs in that country, despite its skilled,  well-educated workforce. The Philippines has lagged behind regional peers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in attracting foreign investment, says the US State Department.

Like most other overseas Filipino workers, the reason they sought overseas work is more personal than the geopolitical and worldwide economic trends. Refinery workers Decena and Hernandez said the better-paying jobs in the United States help them provide for their families.

“We have dreams for our family and children,” Hernandez said in an email. “We want them to have a better future.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

PRC surveillance balloon could fuel more xenophobia and anti-Asian hate attacks

PUBLIC DOMAIN

US sailors haul in remnants of a suspected surveillance balloon first launched by the PRC.

With the discovery of a giant spy balloon from the People Republic of China (PRC) flying over the US, Asian Americans need to gird themselves for another surge of anti-Asian hate.

Sen. Joel R. Carter, R-Gulfport, shared a photo of a weather balloon on Feb. 11, with drawn-on red text that mocked a racist interpretation of an Asian accent. The image text on the balloon says, "Weather Barroon" and "Totary NOT For Spying."

With anti-Asian hate incidents still rising because people mistakenly blame COVID-19 on all Asian Americans, the last thing AANHPI need is a giant PRC balloon the US military suspect was used for espionage. 

Since the US military shot down the first balloon on Feb. 4, three more similar balloons have been shot down by US fighter jets and are in the process of being recovered. The origin of the three balloons shot down Monday have not been determined.

With the aim of preventing a possible hike in anti-Asian attacks, the Committee of 100, a nonprofit organization of prominent Chinese Americans, Monday issued a memo on language use related to the US-China relationship. 

FYI: The memo can be downloaded from the Committee of 100 website here.

The committee's memo explains the important distinctions among China, the Chinese people, the People’s Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China. It also highlights categories of problematic language and the historical context that may impact how messaging is perceived.

The language that lawmakers, public officials, and media is important. The use of terms such as kung flu, the Wuhan Virus and China Virus by the Donald Trump administration contributed to the rise of hate incidents against Asian Americans and reinforced the perception of Asian Americans as foreigners and dehumanizing them as threatening "others."

Xenophobia in the U.S. towards Chinese Americans and the larger AAPI population often manifests across a myriad of words, phrases, and tropes. To help combat this issue, Committee of 100 crafted an anti-hate glossary as a guide for identifying terms, phrases, and imagery often associated with the Asian community. 

The glossary can serve as an accessible reference with examples to illustrate the types of language to avoid.

FYI: The glossary can be downloaded directly from the Committee of 100 website here

Vocabulary and choice of language can either contradict or verify intentions, goals, and motives. This is especially true in diplomatic and international arenas. The Committee of 100 memo outlines specific categories of language that are dangerous, problematic, or unproductive, including examples of the categories.

Since the pandmic was began in 2020, Stop AAPI Hate has collected over 11,500 incidents of anti-Asian hate. In the year 2021 to 2022, the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, revealed that anti-Asian hate crime increased by 339%.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Reckless U-Haul truck driver kills one, injures 9 others

NBC

NYPD stopped the U-Haul truck and arrested the driver.

UPDATED Feb. 14, 2:30 p.m.

The driver of a U-Haul truck that killed one and injured 9 others in Brooklyn, NY has been identified as 62-year old Weng Sor.

One person has died after being hit by a U-Haul truck that also injured nine people, including a police officer, in a "violent rampage" Monday across Brooklyn, New York City police said.

The suspected driver's son said that he has a history of mental illness, according to his son.

"Very frequently he’ll choose to skip out on his medications and do something like this," Stephen Sor, 30, told the Associated Press in an interview outside his Brooklyn home Monday. "This isn’t the first time he’s been arrested. It’s not the first time he’s gone to jail."

"Based on interviews with family members and confirmed when interrogated by NYC Detective Bureau, we believe Mr. Sor was suffering from a mental health crisis at this time. There is no nexus to terrorism," NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig told reporters at a press conference today.

The NYPD said Sor is a resident of Las Vegas where he lives with his mom, but showed up at his ex-wife and son's home in Brooklyn earlier this month.

The NYPD said Sor has eight prior arrests, dating to 2002, including DUI, evading a police officer, battery, and resisting arrest.

Police responded to a report of a man recklessly driving a U-Haul truck in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn and striking pedestrians at 10:50 a.m., New York Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell told reporters.

Videos showed the truck plowing down people on a sidewalk, hitting a bicyclist and finally stopped by police near the entrance of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and took the driver into custody before noon.

The fatal victim was 44-year-old Ye YiJie. A surveillance video shows Ye's bicycle getting dragged under the speeding U-Haul truck.

"He tried to do his best to provide for the kids. It's one of the reasons why he picked this delivery job because it's so flexible, he can be there when the kids need him," said Ye's cousin Micahel Chen to CBS2's Christina Fan

Family members say Ye was a devoted single father to three teenagers, twin boys and a girl. He often pulled late-night hours, even collecting cans to supplement his income.

At the Tuesday press conference, NYPD said that suspect Weng Sor faces one count of second-degree murder, seven counts of attempted murder and potentially one more for injuring a police officer.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Right-wing media attacks on VP Kamala Harris increase as 2024 approaches

 

The New York Post is part of the Rupert Murdoch media empire, which includes Fox News.

ANALYSIS

Right-wing media continues to target Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic frontrunner for President if President Biden decides not to run for re-election in 2024.

Articles questioning Harris' effectiveness as Vice President, her shaky staff, her intelligence and her capabilities have been running in conservative "news" outlets from the day that Biden picked her as his running mate.

Harris is being held to a higher standard than other Vice Presidents. Can you name a Vice President who has defined himself independent of the President they serve? As the second-in-command, it is their role to support and advise the President and represent him in the multitude of meetings and events required of the two top office holders in the nation. It is not the Vice President's traditional role to break away from the President's policies in order to bring attention to herself.

Despite the popular conservative trope that claims that mainstream media are left-wing mouthpieces, most media --- print and broadcast -- are beholden to stockholders, a group that lean conservative. Most of the balance of news outlets, adhering to journalistic value of remaining neutral, from the far right vantage point, may appear to be liberal when they are actually trying to be middle of the road. 

In some cases, conservative news outlets will simply make up stories to make the Vice President look bad.

In 2021, The New York Post published a fake story that migrant kids were given copies of Vice President Kamala Harris’ children's book “Superheroes Are Everywhere.” The reporter resigned as a protest saying she was “ordered” to write the fake news.

Here's how the conservative media machine works:

• Conservative news outlets such as the New York Post or Fox News does a piece questioning Harris' leadership capabilities.

• The NY Post often leads off with a story and then it is picked up by Fox News and then the Wall Street Journal will chime in with an opinion piece, the latter still clinging to its reputation to put a stamp of credibility on the issue. Not coincidentally, all of the aforementioned media is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who has helped cleave. They story then gets picked up by number of other conservative news outlets like the Washington Times, Epoch Times and Breitbart News then echoed by the Sinclair TV Group or Fox's chain of TV stations.

• Other mainstream media outlets, fall for the bait set up by the ultra-right wing media. In order to not appear as "missing the news," or being accused of being biased, other news outlets are put in the position of playing "catch-up." In order to not appeared biased, they inevitably do their own versions questioning Harris leadership capabilities, thus forth, further strengthening the impression of Harris' weaknesses.

The average US citizen who wants to keep abreast of the news, seeing this onslaught of attack articles or broadcast pieces about Harris then comes to the inevitable conclusion, "Hmm. There must be something wrong with Harris." 

Chess vs. checkers

So when you see articles such as the one put forth by the Murdoch-owned NY Post about Harris, consider the source. In terms of political strategy, Republicans and their conservative dark-money sources think more long-term than the Democrats. They play chess while Democrats play checkers. 

For example, while Democrats were celebrating President Obama's historic terms in the White House, the GOP was concentrating in the states where they captured the majority in state legislatures and governorships.

While Democrats were high-fiving for putting a Black President in office, the Republican controlled legislatures were planning ways to gerrymander Congressional and state legislative districts in such a way to give the GOP the advantage. They were also placing new restrictions and requirements making it harder for Democratic voters to cast their ballots.

So what is the GOP endgame? What are the long-range implications of discrediting  Harris, the highest-ranking and most visible Asian American in US politics ever. 

2024 and 2028

Which brings us to the prospective candidacy of Nikki Haley and her role in the 2024 race for President. She will presumably announce her intentions on Feb. 15. Hear me out:

In order to avoid accusations of racism or sexism, who better to attack Harris? Another Indian American woman.

Most political watchers agree that Haley has no chance of winning the Republican nomination for President. At best, Haley might be better suited for the role of Vice President for whoever the GOP picks to head the ticket. It could be Trump, DeSantis or some other as of yet unnamed wannabee.

Even if the Republicans lose in 2024, Haley would be in a strong position to lead the GOP in 2028. And who would she probably face either as someone running for a second term (assuming Biden doesn't run in 2024); or as a likely Democratic leader after two terms as the loyal Vice President to perhaps one of the most consequential Presidents we've seen in recent years.

A contest between two strong Indian American women would be interesting as hell and would surely split South Asian voters, who have been strongly Democratic in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

There's a lot of if's in this scenario and it could easily be derailed. Assuming the Democrats ton't give in to the GOP media manipulation and nominate someone else, at the very least, the race for 2024 is already setting up as one in which Asian American voters should be engaged in.

The other storyline put out there is that Biden would pick someone else as his running mate in 2024. That scenario is unlikely because that would certainly displease Black, Asians and women voters, some of Biden's strongest constituencies because of her gender and mixed Black and Asian racial background.

Don't expect the attacks against Harris to let up. With the 2024 Presidential campaigns already underway, right-wing media continues to chip away at her future opportunities. As we await Biden's decision to run for re-election, and all indications  point to a second term, Harris' role will be prominent. The GOP strategists believe the shakier Harris is now, makes it easier to bring her down in the future.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. The writer has 30 years of experience as a journalist in community and mainstream media.

AANHPI advocates campaign for an Asian American Cabinet Secretary

Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su may be up for a promotion.

With the pending departure of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, AANHPI groups see an opportunity to fix a perceived oversight by placing one of their own onto President Joe Biden's Cabinet.

The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) threw their weight behind Julie A. Su to replace Walsh, who will be leaving the Cabinet to become head of the National Hockey League’s Players Association, according to WBUR.

Although Walsh hasn't confirmed his departure yet, that hasn't stopped CAPAC and other AANHPI advocates from lobbying for Su, who currently holds the No. 2 position in the Labor Dept.

“Deputy Secretary Su has dedicated her career to the promotion of workers’ rights and fair labor practices and to advancing equity and opportunities for all workers, including ones from historically underserved communities," states a CAPAC press release. "She would be a stellar, exceptionally qualified candidate to be Secretary of Labor and would deliver results for American workers and the Biden-Harris Administration immediately upon her confirmation."

Su was in the running to become Labor Secretary when Biden was forming his Cabinet but eventually Walsh, the former Boston mayor, got the job.

Walsh's appointment was the final Secretary-level position to be filled and AANHIPI leaders had hoped Su would get the position because there were no Asian Americans at the Secretary level on Biden's Cabinet.

To assuage the disappointment of Su's supporters, Biden created a new White house position to act as the President's liason to the AANHPI communities. Erika Moritsugu, who has a long history of working in several government positions in Washington, was appointed to that post.

Su, who has not said she would take the position even if it was offered, received more support with the endorsements of the influential Black Congressional Caucus and most labor leaders, garnered from the relationships she developed as California's Labor Secretary.

“It’s the first administration in 20 years without an [Asian American Pacific Islander] Cabinet secretary … This is the first chance they have to diversify the Cabinet,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth told Politico. “So I’m waiting to see. Hopefully they will nominate her or an AAPI.”

Duckworth and Sen. Mazie Hirono were so disappointed that Su was not appointed Labor Secretary in 2021 that they threatened to slow-walk Biden's appointments that need Senate approval.

Currently, there are three Asian Americans on Biden's Cabinet, Vice President Kamala Harris, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Arati Prabhakar, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. However, none of those posts have the prestige, power or high-profile given to a Secretary.

Some of Su's AANHPI supporters include the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Asian Pacific Insitute for Congressional Studies, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and Advancing Asian American Justice.

"If nominated and confirmed as Secretary of Labor, she would become an even greater asset to the Biden Administration and Department of Labor (DOL) at the helm," said Asian Americans Advancing Justice, where Su worked for 15 years. "Julie Su has been an indispensable leader within DOL, working in lockstep with Secretary Walsh to advance President Biden’s agenda for a more inclusive economy. Now, she is even more profoundly qualified and positioned to further deliver on labor, workforce, and employment goals set forth by the Biden Administration."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Why was Congress talking about Chrissy Teigen?

OPINION

Oh, my! We knew Donald Trump had thin skin but we didn't know how paper thin until today. 

Rather than tackle topics such as violence, education, health, foreign policy or immigration, Republicans, in the majority in the House in the 118th Congress, spent six hours grilling social media executives trying to prove collusion between Twitter and Democrats. Their uninformed efforts backfired spectacularly.

How the lawmakers are wasting taxpayers' money was on full display during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday regarding Twitter’s supposedly left-leaning bias and the social media corporation's alleged politically motivated censorship at the social media site.

Among the GOP's goals is to expose President Biden's son;s, Hunter Biden, alleged business dealings in Ukraine and China while Biden was President Obama's Vice President and to expose the social media corporation's alleged left-leaning bias. the hearing took an awkward turn to Chrissy Teigen's tweet (See below). 

Her tweet was in response to a series of 2019 tweets posted by Trump in which he called John Legend, Teigen's husband, "boring" and called her "his filty mouthed wife."

Trump's tweet was sent to his followers but did not send it to Teigen.

Trump's White House staff asked Twitter to eliminate the tweet from Chrissy Teigen, an Asian American model with 12.9 million followers on her Twitter account.

Twitter found that Teigen's tweet did not meet the criteria requiring a posting to be removed and left it online, angering Trump and his right-wing allies.

Responding to the televised questioning during which her name and tweet was brought up, Teigen tweeted only "I ... oh my god."

Despite Republican allegations, Twitter’s algorithm promotes tweets from right-leaning political parties and news outlets more than from the left, according to its own research which was recently peer-reviewed in PNAS journal. The authors of the study also found that content from right-wing news media was also amplified more than outlets with non right-wing ideologies.

In fact, prior to the Jan. 6 Insurrection, Twitter employees tried to ban the dangerous inflamatory tweets leading up to the attack on the Capitol. However, Twitter allowed the hate and conspiratorial tweets to fester and inflame uninformed radicals to the events of Jan. 6.

During the Congressional hearing, disputing the GOP's allegation of Twitter's bias against conservatives, Democrats on the committee which included progressive Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, found plenty of examples of Twitter's actions countering that allegation.

In questioning of a Twitter employee who was monitoring inappropriate tweets, the New York City Congressmember was able to confirm that Twitter actually changed its original criteria so that Trump's more outrageous tweets Including a posting on July 14, 2019, when Trump told Democratic congressmembers, AOC and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, to “go back” to their countries in a series of racist tweets.

“So much for bias against the right-wing on Twitter.” Ocasio-Cortez concluded her remarks.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Shooting tragedies spark anti-gun resolve in AANHPI communities; ban on assault weapons

ABC

Brandon Tsay was President Biden's guest at the State of the Union last night.

After introducing Brandon Tsay, the hero who wrestled away an illegal assault weapon from the man accused of killing 11 people at a Monterey Park dance studio, President Biden made a plea for gun control."Let's stop assault weapons now!" he said.

In his State of the Union speech last night, Biden urged federal lawmakers to restrict the sale of the popular firearms as he laid out his policy goals for the rest of his term. He cited the recent mass shootings in California as motivation to “do something” on guns. He touted the bipartisan gun law passed in the wake of the Uvalde elementary school shooting but insisted further gun restrictions were necessary to solve the problem.

“Ban assault weapons now! Ban them now,” Biden said. “Once and for all.”

The Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay mass shootings last month has spurred Asian Americans to ask their lawmakers to strengthen gun control laws.

“After three years of increasing anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents, the two recent tragic events involving the mass shooting of members of the AAPI community have exacerbated the fear and anxiety already felt by so many," said Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific Americans Caucus. "That is why I am proud to announce that CAPAC fully endorses the Assault Weapons Ban Act as an essential measure in keeping our communities safe.

“Assault weapons are solely designed for inflicting maximum damage – and are the firearm of choice for mass shootings," Chu continued. "Weapons of war have no place in our streets, schools, grocery stores, places of worship, movie theaters, or dance studios. All Americans deserve to feel safe and protected from hate and violence, and we in CAPAC will continue working towards eliminating gun violence and protecting our communities.”

The Assault Weapons Ban Act would prohibit the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of semiautomatic weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices across the country. The House of Representatives passed this legislation in the 117th Congress. Presently, the bill is in committee in the Senate.

Asian Americans overwhelming are in favor of gun control according to a survey by AAPI Data. On average, almost 80% of Asian Americans favor stricter gun laws.

From 2015 through 2019, more than 3,000 Asian Americans died from gun suicides, homicides and accidental shootings, says Stop AAPI Hate.

In an opinion article published in several US newspapers, Stop AAPI Hate co-founders Cynthia Choi and Manjusha P. Kulkarni said: "All of us, from leaders and policymakers to community members, have a role to play in creating sane gun policies. In the same way that we've powerfully mobilized against anti-AAPI hate over the past three years, against enormous odds, we can mobilize around gun violence prevention.

"We deserve to be protected. We deserve to feel safe. And we will not back down in the face of adversity."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Filipino American Steve Lacy Moa wins his first Grammy

Steve Lacy Moya performs his hit song "Bad Habit" at the Grammys.

An Asian American musician and singer won his first Grammy Sunday evening. Steve Lacy Moya won a Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album for his album "Gemini Rights."

The win for Best Progressive R&B Album marked Steve Lacy’s first-ever victory at the Grammy Awards. The Filipino American artist received two past nominations (for his work with his band, Internet) and three additional nominations at the 2023 Grammys. 

STEVE LACY MOA

Lacy was not so lucky in the other three categories he was nominated: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance. However, he did perform his hit song, “Bad Habit,” at the awards show,

Lacy is a 24-year-old, Filipino and Black, bisexual, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer born and raised in Compton, south of Los Angeles.

Other Grammy nominees of Asian descent, BTS, H.E.R., Nora Jones and Grayson Villanueva, did not win in their categories. It was the third straight year that the wildly popular K-pop group BTS was nominated for a Grammy but failed to win.

FYI: For a complete list of the Grammy winners and other highlights, click here.

Filipino American Olivia Rodrigo, who won a set of Grammys in 2022, did not have new songs or albums in 2022, but she made an appearance to present the Best New Artist award to Samara Joy.

During his monologue, host Trevor Noah surprised Adele by introducing Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to her at her table. The British singer had earlier expressed that she's never met the Samoan American action star but he was the one celebrity she'd like to meet.

Later in the evening, Johnson presented Adele with the award for Best Solo Performance for her song "Easy on Me."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Asian American artists up for Grammy awards

GABRIELLA SARMIENTO WILSON

Asian Americans will have a presence at today's Grammy awards despite the absence of perennial favorite, Filipino American Bruno Mars.

H.E.R., aka Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, won't repeat last year's  feat when she won four Grammys. This year the Filipino American performer teamed up with Mary J. Blige for their recording "Good Morning Gorgeous," which was nominated for Record of the Year, Best R&B song and Album of the Year. H.E.R was also nominated for taking part in "Intimidated" with the DJ, Kaytranda, which received a nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Recording.

Another Filipino American, Steve Lacy, earned four nominations for his song "Bad Habit," the the categories of Best Progressive R&B Album, Best Pop Solo Performance. He will also go up against H.E.R. and Blige in the Record of the Year and Song of the Year categories.

Lacy will also be one of the performers for the awards show.

Grayson Villanueva's song "Nobody Like U," for the animated film Turning Red. was nominated for Best Song Written For Visual Media.

Indian American artist Nora Jones  had her album, “I Dream of Christmas (Extended),” nominated for Best Pop Album.

The immensely popular South Korean boy band BTS was nominated for the third straight year. This year the K-pop group was nominated in three categories: Album of the Year, Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

For the past two years, BTS was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance but failed to win the recording industry's top recognition. It not certain that the seven-member group will attend the award ceremonies in Los Angeles.

Missing from this year's Grammys is Filipino American R&B performer Bruno Mars, who has won a total of 15 Grammys by himself and in partnership with Anderson Paak as Silk Sonic. He and Anderson Paak withdrew their hit album from Grammy consideration even though many thought it would be a top contender.

Olivia Rodrigo, the Filipino American songwriter and singer, who won three Grammys in 2022 including Best New Artist, will be among the presenters. Dwayne Johnson, one of Hollywood's most popular actors, will also be a presenter.

FYI: The 65th annual Grammy Awards will air exclusively on CBS on Sunday, beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. If you have cable (or an HDTV antenna), simply check your local listings for channel information to watch the show. The ceremony can also be streamed live by signing into CBS.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Asian American congressman leads Democrats on new House CCP committee

Rep. Raja Raja Krishnamoorthi will play a key role in new House committee.

Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus got what they wanted when House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries named three Asian American members, to serve on the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill, will head the Democrats on the new committee. He'll be joined by Democratic Representatives Ro Khanna of Silicon Valley and Andy Kim of New Jersey.

Rep. Michelle Steel, a Korean American Republican representing parts of Orange County, California, is the only other Asian American on the committee with the responsibility investigating and developing policy to address the United States’ economic, technological, and security competition with the Chinese Communist Party.

One of the first items on the committee is the Chinese balloon flying across the United States. Although the Chinese say it is a weather balloon gone off course, US intelligence and military authorities claim that it has the capabilities of spying on "sensitive" facilities in the US.

In a show of bipartisanship, Select Committee on the CCP Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding the suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over the United States.

“The Chinese Communist Party should not have on-demand access to American airspace. Not only is this a violation of American sovereignty, coming only days before Secretary Blinken’s trip to the PRC, but it also makes clear that the CCP’s recent diplomatic overtures do not represent a substantive change in policy. Indeed, this incident demonstrates that the CCP threat is not confined to distant shores—it is here at home and we must act to counter this threat.”

One of the reasons CAPAC urged Jeffries to appoint CAPAC members on the committee is the concern that anti-Chinese rhetoric from the committee could fan the flames of racism plaguing AANHPI communities since the Donald Trump regime.

“We cannot forget that rhetoric used around economic competition with Asian countries has resulted in the verbal and physical harassment and even murder of Asian Americans here at home," cautioned Rp. Judy Chu, CAPAC chair. "Since March 2020 and former President Trump’s sustained references to the coronavirus as the ‘China virus,’ over 11,500 hate crimes and incidents against Asian Americans have been reported."

"I know that our CAPAC Members will stand ready to call out xenophobic anti-China rhetoric that we know exacerbates anti-Asian hate and violence against our communities. I know that our CAPAC Members will stand ready to call out xenophobic anti-China rhetoric that we know exacerbates anti-Asian hate and violence against our communities."

Krishnamoorthi, who is also a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, is the lead Democrat on the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act), which protects Americans by blocking and prohibiting all transactions from any social media company in, or under the influence of, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and several other foreign adversaries.

In the 117th Congress, the Indian American congressmember led bipartisan legislation that was signed into law, called the Gathering and Reporting Assessments Yielding Zero Overlooked Nefarious Efforts (Gray Zone) Act, which requires the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to produce a National Intelligence Estimate on different aspects of gray zone activities - actions that fall between ordinary statecraft and open warfare - that the PRC employs. Congressman Krishnamoorthi was also the lead Democrat on the bipartisan Transparency for Malign Chinese Investments in Global Port Infrastructure Act, which requires the DNI to study and report to Congress information related to Chinese global investments in port infrastructure.

"At a time when anti-Asian hate and violence are on the rise, it’s essential that this committee focuses its vital work on protecting all Americans from the threat posed by the CCP, while avoiding dangerous rhetoric that fuels the types of xenophobia that have endangered members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community,” added Krishnamoorthi.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Economic summit targets AANHPI business leaders and entrepreneurs

Ambassador Katherine Tai opened the White House's first economic summit in Philadelphia.

Repercussions of the mass shootings in California were acknowledged at the economic summit aimed at connecting the AANHPI communities, businesses and entrepreneurs to the resources of the federal government.

The White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) launched a series of regional economic summits Jan. 26 to connect Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) community members directly with federal leaders and resources. 

The events, kicked off with an in-person summit at Philadelphia City Hall, were being held in collaboration with the US Small Business Administration, US Department of the Treasury, US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, the National Asian / Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship, and local officials.

“These summits are a part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s resolve to deliver real results for our AA and NHPI communities and businesses – by investing in our competitiveness and by fostering collaboration,” said U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai, who also serves as WHIAANHPI Co-Chair. “Our strength and resilience will not give way to fear and fright. We will continue to push and pull for one another, to fight for justice and economic equity, and to build a society that is freer and fairer – for all Americans.”

Language barriers and limited outreach have historically held AA and NHPIs back from applying for federal procurement, jobs, grants, and programs. Although approximately 10 percent of small businesses in the U.S. are AA and NHPI-owned, only 2.8 percent of federal contracting dollars went to AA and NHPI small businesses in Fiscal Year 2020, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

In 2020, there were 612,194 Asian-owned businesses employing about 5.2 million in the United States, the highest among all minority groups, according to the US Census.

Even though AANHPI make up only 7% of the US population, their economic impact as consumers and entrepreneurs far surpasses their relatively small numbers, says the US Census.

Referring to the recent mass shootings in California, Tai said: "This type of senseless violence has become a plague in America.  Every massacre like this tears at the very soul of our nation.  And when it hits your community, our community, I think it tears at you just that much harder.

"These types of events, I also want to acknowledge, affect the economic vitality of our nation as well, and the investment climate.  It is also a public health crisis, so on so many levels, it is something that we all need to really grapple with, think about, grieve for, but most importantly, come together in events like this, through efforts like the Initiative, like these summits, to overcome, and to address."

"In the bigger picture, we also continue to fight for equity, justice, and economic empowerment for all of our communities," Tai continued.

The series focusing on business and economic opportunity was spurred by a May 2022 recommendation from the President’s Advisory Commission on AA and NHPIs. It builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to empowering underserved communities by connecting them directly with federal leaders and resources. It also comes on the heels of the release of the Administration’s first-ever national strategy to advance equity and opportunity for AA and NHPI communities - PDF, which outlines agency commitments to strengthen capacity building over the next two years.

“Generations of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have enhanced our nation through countless contributions in business, science, technology, the arts, and more,” said SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman.

 “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to creating equitable pathways to the American dream of business ownership for our AA and NHPI communities to ensure their great ideas and skills can create generational economic prosperity. The White House Initiative AA and NHPI Economic Summit series continues important work to close opportunity gaps, ready entrepreneurs to seize new opportunities, and ensure we leverage the full potential of our nation's talent to build a better America,” she said.

Through the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and other initiatives, the Biden-Harris Administration is making once-in-a-generation investments to address these issues, provide direct relief, and expand economic opportunity. 

FYI: Learn more about the National Strategy to Uplift AANHPI Communities.

"Violence like the Monterey Park shooting should continue to rattle us and activate us to continue to push and pull for one another, to fight for justice and economic equity, and to build a society that is freer and fairer and safer – for all Americans," concluded Tai.

"Together, we can demonstrate what it looks like to build a human-centered, people-driven economy.  I hope this summit does its magic in serving as a catalyst for all of you and all of us."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Nikki Haley expected to announce her campaign for the US Presidency

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

Indian American politician Nikki Haley seeks Republican nomination for President in 2024.

Ever since she resigned as Donald Trump's United Nations envoy early in his administration, it was widely speculated that Nikki Haley would run for President. This Feb. 14, she will announce her candidacy for the Republican nomination for President in 2024, according to news reports. 

The first hint of the upcoming announcement came as invitations going out to potential supporters that a "special announcement" will be made Feb. 15 at The Shed at the Charleston Visitor Center. A staff member confirmed the event.

Though she previously said she would not run against Trump if her were to run, her recent statements on social media seems to indicate a change of mind despite Trump's announcement Nov. 15 about his intention to return to the White House.

“It’s time for a new generation,” Haley tweeted. “It’s time for new leadership. And it’s time to take our country back. America is worth the fight — and we’re just getting started.”

Haley has tried to position herself as a moderate Republican even though she worked for one of the United States' most radical administrations. In the past year, she has been active on social media criticizing Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their policies.

She has been particularly harsh against Harris, who is the first Vice President of Indian American and African American heritage, calling her "unprofessional and unfit" to be Vice President.

In another tweet, Haley posted: "The only time we hear about Kamala Harris is when she's explaining her way out of a word salad. It’s time for her to do her job and secure the border."

Haley, whose parents are Indian American immigrants, may be trying to splinter the Asian American vote, which has played important roles in the 2020 Presidential election and the 2022 Midterms. Of the Asian American subgroups, South Asians have shown a strong tendency to vote liberal and for Democratic candidates.

Haley made national headlines in 2015 when she ordered the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds after a racist mss shooting took the lives of nine worshippers at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.