Smithsonian kept remains of Filipinos who died at 1904 St. Louis World Fair

Igorots on display at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

An 18-year old Filipina was brought to St. Louis to be part of an exhibit at the 1904 World’s Fair. She died from an illness before the fair opened and the Smithsonian Institution's United States National Museum took part of her brain in order to prove a theory of white superiority.

Little was known about her except her name was Maura. 

Maura was one of the 1,200 Filipinos brought to the St.Louis expo to show Americans the "little brown brothers," Americans were supposedly "civilizing" to justify occupying the Philippines as part of the United States' fledgling attempt at empire-building and join the ranks of colonizing world powers such as Great Britain, Spain and France.

A Washington Post investigative series entitled "The Collection," reports that Maura's brains were stored for 119 years by the Smithsonian along with the hundreds of human remains of other people of color, in a futile attempt to prove the debunked belief that Whites were biologically superior to other races.

Washington Post reporters Nicole Dungca and Claire Healy found out that the museum's collection houses the brains of people from at least 10 foreign countries. Besides the Filipinos, the collection includes brains from Germany, the Czech Republic, and South Africa. Altogether, there were 268 brains, 27 of which came from Filipinos, four of which came from the Filipinos on exhibit at the St. Louis exposition.

The remains were said to be collected between 1904 and 1941 by Ales Hrdlicka, a curator and then-head of the newly established Division of Physical Anthropology at the time. Hrdlicka was a eugenicist, a school of thought that sought to prove that white people are superior to people of other races.

“The brains in particular were collected to support Hrdlicka’s early 20th-century racist beliefs that brains of white people were larger,” the Smithsonian noted in a separate interview.

"At the Smithsonian, we recognize certain collection practices of our past were unethical," wrote Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III in a statement.

"What was once standard in the museum field is no longer acceptable. We acknowledge and apologize for the pain our historical practices have caused people, their families, and their communities, and I look forward to the conversations this initiative will generate in helping us perform our cutting-edge research in a manner that is ripe with scholarship and conforms to the highest ethical standard."

Since the publication of the Washington Post articles, the Smithsonian said it is planning to return any remains back to family members or back to their country of origin. The National Museum of the Philippines has agreed to receive whatever remains of Filipinos are left.

If not for the Washington Post articles, co-written by Nicole Dungca, a Filipino American journalist, Maura's remains would most likely remain forgotten gathering dust in in one of the Smithsonian's storerooms.

Since there were no known photographs of Maura, the newspaper did a sidebar illustrating the search for Maura. One of the illustrators was Filipino American artist Rey Galeno.  Some of his work is pictured below. It is also available in Tagalog, “Paghahanap Kay Maura.,” a first for the Washington Post.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE WASHINGTON POST

The winter before the fair was to open, it snowed in St. Louis, a rare occurrence. It was the first American winter for the Filipinos. Maura was among the Filipinos who came down with pneumonia. Despite hospitalization, Maura died from her illness before the fair opened.

Before she died, Maura told The St. Louis Republic newspaper that it was her wish that her body be returned to the Philippines for burial.

Filipino American launches search

The search for Maura's story by Filipino American artist and activist Janna Añonuevo Langholz is a fascinating story unto itself. A descendant of one of the 1904 Filipinos, she was born in 1988 in a neighborhood that was built upon the site of the Philippines exhibit.

It was her years-long effort and determination to honor the Filipinos who died at the 1904 fair that caught the attention of the Washington Post. with all its resources to dig deeper into the story of the Smithsonian's collection.

INSTAGRAM

Filipino American artist Janna Añonuevo Langholz wants to honor her Filipino ancestors
who were brought to St. Louis. by the US government.

After a year of research, the reporters found Maura's death certificate and learned that her body, along with five other Filipinos, was shipped back to the Philippines a year after she died.

The journalists informed Langholz who was, coincidentally, visiting Maura's community in Luzon's northern mountains earlier this year. Langholz was unable to find Maura's relatives and could not locate her gravesite. 

Filipino stereotypes

The Smithsonian's past practices and the St. Louis expo were indicative of the  racism that permeated US institutions. 

The proper name of the St. Louis World's Fair was the1904 Louisiana Purchase Centennial Exposition, meant to celebrate the 100 anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, the prime example of the US's westward expansion by justifying the stealing of First Nations' lands. 

The expo also signaled the transition of the US's Manifest Destiny, defined by “the concept of American exceptionalism, that is, the belief that America occupies a special place among the countries of the world” and -- by extension and example -- of the US newly acquired status as a world power after the nation's victory in the Spanish-American War and the United States' brand of "benevolent" colonization over the countries Spain ceded to the US, including Puerto RIco and the Philippines.

Some of 1904 fair's elements, especially the human exhibits of various people around the world which critics characterize as a "human zoo," would come to validate irrational beliefs of white superiority in many ways.

Besides the Philippine "reservation," the term used by the fair's publicity brochures, the expo also featured exhibits from Japan and the First Nations, which included a daily recreation of the Battle of Little Big Horn, and for a fee, visitors could have a picture taken alongside Native American warrior Geronimo.

One of the many disturbing aspects of the 1904 fair was meant to introduce to Americans the new empire the US won as a result of the Spanish American War. The 47-acre Philippine exhibit was the most popular at the St. Louis fair representing 40 groups of Filipinos -- Visayans, Bagobos, Samals, “Moros” (as they were called then), Tingguianes, Negritos and 30 others -- housed in seven villages.. The Igorot village drew the most attention from fairgoers and media.

Mia Abeya, a Maryland resident whose Igorot grandfather was among those on display, says Igorots ate dog only occasionally, for ceremonial purposes. During the fair, they were fed the animals on a daily basis. Some accounts said the Igorots were made to consume 20 dogs a week to entertain the fairgoers. "They made them butcher dogs, which is really abusing the culture of the Igorots," Abeya told NPR.

The media sensationalizing and exploitation of a practice that was a ceremonial rite created a stereotype that still haunts Filipinos and Filipino Americans to this day.

The search for Maura's grave continues. Meanwhile, the Suyoc people plan to build a monument in Maura's honor.

Local leaders in Missouri voted to create a memorial to recall the fair's Phlippine exhibit and the racism surrounding the "human zoo."

And the Smithsonian, admitting the practice that created "The Collection" vows to return what human remains still in storage that includes bones and other body parts of 20,700 individuals.  

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.

1965 Grape Strike, launched by Filipino farm workers, is part of US labor history

 

Filipino farmworkers voted to strike against the California grape growers in 1965.

On September 8, 1965, Filipino American farm workers organized as the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) voted to strike against grape growers in Delano, California, to protest years of poor pay and working conditions.

The Delano Grape Strike grew from a long history of labor organizing and protest by Filipino workers in agriculture and canning on the West Coast. Led by Larry Itliong, AWOC asked the more cautious National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), a mostly Latino farm workers union led by Cesar Chavez, to join their strike.

To Delano resident Roger Gadiano, the nondescript Filipino Hall in town is a shrine. “This is our Mecca,” he says. “I guess it’s our Selma," referring to Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, when some 600 civil rights marchers headed attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge where state and local lawmen attacked them with billy clubs and tear gas and drove them back into Selma.

This decision by the Filipinos was a big risk for Delano’s grape workers. Many lived in company housing and could be evicted with little or no notice, and, indeed, many eventually were forced to leave their homes as a consequence of striking. There was also a risk that the growers might draw from the large population of Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers to replace the striking Filipino crews. Such tactics had long been an effective check on union power.

In August 1966, the two organizations merged to form the United Farm Workers (UFW), a union committed to nonviolent protest that sought to organize migrant farm laborers to improve their wages, education, housing, and legal protections.

The protest that began in the fields in Delano grew into a broader boycott that asked for help from consumers in urban areas. Filipino Americans living in the cities and suburbs supported the farm workers by bringing them groceries by the carload, lobbied their lawmakers and boycotted table grapes and wine.

By 1970, the UFW grape boycott was a success. Table grape growers signed their first union contracts, granting workers better pay, benefits, and protections.

In the decades that followed, the UFW continued to use nonviolent strikes, boycotts, marches, and fasts to help farm workers stand up for their rights and gather support from ordinary Americans to aid them in their efforts.

What began as a labor dispute in the fields of Delano blossomed into a civil rights struggle, a movement for achieving justice for farmworkers.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Dwayne Johnson, Oprah launch multi-million dollar fund for Maui fire victims

Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson

Two of the biggest names in show business have joined forces to help the victims of the Maui wildfires.

In response to the devastating Maui wildfires and immediate needs in the community, Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson announced the establishment of “People’s Fund of Maui” to distribute cash directly to those who were displaced and affected by the fire. 

The fund is launching with an initial $10 million donated by Winfrey and Johnson and a call to action for others to contribute to this meaningful and ongoing relief effort.

“I have been meeting with people throughout the community that were impacted by the fires over the last few weeks, asking what they most needed and how I could be of service,” said Winfrey, former talk show host and head of a media empire that includes magazines, a production company and a television network. 

    RELATED:

• Hawaii's historic structures destroyed by fire
• Biden promises Lahaina will be rebuilt 

“The main thing I’ve been hearing is their concern about how to move forward under the immense financial burden," said Winfrey, who owns an estate on the island. "The community has come together in so many wonderful ways, and my intention is to support those impacted as they determine what rebuilding looks like for them.”

Any Maui resident 18 years or older who was displaced by the wildfires that swept the areas of Lahaina and Kula on the island of Maui can receive $1,200 each month for at least six months to help assist them as they get back on their feet. All net proceeds will go to those directly impacted.

Collaborating closely with an advisory board and support from the local community and respected elders, this new fund will serve as a bridge to provide cash directly to the families and individuals affected so that they can personally determine how best to use the funds for themselves.

"As people around the world watched the catastrophic loss and devastation caused by the Maui wildfires, they also witnessed the great spirit and resilience of our Polynesian culture and the tremendous strength of the people of Maui. Even in the most difficult of times, the people of Maui come together, and we rise - that’s what makes us stronger,” said Johnson, who lived in Hawaii when he was younger. 

“We are beyond grateful to be working alongside esteemed community leaders of Maui to launch the People's Fund of Maui. These leaders are offering their guidance to ensure our fund can put money directly in the hands of those individuals most affected," said the movie star, who is of Samoan and Black heritage.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

The search for the missing continues three weeks after the fire started.

The fire's start is still being investigated but initially the culprit appears to be sparking powerlines. Hurricane-level winds helped spread the fire quickly on August 8 causing an evacuation of the seaside town of Lahaina. The death toll from the wildfires that decimated most of the historic and tourist favorite town stands at 115 but that number is likely to rise. There are still 385 unaccounted individuals.

As the fires spread tourists were advised not to come to Maui but as recovery begins, tourists are again being encouraged to visit. Although Lahaina had been mostly reduced to ashes, other parts of the island are still operating. Tourism is the island's main industry and source of employment.

Hawaii's US Senator Brian Schatz, posted on social media: “Maui update. South Maui resorts (Lahaina is West Maui) NEED visitors. Furloughs and layoffs starting because people think the whole island is closed. It is not. If you are planning a trip to Wailea or Kihei, don’t cancel. If you want to come to Hawaii pls consider South Maui.”

"To all who have already offered your help, thank you for your support and for those wanting to help now, your prayers and resources are a welcome assistance for those displaced within the Maui community," said Johnson. "I also want to offer my profound gratitude to all the first responders, local organizations and every individual who has worked tirelessly on the ground responding to this crisis.”

    FYI:

• To contribute to People’s Fund of Maui visit PeoplesFundofMaui.org. All net proceeds will go to those directly impacted in Maui.
• Impacted residents can visit the website for more information HERE.

The creation of the fund was done with guidance, insights, and the blessing of community elders, leaders and residents including Hōkūlani Holt-Padilla, Keali’i Reichel, Archie Kalepa, Ekolu Lindsey, Kimo Falconer, Tiare Lawrence, Kaimana Brummel, Kaleikoa Ka’eo, Brian Keaulana, Kaimi Kaneholani, Henohea Kāne, Paele Kiakona, Ed Suwanjindar, Shep Gordon and Jason Momoa.

The $10 million is just a start. The initial funding is being provided by Oprah Winfrey through the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, and Johnson.

“And our goal is to be able to give people money regularly for at least the next six months so that they will be able to make decisions for themselves and be able to have some sense of value for what they can bring to themselves and to their families," Johnson told NBC. "We will continue the fund for as long as you help us continue the fund.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Labor Day: A time to remember the militancy of the AANHPI workers throughout US history

Chinese workers helped build the United States' first transcontinental railroad.

As stereotypes go, Asian Americans are sought after as workers because employers believe their don't-rock-the-boat attitude make them good -- and inexpensive -- employees.

History tells us otherwise.

The common stereotype of the quiet, subservient, yet hard-working Asian American worker is the image created and perpetuated by big-business-controlled media who benefit from having an acquiescent work force.

 But, throughout US history, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander workers have been active and leaders in the American labor movement, the image Big Business would like us to forget because employers see an organized workforce as nothing. but trouble.

It can be argued that the first Asian American labor protest began during the era of the spice and gold-laden Manila galleons sailing the Pacific Ocean from 1565 to 1815. The Spanish vessels used Filipino sailors to man their ships, either as conscripts or slaves. 

The Filipino seamen voted with their feet. At the first opportunity after the long journey across the Pacific, hundreds of sailors jumped ship and blended into the local population near  Mexico's Pacific seaport of Acapulco. Historical records estimate a total of 40 000–120 000 Filipinos jumped ship when the galleons reached colonial Mexico, but that is likely an undercount because Filipinos found it easy to blend in with the local "indios" to live their lives free from official notice.

Still other Filipino sailors jumped ship in New Orleans in the early 1800s when that city was ruled by Spain. The sailors  fled their Spanish captains and escaped to the Louisiana swamps to found Manila Village and Saint Malo, the first Asian American settlements in the US.

Chinese railroad workers strike

The first record of an organized labor movement occurred on June 25, 1867,  when thousands of Chinese men working on the western  portion of the transcontinental railroad staged a strike to demand equal pay to white laborers, shorter workdays, and better conditions.

This project, the railroad, going through the mountains was the largest engineering project in the country at the time,” Hilton Obenzinger, associate director of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford University, told NBC News.

“And this work stoppage was the largest labor action in the country at that time,” he added.

The historic eight-day strike, which began on June 25, ended after Central Pacific director Charles Crocker choked off food, supplies, and transportation to thousands of Chinese laborers who lived in camps where they worked.

Hawaii's sugar cane workers

Alvina Yeh of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, a national labor organization, pointed to Filipino and Japanese sugar plantation workers striking in Hawaii, as well as labor actions by Chinese garment workers in San Francisco and New York City, all of them happening in the 19th and 20th centuries.

From May 9 to Aug. 4, 1909, some 7,000 Japanese workers were involved in a strike against sugar plantations on Oahu. At its peak, the strike involved almost 14,000 workers.

They struck for wages and conditions equal to those of the Portuguese, Puerto Rican and other sugar workers who were receiving $1 a day and more while the Japanese, doing the same work, were being paid $18 for 26 days.

A strike by Filipino sugarcane workers on Kauai on Sept. 9, 1924 ended in violence. Sixteen Filipino sugarcane workers on strike were killed by police in what became known as the Hanapepe Massacre.

It was not until 1946 when Filipino and Japanese sugarcane workers united in the first inter-ethnic labor movement, were the agricultural workers successfully in winning better wages and working conditions for the islands' sugarcane laborers.

Cannery workers

In the 1920s, Seattle was home port for the “Alaskeros,” the Filipino immigrants who—with low pay and poor working conditions—labored seasonally in the fishing canneries of Alaska in winter and West Coast farms in summer. In 1933 they formed the Cannery Workers’ and Farm Laborers’ Union Local 18257, the first Filipino-led union in the United States. 

Unionization was not easy and involved decades of internal and external struggle, but the organizing process improved the industry, the labor movement, and the status of Filipino Americans and other Asian Americans in the industry.

From the Filipino students who were some of the first employees to expose the level of discrimination against Filipino and other Asian workers in the cannery industry to the later leaders of the CWFLU who fought for the basic rights of Filipinos who were the targets of racially-charged violence, the CWFLU served as an essential social and political organization for working-class Filipinos prior to World War 1.

California farm workers and the UFW

In the 1930s 4,000 Filipino farm workers in California joined the Filipino Labor Union based in Salinas, California and staged a strike for higher wages.

In 1930, a mob in Watsonville, California, dragged dozens of Filipino men from their homes and beat them. Farmworker Fermin Tobera was shot and killed. 

Deaths also resulted from the bombings of Filipino labor camps, often with the complicity of local law enforcement.

In 1938, Filipinos organized the Filipino Agricultural Laborers Association but organizers believed that all workers should be included so they soon changed the name to Federated Agricultural Laborers Association (FALA). The FALA continued to hold various successful strikes in the California fields.

Striking Filipino farmworkers led to the formation of the United Farm Workers.

Filipino farmworkers saw the success of the initial organizing efforts. Throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s they organized successful strikes and work stoppages, formed unions and began winning significant improvements to wages and work.

One of the unions that was formed was the Filipino Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) based in Stockton, California. In September 8, 1965, the AWOC decided to launched the Grape Strike against Delano grape growers, demanding pay equal to the federal minimum wage.

After initial talks between leaders of AWOC and the National Farmworkers Association led by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and others, the Mexican workers joined the strike 12 days later. Together, the two unions of Filipinos and Mexicans formed the United Farm Workers. The successful strike won better working conditions and higher wages for the laborers.

Garment workers

 in the summer of 1982: Nearly 20,000 garment workers — mostly Asian American women — marched together in solidarity for better benefits. Clad in matching union caps, they carried signs in both English and Chinese, reading, “In union, there is strength,” and “Support the union contract.”

They were striking for better working conditions and to protect their benefits, which included, higher wages, health care, sick pay and a pension.

 In the end, most employers, which included big brand names in fashion, signed with the union, demonstrating the power of collective action.

Filipino American nurses

Thousands of nurses from the Philippines have filled in the workforce gaps in the healthcare industry. Filipino and Filipino American became nurses are leaders in  National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the US. 

During the current pandemic, Filipino nurses have been on the frontline treating the patients of COVID-19. A report from the NNU, led by its president, Filipino American Bonnie Castillo, found that one-fourth of the deaths due to COVID were nurse of Filipino descent.

The Philippines is the largest source of foreign-trained nurses for US hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

Even before the pandemic, nurses' unions have been staging strikes at numerous hospitals across the US, asking for increased staffing and adequate personal safety equipment with some success. Since the pandemic began in 2020, these demands have been gathered more support from the public and other health professionals.

* * *

Therefore: when the quiet, subservient stereotype of Asian Americans crops up in classrooms and workplaces, which often reinforces beliefs that Asian Americans don't make good leaders or upper management, don't buy into that image. There are plenty of examples of why that image is totally false and needs to be rectified when we talk about American history.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Sept. 1 & 2: LA's arts and culture festival offers today's Filipino America: traditional to contemporary

Featured entertainment on Day 1 of the Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture.

Today's Filipino America is a fusion of the Philippines and of the US; of tradition and modern, of history and contemporary activism. All of that will be on display at the Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture this Labor Day weekend, a cultural extravaganza to celebrate the vibrant heritage of the Philippines and Filipino America.

FilAm Arts, in partnership with the Levitt Pavilion, proudly presents the 29th Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC) on Labor Day Weekend, September 1 and 2. This two-day event is set to showcase a dynamic blend of artistic performances, engaging activities, and a diverse marketplace, all highlighting the rich tapestry of the Filipino American experience. This year’s theme is “Para Sa Lahat” (For Everyone).

If you're going:

Event: Festival of Philippine Artss and Culture
Where: Levitt Pavilion, 2230 West 6th St., Los Angeles
Hours: Sept. 1, 6 p.m.- 10 p.m.; Sept. 2, 5 p.m.-9 p.m.
Admission: Free

Here's a list of enertainment this coming weekend:

Flashback Friday: September 1, 7 p.m.- A Nostalgic Musical Journey

The festival kicks off on Friday, September 1, at 7 PM with "Flashback Friday," a musical journey through the iconic sounds of the 90s. 

The Mellow Dees: A new indie rock band based in Los Angeles, composed of Melody del Mundo, formerly from the Philippines’ 90s indie darling Sugar Hiccup;  Wolf Gemora, founding member of the popular 90s Filipino rock band, Wolfgang;  and singer-songwriter Nievera. 

DJ Icy Ice: Icy Ice is an original member of the world renowned DJ Group, the World Famous Beat Junkies. He has been the exclusive dj for celebrity events such as Manny Pacquiao After Parties, Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West, Grammy Awards, American Music Awards etc. 

Introvoys: INTRoVOYS is a Los Angeles based Fil-Am rock band with musical roots originating from Manila, Philippines.  The band broke out into the Filipino mainstream market back in 1992 with the hit singles "Kaibigan", "Maynila", "Calling All Nations" and "However Whichway." 

Jocelyn Enriquez: Jocelyn Enriquez has been widely regarded as a music pioneer, becoming the first Filipino American artist to find success in the mainstream industry. Emerging from the Freestyle movement of the time, Enriquez was the first artist to sign with Classified Records and was quickly deemed by some as the “Queen of Freestyle.”

Spectacular Saturday: September 2, 6 PM - A Cultural Extravaganza

Saturday, September 2, commences at 6 PM with a cultural showcase that delves into the heart of Filipino artistry and tradition. Prepare to be enthralled by performances from:

Pakaraguian Kulintang Ensemble: Immerse yourself in the mesmerizing rhythms of traditional Kulintang music, a true embodiment of Filipino heritage.

Malaya Dance Company: Experience the grace and storytelling of Filipino dance through captivating choreography and vibrant costumes.

Rondalla Club of LA: Be enchanted by the melodic sounds of a Filipino string ensemble, a tribute to the Philippines' musical heritage.

Gingee: As the headliner of the night, Gingee brings a fusion of electronic beats and indigenous Filipino instruments, promising an unforgettable musical journey.

Additionally, there will be a vibrant marketplace that features an array of Filipino-American owned vendors offering artisan jewelry, Filipiniana clothing, prints, paintings, stickers, and more. This marketplace embodies the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of the Filipino-American community.

 

U. of North Carolina grad student charged with slaying of his faculty advisor

University of North Carolina professor Zijie Yan, right, was allegedly slain by student Tailei Qi.

The suspect in the killing of a University of North Carolina professor was charged with murder for allegedly slaying Associate Professor Zijie Yan Monday

The University of North Carolina community is still mourning the loss of Yan, an associate professor who was fatally shot Aug. 28 by Tailei Qi, 34, a graduate student from China.

Qi, the graduate student accused of the shooting, has been charged by the UNC Police Department with first-degree murder and possession of a weapon on educational property, both felony charges. He is being held at the Orange County Jail without bail.

Yan, 37, joined UNC-Chapel Hill faculty in 2022, after spending several years as a professor at Clarkson University. He ran a lab in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences with two undergraduate students, one research assistant and three PhD students, which included Qi.

Police received reports of a shooting at 1 p.m. Monday at Caudill Labs on campus. The suspected shooter walked away and was found and arrested about an hour and half later after the shooting.

Yan and Qi knew each other, UNC Police Chief Brian James said at a Tuesday news conference. The two worked in the same department and Yan was his faculty advisor.

The two knew each other, UNC Police Chief Brian James said Tuesday.

Qi was a grad student in the same department and Yan was his faculty adviser, according to Qi’s UNC biographical page. Qi entered the school in 2022 and listed his previous education as Louisiana State University and Wuhan University, the page said.

Yan came from Jingmen in Central China and received his undergraduate and master’s degrees at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, according to a Watertown Daily Times article. He lived in nearby Apex and had two young children.

There have been 49 school shootings in the United States — 34 reported on K-12 campuses and 15 on university and college campuses, according to a CNN tally, 

In a message to the UNC campus the day after Yan was slain, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said he had met with Yan’s colleagues and family to express condolences on behalf of the university. UNC at 1:02 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 30, will ring its Bell Tower in honor of Dr. Yan, he announced. 

“I encourage every member of our campus community to take a moment of silence during this time,” the chancellor said. “This is an important way that we can come together as a community to recognize the loss we feel and to support one another.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Study: Asian Americans more vulnerable to "forever" chemicals

Asian Americans have significantly higher exposure than other ethnic or racial groups to PFAS, a family of thousands of synthetic chemicals also known as “toxic forever” chemicals, Mount Sinai-led researchers report.

Scientists have linked exposure to these long-lasting compounds to many illnesses, including thyroid disease, kidney cancer and testicular cancer.

 in everyday life, and these exposures carry potentially adverse health impacts, according to the study published Thursday in Environmental Science and Technology, in the special issue “Data Science for Advancing Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology.”

“We found that if we used a customized burden scoring approach, we could uncoverlead author Shelley Liu, an associate professor of population health science at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, said in a statement.

“These disparities are hidden if we use a one-size-fits-all approach to quantifying everyone’s exposure burden. In order to advance precision environmental health, we need to optimally and equitably quantify exposure burden to PFAS mixtures, to ensure that our exposure burden metric used are fair and informative for all people.”

PFAS pollution is a major health concern, and nearly all Americans have detectable levels of PFAS chemicals in their blood. PFAS are hard to avoid. They are found in products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. 

 

The scientists estimated a person’s total exposure burden to PFAS and accounted for the exposure heterogeneity (for example, different diets and behaviors) of different groups of people that could expose them to different sets of PFAS. They found that Asian Americans had a significantly high PFAS exposure than all other US ethnic or racial groups, and that the median exposure score for Asian Americans was 89% higher than for non-Hispanic whites.

PFAS are hard to avoid. They are found in many types of outdoor clothing, camping gear, coated papers for fast-food takeout, firefighting foams and nonstick cookware. Most recently,PFAs were found in toilet paper, dental floss, semiconductors and solar panels.

This is the first time that researchers accounted for complex exposure sources of different groups of people to calculate a person’s exposure burden to PFAS.

This research suggests that biomonitoring and risk assessment should consider an exposure metric that takes into consideration the fact that different groups of people are exposed to many different sources and patterns of PFAS. Based on these findings, these researches believe that exposure sources, such as dietary sources and occupational exposure, may underlie the disparities in exposure burden.

The Biden administration has allocated $9 billion to PFAS clean-up, and in March 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first enforceable federal standards to regulate PFAS contamination in public drinking water.

The study didn't identify specific reasons as to why Asian Americans might have greater PFA exbosure in comparison to other ethnic and racial groups, researchers stressed that this is a topic to needs to be explored further.

In the future, the researchers plan to incorporate toxicity information on each PFAS chemical into exposure burden scoring, to further evaluate disparities in toxicity-informed exposure burden in vulnerable groups and population subgroups.

“In order to advance precision environmental health, we need to optimally and equitably quantify exposure burden to PFAS mixtures, to ensure that our exposure burden metrics used are fair and informative for all people,” Liu said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Barrier-busting pilot, physicist and political activist Margaret Gee inducted into California Hall of Fame

The late Margaret Gee broke down stereotypes of Asian women.

Inducted into the California Hall of Fame Aug. 22 was pilot, physicist, and researcher Margaret Gee, who made history as one of two Chinese American pilots serving in the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots during World War II.

Gee was one of the seven Californians that Governor Gavin Newsom, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and the California Museum  named to the 16th class of trailblazers in public service, sports, music, entertainment, and more into the California Hall of Fame.Besides Gee, included in the posthmouse induction class are:

• Carrie Fisher: Actress and Screenwriter
• Etta James: Singer
• Jose Julio Sarria: LGBTQ Rights Activist and Pioneer
• Vin Scully: LA Dodgers Broadcaster
• Shirley Temple Black: Actress and Public Servant
• Archie Williams: Olympic Gold Medalist and Educator

“We are thrilled to announce the newest class of inductees joining some of our state’s most revolutionary, innovative, and brightest in the California Hall of Fame," said Gov. Newsom. "The outstanding legacy of this group has and will continue to embody what it means to be a Californian. There is no doubt their legacies will continue to live on and inspire millions across our state for generations to come.”

A diversely accomplished professional, Gee devoted her life to public service in many forms.

Born Gee Mei Gue in August 1923 in Berkeley, California, she was one of six children. Her father, a second generation Chinese American, worked hard to move his family from San Francisco’s Chinatown before she was born. Like many other Chinese American children, she went by her American name, Margaret, or more commonly Maggie, much of her life. Growing up, she enjoyed her family’s weekend trips to the airport in Oakland, California. There, Gee would look out for aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, whom she grew to idolize. After her father’s death in 1929, Gee admired her mother’s dedication to her family and community. 

Upon graduating from high school in 1941, she enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley to study physics. However, the United States’ involvement in World War II halted her plans.

Early in the war, Gee decided she wanted to serve her country. In 1941, she left college to work in ship production at Mare Island Naval Shipyard alongside her mother. Her true ambitions, however, were in the air. 

Inspired by her childhood idol, Earhart, Gee wanted to become a pilot. She saved money from her work at the shipyard for flying lessons. After saving enough money, Gee moved to Minden, Nevada, to learn to fly. She earned her pilot’s license within six months, then immediately applied for the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) training program. The WASP program was formed in 1943 when Army officials realized they needed more domestic pilots to free up members of the Army Air Force for deployment. 

The WASP offered female pilots a rare opportunity to serve. Despite the need, however, WASPs faced gendered discrimination from their male peers and commanders. It was deemed too controversial to enlist women into the military as WASPs. They were thus classified as civilians, though they were uniformed, trained, and followed the expectations of a member of the Army Air Force. Gee was a part of the only 8% of applicants allowed into the WASP, and only one of two Chinese Americans accepted.

Despite the challenges, Gee found success as a WASP. She trained in Sweetwater, Texas, and graduated with her silver wings on November 8, 1944. Later in life Gee reflected, “I consider myself very fortunate, that I could do something that I really enjoyed. I felt I was doing something for my country…” 

The WASP program ended in December 1944, but in her short time as a WASP, she was well-accomplished. She transported planes from factories to airbases to prepare them for war-front delivery, copiloted fighter planes in mock air fights, and trained male pilots at the Las Vegas gunnery school. WASPs were classified as civilians, so upon the end of World War II and the disbanding of the service, female pilots were released from their positions. Not until 1977 did Gee and her fellow WASPs earn military status for their service with the passing of Public Law 95-202.

Having already succeeded once in a male-dominated field, Gee returned to the University of California, Berkeley to succeed in another. She re-enrolled in college to earn her physics degree at a time when women were underrepresented in STEM fields. Not only did Gee earn her Bachelor of Science degree, she completed a Master of Science in Physics as well. 

In 1958, she began working in Berkeley’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researching weapons systems employed in the Cold War. Gee worked or consulted on the lab’s nuclear and magnetic fusion programs for the rest of her career. It was at the lab that she met Warren Heckrotte, her life partner of almost 50 years.

Gee was also an accomplished community leader. She was highly active in the Democratic Party, starting in the Truman administration. Continuing her mother’s tradition of community involvement, she volunteered to run voter registrations and fundraisers. Throughout her life, she served as a member of the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee, the California State Democratic Party Executive Board, and the Asian Pacific Islander Democratic Caucus. Her influence culminated in her inclusion in the 1992 Democratic Party Platform Committee.

After a long and accomplished life, Gee died at the age of 89. In 2010, she was one of the few surviving WASPs to be presented a Congressional Gold Medal from President Barack Obama.

Launched in 2006, the California Hall of Fame honors history-making Californians who embody the state’s spirit of innovation and have changed the state, the nation, and the world. Inductees are selected annually by the Governor and First Partner for achievements in arts, business and labor, entertainment, food and wine, literature, music, public service, science, and sports.

 “The Governor and I are delighted to honor the contributions of this remarkable group of visionaries,"  said First Partner Siebel Newsom during the induction. "Each one of these pioneers has uniquely impacted California through their boundless creativity, perseverance, and courage – encapsulating the California dream through their lives and legacies.”

The determined physicist and pilot believed in success and social change every step along her path overcoming stereotypes and opening doors for women and Asian Americans. She said in 2003, “I’m very optimistic about the world and people… it will be alright…You can make changes. I think just one small person can make a little bit of change…”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Asian American who killed woman over a Pride flag dies in shootout with police

SCREEN CAPTURE / CBS

An Asian American has been named as the shooter who killed a shop owner who was flying the Pride flag at her store.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department on Aug. 21 identified the suspect as Travis Ikeguchi, 27, of Cedar Glen, California.

Moments before Ikeguchi ripped down the rainbow flag and shot business owner Laura Carleton, he was heard making disparaging remarks about the LGBTQ community and Carleton.

Ikeguchi fled on foot after shooting Carleton Friday evening. Several witnesses followed him. When the deputies caught up with him bout a mile away. Ikeguchi shot at the officers and they returned fire, killing him. The delay in identifying the shooter was because he was not carrying any identification.

Carleton, 66, a mother of nine, was pronounced deceased at the clothing store, Mag Pi, that she owned.

Police investigators, searching for a motive, found that Ikeguchi frequently posted anti-LGBTQ comments on his social media account.

The advocacy group Equality California said in a statement Monday that over the past year, it has recorded “a sharp increase in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric being expressed by far right extremists and hate groups — rhetoric which has resulted in physical intimidation, harassment, and acts of violence.”

Ikuguchi was not the first to take down Carlton's Pride flag which was intended to show her support. People kept taking it since it hung outside her shop next to the US flag. Each time it was taken, Carlton would replace it.

Korey Pollard, whose wife worked at Carleton's shop, told The Associated Press that Carleton defiant in the face of criticism she received for hanging the rainbow flag outside ther clothing store.

“She would say, ‘Korey, this is the hill I’m going to die on. No one is going to make me take down that flag,’ ” Pollard told AP.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.