Asians in America : Magazine

An Interview With: Kong Hyo-Jin, Korean Actress

By Michelle Geslani for Asians in America magazine | July 1 2009

Kong Hyo-Jin is a force to be reckoned with. Although having been in the film industry for more than 10 years now, the Korean actress is never at a loss for reinventing those characters she portrays. Last week at the New York Asian Film Festival, audiences embraced both screenings of the movie Crush and Blush, in which Hyo-Jin played the leading role.

As a crazed, awkward, and often ostracized teacher named Me-Sook, Hyo-Jin accomplished the difficult task of not only mastering the character’s maniacal tendencies, but also enabling her to be felt sorry for and pitied (especially when she blushed beet-red) because of her vulnerability. Hyo-Jin made the story of a woman’s obsessive mission to woo her crush feel just as poignant as it was insane.

Her work in the film has been widely recognized and praised. She was the first female recipient of the Rising Star Asia Awards presented by Subway Cinema and The Hollywood Reporter. I had the privilege of speaking with her about her performance in Crush and Blush.

AIA: What initially drew you to this film?
Kong Hyo-Jin: The character she played has a very strong and sometimes frightening personality, but at the same time she’s a very likeable dimension so I had to figure out a way to make audiences like her and even root for her. So that was sort of my task in this film, that’s what weighed on my mind a lot. But I knew I wanted to help the character achieve this. After a lot of thought, I decided I wanted to take on the challenge.

This Week: What to Look Forward To...

Update by Michelle Geslani | June 30 2009

More features and original content!

Keep checking back here at Asians in America magazine, as I will be posting some great, new original stuff.

I've got interviews with two of Korea's hottest actors: So Ji-Sub (Rough Cut) and Kong Hyo-Jin (Crush & Blush). Both were recipients last week of the Rising Star of Asia Awards, and in fact were the very first awardees. I sat down with each of them to discuss their films and experience being part of this year's New York Asian Film Festival.

Also, I'll have short reviews of Korean-American indie-rock duo Meg & Dia latest record as well as one about Filipino-American rap/r&b group Deep Foundation's newly released music video featuring Filipino-American singer-songwriter Jay Legapsi.

The ‘Cornerstone’ is Laid: Education center will house documents of the Nisei veterans and their families

By Melissa Tanji for The Maui News | June 30 2009

World War II veterans are remembered through oral stories and archived material such as scrapbooks, all of which will be housed in a brand new $1.4 million education center in Wailuku, Hawaii.

Ground was broken on the "cornerstone" and final phase of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center's "living memorial" in Wailuku on Monday afternoon.

The Nisei (second-generation Japanese-Americans), their children and supporters, along with county and state officials, gathered for the blessing of the grounds for the center's education building, which will join the center's existing senior citizen care facility, operated by Maui Adult Day Care Centers, and preschool, operated by Kansha Preschool.

The education center, which is expected to be completed in 10 months, will house a classroom/workroom along with a long-awaited archive room to hold oral histories from the veterans as well as photographs, documents and personal scrapbooks kept by soldiers and their families during World War II.

"The education center was our main focus, or the cornerstone of the project. That's how it started," said Leonard Oka, founder of Maui's Sons and Daughters of Nisei Veterans and center board member.

Read the full article here.

Tim Dang, Producing Artistic Director of EWP, Receives Irvine Leadership Award

By AsianWeek Staff Report | June 28 2009

Because of Tim Dang, Asian American culture and talent frequently find a cozy home on a theater stage in front of multicultural audiences.

East West Players in Los Angeles is the nation’s oldest professional theater of color in operation today. An estimated 75 percent of Los Angeles-based Asian American dramatic artists have made a presence there, including Tony Award winning B.D. Wong, Star Trek star George Takei and the Indian-American actor and House co-star, Kal Penn.

But its greatest achievements of the last decade, under the leadership of artistic director Tim Dang, have had less to do with star power on stage than with the people watching them. Dang has guided East West Players’ evolution from a 99-seat experimental theater into a full-fledged regional theater, based in a 240-seat venue. East West Players has become a multicultural hub, where diverse audiences come together for thought-provoking performances reflecting a broad spectrum of human experience.

To access the full article, go here.

Officials Want to Rename Street: Jose Rizal Who?

By NBC Los Angeles | June 28 2009

Debate is sparked over the possible renaming of a California street in honor of Philippine historical figure and national hero.

Some residents along Moneta Avenue in Carson are bewildered by the identity of the man whose name soon appear on their mail, drivers license and official identity, it was reported Sunday.

A Carson city councilman wants to honor Jose Rizal, a freedom-fighter executed in Manila in 1896, by renaming Moneta Avenue. But the Daily Breeze reports that nearly everyone on the street says they have never heard of the Philippine liberation hero.

Moneta Avenue would become Jose Rizal Avenue under a proposal by councilman Elito Santarina, a Filipino-American. Many people living along Moneta Venie say they have never heard of Rizal and have no desire to change their address, their identification, and identity to honor the hero of another nation.

To read the full article, go to NBC Los Angeles.

U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development Expands Multi-Lingual Website

News Release | June 25 2009

Access to housing programs by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been made easier by their updated website, whose information can now be found in Arabic, Cambodian, Farsi, Portuguese, Tagalog, and other languages. "When buying or renting a home, obtaining important housing information should not depend on how well people speak English," said John Trasvina, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO).

The HUD site offers brochures on fair housing, model lease agreements, information about HUD's Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8), and a Resident Rights and Responsibilities brochure in various languages. These documents are free to the public.

The Limited English Proficiency website is in response to Executive Order 13166, which requires all federal, local and state agencies that receive federal funding to ensure that people with limited language skills have meaningful access to government programs and services.

FHEO and its partners in the Fair Housing Assistance Program investigate approximately 10,500 housing discrimination complaints annually.

For additional information, go here.

If Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Does Twittering Count?

By Michelle Geslani for Asians in American Magazine | June 25 2009

The internet has spread the news of Iran's political turmoil faster than actual word of mouth and quicker than major news outlets could send out correspondents. The question now is whether or not our generation's fixation with social networking via the interweb will translate into real activism and real change.

Apparently a popular equation online amidst Iran's election has been "Tiananmen + Twitter = Tehran," which obviously places a heavy emphasis on the idea that Twittering (or tweeting) has rounded up hundreds and thousands of people behind those protesting Iranians who feel robbed of their voices with the supposed re-election of Ahmadinejad.

It's true- everyday I receive at least 10 "Twitter updates" referring to online petitions I can sign, graphic icons I can create, and listservs I can join, all to show my support. Sometimes as I'm scrolling through them, I feel an indescribable sense of community, as if simply by reading I am declaring "Yes! I'm with you!" But to be honest, the sensation is fleeting.

Seattle's Wing Luke Asian Museum Exhibits Contemporary Art

Press Release | June 25 2009

Eight Asian artists from Seattle have their work on display through November 29 of this year. Through surrealism, photography and other mediums, this exhibit centers around the theme of their experiences of living in America.

Parallel Lines is on view at George Tsutakawa Art Gallery at the Wing Luke Asian Museum and features Tram Bui, Mark Takamichi Miller, Jason Huff, Akio Takamori, Patti Warashina, Saya Moriyasu, Thuy-Van Vu, Joseph Park. It was curated by Tracey Fugami.

In addition, the museum is offering some exciting, hands-on exhibit-related programs throughout Parallel Lines' run:

Saturday, July 11, 10:30am-12pm
Favorite Five Art Workshop
Artist Saya Moriyasu will guide participants on drawing their favorite people on round papier mâché-like spheres.

Friday, November 13, 6:30pm-8pm
Panel Discussion: Art and Identity
Artist and historian Susan Kunimatsu moderates a discussion on the intersection of art and identity by Asian Pacific American artists. Panelists include Karen Higa, adjunct senior curator of art of Japanese American National Museum; Ken Matsudaira, curator of M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery at Seattle Central Community College; Cora Edmonds, director of ArtXchange; and Tracey Fugami, curator of “Parallel Lines” exhibit at the Wing Luke Asian Museum.

For further information on this exhibit, more programs, and the Wing Luke Asian Museum, click here.

Korean-American Police Officer Sidesteps Tradition

By Gloria Hillard for NPR | June 21 2009

Part of NPR's series titled "Immigrants' Children: A Foot In Two Worlds," the following article examines the life of a Korean-American, who sought a rather different career path than what her parents had in mind for her.

When Julie Sohn's parents arrived from Korea in the early 1970s, they dreamed that their only daughter would benefit from all their adopted country could offer.

The 31-year-old has exceeded all of her parents' expectations, in a very untraditional way.

Sohn is an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. She drives a black and white patrol car down boulevards lined with hundreds of Korean-language signs, shops and bakeries. Koreatown, for her, is both a foreign and a familiar place.

To read the full article and listen to the segment, go to NPR.

Supreme Court Ruling Preserves Section 5 of Voting Rights Act

News Release | June 23 2009

The Court's decision reaffirms voting discrimination against minorities is unacceptable.

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder that leaves in place Section 5, a central provision of the Voting Rights Act that requires a number of states and many local governments to seek federal permission before changing their voting procedures, to deal with the problem of ongoing voting discrimination in covered jurisdictions. Section 5 covers several jurisdictions where politically emerging Asian American populations are located, and was reauthorized by Congress for 25 years in 2006.

"In an 8-to-1 ruling, the Supreme Court recognizes Section 5's critical importance in protecting the rights of minority voters from voting discrimination throughout our country," said Karen K. Narasaki, president and executive director of the Asian American Justice Center. "During the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, Congress amassed a mountain of evidence that shows minority voters in the covered jurisdictions continue to face unconstitutional voting discrimination, demonstrating that Section 5 is still very much needed in our nation."

To read more about this ruling, visit the Asian American Justice Center website.