Asians in America : Magazine

Inside the 32nd Asian American International Film Festival

By Michelle Geslani for Asians in America magazine | July 23 2009

Running over the course of three decades, this festival is one impassioned and shaped as much by its historical past, as by its contemporary progressiveness. With an unwavering eye for activism and the power of storytelling, Asian CineVision is prepared to showcase its best and most dynamic collection. How so? Read on.

“We are the center,” said Liliana Chen, the Executive Director of the Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF), when describing both the longevity of the festival and its influence on the other 16-20 similar events scattered throughout the country who have “emulated” its original model.

The center, indeed, because as it stands, the AAIFF, which is produced by Asian CineVision, a nonprofit media-arts organization whose roots are in activism, is the longest running festival of its kind with this year being its 32nd.

Beginning today, July 23, and running throughout the weekend here in New York City,
the AAIFF will be showcasing some of the best independent feature and short films done by Asian Americans and about the Asian American community.

After scouring far and wide for submissions, and then going through a rigorous screening and selection process, AAIFF’s lineup over the next four days is brimming with unbridled talent and an almost boundless list of topics such as education, gentrification, unemployment and even outsourcing. Underlying many of the selected films is a characteristic so central to each one’s impact and message.

Civics Education and English Skills Act of 2009

News Release | July 21 2009

Recognizing an important bill that addresses literacy in immigrant communities and extends the opportunity for the growth of more English language learning classes.

The Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) commends Congressman Mike Honda for introducing the Strengthen and Unite Communities with Civics Education and English Skills Act of 2009. The bill would provide much-needed assistance to populations that are limited English proficient (LEP), allowing these vulnerable community members to learn English, integrate more quickly and fully into American society and maximize their social and economic contributions to our society.

"This bill is extremely important for the Asian American community," said Karen K. Narasaki, president and executive director of AAJC. "Nationally, one in three Asian Americans is limited English proficient, and one in four Asian American households is linguistically isolated, meaning that everyone over the age of 14 speaks English less than very well."

In 2006, AAJC produced the groundbreaking report, Adult Literacy Education in Immigrant Communities: Identifying Policy and Program Priorities for Helping Newcomers Learn English. The report found that, as immigration to the United States has increased, funding for English language learning (ELL) classes has failed to keep pace with the growing demand for those classes.

The bill provides community-based solutions that will accelerate the integration of newcomers through increasing resources for English language acquisition, civics and basic education programs. The Bill also expands the capacity of schools and communities to respond to the demands of English language learners by ensuring adequate funding for schools and providing vital technical assistance to state and local communities.

To download the AAJC's report, and to get more information on the bill, visit www.advancingequality.org.

Nick Carbo: Chinese, Japanese, What Are These?

By Barbara Jane for Hyphen Magazine | July 13 2009

A Filipino American poet unleashes his critique on American intolerance and monoculturalism in his latest book.

There is something heartbreaking about Filipino American poet Nick Carbo's latest collection of poetry, provocatively titled Chinese, Japanese, What Are These? For those of you not in the know, the book's title references the xenophobic children's rhyme, "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, what are these?" The gestures accompanying said rhyme include using one's hands to stretch the eyes, hence making the "chinky eye." The movement corresponding to "What are these?" is to show or motion towards the breasts, exaggerating their size.

Into the text we go, beginning with the death of the poetic speaker's mother. This is the beginning of the heartbreak; the speaker has come unmoored, from family, from a home base, and finds anchor instead in language. Chinese, Japanese, What Are These? is a largely multilingual text in which the poet and the poetic speaker can only truly communicate by moving in and out of English, in that space where meaning can get lost with translation.

In "Fukujoshi," we are told various cultures' terms for death during orgasm. "Fukujoshi," he tells us, means, "death atop the stomach." He believes Bruce Lee died this way. Here, Carbo gives our Asian American male icon not just sexuality, but eroticism.

To read the full article, go to Hyphen's website.

Kababayan Fest Draws 30,000

Press Release | July 7 2009

Filipinos celebrate history, performance art, food and more in one of the country's largest cultural festivals.

Kababayan Fest is one of the largest Filipino festivals on the West Coast.This year we are holding it at California’s Great America in Santa Clara, CA on Saturday, July 11th, 2009. This all day event attracts more than 30,000 people to the theme parks in which Kababayan Fest is held each year. It is an all day event comprising of headliner acts, singers, dancers, cultural exhibits, local organizations, vendors, and Filipino heritage.

Admission is only $35.99 and includes Free Admission to the festival including a Free Kababayan Fest T-Shirt if purchased before July 10th, 2009. Only available if purchased through the KababayanFest.com website link.

For more information, check out www.kababayanfest.com.

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.

Asian People Like Stuff Too

By Michelle Geslani for Asians in America | June 18 2009

Do you enjoy naming your daughters after jewelry? Are you a fan of plastic furniture covers? Does the term "being a banana" mean anything to you?

Stuff White People Like seemingly unites together those summer scarf-wearing, coffee-addicted, Michael Gondry-obsessed people, through its ever-growing list of sometimes embarrassing, sometimes absolutely true points further providing [supposedly unequivocal] evidence for ultimate whiteness.

In much the same way, the blog Stuff Asian People Like seeks to round up a general consensus of what makes Asian people...well, Asian.

Of course there are shining moments on the list, which I find very funny. One part of me laughs hysterically because of the undeniable precision of some of the reasons. Like, at first glance, they would speak directly to me and I'd think in my head "THAT IS MY LIFE." There was a sort of resonance within me, one-third a tad embarrassing and two thirds a sense of pride. And when I say pride, I don't mean that "I take pride in consuming a lot of MSG and fish sauce." I mean that "I am proud to be a part of a community."

OP-ED: The Unexamined Educational Experience of Chinatown Immigrants

By Theresa Zhen for Asians in America | Posted June 16, 2009

Ethnic enclaves and those newly arrived immigrants within them face a variety of challenges due to language barriers; one of these is basic access to information regarding education and schooling.

Imagine that you are a new student at a high school. Amid your English-speaking peers and unfamiliar surroundings, you find yourself walking into classrooms where you barely understand the words that your teachers say. When you go home to your one-room apartment, your parents have a pile of bills for you to translate, and your household's financial “stability” hangs in the balance by the unstable minimum wage jobs that your parents (and possibly you) hold. Furthermore, your homework space serves as a dining table, a computer desk and a food preparation station.

OP-ED: The Language of Invisibility

By Mandy Choie for Asians in America | Posted May 14, 2009

Vassar offers then cancels controversial class on "How to Woo Oriental Women"

Every year, Vassar College sponsors “minicourses:” non-credit, student-run classes that proffer "educational" activities like beer-tasting or paper-folding. This spring, freshman Daniel Abramson’s minicourse “The Language of Ladies,” described as taking a “critical look at dating across lingual/cultural barriers” through “experts in each local [sic]” so that “students should feel informed enough about different mating rituals to approach women of different national backgrounds” (Vassar College Calendar website), was approved by Megan Habermann, the Assistant Director of Campus Activities at Vassar. The first class (held on March 26) was taught by sophomore Nick Inzucchi who, having spent two months in Japan through a Vassar summer language program, was the resident “expert.” The class was entitled "Orienting Yourself for Women of the Orient" and featured a provocative slideshow of Asian women with a commentary about how Japanese girls are shy and like gifts.

Spreading Indian Dance, One Classroom at a Time.

By Sindhu Sundar for Asians in America | Posted April 14, 2009

A Profile on Bharatanatyam dancer and educator Shobana Ram

On an evening two years ago, a single beam of light shone inside the dance studio of Joyce Soho at Mercer Street. Nestled in the darkness, an audience watched as an Indian woman danced before the beam, singing the lines of a Varnam, a traditional piece in South Indian classical music. Through mudras, or hand gestures corresponding to the meaning of the words she sang, the woman articulated her devotion to the beam that represented Lord Shiva, the Hindu deity of destruction. As a metal plate deflected the light onto her, the audience watched her shimmer in a brick-red traditional silk Bharatanatyam dance sari, her outfit complete with golden bangles, necklaces and a pleated garment tied to her waist that fanned out as she moved.

Offstage, the dancer, Shobana Ram, continues to use mudras, only in more well-lit surroundings - like the classrooms of P.S. 212 in Jackson Heights, Queens. A teaching artist with the Learning through an Expanded Arts Program (LEAP NYC), Ram is one of few Bharatanatyam dancers who spend two days a week with second graders from P.S. 212, working with class teachers to help improve students’ literacy.