Adventures in Multicultural Living: Racism in the Extended Family on the Holidays | InCultureParent

From Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

The Sunday after Thanksgiving: The day we pack up, gratefully drive back to our own home in our own town with our own way of doing things, and are stuck in the car together for hours and have no choice but to talk to each other. It is a time to reflect on the (peculiar) people we met and the (wacky) things that happened, and it is a chance to talk to the kids about what is really important to us as a family. I call it the post-holiday debriefing (and I recommend this in my Multicultural Toolbox workshops as one strategy for combating racism and intolerance in the extended family).

click on link for more: Racism in the Extended Family on the Holidays | InCultureParent

CAPA 2011 Statewide Leadership Summit: Revitalizing Michigan, What We Have Done, What We Can do...

Council for Asian Pacific Americans (CAPA) 2011 Statewide Leadership Summit: Revitalizing Michigan, What We Have Done, What We Can do...

Saturday December 3, 2011, 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Comerica Operations Center
39200 W. Six Mile Rd.
Livonia, Michigan 48152

for more info: http://capa-mi.org/main.php?p=leadership_summit11

Adventures in Multicultural Living Friends vs Relatives on Thanksgiving | InCultureParent

from ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in InCultureParent.com:

My parents say that there is a Chinese saying (there is always a Chinese saying) about how distant relatives are not as good as nearby friends. To illustrate, they recall the time our car broke down on the winding and treacherous Pacheco Pass after midnight and how our neighbor, Mr. Shigematsu, came to rescue us and did not get home until after 2 a.m. Our relatives in distant Los Angeles or San Francisco could not have done anything to help because they were too far away.

Thanksgiving is a time of feasting and family, and people are traveling, cooking and cleaning like mad, trying to get to their families for four brief days. Because many of my children’s friends are from international families and do not have extended family close by, I like to gather up all our friends and celebrate “Thanksgiving Eve” the night before with a big potluck of what turns out to be the most amazing spread of foods from around the world — teriyaki turkey, sticky rice stuffing, butternut squash Thai curry, chicken biriyani, babaganoush, tabbouli, lasagna, shrimp and broccoli, mangoes and black sticky rice, Thai pumpkin custard and more.

click on link for more: Frances Kai-Hwa Wang | InCultureParent

Michigan Roundtable Race2Equity Conference

Michigan Roundtable Race2Equity Conference and installation of Detroit Truth Commissioners November 4-5, 2011, Detroit. Keynote: Nontombi Naomi Tutu (yes, the Archbishop's daughter). More info at:
www.miroundtable.org/Roundtabledownloads/Race2equity/Race2equityconferenceflyer.pdf

ACJ at Advancing Justice Conference in San Francisco

ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang will be speaking at Advancing Justice Conference in San Francisco, Thursday, October 27, 2011:

Is There An App For That? Leveraging Social Media for Social Justice

Date: Thursday, October 27th
Time: 11:00am-12:30pm
Place: Spring C
Workshop Track: Capacity Building

Social media is now ahead of email in terms of online activity and accounts for over 10% of user time spent on the Internet. Recognizing that this shift is a powerful vehicle by which to communicate social justice messaging, many nonprofits are using social media to raise funds for their programs, inspire advocacy, and raise awareness. This workshop will address how to leverage social media more effectively, overcome challenges, and draw supporters to their cause.

Speakers: Keith Kamisugi, Director of Communications Equal Justice Society; Bilen Mesfin, Communications Consultant/Principal Change Consulting; Mariam Hosseini, Director of Communications Asian Law Caucus; Frances kai-hwa Wang, Online Communications Chair American Citizens for Justice Advisory Board

http://advancingjustice.org/conference/2011/is-there-an-app-for-that-leveraging-social-media-for-social-justice/

Adventures in Multicultural Living: U-M Center for Chinese Studies Kite Festival and Frances' Farewell--let us keep the conversation going

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

The University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. As usual for an academic department, they have all sorts of lectures and films and art exhibits and concerts and performances and colloquia and conferences planned.

Kicking it all off is the New Millennium East Meets West Kite Festival this Sunday, Sept. 25, 1-5 p.m., at Nichol’s Arboretum. There will be kite-making workshops, kite flying competitions, cultural performances, and kite masters from China and Michigan. There will be special categories for students and community. It's a real town and gown and east meets west affair, much like the dragon boat races they organized at Gallup Park in 2007.

I had the good fortune of being invited to help with some kite-making workshops through Parks and Rec and to escort fourth-generation premier kite master Ha Yiqi — with whom two U-M Art and Design faculty apprenticed this summer in Beijing — to visit local elementary schools. I also enjoyed the neat kites made at the Center for Korean Studies’ Chuseok celebration.

I am excited to see what this year will bring. During the University of Michigan LSA ChinaNow Theme Year in 2007-2008, converging as it did with University Musical Society’s Asia Festival and the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads Asian American book, I met so many incredible people (including my literary hero, playwright David Henry Hwang) and was given the gift of so many personal and professional opportunities. My whole life changed that year, and I did my best writing ever.

Unfortunately, AnnArbor.com will be discontinuing my column, “Adventures in Multicultural Living,” to focus more of its resources on local news.

U-M Center for Chinese Studies Kite Festival and Frances' Farewell--let us keep the conversation going

'Looking Both Ways' at the 'Made in China' label and 9/11 fears

The wall of 52 faces at the Eastern Michigan University (EMU) Looking Both Ways contemporary art exhibit is striking.

The styles are all different — formal, casual, realistic, cartoonish, playful, even black and white and fake-photoshopped. There are old men and young women, hipster rock stars and craggy-faced workers. There is a high mandarin collar, a hooded sweatshirt, a tie, a baseball cap, spiky dyed hair, a cigarette.

One of the three curators, EMU art education professor Guey-Meei Yang, explains that these are the real people who work at an art factory in Dafen, China. Their job is to paint to order, whatever you want—A painting of your family or a Vincent Van Gogh. Normally prized for their technical precision, self-expression is not particularly valued, and the artists remain invisible behind factory walls.

Then John C. Gonzalez from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, made an unusual order—a self-portrait of every artist who worked in that art factory, in any style. Together, they are a powerful illustration of the real people behind the “Made in China” label.

click on link for more: 'Looking Both Ways' at the 'Made in China' label and 9/11 fears

AML Making Mooncakes the modern traditional way for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival | annarbor.com

from ACJ advisory board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in annarbor.com:

The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is this Monday. That means mooncakes!

A harvest festival, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is a Chinese (Zhong Qiu Jie), Vietnamese (Tet Trung Thu) and Korean (Chusok) festival that celebrates the end of the harvest, family and food. It's sort of like Thanksgiving (without the turkey), Octoberfest (without the beer) and Sukkot (without the tent). It is always celebrated on the largest full moon of the year, the Harvest Moon.

Mooncakes are the centerpiece of this festival, as much for eating as for giving to other people. They are round like the full moon and symbolize family unity. To call mooncakes “cakes,” though, is a bit of a misnomer. They are not light, fluffy, frosted, candle-studded confections. Rather, imagine a giant Fig Newton, the size and shape and weight of a hockey puck, dense and heavy and rich with red bean, date, lotus seed, dried fruit or pineapple filling.

click on link for more: Making Mooncakes the modern traditional way for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

Vincent Chin and Simon San: two murders, same indifference | Madam Miaow Says

from UK Blogger Madam Miaow or Anna Chen comparing the murders of Vincent Chin with UK case Simon San at http://madammiaow.blogspot.com:

Vincent Chin and Simon San were born and murdered decades apart on two different continents, but the common factor is the callousness and indifference with which their cases have been dealt with by the investigating police and prosecutors.

Justice is off the menu when it comes to these Chinese deaths. While the police finally admit that an acknowledgment of the racist dimension of Simon's murder by a white mob outside the family-run takeaway in Edinburgh in Scotland would have resulted in stiff sentences, the men have been given 24 months, 26 months and five years for the thug who landed the killer blow that smashed Simon's head against the pavement. As we all know by now, they will walk after serving only a third of that minus remand time. Only one year more than the sentence imposed on the laptop rioters who posted their encouragement of the unrest on Facebook. What is this telling us about values in Britain today?

This insulting sentence echoes the $3,000 fine and three years probation imposed on the white Detroit car-workers, Richard Ebens and Michael Nitz, who beat Vincent Chin to death with a baseball bat in front of witnesses one summer evening in 1982. Out on a bachelor party, Vincent was hunted down before finally being cornered in a McDonalds where he was held by Nitz while Ebens pulped his skull with the bat.

Both killings were preceded by racist epithets.

click on link for more: Vincent Chin and Simon San: two murders, same indifference | Madam Miaow Says

'Vincent Who?' goes to Amnesty International UK

Date: Mon 12 September 2011

Sponsored by Asian Pacific Americans for Progress and the Islington Chinese Association.

In 1982, at the height of anti-Japanese sentiments following massive layoffs in the U.S. car industry, a Chinese-American named Vincent Chin was murdered by two white car workers. The killers were given a $3000 fine and 3 years probation. Outraged by this injustice, Asian Americans united for the first time to form a pan-Asian civil rights movement. This film looks back at the historic case, but also asks how far Asian Americans have come since then, including the rise of anti-Asian sentiments directed at South Asians post 9/11.

A post-screening Q&A with writer/producer Curtis Chin aims to highlight the similarities and differences between Asians, both East and South, on both sides of the Atlantic. Co-presenter, Paul Hyu, actor/artistic director. Introduction by Col. Brian Kay OBE TD DL, Chairman of Islington Chinese Association.

Event Type Film
Event venue The Human Rights Action Centre
Time 7pm
Price Free of charge
Online tickets Book this event
print versionsend pagefeedbackbookmark

click here for more: AIUK : 'Vincent Who?':

'via Blog this'

Ode to bento boxes and lunchboxes for back to school perfection

In the hubbub of back to school preparations—registration, green emergency cards, forms, fees, textbooks, pictures, school supplies, backpacks, lunchboxes, scheduling extracurriculars, new lunch and snack ideas, catching up with old friends, etc., I keep ending up in the bentobox or lunchbox section of every store I enter, be it the Chinese grocery store, the Japanese bookstore, Target, Walmart, CVS, or Busch’s grocery store.



Long after we have bought all the things we came for, and the children suddenly notice that I am no longer walking with them, they know where to find me. Mesmerized. Stammering. Strategizing lunches. Squealing over lunchboxes.



I confess.



I have a fetish for bento boxes. A fondness for tiffins. A weakness forTupperwares. Don’t get me started on lunchboxes.



click on link for more: http://www.annarbor.com/passions-pursuits/ode-to-bento-boxes-and-lunchboxes-for-back-to-school-perfection/Ode to bento boxes and lunchboxes for back to school perfection

AML: Showing off our many local treasures, the power of sharing our ideas | annarbor.com

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang at annarbor.com:



The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) National Convention was held in Detroit this month. I really wanted to attend, since it was home, but unfortunately I was not able to make it. Still, I watched from afar via Twitter, I saw my friends smiling in Twitpix, I connected people to each other via Facebook and email, I read newspaper articles online, and I even received a cellphone call that would have allowed me to listen in on one of the panels (if only I had not been driving at the time).



It was a little surreal seeing a photograph in the Detroit Free Press of my real-life friends together with my virtual friends, not to mention hearing about the conversations they had because of my virtual introductions.




href="http://www.annarbor.com/passions-pursuits/showing-off-our-many-local-treasures/#.TmOBlShd-4E.blogger">Showing off our many local treasures, the power of sharing our ideas

AML: From Band Camp to Ramadan - finding strength, skinniness and similarities | annarbor.com

from ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang at AnnArbor.com:



At the annual Band Camp concert at Interlochen a few years ago, my friend Shih-yi joked, “This would be a good day to rob Ann Arbor. Half the town is here.”



After a summer of family time, it is quite the plunge back into the cold refreshing waters of school life up at Interlochen where (some configuration of) the Huron, Pioneer and Skyline bands, orchestras, and choirs perform every year after a week of band/orchestra/choir camp — not only for the children who are summoned by the bugle call at 6:30 every morning, but also for the parents and siblings who have not seen all the other parents and siblings all summer.



The Huron Music Association has a bus for folks to ride up to Interlochen so that we do not all have to drive, but I sort of like the drive. I load up Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra songs in my CD player or iPod and I sing at the top of my lungs for four hours up and four hours back.



Driving long distances alone makes me nervous (I am always — justifiably — worried that my car is not going to make it), but once I manage to make it there and back successfully, I find that I am recharged, revitalized, renewed.



There is something about going someplace new to see things from a new perspective.



click on link for more: From Band Camp to Ramadan - finding strength, skinniness and similarities

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Finally finding time for church/temple in the space of summer

from ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:



A girlfriend who attends St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church once told me how invaluable that one hour a week every Sunday morning was for her, to sit, reflect, pray, and be alone.



To hear her describe it, I wanted to go, too.



(I remember when my children were babies, the only time I was ever alone was three precious minutes a day in the shower — only the first half of the shower, mind you — before they invariably poked their heads in looking for me again.)



However, during the school year, I often find that temple is simply one thing too many for me to manage. During the school year, the children and I are so exhausted all the time, the roads are so long, the snow is so deep — that we never quite make it all the way across town to temple.



I know, I know, if I were a better person, I would find time to do it year-round like normal people. If it were higher on my priority list, I would make time for it like everyone else. Going to temple only once or twice year on holy days only (and late at that) is flimsy, tenuous, lame.



click on link for more: Finally finding time for church/temple in the space of summer

AAJA : Programs : 22nd Annual National Convention:August 10-13, 2011 : Community Programming : Through the Lens: Vincent Chin

"Join New York-based Photojournalist Corky Lee and Filmmaker/Director Curtis Chin ("Vincent Who?") for an intimate talk about their documentation surrounding the 1982 Vincent Chin Case. Lee will be on hand to discuss his gallery of photographs that are housed at the Chinese American Community Center which documents the movement sparked by the case that brought Asian Americans together in protest. Concluding this event will be Chin's 2009 documentary film "Vincent Who?" which questions 80 young Asian Americans about a landmark case that has become unnoticed among today's generation."



AAJA : Programs : 22nd Annual National Convention: August 10-13, 2011 : Community Programming : Through the Lens: Vincent Chin



Update: From Saturday's Twitter Stream, including some photos from jozjozjoz.com:



jozjozjoz jozjozjoz

Met Roland Hwang after the VINCENT WHO? screening and he said, "Oh YOU'RE Joz! @fkwang told me abt you!" (Uh oh!)

21 minutes ago



emilamok Emil Guillermo

#aaja was appropriately in Detroit, a great city. Journalists have more in common w/the town and its autoworkers than we think.

1 hour ago



fkwang Frances Kai-Hwa Wang

@jozjozjoz #AAJA more on the Vincent Chin plaques …ericancitizensforjustice.blogspot.com/2010/12/plaque…

56 minutes ago



ACJ_AACJ AmericanCitizensJust

@jozjozjoz @curtischin across street "Post Bar" (formerly Golden Star) is where all Vincent Chin organizing took place. Did u go in? #AAJA

27 minutes ago



fkwang Frances Kai-Hwa Wang

@jozjozjoz across the street "The Post Bar" (formerly Golden Star) is where all the Vincent Chin organizing took place. Did you go in? #AAJA

57 minutes ago



jozjozjoz jozjozjoz

Getting to see old Detroit Chinatown w/ Curtis Chin. #AAJA. (Thx @Buick for providing the driver & sweet ride!)

1 hour ago



jozjozjoz jozjozjoz

PIC: #AAJA folks take an impromptu trip to see the new Vincent Chin memorial marker twitpic.com/65iuqf

2 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply



GilAsakawa Gil Asakawa

RT @jozjozjoz: PIC: Legendary photog Corky Lee shows us his photo exhibit. #AAJA http://twitpic.com/65gg8n Wish I could be there!

4 hours ago



jozjozjoz jozjozjoz

PIC: #AAJA folk who aren't at The VINCENT WHO? event are missing the delicious dim sum! twitpic.com/65gj45

4 hours ago



jozjozjoz jozjozjoz

PIC: #AAJA Conference attendees at Corky Lee's Rights & Sites photo exhibit at the Chinese American Community Cent twitpic.com/65ghwn

4 hours ago



jozjozjoz jozjozjoz

PIC: Thx to #AAJA sponsor @Buick for the private drivers to take us to the VINCENT WHO? event! twitpic.com/65gcmw

4 hours ago



updated.

What people are saing at AAJA – Detroit, Michigan

What people are saying at the Asian American Journalists Association Convention about the Vincent Chin case. Check out #AAJA and @ACJ_AACJ on Twitter.com.



AAJA Voices 2011 – Detroit, Michigan



AAJA, Detroit remember Vincent Chin « AAJA Voices 2011 – Detroit, Michigan



Vincent Chin's beating death recalled at AAJA conference | Detroit Free Press | freep.com



Activist Boggs tells Asian-American journalists to 'grow our souls' | Detroit Free Press | freep.com



Selections from Thursday's Twitter feed:



jozjozjoz jozjozjoz

I've watched "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" at least a dozen times & I always cry when I see Lily Chin ask for justice for her son. #AAJA

6 hours ago



emilamok Emil Guillermo

"I wanted to make a film for 5th graders," Christine Choy on why she left out critical witness tampering facts in her Vincent Chin doc.#aaja

4 hours ago



ronlin Ron Lin, LA Times

Loved persistence of director Christine Choy in getting interview with Vincent Chin's killer. Choy congratulated him on his acquittal. #AAJA

4 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply



ronlin Ron Lin, LA Times

Choy told Chin's killer, You're going to be pissed if you don't talk to me for this documentary. A week later, he agreed to talk. #AAJA

5 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply



ronlin Ron Lin, LA Times

Then Choy accepted an offer to have drinks with him. She said yes, ordered a drink (vodka and gin, I think) and said ... #AAJA

5 hours ago



LoriMatsukawa Lori Matsukawa

Vincent Chin Case 29 Years Later: Director Christine Choy says journalists must tell Asian- American story "from beginning to end." #AAJA

5 hours ago



janetcho Janet Cho

.@AAJA attendees who skipped tonight's "Who Killed #VincentChin?" film missed an inspiring testimony on why media #diversity matters. #AAJA

5 hours ago



jozjozjoz jozjozjoz

Post-screening discussion w/ the Vincent Chin panel. Questions by @emilamok very enlightening.

6 hours ago



laarnid1 Laarni Rosca Dacanay

Just finished "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" screening & learned more about Asian-American civil rights -- impactful story #AAJA

6 hours ago



jozjozjoz jozjozjoz

"No civil rights trial happens w/o a massive amount of protest." --Helen Zia

6 hours ago



jozjozjoz jozjozjoz

Dunno if I can watch "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" again. Already wanna cry @ #AAJA Helen Zia, Christine Choy, Ti-Hua Chang, Roland Hwang panel

7 hours ago



DorisTruong Doris N. Truong

Just heard powerful words from childhood friend of Vincent Chin. Be courageous. Be yourself. #aaja

7 hours ago



Cr8tiveStream Creative Streamline

#aaja "Rembering Vincent Chin" "He swung the bat as if a baseball player would swing for a home run" witness said of how Chin was killed.

7 hours ago



laarnid1 Laarni Rosca Dacanay

At "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" doc screening and Q&A at #AAJA with Richard Lui from @msnbc yfrog.com/h8e8yfkkj

7 hours ago



jozjozjoz jozjozjoz

Ok. I am crying. Childhood friend of Vincent Chin remembers his memory and their friendship. #AAJA

8 hours ago



ronlin Ron Lin, LA Times

Director of "Who Killed Vincent Chin?", when pitching film idea, was asked, "How can you be objective if you are Asian American?" #AAJA

8 hours ago



ronlin Ron Lin, LA Times

In 1980s some members of Congress pulverized Japanese products over economic despair. Racial tension was high, Ti-Hua Chang says. #AAJA

8 hours ago



ronlin Ron Lin, LA Times

Vincent Chin struck in head with four blows by a baseball bat. Brain matter was found on sidewalk, Roland Hwang says. #AAJA

8 hours ago



emilamok Emil Guillermo

Attys for vincent chin family renew pursuit of civil suit award from Ronald Ebens who has surfaced in Nevada, 29 years after Chin murder.

8 hours ago



ronlin Ron Lin, LA Times

Helen Zia says part of reason why Detroit's Renaissance Center is so confusing is it was built during racial riots in the '60s. #AAJA

8 hours ago



ronlin Ron Lin, LA Times

Big story in 1980s: Asians do live in America, and, yes, they are American, says Helen Zia at #AAJA screening of "Who killed Vincent Chin?"

8 hours ago



aajanewyork AAJA New York

Robust attendance at the #aaja Vincent Chin panel!

9 hours ago



GilAsakawa Gil Asakawa

Detroit is a very nice city, what we're experiencing @ #AAJA convention. We've only known it via Michael Moore's & media perspective.

9 hours ago



emilamok Emil Guillermo

Grace Lee Boggs,96,has seen every movement come and go, says the next Am. revolution will be local, individualistic,spiritual.#aaja detroit

10 hours ago



bettymliu betty ming liu

vincent chin activist helen zia, revisits scene of the infamous detroit trial. #aaja http://twitpic.com/64h3il

13 hours ago



emilamok Emil Guillermo

#aaja Touring east side of Detroit after talking with Grace Lee Boggs. Vacant lots, yes. But also big houses, lots of hope still.

14 hours ago



emilamok Emil Guillermo

#aaja Grace Lee Boggs says it's time to end politics as we know it. Jobs are not the answer. Time for a humanistic revolution.

14 hours ago



fkwang Frances Kai-Hwa Wang

@ACJ_AACJ roland hwang and @emilamok called me so i could hear the #aaja panel on Vincent Chin remotely and i didn't hear my phone ring!

1 hour ago



ACJ_AACJ AmericanCitizensJust

Thanks all for coming to meet the American Citizens for Justice folks at #AAJA!! @fkwang sends her regrets.

1 hour ago



updated

AAJA : Programs : 22nd Annual National Convention:August 10-13, 2011 : Community Programming : In Retrospect: "Who Killed Vincent Chin?"

Tonight at the Asian American Journalists Convention! Richard Lui, Christine Choy, Roland Hwang, Ti-Hua Chang, Helen Zia



AAJA : Programs : 22nd Annual National Convention: August 10-13, 2011 : Community Programming : In Retrospect: "Who Killed Vincent Chin?"



check out this picture of the panel from JozJozJoz Wang http://twitpic.com/64kscc



check out this picture of Helen Zia from Betty Ming Liu http://twitpic.com/64h3il



one more picture of the panel from Laarni Rosca Dacanay http://yfrog.com/h8e8yfkkj



and here are some interesting resources about the Vincent Chin case from June: American Citizens for Justice: On the 29th anniversary of the murder of Vincent Chin

AAJA, Detroit remember Vincent Chin « AAJA Voices 2011 – Detroit, Michigan

Remembering Vincent Chin events at Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) Convention:



“The legacy continues,” Hwang said. “There’s a lot of substance one can gain from it.”



AAJA, Detroit remember Vincent Chin « AAJA Voices 2011 – Detroit, Michigan

Blog: Bad Deal, Still Bad Economy - AALDEF

Emil Guillermo goes Amok on the economy:



Blog: Bad Deal, Still Bad Economy - AALDEF



Blog: "Downgrade pain" courtesy of our political class - AALDEF

AML: Thinking of peace at the Buddhist Toro Nagashi after the terrorist attack in Norway

From ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

Two weeks after the Obon Festival, a Buddhist holiday to remember and celebrate one’s ancestors, during which spirits are said to come home to visit the family for two weeks, comes the Toro Nagashi, a Buddhist ritual to send our visiting ancestors back on their way to the realm of the spirits.

It is a beautiful ceremony, held at sunset at water’s edge, with Japanese American ladies in purple robes chanting, a Buddhist priest saying prayers, younger folks performing taiko drumming and song. Individual paper lanterns are dedicated to family members, lit, then towed out to sea by a small boat.

The ancestors who have been home visiting their families in the world of the living follow the bobbing lanterns down the river and out to sea, which helps them find their way back to the land of the spirits.

One could make a bad joke here that although we all like our relatives to visit, we do not like them to stay too long.

click here for more: Thinking of peace at the Buddhist Toro Nagashi after the terrorist attack in Norway:

ICE’s Shredding of “S-Comm” Agreements: A Stunning Display of Bad Faith

via Asian Law Caucus who writes: "Amid a growing chorus of national criticism of the flawed “Secure” Communities or S-Comm program, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier today unilaterally canceled memorandums of agreement with 39 states over the program (including California) and announced that those states would still be forced to participate in the program without any sort of local oversight or accountability:



ICE’s Shredding of “S-Comm” Agreements: A Stunning Display of Bad Faith



More from NAKASEC who writes: "Today's SComm announcement continues to ignore the concerns of the community ":



Ignoring the Masses, Changing the Rules As They Go - NAKASEC

chinese workers "excised" out of amc's transcontinental railroad drama hell on wheels | angry asian man

While Glenn Beck protests the new Hispanic/African American Spiderman, Asian American history continues to be written out of the storyline in this Civil War/Restoration/Western about the building of the Transcontinental Railroad...east of Utah? with no Chinese people? Amazing. via AngryAsianMan.com:



chinese workers "excised" out of amc's transcontinental railroad drama "hell on wheels" | angry asian man

[ACTION] 10 Year Anniversary of DREAM Act Petition

via the Asian American Justice Center: [ACTION] 10 Year Anniversary of DREAM Act Petition

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Facing the terror of sports culture far outside my comfort zone in Recreational Paddling class

From ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

When my teenage daughter, Hao Hao, started rowing crew for Huron High School, the president of the crew parents’ group recommended that we parents also get involved by rowing with the Ann Arbor Rowing Club. I thought he was nuts.

Hard enough to take a child to and from five crew practices a week, how was I supposed to find time to add in my own practices as well? Still, the group of parents who also rowed looked pretty cool at 5 a.m., dressed in their own red and black spandex outfits, unloading the boats alongside the kids.

Yet here I am, climbing into an outrigger canoe at 7:15 in the morning.

Hao Hao took a course called “Recreational Paddling” last summer, and I happily drove her down every morning, watched the canoes take off, then sat in the car writing on my laptop until they returned. A bad shoulder saved me from all the friendly, “Why don’t you join us?”

Unfortunately, my shoulder got better.

click on link for more: Facing the terror of sports culture far outside my comfort zone in Recreational Paddling class

Join Us! WHIAAPI's Upcoming Webinars (1)

The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, will hold a webinar on how to file complaints for bullying and harassment in schools



Join Us! WHIAAPI's Upcoming Webinars (1)

Blog: Farewell to Tigger Wu - AALDEF

Emil Guillermo goes Amok on Rep. David Wu:



Blog: Farewell to Tigger Wu - AALDEF

AML Dancing to summer music outdoors and for the Japanese American Obon festival

from ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

My daughter Hao Hao and I were at an outdoor music festival when she first spied the little girl. About 3 years old, in a pink Hello Kitty dress, and one long brown curly ponytail, the little girl was dancing and twirling and hopping and flopping along with the music in front of the stage. “Awww, so cute.”
“That was you, not too long ago.”

(Then the little girl tried to climb onto the stage for her adoring fans, “That was definitely you.”)

I love listening to music at big outdoor summer events like Madcat Ruth at Ann Arbor Summer Festival's Top of the Park or George Bedard and the Kingpins at Grillin’ for Food Gatherers.

There is always an older couple dancing close on the side, cute little kids in sandals hopping all around. Perhaps the Internet has ruined my ability to concentrate for long periods of time, but I like the openness, the casualness, the fresh breeze ruffling the leaves on the trees.

click on link for more: Dancing to summer music outdoors and for the Japanese American Obon festival

Blog: Affirmative action's still kicking, but so is its nemesis, Ward Connerly - AALDEF

from Emil Guillermo on AALDEF's blog on Proposal 2 ruling: Blog: Affirmative action's still kicking, but so is its nemesis, Ward Connerly - AALDEF

AML: Reading light summer romance without Asians, Asian Americans, or people of color | AnnArbor.com

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

While looking for light reading material for a recent airplane ride, I grabbed a pink book with a naked male torso that I vaguely recalled picking up at the King School Book Fair for 50 cents. I read the back cover, I read the first page, I randomly flipped through the book, and I could conjure up no memory of actually having read the book, so I stuck it into my carry-on, well within my 22-pound limit.

Although I usually prefer writers like Richard Rodriguez and Andrew Lam, not to mention Literature with a capital L, it’s summer, it’s an airplane, and I want something light and easy and with a happy ending. I have an equally embarrassing secret weakness for watching bad romantic comedies on the plane this time of year, too.

(I was sorely disappointed to realize at 35,000 feet that I had indeed read this book before, but it was so terrible that I could not remember how it turned out, so I had to read it all the way to the end a second painful time).

Summer is the season for light romantic comedies, and because there typically are no Asians cast or written into these stories, I can, ironically, go “off-duty” regarding race and culture for a moment and indulge myself in the great American illusion that the white experience is “universal.” It can actually be extra-hurtful to accidentally encounter an "Asian" character (like Mickey Rooney's character in "Breakfast at Tiffany's") when I am in this mode because I thought I was safe.

click on link for more: Reading light summer romance without Asians, Asian Americans, or people of color

Blog: Vargas, the Undocumented - AALDEF

Check out Emil Guillermo's blog at AALDEF on Jose Vargas:

"As I set off my Chinese fireworks on the Fourth of July, thinking about freedom and independence and what it means to be American, I also had Jose Antonio Vargas on my mind."

click on link for more: Blog: Vargas, the Undocumented - AALDEF

AML Balancing old and new traditions for family and community at Fourth of July and Ann Arbor Summer Festival

from ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

When my seven-year-old son, Little Brother, came home from school and said that his first grade class would be talking about family traditions the next day, his older sisters all simultaneously said, “Uh oh.”

Because our family talks about traditions a lot more than “normal” people, his sisters jokingly call a lot of things “tradition” that are not really traditions in the normal sense. However, because Little Brother is so little, he cannot always tell when his sisters are joking. What if he thinks these are real traditions and tells his classmates about them?

For example, whenever Hao Hao does anything that bothers her older sister M — including going into her room and sitting on her bed and reading her books, she insists that she has to do it because, “It’s tradition!” Whenever anyone breaks out into song and dance, the stated reason is always because, “It’s tradition!”

Every Friday night we have dumplings for dinner before Chinese School. Is it because Mommy is too tired to cook on Friday nights? No, it is because, “It’s tradition!”

M always argues back, “It’s not a tradition just because you say it is.”

click on link for more: Balancing old and new traditions for family and community at Fourth of July and Ann Arbor Summer Festival

AML End of the school year - summer travels, moving away and international (and cross-country) friendships | AnnArbor.com

from ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

As the fifth graders processed into the auditorium under the brightly colored pink, blue, orange and green arches (swimming noodles held aloft) for the final end-of-school assembly, the whole school applauded. Congratulations! Fifth grade graduation!

So heartbroken by the other big goodbye we were also facing this day, goodbye to a much-beloved principal being transferred to another school, I had actually forgotten that today was a day of celebration. I was there to see the going-away video the teachers and students had made for him, sad, so sad, to see him go.

It was a relief to watch him wind up the year by asking all the kids to close their eyes and raise their hands if they had tried their best in reading and math this year, and it was heartening to hear the fifth grade graduation speaker reflect on the many lessons learned in his long years here.

It is the end of the school year, and everyone is beginning to leave for the summer, especially many international families I know. Summer is the time to go “home” to visit parents and grandparents, time to attend weddings and family reunions, time for kids to hone their language skills while playing with cousins, time for study abroad and “Loveboat” trips for the teenagers and college-aged.

The end of the school year is also the time we suddenly discover that friends are moving away, sometimes for a year or two, sometimes for forever. Every day the children and I attend another going-away party, birthday party, end of the school year party, barbeque, ice cream social, picnic.

click on link for more: End of the school year - summer travels, moving away and international (and cross-country) friendships

AML Resisting 'Slacktivism,' Remembering Vincent Chin, and Singing with Joe Reilly - NAM EthnoBlog

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in New America Media:

I recently interviewed for a job launching a new online literary magazine about literature and social justice activism. (The interview did not go so well, but...) What a great idea to link the glamour of novelists and poets with the purpose of social justice activism. This gives literature more weight and meaning, and gives activism more color and style.
Otherwise, social justice activism can be such a downer sometimes.

Don’t get me wrong. I am on the Advisory Board of American Citizens for Justice, the original Asian American civil rights nonprofit formed after the baseball beating death of Vincent Chin 29 years ago today.

click on link for more: Resisting 'Slacktivism,' Remembering Vincent Chin, and Singing with Joe Reilly - NAM EthnoBlog

Chicago is the World » How the Vincent Chin case continues to resonate after 29 years

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang

Before I came to Michigan for graduate school, the only thing I knew about Michigan was that it was where Vincent Chin was killed. My parents’ Japanese-American neighbors warned me to sell my father’s Toyota 4Runner and buy a Ford Bronco. I asked about safety as much as I did about academics before I decided to come.

This year marks the 29th anniversary of the baseball bat beating that caused the death of Vincent Chin. Unfortunately, with the recession and rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, the case is even more relevant than ever.

click on link for more: Chicago is the World » How the Vincent Chin case continues to resonate after 29 years

On the 29th anniversary of the murder of Vincent Chin

Interesting links on the 29th anniversary of the baseball beating death of Vincent Chin:

How the Vincent Chin case continues to resonate after 29 years, by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang for Chicago is the World, June 23, 2011
http://chicagoistheworld.org/2011/06/how-the-vincent-chin-case-continues-to-resonate-after-29-years/

Crime Without Punishment: Why the Death of Vincent Chin Resonates Today by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in InCultureParent.com
http://www.incultureparent.com/2011/05/5009/

Vincent Chin? Remembering Ronald Ebens-the guy who got away with murder by Emil Guillermo at Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund:
http://aaldef.org/blog/vincent-chin-remembering-ronald-ebens-the-guy-who-got-away-with-murder.html

On Anniversary of Vincent Chin’s Murder, CAPAC Members Denounce Explosion of Anti-Chinese Rhetoric in Campaign Ads
http://capac.chu.house.gov/news/press-releases/2011/06/on-anniversary-of-vincent-chins-murder-capac-members-denounce-explosion-of-anti-chinese-rhetoric-in.shtml

Vincent Who? goes online; limited time offer to view for free by Curtis Chin at APAs for Progress:
http://www.apaforprogress.org/vincent-who-goes-online-limited-time-offer-view-free

Remember Vincent Chin Vigil 6/23/11
http://remembervc.tumblr.com/

remember vincent chin vigil, june 23, on angryasianman.com
http://blog.angryasianman.com/2011/06/remember-vincent-chin-vigil-june-23.html

In Retrospect: Who Killed Vincent Chin? AAJA Conference Panel in Detroit, August 2011
http://www.aaja.org/programs/convention2011detroit/panels/

Advancing Justice Conference coming up in San Francisco, October 2011
http://www.advancingjustice.org/conference/2011/index.php

“Asian Pacifically New York,” a Photo Exhibit by Corky Lee
http://chapters.aaja.org/NewYork/?p=995

Vincent Chin by Model Minority on Channel APA Music
http://www.channelapa.com/2011/06/vincent-chin-by-model-minority.html

Edward Hong HanSarang Day 6: Remember Vincent Chin Poem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_dH-3-F5Lk

Plaque honoring murdered Asian man, Vincent Chin, unveiled in Ferndale
http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/oakland_county/plaque-honoring-murdered-man-unveiled-in-ferndale


"Groom-to-be clubbed to death" video by Richard Lui on CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/crime/2009/05/28/lui.vincent.chin.cnn.html

Remembering Vincent Chin, Detroit News Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68k0R3uJoRg



Adventures in Multicultural Living column: Resisting 'slacktivism,' remembering Vincent Chin, and singing with Joe Reilly by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in annarbor.com and newamericamedia.org
http://annarbor.com/entertainment/parenting/resisting-slacktivism-remembering-vincent-chin-and-singing-with-joe-reillysocial-justice-and-environ/


Mark your calendars for the thirtieth anniversary next year with American Citizens for Justice, June 23, 2012, Chinese Community Center, Madison Heights, Michigan.

AML: Resisting "slacktivism," remembering Vincent Chin, and singing with Joe Reilly, social justice and environmental activism and the arts

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

I recently interviewed for a job launching a new online literary magazine about literature and social justice activism. (The interview did not go so well, but...) What a great idea to link the glamour of novelists and poets with the purpose of social justice activism. This gives literature more weight and meaning, and gives activism more color and style.

Otherwise, social justice activism can be such a downer sometimes.

Don’t get me wrong. I am on the Advisory Board of American Citizens for Justice, the original Asian American civil rights nonprofit formed after the baseball beating death of Vincent Chin 29 years ago today.

I am involved with many other nonprofit organizations. I lecture about civil rights and activism. I know this stuff is important.

However, I also get hundreds of emails in my inbox every day, thousands of tweets on my Twitter feed and more posts than I can deal with on Facebook and Linkedin. Sometimes I simply do not want to click on that link, open that email, read that news clip that I know is going to be bad news.

click on link for more: Resisting "slacktivism," remembering Vincent Chin, and singing with Joe Reilly, social justice and environmental activism and the arts

Vincent Who? goes online; limited time offer to view for free | apaforprogress.org

from APAP and Curtis Chin:

To honor the 29th anniversary of the death of Vincent Chin (June 23, 2011), an online version of "Vincent Who?" can be viewed for free. This limited-time offer (until the end of July 2011) is brought to you by Asian Pacific Americans for Progress (APAP) and the producers of "Vincent Who?" via a new website: vincentwhomovie.com.

click on link for more: Vincent Who? goes online; limited time offer to view for free | apaforprogress.org

Blog: Vincent Chin? Remembering Ronald Ebens-the guy who got away with murder - AALDEF

Only Emil Guillermo would call up Ronald Ebens... from AALDEF:

I've got my call into Ronald Madis Ebens. I've found him, heard his voice, and left my message on his answering machine. And when he calls me back, maybe he'll say something to make us all feel better.

I'm not holding my breath.

It will be 29 years on June 19th. On that day in 1982, Ebens, a then 42-year-old white Chrysler autoworker, along side with his stepson accomplice Michael Nitz, then 23, took a baseball bat and bludgeoned Vincent Chin, a 27-year-old Chinese American, to death on Woodward Avenue in Highland Park, a suburb of Detroit.

While people always seem to ask about Vincent Chin, I prefer to dwell on the perps, Ebens and Nitz.

click on link for more: Blog: Vincent Chin? Remembering Ronald Ebens-the guy who got away with murder - AALDEF

AML: Pondering picnic food - 'normal' and not - and its power to bring us together

from ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

While cleaning up after our annual Memorial Day potluck picnic barbecue, my daughter Hao Hao asked, “Who brought the potato salad? That was random.”

A lifetime of mayonnaise angst flashed through my head and I explained, “Actually, potato salad is a pretty normal thing to bring to picnics.”

“Really?” She had never even noticed.

I think she associates potato salad with Easter, since that is the only time I ever make it. With four children, we always end up dying a lot of Easter eggs, so that translates into a lot of potato salad (inevitably multicolored) in the days following — usually so much that we cannot even bear to think about it again until the following Easter.

I recall the many family picnics we have had in Gallup Park and the fun of preparing Spam musubi, onigiri, inari sushi, edamame, teriyaki chicken. Watching for rain, I start cooking early in the morning, pack everything up into beautiful big bento boxes, throw in our much-loved Hello Kitty picnicware and our trusty Nepalese picnic blanket, and hop onto our bikes for a day at the park.

This isn’t what other people bring to picnics? What is normal picnic food?

click on link for more: Pondering picnic food - 'normal' and not - and its power to bring us together

Crime Without Punishment: Why the Death of Vincent Chin Resonates Today | InCultureParent

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

Before I came to Michigan for graduate school, the only thing I knew about Michigan was that it was where Vincent Chin was killed. My parents’ Japanese-American neighbors warned me to sell my father’s Toyota 4Runner and buy a Ford Bronco. I asked about safety as much as I did about academics before I decided to come.

This year marks the 29th anniversary of the baseball bat beating that caused the death of Vincent Chin. Unfortunately, with the recession and rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, the case is even more relevant than ever.

click on link for more: Crime Without Punishment: Why the Death of Vincent Chin Resonates Today | InCultureParent

Adventures in Multicultural Living: The importance of ethnic new media for filling out the conversation

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

As my children scurry around excitedly before our neighborhood’s annual Memorial Day Parade—decorating their bikes, finding bags for the candy the Girl Scouts will throw, thinking about doughnuts in the park, planning to barbeque with friends afterwards — I remind them to be respectful, that Memorial Day is not just about the parade, that it is actually a very somber occasion, one that honors the brave men and women who have given their lives to protect our freedom in America, and that although we do not glorify war, their great-grandfathers and grandfathers were all in the military.

Yet, every year when parade organizers ask if I want to bring a group of Chinese School kids to march or lion dance in the parade, I hesitate. I worry. I agree only if I can get a big group of parents to walk with the kids, as security, just in case someone thinks people who look like us do not belong.

Of course, I know that people who look like us do belong.

click on link for more: The importance of ethnic new media for filling out the conversation

Prof. Goodwin Liu Withdraws Judicial Nomination | AngryAsianMan.com

From AngryAsianMan.com: May 26, 2011: Judicial nominee Goodwin Liu, who was appointed by President Obama to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, has withdrawn his nomination...

click on link for more: http://blog.angryasianman.com/2011/05/goodwin-liu-withdraws-judicial.html

More at Slate.com (via Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) who writes: "It shouldn't have turned out this way"):
http://www.slate.com/id/2295572/

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Explore the richness of the Asian Pacific American experience with literature and the arts

from ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

Asian American writer Lisa Yee, author of Millicent Min Girl Genius, recently wrote an article for parentdish.com about how her mother instilled in her a love of reading. She opened by recollecting the books she and her mother read together:

“When I was little, my mother and I had a nighttime ritual. After my bath, when I was zipped into my pink footie pajamas, she'd sit on the bed and read to me. Mom's voice wrapped me up in fairy tales about princesses beset by trolls, a monkey named George and the adventures of Madeline who resided in an "old house in Paris that was covered in vines.”

When my daughter Hao Hao read the introduction (over my shoulder, as always), she said, "I know all those books." Then we joked that if she wrote a similar article someday, it would read, "My mom read me Ed Young, Allen Say, Laurence Yep, Grace Lin, Lisa Yee, Linda Sue Park..."

click on link for more: Explore the richness of the Asian Pacific American experience with literature and the arts

"the failure to allow professor liu an up-or-down vote is appalling" | angry asian man

from AngryAsianMan.com:

"Still pretty angry about the filibuster of Professor Goodwin Liu's nomination to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Senate Republicans, who once upon a time argued that it was unconstitutional for senators to deprive a judicial nominee of an up-or-down vote, did just that on Thursday: Shame on GOP senators who blocked Goodwin Liu

Here's an excerpt from the press release issued by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and the Asian American Justice Center expressing outrage over the Senate's failure to pass a vote on Professor Liu's nomination:..."

click on link for more: "the failure to allow professor liu an up-or-down vote is appalling" | angry asian man

Hyphen APA Heritage Month Profiles: Helen Zia | Hyphen magazine - Asian American arts, culture, and politics

Hyphen Magazine profiles Helen Zia for APA Heritage Month:

Helen Zia has been breaking barriers for most of her life. She was among the first women to...

click on link for more Hyphen APA Heritage Month Profiles: Helen Zia | Hyphen magazine - Asian American arts, culture, and politics

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Challenging stereotypes and defensiveness regarding the Geronimo codename and the Paper Tiger

from ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

Seven-year-old Little Brother came home recently wearing a spiffy new Cleveland Indians baseball cap with a bright red Chief Wahoo embroidered on it. A gift.

He was so happy to have this special gift from special friends.

But Chief Wahoo? Seriously? Still?

I did not want to criticize the friends who gave it to him — nice, well-meaning folks who know nothing about the controversy surrounding the use of Native American caricatures as mascots.

Caught between the conflicting desires to honor this friendship and not perpetuate harmful stereotypes, I let Little Brother wear the cap around the house for a few days until the newness wore off and then let nature take its course — the cap got swallowed up and disappeared somewhere in the mess that is our house.

Then we went to the library and read about real Native Americans to gently supplant that stereotype in his young mind.

A week later, the message that Osama bin Laden had been killed came across the news, “Geronimo E-KIA” (“Enemy-Killed in Action”).

Again. Disbelief. Geronimo? Seriously? Today?

click on link for more Challenging stereotypes and defensiveness regarding the Geronimo codename and the Paper Tiger

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Citizenship questions on Mother's Day for President Obama, Wong Kim Ark, Superman and the 'birthers'

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang at AnnArbor.com:

My oldest daughter was almost born in Thailand. I was living in Kathmandu, Nepal, at the time, and the closest western hospitals were a day’s flight away in Bangkok. I loved cruising Bangkok Chinatown, and I thought that would be a fun way to spend a month, hanging out, waiting for the blessed event.
My mother said absolutely not. I had to go home to deliver the baby so that the child would be a U.S. citizen.

I tried to explain to my mother that the child of two U.S. citizens is automatically a U.S. citizen, no matter where she is born. Even the child of one U.S. citizen is a citizen. I had already checked with the U.S. Embassy.

“What do they know?” was my mother’s response.

And the kicker, “What if your child wants to be president of the United States one day?”

I thought my mother was needlessly worried, but since it was the Christmas season, it was just as easy to go home to California and have the baby among family and friends (and presents). Of course my mother was right.

Now, after President Barack Obama has released his long-form birth certificate to prove yet again that he is a natural-born citizen — which is still not enough to assuage the "birthers" — I see, once again, that my mother is always right. (Happy Mother’s Day!)

click on link for more: Citizenship questions on Mother's Day for President Obama, Wong Kim Ark, Superman and the 'birthers'

AML: Mother’s Day in Mandarin at the Chinese Speech Tournament | InCultureParent

Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in Incultureparent.com:

My daughter Hao Hao was once a timid child who cried at every little thing. She even got kicked out of sports camp because she dissolved into a flood of tears every time she got “out” in softball or tag. Once when she was at Leslie Science Center, she cried on a hike through the woods because she was afraid of the spider webs on the trail. Instead of giving in to her tears as the teachers and moms at Chinese School tended to do, the Leslie Science Center instructor simply handed her a butterfly net to empower her to wave away the spider webs as she marched down the trail, head and butterfly net held up high.

In that transformative moment, I realized that I had to figure out how to select the best from each of the many cultures we had before us, rather than all of one or the other, and that I had to prepare my children for their future lives as adults in America, sometimes even mainstream America.

click on link for more Mother’s Day in Mandarin at the Chinese Speech Tournament | InCultureParent

Adventures in Multicultural Living: The power of pancit: Try something new during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

From ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

My children recently had steamed broccoli for the first time.

Confronted with an entire head of soft green mush, they did not really know what to do with it, so they smiled politely and pushed it around on their plates.

One of my daughters confided in me later, “Now I know why other kids don’t like broccoli.”

As a child, I never understood why other kids did not like broccoli either. Or spinach. The first time I had spinach that had been cooked to death, I remember grieving, “What did that poor spinach ever do to anybody?”

I was embarrassed and felt like such an oddball for being the only kid in the world who wished her mother would make broccoli or spinach more often — crisp and bright, stir-fried quickly in just a shimmer of oil and a splash of salt.

Those other kids had no idea how lucky they were to have mere broccoli and spinach as their foes, when I knew the real dishes to face down were suen (bamboo shoots) and xue li hong (red in the snow preserved vegetable), which my mother once cooked every night for a month until I learned to love them (or at least swallow without grimacing).

click on link for more: The power of pancit: Try something new during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Adventures in Multicultural LIving: Selections from the smorgasbord of spring celebrations, learning from Passover and Black Day

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

In fifth grade, my class held a Passover dinner as part of our unit on Exodus. Exodus was a big deal then, with Charlton Heston starring in the “Ten Commandments” rerunning every year on television, so we knew the story well (that and “Gone with the Wind”).

I remember baking the unleavened bread and marveling at how flat it was. I had only ever had Wonder Bread at that point and was unfamiliar with the concepts of crust and crumb. I remember mixing the bitter herbs in a bowl, the pungent smell of them, and serving a small spoonful to each student and parent at our long table. We each held a small piece of paper with our lines, our prayers, our questions.

Since I attended a Catholic school, I am sure we held our Passover dinner on Holy Thursday to tie it into the Last Supper, and I am sure this unit segued right into Easter. I do not remember being taught that Passover was a living tradition, that there were still Jewish people and that Jewish people still celebrated Passover.

In my child’s mind, Passover was something the Israelites did right after they escaped from Egypt with Charlton Heston. My image of it stayed in ancient times.

Still, it is one of the big events that I remember from elementary school, and I always think of it every year when Passover comes. My understanding of it is nowhere near complete, but at least I know a little bit about unleavened bread, bitter herbs, salted water, and “Why is this night different from all other nights?” And I know it viscerally because I was there.

click on link for more: Selections from the smorgasbord of spring celebrations, learning from Passover and Black Day

Asian-Americans settle in Metro Detroit enclaves | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Check out this article in Detroit News that quotes ACJ Board Member Roland Hwang:

Upen Saparia followed his brother from India to Michigan 10 years ago after a brief stop in Canada, and since then, the computer contractor has never been out of work or worried about losing his job.

"I like everything, except winter, everything in Michigan," said Saparia, 38, of Rochester Hills, who also owns a full-service Indian grocery store in Troy. "The people are great, and it's the land of opportunity."

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110419/METRO/104190316/Asian-Americans-settle-in-Metro-Detroit-enclaves#ixzz1L7n0IpdfAsian-Americans settle in Metro Detroit enclaves | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Lessons from Taiwan Bangzi Company's Chinese Opera adaptation of Merchant of Venice, "Bond"

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

The Taiwan Bangzi Company was in town this past week with their Henan Chinese opera adaptation of “The Merchant of Venice” called “Bond.”

I always love Chinese opera once I am there, but I have to drag myself in there because in my mind Chinese opera is categorized as “good for me.” Chinese opera is beautiful, stylized, and rich with meaning; but it is also layered with interpretation and code. My children wriggle their fingers at each other in the kitchen to show how Chinese opera singers represent anger.

But for “Merchant of Venice.”

I also love Shakespeare, but, again, resist it somewhat because it also falls into the “good for me” category. The language is beautiful, the meaning is not easy or obvious. My sixth-grade daughter Niu Niu recites, then laughs, “No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir.”

So the children and I leave the beautiful spring sunshine and rush into the cool darkness of Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre just before curtain where we meet under new names Bassanio, Antonio, Portia, Gratiano, Nerissa of medieval Cathay; and the (presumably pre-Islam) Saracen Shylock from distant deserts. I whisper a steady stream of plot and dialogue into 7-year-old Little Brother’s ear because he cannot yet read the supertitles.

click on link for more: Lessons from Taiwan Bangzi Company's Chinese Opera adaptation of Merchant of Venice, "Bond"

Adventures in Multicultural Living: BBC show looking for Tiger Mother would have been disappointed in our chai-museum-library routine

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

I got a call from the BBC last month looking for an Asian American family to take in two troubled and unruly British teens for a week of “good old-fashioned values, discipline and boundaries” for a reality TV show called, "World's Strictest Parents."

Trying to capitalize on the current hype over Tiger Mothers, the producer had found me through my articles facing off with the dreaded Amy Chua Tiger Mother — never mind that all my articles reveal that I am pretty much the opposite of Amy Chua Tiger Mother.

I told them to call Amy Chua Tiger Mother directly, but they thought I was joking.

click on link for more: BBC show looking for Tiger Mother would have been disappointed in our chai-museum-library routine

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Seeking the wisdom of our elders, including legendary civil rights activist and author Grace Lee Boggs

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

I was amused when Asian American filmmaker and keynote speaker Koji Sakai introduced himself to the Asian/Pacific Islander American High School Conference at the University of Michigan as an "old person," from the time of the dinosaurs (complete with dinosaur graphic).
He was born in 1977.

“For those not good at math,” he joked, “That makes me 34 years old today.”

He talked to students about how Asian American media is so much better now than in ancient times (the 1990s), and even better still than when a really old person he knows was growing up in the 1950s, when it was nonexistent.

All my life, I have been drawn to the wisdom of those older than myself, especially women of color. As a child, while my younger cousins played in the basement, I would sit in the kitchen with my mother and six aunties, or my maternal grandmother and eight great aunties, or all my parents’ friends, as they bickered and laughed, scolded and shared.

click on link for more: Seeking the wisdom of our elders, including legendary civil rights activist and author Grace Lee Boggs

Adventures in Multicultural Living: In wake of infamous YouTube rant by UCLA student, responses display humor, grace

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in Ann Arbor.com:

I did not want to write about now-infamous UCLA student Alexandra Wallace and her ignorant racist YouTube rant complaining about Asian American families, manners and Asians talking on their cellphones in the library during “the tsunami thing,” complete with mocking ching-chong nonsense. I found her young and dumb and hoped that it would all blow over and she would be forgotten.

No such luck. The story is all over The New York Times, National Public Radio and MSNBC. Asian American students at the University of Michigan and across the country are discussing it.

click on link for more: In wake of infamous YouTube rant by UCLA student, responses display humor, grace

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Remembering the dolls of Girls' Day, facing forward from Japan's tsunami

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com:

The first time I went to visit my parents in Hawaii, I went during mid-winter break at the end of February, scheduled to return to Michigan on March 1 or 2. Strangers were indignant. “What? You’re leaving before Girls’ Day?”

March 3 is Girls’ Day or Hinamatsuri, a Japanese and Japanese American holiday to celebrate girls. Girls are given one beautiful Japanese doll a year in order to build a collection of dolls which they bring out every year on Girls’ Day to create a red-tiered display of emperor and empress, ladies, musicians, and guardians.

I am entranced by the idea of bringing the big box of treasured dolls out of the closet, quietly unwrapping them, one by one, and gently arranging them for all to see. To recall each dolls’ familiar face like an old friend, to remember beloved parents and grandparents who gave which one, to replay one’s memories of Girls’ Days of years past.

Remembering the dolls of Girls' Day, facing forward from Japan's tsunami

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Just being there at Losar Tibetan New Year and standing with our Muslim American neighbors

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang at AnnArbor.com:

The woman at Jewel Heart temple recognized me, saying, “We have met before,” but she could not remember my name.
“I came last year for Losar,” I said. “And the year before.”

I was a little embarrassed to admit I was like those once-a-year-Christians my Catholic School nuns used to complain about, the folks who only went to church once a year on Christmas. “If they are only going to go to church once a year, they ought to at least go on Easter. Easter is the more important holiday,” the nuns said.

However, I was even worse. Not only did I only come once a year, I did not even arrive until after services had ended — the three-hour services, I should add. I passed the restless children playing outside in their Tibetan silks, “Are services still going on?”

click on link for more: Just being there at Losar Tibetan New Year and standing with our Muslim American neighbors

Adventures in Multicultural Living: One perfect day with my professor: real connections with real people - AnnArbor.com

from ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang's column, "Adventures in Multicultural Living":

On the first day of my Philosophy of Mind course my junior year of college at UC Berkeley, Professor John Searle picked me out of a crowd of 200 undergraduates and gruffly barked, “You look troubled. Come see me in office hours.”

I was scared to death, but I dared not disobey. With the help of all my friends, I managed to come up with some passable questions worthy of asking this very famous philosopher. Then — for reasons I still do not fully understand — he took me under his wing and taught me philosophy.

For the next two years, I spent nearly every day walking with my professor to cafes and bookstores and lecture halls, learning how to ask questions, how to extend arguments, how to analyze the structure of thought and action, how to search for logical inconsistencies, how to fight intellectual battles like a prizefighter.

Under his tutelage, I was thinking a mile-a-minute all the time. I loved philosophy, and I loved being a philosopher.

I had no idea how special and rare this sort of teacher-student relationship was. I thought it was normal.

click on link for more One perfect day with my professor: real connections with real people - AnnArbor.com

Social Media for Social Change, Recorded on 2/26/11 banana-2 on USTREAM. Conference

Here is a video of our Banana 2 APA Bloggers panel, on social media for social change, about which Angry Asian Man live-tweeted: "This panel on activism is pretty darn awesome. #banana2" (and more:). Panelists include Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, Fatemeh Fakhraie, Jehanzeb Dar, Cynthia Liu, and Marissa Lee. Keith Kamisugi was the moderator. Eddy Hong organized the panel.

Social Media for Social Change, Recorded on 2/26/11 banana-2 on USTREAM. Conference

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/12963184



Social Media for Social Change, Recorded on 2/26/11 banana-2 on USTREAM. Conference

Politics Talaga?: What We Face, and What We Can Do

Additional thoughts I wrote to answer an unhappy audience member’s comments on social justice activism and social media after the Banana2 Conference on the Politics Talaga blog: What We Face, and What We Can Do

http://politicstalaga.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-we-face-and-what-we-can-do.html

click on link for more Politics Talaga?: What We Face, and What We Can Do

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Taking the time to celebrate birthdays, African American History Month and other special times

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang at AnnArbor.com:

I had nearly forgotten, until I received the Facebook post from my good friend James wishing me a happy birthday. James and I share the same birthday, so I immediately wished him a happy birthday, too, and then sent birthday wishes to my childhood friend, Hsiao Ma, who also shares the same birthday with me, but not before she beat me to it. Theirs are the only birthdays I ever remember.

Growing up, birthdays were not a big deal, and usually consisted of small family gatherings with my family and Hsiao Ma’s family. The only other guest we ever invited was George and his family. A little dinner, a little cake, nothing fancy. Hsiao Ma, George, and I were a trio in those days, the only Chinese kids I knew other than my three older cousins.

I was surprised the first time I heard of someone taking the entire day off work and school because it was her birthday. It was her special day, so she was going to dedicate that day entirely to pampering herself. She felt she deserved it. I could not fathom that either birthdays or pampering could be so important.

click on link for more:Taking the time to celebrate birthdays, African American History Month and other special times

Michigan isn't Arizona - Stand Against HB 4305

from Stephanie Lily Chang of APIA Vote:

Friends,

We need your help. Can you take 30 seconds to contact Governor Snyder about anti-immigrant House Bill 4305? Asian Americans can and should have a stronger voice when it comes to policies affecting immigrant populations in Michigan.

1. Michigan isn't Arizona - Stand Against HB 4305

[VOLUNTEERS NEEDED] Can you help on Monday, February 28 to make 15 calls to encourage people to call Governor Snyder, asking him to promise to veto HB 4305? Email michigan@apiavote.org and we'll send you instructions.

This past Wednesday, Michigan representatives introduced Michigan's own version of Arizona's controversial racial profiling law - House Bill 4305. This would require local police to act as immigration agents, stopping, questioning and even arresting anyone who might ‘look undocumented’. This would force our state into taxpayer dollar draining lawsuits like Arizona is seeing and take further law enforcement resources away from dealing with real public safety issues in our communities.

Tell Governor Snyder to promise to veto HB 4305 by clicking here.

This is a direct assault on the immigrant community. Michigan's economy will never improve if we drive off immigrants and entrepreneurs.

2. March 19: "Gerrymandering" Movie Screening & Discussion

Saturday, March 19, 2011 / 2-5 p.m.
Multicultural Council of America
1787 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, MI 48084

FREE! Refreshments will be available for purchase.

Guest speaker: Christina Kuo, Common Cause - Michigan

Redistricting takes place this spring in Michigan. Come learn about how this affects our community and watch a great film! Redistricting is the redrawing of legislative districts. Gerrymandering is when the process is manipulated for political advantage. How has this affected Asian Americans in the past? Come find out.

Contact: Willie 586-713-8261 or misterwd2001@aol.com / Stephanie michigan@apiavote.org

3. March 25-26: Out of the Margins - Asian/Pacific Islander American Movement Conference

The conference will take place on Friday March 25 at the Michigan League in Ann Arbor and Saturday March 26 at the Trotter Multicultural Center in Ann Arbor. Registration is FREE. Visit www.umich.edu/~apiamovt for more information and to register!

With the Asian population in the United States now surpassing 15 million, Asian Americans can no longer be viewed as silent and passive. We have become more and more visible in academia, politics, media, and popular entertainment. But how will we use our rising influence in a timing of rising crises and anti-immigrant attacks? This 2-day conference will bring together leadings scholars, community organizers, artists, and students from the Midwest and across the nation to discuss the past, present, and future of Asian American movement activism.

Thank you for your support,

Stephanie

Our Voice Counts! www.apiavotemi.org

Adventures in Multicultural Living: A pair of poems for our children at King School International Night - AnnArbor.com

from ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

When I asked Crystal’s grandfather if he could write some Chinese calligraphy for King School’s International Night, I naively thought it was just a matter of his putting brush to paper and writing some pretty Chinese characters on red paper.

My job was to get a long roll of red paper from the art teacher and send it home on the school bus with little kindergartener Crystal. That I knew how to do. I wrapped it up tight in a clear plastic trash bag to safely school bus- and kindergartner-proof it. The paper was taller than she was.

I did not even think about what Crystal’s grandfather should write, other than a Chinese New Year’s poetry couplet or dui lian, from the Chinese New Year’s tradition of paired door hangings to protect the household and express wishes for the new year — usually something about family and fortune and long life. I explained to Crystal’s grandfather the sort of place King School was and all our hopes and dreams for King School’s International Night, “Bringing us together. Celebrating our diversity.”

Even then, I did not really understand, and I sort of imagined him looking something up from a giant book of poems, with that thin almost translucent Chinese paper.

The next thing I knew, he had composed two nine-word verses for us in a pocket-sized spiral notebook, the children described as a garden of multihued flowers.

click on link for more A pair of poems for our children at King School International Night - AnnArbor.com

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Working off different calendars. Is it Lunar New Year's or Valentine's? - AnnArbor.com

by ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com

My girlfriend Nina once complained when she had to have dinner with some university bigwig…on Valentine’s Day. She was indignant, incensed. It was Valentine’s Day, for goodness sake. I barely even registered her complaint, my mind completely overwhelmed by my overload of Chinese New Year’s events. I thought it might be nice to have dinner with that particular university bigwig, and I gave her a message to relay. I could not understand why she stomped off in a huff.

We were working off different calendars, I suppose.

Last year, I attended a Chinese New Year’s event on the first Sunday in February. About halfway through the evening, Little Brother, then 6, and all the high school boys he had been following, disappeared. I found them all down the hall at the information desk, watching the Super Bowl together, Little Brother’s feet swinging back and forth. I laughed to myself at the realization that this big event was scheduled on the day of the Super Bowl because no one on the organization committee — likely all immigrants who did not grow up watching football — either knew or thought it was important (No wonder so many of the non-Asian dignitaries and special guests had to leave early for “previous engagements”).

Interesting how we learn about each other through the differences in our calendars.

click on link for more: Working off different calendars. Is it Lunar New Year's or Valentine's? - AnnArbor.com

AML: A snow day for Lunar New Year's Eve: Auspicious dreams and Korematsu Day - AnnArbor.com

from ACJ Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in AnnArbor.com

Posted: Feb 6, 2011 at 6:12 AM [Today]

Some people believe that whatever happens on the first day of the lunar new year portends what is to come in the new year, which is why some superstitious folks do not scold their children, let their children cry, or argue on the first day of the new year—or else they will be scolding, crying, or arguing all year.

My kids are hoping the snow day gets extended into the new year, “Snow Day! Snow Day! Snow Day!”

On the western new year’s day, January 1, many people make new year’s resolutions for what they are going to do better in the new year—lose ten pounds, exercise more, Facebook less, lose ten pounds.

Lunar new year’s does not have the same custom, but we do reflect on our hopes and dreams for the coming year while cooking and eating lunar new year’s eve dinner. The meanings are embedded in the names of the dishes, the wishes made manifest in the cooking and eating.

Losing weight is not one of them.

click on link for more A snow day for Lunar New Year's Eve: Auspicious dreams and Korematsu Day - AnnArbor.com

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Balancing family and friends, public and private at Chinese New Year's - AnnArbor.com

From ACJ Advisory Board Member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

Posted: Jan 30, 2011 at 6:12 AM [Today]

I woke up early on the first Sunday of the year and stumbled about my kitchen, dirty dishes from New Year’s Eve still piled up, thinking that I should call Mr. Aramaki in a thinly-veiled attempt to get invited to Oshougatsu (Japanese New Year’s) at his house or to get him to invite me to tag along with him to the Shimouras’ Oshougatsu. I think about this every year on New Year’s Day as I do not really know where else to go. I am not enmeshed in the Japanese American community here as I am in California. Japanese New Year’s is big, going from house to house, eating oneself into oblivion on ozoni, sushi, sashimi, tempura, gobo, namasu, mochi…

Then (sound effect of a record screeching to a halt), I realized that it was Jan. 2, and I had missed New Year’s Day completely.

Doh!

But that’s ok. I still have Chinese New Year’s on Feb. 3 this year.
Of course, that is what I always say about my Christmas letter that never gets out, “I’ll send it out at New Year’s.” Then Chinese New Year’s (February)…Tibetan New Year’s (March)…Nepali New Year’s (April)…

click on link for more: Balancing family and friends, public and private at Chinese New Year's - AnnArbor.com

Adventures in Multicultural Living: The legacy of the Vincent Chin case for the Asian American civil rights movement and all of us - AnnArbor.com

Posted: Jan 2, 2011 at 6:12 AM [Today]
I recently had the honor of participating in the installation of the State Bar of Michigan’s 34th Michigan Legal Milestone Plaque, “From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry,” which recognizes the many legal changes that have come about because of the Vincent Chin case and benefit all of us, including minimum sentencing guidelines, victim’s impact statements, the importance of sentencing hearings, recognition of the risk that goes with changes in venue, as well as the role of this case as the catalyst for the Asian American civil rights movement.

Outgoing Mayor of Ferndale Craig Covey, who also installed an accompanying Vincent Chin memorial plaque by the City of Ferndale, recognized the struggles for equality throughout American history by “almost every group that has made this place home” including Native Americans, African Americans, Chinese Americans, Irish Americans, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, gays and lesbians, and said:

"Equal justice in America is not a given. It is not a guarantee…rather…it is a constant struggle. It takes vigilance and effort and energy. We must always strive toward fair and equal justice, knowing that it may never be fully achieved."

click on link for more: The legacy of the Vincent Chin case for the Asian American civil rights movement and all of us - AnnArbor.com