Chicago is the World » We gain so much wading in the water of each other’s cultural experiences–Adventures in Multicultural Living

Written by American Citizens for Justice Advisory Board member Frances Kai-Hwa Wang:

Two years ago, my father’s choir at the University of Hawaii was invited to sing at a big international diversity concert at Lincoln Center in New York for MLK Day. Choirs from around the world had been invited to sing together, and a Hawaiian choir adds instant diversity with its multicultural population of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese, Caucasians and native Hawaiians. That summer, over a breakfast of Chinese pancakes and Portuguese sausage, my father told us about the difficulties he had had the night before at choir practice pronouncing the words in the spirituals that they were learning, “You have to say the words like a Negro,” he said.

Twelve-year-old Hao Hao gently corrected him: “African American. These days you should say African American.” (I bet Senator Reid wishes his grandchildren had told him this, too.)

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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).

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Adventures in Multicultural Living: Sharing the Light of Diwali - AnnArbor.com

From Frances Kai-Hwa Wang's column, Adventures in Multicultural Living:

My neighbor Leah is amazing with her leaves. Every Tuesday morning, she fills up her two big brown compost bins with leaves, then she fills two other big brown compost bins she has borrowed from her neighbors, then she stands on the sidewalk with her rake to wait for the city compost truck to come. As soon as they take her leaves, she quickly refills the four containers and pushes them across the street for when the truck comes back down the other side of the street. She is utterly amazing, she is so on top of her leaves.

I do not get leaves.

This year, I am even more confused about what to do with my leaves. The city will not pick them up. I cannot afford a compost bin. I see people mulching their leaves with their lawn mowers, but I only have a push mower. (click on link for more)

Sharing the Light of Diwali - AnnArbor.com

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Minorities pummeled by ethnic stereotypes at Halloween and election time - AnnArbor.com

From Frances Kai-Hwa Wang's column, Adventures in Multicultural Living:

My neighbor was cleaning out her college-aged daughter’s room and gave me a large sombrero for the kids. Maybe for Halloween, she suggested, if they do not already have a costume.

Six-year-old Little Brother already had a costume, but he was thrilled to discover his new sombrero when he came home from school, so stately and grand, with its sweeping green brim, pink accents, and fancy blue stitching, that he immediately put it on and ran outside to “show the guys.”

The older neighbor boys good-naturedly teased him: “Where’s your horse? Where’s your guitar?”

He came home puzzled and embarrassed that he had thought it was a cool sombrero when, by their comments, it must have been some sort of cowboy hat. But it did not look like what he thought a cowboy hat looked like. So what did they mean exactly?

How to explain this? How to protect him? Little Brother knows some (real) Hispanic Americans, but none who wear that kind of garb. (Hey NPR’s Juan Williams! Check out Muslims Wearing Things at Tumblr.com.)

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Vincent Who at MAPABA conference

Showing the movie Vincent Who today at Michigan Asian Pacific American Bar Association (MAPABA) conference in Detroit with Curtis Chin and Roland Hwang and Frances Kai-Hwa Wang.

Frances Wang: Role of the Media in the Vincent Chin Case and the Birth of the Asian American Civil Rights Movement

Frances Wang's remarks about the Role of the Media in the Vincent Chin Case and the in the Birth of the Asian American Civil Rights Movement at the The State Bar of Michigan's 34th Michigan Legal Milestone commemorates the Vincent Chin Case "From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry," Friday, June 19, 2009 can be found at:

http://www.multiculturaltoolbox.com/American_Citizens_for_Justice/MediaChin.html

Local 4: 27-Year Anniversary of Vincent Chin's Death

Local 4's Roger Weber reports on the anniversary of a Detroit man who was beaten to death by angry auto workers 27 years ago. Includes remarks by LG Almeda and Professor Sedler at the 34th annual Legal Milestone Dedication Ceremony and an interview with Judge Kaufman's son.

Check out this video from Local 4 TV Station WDIV, Detroit:
http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/19804602/index.html

State Bar of Michigan 34th Legal Milestone to Highlight the Case That Gave Rise to Asian American Civil Rights Movement

The State Bar's 34th Michigan Legal Milestone dedication entitled "From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry" is set for Friday, June 19 at 11 a.m. at the Chinese Community Center in Madison Heights. The center is located at 32585 Concord Drive, south of 14 Mile Road.

The ceremony will commemorate the Vincent Chin case and reflect on its significance in our legal history. Chin's beating death in 1982 in Highland Park and the lenient sentences meted out to his assailants caused an outcry in the Asian American community and led to the birth of a civil and victims' rights movement.

A bronze plaque memorializing what occurred will be unveiled at the end of the ceremony. The plaque will be installed in Ferndale. State Bar President Ed Pappas and SBM Executive Director Janet Welch will share the duties of master of ceremonies. Speakers are:

• L. G. Almeda, past president of the Michigan Asian Pacific American Bar Association and current president of American Citizens for Justice;
• Roland Hwang, Michigan assistant attorney general, immediate past president of American Citizens for Justice, and past president of the Michigan Asian Pacific American Bar Association;
• Robert Sedler, Wayne State University Law School distinguished professor of law;
• Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, executive director of American Citizens for Justice and editor of Asian American Village at IMDiversity.com; and
• Frank H. Wu, University of Maryland professor of law, who will appear via video link from Beijing.

The Michigan Legal Milestone program is overseen by the State Bar of Michigan Public Outreach Committee chaired by Jeffrey Paulsen.

http://www.michbar.org/news/releases/archives09/legal_milestone.cfm

Frances Kai-Hwa Wang Named Executive Director

American Citizens for Justice (ACJ) President Roland Hwang is pleased to name Frances Kai-Hwa Wang to be the new Executive Director for American Citizens for Justice (also known as the Asian American Center for Justice). Ms. Wang is acting editor of IMDiversity.com Asian American Village Online, a frequent speaker on Asian American community issues, a webmaster, writer, and former executive director of Ypsilanti Meals on Wheels. She offers grant writing skills. She spearheaded the White House APA Advisory Commission visit to Ann Arbor. She in the past has worked for the United Nations, World Bank, and Save the Children in Nepal. Frances has a BA in Asian Studies and Philosophy from UC Berkeley, and a MA from University of Michigan.

American Citizens for Justice is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the Asian Pacific American communities of Metro Detroit, Michigan, and the Midwest and to fighting for the civil rights of all Americans. ACJ began in 1983 after the brutal baseball bat beating death of a 27-year old Chinese American Vincent Chin, in response to the state court probation sentences given to the two men who killed Vincent Chin.