Eric Garner Case Resonates Among Asian Americans - NBC News

my article for NBC News Asian America

"While we do not experience racism in the exact same way as Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans," said Minneapolis-based poet and activist Bao Phi, "I think we should look at cases of state-sanctioned violence and police brutality against Asian Americans, Fong Lee being one example, to engage our communities."

Eric Garner Case Resonates Among Asian Americans - NBC News

Civil Rights Groups Prep to Ensure 2020 Census Reaches All - NBC News.com

"We cannot afford to go backwards." my article for nbc news asian america

Civil Rights Groups Prep to Ensure 2020 Census Reaches All - NBC News.com

Asian-American Groups At Odds Over Net Neutrality Debate - NBC News.com

My article at NBCNews.com on net neutrality:

“There's a strong human and civil rights case for strong protections of internet rights,” said 18MillionRising's New Media Director Cayden Mak. His group begana campaign to encourage OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) to reverse their stand, “Trusting the free market on this is an exercise in folly, at best.”

Asian-American Groups At Odds Over Net Neutrality Debate - NBC News.com

RIP Frances Kathryn Pearson Korematsu 1921-2013

Our thoughts are with Karen Korematsu and family.

http://korematsuinstitute.org/2013/11/in-memory-of-frances-kathryn-pearson-korematsu-1921-2013/

2013 Advancing Justice Conference » Civil Rights for the Next Generation: The Role of Arts, Entertainment, and Social Media

Go Go Angry Asian Man Phil Yu who is speaking on the opening plenary of the Advancing Justice Conference 2013 on Thursday Nov 14 in Los Angeles, Californnia. So sorry to be missing all the fun this year, but look forward to catching up with everyone soon... American Citizens for Justice / Asian American Center for Justice sends best regards!

2013 Advancing Justice Conference » Civil Rights for the Next Generation: The Role of Arts, Entertainment, and Social Media

Helen Zia keynote for American Citizens for Justice Fundraiser November 15

Come meet Asian Pacific American hero Helen Zia at American Citizens for Justice / Asian American Center for Justice fundraising dinner November 15, 2013, 6pm! (♥ swoon ) Corporate and nonprofit sponsorships available, as well as discounted student tickets.

Sheraton Detroit Novi Hotel
21111 Haggerty Road, Novi, Michigan 48375

View Map · Get Directions

50th Anniversary of the March on Washington: A Renewed Hope for the American Dream | Mee Moua

The great Mee Moua on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington

50th Anniversary of the March on Washington: A Renewed Hope for the American Dream | Mee Moua

What Do Asian-Americans Owe The Civil Rights Movement? : NPR

Cool article as we head into the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington
What Do Asian-Americans Owe The Civil Rights Movement? : NPR

Remembering the civil rights trials

Remember that there were two civil rights trials in the Vincent Chin case. The first trial found Ebens guilty of violating Vincent Chin's rights and aquitted Nitz, then it was declared a mistrial. The second trial was moved to an almost-all-white city with an all-white jury and Ebens and Nitz were acquitted.

Tweet me your thoughts @fkwang for Remembering Vincent Chin
http://rememberingvincentchin.com

Sign the NAACP Petition to the DOJ to open a civil rights case against Zimmerman. Be persistent as so many people are signing that the site keeps crashing.
http://www.naacp.org/page/s/doj-civil-rights-petition

Justice for Trayvon, Justice for all our children

I'm sitting at a beautiful airy music concert, the highlight of every summer, the Big Island Music Festival. On stage is a handsome young man, ukulele virtuoso Kris Fuchigami, with his mom playing backup on keyboard. But I cannot hear anything.

I wish I were surprised by the verdict, but my heart is breaking.

How do we raise our sweet children of color? What do we tell them? What do we tell ourselves?

Just last night, my multiracial nine year old boy--who could look like any number of ethnic stereotypes--stayed up late, refusing to sleep, waiting for me to come home. When I finally arrived home, after a long day where I had travelled to 14,000 feet altitude and back, he wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed my face, "You're the best mommy in the world. Really you are."

I wrote the article below for Chicago is the World 16 months ago when the case first broke. Today it looks hopelessly naive. I wish a list of rules was enough to keep our children safe. I am lost.

I always felt some distance from the Vincent Chin case because of time and geography and age and naïveté. There is no distance today. 

My thoughts are with the Martin family. 

Chicago is the World » Lessons I do not want to teach my children–about Dharun Ravi, Trayvon Martin, Shaima Alawadi

http://chicagoistheworld.org/2012/03/lessons-i-do-not-want-to-teach-my-children-about-dharun-ravi-trayvon-martin-shaima-alawadi/

NAACP | Urge the DOJ to file civil rights charges

http://www.naacp.org/page/s/doj-civil-rights-petition

Tweet me your thoughts @fkwang for Remembering Vincent Chin
 http://rememberingvincentchin.com 

Typed this out on my phone today because it could not wait. 

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.

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

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)

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.

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

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

Installation of Vincent Chin case 34th Legal Milestone Plaque today

Vincent Chin Case State Bar of Michigan Legal Milestone installation is today, Wednesday, December 22, at Noon at the Post Bar (formerly Golden Star Restaurant where Vincent Chin once worked) in Ferndale, Michigan. The first meeting about the case was held at that location in March 1983.

Today's program is hosted by the City of Ferndale. Everyone is invited to attend. Ferndale Mayor Covey indicates that the place can hold 140 people. The Post Bar is located at 22828 Woodward, east side of Woodward, just north of 9 Mile Road in Ferndale.

The event is covered on page 1 of the Detroit Free Press today.

link to the Free Press article: http://www.freep.com/article/20101222/NEWS05/12220383/1001/NLETTER09/82-beating-death-spurred-changes-in-Michigan-law?source=nletter-news

link to Ferndale Mayor Craig Covey's press release:
http://coveys-corner.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-we-are-proud-to-host-vincent-chin.html

wording on the plaques here:
http://www.multiculturaltoolbox.com/American_Citizens_for_Justice/MilestonePlaque.html

link to Frances Kai-Hwa Wang's speech coming soon:

link to content of Roland Hwang's speech:
http://www.michbar.org/journal/pdf/pdf4article1505.pdf

MDCR - Statement Regarding the Potential Immigration Law Enforcement Act

Michigan Department of Civil Rights Statement Regarding the Potential Immigration Law Enforcement Act

Contact: Harold Core 517-241-3986
Agency: Civil Rights

June 18, 2010

MDCR Director Daniel Krichbaum today released this statement to be read at a meeting of the Michigan Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The meeting was called to discuss Michigan's proposed Immigration Law Enforcement Act.

MDCR - Statement Regarding the Potential Immigration Law Enforcement Act

"Good afternoon and greetings on behalf of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission and Department. It is my pleasure to listen to the speakers and share some thoughts on behalf of the Department and Commission.

While our Commission has not yet taken a position on this issue, we would like to share some general observations.

Michigan law enforcement agencies are facing budget cuts that already require them to creatively stretch limited resources to protect public safety. Now is not the time to ask local agencies to take on the additional federal responsibility of immigration enforcement. Furthermore, none of us want to deny our local police the tools they need to solve crimes. Why would we want to make witnesses who may have citizenship concerns (of their own or for their family) afraid to call or cooperate with police?

As a civil rights department, we are very concerned that laws like the one being discussed today amount to an open invitation for racial profiling. The decision to turn a routine law enforcement encounter into an immigration investigation is one that will be based solely on perception. But what exactly does an immigrant look like? Sound like?

Each of you, take a quick second to close your eyes and picture an immigrant. What characteristics do you think about when you picture an immigrant? What is their skin color? What language do they speak? Who would you suggest police ask to 'show me your papers'?

Then let me ask you this: are you picturing a Canadian? There are more than 150,000 European-born White Americans who are immigrants in Michigan. Yet it is Latino, Asian Pacific and Middle Eastern persons who will undoubtedly be the ones whose status is challenged.

Remember, it is not just non-citizens or the undocumented that will be challenged. Anyone perceived as being 'foreign' will face the possibility of being asked to prove his or her right to be here. American citizens and documented visitors will face this possibility not just once, or even just once a day, but every time they come into any contact with a law enforcement officer.

Michigan will take another costly hit to our reputation, and to our pocketbook. Arizona has already lost more than $90 million in tourism dollars since their legislation passed. There is no reason to believe Michigan will be different. Any organization comprised of diverse members will avoid holding events in Michigan because of the risk of their membership being harassed.

Similarly, a Michigan business might find the person they wish to hire is reluctant to move to Michigan knowing they face this possibility. Any employer with a diverse pool of employees will be less likely to relocate to Michigan for the same reason.

The jobs Michigan lost over the last decade were lost to other places, not because of immigrants. Increasing pressure on those who look like immigrants will not bring those jobs back. The future of our state depends on us finding ways to work together for the greater good.

Targeting 'perceived foreigners' will deeply strain law enforcement efforts to work with many of Michigan¡¦s residents, as well as our visitors. Legislative efforts like the one discussed today will hurt businesses and the state as a whole. At a time when we need to be working in unison, it will divide us. Divided we fail."

For more information on the Department of Civil Rights visit our website at: http://www.michigan.gov/mdcr.

MDCR - Statement Regarding the Potential Immigration Law Enforcement Act