advocacy

Trevor Middleton, 23, of Sutton, was convicted Dec. 15 in a Newmarket court of four counts of aggravated assault and two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

Middleton had been charged with trying to run Liu's Honda off the road, not for the dunking of Liu and Hogan.

The incident on the Mossington Park Bridge is an extreme example of attacks and harassment that have been inflicted scores of times in the past few years on Asian fishermen in the Greater Toronto Area. It has become so common that the attacks have nicknames by some Georgina Township locals: "nip-tipping" and "nipper-tipping."

What's unique about the attack on Liu and Hogan – apart from the near-fatal and crippling injury to Berwick – is the huge attention it has garnered from Asian community leaders, activists and media members.

To the people who thought racism was a thing of the past and no longer exists in the 21st century.... you are dead wrong. Some of us probably live in the nicer places in the country with some good multicultural friends but the people in the next town/city may not be so friendly.

To all my other dearest Asian Brothers, Sisters, Families, Civil Rights Advocacy groups, Asian Activists in western countries. We know racism is very much alive and it comes in all shapes and forms in mainstream society.

While we continue to experience it's reoccurring unpleasantness and Deja Vu's, I am all convinced we are still living as second class citizens and are still sunjected to different forms of  racial oppression.

Ancient Taoist once believed the driving universal life principles are found in Yin and Yang, nature will seek neutrality and find balance between interchangeable opposing forces. Though my analogy might sound a little ancient in the philosophical works but you would eventually understand my point in our society at present.

The six men on stage included a poet, a break dancer and a filmmaker. They pounded rhythms on the dhol drum, modeled fresh fashions, slathered whipped cream on bare skin and discussed their passion for community service.

This is the "Mr. Hyphen" contest, a faux pageant in the San Francisco Bay area aimed at redefining the image of Asian-American men beyond nerdy, sexless stereotypes.

Conspicuously absent from the stage were computer experts, doctors, lawyers or dry cleaners. There were, however, martial arts - with a twist.

Pahole Sookkasikon, an American-born graduate student partial to drawing, cooking, and "flirting for free drinks at the bar," knew that his hobbies would not translate well to the talent portion of the show.

Goodbye Lou, we won't miss you at all! most of us are glad that you have taken the hint.

Many People do not like you polluting the airway with your blabbering racist rhetoric and fear mongering politics.

The world can only be a happier place.

After facing intense pressure for his anti-immigration rhetoric, Lou Dobbs announced his resignation last night to his viewers. He will be replaced by John King.

Wednesday’s program will be his last on CNN, even though his contract was not set to expire until the end of 2011.While his reasons were “some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day”, the truth is that intense pressure from campaigns like Drop Dobbs and Basta Dobbs have had a tremendous impact, including the airing of a Drop the Hate ad on MSNBC.

The New York Times reports,

Hokubei - On Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 8-9, the 36th annual Nihonmachi Street Fair takes over San Francisco’s Japantown.

The fair celebrates the diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander communities here in the Bay Area, and has established itself as a summertime tradition in the city.

This event is organized entirely by volunteers, who work with non-profit community service organizations to offer Asian food booths, a broad assortment of arts and crafts vendors, and even a Children’s World activity area, where kids can learn Asian crafts and games.

That commitment to community service is what gives the Nihonmachi Street Fair a unique perspective among Bay Area urban festivals. The fair’s broad goal is to support the programs and services of non-profit organizations.

SEFRE - Asian Men Redefined Calendar is an all-volunteer calendar photographed and produced by dannydan. 50% of the calendar profit benefits Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center (A&PI Wellness Center), the oldest non-profit HIV/AIDS services organization in North America targeting Asian & Pacific Islander (A&PI) communities. The rest of the profit goes back to the calendar production for the following year. The 2010 calendar is the fourth installment of Asian Men Redefined production featuring 13 new Asian & Pacific Islander men from all over the United States. Every year, the new models were chosen by a panel of judges consisting of friends who have helped the calendar production & some of the models from the previous years. Please visit our website at http://www.asianmenredefined.com/.

New America media - Asian-American voters in California care about the environment and could swing votes on environmental measures, a new poll has found, bucking conventional wisdom.

The groundbreaking multilingual poll surveyed 1,002 Asian-American voters on their views about environmental issues and compared results to a poll of 564 state voters. Interviews were conducted with Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese and Asian Indian voters. 

“Asian Americans should be paid attention to,” said James Lau, executive director of the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, which commissioned the poll. “They are supportive of a lot of environmental issues.”

Asianweek - As we celebrate the accomplishments of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders throughout the month of May and reflect on how far we’ve come, it benefits us to also remember the obstacles and hindrances we still face as a community. One such health-related barrier that still prevents our community from achieving its full potential is hepatitis B. Hepatitis B is a serious disease that affects some two billion people worldwide. Among the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (AA and NHOPI) population, the disease has had an equally devastating impact, with AA and NHOPIs comprising more than half of the 1.5 million known hepatitis B carriers in the United States. Hepatitis B, which is caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV), can lead to lifelong infection, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure and death.

MANAA - Asian American Advocacy Groups, Fans Condemn Racial Bias in M. Night Shyamalans Whitewashed Casting of The Last Airbender"

Los Angeles Thousands of fans and two prominent Asian American advocacy groups are protesting Paramount Pictures' upcoming "The Last Airbender, accusing the production of racial bias in selecting white actors to portray ethnically Asian characters.

The movie-a live action adaptation of the hit animated television series "Avatar: The Last Airbender"-is part of a franchise widely advertised by Nickelodeon as set in a "fantastical Asian world" and is set for release in July of 2010.

Even though all of the series' characters were ethnically Asian or Inuit/Yupik, casting sheets for the leads indicated a preference for white actors-and ultimately, they were chosen for the top four starring roles. The part of the villainous Prince Zuko went to Jesse McCartney. After dropping out, he was replaced by "Slumdog Millionaire's" Dev Patel. Consequently, in a Eurocentric twist, actors of color have been relegated to villain, supporting, and background roles.

A leaked Red Cross report, detailing chilling accounts of prisoner torture in “black sites” run by the Central Intelligence Agency, has underlined the need for an independent commission of inquiry into possible war crimes committed by senior officials during the presidency of George W. Bush, according to a statement by 25 prominent clergymen and women.

 The Rev. Rich Kilmer, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said, “We need to understand fully what happened so that we can effectively develop those safeguards. Investigating the past will help produce a future where the U.S. no longer engages in torture.”

 “Such a commission would not preclude a simultaneous investigation by the Department of Justice or by a special prosecutor,” he said. “Where sufficient evidence exists that laws may have been broken, justice dictates that no one is above the law and prosecutions should be launched.”

He added that the commission of inquiry could be appointed by the president or by Congress.

Details of the leaked report were first published on the web site of the New York Review of Books in an extensive article by Mark Danner, a journalism professor. The report, compiled from interviews with numerous U.S. detainees, describes acts of brutalization and sensory deprivation employed by U.S. agents.