activist

The Moustache Brothers Burmese comedy troop, a tribute to Asian American activist Chris Ijima, Taiwan’s ”foreign brides,” America’s Next Top Immigrant, a mock game show and a fresh look at eyelid surgery, a rite of passage for Korean American women are among the subjects realized by filmmakers at the 32nd Asian American International Film Festival 2009 (AAIFF09).
Asian CineVision proudly presents the 2009/10 National Festival Tour featuring the year’s best independent cinema - narrative and documentary features and shorts - from AAIFF09. The National Festival Tour offers institutions and organizations the rare opportunity to bring many Asian and Asian American films to local communities across the country.

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.

Scholarly blogger deals with cultural fallacies, ethnic misconceptions.

When you think of an angry Asian man, the image of a ninja wielding formidable weapons comes to mind. The stereotype isn’t far from the mark when you visit “Angry Asian Man,” a blog run by University of California, Berkeley alumnus Phil Yu.

“The name of my blog is provocative and scary,” said Yu. “It’s different from most people’s idea of what an Asian person is supposed to be. Most Asians in this country are not seen as people who are willing to rock the boat. We’re seen as meek people who just let things slide, but that’s not true at all.”

At a panel in the Texas Union on Thursday, Yu and Nhi Lieu, a UT American studies professor discussed Asian-American media representation and identity in America, as well as the influence of Yu’s blog on the Asian-American community.

Earlier in the month this was released in Apple's Asian women upskirt apps, probably the type that would encourage harassment but probably doesn't click when Apple is trying to sell minority. See Satirical iPhone Apps? Not Cool. Upskirt iPhone Apps? Cool.

Not bad enough? these sleazy corporations stop at nothing for a profiting since they probably pass apps because it happens to tickle their dirty Asian fetish.

The next Asian women offence only comes out a week later.

NICHIBEI - The Nichi Bei Times’ board of directors has decided to close Northern California’s oldest 

Japanese American newspaper on Sept. 30 of this year after 63 years of business. In its place, a group of Nichi Bei Times staff and community members plan to start the Nichi Bei Foundation, a separate nonprofit reincarnation of the paper.

Kenji G. Taguma, the Nichi Bei Times’ vice president and English edition editor, has pioneered plans for the new Foundation because he believes the paper is an essential voice for Japanese Americans.

“Today, I see the paper as the glue that holds the community together,” Taguma said.

Decline in circulation and advertisements were chief reasons for the decision to close the Nichi Bei Times, said Ken Abiko, board chair of the paper, whose circulation base of around 8,000 includes primarily Northern California readers.

Endthekoreanwar.org - July 27th is the 56th anniversary of when the United States signed a temporary armistice with North Korea to halt the fighting of the Korean War. Across the United States, five cities—Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York City, Oakland, and Washington, DC—held candlelight vigils to commemorate the signing of the armistice.

The armistice wasn't something to be celebrated because it only provided a stopgap measure to stop the fighting. The Korean War didn't end with a permanent resolution, without a peace treaty.

But it was significant at the time in 1953 because within three years, two million soldiers, including 37,000 U.S. troops, died. Three million Korean civilians were killed (1 in 10), and the entire Korean peninsula was decimated.

LA Times - Judy Chu can trace the beginnings of her career as a San Gabriel Valley activist and political leader back to the early 1970s and her freshman year in college.

As the young math major, intent on a career in computer science, was crossing the UC Santa Barbara quad one day, someone thrust into her hand a flier about a new Asian American studies course. She decided to give it a try.

"It was like a light went off in my head," Chu recalled. She learned about the history of Asian immigrants and their children, the discrimination and stereotypes they endured and their contributions to American life and culture.

One of the guest speakers was Pat Sumi, a third-generation Japanese American whose activism included registering blacks to vote in Mississippi and Georgia and organizing protests against the Vietnam War.

VisualizAsian.com - Continuing with our AAPI Empowerment Series at visualizAsian.com, our next guest is Phoebe Eng, author of "Warrior Lessons: An Asian American Woman's Journey into Power," Vice Chair for the Ms. Foundation for Women and head of Creative Counsel, an organization that connects artists and entertainers with social causes.

LIVE INTERVIEW IS ON TUESDAY, JUNE 23 at 6 PM PDT (9 PM EDT) on VisualizAsian.com, Register here