Direct from the New American Media (because doesn't everyone love them?):
Alexander Massialas who is Taiwanese American took the silver in the men’s individual foil at the Rio games Sunday. He became the first American to win an individual medal in fencing since Albie Axelrod won the bronze in 1960, according to TeamUSA.org.
And yes - that medal was silver - and yes again - silver is fine with me (because you do get points for being in the top 3).
And yes, if silver isn't good enough for you I get to ask the question of what the fuck did you do this week?
Warner Bros has firmed an October start date in New York for Ocean’s Eight, the female-driven caper spinoff directed by Gary Ross, and the studio is closing with its principal cast. Aside from the previously identified Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett, deals are close with Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling and Awkwafina. The latter is the hip-hop moniker of Asian-American rapper and actress Nora Lum, who most recently had a role in Neighbors 2.
In its 15th cycle, the Armed With a Camera (AWC) fellowship has helped over 120 emerging filmmakers to launch careers and give voice to their Asian Pacific American heritage and communities. This program offers six months of training, funding, mentorship, facilities and equipment and an elite world premiere venue – the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival!
The AWC Fellowship will award up to ten fellows a cash stipend to complete a four to five-minute digital video. In addition, Fellows will attend an all-expenses paid animated filmmaking workshop to LAIKA Entertainment (KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS, CORALINE, CORPSE BRIDE, PARANORMAN) in Portland, OR.
AWC provides the springboard for emerging media makers for their career. Many alumni have gone on to produce feature films, documentaries and other media. Past fellows include Daniel Hsia (SHANGHAI CALLING), Eugene-Lee Yang (BUZZFEED MOTION PICTURES), Kristina Wong (WONG STREET JOURNAL), Evan Jackson Leong (LINSANITY), AYA TANIMURA (music videos), ERNESTO FORONDA (BETTER LUCK TOMORROW) and Erin Li (KEPLER X-47).
Apply today. Eligible applicants must be of Asian Pacific descent and residents of Southern California. If accepted, Fellows must be able to attend mandatory meetings and workshops in Los Angeles. Women, Native Hawaiians & Pacific Islanders, South Asian, and Southeast Asian filmmakers (particularly animators) are highly encouraged to apply to the AWC Fellowship.
Sure Monday is almost over but I was re-watching some dvds of recorded programs (which are actually just ISO files sitting on my network) and I was watching this again, remembering how inspiring it was to me.
JACCC and Visual Communications presents the Los Angeles premiere of "Mele Murals "(64 minutes, digital video, 2016) by Tadashi Nakamura. The film is a production of ʻŌiwi TV and Pacific Islanders in Communications, in association with Center for Asian American Media.
6:30p - Garden Concert with PAULA FUGA (VIP ticket holders only)
8:00p - Film Screening
9:30p - Q&A with filmmakers and featured artists ESTRIA and PRIME
Fun video about Jeremy Lin heading back to NY but damn - did you read some of those comments?
Hmmm....
"Americans supporting Americans is cool, but Asians supporting Asians is considered dick-riding/hyping. RIIIIIIIGHT"
"U can't let these guys be proud of a fellow Asian making it an industry where he's clearly minority? As one minority to another, shaming them on their pride and calling them 'hoe ass nigg*s" doesn't do anybody shit"
"Yeah we Asians are hyped about Jeremy being a starter! There's nothing wrong with that! Every basketball fan has a favorite player who they support and get hyped over. Sure Jeremy might not me a superstar PG, he might not score a lot of points every time, but it's never wrong to say that he will! If you guys have a problem with that, then I'm not gonna say I'm sorry for supporting one of my favorite players!"
"There's an awful lot of hate from people here who expect Lin to fail because he's Asian. I get it, he's not the best PG in the league but you can't deny the guy has talent. We haven't see his full potential at all he's always been coming off the bench in the teams he's been in. The Nets may not be playoff caliber next season, but they're in a damn better position now before the got Lin. And to all the non-Asians hating of Lin, go back to watching your 2k let's plays, we don't need your hate!"
As always good to see articles about how Trump alienates Asian Americans - and how people are seeing us as a rising voting force in U.S. politics.
At the same time I just have to ask the question of the title of the CNBC article relating to the word "risks" - risks?
I think it's done.
Asian-American Democratic officials see advantages to those trends in 2016, especially with Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee. His jabs at immigrants and pledge to discard the Affordable Care Act clash with the priorities of Asian-American voters as they become a larger part of the electorate, lawmakers said at the Democratic National Convention.
"We see a trend with Republicans where they've become more and more extreme and where there's increasingly xenophobic kind of rhetoric, and certainly that's exemplified in Trump," Rep. Judy Chu of California, chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, told CNBC.
Howard Shu is the highest-ranked U.S. badminton player in men’s singles — and like many of the players on his team, he’s from Southern California. He’s also a shoe collector, with close to 100 pairs of sneakers.
In Asia, badminton is huge, and Shu feeds off that enthusiasm. "When we're playing in China or Indonesia," he says, "they're packed stadiums: 10-, 20,000 people." But, if badminton doesn't have the same respect in the U.S. that it does in Asia, Shu is able to shrug it off. After all, he's used to hearing challenges from people who whacked a birdie around as kids, and boast that they can take him on. "There's no way they could even score a point on me," he says.
While it's great to see that Apple* is hiring Asian, Black, and Hispanic/Latinx workers in the double digits, it's also showing that those numbers need to be increased dramatically in order to get Black workers into the same double digits for the overall current worker percentage.
2014
7%, 11%, and 15%.
2016
While Asians go up 15% to 19% - a 4% increase, Black workers only go up 2% while Hispanic/Latinx workers only go up 1%.
I give credit to Apple for making the data available and for looking to improve the diversity at their company. But they need to to do more if they are going to decrease that gap. At the very least I would like to see them get Black and Hispanic/Latinx workers up to the 15% overall margin and wouldn't it be nice to see 20% across the board for all three?
The Unforgiven was a great movie - I'm not gonna lie and I don't think that's up for debate.
Unfortunately Clint Eastwood keeps on being a dumbass.
[Trump is] onto something, because secretly everybody’s getting tired of political correctness, kissing up [...] That’s the kiss-ass generation we’re in right now. We’re really in a p*ssy generation [...] We see people accusing people of being racist and all kinds of stuff. When I grew up, those things weren’t called racist
WASHINGTON -- The AAPI Victory Fund -- the first Super PAC of its kind -- condemns Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for his callous attacks on Khizr and Ghazla Khan. The Khans are a Gold Star family, which signifies that their son is a fallen American soldier. By criticizing the Khan family, Trump was not just attacking Muslims, but disparaging all American soldiers and veterans and the entire Asian American and Pacific Islander community. The repeated pattern of attacks on this family from the Republican candidate is reprehensible. The Victory Fund stands in solidarity with the Khan family.
"As a proud American who is Muslim, we cannot remain silent when the Republican presidential candidate's platform is based on hate and bigotry," said Dilawar Syed, co-founder and vice chair of the AAPI Victory Fund. "Mr. Khan's call to action in speech last week at the DNC was to vote -- underscoring that this election is the most important of our lifetime and we must turn out the vote in every community."
"When Donald Trump attacks the Khans, he attacks my community too," said Tung Nguyen, co-founder of the AAPI Victory Fund. "Trump's comments against refugees, new Americans and anyone who does not hold his rigid ideology, is attacking the essence of what America is."
The Pew Research Center estimates that 28 percent of 3.3 million Muslims living in the United States are of Asian descent.
"We stand in solidarity with our American Muslim brothers and sisters," said Shekar Narasimhan, chair of the AAPI Victory Fund. "The American Muslim community is diverse and by attacking them, Trump directly attacks Koreans, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos and all AAPIs."
"Prominent Republicans have spoken out against Donald Trump's actions, and some have even left the Republican party," said Varun Nikore, vice chair for strategy & operations. "Regardless of political party, there comes a time where decency and respect of those who served must prevail. We must all take action at the ballot box to send a strong message that the AAPI community will not tolerate this behavior from a presidential candidate."
The Victory Fund, which announced its support for Secretary Hillary Clinton, is working with progressive partners -- including the American Muslim community -- to mobilize and influence Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders voters in key battleground states where growing AAPI populations could be the margin of victory. With a population of more than 21 million and representing six percent of the country's population, AAPIs are the fastest-growing and most diverse minority groups in the U.S.
I have to admit that it's taken me a little while to come to the conclusion that LA based Michael Nhat has one of the most singular and different voices in underground hip hop - his music as he describes, new wave hip hop.
And it has a vision.
Provocative, sometimes dark, self-aware, sometimes existing in that space between something completely different and maybe too much.
If nothing else unique in its effort for that vision.
Holy Smoke
If all hip hop artists have at least one song about smoking weed, this is Nhat's (from around a year ago) - and it's done in the Nhat way.
It's not a house party.
Make sure to listen to it all the way through.
A Reasonable Man
One his latest tracks, I just don't know how you can't bop along to this anthem of the underdog - and don't tell me you don't like the video either.
It's a clown.
And Anonymous masks.
They Have A Noose For Me
Probably the darkest song I've heard from Michael Nhat, I've been trying to think about something that comes close to being comparable from a hip hop genre perspective and I can't. It's a confessional and observatory where brutal honesty (a trait of Nhat's songs) fuse with a melodic chorus all split into sometimes jarring visuals. I did ask Michael Nhat about one verse. There is I think some artistic license going on there. At the same time it's the now adult Nhat who can talk about his younger self and being witness to a culture of patriarchy, not glorifying, but demonizing it.
Again - this isn't OPP.
What If You Looked Like The Devil?
I just challenge you to watch the whole video and tell me there's anyone else doing this.
The slantyapolis/seftre blog has served millions of views trying to help in its own way, to give voice to the Asian and Asian American community, as well as document it, over the last 18 years. Sometimes op-ed, sometimes straight news, sometimes off the beaten path--the continued impetus remains that there's power in sharing voices and in sharing your own voice and reflecting that back into the communities you belong to.
If you're looking for the 2008 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).
2007 In Review Posts
If you're looking for the 2007 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).
