An Asian American Filipina, Lee Kiefer, from Lexington, Kentucky, made history at this year’s Olympics in Tokyo. You couldn’t tell at first because she wore a mask—a fencer’s mask—with the American flag on the grill.
But when she took it off, you could see her big smile when she won the Gold–one of...
Yes, I am still talking about ESPN’s Stephen A.Smith’s remarks about an Asian being the biggest star in baseball, America’s national pastime.
Hate needs to be called out.
Listen to my show No. 94 on www.amok.com to hear the audio tape, where Smith singles out Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani ...
Stephen A. Smith? If you’re not a sports fan and don’t know Smith, get to know him. He’s the most ignorant anti-Asian, xenophobic man currently employed by ESPN and Disney at a reported $12 million a year.
He’s the African American Tucker Carlson of sports. Or maybe, if you are of a certain age, he...
It was just a coincidence, but for me, the date helped put things in perspective.
On July 11, 2021, Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson went a little more than 50 miles into the sky and made a bit of history. The democratization of space? Oh, please. It’s just the commercialization of space. And the ...
When the U.S. realized that a premier democracy with its own colony was a tad hypocritical, it finally gave the Philippines independence in 1946–on July 4th.
But it was kind of a backhanded independence. To have it on that day was itself an oppressive symbol, an extended form of “psychological” col...
On my retreat, I went through all my old Chin related interviews, including one with Chin estate executor Helen Zia.
For those who want a real mind jog, I suggest you watch AALDEF’s screening of Christine Choy’s film, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” If you haven’t seen this 1987 Academy Award-nominated ...
What do Juneteenth and Vincent Chin have to do with each other? Both represent cries for social justice that have gone unabated far too long.
In the case of Vincent Chin–perhaps the most infamous individual hate crime in Asian American history—we have a known killer, Ronald Ebens, who has never ser...
I was a film critic on TV in the ‘80s so here’s my Siskel & Ebert take: Go no further than “In the Heights” for the feel-good movie of America’s gradual reopening. It’s the official gushing hydrant for the country’s summer street splash, exploding with song, dance, story. Not too heavy, not too ligh...
Asian Americans as victims brought on the assault weapons ban 32 years ago in California, and now it could take an Asian American attorney general to lead the fight to make sure it stays the law.
That’s my take after Federal Judge Roger Benitez overturned California’s assault weapons ban as unconst...
We remember our war dead today– those who lost their lives in the act of duty.
I don’t intend to diminish that.
But most of us don’t have a direct personal connection to those men and women of valor.
There’s a good chance, however, we may know someone who died in the current “war,” the American C...
A year since George Floyd’s death, one is tempted to look for progress in the fight for police accountability. But only if you’re hopelessly optimistic. For the realists, any report card of progress would make one a bit delusional.
Yes, within a year, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin...
Hallelujah for the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act? Of course. Now if it would only reduce hate crimes.
But let’s stay positive for a moment. Yes, a legislative response for once is a good one. Offered up previously and then shelved, Atlanta was the catalyst to finally make it all work. Rep. Grace Meng an...
Past the midway point of May, one must ask: Is our Heritage Month half-full or half empty? It all depends. We’ve done our part if most of us have started calling it by its new official name: Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Read my last column on how Native Hawaiians ...
Let me begin with a minor mea culpa before we get to the heavy duty one.
If you haven’t noticed, this month is Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AANHPIHM), formerly known as APAHM, or Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
To show how woke you are, go ahead and correc...
Here’s the pressing existential question so far this Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2021: Does America love Arthur Gunn more than Dibesh Pokharel? Or would it rather have Pokharel over Gunn? You know how America loves a gun. Answer like your AAPI life depends on it because it does.
But first...
Asian Americans can thank Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) for his unwitting gift to all Asian Americans.
We aren’t the model minority anymore.
He is.
In the official GOP response to President Joe Biden’s Joint Speech to Congress, Scott offered up his childhood growing up with a single mother in...
With Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” and Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” competing in the best director and best picture categories, and with actors Steven Yeun and Yuh-Jung Youn nominated, I was hoping the Oscars would have a slightly more Asian American flavor.
But–and I say that purposefully–the 93rd Academ...
I caught the verdicts while livestreaming. All I could hear were the key words: “ Guilty….Guilty….Guilty.”
An astonishing triplet.
A cop lost in court. You could hear the relief of an entire nation. Few were confident of the outcome.
But I was hopeful, because of the absence of a long-standing en...
In America, it seems we can’t stop killing one another en masse. Last Friday, the shooting at the FedEx facility in Indianapolis claimed at least eight victims, four of whom were Sikh Americans.
They were identified by police as Amarjeet Johal, 66; Amarjeet Sekhon, 48; Jaswinder Kaur, 64; Jaswinder...
Hideki Matsuyama won the golf tournament this past weekend that really shouldn’t be called the “Masters” anymore. At least, not during a time when the homonym doesn’t immediately imply “masters of golf” but another group of “masters,” promoting the rollback of voting rights of African Americans and ...
