After the South Carolina Democratic primary, here’s the lesson for Super Tuesday: When will the pandering begin toward Asian Americans?
Don’t we deserve something special, considering all the years we’ve battled the “model minority” tag?
That’s not just a tongue-in-cheek comment.
Thanks to black ...
My Filipino American father was a hotel and culinary workers union member. He always voted, even if just for shop steward. And if he were alive today, I know how he would have voted.
Bernie Sanders. No question.
He’d consider Sanders a youngster. And they’d talk about income inequality and their h...
It was front-runner Bernie Sanders and a slashing, clashing Elizabeth Warren who starred at Wednesday’s Nevada Democratic Debate.
I was actually hoping someone would have mentioned the coronavirus, a/k/a COVID-19 problem, as it spreads around the world and to America. Asian Americans would have bee...
For over 20 years, I’ve been a voice in the ethnic media clamoring about the lunacy of Iowa and New Hampshire as the gatekeepers in any national presidential campaign.
It was seldom mentioned it in the mainstream media. But in 2020, the demographics of our country are so painfully obvious that not ...
Once again, the Oscars had no host. But it sure had a “Parasite.”
The South Korean film was the first-non-English-language movie to win Best Picture. But by also winning the Best International Film honor, it made a mockery of all the divides and categories that keep us separated and apart.
What be...
I’m wondering what people are thinking in, say, the Philippines, or China–or anyplace where democracy is either non-existent or less than perfect. Are they envious of us here when they see examples of American democracy break down in front of their eyes?
On Monday, the quaint exercise in democracy ...
In the past, whenever I referred to Ferdinand Marcos, the former Philippines dictator, it used to be automatic. Someone would always say, “Shoes.”
That would be a reference to his wife, Imelda, who was known to have a collection of around 3,000 shoes. She also spent a lot of time in New York City, ...
The irony of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday on the eve of the start of an historic impeachment trial in the Senate, should remind you of the precariousness of our civil rights in America.
The man who should be removed from office, otherwise known as “Occupant 45,” is perhaps the biggest threat t...
I admit on Tuesday I actually missed Andrew Yang.
That Iowa Democratic debate the other night was so frustrating if the only moment that got people excited and gained status as a “moment” was whether Bernie Sanders really said that a woman can’t win in 2020.
Sanders flatly denied saying it, despit...
If you weren’t concerned about the world’s instability over the weekend, I don’t blame you.
Asian Americans and people of color in the U.S have more to fear than the retribution of Iran.
We need to fear the retribution from within our great nation–from people like Peggy Noonan, who is cheering on ...
The holiday lull is over when we go from “Jingle Bells” to “Jingo Bells.”
Donald Trump sure knows disruptive dissonance.
The impeached president is in Mar-a-Lago with his chums, playing the world, essentially by remote control with his tweets. And meanwhile, his military kills the Iranian General ...
If you read the blog posts here on AALDEF, then you have the unofficial history of the last ten years of Asian America through my amok lens.
Stuff happened. We had opinions. We weren’t silent.
When I started writing for AALDEF in 2010, I had already been writing my Amok column once a week on Asian...
For Christmas, I saw Ali Wong’s panties.
I was in the balcony.
But she showed them to me–along with more than 3,000 other ticket holders at one of the 18 sold-out shows in her native San Francisco for the holidays.
Do the math. At an average of $50 a ticket, Ali Wong is making bank, as they say. ...
As you read this, Donald Trump is no longer merely POTUS. He’s been christened by the actions of our U.S. House of Representatives as TIP or T-I-P.
TIP? Yes, “The Impeached President.”
It hurts even saying the phrase.
There have only been three in the 243-year history of our country.
That’s noth...
If you missed out or were disgusted by the impeachment hearings in the House Judiciary Committee last week, I don’t blame you.
I just hope you saw Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).
Impeachment is a test of courage and conscience.
And for those lacking both, Jayapal was there to help.
From he...
If you haven’t noticed, we’re having an historic battle in Congress over the future of our democracy.
So why aren’t we out in the streets like they are in Hong Kong?
In Hong Kong, an estimated million people yearning for democracy marched on Sunday to mark six months of protests. And it’s not just...
I figured Kamala Harris would have a shot at regaining some campaign heat as a star at the coming impeachment trial. And yes, barring Trump pulling a Nixon and resigning in disgrace, there will be a Senate trial. After that new 300-page Intelligence Committee Report, with all those new phone calls a...
First things first: Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers!
I am grateful and thankful for all of you, and will have you in mind with each bite of my humane tofu pot pie.
But for now, let’s go amok.
When you watch the impeachment inquiry hearings from Hawaii like I did recently, you know you are an una...
Aloha!
I’m in Hawaii to give a speech on being a die-hard ethnic media journalist and a First Amendment Asian American (which one has to presume is better than being an Asian American forced to take the Fifth).
I’ve paid the price.
Which is why I’m shopping at the ABC store, where I found a uniqu...
“Thank you for your service.”
If I had a dollar for every time I heard that on Veterans Day, I might be in the one percent (and I’d gladly pay Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax).
I personally stopped saying the phrase after I greeted a Filipino American friend of mine who served in the Air Force in Vi...
