Asian America: April 2013

By Mary Tablante

1. Overcoming Odds

First Asian American CEO of WBLOS ANGELES—Kevin Tsujihara, a third generation Japanese-American, officially took helm of Warner Brothers as CEO on March 1, making him the first Asian American leader of a major Hollywood studio. Tsujihara, 47, formerly ran the Warner Brother’s Home Entertainment department. He has been with the company for nearly two decades and will focus on overseeing worldwide operations.

2. Mapping Muslims

NEW YORK—American Muslim civil liberties groups released a report that documentedthe New York Police Department’s extensive surveillance program targeting MuslimAmericans. The report, entitled “Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and Its Impact onAmerican Muslims,” was released March 11 and details the monitoring of Muslims bythe NYPD since 2002. The report can be found on the Asian American Legal Defense andEducation Fund website, aaldf.org.

3. Breaking Barriers

NEW YORK—The first openly gay Asian member to serve on a federal bench was confirmed March 4. Pamela Chen is part of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In the past, she was a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Justice Department and a criminal defense attorney.

4. Public School Namesake
SAN FRANCISCO—A public school east of San Francisco could be the first to be named after
a Filipino American. The school would be named after farm worker heroes Larry Itliong
and Philip Vera Cruz, according to the Asian Journal. The activists fought for the rights of
farm workers in California and helped unify Filipino and Mexican farmworkers. One out of
five students in Union City, Calif., are Filipino-American.

5. Comfort Women Memorial
Bergen County, N.J.—A memorial to comfort women was dedicated in New Jersey for
International Women’s Day. The memorial recognized the women, mostly Korean, who
were forced into slavery in World War II by Japanese military members. The Korean
American Civic Empowerment organized the campaign for the memorial.

6. Courageous Women

Washington, DC—On International Women’s Day March 8, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry presented the U.S. State Department’s International Women of Courage Awards to nine women. Among the honored was the 23-year-old victim of a brutal gang rape in India. The incident inspired protests across India to end violence against women. Other award recipients included Ta Phong Phan, a Vietnamese dissident blogger, and Malalai Bahaduri, an Afghan army officer working to stop drug trafficking.

7. CAAM Fest

SAN FRANCISCO—The annual Center for Asian American Film Festival was held March 14to 24. The festival aims to highlight the diverse stories of Asian-American filmmakers andartists and bring those stories to a wide audience. The films featured this year included adocumentary on Jeremy Lin entitled, “Linsanity,” and “When I Walk,” a documentary about filmmaker Jason DaSilva’s struggle with multiple sclerosis.

8. Race Card Project

Michele Norris started a project called “The Race Card Project” to start a conversation about race and identity. On the Race Card Project website, people can submit their thoughts on racial and cultural identity using just six words. One submission was a postcard showing a photo of a mixed-race family with the words, “No word for what I am.”Another participant wrote her six words: “Ask who I am, not what.” There are thousands of submissions that can be viewed on theracecardproject.com.

9. Soldier Faces ‘Sanity’ Review
Seattle—A hearing was held March 17 regarding a U.S. soldier charged with killing 16
civilians, most of who were women and children, in Afghanistan. Army prosecutors said
Robert Bales, a veteran of four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, acted alone, and prosecutors
are seeking the death penalty against Bales. These shootings were the worst case of the
slaughter of civilians by a rogue U.S. soldier since the Vietnam War, reported Reuters. The
review will end May 1.

10. North Korea
The Pentagon is planning to add missile interceptors on the West Coast after North Korea
threatened a missile strike against the U.S., according to Reuters. However, Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said bolstering missile defenses would “intensify
antagonism.”

11. “Fry Rice”

St. Johnsbury, VT—The Asian American Journalists Association criticized a Vermont newspaper for publishing a poster that showed Chinese calligraphy-type font in advertisement for a high school state championship basketball game March 7. The poster read, “Go ‘Toppers, Fry Rice,” in reference to St. Johnsbury Academy and Rice Memorial High School. Rice Memorial won the game, and the newspaper, the Caledonian Record,defended their decision to print the poster.

12. AALEAD’s Executive Director Honored

Washington, D.C.—Asian American LEAD’s executive director Surjeet Ahluwalia received the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund’s Community Service AwardMarch 14. She was recognized for her dedication to low-income and underserved youth inthe DC metro area, according to AALEAD’s website, aalead.org.