News + Opinion

By Lily Qi May 18 was a glorious Sunday in the Boston area. Tens of thousands of families and friends descended on one of the nation’s best-known education corridors to celebrate the class of 2014. My husband and I were among the happy crowds joined by my family from Shanghai for our son Andrew’s graduation from Tufts University. We fully …

  By Aurora de Peralta Photos Courtesy of APALA In the United States, the phenomenon of mass incarceration isn’t black and white. According to a 2006 Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) study, the API prison population rose by 30 percent from 1990 to 2004, while the white prison population rose by only 2.5 percent. On May 20, the AFL-CIO, …

By Jenny Chen The summer before 9th grade, Celia Islam went back to visit her grandparents in Bangladesh, like she always did. Except that this time, the town she was visiting, Sirajgang, had just been ravaged by an awful flood: houses were destroyed, schools were demolished, and children were displaced. “It looked completely different,” Islam said. Islam, now a graduating …

By Jenny Chen ALL PHOTOS COURTESY of STEPHANIE WILLIAMS and LCMC It’s Saturday morning and Quince Orchard Library is bustling. Kids dressed in their karate uniforms are running around, stopping occasionally to look at the pictures in Flora and Ulysses or tapping out a game at the computer section. High school students are studying for SATs in between catching up …

By Derek Mong Shakespeare once wrote: “What’s in a name?”  Apparently, if you’re a minority in America’s workplaces, a name can mean the difference between the opportunity for success and rejection. A study from The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in the early 2000’s studied the effects of names as a proxy for race or ethnicity on the …

On May 5 under a warm sun, the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC) opened its 29th National Leadership Training Program with several pre-conference forums in the beautiful city of Charlotte, NC, a few blocks from the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Changes are in the air but the organization is looking forward to a bright future. In the evening attendees …

By Jennie L. Ilustre It was indeed a rare sight to behold: Seminar participants ignoring their iPhones for five hours. With very few exceptions, students and young professionals listened with undivided attention to inspirational speakers and panel experts on how to succeed in life and career. The event, free and open to the public, was the 5th annual KOWIN DC …

By Surjeet Ahluwalia, Executive Director On April 8, The Washington Post published two pieces that serve to reinforce stereotypes of Asian Americans: “Demographics shift at Thomas Jefferson High as Asians make up 66 percent of new class,” and “Why Asian American kids excel. It’s not ‘Tiger Moms.’” These headlines reinforce that Asian Americans excel academically – and while this may …

By Jennie L. Ilustre The tremendous growth of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce (AACC)–founded in 2009, it now has 260  members which contribute significantly to the region’s economy–has been due to public-private partnerships and a sustained focus on benefits for members, according to its president, Cindy Shao.            Top leaders also noted its success is largely due to the …

By Jenny Chen   When the Vietnamese Community Center in DC closed, many limited English proficient Vietnamese Americans in the District didn’t know where to turn to for help. The Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA) acted quickly by entering into a series of memorandum of understanding (MOUs) with various agencies to fill the gap left by …

By Yi Chen DC developer Monument Realty is pushing ahead a massive 10-story residential and retail building in the heart of historic DC Chinatown. The site of the project is located in Square 453, bounded by 6th, 7th, H and Eye Streets, NW, in the Down­town Historic District. The Historic Preservation Review Board reviewed Monument project’s revised proposal prepared by …

By Aurora de Peralta Washington, D.C. – The Japan-America Society of Washington, DC held its 54th annual Sakura Matsuri Festival on April 12. Held each year as the climax of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, Sakura Matsuri today is the nation’s largest one-day display of Japanese culture. This year, thousands of attendees from all ages and ethnicities crowded the six-block festival …

By Aurora de Peralta Richmond, VA – Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed the East Sea bill into law, initiating a change in state textbooks that has pitted Northern Virginia’s Korean American community against the government of Japan and other minority groups. McAuliffe (D) signed the bill on March 31, which requires all textbooks approved by the Virginia Board of Education after …

By Aurora de Peralta Every year in the month of May, dragon boats race through the Potomac in celebration of the DC Dragon Boat Festival, sponsored by the Chinese Women’s League of Washington, D.C. Team members pound on drums to keep paddlers on beat, while crowds of spectators flood the river banks to cheer on the teams. The DC Dragon …

How Ethnic Media Shaped America On May 16, 2014, the Newseum, in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, will open “One Nation With News for All,” a new exhibit that tells the dramatic story of how immigrants and minorities used the power of the press to fight for their rights and shape the American experience. Ethnic newspapers, radio, television and online …

By Derek Mong “Civic engagement isn’t an action; it’s a lifestyle.” Those were the final words from my internship supervisor at Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIA Vote) in 2009. At the time, it had little meaning to me and I stumbled out from the marble steps of our K Street lobby with eyes set on my college and career …

By Aurora de Peralta DC APA Film held its general kickoff meeting on Thursday, March 14 at the George Washington University Marvin Center. The meeting was an introduction to the organization’s current staff members. It was also an opportunity for new people to join either as executive staff members or as volunteers. 2014 will be a new “rebirth year” for …

  By Jennie L. Ilustre Picture this: Outside, a storm, with wind gusting up to 30 miles per hour. Inside at the SAALT reception, the atmosphere was sunny and warm, as everybody welcomed new Executive Director Suman Raghunathan. Suman, as everyone calls her, described the atmosphere as “fantastic–very warm, supportive and exciting!”  She said many long-time supporters came, as well …

By Jennie L. Ilustre Washington, D.C.–Some 40 Filipino teachers, who are victims of human trafficking by an illegal Philippine-based recruiter, joined a national call-to-action rally organized by the militant advocacy Gabriela-DC group in front of the Philippine embassy on March 24. The rally took place despite the snow that closed down embassy and federal offices in the nation’s capital. The …

The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation announces its Annual Pilgrimage, with the focus of honoring the service of veterans to the country. With the theme of “Honoring Selfless Service” this year’s events will recognize soldiers who were incarcerated at Heart Mountain during World War II. The events will take place at the Heart Mountain World War II Japanese American Confinement Site …

JAPANESE AMERICAN VETERANS ASSOCIATION c/o Amour, LLC; 1313 Dolley Madison Blvd; McLean, VA 22101 IMMEDIATE  RELEASE: March 7, 2014 Vol. 9 No. 7 CONTACT:      Terry Shima, 301-987-6746;  ttshima@comcast.net – – –  – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – …

By Aurora de Peralta Richmond, VA – A bill mandating that Virginia textbooks note that the Sea of Japan is also known as the East Sea was approved by the House of Delegates on Wednesday, March 5. The bill has been passed to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who has one month to consider signing the bill into law. McAuliffe, who promised …

Compiled by: Mary Tablante 1. Taxpayers Donating to Haiyan Relief to Receive Early Tax Relief WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Senate passed legislation March 6 that will provide expedited tax relief to Americans who made charitable donations for Typhoon Haiyan relief as of March 1. Under the bipartisan Philippines Charitable Giving Assistance Act, those who donated to the recovery efforts will receive …

By Lily Qi Last year, I organized a highly productive trade mission to China for Montgomery County (notice I am bragging here), and when the photos from the trip were posted on the County Web site, I got an email from a colleague asking why I wasn’t in one particular photo. Well, I was busy arranging the right lineup of …