News + Opinion

By Jennie L. Ilustre Bring out the champagne! Asian American LEAD (ALLEAD) is celebrating its 15th anniversary as a difference-maker. What’s more, last month, the D.C. Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA) awarded AALEAD over $43,000 as its first-time Vietnamese American Youth Empowerment (VAYE) grant.            “The grant is a new grant opportunity that will help provide …

By Tamara Treichel Photo Credit: Abby Wood, Smithsonian Zoo Washington, D.C. – Washington has become the residence of its latest goodwill ambassador from China – only this “ambassador” looks and acts differently from what one may expect. She is completely covered in white and black fur and prefers to snack on bamboo all day long instead of actively engaging in …

by: Mary Tablante Several representatives from Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations collaborated to share their concerns regarding the October “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” skit that used hate speech. They followed up with ABC Network representatives with a meeting on Jan. 24. During the meeting, ABC agreed to several changes, including removing the skit from all social media and performing cultural …

By Jenny Chen Five years ago, Christian Oh and Elliot Lee launched Kollaboration DC as part of the larger Kollaboration that seeks to empower by showcasing young Asian American talent in the performing arts. In those last four years, the Kollaboration DC stage has seen talented performers such as spoken word poet George Yamazawa, all-girl group – BLUSH, and Dana …

  MCDONALD’S® ANNOUNCES THE 11th ANNUAL MCDONALD’S EDUCATES SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR GREATER WASHINTGON D.C. AREA STUDENTS Applications must be postmarked by March 21, 2014 Washington, D.C. (February 4, 2014) – The McDonald’s Family Restaurants of Greater Washington, D.C. will honor area high school seniors through the annual McDonald’s Educates Scholarship Program.  Eligible students can download an application by visitingwww.McDonaldsEducates.com. Applications must be postmarked …

Compiled by Mary Tablante 1. Jane Chu Nominated to Lead National Endowment for the Arts KANSAS CITY—President Obama announced his nomination of Dr. Jane Chu on Feb. 12 to become the next chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts. The president said, “Jane’s lifelong passion for the arts and her background in philanthropy have made her a powerful advocate …

By: Lily Qi I recently hosted a political fundraiser for a local campaign. It was a fabulous event by all accounts—we reached our fundraising goal; we had a large turnout with a good mix of community leaders and businesspeople, and most importantly, everyone had a great time and felt that they were part of something special and meaningful. But what …

By Stephen Tu Far from feeding the stereotype of the Asian American “model minority” myth, some local Bhutanese and Burmese communities find themselves in dire states. Approximately 2,000 refugees have resettled in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia in the past decade. Bhutanese and Burmese refugees are among the most vulnerable Asian immigrant groups, according to a new report from the …

By Devika Koppikar Cindy Shao’s 7-year-old daughter, Annie Chang, learned about Dr. Martin Luther King in school.  But this year, Shao, president of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce wanted Annie to experience a deeper lesson on the significance of the day. “Martin Luther King Day is not for a holiday or barbequing,” Shao told her daughter as they were …

By Jennie L. Ilustre        “FAPAC continues on its mission of offering fantastic training at low cost to federal employees and managers,” remarked Kin Wong, president of the Federal Asian Pacific American Council, as he urged Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to attend two events in the coming months.            Wong made the announcements during the highly successful FAPAC 2014 …

By Tamara Treichel In this era of globalization and liberalization, being – and identifying as – biracial is becoming increasingly common. Yet only a few decades ago, unions between the races which may lead to biracial offspring were punishable by law in different countries. Think about Nazi-era Germany and eugenics, where Rassenschaender (“defilers of race”) were paraded through the streets …

Mary Tablante AAPIs are gaining more visibility in the immigrant rights movement, and exit polls from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund show that the majority of AAPIs support comprehensive immigration reform. Approximately 67 percent of Asian Americans polled in Virginia, New York and New Jersey supported immigration reform with a path to citizenship. In recent months, Asian …

        Anyone living in the DC metropolitan area knows to avoid Northern Virginia traffic like poison ivy. On November 17, 2012, in an effort to ease traffic, the the Virginia Department of Transportation unveiled for the 495 HotLanes, which stretch from McLean to Springfield, Virginia. The Hot Lanes was a result of an unprecedented public-private partnership between …

By Jenny Chen Photo Credit: Jenny Chen Five years ago Susan Wong was getting ready for retirement from her career in accounting when she saw an ad for Montgomery College about aging gracefully. “Something about that caught my eye,” Wong says. She took one class and one thing led to another until she got a bachelor’s degree in gerontology at …

By Mary Tablante Civil rights organization Asian Pacific American Advocates (OCA) is continuing to take action with both the Federal Communications Commission and ABC Network in relation to the October “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” skit in which a child commented that the solution to solving the United States’ national debt crisis was to “kill everyone in China.” OCA, a national organization …

By Lily Qi Since about five years ago, my family started celebrating what I call the “Jewish Christmas” on Christmas Day, with a trip to the movie theater for a new release followed by a dinner at a Chinese restaurant, though we would still attend the Christmas Eve service at a church. Why “Jewish?” Because that’s what many people of …

Compiled by: Mary Tablante 1. First Gay Couple Granted U.S. Visa in the Philippines The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines granted visas to same-sex couples for the first time during the first week of December.  Noel “Aeinghel” Amaro and Robert Cotterman were the first same-sex couple that received a fiancé visa. Even though same-sex marriage is not recognized in the …

By Sharon Choi, Francine Gorres & Tina Ngo, Asian American LEAD Staff 1.Asian American youth may lack culturally appropriate support. Youth come from different cultural backgrounds, histories, and experiences. From our work with youth, we have seen youth struggle with balancing bi-/multi- cultural identities in addition to the social pressures placed on them as adolescents. Youth from our communities may …

By Jenny Chen Washington, DC – On November 14, the DC Office of Asian Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA) launched a new initiative called “Connect, Build, Engage”. This initiative connects Asian American businesses with government resources such as Project BUILD, the Department of Small and Local Business Development, and the Department of Housing and Community Development. Joining the Julie Koo, the …

By Jenny Chen Rockville, Md. – From Sept. 15-25, Montgomery County executive Ike Leggett led a trip for four cities in China: Shanghai, Xi’an, Benxi, and the Gu’an County right outside of Beijing. The trip included over 80 business, education, and government leaders from Montgomery County and the DC metropolitan area including Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) superintendent Joshua Starr, …

By Alan Mi By now everybody has heard it. On a recent “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show, a 6-year-old boy said that America should “kill everyone in China” as a way to solve the national debt problem. It’s just a joke, right? Kid’s words, right? Not so fast. Kimmel repeated the kid’s idea of genocide with a chuckle, “Kill everyone in …

By Tamara Treichel The Philippines have come into the spotlight recently with Typhoon Haiyan lashing the Philippines in November and Filipino American Heritage Month being celebrated in October. But how are Filipinos faring in the United States, and in the metro DC area in particular? Asian Fortune talked with five professionals, four of which are Filipino, both in the DC …

By Tamara Treichel DULLES, Va. — The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that federal construction contractor M.C. Dean Inc. has settled allegations that it failed to provide equal employment opportunity to minority groups, including Asian Americans. According to the U.S. Labor Department, 381 Asian American, African American and Hispanic workers who applied for jobs at the company’s Dulles headquarters were discriminated against. A …

By Devika Koppikar Volumes of natural gas sit beneath U.S. soil, with several Asian countries ready to buy this energy resource. However, the clashing goals of commerce, energy and environmental interests must first be ironed out, experts said at a recent roundtable discussion in Washington. To help collaborate these various interests and also elevate Asian Americans to take on key …