By Devika Koppikar As Susan Jin Davis watched the election coverage on Nov. 6, she was increasingly anxious and emotional about the congressional races of all the AAPI candidates. But as the results became final, Davis, a board member of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS), was able to relax and celebrate the victories of five candidates …

By Michelle Phipps-Evans This year’s general election on Nov. 6 will likely be remembered for its long lines. It may also be remembered as the first presidential election where national political journalists began focusing on the role Asian Americans played, and are expected to play in the future. It’s all in the numbers, with 17 million Asian Americans in the …

In the last edition of Asian Fortune we mentioned the worldwide search to find a matching bone marrow donor for two year old Jeremy Kong of San Francisco, who has been suffering with a rare form of leukemia. The problem is that ethnicity plays a role in finding suitable matches, and Asian Americans, and Asians worldwide, have been slower than …

By Glenn Magpantay, Democracy Program Director at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)     Nationally, a whopping 73% of Asian Americans voted for President Obama, according to the exit polls. In the swing state of Virginia, Obama captured 66% of our vote. Asian Americans were a driving force in Virginia’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race. Preliminary …

By Daphne Domingo Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company put the Koreas, North and South, under their spotlight during November. The world premiere of the play You for Me for You(see review, page 23) by Mia Chung took audiences into the lives of two sisters torn between North Korea and the U.S. The play has been accompanied by a series of events including …

By Stan Kang As I grew up Korean-American, thoroughly assimilated into American life, South Korea seemed strange and unfamiliar to me. So, when I was sixteen, my parents sent me to a summer camp in Seoul, Korea to learn about my heritage. One of my most vivid memories was visiting Panmunjom, the abandoned village on the border between North and …

We begin the series with Daphne Domingo’s yearning for authentic Thai taste. Admit it: there’s a certain “cool factor” dining in a restaurant knowing there are special items you can order that aren’t on the menu. What if you knew of an entire menu hidden from regular customers? This isn’t a novel marketing trick. In fact, this practice is typical in …

By Andy Liu Lang Lang is no stranger to Washington’s critical concert goers. And when this world-class pianist returned to the Kennedy Center last month and joined the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, the applause prompted three curtain calls and an encore performance. It was a mesmerizing experience for many that …

By Dottie Tiejun Li Most boys at age ten are playing with toys of some sort, building fun things or playing sports. Chris Lu watched a debate between President Gerald Ford and his challenger, Governor Jimmy Carter, when he was ten. Fast forward 32 years, the younger son of Chinese immigrants Eileen and Chien-Yang Lu, and Chris Lu works as …

20% of Montgomery County AAPIs Live in Poverty By Michelle Phipps-Evan Siu Cheung has vivid recollections of what it means to be poor in the District of Columbia. Now 42-years-old, the Chinese immigrant was the youngest of five children. Her family came to the D.C. metro area when she was six years old. “I grew up in the ‘hood,” said …

By Lily Qi I recently experienced two magnificent, yet entirely different, choral concerts. The first one, “Songs of Life,” was performed by the Columbia Chinese Choral Arts Society (CCCAS) at Howard County Community College Theater. The other, “The Essential Bernstein,” featured some of the best known tunes from such masterpieces as “The West Side Story” and “Candide,” and was performed …

By Devika Koppikar Thirty-year-old Neetha, a New Jersey dentist, refused to consider an arranged marriage her parents had set up. The resulting turmoil caused her to seek help in the form of psychotherapy. But after just one session, her 55-year-old male Caucasian psychiatrist bluntly announced, “I can’t help you. Your emotions are situational and I don’t understand your situation.” She then turned …

By Bill Reddy, L.Ac., Dipl.Ac.   Sometimes the ancients know best. Traditional Asian medicine has been effectively used for thousands of years to fight illness, often relying on various herbs and foods to boost the body’s immune system or subdue unpleasant symptoms. That’s something to consider as the cold and flu season descends upon us. Maybe the next time you …

By The Car Chick 2013 Jaguar XJL Portfolio There it was. A brand new Jaguar. A Jag-u-ar, as the Brits pronounce it. And it was my Jag-u-ar, at least for the week. I admit it: I was excited to spend some time with a car I have always admired for its classical lines, all trim and sporty, and the combination …