After being a victim of what she described as an anti-Asian verbal incident in August 2020 in Los Angeles that went viral online, Hong Lee decided to take action for the Asian American community. After taking a self-defense class at Box for Change, Los Angeles, Lee began talking to a few friends about how they […]
Asian Americans mark Lunar New Year amid ongoing hate crimes
For two years now, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the country have endured racist verbal, physical and sometimes deadly attacks fueled by the coronavirus pandemic. With the start of the Lunar New Year, many are looking forward to carrying out family traditions and joining in community celebrations throughout February. These include family dinners and […]
The ‘revolutionary Aunties’
The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice Edited by Mai-Linh K. Hong, Chrissy Yee Lau and Preeti Sharma (Oakland, Calif.: University of California Press, 2021, 288 pp., $24.95, paperback) In every immigrant community, we can find skilled seamstresses and resourceful crafters. It’s a survival skill passed down in our […]
Activists campaign to protect seniors from eviction
LOS ANGELES — Save Our Seniors Network, a community activist group dedicated to protecting the welfare of the Nikkei residents of nursing facilities and retirement homes, campaigned to stop the evictions of senior citizens from Pacifica-owned Sakura Intermediate Care Facility, as well as their transfer into Pacifica’s previously COVID-infected nursing homes. Nevertheless, according to the […]
Report: Hate crime laws lack uniformity across the U.S.
NEW YORK — More than half a century since they were modernized, hate crime laws in the U.S. are inconsistent and provide incomplete methods for addressing bias-motivated violence, according to a new report by advocates for better protections. The report, first shared with The Associated Press ahead of its July 28 release, is a comprehensive […]
Man pleads guilty to 4 Asian spa killings, sentenced to life
CANTON, Ga. — A man accused of killing eight people, mostly women of Asian descent, at Atlanta-area massage businesses pleaded guilty to murder July 27 in four of the killings and was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. Robert Aaron Long, 22, still faces the death penalty in the other deaths, […]
Asian Americans cheer passage of Calif.’s $156 million fund to combat AAPI racism
Asian Americans cheered the July 12 passage of California’s API Equity Budget, a three-year $156 million initiative, which seeks to equip the AAPI community with resources to combat hate crimes. “This is historic and unprecedented. It is the outcome of many community-based organizations who rallied to get this support to find the best ways we […]
Calif. hate crime up 31% in 2020, led by anti-Black bias
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Hate crime in California surged 31% in 2020, fueled mainly by a big jump in crimes targeting Black people during a year that saw the worst racial strife in decades, according to an annual report released June 30 by the state’s attorney general. Overall hate crimes increased from 1,015 to 1,330 last […]
RABBIT RAMBLINGS: Reuniting and continuing the fight
As we slowly come out from the pandemic lockdown, I’m sure that everybody is heaving a big sigh of relief and doing things that were forbidden for so long. And looking back at that period when one couldn’t travel, have gatherings or run around doing ordinary things, what could we do? Well, we learned to […]
While COVID closes many Little Tokyo businesses, some are surviving
LOS ANGELES — Little Tokyo businesses faced many challenges the past year as COVID-19 forced a number of small establishments to close, but some shops like Mitsuru Sushi & Grill managed to survive, and a few like Bunkado even thrived. Mamoru Hanamure, owner of Mitsuru, revealed that he was stressed during the pandemic because of […]
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