04.24.08
Posted in Politics, Activism and Empowerment at 9:27 pm by jj_de_la_cruz
Statement by the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)
Washington, D.C. April 24 - At around noon today, the U.S. Senate passed S. 1315 by a vote of 96-1. The omnibus bill includes a provision which restores U.S. veterans status and pension benefits to Filipino World War II veterans.
Today’s historic vote came about after the senate struck down an amendment introduced by Richard Burr, ranking minority leader of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. By a vote of 56 to 41, senators rejected Burr’s proposal that would have denied pension benefits to Filipino veterans in the Philippines. Burr needed 49 votes for his amendment to pass. Six Republicans joined the Democrats in rejecting what was widely viewed as a highly discriminatory act against Filipino veterans.
The bill now moves to the House for debate and a floor vote. If it passes intact, it will then go to President Bush for his signature.
“This is a great day for our veterans,” says NaFFAA National Chair Alma Kern. “It has restored our faith in the American justice system. Our veterans have waited more than 60 years, and now they are closer than ever to regaining their honor and dignity.”
Kern calls on the Filipino American community to call members of the House of Representatives and urge them to support the Filipino Veterans Equity Act. “We have to see this campaign through to the finish,” she adds. “It’s up to us to make this happen.”
In December 2006, NaFFAA and the Philippine Embassy co-hosted a meeting of advocates for the Filipino Veterans equity that resulted in the formation of NAFVE, the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity. In the last two years, activists from NAFVE, which includes NaFFAA, and the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans (ACFV) lobbied long and hard to get Congress to act on this bill. “I’m very hearted by our community’s response, flooding the various offices in Congress with e-mails, phone calls and visits. We couldn’t have done this without your support,” Kern says.
She also thanked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senators Daniel Akaka, Daniel Inouye, Ted Stevens for their consistent championing of Filipino veterans equity.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 3:40 pm by william_lee_intern
Marico Enriquez, a board member of the Filipino American Coalition, was appointed to be a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission in San Mateo. San Mateo County Supervisor Jerry Hill initiated the announcement of the board’s decision.
He will contribute ideas and recommendations on management plans for the parks to the board of supervisor as representative of District 2.
Read more…
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Posted in Uncategorized at 3:11 pm by william_lee_intern
Nakajo shared his perspective with Western Edition (San Francisco) News. “My comments are within the context of what happened and (are) my interpretation and perspective of those historical events. Some people try to educate (others) that there was a Japantown here, or there is a Japantown, we are at the point. We are also at the point where folks are talking about an African-American community. We are talking about that and the historical context of the Japanese community and the African-American community, the times and the relationships that we can’t ignore. We (Japanese-Americans) went to (internment) camp in 1942 through 1946; this was our community but everyone had to go to the racetrack in Tanforan or into the ten concentration camps on this side.” (The total number of those sent to internment camps was 120,000.) He explained the irony of the social environment in which the executive order took place. “It took place in the Bay Area and within the context of San Francisco (and) California as the bridge to the Pacific (and) to Japan.”
Nakajo, a professor and a fire commissioner at San Franciso, also serves as the Executive Director of Kimochi. The Japanese American Issei elders are the beneficiaries of the services and programs provided by the said community based organization.
He explained about how the diverse communities in California learned to co-exist.
Read more about the article…
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Posted in Uncategorized at 2:08 pm by william_lee_intern
North Carolina program works to increase numbers of minority male college students
“Changing the Image of Education: A Call to Action!” was a conference designed to promote having public and private institutions develop support systems for minority men at the state and community levels to improve college graduation and retention rates, enhance workforce preparedness and strengthen family and community involvement, said organizers.
The three-day conference held April 7-9, was a meeting of minds focused on helping Black, Latino and Asian males increase their presence on the college scene and succeed in classrooms once enrolled. The 4th Annual Minority Male Mentoring Conference in Durham, N.C. focused on the gender imbalance on college campuses throughout America. They aim to inspire non-white male professionals and mentor them to gain leadership and gear toward the professional arena.
Excerpts from FinalCall.com News Read more…
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:21 pm by william_lee_intern
BEIJING, April 6 (Xinhua) — President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Sunday called on all OCA members…
“Sport is sport, politics is politics. My idea is don’t bring politics to sport… They should not use sport as a tool,” he said.(…)
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:18 pm by william_lee_intern
UCA Female Student-Athlete of the Year Lauren Merritt…
Senior Lauren Merritt from the track and cross country teams was named the Female Student-Athlete of the Year, while junior football player Nathan Brown was named the Male Student-Athlete of the Year at the banquet.
Read more…
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Posted in Politics, Activism and Empowerment at 11:51 am by jj_de_la_cruz
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate began debating on whether to give pension benefits to Filipino veterans of World War II. If you are a person of common sense, you’d be wondering, what the heck is there to debate about? These men fought valiantly alongside U.S. forces, and haven’t received a dime of what was promised them!
Well according to the New York Times:
Republicans argued that the pension benefit was too big given the average annual income in the Philippines is $2,864. They argued that would give Filipino World War Two veterans a better benefit than the average U.S. veteran given the lower cost of living in the Philippines.
Sen. Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, planned to offer an amendment that would limit pension benefits to Filipino veterans living in the United States and use the $221 million savings to enhance benefits for U.S. veterans.
“I believe it is time for us to stand up for our guys versus that select group (for whom) there was never a promise made,” Burr said during Senate debate.
Senator Burr, imagine how much more we’d be paying the veterans had this bill included the BACK PAY they deserve! And that’s not even to mention the thousands of Filipino veterans who will never receive any compensation because they died before justice was ever served!
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04.23.08
Posted in Activism and Empowerment at 7:53 pm by admin
ASPIRE (www.girlsaspire.org) is excited to announce its 2008 Asian American Women in Leadership Conference, on Saturday April 26 at Harvard University in Boston, MA. We have an exciting roster of Asian American women from across the nation taking part in our annual event, including our keynote speakers SuChin Pak of MTV News, and Kyung H. Moon, Vice Chairman of Heidrick and Struggles. For more information about the conference, including a speaker agenda, please visit us at www.girlsaspire.org/conference.
We would also like to invite you to attend our 2008 Fundraiser, on Friday April 25 at Mohr and McPherson in Boston, MA, featuring singer/sognwriter Cynthia Lin (www.cynthialin.com). Please note that this event is 21+. For more information about the fundraiser, please visit us at www.girlsaspire.org/conference/fundraiser.html.
For ticket prices (including combination tickets), student discounts, or to register, please visit us at www.girlsaspire.org/conference/register.html.
Please feel free to forward this on to anyone you think may be interested. We hope you’ll join us for our annual event!
Best,
Jennifer Chow
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Posted in Media and Entertainment at 7:38 pm by admin
R&L
Presented by the Asian American Theater Project
FREE Admission for all audiences! Invite your friends!
May 1-4 (Thurs to Sun)
8:00pm to 9:30pm
Location:
The Red Fountain (in front of Cecil Green Library)
Stanford University Campus
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305
“R&L” is an ode to a modern Asian America through a combination of vignettes and collaborative spoken word poetry. It is the collective story of eight women and men struggling to find a sense of self in an era in which “we’ve killed the heroes in ourselves.” From car maintenance to violin lessons, from college impostors to true love, it is a confrontation of the ugly and the beautiful in the 21st century Asian America.
Written by Takeo Rivera
Directed by Rachel Anderson
Produced by Kenneth Lam, Gloria Lin
Stage Managed by Holly Rogers
Cast:
Rich Liu - Tom Fukunaga
Rachel Yong - Helen Matsuri
Mark Marzona - Pete Ramiro
Brian Yoo - Washington Chen
Natalia Duong - Ju Cho
Nguyen Pham - Tiff Wong
Charlie Wang - Patrick Nguyen
Yin Yin Wu - Alicia Sung
Violetta Taing - Chorus
Laurel S - Chorus
Adrian Johnson - Chorus
Kate Hyder - Chorus
Henry Tsai - Chorus
Co-sponsored by Okada House, the Asian American Students Association, and the Institute for Diversity in the Arts
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Posted in Activism and Empowerment at 7:35 pm by admin
Check out this op-ed written by Lee Fang regarding the Asian American studies program at the University of Maryland. It is in reference to this press release
- As Asian-American students at this university, we are deeply concerned about the proposed version of the Strategic Plan. The current draft does not clearly outline the current state of diversity, nor does it recommend any specific plans on how to improve or expand minority recruitment and retention to create a more representative student body. Though the Strategic Plan vaguely mentions diversity as a “value” and “strength” of the university, we believe diversity must be further emphasized as an integral component to build a truly inclusive curriculum and educational environment.
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