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VOL 39 NO 3 JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020 FREE 38 YEARS YOUR VOICE
Developer demolishing Keiro gives short shrift to area’s history A leading scholar of Seattle’s “white supremacist” history of housing discrimination said it was important for the property developer that is demolishing Keiro and building an apartment complex in its place, to be sensitive to the history of the Central Area. James Gregory, director of the University of Washington (UW) Seattle Civil Rights and Labor Project, questioned a narrative that implied that an influx of Blacks into the Central Area had displaced Japanese Americans. Shelter Holdings, LLC, which held a meeting for the Keiro community on Jan. 9, presented the narrative through a
signboard that appeared to present two events as happening simultaneously in the year 1942. Just below 1942, in capital letters, appeared the statement: “WWII JAPANESE ARE EVACUATED TO INTERNMENT CAMPS.” Immediately below that read, “African Americans move into Central Area.” The Northwest Asian Weekly later asked Gregory about the apparent conflation of historical events. “It is true that Nihonmachi was destroyed by internment and that war workers, including African Americans, moved into the neighborhood,” he said. “But how one tells that story is see KEIRO on 15
Photo by Sharon Watanabe
By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Community members study plans for the new building.
New Asian mayor, McDonald’s offers scholarship to API deputy mayor By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
From left: Eleanor Wong, Leeching Tran Wong, wife Terry Mark, Benson Wong, Wesley Wong, and Trevor Wong.
From left: Senayet Negusse, Peter Kwon Takele Gobena, and Erin Sitterley.
By Staff NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
“As the first person of color to serve as mayor of Mercer Island, I am humbled by that fact and appreciative of this community’s welcoming of diversity and inclusion,” said Wong. “The mayor is but one of seven councilmembers and collectively I know that we look forward
Inside the electronic geofence that registers the arrival of a car pulling up to pick up food, past the posters showing chocolatedipped donut sticks, around the electronic kiosks taking orders automatically, past the smiling face of the franchise owner, behind counters that are ubiquitous around the world— sits a surprise. Not everyone gets to walk into the kitchen of a neighborhood McDonald’s and observe the cheese slices laid out for burgers, the stacks of buns in the back,
see MAYORS on 3
see MCDONALD’S on 12
Peter Kwon and Benson Wong were recently named deputy mayor of SeaTac and mayor of Mercer Island, respectively. On Jan. 7, Benson Wong was appointed as mayor of Mercer Island for 2020-2021 in a 4-3 vote.
Photo by Mahlon Meyer
Photo by Ross Freeman
Photo provided by Peter Kwon
high school students
William Cho bags an order at the first franchise he opened in Federal Way
Photo from valoradministration.org
Vietnam War POW meets widow of pilot who shot his plane down By Max Garland COMMERCIAL APPEAL
Lt. Col. James Williams with Nguyen Thi Lam
■
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Lt. Col. James Williams has something better than a bucket list.
“I don’t like the word ‘bucket list’ because it makes it feel like you’re getting ready to die,” said the North Memphis native and Vietnam War veteran. “I call it my ‘living list.’” Williams completed a significant
piece of that list in November, when he and other veterans returned to Hanoi, Vietnam, to gain closure from their time at war. see POW on 13
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38 YEARS
JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
■ NAMES IN THE NEWS Sofia Aragon sworn-in
are among 22 inductees in the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF). Li and Tanon, along with a third person, invented the bend-insensitive ClearCurve® optical fiber. Because it can bend without significant signal loss, ClearCurve optical fiber has reached locations previously inaccessible to optical fiber and advanced data transmission across an array of industries. Wu advanced the field of synthetic lubricants, and she has revolutionized the way both automotive and industrial lubricants are designed and synthesized. NIHF will honor these inductees in Washington, D.C. on May 6-7 at one of the innovation industry’s most highly anticipated events—“The Greatest Celebration of American Innovation®.”
Seattle awards $40K to InterIm
Sofia Aragon (left)
View from Gold Mountain
Wang, Deng get plaque
National Inventors Hall of Fame announces 2020 inductees
Ming-Jun Li
Margaret Wu
Pushkar Tandon
Photo by Serg Salvador
Sofia Aragon was sworn-in on Jan. 13 to the Burien City Council. Residents voted her in last November and this is Aragon’s first time holding a political office. She began her career as a registered nurse in south Seattle serving children, diverse families, and vulnerable populations. In Olympia, Aragon worked for a decade to improve public health, public safety, and education.
The monument “View from Gold Mountain,” created by Seattle artists Cheryll Leo-Gwin and Stewart Wong, was installed outside the Bernalillo County Courthouse in Albuquerque, N.M. on Jan. 11. The monument honors the 1883 landmark court case, Cheryll Leo-Gwin and Dow Territory of N.M. vs Constantine Yee Shun, which led to a change in the law and allowed Chinese and later non-Christians to testify in a court of law. Sixteen Seattle area residents flew to Albuquerque to attended the dedication. King County Executive Dow Constantine made a special presentation during the dedication ceremonies.
The Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment, through the Environmental Justice Fund, awarded $40,000 to InterIm, one of seven community-based projects, to improve environmental conditions and respond to impacts of climate change. Youth from InterIm’s WILD Project will visually document the personal histories of lower-income residents and their physical and social environments within the context of social justice, community development, and sustainability. The product of this work will be showcased at public venues. The Seattle Environmental Justice Fund was launched in 2018 as one of the key strategies to advancing the goals of Seattle’s Equity & Environment Agenda.
Ming-Jun Li, Pushkar Tandon, and Margaret Wu
The Pike Place Market Foundation presented a plaque this month to Felicity Wang and Deng Zuolie for their contributions in the creation of “Ju Ju,” or Golden Pearl, the Chinese Art Pig who toured the region in 2019 to celebrate the Year of the Pig. Ju Ju’s image is now being used in greeting cards and postcards. Deng, owner of Deng Studio, was the artist who created Ju Ju. And Wang is the owner of Asia Pacific Travel. Both businesses are located in Seattle’s Chinatown.
January 15-28, 2020
Lunar New Year Sale Lunar New Year is January 25, 2020
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Lion Dance Seattle • January 19 at 12pm Bellevue • January 19 at 12pm Renton • January 19 at 2pm Beaverton • January 26 at 2pm
JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
YOUR VOICE
asianweekly northwest
■ COMMUNITY NEWS Inslee, CAPAA seeking applicants for Ruth Woo Fellowship OLYMPIA — The office of Gov. Jay Inslee, in partnership with the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA), is recruiting currently enrolled college and graduate students with a commitment to civil rights and equality for the Ruth Woo Fellowship. The late “Auntie Ruth” Woo
fought for social justice and equality for all people. Over many decades, she mentored would-be chiefs of staff, county executives, state Supreme Court justices, state legislators, and governors. The Ruth Woo Fellow, who is part of the Governor’s Leadership Academy Class of 2020, is based in the governor’s
office in Olympia and will gain a hands-on learning experience in state government. They will also have the unique opportunity to work with CAPAA staff to make important connections with community leaders and public officials, work on special projects serving diverse communities, and learn about Ruth Woo’s life and legacy.
The Ruth Woo Fellow will begin the 10-week program in June and earn $15 an hour. For more information, go to capaa.wa.gov/about/ruth-woofellowship-in-the-governorsoffice.
Ruth Woo
MAYORS from 1 to working together for the benefit of the entire Island, including our growing Asian population that is now almost 19 percent.” Originally elected to the Mercer Island City Council in 2013, Wong has an undergraduate degree from Yale University and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a senior partner at the Seattle law firm of Keller Rohrback L.L.P. And on Jan. 14, Kwon was appointed as deputy mayor of SeaTac, saying he is
“humbled and honored.” Kwon told the Northwest Asian Weekly, “I have been working very hard over the last four years to improve our community, to build friendships, to bridge gaps, create trust, and to focus on the strength diversity holds if we work together and not apart. As we move forward… let us challenge ourselves to be proactive, contribute, share our diversity of talents, and participate in life-changing decisions.” Staff can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
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JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
38 YEARS
■ NATIONAL NEWS White House considering dramatic expansion of travel ban By Jonathan Lemire, Lisa Mascaro, and Jill Colvin THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is considering dramatically expanding its much-litigated travel ban to
additional countries amid a renewed election-year focus on immigration by President Donald Trump, according to six people familiar with the deliberations. A document outlining the plans—timed to coincide with the third anniversary of Trump’s January 2017 executive order—has been circulating the White House. But the countries that would be affected are blacked out, according to two of the people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the measure has yet to be finalized. It’s unclear exactly how many countries would be included in the expansion, but two of the people said that seven countries—a majority of them Muslim— would be added to the list. The most recent iteration of the ban includes restrictions on five majority-Muslim nations: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, as well
as Venezuela and North Korea. A different person said the expansion could focus on several countries that were included when Trump announced the first iteration of the ban but later removed amid rounds of contentious litigation. Iraq, Sudan, and Chad, for instance, had originally been affected by the order, which the Supreme Court upheld in a 5-4 vote after the administration released a watered-down version intended to withstand legal scrutiny. Trump later criticized his Justice Department for the changes. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the effort, which several of the people said was timed for release in conjunction with the third see TRAVEL BAN on 13
MIT warns foreign students of possible visits from ICE By Collin Binkley THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is warning international students that federal immigration officials may visit their work sites to verify that their employment is directly related to their studies. School officials sent a memo to faculty on Jan. 9 saying the Department of Homeland Security has been making site visits to employers of foreign students in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. The school is notifying students separately and telling them what to expect from the visits. MIT spokeswoman Kimberly Allen said the memo was not prompted by any visit to the institute. Immigration officials announced last year they would begin workplace visits for some students participating in the federal Optional Practical Training program. The program allows those with student visas to take temporary jobs related to their academic studies. Students in STEM fields can get their visas extended by two years, while others can get one-year extensions. MIT joins other universities cautioning students about the possibility of the visits. Schools including the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University issued similar notices last August. A Homeland Security website says the visits are meant to ”reduce the potential for abuses’’ of the visa extension. It says employers will be given notice of visits 48 hours in advance unless the visit is tied to a complaint or other evidence of noncompliance.
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The visits are carried out by the department’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit and are meant to verify that students are engaged in relevant ”workbased learning experiences’’ and that employers have the resources necessary to supervise them, according to the department’s website. An ICE spokeswoman did not immediately return calls seeking comment. The Trump administration has placed foreign researchers under sharper scrutiny as it tries to curb intellectual property theft by China and other governments. The Justice Department has asked universities to watch out for suspicious behavior, saying college campuses are increasingly being targeted in efforts to steal technology and research. In December, a Chinese medical student was arrested at Boston’s Logan Airport after authorities said he tried to smuggle cancer research material out of the country. Zaosong Zheng, 29, had earned a visa sponsored by Harvard University. The FBI said he may have been acting
on behalf of the Chinese government. In 2018, Chinese national Weiqiang Zhang was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to steal proprietary rice seeds developed in the United States and giving them to visitors from China. He previously received a doctorate at Louisiana State University. The Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on research theft have raised tensions on some college campuses, which often rely on foreign talent and encourage international exchange. Last June, MIT President L. Rafael Reif warned that the fight against espionage threatened to create a ”toxic atmosphere of unfounded suspicion and fear.” He said some Chinese students and researchers on campus reported feeling ”unfairly scrutinized, stigmatized, and on edge” because of their Chinese ethnicity. The American Council on Education, which represents dozens of university presidents, has encouraged schools to work with the FBI to prevent theft. In a letter to its members last year, the group said the FBI was ”eager to develop a collaborative relationship with higher education that protects national and economic security without impinging on academic freedom or institutional autonomy.’’ The Optional Practical Training program has attracted growing numbers of students in recent years, with many students choosing to get professional experience before they start their studies or after they graduate. The most recent data from ICE show that in 2017, more than 328,000 international students were authorized to work through the program, including nearly 90,000 approved to work in STEM fields.
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JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
YOUR VOICE
■ WORLD NEWS
asianweekly northwest
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Asian countries brace to evacuate workers in Iraq, Iran
By Jim Gomez THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the military to prepare to deploy its aircraft and ships “at any moment’s notice” to evacuate thousands of Filipino workers in Iraq and Iran should violence break out, reflecting Asia’s growing fears for its citizens in the Philippine President increasingly volatile Middle Rodrigo Duterte East. Other Asian nations with large populations of expatriate labor may face similar decisions amid the rapidly escalating tensions between the United States and Iran following the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. South Korean government ministries have discussed strengthening protections for the nearly 1,900 South Koreans in Iraq and Iran. Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said India wasn’t planning to evacuate any citizens from the volatile region “yet.”
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Duterte held an emergency meeting with his defense secretary and top military and police officials on Jan. 5 to discuss the evacuation plans. “President Duterte ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to be prepared to deploy military assets to repatriate overseas Filipinos in the Middle East, particularly from Iran and Iraq, at any moment’s notice,” said Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go, a close ally of Duterte, who was at the meeting. Duterte expressed fears that the Philippines may have to carry out massive evacuations if violence hits Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia that host large numbers of Filipino workers. “I’m nervous. Iran seems to be hell-bent on a retaliation, which I think will come. It’s a matter of time ... the cry for blood is there,“ Duterte said in a speech. He urged Congress to hold a special session on the impact of a possible crisis in the Middle East and set aside contingency funds. Iran has vowed to retaliate and President Donald Trump warned that U.S. forces would hit back at 52 Iranian targets if Americans come under attack. Iraq’s Parliament has also called for the expulsion of all American troops from Iraqi soil, which could revive the Islamic State group in Iraq, making the Middle East a far more dangerous and unstable place.
Compounding contingency plans is the uncertainty where hostilities could possibly break out. Military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Felimon Santos Jr. said Philippine forces have identified possible evacuation routes not only in Iraq and Iran but other hotspots, like Israel. “There are probabilities like that and we are improving our plans just to cover everything just in case something happens,” Santos told reporters in Manila. Other countries face similar dilemmas. Asians make up 40 percent of the world’s migrants, and Middle Eastern countries are a common destination. African migrants are also employed around the Middle East, though the possibility of their home countries arranging evacuations is uncertain. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Twitter that he spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “on the evolving situation in the Gulf region“ and highlighted “India’s stakes and concerns.” He also tweeted that he spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. “Noted that developments have taken a very serious turn. India remains deeply concerned about the levels of tension,” he said of his conversation with Zarif. see EVACUATION on 11
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KING COUNTY NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed bids will be received for C01425C20, Miscellaneous Pipe Repair Construction Work Order 2020-2021 REBID; by the King County Procurement and Payables Section, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, until 1:30 PM on 01/30/2020. Late bids will not be accepted. There is a 5% minimum requirement of the total price for all executed Work Orders for King County Certified Small Contractors and Suppliers (SCS) on this contract. Scope of Work: Perform Work Order modification, repair or replacement of a variety of piping systems including PVC, ductile iron, concrete, steel, cast iron, and copper; including large diameter pipe in excess of 48”. Some Work may require response within a 24 hour notice. Work will include restoration and repair of: disturbed mechanical and electrical assemblies, grading, landscaping, miscellaneous concrete or asphalt areas. Work may include live sewers at up to 30 feet or more underground, above ground, and in the Puget Sound receiving waters. Not-to-exceed contract price: $1,000,000 Complete Invitation to Bid Documents, including all project details, specifications, and contact information are available on our web page at: https://procurement.kingcounty.gov/procurement_ovr/default.aspx
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JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
38 YEARS
■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR JAN 18 CAPAA JANUARY BOARD MEETING Asia Pacific Cultural Center, 4851 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma 10 a.m.–2 p.m. TJCCS ANNUAL CRUISE GALA Pier 55 Seattle Waterfront 4–8 p.m. $60 https://bit.ly/2FzrLul SEATTLE WOMEN’S MARCH 2020 Location is to be announced online 11 a.m.–1 p.m. womensmarch.com PLAYWRIGHT TALK WITH SUSAN LIEU Wing Luke Museum, 719 S. King St., Seattle 2-3 p.m. HONG KONG PROTESTS: PLATEAUS & PROSPECTS University of Washington, Kane Hall 110 2-4 p.m. $6
18 & 19 TET IN SEATTLE Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., Seattle 10:30 a.m.–6 p.m.
19 U.S.–JAPAN FRIENDSHIP COMING OF AGE CELEBRATION Bellevue College 1–3:30 p.m. japaneseinamerica.org COMMUNITY BRIEFING — 2020 APA LEGISLATIVE DAY ACRS, 3639 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., Seattle 5–7:30 p.m. AFTER HOURS: SUPPORTING OUR REFUGEE COMMUNITIES Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center, 440 5th Ave. N., Seattle 4:30–6:30 p.m. shorturl.at/koMX2 LUNAR NEW YEAR LION DANCE PERFORMANCE Uwajimaya, 699 120th Ave. NE, Bellevue 12-1 p.m.
20 2020 GOLDEN CIRCLE AWARDS, DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’S HOLIDAY Joy Palace Restaurant, 6030 MLK Jr. Way S., Seattle 5:30–7:30 p.m. $35–$50
22 BEYOND BORDERS: SOUTH ASIAN IMMIGRANTS AND
409 8th Ave. S., Seattle 12 p.m.–2 p.m.
THE NORTHWEST MOHAI 7 p.m. $10 mohai.org
THE FUTURE ANCIENT LUNAR NEW YEAR’S PARTY Volunteer Park Conservatory, 1400 E. Galer St., Seattle 7-11:59 p.m.
23 ICHS COMMUNITY KITCHEN C–ID Community Center, 719 8th Ave. S., Seattle 11 a.m. GET FREE HELP APPLYING FOR U.S. CITIZENSHIP ACRS, 3639 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., Seattle 2 p.m. http://bit.ly/signmeup-acrscitizenshipclinic
TET CELEBRATION 2020 Vietnamese Student Association at UW Tacoma, 1900 Commerce St., Tacoma 6–10 p.m.
25 DOCUMENTARY, “CHILDREN OF THE CAMPS” NVC Memorial Hall, 1212 S. King St., Seattle 12–4 p.m.
POP PUNK DIM SUM House of Hong Restaurant,
FRIENDS OF LITTLE SAIGON’S ANNUAL TET CELEBRATION Zero Plus, 1000 S. Weller St., Seattle 4:30 p.m. flsseattle.org
MODEL MINORITY, AN ASIAN WOMXN COMEDY SHOW Columbia City Theater, 4916 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle 8–10 p.m. caracolcreative.com
FEB 1 THE DANNY WOO GARDEN’S COMMUNITY SERVICE DAY Danny Woo Community Garden 10 a.m.–1 p.m. THE PEKING ACROBATS TOUR Meydenbauer Center
LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION Bellevue Square, 575 Bellevue Square, Bellevue 11 a.m.-6 p.m. NEWCASTLE CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION Stan Head Cultural Center, 13056 SE 76th St., Newcastle 1-3 p.m.
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LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION & FAIR Wing Luke Museum, 719 S. King St., Seattle 10 a.m.–5 p.m. wingluke.org
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Theatre, 11100 NE 6th St., Bellevue 3 p.m. for family matinee 8 p.m. for evening performance $29/ticket bit.ly/2QORxQN
4 FREE HEALTH SCREENINGS Uwajimaya, 5th Ave., Seattle 9 a.m. ichs.com
5 IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE ADVOCACY DAY Washington State Labor Council, 906 Columbia St. NW, Olympia 8 a.m.–3 p.m. shorturl.at/pyCG4
6 KIN ON’S LUNAR NEW YEAR MAHJONG NIGHT Kin On, 4416 S. Brandon St., Seattle 6:30-9 p.m.
View the solution on page 14
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The only weekly English-language newspaper serving Washington’s Asian community. The NW Asian Weekly has one simple goal: “To empower the Asian community.” The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject any advertisement, letter or article. Subscriptions cost $40 for 52 weeks of the NW Asian Weekly and $30 for 52 weeks of the Seattle Chinese Post. The NW Asian Weekly owns the copyright for all its content. All rights reserved. No part of this paper may be reprinted without permission. 412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104 • t. 206.223.5559 editor@nwasianweekly.com • ads@nwasianweekly.com • www.nwasianweekly.com
JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
YOUR VOICE
■ SPORTS
asianweekly northwest
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The Layup Drill
Welcome to another edition of The Layup Drill. In the first column of the decade, we take a look at an athlete looking to continue greatness after injury and one looking for it entering the NFL Draft.
Tiger Woods looks to build on 2019 golf season One of the glaring omissions from our best athletes of 2019 list was the rebirth of Tiger Woods’ career. His win at the Masters last spring was an amazing story of a former top golf player coming back from the brink of retirement due to a debilitating back injury and winning on the biggest stage of golf. Woods’ victory at the Masters was his first major championship win in 11 years and his 15th major tournament victory overall. The last time he won the Masters was in 1997. The 43-yearold became the second oldest golfer ever to win the Masters.
The picture of him greeting his young son and daughter after sinking the winning putt on the 18th hole of the tournament was an emotional moment for Woods —during his previous win at the Masters, he was greeted by his late father. This time around, Woods was able to show his kids how dominant he once was and his hard work to return to the elite level. Sports Illustrated published a front cover with no words, just a picture of Woods in exaltation after sinking the last putt on the 18th hole. Woods was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by avid golfer, President Donald Trump. After his Masters victory, Woods was picked as the captain of the Presidents Cup late in 2019. The tournament matches the United States with an international team of golfers. Woods led the U.S. team to a come-from-behind victory over the international team in Australia this past December. It was the second time ever in Presidents Cup history that the captain played in the competition. Woods’ U.S. team
was down going into the last day of golf match play, but came up the victors. Injuries and personal issues set back Woods’ golf career in past years, but it appears that despite being in his mid-40s, he’s ready to return back to prominence in golf.
Tua declares for NFL Draft
One of the most decorated college quarterbacks coming out of the state of Hawaii, where he is from, is going pro. Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa decided on Monday, Jan. 6 that he would enter the NFL Draft after his junior year. In 2018, he was a Heisman Trophy finalist and one of the top players in college football. The award went to Kyler Murray of Oklahoma. (Murray, whose mother is Korean, was drafted first overall in the 2019 Draft by the Arizona Cardinals and had a very solid year as quarterback for the rebuilding team. One of the biggest wins of Murray’s rookie season was a victory here in Seattle against the Seahawks.)
AP Photo/John Amis
By Jason Cruz NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Tiger Woods holds Calamity Jane, the official trophy of the tournament, after winning the Tour Championship golf tournament in September 2019.
see LAYUP DRILL on 11
FEB 8 & 9 2020 9 AM – 9 PM
ASIAN ART MUSEUM REOPENING WEEKEND Today's Asian Art Museum is boundless. 2 days. 12 hours. 12 themes.
Reserve timed tickets visitsam.org/housewarming Major Sponsors The Boeing Company U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation
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Support for Seattle Asian Art Museum educational programs has been provided by Office of Arts and Culture, 1% for Art Program
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38 YEARS
JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
LAST CHANCE! ON VIEW THRU
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Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation was created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The exhibition is presented in Seattle by MOHAI, a Smithsonian Affiliate. Above: Bollywood Dancer from Arpana Dance Company, Irvine, CA, June 2010. Photograph by John Merrell. Generous local support provided by: Chuck Nordhoff and Maribeth O’Connor, 4Culture, Laird Norton Wealth Management, The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, and MOHAI Exhibits Fund.
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JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
YOUR VOICE
■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
asianweekly northwest
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Shin Yu Pai In Residence. History is an Act of The Imagination.
Photo credit to David Mielke
A poetry series featuring Asian American poets will soon kick off at Town Hall Seattle, in collaboration with KUOW. Curated by local poet and visual artist, Shin Yu Pai, the series, titled “Lyric World: Conversations with Contemporary Poets,” will offer a unique, affordable avenue for enjoying and supporting notable AAPI artists of the written word. Town Hall Seattle is diverse in its offerings, yet still could use a boost towards greater representation of nonwhite headliners. “I’ve organized many different kinds of programs in Seattle over the years, but this is the first time that I’m dedicating an entire season…to highlighting underrepresented voices,” explained Pai. “People have said to me, ‘Yeah, that series is so white. We need to get some diversity in there…’ I wanted to design a program that celebrates writers of the Asian diaspora, that centers their experiences, and gives them a platform to talk about their practice.” The series will be recorded and broadcast by KUOW, and each session will include a poetry reading, facilitated on-stage conversation with a fellow creative, and a musical artist. The poets are some of those that Pai has known and admired over the years.
Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma, an Okinawan-American poet living on Vashon Island, will kick off the series with his poetry on the subject of magic and wonder. Pruiksma regularly performs what he calls his “poet’s magic” to audiences on Vashon and
elsewhere. “I think we can experience through poetry…a kind of wide-eyed open wonder, the freshness of a child exploring the world,” Pruiksma said. He cherishes the opportunity to witness, during his presentations, “that childlike wonder awaken in people who’ve had a rough day or they have worldly concerns on their minds. To see a middle-aged man [and] suddenly this 7- or 8-year-old shining out of his eyes—I love that!” Pruiksma will read from his new book of poems, “The Safety of Edges,” and will also likely include material from Tamil translations he has done. “Both magic and wonder have been important to me as metaphors of the human experience…I’m interested in how poetry can lead to an appreciation not just of a poem, but of the world itself, of the poetry of the world, and the poetry of our own lived experience…Poetry allows us to say things we couldn’t otherwise say.”
where the speaker has faced hostility, racism, and dismissal around the grieving process…I am writing to my communities about grieving and loss. I have been so supported by many Asian and Asian American poets and we all write to hold each other close.” The third poet of the series, Koon Woon, will take a direct approach to race and ethnicity, with the theme of displacement. Woon, who has himself experienced homelessness, said that “the notion of displacement is not only existentially relevant for me personally, it is now a global phenomenon, and as global warming continues, it will increasingly be a global problem that may even be intractable. Whereas my displacement now is largely psychological, other people are abandoning their birthplace, risking life and limb, going to other places to eek out a living…It is becoming imperative that we become aware of this urgent problem and the reasons behind it.” Woon, whose family goes back seven generations in this region, came to Washington state from China in 1960. He will be reading from his first book of poems, “The Truth in Rented Rooms,” and possibly from his memoir, “Paper-son
Prageeta Sharma
Pruiksma’s approach emphasizes the thrill of that “a-ha” moment when we capture the meaning of a poem, or when we understand the shared experience described by a poem. Poems can be fun, yet they can also be an effective vehicle for expressing our heavier emotions. Prageeta Sharma will be reading from her new book of poems, “Grief Sequence,” which focuses on “the themes of losing my husband to esophageal cancer and the effects of the dying process and loss on my life.” Through her poems, Sharma “learned how to examine this acute experience of suffering, combined with my own brand of hostile feelings about the loss of my husband, to something deeply transformative…” Formerly a Seattle resident, Sharma now teaches at Pomona College in California. Her parents hail from India, and were supportive of poetry in their home. “Poetry has always been the place where I’ve been given a voice and can speak as truthfully as I am able,” Sharma related. “I think it can speak to communities about collective joy, suffering, and connection. I also think it makes us feel our own energy about what we are passionate about.” While the poems Sharma will be sharing are not explicitly about race, she is “still writing from an intersectional space
Koon Woon
Poet.” “I will chronicle my life from birth and the first 9 years in a timeless village in China to the Cyber and Space Age of modern America.” Like Pruiksma and Sharma, it is part of Woon’s objective to persuade the public of see AAPI POETS on 14
HELP KEEP SEATTLE MOVING SAFELY WHEN IT SNOWS
Photo credit to Mike Stussy
Photo credit to Eric Frommer
By Kai Curry NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Photo credit to DINA INGLE
Town Hall Seattle and KUOW series highlights AAPI poets
During and after a winter storm, we all have a part to play to keep Seattle moving safely. Here are 5 ways to help:
1 Know our Winter Weather Snow and Ice routes.*
2 Shovel your sidewalks, curb ramps, and storm drains so everyone can get around safely.
3 Don’t drive if you can avoid it! 4 If you must drive, slow down and be careful.
Watch out for others and leave plenty of room.
5 Make sure your car is safe for winter driving and pay attention to road closure signs
By working together, we can keep everyone moving safely after winter storms!
*Learn more: www.seattle.gov/ transportation/winter-weather SnowIce_NWAsianWeekly_Color.indd 1
1/10/2020 3:13:17 PM
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asianweekly northwest
38 YEARS
JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
■ PUBLISHER’S BLOG
Northwest Asian Weekly’s past, present, and future Can we repeat miracles?
By Assunta Ng NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Photos by Assunta Ng
What do you do when grim news constantly haunts you? It’s not about the news we journalists are reporting. It’s about the adversities we face as community media. Realistically, how long can we last? In 2019, the New York Times reported that more than 1 in 5 newspapers have closed in the past 15 years. More than 1,400 communities in the United States are losing a newspaper. Some papers have eliminated their print edition, keeping only an online presence. Our printers’ business has declined substantially as several publications ceased to exist. Many local community newspapers closed up their office to cut costs, and owners and staff members just work at home. Instead of keeping employees, the papers laid them off, hiring freelance writers and not providing benefits so the business can survive. Even merchants selling newspapers and magazines are now obsolete. Lee Lauckhart, owner of First & Pike News located at the Pike Place Market, folded on Dec. 31, 2019 after being in business for four decades. (His store carried our Seattle
Photo by Assunta Ng
PART I
Lee Lauckhart
Chinese Post in 1982.) Lauckhart said, “People walked by and said, ‘Good, you are still here.’ And they just walked away,” meaning they didn’t buy anything from his store. Lauckhart, 78, said he didn’t pay himself a salary for the last 12 years, while his employees got paid. (My husband and I are in the same boat, not getting paid.) Lauckhart lives on his social security check. Publishing two weeklies, print and online, takes up most of my time. I found it counterproductive to panic or moan and groan, even though the Northwest Asian Weekly faces similar challenges. Crisis also presents opportunities. I have a lot more clarity on what we should and can do. My “tribe” and I work really hard to cultivate opportunities while we can. That includes chasing stories as well
no age limit!
as business. Simultaneously, we seize chances to support individuals and groups to overcome their obstacles as our way of giving back. Anything we can do to support our community that’s within our ability, we will do. How the Asian Weekly and its sister paper, Seattle Chinese Post, differ from other local papers is how many loyal community backers stand with us through thick and thin. Take Snappy Dragon Restaurant in the north end for instance. Owner Judy Fu advertises in both papers every Lunar New Year although her successful business doesn’t need any promotion, and her customers are mostly non-Asians. Fu walked into our office last year to renew her subscription for 10 years. “Are you sure?” I asked her twice. What I meant was, “Are you sure we’ll be here
that long?” Her gesture moved me to tears, and I will work as long as I can to show my gratitude. Despite our plight, we have a lot to celebrate: our journey of sweat, blood, and tears, and our milestones. The Northwest Asian Weekly will be celebrating its 38th anniversary on Jan. 20.
Now and then
When the Asian Weekly and Seattle Chinese Post first started, there was deep skepticism and resistance. A few community members even said right to my face, “I will give you six months.” Another see BLOG on 16
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2020 LUNAR NEW YEAR COSTUME CONTEST Contestants’ attire should be culturally relevant to the Lunar New Year Celebration
Please submit completed application through one of the following methods: Mail: Northwest Asian Weekly Lunar New Year Costume Contest 412 Maynard Ave. S. Seattle, WA 98104 Name: ____________________________________________________
School Name: _________________________________Age: ________ Profession: ________________________________________________ Phone: ____________________________________________________ E-mail: ____________________________________________________
Please send your photo of entry by February 1, 2020 to rsvp@nwasianweekly.com. Contestants must adhere to all rules and regulations. Contest officials will remove any contestant failing to cooperate with officials or failing to comply with the rules and regulations. If you have any questions, please contact Northwest Asian Weekly at 206.223.5559 or via email at rsvp@nwasianweekly.com. FOR MORE INFO, GO TO CIDBIA.ORG, NWASIANWEEKLY.COM/EVENTS
PRIZES First ($75), Second ($50), Third ($25) 10 honorable mentions, each winner get a stuffed mouse Costume Parade Schedule: • 11 AM — Registration • 12:30 PM — Line up • 1 PM — Parade begins • 1:30 PM — Parade winners announced • Start from Northwest Asian Weekly’s front door, march to main stage • Contestants must be present at the announcement of finalists (1:30 PM). • Finalists will be lined up in numerical order. • The first 20 registered will get a gift. Registration/Sign-Up: • You may pre-register for the contest by filling out this application and sending it in or sign-up on the
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day of the contest (Saturday, February 8) beginning at 11 a.m. at the registration table. Registration table will be located in front of Seattle Chinese Post/Northwest Asian Weekly – 412 Maynard Ave S. • Contestants must sign-in at the registration table 30 minutes prior to parade. Rules/Guidelines: • Adults & children are welcome to participate • Parents are welcome to accompany their children during the Parade • All contestants will be given a contestant number for order of Parade lineup • Contestants must be present to win
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JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
YOUR VOICE
■ EDITORIAL
asianweekly northwest
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#OscarsSoWhite Part 2
This year’s Academy Awards are stirring controversy—again—over the lack of diversity in its nomination pool. After a banner 2019 that seemed to signal a much-needed shift, this year’s nominees indicate that change remains inconsistent and slow to arrive. It’s very likely that #OscarsSoWhite will start trending once again. Among the four acting categories, the only person of color nominated was Cynthia Erivo, who earned a nod for her lead performance as Harriet Tubman in the biopic “Harriet.” And not only are #OscarsSoWhite— there’s more white men! “Congratulations to those men,” actor Issa Rae said dryly, as the best director
nominees—five men—were announced on Jan. 13. There were no female nominees in the directing category for the 87th time in Oscar history—a direct snub to Greta Gerwig, director of the acclaimed “Little Women,” and Lulu Wang of “The Farewell,” as well as several other worthy candidates. It was at least refreshing to see Rae, who is Black, and John Cho unveil the nominations because they provided much-needed color to the announcement —both figuratively and literally. Among the most glaring snubs was Awkwafina, who—hello!—just won a Golden Globe for her role in “The Farewell.” She would have become just the second Asian American nominated
for best actress (the first, 1936 nominee Merle Oberon, hid her South Asian heritage). Jennifer Lopez was also thought to be a virtual shoo-in for a supporting actress nod for playing a stripper in “Hustlers.” Critics pointed to several other acting snubs, including Lupita Nyong’o in “Us” and Eddie Murphy in “Dolemite Is My Name.” “It’s been a long, slow battle,” said Chris Tashima, an actor-director and a member of the Academy Asians Action Committee, an informal group of Asian and Pacific Islander members of the Academy. “We’ve been very much absent. We’ve been trying to create opportunities for years. But you can’t
even get nominated if you don’t get the roles.” The highlight of the year is probably “Parasite,” which received six nominations, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. It is also the first South Korean movie to receive nominations for Best Picture and Best International Film. It would be a major letdown if it didn’t go home with at least one award. Ultimately, this year’s nominations suggest that the industry continues to undervalue stories that aren’t about and by white men, especially when it comes to awards-caliber work.
EVACUATION from 5
preparations for an escalating crisis in the Middle East but had no immediate plans for evacuations. The ministry said about 1,600 South Koreans are in Iraq, mostly working in construction, while another 280 who live in Iran are businesspeople, students, or spouses of Iranians. On past occasions, China has evacuated its citizens from other countries during times of conflict, political tension, or natural disaster. In 2015, the navy transported
nearly 500 Chinese out of war-torn Yemen. It evacuated 3,000 from Vietnam in 2014, after the deployment of a Chinese oil rig in disputed waters elicited a wave of antiChina riots. There are more than 7,000 Filipino workers and their dependents in Iraq and Iran, including many who work in U.S. and other foreign facilities and commercial establishments in Baghdad, the Department of National Defense said.
The workers in Iran and Iraq are a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who are employed in countries lining the Persian Gulf. The Philippines is a leading source of labor worldwide, with about a tenth of its more than 100 million people working mostly as household help, construction workers, seamen, and professionals.
whether he should return to Alabama due to his injury and show NFL teams looking for a quarterback that he was fully healed from his hip injury. The risk would be the possibility of getting injured again and falling in the NFL Draft. In a sport where injuries could mean the end of your career, Tagovailoa chose to go pro. Tagovailoa, who is also Samoan, decided to play college football over 4,000 miles away, across the Pacific Ocean and United States in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Coming out of high school, he was one of the nation’s most coveted recruits, and landing
with one of the top programs was a good match. During his time at Alabama, he’s helped the Crimson Tide win a national championship in 2018. Among Tagovailoa’s lengthy list of accolades in football, he was the Offensive MVP of the 2018 Orange Bowl, the runner-up to the 2018 Heisman Trophy, and the Sporting News Player of the Year for 2018. Despite his season-ending injury in 2019, Tagovailoa is still projected as a first-round draft pick. At 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, Tagovailoa’s arm strength,
athleticism, and mental fortitude make him one of the best quarterbacks coming out in the 2020 NFL Draft. If drafted, Tagovailoa will be on a very short list of Samoan quarterbacks. Notably, former Washington State University’s Jack Thompson and University of Washington’s Marques Tuiassosopo were the last two quarterbacks in the NFL of Samoan descent that had success starting for their teams.
Gulf Arab states are home to more than 7 million Indian expatriates who help drive the region’s economy and keep its cities teeming with doctors, engineers, teachers, drivers, construction workers, and other laborers. In United Arab Emirates, Indians outnumber Emiratis three to one. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Jan. 6 that government agencies had discussed
LAYUP DRILL from 7 Tagovailoa’s decision was difficult as he was injured this past November Tagovailoa’s decision was difficult as he was injured this past November in a game against Mississippi State. He suffered a dislocated hip and a posterior wall fracture, according to CBS Sports. The injury brought an immediate end to his season. As a junior, he had an option to come back for his senior season or enter the NFL Draft. The question surrounded
Jason can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
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MCDONALD’S from 1 or the young man at a griddle—but, as franchise owner William Cho pulls apart the plastic hanging strips that cordon off the refrigerated storeroom in the back, the opening reveals a secret that not everyone knows about —stacks of real, cooked white eggs. “It makes me really mad when people say that at—” (he names the name of an uptown competitor) “— people say you’re getting real food.” “There, they just put things in the microwave. Here, we actually crack real eggs,” he said. It’s not easy being a franchise owner of the biggest fast food chain in the world. But the challenges are not what might be expected.
Burgers for a changing market Cho, 58, is also the Asian consumer marketing chair of the McDonald’s marketing body. His group comprises about 20 corporate members, advertising executives, and half a dozen franchise owners/operators. Facing national demographic changes, McDonald’s is working through the committee to elaborate on its traditional strategies for outreach. The company has traditionally offered philanthropy through the Ronald McDonald House Charities and scholarships for Black and Latinx/Hispanic students and its own employees. Local franchises have also practiced philanthropy. But now that its customer base is almost 50 percent non-white, McDonald’s is becoming even more sophisticated, not just in its use of artificial intelligence in its franchises, but also in its approach to outreach and marketing. Nationwide, six percent of its customers are Asian Pacific Islanders (API) while on the West Coast the number “is in the double digits,” said Cho. As part of its outreach, the company will now offering its first national scholarship for API high school students. Starting in the spring of 2020, there will be $500,000 worth of scholarships to 55 API high school students ranging from $5,000 to $20,000. The scholarships are part of a campaign to reach out to the API community through education. Less than two decades ago, scholarships for Asian students funded by McDonalds were coordinated through the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), said Cho. It was only in 2003 that McDonalds, along with other major donors, coordinated with the Asian Pacific American Advocates (OCA) to found a nonprofit specifically aimed at giving to API students—now called the Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIA) Scholars . Another challenge was educating the roughly 2,000 owner-operators in the United States about the scholarship, said Cho. “We’ve been trying to get McDonald’s to sponsor an Asian element,” he said. “We look at education as one of three big pillars in reaching the Asian McDonald’s community.” Earlier this year, McDonald’s hosted an event at a local high school on the Eastside, bringing in speakers and college counselors to explain the application process.
JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020 “We explain the process, letting them know that there are other avenues to higher education,” he said. The other two “pillars” involve music and reaching families through community festivals. When Cho told his father—a retired professor of political science and fourtime congressman in Korea—about the scholarship program, his father had a hard time understanding its significance at first. “He was asking about Pell grants,” said Cho, referring to a federally– funded grant that is more familiar to university administrators. “He didn’t understand what it took to get this.” But unlike some of the well–known federal scholarships that have been around for decades, the McDonald’s scholarship is aimed not only at four–year institutions but also at community colleges. “We wanted it to be available for the neediest,” said Cho. It provides 15 API students with $5,000 a year for the four years they are in college. Forty students will receive a one–year, one–time scholarship of $5,000. Despite the relative prevalence of college degrees among APIs—one half of all APIs have college degrees while only one third of all Americans do—tremendous disparities exist within the community, according to APIA Scholars. “Only 25% of Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and Southeast Asian Americans have college degrees and the top 10% of APIAs earn more than ten times the bottom 10% of APIAs,” according to APIA Scholars in a McDonald’s press release. “Emphasis will be placed on students who are first generation college attendees and demonstrate high financial need,” it stated.
Education in one API family Cho’s father, who at 90 is battling cancer, certainly understands the importance of education. He came to the United States and studied at the University of Michigan, where he earned a Ph.D. in Political Science. Afterwards, he returned to Korea and took up a position at the highly prestigious Seoul National University, where he had done his undergraduate work. But he was outspoken about the Park regime and the family got word one day he was going to be arrested the following day. They fled to Japan, where the family spent several years as political refugees. Eventually, returning to the U.S., Cho’s father taught at several universities until he earned a tenure position at University of Missouri, where the younger Cho did his undergraduate work. Cho studied geology, which encouraged his love of the outdoors, including skiing and hiking. His first jobs in college were in the food industry. And he later worked at a ski resort in Aspen, Colorado in a sushi restaurant, working his way up. But it was his love of the outdoors that led to his marriage. He was in Los Angeles, now 30, working with friends in real estate, and was introduced to his wife, Julia. Also the child of Korean immigrants who had grown up in the Midwest, she enjoyed the outdoors as much as
38 YEARS
he did. On their first date, they took a tram up to the San Jacinto Mountains, which were still snow-clad during the spring, and traipsed around in the wilderness. “I said to myself, ‘Hey, she likes this as much as I do,’” said Cho. Today, they have two sons, and they are devoted to their education. Both sons went to Lakeside. The older one is studying neuroscience at Vassar.
From franchise owner to cultural navigator After getting married, they put their heads together and decided on a future path. She was an optometrist. But Cho wanted to work in the food industry. “McDonald’s was always number one,” he said. He recalled memories of going to a local franchise as a kid. “If we did something good, we’d get hamburger and fries,” he said. It was rare for someone that did not have a corporate background to be accepted as a franchisee. Cho did however have extensive experience in major project developments, which may have helped. Before he met his wife, he had spent time in Hawaii, as part of a group developing a golf course on the North Shore of Oahu. Earlier, he had worked in finance for Korean Airlines. When he got the McDonald’s franchise, he was thrilled. He went into training for two years, working various jobs, putting in 30-40 hours per week, more than the required. Eventually, he landed two franchises in Lake Forest, in Orange County. After six years, the company encouraged him to move to the Seattle area as part of a growth strategy. They were familiar with the Pacific Northwest from traveling. And Cho had spent several years as a child both in Seattle and in Oregon when his father was a professor at the University of Washington and later at the University of Oregon. But the biggest hallmark was that the move coincided with birth of their second son. Sitting in his first franchise, Cho explains that actually the original building was across the street. He bought it in 2002, then moved it to its current location in 2007. By then, he was operating other franchises. He has just opened his eighth in Tacoma. As part of his work as chair for the Asian
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marketing group, Cho travels to major Asian community events around the country with his team. The last meeting was held in Vancouver, B.C. “We wanted to see what the ethnic marketing was like in the Canadian marketing system,” he said. Earlier in the year, they were involved with a cherry blossom festival in Washington, D.C. For the Lunar New Year, they are scheduled to meet in San Francisco. McDonald’s food also reflects the changing demographics of its customer base. Cho compared the donut sticks advertised on a poster to traditional Chinese dipping bread, called youtiao. He said that in Hawaii, the local franchises offer a type of burger modeled on Korean barbecue beef. “And they even have rice cookers,” he added. “Tourists may not know about it, but the locals ask for rice.” For Cho, it’s the Sausage Egg McMuffin that grabs him. That’s where they use the freshly–cracked egg.
How to apply for the scholarship APIA Scholars is currently accepting online applications for the McDonald’s/ APIA Scholarship at apiascholars.org until Jan. 22, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. EST. Applicants must meet the requirements below in order to be eligible: ● Be of Asian and/or Pacific Islander ethnicity as defined by the U.S. Census ● Be a citizen, national, or legal permanent resident of the United States. Citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau are also eligible to apply ● Be enrolling as an undergraduate student in a U.S. accredited college or university in the Fall 2020 ● Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.7 on a 4.0 scale (unweighted) or have earned a GED ● Must apply for federal financial aid for the 2020-2021 academic year using the Free Application for the Federal Student Aid (FASFA) by early April 2020 ● Submit one letter of recommendation online. Mahlon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com
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YOUR VOICE
■ ASTROLOGY
JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
asianweekly northwest
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Predictions and advice for the week of January 18–January 24, 2020 By Sun Lee Chang Rat — Before wading in too deep, pause for a bit and ask yourself whether it is worth going any further.
Dragon — Instead of looking for ways to change someone else, look within. You have more control than you think.
Monkey — You want to be helpful, but are you actually creating more work? Remember that intention is different from result.
Ox — Make a conscious choice to be positive throughout the day. You will attract the kind of energy you desire.
Snake — Dealing with an issue that keeps coming up? It might be useful to determine what is actually triggering it.
Rooster — Are you playing catch up this week? Hit the ground running and you should be in a better place.
Tiger — If you have to start over anyway, then try your best to avoid the mistakes from your initial go-around.
Horse — An abrupt departure leaves more questions than answers. This is not the time to speculate or jump to conclusions.
Dog — Focused on just one possible outcome? As multiple scenarios could happen, be ready to adjust on short notice.
Rabbit — Try some intermediate steps first before escalating your response. You might find that less is more.
Goat — Wary of entering an uncomfortable situation? Prepare by coming up with some strategies for success.
Pig — Now that the pressure has been lifted, let things settle somewhat before making any major changes.
WHAT’S YOUR ANIMAL SIGN? RAT 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 OX 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 TIGER 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010 RABBIT 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 DRAGON 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 SNAKE 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 HORSE 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 GOAT 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 MONKEY 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016 ROOSTER 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017 DOG 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018 PIG 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019
*The year ends on the first new moon of the following year. For those born in January and February, please take care when determining your sign.
POW from 1 North Vietnamese forces captured Williams after his jet was shot down in May 1972 and held him prisoner until March 1973. “The whole purpose, in a nutshell, was it being a healing mission to put us back in that environment,” said Williams, 75, of the trip organized by the Valor Administration, Vietnam-USA Friendship members, and North Vietnamese combat veterans. What Williams didn’t know ahead of time was he would meet the widow of the North Vietnamese pilot who shot his jet down. Through Nguyen Thi Lam, he learned more about her late husband, Do Van Lanh. Williams felt uneasy when he first met her. Once they started talking through an interpreter, that tension began to fade and Williams found some closure. Lam shared pictures of Lanh, and she said she was sorry it had to be her husband who shot Williams down. “That kind of broke the ice a bit,“ Williams said. Williams, a Douglass High School graduate and
TRAVEL BAN from 4 anniversary of Trump’s first travel ban. That order sparked an uproar when it was announced on Jan. 27, 2017, with massive protests across the nation and chaos at airports where passengers were detained. The latest deliberations come as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prepares to transmit to the Senate the articles of impeachment the Democratic-led House passed against Trump late last year, launching a formal impeachment trial just as the 2020 election year gets underway. Trump in December became just the third president in history to be impeached by the House. The Republican-controlled Senate is not expected to remove him from office. Trump ran his 2016 campaign promising to crack down on illegal immigration and spent much of his first term fighting lawsuits trying to halt his push to build a wall along the southern border, prohibit the entry of citizens from several
Tennessee State University alum, was soon to wrap up his tour when his F-4D Phantom fighter jet got shot down on May 20, 1972. He was part of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy’s bombing campaign against North Vietnam known as Operation Linebacker I. “It was air-to-air engagement,” Williams said. “That particular day, there were 40 days left on my tour. In fact, I was on my 228th combat mission.” His jet was hit by a missile from Lanh, Williams was forced to eject, and North Vietnamese forces captured him. He ended up imprisoned at Hoa Lo Prison, or the “Hanoi Hilton,” for 313 days. Williams endured solitary confinement and aroundthe-clock interrogation. He said they tried to break him down for information, while he stuck with his created story that he was only on his 12th combat mission and had been in the country for just three weeks. Williams was finally released on March 28, 1973, after the war’s end. Williams spent 28 years in the military, retiring from service in 1995. He then launched an Air Force
majority-Muslim countries, and crack down on migrants seeking asylum in the United States, amid other measures. He is expected to press those efforts again this year as he ramps up his reelection campaign. Last week, a coalition of leading civil rights organizations urged House leaders to take up the No Ban Act, legislation to end Trump’s travel ban and prevent a new one. The bill introduced last year by Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., with Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., in the Senate would impose limits on the president’s ability to restrict entry to the United States. It would require the administration to spell out its reasons for the restrictions and specifically prohibit religious discrimination. Trump’s revised ban eliminated some of the original’s most contentious provisions, including making clear that those who held visas at the time of the signing could continue to enter the country.
Junior ROTC program in a Georgia school system, where he taught for 20 years. Today, Williams is on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs POW Advisory Committee. Earlier this year, Williams connected with a Valor Administration representative who notified him of the trip to Vietnam, a golden opportunity to complete a part of his living list. “Some of the guys kept saying, ‘Have you told Colonel what we plan on doing?’” Williams said. “The plan for me was to meet the pilot who shot me down, but he passed away in 1980, so they had me meet his wife.“ Beyond meeting Lam and many veterans on the North Vietnamese side, Williams got to experience how much Hanoi had changed since he left as a just-released prisoner of war in 1973. The mental picture he kept—a landscape altered by bombings—was replaced by its transformation into a modern city. “It was something that I wanted to do but didn’t think I would have the opportunity to do,“ Williams said.
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CANNABIS OIL from 5 “Marijuana could be an answer. At least the patients’ quality of life is improved,” said Dr. Prasert Mongkolsiri, the director of a public hospital, who helped advise patients on Jan. 6. ”At least it can lessen the side effects of the modern chemical-based medicines that they’ve been taking for 10 or 20 years,” he said, referring to chemotherapy for cancer patients. Chamroen Nakurai, 57, was diagnosed
with lymph node cancer two years ago. She said cannabis oil helps lessen the side effects of her chemotherapy, but until now, she had been able to get it only through illegal underground suppliers. ”The treatment isn’t widely available and the cost is quite high if you visit underground clinics, but this service is free and anyone can access it,” she said. Nuthjutha Ulpathorn, 29, was born with cerebral palsy that makes her unable to walk and garbles her speech. She began to use cannabis oil two months ago after
AAPI POETS from 9 both the enjoyment and healing possibilities of poetry. “Poetry came to me at a time when I really needed it,” he shared. “I was battling mental illness and in the depth of my fears and delusions, I turned to poetry…We all face the absurdity of the void. But to make a meaning for ourselves, poetry, the arts…are needed…It has been said, ‘an ulcer is an unwritten poem.’ Poetry, whether one is reading it or composing it, involves all the faculties of our being—the emotional, the intellectual, and even the physical, as the rhythm of the words make you want to dance.” While poetry, in many ways, may seem to be, and indeed often is, a private art form, it is clear from the experience of these individuals that there are benefits to both artist
38 YEARS
KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON NOTICE TO BIDDERS The King County Procurement Services Section, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, will receive sealed bids until 2:00 PM of bid opening date for the following listed bids. To download a document, go to our web page at: http://www.kingcounty.gov/procurement. King County encourages minority business enterprise participation. King County does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its programs, services, and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. 1001-20-VLN OPENS: 01/28/2020 Quality Assurance Services for Procurement Technology Modernization (PTM) Project Pre-proposal Conference: January 15, 2020 at 1:00 PM, Chinook Building, Room 328, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104 Conference Call: 206-263-8114 Conference ID: 83816 1302-19-LCP OPENS: 02/18/2020 Electric Bus Charge Management Systems 1308-19-LCP OPENS: 02/18/2020 Electric Bus Chargers
her mother brought her to a government hospital that started to give out cannabis oil. ”I sleep better, and (am) less cranky,” Nuthjutha said with a smile. Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the chief architect of the new policy drive, toured the suburban clinic. He expressed hope that the remedies might be soon added into the National List of Essential Medicine, which allows them to be covered by Thailand’s 30-baht ($1) universal health care scheme. Officials say the policy of free cannabis is likely to be changed.
and audience that can be reaped from sharing. Pai, who has had extensive experience collaborating with other artists and presenting her art to the public, is familiar with these advantages. “It’s very important that all writers have this opportunity to test their ideas and think out loud,” she stressed. Woon said, “I hope that at the Town Hall reading, I can motivate some in the audience to want to go to a poetry reading in their neighborhood, or to more readings like this one, or check out a book of poems from the library, or try to write a line or two of a poem.”
Anutin is the leader of the Bhumjai Thai Party, a partner in the country’s coalition government. The party won 50 seats in March’s general election after Anutin campaigned for legalization of the production of marijuana to aid farmers. Moves to allow small-scale private production are moving ahead. The Public Health Ministry, meanwhile, supervises cannabis production at six locations around the country.
SOLUTION from SUDOKU on page 6.
Lyric World: Conversations with Contemporary Poets runs from Jan. 30–June 25. Tickets and information about the series can be found via townhallseattle.org/ event/lyric-world.
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asianweekly northwest
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important. This was not an African American invasion. Housing discrimination made the Central District virtually the only space which Black families could rent or buy,” he added. When asked about apparent insensitivity to a racist history of displacement, perpetrated almost exclusively by property developers, Shelter Holdings, LLC said any errors were unintentional and they had hoped to learn from the community the correct narrative. “The timeline positioning was not intended to make those references or to provide social commentary,” said Eric C. Evans of Shelter Holdings. “Rather it was intended to acknowledge some of the historical events and shifts that have occurred in the area.” “It was intended to be an acknowledgement of the many cultural groups that have called the Central Area home and whose influence is still evident in the community. We are obviously not historical scholars, but have tried to research the neighborhood’s history,” he said. “We hoped that if there is information that is incorrect or improperly prioritized that those in the community would … help us better understand the neighborhood,” said Evans, in an email. At the same time, however, Evans said the timeline was based primarily on information from the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. “In the interest of space, a number of significant events in the history of this very large and diverse neighborhood were unavoidable,” he said. But it was not clear how events were chosen from the pamphlet he was referring to, “History of the Central Area,” by Thomas Veith. Veith, an architectural historian, researched it for the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. The pamphlet describes a long and steady history of displacement, first of American Indians out of the Central Area, and then of other marginalized groups into the Central Area. For instance, according to Veith, the first occupants of the Central Area, American Indians, “surrendered their lands” in exchange for cash and were relocated to reservations. Blacks began to move into the area as early as 1890 and by 1900 had begun to build a nascent middle class there. Veith discussed at length restrictive “racial covenants” that defined the history of the area, according to the UW research project. “Institutionalized racism took many forms, but one way in which it affected the character of the Central Area was through the framing of the legal documents used in the buying and selling of property,” wrote Veith. “Real estate developers often employed discriminatory language in these documents in the form of “real covenants” (i.e, legal obligations imposed in a deed by the seller upon the buyer of real estate) designed to prevent non-white persons from buying property in particular developments,” he wrote. According to the UW Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History website,
Photos by Staff/NWAW
KEIRO from 1
A zoning map provided by Shelter Holdings
“People of color had little chance of finding housing except in the central neighborhoods of Seattle.” Moreover, the perpetrators of this practice were the real estate developers themselves. “As the ‘residential security maps’ illustrated, it was genuinely believed that the presence of racial minorities in Seattle neighborhoods would bring down real estate values. Therefore, realtors encouraged racial segregation in order to maintain property values and sell housing,” according to the UW website. The timeline provided by Shelter Holdings skips over this defining feature of the Central Area. The description on the Shelter Holdings timeline states, “As the predominant cultural group in the Central Area shifts throughout history, the neighborhood make-up also shifts.” “Today, the Central Area consists of each of these cultures, with a concentration of Japanese American history surrounding the project site,” it concludes. By contrast, one new white resident of the Central District (CD), Carrie Hawthorne, created a YouTube video to explore her feelings of guilt and sadness about the “displacement” she is a part of. “Gentrification is in motion and not slowing down in the CD. Once the heart of Seattle’s Black community, by 2019 it’s estimated that just 14% of the CD will be Black,” Hawthorne states. She wrote below in her video, “Gentrification in the Central District.” Hawthorne appears to show remorse for the loss of community that marginalized groups once found in the Central District. She quotes a Black pastor as saying, “When I grew up here, everyone knew each other. In the 1970s, you didn’t even have to lock the door when you left the house. It was an extended-family kind of concept. That part is completely gone.” Hawthorne added, “My objective is to help the new wave of people moving to the CD understand the history of the community being displaced and reflect on the sharp contrasts highlighted by our transforming community. I hope to inspire conversation about the conflicts we see around us and what we can do to have a positive impact on the evolving neighborhood.” Her concerns reflect a broader cultural conversation that is spiraling through Seattle. The Wing Luke Museum has an ongoing exhibition on redlining. And from November 2017 to June 2018, the
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A timeline of the Central Area provided by Shelter Holdings
Museum of History of Industry (MOHAI) held an exhibition with photos of the Central District, mostly regarding its lively jazz scene, starting in 1940. Shelter Holdings, in a letter last month inviting community members to attend its meeting, wrote, “We build and own for the long-term and we invest in the communities and neighborhoods where we operate with this in mind.” Evans told the Northwest Asian Weekly, “We intend to honor the history of the project site and community in both the landscaping and design—it’s too early for us to interpret exactly what that will mean, but we will be back to the community to share ideas as we know more. After the meeting, Evans, in another letter, thanked community members for ideas they shared and promised to act on some. He told Northwest Asian Weekly that community members hoped the new development, which is a multi-use apartment building, would be suitable for families. He said some community members had also asked that local retailers
on the ground floor include vendors “that help with day-to-day needs like a smallscale grocery store, small restaurant, or coffee shop.” He said Shelter Holdings does not have any projections yet for pricing for the units or for demographics of who will live in the building, which is set to open in July 2023. Evans also shared a brochure with community members, entitled “The Meaning of Community,” that introduced the philanthropic contributions to various foundations made by Shelter Holdings. Asked if Shelter Holdings would consider donating to charities or organizations that help low-income Asian Americans cope with displacement from the area, he said there have been no contributions yet. “We are just beginning our involvement with this project and have not made any philanthropic contributions to the organizations you referenced to date,” he said. Mahlon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com
asianweekly
38 YEARS
JANUARY 18 – JANUARY 24, 2020
Photos by Assunta Ng
16
northwest
BLOG from 10 said among themselves, “Give her a year, she will fold.” Okay, we are still here after 38 years. Their predictions became my inspiration. I never confronted the detractors. Nor do I take rejection seriously. What’s important was that, they were all my allies later. The humble beginnings of the Asian Weekly were merely a couple of articles written in English buried inside the Seattle Chinese Post, printed in Chinese for immigrants who like to read mainstream news and events in their own native language. One of our best decisions was to separate the Seattle Chinese Post, in English and Chinese editions, and later gave the English version a new identity and name, called the Northwest Asian Weekly. The Chinese Post founding editor, Hung Szeto, pushed both papers to be weeklies—with different content. “No one will remember when to pick up the paper if it’s biweekly or monthly,” he argued. At the time, it was like a living hell to produce two weeklies with our inexperience, limited manpower, and resources. Today, we have a different set of challenges— daunting, unsolvable, and irreversible. The only reason we go on is because of our
commitment to the community. Compared to how and where we began, in the basement of Bush Hotel in our early years to the present day, still in business and giving back to the community in numerous ways, we have served multiple generations, including the American-born Asians and mainstream and Chinese immigrants. Would you call us a success just because we are not dead? Every week, we struggle, we adapt, we fight, we collaborate to bring you the best product, and we toil until we are satisfied with every revision, including headlines, stories, photos, and all the layout before we send the copy to our printer. That process is what I consider a success—the joy of our work. The 16-page Asian Weekly and 28-page Chinese Post have been publishing a different yet independent editorial stand each week, since the 1990s. Between two weeklies, we have published more news and stories than any other local Asian media in Washington state over the decades. Imagine if we stack up all our back issues, we could build a skyscraper taller than all the other Asian community newspapers. I wouldn’t consider that an accomplishment, though.
Defining accomplishments
What makes us proud is our resilience and relentless spirit in spite of our adversities to fight for the scoop—pursuing hard news—crafting the most difficult storytelling—reporting unpopular and controversial truths—stories that other ethnic media avoid. Our timely coverage on crime, economics, business, politics, education, and health shows how these events impact our community. Those topics reflect the pulse, complex challenges, and real issues the community faces. When we cover what’s going on in the community, we are documenting our community’s history chapter by chapter. The easy way for most media is to do features and commentaries, and go light on hard news. Hard news is time-consuming and requires teamwork and digging. When our stories present the truth, we can step on someone’s toes. Naysayers would discredit us with President Trump’s favorite words, “That’s fake news.” Whatever critics say about us, we never take it personally. We have learned to “let it go” after years of practice. Years ago, attorney Charles Herrmann said, “If you are pleasing everybody, you are not
a newspaper, you are a public relations newsletter.” Herrmann is our long-time advertiser, and he doesn’t want the Asian Weekly to pat everyone’s back. My parents objected to me starting a newspaper initially because publishing a newspaper is a thankless task. I didn’t believe it, I was naive. But their biggest objection was, “You can’t make money running a newspaper.”
A blessing and a curse
I would be lying if I told you that I enjoyed my work in the past. Like President Kennedy said, I did it over the years, not because it was easy, but because it was hard. So hard that I cried a lot during the first decade. I was also miserable often with physical illness and stress due to overwork, exhaustion, and the demands of raising a family. Ironically, our workload eased up when internet flowed into our lives. The multi-functional computer was all we needed for publishing. Gone was our clumsy dark room with film processing, screening all photos half-tone with a bulky copying camera, sending out our layout with a taxi to the printer, doing color separation on paper layer by layer, using tapes, scissors, and paper for layout, and manually typing our English and Chinese text and
hating any mistakes we made with white-out to cover them. It was a strenuous process just to layout one page. (And we had to pay someone to get rid of our copying camera when it became extinct.) We witnessed our transformation from black and white to color, and paper to digital, cutting down labor and production cost. And we often break stories as fast as the mainstream press by putting the story online within hours. Digital media is both a blessing and a curse. But I never want to turn back the clock even though it will eventually kill all of us. Last year, we expected it to be a year of disaster like 2017 and 2018. Yet “miracles” emerged in our most desperate hours and days. Then I remember what Albert Einstein said. “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” I will share with you those miracles in our next issue. The question is: Can we capture those miracles and duplicate them in 2020? Part II: Our miracles in 2019 and my failure. Assunta can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly.com.
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