VOL 39 NO 38 | SEPT 19 – SEPT 25, 2020

PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 746 Seattle, WA

L oca l l e a s h a r e me d e r s m o r ie s

VOL 39 NO 38 SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 FREE 38 YEARS YOUR VOICE

ACRS helps community through difficult times Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) has been a mainstay in South Seattle, assisting the local community with a variety of vital services since 1978. The pandemic has seen it shift its focus like many other organizations as they adjust to a new normal.

The first concerns over the virus came with stories from China.

“Since we heard the early stories about COVID-19 in China, we began to see immediate decline in sales in our local Asian restaurants and other businesses,” said ACRS Executive Director Michael Byun. “The impact was more acutely felt in places like our Chinatown-International District (CID) in Seattle. In the CID, businesses saw a drop in sales, ranging from 20% to 70%.”

ACRS, which helps in promoting social justice and wellbeing within the Asian American community, has seen problems with the perceptions of the pandemic.

“The decline in patrons to Asian businesses also parallels an increase overall across the country in terms of bias, harass-

Photo from ACRS

By Jason Cruz NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Meal prep for the ACRS food bank

ment, discrimination, and even violence against Asian Americans. And the situation is further aggravated when we hear leaders and influencers using terms like the ‘Wuhan Virus’ or the ‘Chinese Pandemic.’” A segment of the population ACRS assists are immigrants and refugees. “Part of our community is afraid to go out to take care of important activities, such as grocery shopping or attend a medical appointment.

What’s most concerning is an overall sense of fear among our Asian American community.”

Due to the quarantine and anti-Asian sentiment, it has

Bill Gates Sr. with wife Mimi Gardner Gates

resulted in more need for mental health service, states Byun.

“Our mental health and recovery services have seen an increased request in mental health intake service,” Byun added, “For both adults and youth, the required Stay Home, Stay Healthy order means isolation and limited connection to others and the community.”

The impact of the shutdown and isolation could have lasting effects on ACRS’ population.

“This could especially be tough for adults and older adults who are limited English proficient or do not have strong digital

literacy. For our younger clients, who need to be with peers, social media alone does not replace the experience of physically being with friends. There is also the looming concern of how long this will last. A question for those with severe and persistent mental illness and those with other underlying physical health conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease, might have more difficulty coping during this time. For those in recovery, the chances of relapses have been higher.”

Byun is concerned with the

see ACRS on 12

Keiro on track to empower and bring together communities of color

■

Photo from Outside Thinc

By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY A property that once provided shelter for Japanese American war veterans is likely to become the site of subsidized housing that could be owned by Black community organizations.

After a long journey through multiple phases and owners, the now-shuttered Keiro Rehabilitation and Care Center is currently on its way to be sold to Africatown Community Land Trust, a consortium that promotes the return of dispossessed Blacks to the Central District, said K. Wyking Garrett, its president and CEO. “The developer halted their proposed development of 250plus market rate units and has agreed to divest from the property to make way for equitable development. We are

Photo provided by Mimi Gardner Gates

Bill Gates Sr., father of Microsoft co-founder, dies at 94

Liberty Bank Building ribbon cutting ceremony

working through the details of the transaction to acquire,” said Garrett, in an email.

The sale ends the controversial acquisition of the property by Bellevue-based Shelter Holdings, which bought the property last year. Shelter Holdings purchased the prop-

erty for $11 million after Keiro ran into financial problems.

Originally, Shelter Holdings had planned to tear down the skilled nursing and rehab center and construct a mixed-use building with apartments and retail outlets. But some opposition from the Japanese Amer-

ican community to the sale emerged, including community members writing letters to the attorney general asking about financial transparency.

At the same time, it is not clear how recent fluctuations in the Seattle real estate market may have factored into Shelter’s decision to part with the property.

As of press time, Shelter Holdings had not responded to questions for this article.

Proceeds used to sustain Nikkei Manor?

Since the sale of the Keiro property, located at 1601 East Yesler Way, vocal members of the Japanese American community have hoped any proceeds would go to help the operations of Nikkei Manor, the still-operating assisted living community. But Keiro board

see KEIRO on 3

By Ruth Bayang NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY SEATTLE — William H. Gates II, a lawyer and philanthropist best known as the father of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has died at 94. Gates died peacefully on Sept. 14 at his beach home in Washington state from Alzheimer’s disease, surrounded by his family.

“My dad’s wisdom, generosity, empathy, and humility had a huge influence on people around the world,” Bill Gates wrote in a tribute.

Connie Proctor knew Gates Sr. for 42 years and considered him a mentor and friend. “My heart is heavy on learning of Bill’s passing. He held a special place in my heart,” she told the Northwest Asian Weekly. “I was privileged to know and work with Bill in many roles—as an associate and partner in our law firm, as a member of the Board of United Way of King County and for 12 years, we served together as Regents of the University of Washington.”

see GATES on 3

ON THE SHELF

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Why Asians know Trump is a liar

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asianweekly northwest

38 YEARS

SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

■ NAMES IN THE NEWS 'American Ninja' city finalist Hoan Do partners with Lay’s

Naomi Osaka wins second U.S. Open

Sugiyama, the first Asian American on the Seattle School Board in the 1990s, died after a battle with cancer in 2017.

Mari Sugiyama said, “Thank you to Bob Watt Al Sugiyama and Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, as well as those who sent in letters of support… I extend our utmost gratitude for all the support received in keeping my dad's legacy and memory alive and well.” 

Naomi Osaka

Hoan Do

On Sept. 14 on Good Morning America, Lay’s announced its Smile with Lays Campaign benefiting Operation Smile.

Hoan Do of Seattle, an American Ninja Warrior city finalist, is one of 30 individuals selected to be featured on Lay’s chip bags that showcase their story and the impact they are making in their local communities.

Do is also a student success coach and author. He travels the world speaking at companies, colleges, and leadership conferences sharing practical strategies to develop resilience and mental strength. Since COVID-19, Hoan has been facilitating engaging virtual programs and helping clients to increase excitement, participation, and results in their virtual meetings and online events. 

Naomi Osaka won her second U.S. Open championship on Sept. 12 after defeating Victoria Azarenka 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Osaka is the first Asian player, male or female, to win three Grand Slam titles (China's Li Na won two). Osaka is also the first woman to come back from a set down in the U.S. Open final since 1994, when Arantxa SanchezVicario staged a comeback to beat Steffi Graf.

Osaka, 22, was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Haitian father—the family moved to the United States when she was 3. Now based in California, Osaka arrived for the U.S. Open intent on claiming the championship, and to be a voice for change by calling attention to racial injustice. 

Seattle school renamed for Al Sugiyama By unanimous vote on Sept. 9, the Seattle Public School Board of Directors approved the renaming of South Lake High School to Alan T. Sugiyama High School at South Lake.

Al Sugiyama’s daughters, Mari and Alysa, said the school is exactly the kind “our dad would have been proud to be a part of.”

Chloe Zhao wins Venice film fest director award Chinese American director Chloé Zhao has won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival for her film “Nomadland,” a documentaryinfluenced road movie starring Frances McDormand Chloe Zhao about a group of downon-their-luck van dwellers roaming America.

Zhao is the first woman to win the prize in a decade.

Sofia Coppola won it in 2010 for her film “Somewhere.”

The win is seen as a boost to the film’s prospects in the upcoming, postponed Academy Awards season, where hopes are high for Zhao to become the first woman of color to land a best director nomination. 

KING COUNTY NOTICE TO BIDDERS Proposals will be received for E00688E20, Engineering Services West Point Administration Building Seismic Upgrades Project; by the King County Procurement and Payables Section, via email at procurement.submittals@kingcounty.gov, until 12:00 PM on October 5, 2020.

This contract includes development and submittal of an Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) Innovation Plan. The ESJ Innovation Plan details the approach, strategies, and actionable steps that will be taken to maximize the participation of Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women Business Enterprise (WBE) firms. Both MBE and WBE firms must be certified by the State of Washington Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises.

Total Estimated Price for Phase 1: $700,000 Total Estimated Price for all Phases: $2,000,000 All solicitation documents are published at: https:// procurement.kingcounty.gov/procurement_ovr/login. aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fprocurement_ovr%2fdefault.aspx Contact: Regina Sparano, rsparano@kingcounty.gov, 206-477-4807

YOUR VOICE

■ COMMUNITY

SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Wash. state to honor Filipino American contributions YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — A federal grant will provide Washington state with funding to identify, document and commemorate contributions from its Filipino American community.

The project is a part of the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation’s initiative to commemorate all underrepresented communities in the state, the agency said in a statement.

Its goal is to record oral histories, identify primary source documents and recognize important sites and buildings rel-

evant to Filipino Americans, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported.

Washington state has the fifth highest U.S. concentration of Filipino Americans, according to the 2010 census.

The state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation received the grant from the National Park Service, which announced in June that it would award $750,000 in grants to identify important information from underrepresented communities across the country. 

GATES from 1

big heart and generosity firsthand when I worked with him on a statewide ballot initiative that he was leading, which would have levied a tax on Washington’s richest residents and put that money towards education and health care services.”

Gates Sr. met his first wife, Mary Maxwell, at the UW. They had two daughters and a son—Gates Jr.—and remained married until her death in 1994. Two years later, he married Mimi Gardner, then the director of the Seattle Art Museum, with whom he spent the last quarter-century of his life.

Gates Sr. was a towering figure by reputation and in person—he stood 6-foot-7 tall—and his counsel was often sought.

Former Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz has said that when he was struggling to raise the money to buy the six-store coffee chain in 1987, Gates Sr. stepped in to rescue him from a rival buyer—not only by investing, but by personally taking Schultz to visit the rival, demanding as he loomed over the rival’s desk: “You are going to stand down and this kid is going to realize his dream. Do you understand me?”

“Bill Sr. was a remarkable person whose kindness and focus on others will be remembered by so many,” said former Seattle City Councilmember Martha Choe. “He was the heart and soul of the Gates Foundation, keeping everyone grounded in the mission to help all people live a healthy and productive life.”

Constance Rice of the UW Board of Regents said she remembers Gates Sr. as the grandfather of diversity and inclusion.

He and founding CEO of the Gates Foundation Patty Stonesifer “always sought to improve the lives of the poor, forgotten and in health crises,” said Rice. “Many of us remember the establishment of the Gates Millennium Scholars program (at the UW) dedicated to funding individually young ethnic minority scholars for undergraduate to postgraduate studies... We will miss this giant of social activism.”

Gates also served as the president of the state and local bar associations and in the leadership of the American Bar Association, helping create diversity scholarships and promoting legal services for the poor.

Former Seattle Mayor Norman Rice said Gates Sr. brought a “caring capacity and a sense of making our lives better.

Education, cultural diversity, and social responsibility were critical pillars for making our region a pillar of economic opportunity, environmental stewardship, and social justice ... his commitment was real and strong.”

The family said that due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, a memorial service would be held later. 

Proctor added, “He provided support and encouragement to me and others in our (law) firm. He reminded us of the privilege we had in practicing law and the civic and charitable responsibilities that emanated from that privilege.”

Former Washington first lady Mona Locke echoed Proctor’s sentiments.

“Words cannot express what Bill Sr. meant to our community, city, and state.

I will always think fondly of the time he and Mimi Gates came to Olympia to have dinner with Gary (Locke) and me. We had a great time talking and they stayed so late that we jokingly always blamed them for going into labor with our first daughter, Emily, just five hours after they left the Governor’s Mansion.”

Born in 1925, Gates Sr. grew up in Bremerton, where his parents owned a furniture store. He joined the Army following his freshman year at the University of Washington (UW) and was en route to Japan when it surrendered in 1945.

He served a year in war-torn Tokyo before returning to the United States and resuming his education, his family said.

After earning his law degree in 1950, he began working in private practice and as a part-time Bremerton city attorney.

Gates Sr. formed a Seattle law firm with two other partners that eventually became Preston Gates and Ellis—now known as K&L Gates, one of the world’s largest law firms. “He was a giant in the legal community,” said former Gov. Gary Locke.

He made his greater impact in his later years, helping create and oversee the Gates Foundation. I remember being on a bus with him as part of a campaign tour.

All he talked about was what we needed to do to emphasize and strengthen our colleges and universities in the state of Washington. He was a champion…. He was so dedicated to education.”

Gates retired from law in 1998 and took on prominent roles with the Gates Foundation, helping launch its work in global health.

Gates Jr. wrote in the tribute, “The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation would not be what it is today without my dad. More than anyone else, he shaped the values of the foundation. He was collaborative, judicious, and serious about learning.” He added, “When I am at my best, I know it is because of what I learned from my dad about respecting women, honoring individuality, and guiding children’s choices with love and respect.”

“He was kind, generous and fully engaged—always ready to go above and beyond to make the Pacific Northwest and the world a better place,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal in a statement. “It was my honor to have had the opportunity to witness his

Ruth can be reached at editor@ nwasianweekly.com

KEIRO from 1 members have routinely refused to commit to making any commitment about the funds.

Bryce Seidl, interim president of Keiro NW and Nikkei Manor, would not guarantee that the funds from the sale would go to sustaining Nikkei Manor. “Our current operations are concentrated at Nikkei Manor. However, the Keiro board of directors has a responsibility to its mission of supporting the needs of aging Japanese and Asian American residents. The ways they choose to fulfill the mission may well go beyond the operation of Nikkei Manor. Nikkei Manor must be able to become financially sustainable over the long run,” he said in an email.

The vow that Nikkei Manor must become financially sustainable had been repeated by management even before the sale. Current Keiro NW board members did not respond to email queries for this article.

At the same time, the advent of COVID-19 and its disastrous impact on assisted living and other retirement communities may have complicated the future of Nikkei Manor.

Before the pandemic, Nikkei Manor had a waiting list of over 100 people, according to family members with residents. But now, the assisted living community, like many others of its kind, has vacancies, in part at least due to the widespread fear of moving elders into places typically hit hard by the coronavirus.

“Nationally, vacancies have increased everywhere with the fears everywhere about any senior living environment.

The data shows nursing homes have taken the brunt of the impact from the virus with much less trouble at assisted living facilities,” said Seidl.

Still, Nikkei Manor, unlike other high-end assisted living communities in the area, has maintained a zero infection rate, he said.

“Nikkei Manor, because of its wonderful staff and site leadership and help from the families of the residents, has remained COVID-19 free!” he said.

“We do have vacancies and are actively marketing them as the COVID-19 restrictions are moving towards more leniency. Now, where restrictions are being lifted, vacancies are filling. We expect to be able to meet the pent up needs as this happens around here,” he added.

The future of the Keiro property The future of the Yesler property, which is one mile from Nikkei Manor, is part of a vision of Africatown as a thriving community that empowers marginalized groups that have been systematically oppressed.

The Keiro building would be torn down

asianweekly northwest

3

and replaced with affordable housing for multiple income levels, giving preference to those with roots in the area, according to a new program by the city that offers incentives for such developments.

“We envision a heritage rich, anti-displacement project that honors the communities that have been displaced from the neighborhood, including indigenous First Nations and Japanese/ Pan-Asian communities, and we've launched a cross-community planning process,” said Garrett.

While the details of the project are still under development, he said the project has already received support in the communities they plan to serve.

“We are fortunate to have good support and participation from stakeholders in both communities thus far,” he said.

Some of the earlier projects of Africatown may give a hint what the property might accommodate or even look like. One of these was the Liberty Bank Building, affordable housing developed in a partnership between Africatown and several other non-profits.

The cheapest unit in the building starts at $526 per month, according to Garrett. The minimum annual income for that apartment would be $15,000.

The design of the website seems to reflect the intended trajectory of the building. Community Roots Housing (formerly called Capitol Hill Housing) has pledged to make the building available to Black ownership in 15 years.

“Community Roots Housing will develop a partnership with Byrd Barr Place and Africatown that provides the opportunity for African American community-based ownership of the building. Byrd Barr Place will have both a right of first offer and first right of refusal to acquire Liberty Bank after 15 years,” states the building’s website.

For Garrett, the project is the beginning of a long process to try to mitigate hundreds of years of preventing Blacks and other people of color from gaining significant equity.

“Blacks were here before the founding of Washington as a state, but today, Blacks have nearly nothing in terms of real equity, no commercial space, no high rises, no manufacturing space, no port space, no companies of significant size,” he said.

“How do we ensure that there even is a Black community in the future, or a panAsian community, in Seattle?” he added.

Their coming together, he said, would be “monumental.”  To search for housing in the Liberty Bank Building, go to libertybankbuilding.org.

Mahlon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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38 YEARS

SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR SEP 17 VIRTUAL NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERSHIP GATHERING: COVID-19 COMMUNITY IMPACT AND RESPONSE 7-8:30 p.m.

RSVP to neighborhoodoutreach@bellevuewa. gov 425-452-6836 MARILYN STRICKLAND FOR CONGRESS FUNDRAISER 4-5 p.m.

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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.”

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YOUR VOICE

■ ON THE SHELF

SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

asianweekly northwest

STEPPING

OUT

from someone else’s shadow NWAW’s must-reads

By Samantha Pak Northwest Asian Weekly

“Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop”

By Roselle Lim Penguin Random House, 2020

Vanessa Yu has always been able to see people’s fortunes and misfortunes in tea leaves. It’s a gift she never asked for, a gift she never wanted. And when she sees death for the first time—following an unfortunate appointment with a matchmaker—it’s a gift she desperately wants to get rid of, but she’ll settle for controlling it. Otherwise, how can she truly live?

So when her eccentric, fortune-telling Aunt Evelyn shows up, Vanessa accepts her offer to go to Paris to help set up a new shop location for their family’s tea business, as well as learn more about her gifts. Vanessa begins to realize that knowing your destiny isn’t a curse, but not being able to change it is.

“Tea Shop” takes place in the same world of magi-

cal realism as her previous book, a world in which fortunes can be found in more than just the bottom of a teacup and red threads of fate are real. Despite this, we have characters dealing with issues many of us can relate to: wanting to find love, nosy loved ones who think they know what’s best for you, wanting to be your own person, and not have outside forces dictate your future.

This helps ground the story and balance out the more magical elements.

Vanessa is a strong character who knows what she wants and what she doesn’t.

It might take her a moment to work up the nerve to voice her thoughts (like many people), but she knows what she is worth and knows what she deserves and has reached a point in her life where she won’t settle—a great lesson

for many of us.

Lim also introduces readers to many members of the Yu family, from Vanessa’s loving parents to her interfering army of aunties.

I personally enjoyed reading about the latter’s antics and the lengths they would go in the name of family.

“A Sweet Mess”

By Jayci Lee Griffin, 2020 With running her highly successful bakery, Comfort Zone, and working on its expansion, Aubrey Choi doesn’t have time to date. But when her one night stand, Landon Kim, turns out to be a celebrity food critic and a cake mixup leads to him giving

her bakery a horrible review, she’s left with a mess that could destroy her business.

To make up for his mistake, Landon offers Aubrey a spot on a celebrity cooking

see SHELF on 12

THANK YOU FOR WEARING A MASK. YOU’RE SAVING LIVES. Mask Up To open up, Washington! coronavirus.wa.gov/masks

5

6

asianweekly northwest

SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

■ PUBLISHER'S BLOG Why most Asian immigrants know Trump lied about COVID-19 Renowned journalist Bob Woodward’s book, “Rage,” has shown that President Trump lied about COVID-19. In February, Trump told Woodward on tape that he was briefed on Jan. 28 that COVID-19 was a deadly disease, but he downplayed it when he talked to the public several times later.

With or without reading the book, I knew then we wouldn’t, couldn’t, and shouldn’t treat the coronavirus like the flu. Trump’s lies don’t make any difference in the way I think, live, or work to prevent the virus. My husband and I agree that we wouldn’t have changed a thing in our home since the lockdown. Although we wish COVID-19 would disappear, we know realistically that it is not going to happen soon.

Since March, we have treated the virus seriously from the time Gov. Jay Inslee implemented sheltering-in to social distancing, to wearing masks. It’s not that we are smarter than the general public. It’s who we are, where we came from, and the

Photo from the Govenor's office

By Assunta Ng NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Gov. Jay Inslee at a food bank

China

POPULATION 1,439,323,776

CASES 85,202

DEATHS 4,634

Hong Kong

7,496,981

4,975

102

India

1,380,004,385

4,930,236

80,776

Japan

126,476,461

76,445

1,463

Malaysia

32,365,999

9,969

128

Philippines South Korea

109,581,078 51,269,185

269,407 22,391

4,663 367

Taiwan

23,816,775

499

7

Thailand

69,799,978

3,480

58

Vietnam

97,338,579

1,063

35

U.S. POPULATION 331,409,864

DEATHS 195,053 (as of 9/16/2020) Information credit: U.S. CDC

Information credit: worldometers.info and CNN News

experiences of my immigrant coworkers and the Chinese community, which taught us valuable lessons from the spread of SARS in China in 2003.

At first, not all my employees

believed that wearing masks were effective in fighting the virus. It also became a contentious issue in my office. Who could blame one of my staff members when even U.S. health officials dismissed wearing

masks earlier? Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Roberts tweeted in February that people should stop buying masks, but later reversed his message. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also gave mixed messages. Fauci changed his message only on June 16 in a network interview, telling people to wear masks and not ear-

lier because there weren’t enough supplies for protective equipment, including masks, for the health professionals then.

Non-Asians jeered Asian immigrants wearing masks. If they only knew what we went through in our native lands. When SARS spread in China in March 2003, I was in Hong Kong. People traveled freely between the Hong Kong and China borders, and even more so during the Lunar New Year. The Chinese government issued no warning. At the time, it was also difficult for anyone to know that it was such a contagious disease. Then, SARS spread to Hong Kong.

People didn’t know what it was until one severe case spread to over 300 people. A person from Shenzhen, China, infected with SARS, visited his brother who lived in Amoy Gardens, a 35-story apartment building in Hong Kong, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. At first, it infected 107 residents. Then, it spread to more people, including see BLOG on page 11

Weekly Specials

KING COUNTY NOTICE TO BIDDERS Proposals will be received for P00274P20, Owner Advisory, Project Management, and Construction Management & Inspection Services for Atlantic Base Refurbishment Project; by the King County Procurement and Payables Section, via email at procurement. submittals@kingcounty.gov, until 12:00 PM on October 12, 2020.

This contract is funded by the Federal Transit Administration. There is a 15% minimum requirement for Washington State Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises Certified Federal Small Business Enterprise (SBE) firms on this contract.

38 YEARS

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All solicitation documents are published at: https:// procurement.kingcounty.gov/procurement_ovr/login. aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fprocurement_ovr%2fdefault.aspx Contact: Alice Phoenix, alice.phoenix@kingcounty.gov, 206-263-9311

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SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

YOUR VOICE

■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

asianweekly northwest

7

By Kamna Shastri REAL CHANGE, REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION

The ti leaf is dark green and glossy. Using her hands, Kalei’okalani Matsui deftly weaves, folds, shapes and bends the leaves into a rope, adding more leaves to elongate the lei. Her fingers move quickly, bracelets clinking gently around her wrists from the movement of well practiced wilii, the technique of twisting and weaving together lei.

Matsui was born and raised in Hawaii, but it was only after she moved to Seattle that she found herself called to make lei. Deeply steeped in her Native Hawaiian heritage, Matsui felt urgent questions pressing her into action the longer she stayed on the mainland: How do I continue being Indigenous without being in the land I am indigenous to? Am I even Indigenous anymore?

A larger force called to Matsui, and she was compelled to find raffia rope, lo and pua, leaves and flowers and wrap them together to create lei.

“I honestly felt like my heritage was working through my fingers, helping me to know where to ex-

actly place things. Somehow I was creating this lei I had never made before, and it looked like I had for a very long time,” Matsui said.

Living in Washington, it was going to be a challenge to find the same leaves and flowers that one would use to weave a lei in Hawaii.

So Matsui scouted a local Northwest wholesale florist who orders flowers from Hawaii but also from California and Washington.

“It doesn’t look Native Hawaiian because it doesn’t have the Native Hawaiian flowers, but I don’t look Native Hawaiian too sometimes and that doesn’t mean I am not,” Matsui said.

MOTION

Hawaii has been idealized in popular discourse as a state that has figured out how to balance, accept and blend all of its cultural influences, where being a multiracial person is not something to be questioned the way it is in the fraught landscape of American identity politics. But Matsui says even in a place like Hawaii that has interwoven cultural influences, people still categorize one another.

Matsui has Japanese, Chinese, Black and Native Hawaiian ancestry and has felt pulled in all

Photo from Real Change News

FINDING MANA Kalei’okalani Matsui and her Huraiti Mana group present at the Nisei Veterans Hall in Seattle.

four directions. She attended Kamehameha schools, a school system set up specifically for Native Hawaiian children. Anyone who joins must show proof of Native Hawaiian blood.

This concept of blood quantum turns identity and race into a measurement. “It’s difficult because there was so much debate about how Hawaiian you were because of blood quantum. Blood quantum was such a huge thing among little fourth graders arguing about that,” Matsui said and explained how students would compare the percentage of blood quantum: The more “Hawaiian” her classmates deemed someone, the more say that person had in defining what it means to be “Hawaiian.”

“The history of mixed blood and identity [runs] so deep, and we never unpacked that in our education—where you feel that’s

the one place you could. So there was difficulty there.”

When it came time to choose a second language class, Matsui chose Japanese because her father’s family had stopped speaking Japanese during the plantation era in Hawaii and Matsui wanted to be able to connect with that part of her heritage. She was ridiculed for choosing Japanese over Hawaiian, which was a dying language that required a conscious cultural effort for revival.

Matsui is also Chinese, but because of an animosity toward the Chinese in Hawaii, she didn’t feel she could claim that either. “And then don’t even get me started about being Black as well, because when you look at me, you wouldn’t know I was Black because of my features, but when you look at my mother, that is a beautiful Black woman. When I walk into places

with my mom, they don’t think we’re together,” Matsui said.

Matsui’s mother is also Native Hawaiian, but she couldn’t access her own heritage easily as a result of generations of oppression, colonizaton and cultural genocide imposed on Native Hawaiian people by colonizers and the forces of American imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries.

“We weren’t allowed to speak Hawaiian; we weren’t allowed to dance hula; we weren’t allowed to practice anything that our ancestors had. So, my mother herself hadn’t been connected to language or dance, but she was very motivated to allow us to at least have that opportunity to taste it, to feel it, to know it,” Matsui said.

That was how Matsui began learning Polynesian dance, both see MANA on page 9

8

asianweekly northwest

38 YEARS

SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Image by NWAW

■ TECHNOLOGY

TIKTOK OWNER PICKS ORACLE OVER MICROSOFT AS U.S. TECH PARTNER

By Matt O’Brien and Tali Arbel ASSOCIATED PRESS Oracle said Sept. 14 that the Chinese owner of TikTok has picked the U.S. company to be its “trusted technology provider,“ beating out rival Microsoft in a deal that could help keep the popular video-sharing app running in the U.S. Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger said she was confirming remarks made by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who told CNBC that TikTok’s parent

company, ByteDance, submitted its proposal to the U.S. government for approval.

“We did get a proposal over the weekend that includes Oracle as the trusted technology partner with Oracle making many representations for national security issues,“ Mnuchin said.

Mnuchin said there’s also a commitment to make TikTok’s global operations a U.S.-headquartered company with 20,000 new jobs.

TikTok said in a Sept. 14 state-

ment that its proposal to the Treasury Department should “resolve the Administration’s security concerns’’ and emphasized the importance of its app to the 100 million users it claims in the U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to ban TikTok by Sept. 20 and ordered owner ByteDance to sell its U.S. business, claiming national security risks due to its Chinese ownership. The government worries see TIKTOK on 10

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SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

YOUR VOICE

hula and ‘ori Tahiti, when she was 6 years old. For two weeks, Matsui would come back from class crying because her legs were in pain from the half-squatting position needed for dance. By the end of the trial period, her mother asked if she wanted to quit. Matsui said no: She wanted to keep learning not just one dance form, but two.

In the months that followed, young Matsui was introduced to the rhythms of the toere drum and the rich, multilayered lyrics of oli, or chants, that were part of the tradition of learning hula and ‘ori Tahiti.

In these traditions, Matsui, who was at the time shy, quiet and “scared of noise,” found her voice and inner power. With drum beats echoing in her head, dance started to transform her sense of inner strength. “Looking back, I had found my mana, my spiritual power, my source. And I put that out in my oli, and I was so proud to be the loudest one in class.

“The Kumu would be like, ‘You got to “oli” like Kalei—see how loud she is?’ And I’d be like ‘loud? Me?’ And equating that with strength.”

Matsui began to learn dance shortly after she had experienced trauma from sexual assault. She says some of her introversion arose as a coping mechanism to deal with that trauma, and the process of healing has been lifelong. Movement and dance was pivotal in helping Matsui reclaim her strength and her sense of self.

“It was a huge deal to feel so connected to my body, to feel like I know what my body is doing: If I am feeling certain emotions, I’m feeling exactly where my hands are being placed; I know how my legs will be able to carry me into telling this story,” she said. “So in the physical sense, being connected to this motion that my ancestors had created … flowing through me … it was very healing. If I didn’t have that at that time in my life, I don’t know how I would have overcome that trauma.”

The language and practice of hula and ‘ori Tahiti have not only grounded Matsui to her own mana and healing; it has instilled in her a deep fascination with and respect for the Polynesian value of interconnectedness, meaning life and time move in a spiral rather than in a linear fashion and people are deeply intertwined with one another and with the land they share.

“I feel motivated to share this feeling with other people in the physical sense, but also culturally and spiritually. I have come to embrace what it really means to identify with what I identify, which is my background, my lineage, my heritage,” Matsui said. “I want everyone to realize this perspective: the Polynesian perspective of interconnectedness and shared roots.”

Matsui followed her older sister to Washington and attended Seattle University in the late 2000s just as her sister had previously. Matsui got involved with a Hawaiian student club and was compelled to share her love of dance with other students, many of whom had never danced before.

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people were and to be proud of it and to share that with their Ohana … feeling this joy from what was once fear. And that put a whole fire in me,” Matsui said. “I was like WOW, we can do this, we can do that for people!”

Then Matsui started teaching dance there. She had so much to offer—her passion, dedication and excitement for dance and Hawaiian culture comes through every time she talks about it—but after seven years at SU, she felt it was time to move on. By then, Matsui was working at the Wing Luke Museum full time, and was thinking about how to keep dancing and teaching in her life.

Photo from Real Change News

MANA from 7

asianweekly northwest

KULEANA In 2017, Matsui created Huraiti Mana—Huraiti means “closeness to dance” in Tahiti and Mana means “spiritual power” in Hawaiian—with a broader vision of sharing dance as more than an art form. When Matsui really started teaching on her own, her sense of purpose was shadowed by looming insecurity.

“Feeling totally dedicated and serious and proud about it is one thing, but to have to flip it and teach that same etiquette [and] purpose—it took me to a whole different level. Empowerment and pride, but at the same time extreme insecurity and worry that I wasn’t good enough.”

She explained that the feelings of whether she was “Hawaiian” enough to teach, or whether she had reached the level of artistry to really be a leader, plagued her.

“And realizing that my kuleana wasn’t just to teach choreography; it was to teach perspective, ideology, values and all that good stuff. Then I felt the pressure,” she said.

Matsui’s family—her mother, her sister, even her little niece— were her biggest sources of support, reminding her that her dedication to dance was more than enough proof of her integrity.

In the early days of Huraiti Mana, Matsui applied to teach hula and ‘ori Tahiti at Hazel Valley Elementary through an English as a second language

Kalei’okalani Matsui and her Huraiti Mana group present at the Nisei Veterans Hall in Seattle.

program. Working with children was a turning point, as Matsui began playing the gourd drum herself and sharing oli with a much younger age group.

“Being able to tell mo’olelo, stories, legend, and being able to incorporate that into our hula.

That also helped me with my insecurities,” Matsui said.

Matsui eventually found the perfect home for Huraiti Mana at a small community dance studio in the Chinatown-International District for dancers of all backgrounds and levels to gather and take multiple classes a week. But Matsui didn’t realize what she would manifest was more than just teaching dance and Polynesian values—“I didn’t realize I’d make a community.”

“I wanted to instill a skillset, be able to share who I am, empower people, feel connectivity—I had all that intention— and still yet not realize that creating this placenta around Huraiti Mana, we are creating a community together.” Matsui’s practice and her sharing were circling back to the crucial tenet of interconnectedness.

The community spirit at Huraiti Mana is so strong that Matsui says they did not even “skip a beat” when the city closed down to prevent the spread of COVID. By the next class, Matsui had gotten all her students online. In

fact, the technology has allowed her community to expand beyond those who can make it to in-person classes. Students who have since moved away are able to join again and Matsui has had to add more classes to her teaching schedule.

This summer when Black Lives Matter protests swept the nation and grew, Matsui found herself thinking deeply about not only the larger societal inequities affecting Black people, but also how she constantly navigates the tensions of race versus identity. She talked a lot with friends and family but, as always, found herself reaching back to dance and the Huraiti Mana community to find calm as well as a call to action.

In July, Matsui held a workshop to raise funds for Black Women’s Blueprint, which works to end sexual violence againt Black women and girls; this is one of many ways Matsui is making a large impact with dance.

In every class, she conducts a breathing exercise which invokes “ha,” the breath of life.

Matsui says that focusing on the concept and lived practice of “ha,” a shared breath, reminds her to reach beyond her own personal struggles, to lift up her voice for “the people who live through the world unable to walk as themselves.”

“Considering how George Floyd wasn’t able to breathe, we can right here right now lift up our ha. Let’s lift up through him and into everyone who cannot breathe,” Matsui said. “I found that is where my kuleana is.”

CONNECTED Going back to the practice of making lei, Matsui says it is hand in hand with the ethos of Huraiti Mana for her. She knows she doesn’t look distinguishably Native Hawaiian to others though it is her core, her backbone much like the lei she makes.

“Just because it doesn’t look Native Hawaiian on the surface, when we flip the lei over, flip all the northwest flowers over, and you see that wili and you see that perfect spiral covering every inch. That is so beautifully Hawaiian.”

Hauraiti Mana manifests from offering oneself to the world, as Matsui does with her dedication to teaching dance. “You put all of your mana into it; you put your ha into it and it culminates when you then give it away,” said Matsui. “I’m putting who I am. I am putting in my stories into that lei.

And I hope to give that lei to my huraiti and my community and have them be adorned with all that aloha, that love.” 

10

asianweekly northwest

38 YEARS

SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

CLASSIFIED NOTiCE

NOTiCE

NOTiCE

NOTiCE

NOTiCE

Superior Court of Washington, County of King Bashir Dahir and and Halima Omar Petitioners, and Habiba Abdi and Bashir Mohamed Respondents No. 20-3-04101-1 KNT Summons By Publication To the Respondent: Bashir Dahir and and Halima Omar, The petitioner has started an action in the above court requesting Non-Parent Custody. Give custody of the child to a non-parent.

You must respond to this summons by serving a copy of your written response on the person signing this summons and by filing the original with the clerk of the court. If you do not serve your written response within 20 days (or 60 days if you served outside of the state of WA) after the first publication of this summons(60 days after September 19, 2020), the court may enter an order of default against you, and the court may, without further notice to you, enter a decree and approve or provide for other relief requested in this summons. In case of a dissolution, the court will not enter the final decree until at least 90 days after service and filing. If you serve a notice of appearance on the undersigned person, you are entitled to notice before an order of default or a decree may be entered.

Your written response to the summons and petition must be FL Non-Parent 415, Response to Non-Parent Custody Petition. Information about how to get this form may be obtained by contacting the clerk of the court, by contacting the Administrative Office of the Courts at (360) 705-5328, or Washington LawHelp: www.washingtonlawhelp.org. If you wish to seek the advice of an attorney in this matter, you should do so promptly so that your written response, if any, may be served on time.

This summons if issued pursuant to RCW 4.28.100 and Superior Court Civil Rule 4.1 of the State of Washington. Dated 9/4/2020. Serve a Copy of Your Response on: Habiba Abdi and Bashir Mohamed, File your Original Response with the Clerk of the Court at: King County Superior Ct 516 3rd Ave Seattle, WA 98104.

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about user data being funneled to Chinese authorities.

TikTok denies it is a national security risk and is suing to stop the administration from enacting the threatened ban.

If the arrangement is approved by the U.S. government, TikTok would be allowed to continue operating.

Microsoft said in a Sept. 13 statement that ByteDance “let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft.’’ Microsoft added it was “confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests.’’ The company said it “would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combating disinformation.’’

TikTok, which says it has 100 million U.S. users and about 700 million globally, is known for its fun, goofy videos of dancing, lip-syncing, pranks and jokes. It’s recently

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become home to more political content such as the comedian Sarah Cooper, who drew a large audience by lip-syncing Trump’s often-disjointed statements from public appearances.

The deal had come together rapidly after the Trump administration ramped up its threats against TikTok this summer, despite TikTok’s efforts to put distance between its app and its Chinese ownership. It installed former Disney executive Kevin Mayer as its American CEO, but he resigned in August after just a few months on the job, saying the “political environment has sharply changed.’’

Oracle primarily makes database software. It competes with Microsoft and Amazon that provide cloud services as well as business-software specialists like Salesforce.

Some analysts see Oracle’s interest in a consumer business as misguided. Oracle should focus on enterprise-market acquisitions and not invest in a consumer app like TikTok that doesn’t fit with the rest of its busi-

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ness, said Jefferies analyst Brent Thill, who compares the idea to Delta Airlines buying a motorcycle company. “It doesn’t make any sense,’’ he said.

Thill suggested that TikTok competitors like Facebook and Snapchat should be “cheering on Oracle’’ as a buyer, because Oracle wouldn’t “add a lot of value to the app.’’

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison is unusual among tech executives for his public support of Trump, hosting a fundraiser for him in February at his Rancho Mirage, California, estate. The company also hired a former top aide to Vice President Mike Pence; its CEO, Safra Catz, also served on Trump’s transition team.

The president said on Aug. 18 that Oracle was “a great company’’ that “could handle’’ buying TikTok. He declined to state his preference between Oracle and Microsoft as buyers.

“We have a lot of confidence in both Microsoft and Oracle,’’ Mnuchin said. “They’ve chosen Oracle.’’ 

SOLUTION from SUDOKU on page 4.

W

e, at the Seattle Chinese Post and Northwest Asian Weekly, are doing our

best to gather news and bring it to you on a weekly basis. Due to the unprecedented situation we all face now, we may not always be able to distribute our publications to the general public in the future. As always, our content is available online at SeattleChinesePost.com and NWAsianWeekly.com. Thank you for your continued support and readership.

SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

YOUR VOICE

■ ASTROLOGY

asianweekly northwest

11

Predictions and advice for the week of September 19–25, 2020

By Sun Lee Chang

Rat—You tend to be far less filtered than your counterparts. Some will find your honesty refreshing.

Dragon—You excel at seeing the big picture.

Take the lead with that ability, while others are lost in the details.

Monkey—Are competing interests muddying the waters? Let things settle a bit before proceeding further.

Ox—Living your truth can be uncomfortable at first, but it should eventually lead to a feeling of greater freedom.

Snake—It can be easy to say too much. More words do not correlate with heightened impact.

Rooster—You can’t go back and change the past, but you have the power to do things differently in the future.

Tiger—Do you see room for improvement? To avoid regret later on, take action to close the gap.

Horse—Knowing when to step back is as important as recognizing when to step in. Trust your well- honed instincts.

Dog—Don’t force two mismatched pieces together. You will be better served searching for a better match.

Rabbit—It is hard to see too far down the road now, but with perseverance, you should reach your destination.

Goat—If your first choice isn’t available, try a substitute. It could actually wind up being a better option.

Pig—Save only what is worth keeping. In doing so, you can minimize accumulating things that are expendable.

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.

BLOG from 6 doctors and nurses who treated the patient, according to the Journal of Royal Society of Medicine.

It happened in other Asian countries as well, several got infected with the disease, and all traced back their origins to one person. These news stories were exploding all over Asia.

My family members and my husband’s family were in Hong Kong. For months, they were afraid, self-quarantined, and avoided going out. Every building was being sanitized and workers spent much of their time cleaning public spaces. The government had issued lockdowns to those buildings with infected residents. I could have been infected at the time, as none of us took any precautions. It was when I left Hong Kong that we learned that the disease called SARS was invading other Asian cities. It sent chills down my spine when I read two weeks later back home in America how Hong Kong doctors and nurses got sick with SARS. Asian countries have not forgotten what happened to them during SARS. I have not forgotten what happened to my family

during SARS—in tremendous fear, anxiety, and stress. Hong Kong people have learned from SARS, and applied their knowledge for COVID-19. The first thing everyone did was wear masks to protect themselves and other people, and social distance. To stop the spread is the goal. Now, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Vietnam have much fewer cases of infections and deaths than the United States because their citizens knew the viciousness of the virus, and took extensive precautions early. Because these countries know how to trace from the origin to the spread effectively and efficiently, they are able to contain the spread.

When COVID-19 first started in our state in February, my staff member Nancy, an immigrant from Taiwan and the first one in our office to wear a mask, said she would change her work schedule as she was concerned about the virus. Instead of beginning her day before 9 a.m., she would arrive after 10:30 a.m. and leave at 3 p.m. to avoid peak-hour crowds on the Light Rail. A few weeks later, she requested to come in to work on Saturday alone.

I asked Nancy why she was extra cautious.

“China has implemented tough policy and

lockdowns at Wuhan, the whole city, to fight the virus. My friends and relatives in Taiwan have warned me not to be reckless. COVID-19 is a cruel disease.

And I have learned from other people’s experiences.”

Strange, my American-born son has treated COVID-19 as an enemy. He kept asking, “Why are our employees still in the office?” John has researched so much on COVID and safety guidelines that I consulted him how to implement safety procedures in our office.

So March 2 was the first issue we published where the majority of Seattle Chinese Post (SCP) and all Northwest Asian Weekly’s employees worked from home. On March 17, the SCP team met in our office for a short meeting to improve our working-at-home and communication process. I am grateful even though we haven’t seen each other for months, we can collaborate beautifully and happily.

BEING A JOURNALIST Another reason why I didn’t listen to Trump’s COVID-19 perspectives has to do with my job. We journalists can’t take things at face value. We ask questions, verify facts, and study all the implications of the issue. We report both sides of the issue. Often, more than one side to enhance understanding of the topic.

For Trump to say that we shouldn’t be worrying about COVID-19, can he explain the high numbers of deaths and infections in America? It’s record-breaking. It has killed more Americans than the Vietnam War, and he still says that it is not a dangerous disease. Numbers don’t lie. If we don’t take it seriously, more deaths will result as reported by the University of Washington health experts. I can’t understand why people still say it’s a hoax. Why Trump’s supporters want to fool themselves is deeply troubling.

If you are not sure about the truth of the news, Facebook posts, headlines and images, or things you see on the internet, there are websites to help you to fact check such as FactCheck. org, PolitiFact, Snopes.com, and Hoax-Slayer.com. You can also submit any request to Snopes if you’d like to verify your finding. You can also use Seattle Public Library’s service. Go to SPL.org and click on “Ask Us.”

ONE LIFE TO LIVE Some people say, “I don’t like wearing masks, period, “I want to party,” ”I can’t go on without visiting bars.”

But the risks of these behaviors are high for you and other people. Some say he is not afraid. But that’s not courage.

It’s stupidity and arrogance. Even strong people have died of COVID-19. Is liberty more important than your life? If you die, you won’t be able to enjoy any liberty. So why take the chance? It’s too late to say, “I think I made a mistake,” like a young man who died in July after attending a COVID party (to test if he would get infected from someone with COVID-19) in Texas. Too late for regrets. You have only one life to live. Why risk it?

In a Chinese classic on filial piety, it is said, “Our body, hair, and skin are given by our parents. Everything that we have, is given by our parents.” We have a duty to keep ourselves healthy, and not get sick. It’s a way of exhibiting filial piety.

Our body is a gift from our parents. Several years while my dad was alive, I called him on my birthday, “Thank you for giving me life.” My father never raised me, my stepfather did. However, without my dad and mom, I would never exist.

Your life is precious. You can contribute a lot more to your community by being alive.

TRUST SCIENCE I don’t trust Trump because I trust science more than just words of exaggeration, misrepresentation, and dramatization. Trump is a businessman. He doesn’t understand science. Nor does he respect science. And no, he is not interested in learning science for the sake of his country. He cares only about himself and getting re-elected.. What’s worse, he thinks he’s smarter than scientists. That’s scary to me. Whatever he says, please take note whether it’s an assumption or emotion, check the data and facts so you don’t have to suffer the consequences.

The easiest way is to Google it. Or talk to experts before you jump to conclusions.

No one has to be a victim of COVID if you know how to protect yourself and loved ones. Nor do you have to be a victim of falsehood.  Assunta can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly.com.

12

asianweekly northwest

SHELF from 5 show he’s producing. She begrudgingly accepts to save her bakery and reputation, but wants nothing more to do with Landon.

Of course, these intentions go out the window as Aubrey and Landon find themselves in close living quarters and growing even closer.

“Sweet Mess” is a fun, romantic comedy with two people who are both trying to become their own people, away from the harmful legacies of their fathers.

Aubrey is smart and determined to show her parents that she can be successful and doesn’t need their money, power, or privilege. Landon gave up his dream of opening his own restaurant to pick up the pieces his father left and to be there for his mother and brother. Needless to say, they both bring baggage to the relationship and it’s satisfying to see how they each deal with their issues.

In addition to reading about two complex and complicated characters, it was also refresh-

ing to see two people who don’t fit the stereotypical image of what it means to be a successful Asian American (in this case, Aubrey and Landon are Korean American). Lee shows readers that we are more than just doctors, lawyers, and engineers, and we can look good while doing it.

This was something else I really appreciated. While strides have been made, the romance genre still leans very white so it was great to see two Asian American characters who are not exoticized. They’re just an everyday couple who fall in love and overcome many obstacles to be together.

“Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch”

By Julie Abe Little, Brown Books, 2020 More than anything, Eva Evergreen wants to earn her rank as a Novice Witch before her 13th birthday. Otherwise, she’ll lose her magic forever. All she

“This was something else I really appreciated. While strides have been made, the romance genre still leans very white so it was great to see two Asian American characters who are not exoticized.”

has to do is find a town in her realm, live there for one moon and help said town (by doing good all around), and fly back home on a broomstick.

The only problem? Eva only has a pinch of magic, not very impressive as the daughter of one of the most powerful witches in the realm. To make things worse, her magic doesn’t always work the way it should and whenever she overuses it, she falls asleep.

So when she lands in Auteri,

ACRS from 1 basic needs that many in the community might need during the pandemic. “We are seeing an increase in request to provide meals for older adults who are homebound and to provide bags of grocery to other vulnerable individuals and families. Given the rapidly evolving situation with the pandemic, our staff have been working diligently to adjust and respond.”

Byun noted that many of the Asian American and Pacific Islanders that they serve are hourly workers that run the risk of losing their jobs during the pandemic.

“There is a need to address immediate financial needs such as funds to pay rent, or buy medication or cover nonfood essentials like toilet paper.”

Similar to other organizations, ACRS has shifted its in-person services. One of the services is its food bank and it has made the service mobile. “Our food bank, senior meal, and emergency food programs have shifted their focus from site-based services to a delivery model.” In the CID, ACRS is partnering with the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation Development Authority to deliver bags of grocery to residents, mainly older AAPI adults with limited means, in eight buildings. For the residents, this is an important lifeline. In addition, it has helped process unemployment insurance claims via telephone instead of in-person interviews. ESL classes and its Youth Summer Programs are being held via Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangout. Byun noted that the one positive from the pandemic is that the online process has made everyone proficient in technology.

Even with the stay-at-home orders, ACRS realizes the importance of voting this November. “In the past, we've always worked with ACRS case managers to hold ballot parties with their clients,” stated ACRS Policy and Civic Engagement Director Shomya Tripathy. “This year, we will be reaching out to case managers to hold virtual ballot parties, where clients can learn about the ballot and how to fill it out.” In addition, ACRS will do phone banking in multiple languages for AAPI voters, as well as place ads in ethnic media outlets and send out mail reminders to residents in predominant AAPI neighborhoods.  Jason can be reached at info@ nwasianweekly.com.

38 YEARS

SEPTEMBER 19 – SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

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a quiet coastal town expecting a powerful witch, not a semi-magical girl, the residents are a little underwhelmed to say the least.

But Eva sets up a repair shop to help the people of Auteri, determined to prove she is worthy.

And she does help them, though some of her “semi-magical fixes” may take a more disastrous path toward their solution.

But when the town gets news that the biggest magical storm in history is coming their way, Eva’s pinch of magic may not be enough to protect them.

Eva is a clever young girl readers of all ages will be rooting for.

While her magical abilities may be limited, that doesn’t stop her

from trying her best to help others. While her young age may make her easier to dismiss, Eva refuses to be ignored. She makes mistakes and may not know everything, but that also doesn’t mean she knows nothing. I loved this about Eva and all of the young people in "Semi-Magical Witch." Abe shows readers that just because someone is young or that they may not be who or what you expected, it does not mean they cannot get something done, that they cannot make a change. And that is a lesson all of us can make note of.  Samantha can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.