ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT AZNxBLM 

#AZNXBLM

TWO MINORITIES UNITE IN ART AND ACTIVISM

By Andrew Hamlin

NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Kristin Leong

Getting Blacks and Asian Americans to come together, in art and in activism, isn’t the easiest thing in the world. But Seattle’s Kristin Leong, an author, activist, and KUOW radio producer, has a long history with both practices.

She felt a cultural and political need for the two sides to come together, to complete the collection of works she calls “#AZNxBLM.” The resulting collaborations will roll out through the Slants Foundation website, theslants. org/aznxblm, #AZNxBLM—The Slants Foundation; and also Leong’s own website, RockPaperRadio.com.

“When I published the call for #AZNxBLM proposals, we were one year into surging anti-Asian hate crimes

Boston-based family band Shimokita Bam Bam. From left: Junko Harris, Kari Harris, and Philip Harris. For #AZNxBLM, they produced an original song and music video. Photo credit: Junko and Philip Harris around the world, and one week ahead of the Atlanta spa shooting in March,” said Leong. “I was feeling like I had been shouting in the wind for a year trying to draw attention to the fact that our Asian community— especially our elders—were facing real fear and danger in the wake of the then-president’s ‘Kung Flu’ and ‘China Virus’ rhetoric.”

She learned a few painful truths from interviewing her own father.

“My dad’s a tough guy—he was a boxer and prone to fights and troublemaking in general in his youth. So it was especially heartbreaking to interview him, and learn that he was feeling afraid for himself when he went grocery shopping, and also for me because much of my public-facing work is focused on race and equity.”

Leong was born in

Honolulu, Hawaii, to a Chinese father and a white mother. Moving to Washington state in elementary school proved quite a culture shock. She wasn’t used to a mostlywhite suburb. Her sister and herself made two of the very few biracial kids in the

entire community.

She was the first in her family to graduate from college, completing her undergraduate at Sarah Lawrence college in Yonkers, New York, and a graduate degree at Seattle’s Antioch University. Settling in Seattle, she

see #AZNXBLM on 10

Silk Sonic being heartthrobs and Sandra Oh repeatedly crushing the dreams of suburban moms!

A-POP! ASIAN-Y POP CULTURE NEWS FOR INQUISITIVE MINDS!

By Stacy Nguyen

NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

It’s almost the summer of the Covid vaccine, and I’m real excited for it. It’s gonna be the summer of real sexy bangers because we can go outside now! It’s gonna be the summer where Sandra Oh just murders it while making us laugh. And it will also probably be the summer of the same ol’ sinister low-key racism that happens every day in pop culture.

But first, here’s the good stuff.

Meet Silk Sonic: new Asian duo for the most ardent fangirl inside of you

Undoubtedly by now, you must’ve heard “Leave The Door Open” on the radio or streaming station or from your kid’s iPad or however you get clued in on the latest jams—and I know you, like I did, swayed along nostalgically to Bruno Mars’ buttery smooth vocals the first time you heard it.

“Leave The Door Open” is a collaboration between Mars and his pal, Anderson .Paak, a singer, songwriter, rapper (and more). With their powers combined, they created a yet-to-bereleased album and became Silk Sonic. It’s that classic American story of two wildly talented people of color coming together to create something even greater than themselves.

But did you also know that Silk Sonic is basically an Asian American music duo! Like, for real, I did the math for us.

Fun facts! Mars was born in Hawaii to a Puerto Rican and Jewish dad and a Filipina mom. Anderson .Paak was born in California to a Korean mom who also has Black heritage. (He also happens to be married to a Korean American woman.)

So cool, right? Off the top of my head, I just cannot think of another Asian American music act with this kind of influence of clout. I also just love how they represent the diversity and breadth of the Asian American identity.

OMG, give it up, suburban moms—Sandra Oh is not coming back to your show

Once upon a time, Sandra Oh was doing a lot of interesting work on the indie circuit before she scored a role as a hyper-achieving, ultra-competitive BAMF on a super popular medical show based in Seattle. Then after a billion seasons doing the same ol’ thing on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Oh decided it was time to move on and do different stuff, like winning Golden Globes.

A lot of “Grey’s Anatomy” fans can’t get over it because they like consistency and for people to be frozen in time and to never grow or something—because Oh constantly gets asked if she will come back to a show that she left nearly a decade ago.

It’s gotten to the point where she had to constantly lay down real talk. On the LA Times’ Asian Enough podcast, Oh stated, “In some ways, you do your work as a bubble and you let it go. I left that show, my God, seven years ago almost. So in my mind, it’s gone. But for a lot

see A-POP on 9