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VOL 39 NO 15 APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020 FREE 38 YEARS YOUR VOICE
Bono to head response effort in Washington
Photo provided by A.B. Cruz III
Frontline AAPI nurses tell us what it’s like to fight COVID-19
Navy Vice Admiral Raquel Bono (2nd from left) and brother, Rear Admiral A.B. Cruz III (ret.) (2nd from right) with their parents.
Photo provided by PNCNA
By Jason Cruz NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Born in the Philippines and raised in Texas, Navy Vice Admiral Raquel Bono is the Washington state director for COVID-19 Health System Response Management. She is the first, female, medical, three-
Group photo of Pacific-Northwest Chinese Nurses Association
By Kai Curry NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY “[She] wears a mask when she cooks, then she takes it and eats it in her own room, trying not to have contact with her family,” said Weichao, a nurse and assistant professor at the University of Washington. The Northwest Asian Weekly
spoke with members of the Pacific-Northwest Chinese Nurses Association, who asked that only their first names be used due to employer restrictions, about what it’s like to work during this crisis. “What we’ve heard from folks in our organization, and taking care of COVID-19 patients, our organization has been donating masks and giving to those folks
so they wear a mask around their families,” said Weichao. While none of the nurses we spoke to have witnessed anyone pulling dramatically expanded working hours just yet, they acknowledged that everyone is extremely busy treating patients and addressing questions from concerned people that call in.
star general in the U.S. Navy and is currently a senior fellow with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. In a news release about her appointment last month, Gov. Jay Inslee said, “Vice Admiral Bono... brings an impressive medical background, a long and see BONO on 12
Asian American mothers combat racism to get aid
see NURSES on 11
DSHS buys shuttered nursing home, looking for provider OLYMPIA – The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is looking for a provider to operate a facility that it just bought to house non-COVID-19 patients. Located in Seattle’s Central District, the nursing home—previously known as Paramount Rehabilitation and Nursing—was closed in February and purchased last week for $13.5 million. It will house as many as 165 patients from local hospitals who test negative for COVID-19 and can receive the level of care they need in a long-term care setting. DSHS transitioned nearly 400 patients out of hospitals across Washington and into nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult family homes, or other settings of their choice in March. “Increasing hospital bed capacity is crucial during this crisis,” said Aging and Long-Term Support Administration Assistant Secretary Bill Moss. “We are committed to ensuring these patients continue to receive quality care, while at the same time helping to relieve some of the strain
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Former Paramount Health and Rehabilitation Center
on hospitals and health care workers on the front lines.” DSHS is now working to find a provider to operate the facility and hopes to have it reopened by early May. When asked if Kin On might want to become the provider, CEO Nigel Lo told the Northwest Asian Weekly that it would be difficult. see NURSING HOME on 9
By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY One threatened to get a lawyer. Another kept a journal. Another joined a charity relief effort. But in the end, they were still waiting to see if they would prevail. Northwest Asian Weekly reached out to half a dozen Asian American mothers that
are facing discrimination during the coronavirus outbreak. Some asked for anonymity. Others were willing to go on record. Though their experiences were different, each was deprived of her right to financial support through the use of subtle racist characterizations. Yet each found a way to disrupt the exploitation even while caring for children. see AAPI on 10
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asianweekly northwest
38 YEARS
APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020
■ COMMUNITY NEWS
Chinese Americans unite to get masks from China Call on some local officials goes unheeded
By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
in common efforts, but not the Chinese.”
Looking at the screen, she saw a bridge swoop away as the camera tilted upwards. Then the alarms sounded. The entire city ground to a halt. Taxi drivers honked horns. Doctors stood in a row, heads bowed. “Today is Tomb Sweeping Day in China,” said Qiong Chen. The day of mourning, on April 4, marked the end of the first period of isolation endured by city dwellers in Wuhan, where she is from. The next day, her mother walked out on the street wearing a mask Chen had provided her. Now Chen is trying to get masks to the Seattle area. After raising nearly a million dollars since January, she coordinated relief efforts first for Wuhan and the province of Hubei, buying supplies in China with donations from Chinese American groups here. Now she is bringing medical supplies here. As of press time, Chinese American groups in the Seattle
Trying to get help from local officials
Qiong Chen, lead organizer of relief efforts, in front of Evergreen hospital, which publicly thanked her group for their donations of medical supplies
area had donated and arranged for the delivery of almost a quarter of a million masks to hospitals and other health care facilities around the region. Normally divided and fractious, nearly every Chinese American group in the Seattle area has joined in the effort, bringing the total to over 65 organizations participating. “This is a historic moment,” said Chen. “The Japanese are culturally known for uniting
No one has labored harder than Chen, a former Microsoft software engineer and president of an educational nonprofit. Working around the clock for months, sleeping for short stretches in the afternoon so she can communicate with China, she has used her networking with dozens of factories and medical distributors there to gain access to shipments of hundreds of thousands of masks. But getting them here has been a problem. From the beginning, she has needed the approval of a local government agency to get them through customs. Adding to her difficulties, as the crisis worsened, the Chinese government began purchasing an increasing amount of masks for its national stockpile. Chen soon found it would take an official from Washington state to step in and make a formal request to either a local Chinese
government or the consulate in San Francisco. As of press time, she was negotiating for another shipment, this time of 20,000 KN95 masks. Chen—as she has done at least a dozen times over the past few months—is arranging with an agent in China to approach the factory on her behalf. In this case, she is in discussions with the office of Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin to arrange for shipping and passage of the masks through customs. Her group has previously split up large shipments of masks and other protective gear into smaller shipments to get them past customs and delivered to individuals’ homes. One such shipment of 30,000 of the most needed N95 masks had to be divided up into 10 separate packages. Earlier shipments, sent months earlier from spots all over China, have gone missing, with USPS tracking numbers going blank. Meanwhile, local governments and agencies have seemed slow to respond to opportunities
offered by this group of mostly scientists, software developers, and engineers who work for companies such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and the Gates Foundation. Last month, the Joint Information Center at Camp Murray told Chen it was unable to help her group move medical supplies through customs. The offices of other leaders have failed even to answer the phone, or sent back form letters. Contacted more recently, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s office responded by introducing Chen to the Washington China Relations Council, which is still working with Chen.
Desperate appeals for help
In the meantime, nearly every leading hospital in the greater Seattle area has reached out to the Chinese American community for help getting masks. Organizers have been fervently collecting masks from their see MASKS on 9
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APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020
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■ NATIONAL NEWS Sanders drops 2020 presidential bid By WILL WEISSERT WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders, who saw his once strong lead in the Democratic primary evaporate as the party’s establishment lined swiftly up behind rival Joe Biden, ended his presidential bid on April 8, an acknowledgment that the former vice president Sen. Bernie Sanders is too far ahead for him to have any reasonable hope of catching up. The Vermont senator’s announcement makes Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge President
Donald Trump in November. “The path toward victory is virtually impossible,” Sanders told supporters as he congratulated Biden. The former vice president is “a very decent man whom I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward.” Sanders initially exceeded sky-high expectations about his ability to recreate the magic of his 2016 presidential bid, and even overcame a heart attack last October. But he found himself unable to convert unwavering support from progressives into a viable path to the nomination amid “electability” fears fueled by questions about whether his democratic socialist ideology would be palatable to general election voters. The 78-year-old senator began his latest White House bid facing questions about whether he could win back the supporters who chose him four years ago as an insurgent
alternative to the party establishment’s choice, Hillary Clinton. Despite winning 22 states in 2016, there were no guarantees he’d be a major presidential contender this cycle, especially as the race’s oldest candidate. The coronavirus outbreak essentially froze Sanders’ campaign, preventing him from holding the large rallies that had become his trademark and shifting the primary calendar. It became increasingly unclear where he could notch a victory that would help him regain ground against Biden. In 2016, Sanders kept campaigning long after the primaries had ended and endorsed Clinton less than two weeks before their party’s convention. This cycle, he promised to work better with the national and state parties. His dropping out of the race now could be a step toward unity.
Asians blast Andrew Yang over op-ed
Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang drew backlash for urging fellow Asian Americans to display more “American-ness.” In a Washington Post editorial on April 1, he called on them to avoid confrontation and do acts of goodwill like volunteering and helping neighbors. “Being ‘the good Asian’ has not fared well for Asian Americans,” said Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. “We don’t have to prove our worth and that we belong, that we’re exceptional.
And we certainly don’t have to believe that this is something that we should ignore.” By the evening of April 2, more than 6,000 tweets had turned “Andrew Yang” into a trending name, with people criticizing Yang for suggesting that the burden should be on Asian people in the United States to prove that they deserve to be in the country. One person criticized Yang for saying Japanese Americans during World War II “volunteered for military duty at the highest possible levels to demonstrate
that they were Americans” as part of his argument. “This rhetoric is extremely dangerous and takes me back to the WWII camps, when Japanese Americans were encouraged to display their patriotism as a response to being treated like prisoners,” the person wrote on Twitter. Yang suspended his presidential campaign in February. His spokesman has declined to comment on the oped backlash.
Uwajimaya Village parking lot open for community use The Uwajimaya Village parking lot is now open for community use between 8 a.m.–9 p.m. Whether you’re getting take-out from a restaurant, grabbing some bubble tea, or supporting a local area business in any way—you can use the Uwajimaya Village Parking for up to one hour. Parking validation will not be required. Uwajimaya says it hopes to extend the open parking until further notice to continue to support neighboring businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, and ask that people use the lot in a responsible and respectful way.
Photo by Assunta Ng
KING COUNTY NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed bids will be received for C01419C20, Electrical Services Work Order; by the King County Procurement and Payables Section, via email, at procurement. submittals@kingcounty.gov , until 1:30 PM on 4/23/2020. Late bids will not be accepted. There is a 3% minimum requirement for King County Certified Small Contractors and Suppliers (SCS) on this contract. Scope of Work: Furnish all labor, materials,
and equipment necessary to provide and perform On-call repair, and minor improvement work on King County facilities, primarily associated with Solid Waste Division’s site electrical systems on a Work Order (W.O.) basis; may include emergency repairs involving quick response (on-site mobilization within four hours), normal repair work, and/or routine
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maintenance work. Estimated contract price: $1,000,000 Pre-Bid: April 13, 2020, 2 p.m., Skype Telephone number: 1-206-263-8114. Conference ID: 1992484 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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asianweekly northwest
APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020
38 YEARS
■ COMMUNITY NEWS
Washington state WA schools closed for the rest of the school year stay-at-home order extended through May 4 By RACHEL LA CORTE ASSOCIATED PRESS OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on April 2 extended orders to keep non-essential businesses closed and most of the state’s more than 7 million residents home through May 4, saying social distancing measures must remain in place an additional month to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. In recent days, Inslee had been signaling that his initial stay-at-home orders from March 23—which were set to expire next week—would be extended. The new proclamation, announced during a news conference, extends the original order from two weeks to six weeks. Under previous actions taken by Inslee in response to the coronavirus outbreak, all bars, dine-in restaurants, and entertainment and recreation facilities have been closed even longer, since March 17. He said the state’s efforts to date have been robust “but we have an obligation to ourselves and to our loved ones to
recognize this is a hard road ahead of us.” All businesses other than those deemed essential—a long list that includes grocery stores, pharmacies, banks, and gas stations—will need to remain closed until May 5. All public and private gatherings will still be prohibited and people will continue to be required to stay home unless they are pursuing an essential activity, like shopping for groceries, going to a doctor’s appointment, or going to work at an essential business. People can still go for walks, runs, and bike rides outside if they maintain a six-foot distance from others. Violation of the order is a gross misdemeanor, but the governor’s office has said the goal is education, not to arrest people. Last week, the state released a website where people can report violations of non-essential businesses operating. Inslee said residents should not call 911 to report individuals or private groups who are not following the proclamation, but should instead contact local law enforcement.
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Schools in Washington state will remain physically closed for the remainder of the school year while more than 1.2 million public and private K-12 students continue distance learning at least until mid-June due to the coronavirus outbreak, officials said on April 6. Schools have been shut statewide since March 17 and were initially scheduled to reopen April 27. That was extended until June 19—when the spring term ends—and schools were encouraged to continue distance learning. The order also asks schools to start planning for a potential expansion of the closures into the summer and fall, though Gov. Jay Inslee said officials would explore whether it was possible to bring students back for graduation later in the year. Schools Superintendent Chris Reykdall said the decision was tough, but the risks of returning students to school too soon were high due to the
pandemic. “A rush back to school puts significant risk in learning continuity that at this time would not be better than the model we are developing and advancing at a distance,” he said. “We do not want that curve to suddenly spike up because we acted too quickly to come back.” The closure of schools creates challenges in the area of equity for some students, Inslee said, explaining there will be limited on-site options in certain circumstances, such as students learning English as a second language, and for students with disabilities, as long as social distancing and proper hygiene practices are followed. “We know that distance learning could never replace the learning and other benefits that students get from attending school in person,” Inslee said. “But this unprecedented health emergency demands that we take this step, both for the sake of our children and for our community.”
Wanted burglary suspect Seattle police are looking for a man who is suspected in at least three burglaries to businesses in the Chinatown-International District (ID) neighborhood and downtown. Risan Umarov, 29, was arrested on March 22 for burglary and booked into King County Jail, but released the following day. Detectives believe he committed two more burglaries, one to a closed restaurant in the ID and another to a business downtown. Umarov is 5-foot, 9-inches tall, and weighs 170 pounds. If you know of his current whereabouts, call 911. Risan Umarov
View the solution on page 10
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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
APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020
YOUR VOICE
■ PICTORIAL
asianweekly northwest
SOCIAL DISTANCING Mary Mautz sewing masks at home for a project of the International Chinese Christian Church of Tacoma
Pho Bac Sup Shop for takeout or delivery in Seattle (Photo provided by Yenvy Pham) Social distancing at Uwajimaya Seattle (Photo by Assunta Ng)
95-year-old Mrs. Chang stays home to do alterations to entertain herself.
We hadn’t seen grandma in almost 2 months, and we delivered to her takeout and bubble tea! Later on, we had a picnic outside the front door while talking to her through the screen! Thinking outside the box.... From left: Susan Ulep, Tek Kung, Zoi Kung, Robert Ulep, and Grandma Teresita Ulep peeking from the window
WE’D LOVE TO SEE HOW YOU PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING. PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR PHOTO(S) WITH A CAPTION TO EDITOR@NWASIANWEEKLY.COM.
Virtual family reunion via Zoom (Photo by Becky Chan)
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asianweekly northwest
38 YEARS
APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020
■ PUBLISHER’S BLOG
The good, bad, terrifying and ugly during coronavirus By Assunta Ng NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY First, the bad. Leaders, who played down the seriousness of the coronavirus, are now paying the price, not just in the high number of citizens’ death and infections, but possibly risking their own life like England’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Johnson is in intensive care as of press time. He has repeatedly resisted locking down the country until March 24. At his own peril, he visited hospitals and even shook hands with coronavirus patients. Does he think he’s immortal? Why is it that he hasn’t learned about this highlycontagious disease which has killed many in England’s neighboring countries, including Italy, France, and Spain? Why is he so arrogant or insane that he thinks he knows more than other leaders and scientists? It goes for President Trump, too, who has resisted a national lockdown by speaking lightly that COVID-19 would go away in February. He has not learned from what happened in Wuhan, China. His ego controls his reasoning that the United States is far more superior in overcoming the virus than China. Had he not delayed telling people to wear masks, buying ventilators, developing test kits, and locking down the country, we could have avoided countless tragedies. The number of deaths are now staggering — over 14,000, and over 400,000 infected in the U.S. The Boston Globe stated it well in a March 30 editorial. “The president has blood on his hands… a president unfit for a pandemic.” If most of the Republican governors, including Florida, Alabama, Texas, and Georgia, issued stay-at-home orders in March instead of April, the number of cases might be drastically different. Talk about visionary leaders who understand that health is wealth, it’s none of the above. If leaders are not taking COVID-19 seriously, how do you expect people to do the same? Many have been ignoring social distancing. Many don’t understand that standing six feet apart from other people is crucial to stop the spread. People cut in front or behind me in grocery stores and sidewalks. When I walk further away, they walk closer—Asians and non-Asians. At the cashier’s line, my husband had to say to the person right behind him, “You are standing too close,” even though socialdistancing signs are all over the store. Even my family practices social distancing. My son and I haven’t hugged for over a month. We have not dined together with him and his wife for weeks even though she cooks us lunch two to three times a week, bringing us pho, beef noodles, home-made pizzas, and pork buns. In Toronto, enforcing social distancing goes to new heights. For instance, a cop can issue citations for two or more passengers in the same car if they do not live in the same household. Perhaps, the United States needs a similar law.
The ugly
One night in late February, I was talking to my 88-year-old aunt in Hong Kong. She was like a little girl giggling with joy, saying how lucky she was.
Belinda Louie sent us these beautiful masks.
Jingdong Yu, a member of Seattle Chinese Cultural Theater donated 2,000 masks to Overlake Hospital
The mother and daughter duo are Jenny Yang (mother) and Angela Ng.
“You got a pot of gold?” I joked with her. She had been waiting in line with her maid in a supermarket for more than an hour... “I bought four bags of toilet paper,” she replied. Would Americans hoard toilet paper? I wondered. No way! Man, I was wrong! Did you watch the ugliness of two women fighting over toilet paper in a supermarket? This is America. Recently, some Oregonians dialed 911 because they ran out of toilet paper, according to a report on NPR. A Costco employee shouted some really hot news to a crowd outside waiting to get in, not about hot dogs being out. Instead, she said, “All toilet paper is sold out.” And I echoed my friend’s words, “No, I don’t follow the toilet paper craze.” Just buy enough for yourself. 90% of America’s toilet paper is made in America. Currently, there is no shortage of toilet paper in America, a spokesman for Scott Toilet Paper said. While talking to my cousin in New Jersey, I learned how some grocery stores implemented new practices to avoid hoarding. Customers cannot buy two packs of the same item. For instance, you are not allowed to buy two packages of chicken, just one.
defense. I drank lots of hot water to make sure I was hydrated. After my treadmill exercise, I didn’t know why my thoughts turned to the Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers and crew. How dreadful it must have been to be locked inside for days! How fortunate I was to be at home when I was not well! That gratitude enabled me to sleep soundly. Without taking any medicine, my headache faded in the morning when I
The terrifying: Are you next?
Being fearful of COVID-19 can drive you crazy and do stupid things! Have you ever worried that you or your loved ones might be next? In early March, a weird headache suddenly struck me, and chills just magnified through my spine. I rarely have headaches. But when I do, it’s usually on my forehead. That time, the pain was inside my head, and it intensified after dinner. My God, was it COVID-19? Should I tell my husband? But I didn’t want to scare him. He will be surprised when he reads this blog. Should I take a Tylenol? We didn’t have any at home, and still don’t. Should I take my temperature? What for? Had I found out that I had it, it might ruin my sleep. I took a step back to seek clarity. “No, no fever,” I self-diagnosed as I put my palm on my head. “I am not coughing, and there’s no difficulty in breathing.” My strategy was to calm down, think, and breathe. A good night’s sleep was my best
woke up. So if you are not feeling well, don’t get yourself worked up. Just calm down and analyze your symptoms, and do your best to make yourself relax. Panic is not a strategy. In fact, it will make you more sick. Planning is what you need. How do you quarantine yourself if you are infected? Who can help you and take care of you?
The good
Last week, two good Samaritans wanted to donate masks to the Asian Weekly. Initially, I declined. We have bought masks for ourselves and our employees. My oldest son, who works in Hong Kong, mailed us see BLOG on 9
Lifelong Recreation Seattle Parks and Recreation
Arts, Fitness and Social Opportunities for Ages 50+ We are Seattle Parks and Recreation, programs for ages 50+ offering arts, fitness and social opportunities for older adults in 26 Seattle Community Centers. Due to the COVID-19 virus, our in-person programs are suspended at this time, but we are offering online fitness classes featuring some of our great instructors, virtual field trips and more. Please visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/LifelongRecreationSPR/, search Lifelong Recreation on www.seattle.gov or watch our videos on The Seattle Channel. We look forward to meeting you in person when the circumstances allow! For more information or to request to be added to our e-newsletter call Anne at 206-310-8163.
310-8163 Call 206-684-7484 Scholarships Available! www.seattle.gov/parks/find/ lifelong-recreation
APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020
YOUR VOICE
■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
asianweekly northwest
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“Little America” series shows we all have big similarities – and big differences By Kai Curry NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY “Little America” is a collection of 30 episodes meant to demonstrate to audiences the “collective” that is the United States. Available on Apple TV, the series is billed as a “single character comedy anthology,” and offers eight fictionalized stories based on the real experiences of immigrants from various countries. The creators of the series insist that the stories offer proof of our similarities. That no matter where we come from, what our religion or the color of our skin, we all want and need the same things. After watching the series, I was more convinced that, while as humans we can all “relate” to each other, we are all quite different. The format of the series is enjoyable. It does not require watching episodes in any order, and the entire series is already available. Each episode covers a different immigrant from a different country, such as Syria, China, or India. European countries are also featured. Every story comes with culturally-appropriate music, food, and “local color,” which is fun. It’s like getting a specially wrapped box of representative treats from each country and opening it up to find what you’re going to recognize, and not recognize, in each box. The technique is solid. The stories appeal visually and are cohesively put together. It’s commendable the way these bite-sized vignettes feel like entire movies. But, they aren’t comedies, and to me, they didn’t fulfill the objective. “Little America,” which premiered in January, is a collaboration of multiple producers, teleplay writers, and directors. It was first a series of autobiographical articles in Epic Magazine—which is still available, and is also coming out as a book and audiobook. The series is being sold, it seems to me, on the coattails of Kumail Nanjani, who is still riding on the success of “The Big Sick” and his dopey comedy, “Stuber.” Nanjani came into the project only as it became a TV series, though, and while he is one of the executive producers, along with his wife, Emily V. Gordon, he is only one. Other big players in the creation of the series include Lee Eisenberg, producer of “The Office,” and Alan Yang, writer and producer for “Parks
and Recreation.” Nanjani says that it’s the fastest he’s said “yes” to any project. And the audience, which may or may not “look like” the people in the stories, will still be able to “feel like” those characters. That’s true. As I say, the stories are
FOR FAIR REPRESENTATION
relatable. But they still have nothing to do with me. There seems to be a tremendous amount of effort being made by the promoters of the show to say that “immigrants are just like everybody else!” Yet I would beg to differ. People that are not recent immigrants do not have to worry about being deported. Most white people do not have to worry about racism. The stories could easily stand on their own merit—they are well made and intriguing—and yet the push seems to be to get white people to watch the show — and I don’t blame them, as I’m not sure how long this series can survive. So you have to call it a comedy, which it’s not, and you have to appeal to a wide audience to make it last. However, the message that, “It’s okay, racist white people, these people are just like you (so please watch our show!),” is not really reflected in the series. On the contrary, the lives of the people portrayed were, to me, beyond anything I, as a white person, would ever have to experience. These were life and death level issues. People are fearful for their lives. Not just “spend time with my kids,” but “be in the same country as my kids.” Not just “bring home a working wage,” but “survive.” I liked every episode I watched. Even though it’s not “comedy,” it has humorous touches, like the mom bringing Tupperware food to the cinema while the son looks longingly at the popcorn, but the pace is slow. I have a great deal of tolerance for meditative, serious stories, but a lot of people won’t. There is definitely an emotional payoff in every episode. When the Syrian refugee finally makes it to America, or the Indian boy is finally reunited with his parents, you will cry. Maybe that should be the real message. Empathy. That’s what crosses the borders and makes connections. I have never been abandoned and had to run a motel as a pre-teen. My sexuality has never been illegal. But, no matter what, I can feel for you. I can sit with you and honor you. That’s what stories are really for. To help us remember that the person next to us might be going through extraordinary circumstances, and that he or she has earned a place at the table that is America, just like all the rest of us. Kai can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
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asianweekly northwest
38 YEARS
APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020
■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
“King Virus”
The art of separation and anxiety By Andrew Hamlin NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Up until recently, the notion of spending an evening in an art gallery alone, forcibly sequestered from anyone else while you regard the exhibits, would have seemed at least mildly far out. But that’s what Kenneth Huntington, purveyor of Pioneer Square’s Phantom Realms gallery, proposes, as a crucial bit of what he’s dubbed the “King Virus” exhibit. The COVID-19 epidemic played havoc with Huntington’s original schedule. He wanted to open on March 5—as much as it has with anything else in Washington state. The rescheduling gave him time to think on the state of affairs in China, where several of the exhibit’s artists reside. “I was following the news and social media about the virus since the day Wuhan was completely quarantined,” he explained. “I wasn’t surprised to see how quickly Seattle started issuing guidelines to contain the spread. “I was also alarmed to learn how strong censorship is in China. It’s clear that Chinese voices are not being fully heard. Instead of backing down, I decided to use this unfortunate circumstance as a strength… We live in a hyper-connected world with needless barriers to our communication and I’ve seen firsthand how many people in the Asian community in Seattle have been hurt socially here in Washington. I want to welcome artists in the Chinese community to participate and be welcome, along with other people from around the world. The name ‘King Virus’ is a play on words because ‘corona’ means ‘crown’ in Latin.” The curator reached out to some Chinese artists he’d known before the outbreak. Xiaoyuan Shan, a Wuhan resident, used her six-week quarantine as an opportunity to create illustrations. In addition to her art career, she owns a small Western restaurant in Shuhan, which allows her some perspective on Western ways and means. Theophile Signard, a Frenchman living
in China for 12 years now, focuses his imagination and his powerful images on the personal protective equipment we see healthcare workers wear when dealing with the virus. He’s featured prominently in the promotional materials for the show. Mark Montgomery, a longtime resident of Shanghai, found himself stuck in Vietnam due to travel restrictions. He’s currently working with only one sketchbook and his smartphone. All three artists discussed their situation with Huntington over the computer, and all three contributed written statements to go along with their work. Huntington allows that he isn’t sure how the installation will open, given current restrictions. But, he added, “We’re looking at the possibility of doing 360-degree photography, live streaming, and investigating what digital environments are available. It all depends on the technologies we choose.” As for the sequestering, he continued, that’s another possibility on the line. “If city guidelines continue to allow, we will keep selling tickets on our website where we’ll ‘quarantine’ you in the gallery for an hour if you want to be one of the few to visit in person while event restrictions are in place.” The cost of such social distancing: $50 or so. Asked how he’s coping personally with the current situation, Huntington mentions a lot of hand-washing and “finally seeing the value of taking my shoes off at the door.” But he’s happy to do whatever he can, to encourage global communication through
art. And he’s satisfied to have connected with such promising artists—the three mentioned earlier, plus a number of local talents, to be named later—in the course of his mission. “I have been excited at how meaningful it’s felt working with the international community. When the world normalizes, I will continue to reach out and think globally as an art curator. International artists have been an absolute joy and
inspiration to work with!” The “King Virus” exhibit opened on April 2 at the Phantom Realms gallery, 214 Alaskan Way South. For the latest updates and more information, visit phantomrealms.wordpress.com. Andrew can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
Have you been financially impacted by COVID-19?
Seattle Public Utilities and Seattle City Light Are Offering Customer Assistance Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and Seattle City Light (SCL) will keep utility services on during the COVID-19 Civil Emergency in Seattle. This will provide immediate utility relief for customers, both residential and commercial, financially impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
heavily discounted utilities by simply completing and signing a short form on household income, rather than having to provide proof of income at this time.
* Flexible Payment Plans for COVID-19 Emergency
During March, the self-certification form will be available online, on the City's UDP website:
Effective immediately, all SPU and SCL customers (residential and commercial) can set up payment plans if their financial stability has been jeopardized by COVID-19.
http://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/services-and-prgrams/affordability-and-livability/utility-discount-program
http://www.seattle.gov/light/paymybill/arrangements.asp - Seattle City Light (electric) http://www.seattle.gov/utilities/services/my-account/payments-and-bills - Seattle Public Utilities (garbage, water, sewer)
** Utility Discount Program (UDP) Self-Certification for COVID-19 Emergency During the month of March, income-eligible residential customers can self-certify to enroll in the Utility Discount Program (UDP). This allows qualified customers to access
Summary of Utility Relief for COVID-19 Impacted Customers Utility Relief Policies for Customer Assistance in response to COVID-19 Suspending utility disconnections for non-payment Allowing for more flexible payment plans, including on the amount of down payment and the length of repayment* Allowing eligible residential customers to self-certify for the Utility Discount Program enrollment** Reaching out proactively to small businesses with delinquent accounts to offer to set up flexible payment plans Waiving interest charges on delinquent balances (pending emergency legislation)*
APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020
YOUR VOICE
■ GUEST EDITORIAL It’s been a year since my slender book, “Departures: Poetry and Prose on the Removal of Bainbridge Island’s Japanese Americans After Pearl Harbor,” was published by Unsolicited Press in Portland. I wrote most of “Departures” in the first half of 2016, during the rise of Donald Trump. Here we go again, I thought—the racist tropes, the hail storm of lies, and whipped-up fear. To lift a phrase from “Departures,” the “boundary stones of the thinkable” were rolled downhill, cheered on by a large chunk of the American electorate.
And now here we are, smacked by another emergency, with a man at the helm whose definition of leadership is “otherizing” selected groups of human beings. I once was naïve enough to think, somehow, to some degree, we as a nation had said goodbye to all that. The Greeks knew better, though. They knew the faultline running through human nature — which they called hamartia—is perennial. On March 30, 1942, my grandmother and my mother stood among other well-wishers near Eagledale dock on Bainbridge Island to witness their Japanese American friends and neighbors march aboard the ferry Kehloken under bayonet guard.
community and delivering them to hospitals. Most have come from shipments that family and friends had already shipped over to keep them safe during the outbreak. “We are in dire need of N95 masks, gloves, gowns,” wrote one administrator of an assisted living community. “We have tried and exhausted all our options to source protective equipment for our workers, but haven’t gotten anything...Please, please help us,” wrote the woman.
two boxes of masks. Then, I said yes to the International Chinese Christian Church of Tacoma for a valid reason. “We want to send you some beautiful and washable face masks (made by our church ladies) to you and your staff,” wrote Belinda Louie, a leader of the Church. Free recyclable masks! I have been recycling my disposal masks. I limit myself to one mask a week before discarding it. Masks are sort of pricy, about 70 cents each. We provide masks to employees when they request it. We have also provided plastic gloves to our delivery persons for more than a decade. Louie said they are making and wearing these masks so they can “save the commercial ones for the first responders and medical providers at the front line.” Sensible! The church members researched and bought materials online. The fabrics are well-chosen and elegant. They have different sizes, too, for men, women, and two small sizes for kids. Well, the smallest kid mask fits me best. Each costs $5. To get the masks, email Belinda Louie at iccctacoma@gmail.com. Philanthropists Jerry and Charlene Lee often support the community, not just through donations, but by inspiring their friends. When they found out that Asian restaurants have been impacted by the virus in mid-March, he organized groups of friends to dine in the ChinatownInternational District. He asked his friends to order takeout or buy restaurant certificates. Now with the shutdown, the Lees donate money to help volunteers Mimi Gan and Katherine Cheng to do good for the community.
NURSING HOME from 1 “Besides staff shortages and financial viability, Kin On has already made significant investment and partnership with ICHS on AiPACE within the next two years. I don’t believe there is a possibility for us to get involved in this project with Paramount.” ICHS stated that it could not perform the providerrole as well. DSHS said there will be an estimated 100 job openings for administrators, health care workers, cooks, dishwashers, servers, landscapers, painters, carpenters, and other positions.
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Mahlon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.
R E S TA U R A N T
During the crossing, Captain Wyatt, up in the Kehloken’s wheelhouse, wept. The people below were bound for Seattle, where a shuttered train would take them to an unknown destination—Manzanar, a barbed wire camp in the central California plateau with guard towers and machine guns pointing in. In the wake of Pearl Harbor, Bainbridge Island’s Japanese Americans were the first to be taken from their homes in the West Coast exclusion zone. Similar scenes were to be repeated up and down the coast. The day my mother died of cancer
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Cheng works with other volunteers to get meals out to the front line caregivers. She wrote in an email, “One is in progress to coordinate restaurants and their capacity for making meals to match with hospitals and clinics. It’s to schedule them all so there’s no overlap in delivering food to the front line Katherine Cheng workers and spreading it out so the food is delivered at times that are needed. In addition, giving restaurants the ability to schedule their employees so they can keep some of them employed.” Cheng is also working to raise funds to manufacture personal protective equipment locally. “We launched with the King County Medical Society and found a local manufacturer who is hiring laid-off tailors from the ballet, the opera, and other retailers. We have bought certified materials for the masks, caps, and gowns and delivered the first 5,000 masks last week.” Other groups have bought masks from China to donate them to local hospitals. The Seattle Chinese Cultural Theater, made up of 26 members, donated 2,000 masks to Overlake Hospital. Sightline and its partner in China, Xian Hospital, has shipped 5,000 surgical masks, and also more than $2,500 worth of personal protective equipment to its partner hospital outside of San Francisco. Coronavirus has brought out the best and the worst of human nature. A round of applause for our benefactors. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. Do you have projects to make a difference in the community during COVID-19? Send us your ideas.
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You can ‘become the company maid’
Evangeline, 38, a marketing director from the Philippines, works for an IT company on the Eastside and has three young sons. When her department was closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, she asked her company about applying for unemployment benefits. But her supervisor refused to put her on “stand-by” status, which is required by the new state disaster relief laws to be eligible for support. “Even though my job was eliminated, he said I could become ‘the company maid,’” said Evangeline, who asked that her name and some details of her situation be changed for fear of retaliation. Worried about what such work would entail, she considered taking unpaid leave and taking her sons back to the Philippines, where she has family, for the duration of the outbreak. But she made the mistake of sharing her thoughts with her supervisor. When she contacted human resources, they used her initial idea of leaving the country as another excuse for not helping her with “stand-by” status. So, she threatened to get a lawyer. Immediately, human resources changed its position. The director now encouraged her to apply for unemployment benefits. So Evangeline began to try to reach the state unemployment office, which is flooded with calls. A few days later, the company changed its position again. If she applied for unemployment benefits, it now informed her, her status would change to “part-time” and she would lose her company medical benefits. When she looked back through the email chain, she found the earlier email encouraging her to apply for unemployment had been deleted. After a day of prayer, she made her choice. She filled out an application for unemployment benefits online. But the website stated that the office was “targeting mid-April” to have funds available. “Well, I applied,” she said. Encouraged, she then went on to apply for Obamacare.
APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020
38 YEARS
“I had to do this,” she said. “How can I be sure I’ll even have a job when this is over?” The whole experience has left her with bitterness. “This outbreak is like a mirror,” she said. “It shows people’s true natures, do they choose to do good, or simply to protect themselves.”
A microcosm of discrimination
Scholars say this kind of discrimination reflects the experience of many marginalized groups. “Inequality—racial, economic, gender—is often exacerbated during times of crisis, including in the current pandemic. Communities that were already disproportionately suffering under years of policies that have produced great disparities in wealth, employment, education, and health are now suffering disproportionately from covid-19,” said Melissa May Borja, assistant professor in the department of American Culture at the University of Michigan in an email. “Groups that have not historically been the most powerful in the workplace (e.g., racial minorities, women) are more vulnerable now,” she added.
Keeping a diary
Mei Chen, a graduate student from China seeking a job as a professor in sociology, is at home with her 9-yearold son and her Spanish husband, a software engineer. Although she has dozens of articles due, and is working on a book, her husband spends the entire day in online meetings or chatting with friends, while almost all of the cooking and childcare devolves to her. While Mei—who also asked us to disguise her story by changing a few details, to protect her privacy in a closeknit academic field—is good-natured about taking on the bulk of the work. She is finding it difficult to get her work done and advance her career. “My child really wants my attention all the time. When I give him a task to do, he is always coming in to ask me to check it,” she said. While her husband works in a separate room, she plays soccer and Ping Pong with their son, does drawings with him, and does most of the cooking,
except when they order pizza. She also is in charge of all his schoolwork, including reading and online education (her school district does not provide online teaching). “I’m not looking at this situation as an academic who studies human behavior,” she said. “I’m looking at this as a desperate mom.” Her husband is the breadwinner, bringing home a salary that supports the entire family in an affluent home on the Eastside, while she, as of yet, earns nothing. So the roles, of her as principle homemaker, and he as aloof earner, have become hardened. She now regrets agreeing to submit several articles and write a book review for a prestigious journal—rare opportunities to take even small steps forward in an ultra-competitive career with few openings. “I think I took on too much,” she said. Yet it was during a few moments that she found herself free that she began a subtle act to assert her agency by observing and commenting on her situation as an intellectual. Her husband was on a weekly Zoom call with friends in Spain. Her son likewise was chatting online with friends. “I heard my husband talking loudly and laughing in Spanish, it was the first time I had heard him happy in a long time, and at the same time, my son was talking in English with his friends,” she said. “I had the idea to start keeping a journal of moments like that, that stood out to me in singular ways.” Mei continues to keep her journal. “Perhaps I will publish it some day. It would be a hybrid of first-person reflections and academic analysis,” she said.
Joining a new group
Jasmine Zheng came to Seattle from Shanghai 10 years ago and, several years later, opened a store selling a Chinese brand of fashionable women’s clothing in Pacific Place. Though the mall forced her to move her location from one floor to another multiple times due to renovations, she found ways to stay in business despite the flight of customers to online shopping. “People would come in for personal advice about our products,” she said.
Her line of clothing, JNBY, is a combination of fashion and art that is designed to encourage women to assert their agency. “It’s all about finding the right style as your personality seeks out that unique combination that allows you to ‘just naturally be yourself,’” she said, explaining the origin of the acronym. But as the outbreak spread, all of her employees either called in sick or asked for sick leave. Finding herself the only one remaining in the store, and working long hours, she pleaded with the owners of the mall to allow her to close her store temporarily. “It wasn’t in the contract, so they wouldn’t even consider it,” she said. While in her case, there did not appear to be overt racism involved, her perception of herself as Chinese made her susceptible to overall feelings of disempowerment experienced by foreigners and particularly immigrants in our society. She considered getting a lawyer, but she believed, as a single shop owner, that she wouldn’t have a chance against the lawyers representing the mall. “In America, if you don’t have the resources, it’s harder to win legal battles. People may not always consider things from a compassionate standpoint.” Eventually, however, Gov. Jay Inslee ordered all businesses closed. But even after living in the United States for a decade and operating her own business, she found it difficult to understand the terms of the relief efforts offered to small businesses. She said the interest rates for loans appeared unduly high. And she said it seemed another part of the American ethos of “everyone for himself,” that it would be left to individual small business owners to sort out the technicalities of the arrangements. “It feels like I have to hire a lawyer to help me with them.” Meanwhile, Zheng faced the added pressure of time, knowing that if she was not able to obtain assistance within a few weeks, she would run out of resources to reopen her business. “We still have to pay rent and everything else,” she said. On the day she spoke to us, she was lifting her spirits by delivering face masks she had made out of her products to a Chinese American group providing supplies to local hospitals. It was a small gesture of solidarity. But it encouraged her to do something else positive. She took a walk in the park. Mahlon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
SOLUTION from SUDOKU on page 4.
CLASSIFIED EMPLOYMENT
EMPLOYMENT
Preschool Mandarin Speaking and Preschool Teachers Our Beginning is a beautiful Reggio-inspired and eco-friendly children’s school next to the water in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. We are seeking Pre-School educators who speak Mandarin. Benefits include holiday pay, a PTO plan, 401K, Employee Assistance Program, paid medical, vision, dental, paid Winter Break, and professional development opportunities. If you are interested, we would love to hear from you! To apply, please send in cover letter and resume to hr@ourbeginning.com. EOE
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Outdoor Research is hiring multiple positions with our new face mask production department, we are looking for Operators, Quality control Lead, and shipping and receiving. We offer great benefits. For a additional information, please contact our HR department 206-467-8197, or visit our company website www.outdoorresearch.com
EMPLOYMENT
King County Elections is searching for temporary Administrative Specialist II to provide customer service to voters and assist in translating or interpreting election materials to Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Spanish. $21.90 per hour. Apply now at www.kingcounty.gov/careers . Search for the Administrative Specialist II (Language Services) job posting.
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YOUR VOICE
■ ASTROLOGY
APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020
asianweekly northwest
11
Predictions and advice for the week of April 11–April 17, 2020 By Sun Lee Chang Rat — Much to your surprise, you will win over someone who has been critical of your past efforts with your persistence.
Dragon — You are anything but average. Those who truly know you understand that to underestimate you is a big mistake.
Monkey — Appreciate the regular small acts of kindness for they will add up to far more than a single grand gesture.
Ox — It is not quite the reception that you had expected, but don’t let that stop you from trying your best.
Snake — Do you want to make a difference? Then use your strength or skill to address a need that has arisen.
Rooster — If you have some down time, rediscover an old hobby. Add a new twist to it, to make it more interesting.
Tiger — A common goal brings two very unlikely parties together. Let the differences complement each other.
Horse — Not knowing is often worse than dealing with the truth. Stop playing games and lay your cards on the table.
Dog — Before sending a message, ask yourself if it’s appropriate. A little forethought will help to avoid regret.
Rabbit — Looking for ways to change something to suit you better? Start with what you wanted in the first place.
Goat — Attempting to rid yourself of a bad habit? Implement a new routine and practice until it becomes a new habit.
Pig — Is someone telling you what you want to hear? Despite your desire to believe it, a little skepticism is wise.
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.
“I would say definitely I am worried, or I am concerned, with looking at the numbers right now,” said Candice, who works at a primary care clinic in Seattle. “It has been rapidly growing. Washington state, we started with that one case, and now…New York is having more numbers. I am doing okay in a way that I think I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing as a nurse. We need to feel safe in order to perform our jobs well, the social distancing, we need the public to help us to combat this.” “It’s a very long battle,” added Cindy, a nurse who performs phone triage at a clinic downtown. “I don’t know how this is going to end. Looking at Italy, looking at China, it could go either way.” The main thing concerning nurses is the lack of supplies. In order to deal with the shortages, health care staff are having to prioritize who most needs what. In some cases, nurses are being asked to re-wash and reuse supplies. “Yes, we are facing shortages of supplies,” Candice confirmed. “In primary care, the patients that we see, everyone from birth to end of life, lots of these populations are at high risk…in this sensitive time, we are able to provide some services through Telehealth...so that we do not need to waste the supplies and can protect them.” Weichao said the shortage is happening everywhere. “There are locations where providers are given one mask
a day—the N95—and let them decide how they are going to use this resource.” Other types of sanitary precautions include surgical masks and face shields. “There are hospitals that are starting to wear handmade shields— adding a headband and plastic—it’s better than nothing,” Weichao said. “We’re not at the point, like New York, who I saw on the news, they were wearing plastic trash bags.” According to the nurses we interviewed, hospitals and clinics in no way wish to curtail the use of protective equipment by their staff—there simply isn’t enough. That’s one of the primary reasons states are asking residents to stay home and reduce the potential to put further burden on our system. AAPI nurses hold a special position during this pandemic, due to their connection to their home countries. A small and now pertinent example is that, in Asia, it is already customary to wear a mask in public. “Because of cultural background, the Asian community tends to have a lower threshold to wear a mask whenever they feel sick,” Cindy pointed out. “We have memories of the SARS outbreak, and so we trace it back to the memory of how to deal with that epidemic. The community here were more alarmed, even to begin with…Asian nurses were the first to wear masks at work.” The AAPI community has stepped forward to assist, delivering boxes of masks to local health care facilities. Local nurses are purchasing goods directly from Asia in
order to assist. “Because of our stronger ties back home, we are buying masks, buying sanitizers. There is a limit of personal goods —the postal office in China limits 100 masks per package —so we’re asking all of our family members to mail 100 to us, so that we can donate to our colleagues at the frontline and hospitals,” Weichao said. All three nurses urged the public to take COVID-19 seriously, pointing specifically to people who think that the coronavirus is “just like the flu.” “We should not downplay it…there are young folks without any underlying conditions who are hospitalized… Those people who survived in China are showing permanent organ damage to their liver, et cetera. Young people are like, ‘If I get it, I get it.’ No. You don’t know how bad it could be. Don’t risk it. Not only for yourself, but also for others,” said Weichao. “The public can do a lot to support nurses and help protect their neighbors by rejecting sensationalism and conspiracy theories,” said Sofia Aragon, Burien City councilmember who is also a nurse and executive director at the Washington Center for Nursing. “It would really help to share facts from legitimate sources, such as public health agencies, and remind friends and family of preventative practices.”
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Kai can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON NOTICE TO PROPOSERS Proposals will be received for E00663E20, West Point Treatment Plant Improvements Work Order; by the King County Procurement and Payables Section, via email at procurement.submittals@ kingcounty.gov, until 12:00 PM on May 15, 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: $10,000,000 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
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38 YEARS
APRIL 11 – APRIL 17, 2020
BONO from 1 distinguished military career, and a deep understanding of complex medical delivery systems. Her expertise will help us ensure that we can meet the needs of Washingtonians who are sick, or will become ill from COVID-19.” Bono was the former chief executive officer and director for the Defense Health Agency. She led a joint integrated support agency that enabled all branches of the U.S. military medical services to provide those engaged in combat. She served in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as head of casualty receiving for a fleet hospital in Saudi Arabia. Bono will advise the governor, his staff, and state agencies on actions needed to address the capacity and strain across the health care system. Bono retired from the military last fall. Despite having no ties with the Pacific Northwest, “Rocky,” as she is referred to by some colleagues, is the perfect person to lead the efforts to address the coronavirus outbreak, according to her younger brother,
A.B. Cruz, who also is a U.S. Navy Admiral. Cruz said their parents stressed two things to them as children—service to country and education. In addition to their service in the Navy, their brother, who passed away, served in the Texas National Guard. Bono comes from a family of physicians. Both her grandfather and father were physicians. She recalls as a young girl, telling her father she wanted to work in the hospital as a nurse. Her father asked why she didn’t want to be a doctor. She didn’t know at that time that she could be a doctor. Her father told her, “You can be anything.” Their parents immigrated to the United States from the Philippines to San Antonio, Texas, where they were raised. “Our parents stressed giving back to this country and service in some capacity,” said Cruz. “Academically, she’s brilliant,” Cruz recalled of growing up with his older sister. “She’s been the hardest-working, most studious person I’ve known. It was hard to be living under the same roof as her,” he joked. Cruz said that it would always seem that when he would bring home a report
PEARL HARBOR from 9 peacefully at home in July 2013, my brother and I got in the car and just drove. Without thinking about it, we ended up at the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial on the south side of Eagle Harbor. It was here the events on that long-ago day in March unfolded. Without saying it, we knew we’d brought our grief to the right place. We followed the curved memorial wall fashioned out of old growth red cedar, granite and basalt, reading in silence the five terracotta friezes telling the story of what happened here. Among the inscribed words found at the site: Nidoto Nai Yoni: Let It Not Happen Again. And these: “May the spirit of this memorial inspire each of us to safeguard constitutional rights for all.” This is where the Island’s heart was broken. The Memorial has helped mend it. In that place, on the day my mother died, I knew I had to write about it in my own way. A beautiful, indispensable history already existed: Mary
card that had all As and maybe a B+. She would have all As. The next quarter, he would have all As and she would have all A+s. In addition to being a great student, Bono was a competitive swimmer in high school and was recruited to swim collegiately. Cruz recalled her sister’s dedication, waking up early in the morning to swim, go to school, swim after school, and staying up late to get her homework done. “That’s when I saw what true selfdiscipline means,” said Cruz. “She has always been particular and meticulous in whatever she does.” Bono attended the University of Texas at Austin for her undergraduate studies. She went on to attend medical school at Texas Tech through a sponsorship provided by the Navy. Cruz attended the U.S. Naval Academy and went into the service, where he spent his active duty in surface warfare and then specialized in special warfare which included work with the Navy Seals and combat crewmen. Bono is a diplomat of the American Board of Surgery and also has an Executive
Woodward’s “In Defense of Our Neighbors,” about her parents Walt and Milly Woodward, owners of the Bainbridge Review during the War who stood up for the Island’s Japanese Americans for the duration. Besides her parents’ heroism, Mary Woodward’s book chronicles the moral strength of the Bainbridge Islanders who looked after the abandoned farms, took care of lingering legal matters, and not least, outnumbered a vocal minority who did not want their former neighbors to return home when peace came. The legacy of the Review’s brave, lonely voice among West Coast media helped inspire me to enter the community newspaper business. The book I wrote is not a literal history, but something wrought from a personal perspective, relying on family stories, historical sources, and my own memories of growing up on the Island in the 1950s and 1960s. I wanted to create a modest account that would intensify critical points along the narrative arc, vivid as the memory of stained glass windows in a cathedral.
MBA from the Carson College of Business at Washington State University. Cruz noted that Bono consulted with him about taking the position offered by Inslee. She flew to Washington state on a Sunday and started on Monday, hitting the ground running. “This crisis was ‘ripe’ territory for her expertise and leadership abilities.” Cruz, who is now a lawyer and presidentelect of the Board of Governors for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, says that leading the effort against COVID-19 suits Bono because she’s experienced in providing leadership while working in crisis situations. “She’s never shied away from a challenge and she’s always willing to help.” He added that her strength is addressing issues with medical delivery of resources, logistics, facility and lining them up in an optimal way in addition to caring for the patient. “The biggest thing,” Cruz added, “it’s a crisis and she’s a great leader.” Jason can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
The aim was to help, in some small way, to fight historical amnesia. Remembering the past includes not just the worst people can do, but to honor those moments reflecting the better angels of human nature when the chips are down. Since “Departures” was published, I’ve encountered plenty of people fully aware of the wartime imprisonment of Japanese Americans. I’ve witnessed genuine grief in their eyes and in their voices. I’ve also encountered unbreakable indifference. In a time of crisis, the boundary stones of the thinkable have a way of getting moved. This is the time to be vigilant about how others are being treated and not “otherized.” It’s easy to think what happened on March 30, 1942 is long ago and far away. To walk the deep silence of the Exclusion Memorial is to understand—it is not. Mike Dillon is former publisher of Pacific Publishing Co. in Seattle.
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