VOL 34 NO 5 | JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

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VOL 34 NO 5

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WISE WORDS On MLK » P. 7

33 YEARS YOUR VOICE

MLK matters to Seattle

Photo by James Tabafunda/NWAW

Huge turnout for rally and march

Despite controversy, FCS Village project marches on

Photo by Minal Singh/NWAW

The current Filipino Community Center

By James Tabafunda NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Rally gathers at Garfield High School

By Minal Singh Northwest Asian Weekly On January 19, 2015, a large crowd gathered at Garfield High School in Seattle to rally and march on behalf of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and the continued struggle that faces the United States as a result of Ferguson and the series of murders of

unarmed black citizens by police officers, including Eric Garner and Mike Brown.

The opening ceremony convened in the Garfield Gymnasium to a packed house where religious leaders and activists spoke in celebration of King’s dream for equality and protested against a current {see MLK cont’d on page 15}

When Seattle’s Filipino Community Center (FCC) re-opened after a $3 million renovation in 2008, thengovernor Chris Gregoire said, “This center, and others like it, are at the heart of our ethnic communities. They provide a physical, social, and cultural venue for learning, recreation, networking, and social change.”

Located between Beacon Hill and Rainier Valley, the FCC may

also become the heart of a mixeduse development that’s been on the minds of local Filipino American residents for several decades, the Filipino Community of Seattle (FCS) Village.

Former FCS President Alma Kern (2009-2014) said in an open letter written last October, “For the past five years, the FCS has been planning to build a $20 million facility in the back of the Filipino Community Center. It will be a four-story building with more than 70 units of affordable {see FCS cont’d on page 15}

GO HAWKS!

There was blue and green everywhere Sunday evening in Seattle when the Seahawks played the Packers. Fans lined up for entry (left) and piled out of King Street Station (right) to attend the game. What started out as a disappointing game turned into what has now been considered one of the most exciting games in recent history. Mayhem will continue all over the city, including in Chinatown as the Hawks head to the Super Bowl.

The Inside Story NAMES People in the news » P. 2

■

MOVIES Selma » P. 8

BLOG About race... » P. 10

COMMENTARY “Chinos” » P. 11

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Photo by Ian Butcher (left) | George Liu/NWAW (right)

Seahawks headed to the Super Bowl

asianweekly northwest

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JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

■ names in the news Li to compete in Miss Chinese International Pageant

Robes at the Wing Luke

amateur cooks to take part in their inaugural MarketShare Fellowship program, the aim of which is to transform them into professional operators of small food businesses.

The organization currently has five staff members who come from a variety of backgrounds and expertise. Philip Deng is the founder and CEO. He has worked for years in the public and nonprofit sectors, and founded MarketShare in January 2014. Team members include Hsiao Chi, Leigh Momii, Jenn Chen, and Jake Jones. 

Consul General of India visits Seattle From left: Beth Takekawa, Wing Luke Executive Director, Connie Yu, and Al Young at the opening of the exhibition

Leah Li

Leah Li will be representing Seattle at the 2015 Miss Chinese International Pageant. She will be among 18 representatives of other cities competing. The pageant will be taking place January 25 in Hong Kong. According to Li, after being in Hong Kong for six days, all contestants have been “working really crazy hours to make this production a huge success.” 

The Wing Luke Museum will be exhibiting a collection of the Qing Dynasty Robes. The robes were donated by the Young family. Al Young and sister Connie Yu, keynote speaker, were in attendance at the opening. The robes will be on display until March 29. 

MarketShare providing opportunities

Wang appointed CEO Programming boot camp Coding Dojo today announces 29-yearold former tech startup executive Richard Wang as CEO and a move to larger campuses in Bellevue, WA and San Jose, CA. Founded in 2010, Coding Dojo plans to open new dojos in Southern California and the Philippines in Q1 and Q2 of 2015. 

MarketShare leadership team

Richard Wang

MarketShare is a Seattle non-profit with a mission to cultivate mobile food businesses from immigrant and refugee communities. The organization has selected two

■ BRIEFLy

Help with health insurance enrollment In response to a call for help from the White House to reach more members of the Asian and Pacific Islander community, International Community Health Services (ICHS) will hold a special enrollment event on Thursday, Jan. 29, for people to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The special enrollment event will be held from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. at St. Andrew Kim Catholic Church, 11700 1st Ave. NE, Seattle, Washington 98125.

The White House recently asked the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community to hold a second ACA AAPI Enrollment Week of Action during the last week of January, to draw attention to the Affordable Care Act and encourage AAPI families to go online, call, or visit organizations to help them get enrolled in a health insurance plan before the Feb. 15 deadline.

Prior to enactment of ACA, many members of the Asian and Pacific Islander community had little or no health insurance, with members of the Korean population having among the lowest rates of insurance coverage, with more than 22 percent having no insurance coverage at all, according to the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum.

At the event, ICHS community advocates and in-person assisters will answer questions and assist people in signing up for a health

Jee Kim, (left), ICHS outreach and enrollment coordinator, and Trang Le, ICHS in-person assister, review materials

insurance plan.

“We are very excited to again be part of this outreach to get more members of the community to enroll in a health insurance plan,” said Abbie Zahler, ICHS health advocacy manager. “We had a very successful event last year, signing up about 49 people to receive health insurance, and we hope to duplicate, if not surpass, the numbers this year.”

The ICHS special enrollment event at St. Andrew Kim Catholic Church will be part of events that will occur throughout the United States in the last week of January specifically targeting members of the Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and immigrant communities for health insurance enrollment.  For more information about ICHS, please visit: www.ichs.com

From left: Debadutta Dash (Co-chair of WASITRAC), Consul General of India Ambassador V. Ashok, Congressman Jim McDermott and Habib M. Habib (Co-chair of WASITRAC)

The Washington State and India Trade Relations Action Committee took part in a luncheon meeting between Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott and the visiting Consul General of India, Ambassador Venkatesan Ashok.

Congressman Jim McDermott is the only member of US Congress who has visited India 26 times in the span of over 2 decades. He is also the honorary chair of WASITRAC, the Seattle based non-profit advocacy group working for a stronger bilateral trade relations between the Washington State and India. Ambassador Ashok took charge as the new Consul General of India in San Francisco on 21 November 2014. 

33 YEARS YOUR VOICE

JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

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JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

■ WORLD NEWS

Vietnamese leader says banning social media sites impossible AP Wire Service

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam’s prime minister said Thursday that it is impossible to ban social media such as Facebook so authorities in the communist nation instead should provide correct information to inform public opinion. ``You are all on social Prime Minister Nguyen Tan media, checking Facebook for Dung information. What should be done to have correct information?” Nguyen Tan Dung told officials in his office, according to a report on the website

of the state-run newspaper Thanh Nien, or Young People. ``It’s impossible for us to ban it.”

Along with political activities, the ruling communist party also tightly controls the media in Vietnam, making independent information found on the Internet popular.

Dung’s comments came at a time when rumors of corruption involving some top officials are rife on some social media and as the party is preparing for its five-year congress scheduled for early 2016.

Dung advised his colleagues that the government ``must give correct and timely information to guide opinion.

Regardless of what is being said on the Internet, people will believe when there is official information from the government.”

Social media like Facebook are hugely popular in Vietnam, where more than a third of the population of 90

million is online.

Facebook users have complained in the past about having difficulties accessing the site, but the government denies that it has tried to block it, though it has tried to block other sites. In 2013, according to some critics and Internet analysts, evidence surface that a shadowy, progovernment cyber army was blocking, hacking and spying on Vietnamese activists around the world to hamper the country’s pro-democracy movement.

Scores of Internet users and government critics, including those with Facebook accounts, have in the past few years been arrested on national security grounds, such as for posting ``online articles with bad content and false information that discredit and create distrust among people {see VIETNAM cont’d on page 12}

Indonesia executes China says new air routes 6 drug convicts, needed to ease its flight delays including 5 foreigners AP Wire Service

By Niniek Karmini Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia executed by firing squad five foreigners and an Indonesian woman convicted on drug trafficking charges despite appeals to spare them, with the government defending the action as necessary to combat the rising drug trade.

Four men from Brazil, Malawi, Nigeria and the Netherlands and the Indonesian woman were shot to death simultaneously in pairs just after midnight Saturday, several kilometers (miles) from a high security prison on Nusakambangan island. The other woman from Vietnam was executed in Boyolali, according to Attorney General Office’s spokesman Tony Spontana. Both areas are in Central Java province.

Their bodies were brought from the island by ambulances early Sunday either for burial or cremation, as requested by relatives and representatives of their embassies.

President Joko Widodo in December rejected their clemency requests. He also refused a last-minute appeal by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and the Dutch government to spare their countrymen — Brazilian Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, 53, and Ang Kiem Soe, 52, who was born in Papua but whose nationality is Dutch.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said in a statement late Saturday he had temporarily recalled the country’s ambassador to Indonesia and summoned Indonesia’s representative in The Hague to protest Ang’s execution. He said it was carried out despite King Willem-Alexander and Prime Minister Mark Rutte personally contacting Widodo.

He called the execution “a cruel and inhumane punishment ... an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity.”

Amnesty International said the first executions under the new president, who took office in November, were “a retrograde step” for human rights.

Indonesia’s Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo has said there is no excuse for drug dealers and, “hopefully, this will have a deterrent effect.”

Prasetyo said the new government had a firm commitment to fight against drugs. Widodo has said he would not grant clemency to 64 drug convicts on death row.

“What we do is merely aimed at protecting our nation from the danger of drugs,” Prasetyo told reporters Thursday. He said figures from the National Anti-Narcotic Agency showed 40 to 50 people die each day from drugs in Indonesia.

He said that drug trafficking rings have spread to many places, including remote villages where most victims are youngsters of productive age. Indonesia has become the largest drug market in Southeast Asia with 45 percent of the region’s drugs in circulation.

A second batch of executions would be held later this year and also target drug smugglers, he warned.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of 250 million people, has {see INDONESIA cont’d on page 12}

BEIJING (AP) — New commercial flight routes off China’s southeast coast are intended to ease chronic flight delays, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday, without commenting on Taiwan’s concerns they could affect flight safety in its airspace.

China announced this week that it would open four new routes from March 5 to help alleviate congestion between Shanghai and the Pearl River Delta.

Taiwan has complained that one route is too close to a busy area of airspace that it administers while the other three could affect flights between Taiwan and two of its outlying islands.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported Thursday that Taiwan has taken its objection to the U.N.’s aviation agency. The International Civil Aviation Organization didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the planned routes were a response to noticeable increases in recent years in the numbers of flights on the western side of the Taiwan Strait.

“Flight congestion has become a serious problem,’’ Hong told reporters at a daily briefing. ``Flight delay rates have continued to go up. The decision to set up the air route in the Shanghai flight information region is aimed at ensuring flight safety and passenger rights and facilitating the development of China’s civil aviation.’’

China’s fast growing air travel market is the world’s second biggest, but the heavy air traffic and tight control of airspace by the military have given it the world’s worst record for flight delays.

Flight cancelations and delays have sparked frequent incidents of air rage aboard Chinese flights {see CHINA cont’d on page 12}

Philippine crowd building for papal Mass

By Nicole Winfield and Teresa Cerojano AP Wire Service

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos filled Manila’s main park for Pope Francis’ final Mass on Sunday, braving a steady rain to hear the pontiff’s message of hope for the Southeast Asian country’s most downtrodden and destitute.

Organizers expect as many as 6 million people at the Mass, surpassing the 5 million record set by St. John Paul II at the same Rizal Park in 1995.

Francis drew a huge crowd earlier in the day Sunday when he addressed young people at Manila’s Catholic university, coming close to tears himself when he heard two young children speak of their lives growing up poor and on the streets.

Francis has dedicated his four-day trip to the Philippines to the poor, denouncing the corruption that has robbed them of a dignified life, visiting with street children and travelling to typhoon-hit Tacloban to offer prayers for the survivors of the deadly 2013 Typhoon Haiyan that devastated one of the Philippines’ poorest regions.

Francis ditched his prepared remarks again, speaking off the cuff to respond to four young people who spoke of their lives, including little Glyzelle Palomar, age 12, who wept as she recounted her life story and asked why

children, in particular, suffer so much. She spoke of children who are abandoned by their parents and end up in prostitution, but couldn’t finish her remarks because she broke down in tears.

“Only when we are able to cry are we able to come close to responding to your question,” Francis said.

“Those on the margins cry. Those who have fallen by the wayside cry. Those who are discarded cry,” he said. “But those who are living a life that is more or less without need, we don’t know how to cry.”

A steady rain from the same tropical storm that forced Francis to cut short his visit to the typhoon zone in Tacloban on Saturday fell on the crowd, but it didn’t seem to dampen spirits of Filipinos who streamed into the capital for Francis’ final day.

“I am not satisfied just seeing him on TV,” said Rosalinda Kho, a devout Catholic who arrived before dawn outside Rizal Park. By the time the gates opened, the roads leading to the park were mostly closed. Many people camped out on tarpaulins on the ground where they had spent the night, surrounded by bags of food.

Some pilgrims carried images of the infant Jesus: Francis’ Mass falls on a major Catholic feast day here, the Santo Nino.

Kho said she agreed with Francis’ condemnation of corruption that has deprived the poor. “Our country is rich yet so many are poor,” she said. 

33 YEARS YOUR VOICE

JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

■ national NEWS

5

China-savvy tea partyer takes helm of US House panel on Asia

By Matthew Pennington Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The new leader of the House panel overseeing U.S. policy to the Asia-Pacific is a rarity in Congress: a deeply conservative Republican who shuns isolationism, favors closer ties with Asia and stands poised to praise as well as criticize China — and even do it in Mandarin.

Rep. Matt Salmon Rep. Matt Salmon of Arizona is part of the tea party movement that advocates small government, a tough line

on immigration and opposes President Barack Obama at every turn.

But Salmon also brings a unique perspective on Asia. He spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan, where he learned Chinese. He says he has visited mainland China more than 40 times, and during an earlier three-term stint in Congress that ended in 2000, he met with China’s thenleader to help secure the release of a U.S. college researcher accused of stealing state secrets.

So while many tea party members are wary of international engagement, Salmon embraces an active U.S. role in Asia, including in a regional free-trade agreement.

And in a Congress where China typically faces a blanket of stiff criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike, Salmon has a more balanced view.

“I want to be seen as someone who wants to work with

Jostling to replace Barbara Boxer shows minority influence

By Michael R. Blood and Kevin Freking Associated Press

her recently announced exit has revealed a diverse field of potential candidates.

The maneuvering LOS ANGELES (AP) — showcases the growing U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer influence of minority voters crashed through a barrier and a challenge for the when her election victory Republican Party, which has nearly a quarter century ago struggled for years to make marked the ascent of women inroads with many of them. in Washington. Her successor U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer Attorney General Kamala could achieve a breakthrough Harris, the first Democrat as well — one that reflects California’s to enter the 2016 contest, is the daughter steadily changing political demographics. of a black father and an Indian mother.

When the California Democrat won her Her possible rivals include prominent first term in 1992, 8 of 10 voters in that Hispanics, such as former Los Angeles election were white. Far more Hispanics Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Reps. and Asian-Americans call the state home today compared with a generation ago, and {see BOXER cont’d on page 14}

China but I’m certainly not going to be an appeaser,” Salmon told The Associated Press on his chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the AsiaPacific. The 56-year-old said he’d praise where it’s due, but “I’m going to be blunt sometimes.”

He showed a willingness to do that at a hearing last February that examined China’s aggressive pursuit of territorial claims in the disputed seas of East Asia. He told lawmakers that Beijing was playing a game of dare and seeing “if the U.S. has the guts” to challenge it.

Salmon has a background in telecommunications and public relations. He has most recently chaired a subcommittee overseeing policy toward Latin and Central America, often probing the U.S. response to cross-border {see SALMON cont’d on page 12}

APAMC disappointed with lack of diversity in Oscar nominees

On January 15th, 2015, the an economic imperative, if not a Academy of Motion Picture moral one-to begin more closely Arts and Sciences released their reflecting the changing face of nominations for the 2015 Oscars.

America.”

Dan Mayeda, co-chair of the The Asian Pacific American Asian Pacific American Media Media Coalition (APAMC) has Coalition (APAMC) issued the agreements with ABC, CBS, following quote: FOX and NBC committing them Dan Mayeda “Along with many others, the to work to increase diversity onAPAMC is disappointed in the screen and behind the camera. glaring lack of diversity in the APAMC members include Academy Award nominations announced such organizations as the Asian American on January 15th, including a complete Justice Center, East West Players, Japanese shut out of people of color in the acting American Citizens League, Media categories and no women nominated in Action Network for Asian Americans, the directing, writing or cinematography National Federation of Filipino American categories. This obviously reflects the lack Associations, OCA, and Visual of diversity in Oscar voters as well as in Communications.  films generally. It behooves Hollywood-as

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JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

■ COMMUNITY news

Keeping the name but changing the meaning How King County changed its own history and honored MLK

When researching the history of King County, it gave our staff the shivers. The historical documents reveal a beautiful tribute to a beautiful man.

The 1986 motion to rename King County after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reads: INTRODUCED BY: RON SIMS, BRUCE LAING PROPOSED NO.: 86-66 MOTION NO. 6461 A MOTION setting forth the historical basis for “renaming” King County after the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., instead of William Rufus DeVane King for whom King County is currently named.

WHEREAS, the County of King in the State of Washington was named after William Rufus Devane King by the Oregon Territorial legislature in 1852, and WHEREAS, William Rufus DeVane King was a slaveowner and a “gentle slave monger” according to John Quincy Adams, and WHEREAS, the citizens of King County believe that the ownership of another human being is an injustice against humanity, and WHEREAS, William Rufus DeVane King earned income and maintained his lifestyle by oppressing and exploiting other human beings, and WHEREAS, the citizens of King County cherish and uphold the constitutional tenant of the “unmitigated pursuit” of life, liberty, and happiness for which many citizens of this

county have given their lives as a supreme sacrifice to defend these foundations of freedom, and WHEREAS, the citizens of King County through their various faiths uphold the principle that all mankind was created equal, and WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed that liberty, justice and freedom were the “inalienable rights” of all men, women and children, and WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a spiritual man who believed all people were created equal in the sight of God, and WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed in the dignity and self-worth of every individual, and subsequently, gave his life defending his beliefs, and WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a recipient of the Nobel Prize became a national hero whose birthday has been declared a national holiday by his nation’s government to be a day of peace, love and understanding, and WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through his persistent and unfailing efforts prompted passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965,

■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR WED 1/21 WHAT: Patsy Surh O’Connell Student Show WHERE: APCC, 4851 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma WHEN: 5-6:30 p.m.

THU 1/22 WHAT: John Carlos and Dave Zirin to deliver keynote address, “Dream and Act, Dr. Martin Luther King did.”

WHERE: Bellevue College’s Carlson Theater, 3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., Bellevue WHEN: 11:30 a.m.

INFO: 425-564-2208

SAT 1/24 WHAT: New Year’s Celebration, Coming of Age Ceremony WHERE: Everett Community College, Nippon Business Institute, 905 Wetmore Ave., Everett WHEN: 2-4 p.m.

RSVP: by Jan. 15, mnsmith@ everettcc.edu, kkoss@everettcc. edu, 425-388-9195 WHAT: Cheers to the New Year 2015 with Vietnamese singers: Nguyen Hong Nhung, Lynda & Tommy Ngo, Diem Suong, Randy, Kieu Oanh & Hoang Nhut WHERE: Muckleshoot Casino, 2402 Auburn Way S., Auburn WHEN: 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.

INFO: muckleshootcasino.com

INFO: westfield.com/ Southcenter

TUE 1/27 WHAT: Economic Outlook for Asia WHERE: Asia Business Forum WHEN: 6:30-8 p.m.

COST: $15 INFO: facebook.com/seattleabf

THU 1/29 WHAT: The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders WHERE: Wing Luke, 719 S. King St., Seattle WHEN: 5:30-7:30 p.m.

RSVP: eesha.bhave@ed.gov

SUN 2/1 WHAT: Sponge to host Chinese New Year Celebration WHERE: Mt. Baker, 3107 S. Day St., Seattle WHEN: 10 a.m.

RSVP: events@spongeschool. com, 206-227-7138 INFO: www.spongeschool.com

FRI 2/6

1/26 THRU 2/28

WHAT: Women of Color Empowered luncheon and networking event, “Women in Male-Dominated Careers” WHERE: China Harbor Restaurant, 2040 Westlake Ave., Seattle WHEN: Friday, February 6, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

INFO: 206-223-0623

WHAT: Lunar New Year Celebration WHERE: Southcenter Mall WHEN: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

WHAT: The 48th CSA Chinese New Year Gala WHERE: UW, Kane Hall, Room 130, Seattle

WHEN: 7-9:30 p.m.

SAT 2/7 WHAT: 2015 Lunar New Year Celebration!

WHERE: Westminster Chapel, 13646 NE 24th St., Bellevue WHEN: 3-8:30 p.m.

INFO: Westminster.org, 425747-1461

EVERY WED WHAT: Seattle University School of Law Citizenship Project WHERE: Yesler Community Center Computer Lab, 917 E. Yesler Way, Seattle WHEN: 5–6:30 p.m.

COST: Free INFO: 206-386-1245

EVERY THU WHAT: The Rotary Club of Seattle International District meets WHERE: New Hong Kong Restaurant, 900 S. Jackson St., Seattle WHEN: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

WHAT: Japanese Conversation Club WHERE: JCCCW, 1414 S. Weller St., Seattle INFO: 206-568-7114, admin@ jcccw.org

THRU 2/1 WHAT: Taiko for beginners WHERE: Seattle Kokon Taiko WHEN: 12-2 p.m.

COST: $95/person REGISTRATION: www. seattlekokontaiko.org

both of which have benefited all citizens of this nation, and WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired people and nations world-wide to strive in a nonviolent manner for the human rights, civil liberties, and economic guarantees rightfully due people of all races; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County: The King County Council, hereby, sets forth the historical basis for the “renaming” of King County in honor of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man whose contributions are well-documented and celebrated by millions throughout this nation and the world, and embody the attributes for which the citizens of King County can be proud, and claim as their own.

BE IT FURTHER MOVED, King County shall be named after the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. PASSED this 24th day of February, 1986.

KING COUNTY COUNCIL KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON (signed by) Audrey Gruger Chair ATTEST: (signed by) Dorothy M. Owens Clerk of the Council A bronze memorial plaque commemorating the name change was placed on the first floor elevator lobby of the King County Courthouse at 3rd Avenue and James Street in Seattle. 

■ briefly

Arrests, officer injured in Seattle police protests AP Wire Service

SEATTLE (AP) — At least six people have been arrested and a Seattle police officer suffered a leg injury as protesters chanting “black lives matter” disrupted traffic in Seattle, blocking part of a state highway and interstate off ramps.

Seattle police spokesman Patrick Michaud told KOMO the officer may have suffered a broken leg and it was related to the protests, but didn’t give further details.

Transportation officials advised people to take alternate routes Monday afternoon as dozens of people blocked the northbound lanes of State Route 99 near Seattle Center. Traffic on the northbound and southbound off ramps to Mercer Street was also impacted as protesters marched to that area in the South Lake Union neighborhood.

Police moved to clear protesters from the roadways, and by about 4:30 p.m. both State Route 99 and the interstate off ramps were opened to traffic.

Organizers said they were engaging in “civil disobedience” to protest police violence. 

33 YEARS YOUR VOICE

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JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

Wise Words: Inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Martin Luther King, Jr. said, ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ The quesiton inspires me to do a lot of my community work and volunteering. I make sure we give help to those who don't have the ability to help themselves.’”

— Nate Miles Vice President of Government Relations

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s question: ‘What are you doing for others?’ inspires me to devote my life in service to our community. Through this service, I know we can work together to create a more just and equal society for all.”

— Congressman Adam Smith

“‘Everybody can be great because anybody can serve...You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.’ These are words from an address by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King that continues to stir my spirit and move me to action each day. And it captures so much of what we need now, right now, in this country. We need people ready to serve, people of all ages willing to give of themselves for the greater good.”

— Cheryl Roberts, Ed.D President, Shoreline Community College

“Dr. King’s non-violent struggle for the rights and dignity of all people has inspired me throughout my life.

Being executive of the county named for him allows me to honor his legacy by makingequity and social justice central to our work. Dr. King fought in a struggle that is long and ongoing.

His example inspires all of us to keep fighting.”

— King County Executive Dow Constantine The Wise Words series is sponsored by members of our local community.

“I dream of students walking through our doors and finding the classes and culture that support their dreams.

Eliminating the barriers to higher education—such as President Obama’s plan for free community college education— will help achieve this. It puts us on the pathway to social and economic equity and gives power to Dr. King’s dream.”

— Jill Wakefield Seattle Colleges Chancellor

“Dr. King said: ‘True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.’ We need you in the fight for affordable housing and an end to homelessness! Thank you for supporting Nickelsville.”

— Sharon Lee Executive Director, Low Income Housing Institute

“I have a dream.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

■ community news

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is the use of technology, monitoring, and support from a registered nurse and personal concierge, along with weekly rides to community activities. Computer and Skype will be set up to get elderly involved so they can interact with family members and friends. A nurse will visit the home of the seniors to check on blood pressure and other health needs.

Doris Koo, AARP board member of Washington state, said the goal of NC Club is to improve the quality of life for the seniors.

This program has been used in mainstream communities, but NC Club will be the first one for Asian Americans. To qualify, you have to be 50 years and up, speak English or Japanese, have at least one chronic health condition, feel socially isolated and committed to full participation in the 6-month program. 

1.49 lb

Mokwa $0.69 lb

AARP Board Member Doris Koo presented a check for $150,000 to the Nikkei Concerns team for its NC Club project

If loneliness is the fear for old age, what can a community do to fight back?

An AARP study estimated that about 17% of adults over age 50 suffer from social isolation. Not all seniors end up in nursing homes and assisted living. There are many who prefer to be independent and live at home. But can a 90-year-old organize a day trip to participate in a community event, check his blood pressure from time to time, or handle his recovery after a fall?

For Jeff Hattori, CEO of Nikkei Concerns NC, seeing elderly being isolated, living alone, is an opportunity for the agency to innovate. NC and AARP are partnering together to develop a 6-month pilot healthcare program called NC Club to decrease social isolation and improve health for 25 Asian seniors who live in Seattle or Bellevue.

AARP presented a check of $150,000 to NC to fund the program on Jan. 15 at the Nikkei Manor. What the program entails

$

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Fuji Apple $0.79 lb

Honey Tangerine $1.69 lb

Fz Tru Cod Belly $2.29 lb

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Beef Ribeye Steak $6.59 lb $

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asianweekly northwest

8

JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

■ at the movies

“SELMA”

Start talking and thinking

By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly He’s my oldest friend in the world and I love him like my own brother. But I don’t think I’ll be talking to him for awhile.

Because to him, Michael Brown, an unarmed black man shot at twelve times and eventually killed—Ferguson, Missouri—is a “bitch” who “had it coming.”

Because to him, Eric Garner, a black man who died on the sidewalk in police custody, having protested, through a chokehold, “I can’t breathe” eleven times—Staten Island, New York—was resisting arrest, and therefore got what he deserved.

I asked my friend had he considered the implications of his beliefs especially since that half of his own family is black. He snarled that it didn’t make any difference.

And there I left the conversation, because even though I’ve known him my whole life, I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

I told this story to my movie date when we saw “Selma” together. “He’s a bootlicker,” she concluded.

And I did not want to think of my friend that way, but I confess I’d thought the same.

“When his kids are older, he’ll understand,” she said.

And I hope she’s right. His children will grow up black in a country where things like this happen. And I cannot understand

why this makes no difference. To him.

I wish him and his family only the best. I love him. I cannot understand him.

So it was with this personal, small-scale schism on my mind that I watched Ava DuVernay’s “Selma,” a slightly fictionalized account of the voting rights marches of 1965 in the American Deep South. I couldn’t conclude whether the picture is more inspiring or wearying. Wearying, for all the struggle and bloodshed and loss of life for the rights, and the dignity, of black people in America—rights and dignity

which seem almost equally tenuous, and threatened, fifty years on.

Inspiring, because resistance, and the inspiration behind that resistance, continue.

DuVernay ironically casts two men from the UK for her leads—David Oyelowo as King; Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon Johnson. Both mastered Southern speech. The handsome Oyelowo retains the winning mannerisms he showed in the BBC “MI-5”—his luminous eyes shift downward when he must deliver tough news; they widen when he’s surprised that someone agrees with him.

Wilkinson’s Johnson frequently disagrees with King.

According to Wikipedia, experts on Johnson, including

the President’s former assistant Joseph A. Califano, Jr., LBJ wasn’t as obstructionist as the film, written by Paul Webb, shows.

I’m not sure who is right; I’m sorry such difficulties enter into the film, which the filmmakers admit is lightly fictionalized.

With so much money, star power, period design, and modern-day relevance in the film, what a shame its makers couldn’t have come clearer on fact.

The film’s virtues include its portrait of the protest marches as a group effort, with Dr. King one leader among many; the realistic feel of the backroom debates on strategy and underlying philosophy; the {see SELMA cont’d on page 12}

Women in Male-Dominated Careers

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33 YEARS YOUR VOICE

■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

Insatiable!

A festival of Asian American writing talent

By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Seattle’s Sister (SIS) Productions presents “Insatiable!” a festival of plays and plays-inprogress from Asian American playwrights, January 25-27 at Seattle’s Pocket Theater. The playwrights and organizers took some questions over email.

NWAW: What led you to get involved in SIS Productions?

Kathy Hsieh: I was one of the original founders of SIS Productions. SIS is a company founded in 2000 by Asian American women (SIS is short for Sister) as a way to create more visibility for Asian American artists with a focus on the perspective of women. We create opportunities for Asian American women to take on leadership roles through mentorship and handson experience primarily through the production of theatre. The SIS Writers group was established as an important program of SIS in order to give voice to Asian Americans interested in writing plays.

Maggie Lee: I have always had an interest in theater, specializing in lighting design. But I remember being totally blown away by the first episodes of [SIS’] “Sex in Seattle”--I had never seen anything like it on stage, and I loved the original serialized play aspect of it. I went on to become a volunteer with SIS and did some lighting design work for them. I had also started writing plays on my own, and was very grateful when the SIS Writers Group asked me to join in 2007.

Roger Tang: I was a long-time associate of Kathy Hsieh with the old Northwest Asian American Theatre. At some point during their unprecedented run on “Sex in Seattle” (the longest serial for stage I could uncover for American theatre), they must have been desperate for help, so they had me do stuff, first as a designer (props, then sound), then as a producer. Eventually became Literary Manager and a writer.

Celese Mari Williams: I saw Kathy Hsieh speak at a panel discussion on women of color in the theatre arts. I was inspired and wanted to be a part of that.

Seayoung Kim: I was involved in community work and really missed the arts. I started taking playwriting classes and almost all my work features Asian American characters. Folks kept telling me to connect with SIS and Kathy Hsieh in particular, because they know all the API artists in town and how to make great theater!

I am so grateful for all the opportunities my involvement with the SIS Writers group and for the other playwrights for their support. SIS Writers group and SIS Productions have helped me find a way to merge community and the arts, and my heart feels full.

NWAW: How was the Playwrights Festival organized?

Kathy Hsieh: In 2005 when the SIS Writers Group was formed, the original members of the group decided to create the festival as a way to showcase the plays they had been developing over the course of the year. It gave them a goal to strive for and an opportunity to share their writing with an audience so they can get the feedback needed in order to continue developing their work.

Each festival is unique to the needs of the members being showcased. Some years it’s all full-length plays, one night for each play. Other years it’s one long day with a variety of pieces from scenes to short plays to one-acts to full-lengths playing back to back. Last year it was one evening of short plays from each writer. This year, the first day is excerpts from full-length plays, the second night is two one-acts, and the third night is one full-length play. {see INSATIABLE cont’d on page 13}

“Someday My Prince Won’t Come” with May Nguyen and Owen Yen

9

asianweekly northwest

10

JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

■ PUBLISHER'S BLOG

OPINION

Being blunt about race… racism by themselves. We need everyone-especially those who are not considered minorities, to stand by us, march with us, and hold our hands as we cross the victory line.

That’s why the Asian Weekly founded the Women of Color Empowered (WOCE) with other women. For the past 20 years, we have brought women of all races together to share, network, and learn from each other.

“You see different shapes and color of the purses left on the chairs,” said one woman at our past event. “They came back and sat down without worrying about the color of other women’s skin sitting next to

them as if they are old pals.”

It is interesting to note that when we picked Caucasian honorees, a typical response would resemble, “Are you sure you want to honor me?” without saying “You know, I am a whitie.”

“White is a color too,” said WOCE co-chair Bonnie Miller in regards to the upcoming “Women in male-dominated fields” recognition.

A Caucasian herself, Miller is involved because WOCE is inclusive. A rainbow is what you see when you attend a WOCE lunch. Guests often say WOCE is one of the most diverse events they have ever

attended.

Supporting diversity Believing in diversity is not enough.

What do you actually do about it? How do you practice and encourage acceptance when it comes to diversity?

Realizing that I have the power to make things happen, I have challenged leaders to appreciate and realize their experiences with diversity. For instance, when I have visited some academic institutions, I don’t ask for the number of Asian American {see BLOG cont’d on page 15}

Photos by Assunta Ng/NWAW

My words were blunt and shocking even to myself when I asked community leaders to contribute to the Asian Weekly’s social justice issue.

“I need white guys to participate,” I said to a colleague.

Instead of feeling offended, one colleague turned to his staff and said, “She’s good.”

The reference was vague, but what he saw was my sincerity, honesty, and humor in the comment.

Others might accuse me of being racist.

But I meant my comment in a good way.

And I have thick skin. The point I was trying to make was --people of color can’t fight

DaNell Daymon, founder of Greater Works (left), and choir members perform at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church for Seattle Colleges MLK celebration

Rev. Samuel McKinney, former classmate of Martin Luther King with Seattle Colleges Chancellor at the MLK Celebration at Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Northwest Asian Weekly / Seattle Chinese Post presents

Chinatown-International District Lunar New Year Celebration

Children’s Parade Contest | Saturday, February 21, 2015

Children’s Parade Competition Schedule: • 11:30 AM — Registration • 1 PM — Line up • 1:30 PM — Parade Begins • 2:30 PM — Parade winners announced!!!

• Start from Northwest Asian Weekly’s front door, march to main stage • Contestants must be present at the announcement of finalists (1:50 PM).

• Finalists will be lined up in numerical order.

• All contestants will receive a fortune cookie and lucky candies.

Registration/Sign-Up: • You may pre-register for the contest by filling out this application and sending it in or sign-up on the day of the contest (Saturday, February 21) at 11:30 a.m. at the registration table. Registration table will be located in front of Seattle Chinese Post/Northwest Asian Weekly – 412 Maynard Ave S. • Contestants are chosen on a first come first serve basis.

• Contestants must sign-in at the registration table 15 minutes prior to parade.

Rules/Guidelines: • Children ages 12 and under can participate in the contest • Parents are welcome to accompany their children during the Parade • Children will be given a contestant number for order of Parade lineup • Children attire should be culturally relevant to the Lunar New Year Celebration Judging: • All contestants will be judged by the provided judging criteria.

• Prizes will be awarded to First ($100), Second ($50), and Third ($25) Place Winners, plus 15 honorable mentions.

• All decisions made by competition judges are final.

TITLE SPONSOR GOLD SPONSORS

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Please submit completed application through one of the following methods: Mail: Northwest Asian Weekly Children’s Parade Contest 412 Maynard Ave. S. Seattle, WA 98104

Name: ________________________________________________________

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E-mail: ________________________________________________________ Contestants must adhere to all rules and regulations. Contest officials will remove any contestant failing to cooperate with officials or failing to comply with the rules and regulations. If you have any questions, please contact Northwest Asian Weekly at 206.223.5559 or via email at rsvp@nwasianweekly.com.

33 YEARS YOUR VOICE

JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

11

OPINION

■ editorial “Your English is so good” The popular website Buzzfeed is producing a video called “Ask An Asian” and they called out on Facebook to ask for contributions. Questions can be submitted publicly or anonymously. As of printing, there were over 400 shares and a countless number of …questions.

The purpose of the “Ask An Asian” project is perhaps to be just commentary, an attempt at humor, but does it cross sensibility lines? When does that humor and snarkiness travel into offensive territory?

You can refer to the screen grab to see why we are shaking our heads and considering it.

The “Ask an Asian” theme triggered and prompted thoughts about race and identity (appropriate for this issue) within staff, friends of staff, and even several people passing by our office in the International District in Seattle.

The question we asked:

■ commentaries

What is the assumption or question that bothers you most when it comes to your identity and race?

Responses: --Can you make pho?

--It’s because you have Asian genes. (In regards to looking young.)

--Oh, I thought you were Korean. (When Thai.)

--“Banana” (We had to ask what this referred to. It was a reference to yellowface…)

And then there is: --Our male staff member: “I think only my female friends get offended, like when they are on the bus. I guess I should ride the bus.”

“Chinos”

Recent political reestablishment also reestablishes Chinese Cuban heritage

And: --“I don’t feel like I have the right to talk about it because I am white. Being offended is a privilege.”

Granted, some are innocent comments, some meant to be compliments, some, offensive, but it’s an interesting take on how we evaluate ourselves, the questions and comments that bother us.

One response to what was annoying was, “You speak English so well.”

When our editor of the Seattle Chinese Post heard that comment, rather than contributing a negative, she contributed an affirmative: “My Chinese is better than your English.”

No offense taken. 

My wish for the Japanese American community

By Louise Kashino Takisaki Northwest Asian Weekly

Mercado in Havana

By Cindy Domingo Northwest Asian Weekly What seemed impossible became a reality last month when President Obama announced the reestablishment of US – Cuba diplomatic relations. This change in foreign policy was monumental given that it has been five decades since these relations were severed.

For me, this announcement was personal and brought meaning to fifteen years of work. I still remember my first trip to Cuba in 1999 when I saw the possibilities of a society that had a different paradigm

– a socialist society where the needs of the people came first; where education and healthcare were free and an organized women’s movement pushed forth an agenda that empowered half of their society in such meaningful ways. That trip resulted in over fifteen more trips bringing women and a handful of men to see Cuba themselves and to learn from Cuban experiences and mistakes in building a new society. The Cubans I forged friendships with helped solidify my commitment to change our policy towards Cuba to one of {see CUBA cont’d on page 15}

My dedication to support the Nisei Veterans Committee is because of the importance of preserving our history, especially during WWII. Our mission at NVC is to “Honor the Past; Educate the Future.” The history books have included very little on the Japanese incarceration during WWII, so it is my wish that our community help educate the general public about our experiences.

After WWII was declared when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Japanese community was left in a state of shock, fear, and embarrassment. We questioned what our personal future would be and were concerned of what other acts our country would suffer at the hands of the enemy. Within two months, the President signed Executive Order 9066 declaring the West coast off limits for anyone of Japanese ancestry, and ordered the incarceration of 120,000 persons, two-thirds of whom were American citizens born in the United States.

In March of 1942, the Bainbridge Island Japanese were the first to be sent to California for incarceration, followed by the rest of the communities, and by the middle of May 1942, almost everyone was behind barbed wire.

This swift movement without due process of law was a terrible injustice against a group of citizens whose only crime was that we looked like the enemy.

Our parents lost everything they had worked so hard for, and most of all they

lost the very spirit they displayed when they first came to this country. Later, as the government realized that we were loyal Americans and not suspect for sabotage, we were slowly allowed to leave the camps if we had somewhere to go.

As the war was talking its toll of casualties, the Government changed its mind about not allowing Nisei in the military, and decided to form a segregated Japanese American combat team and came into the camps to sign up volunteers in February of 1943. My future husband (Shiro Kashino) was among the first to sign up, telling me that by volunteering, he could prove his loyalty and hopefully it would reflect well for the rest of the detainees and allow early release from the concentration camps.

The 442nd Regimental Combat team went on to be outstanding soldiers and displayed tremendous heroics on the battlefields in Europe, and became the most decorated unit in the United States military for its size and length of service.

With the unique experiences forced upon us starting with the incarcerations, it is my wish that our legacy will be preserved and passed on to the future generations, as well as to educate the public for a better understanding of what the Japanese population suffered during WWII, and that such injustices will never again be repeated against another racial group.  (From Louise Kashino Takisaki’s speech accepting her award as a Top Contributor to the Asian Community, presented by the NW Asian Weekly on December 5, 2014 at House of Hong restaurant.)

asianweekly northwest

12

JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

{VIETNAM cont’d from page 4} about state agencies, social agencies and citizens.” At least three bloggers have been arrested in the past month-anda-half.

Western nations and international human rights groups have accused Vietnam of jailing people for peacefully expressing their views, but Hanoi says only those who violate laws are put behind bars. The state convicted at least 63 bloggers and other nonviolent democracy activists in 2013 of criminal offenses, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. ``Vietnam’s arrests of more bloggers for allegedly abusing `democratic freedoms’ is a cynical and chilling move,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human {INDONESIA cont’d from page 4} extremely strict drug laws and often executes smugglers. More than 138 people are on death row, mostly for drug crimes.

About a third of them are foreigners.

Brazilian Moreira was arrested in 2003, after police at Jakarta airport found 13.4 kilograms (29.5 pounds) of cocaine hidden in his hang glider. A second Brazilian national, Rodrigo Muxfeldt Gularte, remains on death row in Indonesia, also convicted of drug trafficking.

Ang was arrested near Jakarta in 2003, after police found equipment which they

{CHINA cont’d from page 4} and at airports.

Last month, China gave the go-ahead for a third airport for the capital, Beijing, in a bid to reduce congestion and chronic delays.

The dispute over the flight routes risks increasing tensions between Beijing and the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, a month after Taiwan’s China-friendly ruling party suffered a stunning defeat in local elections. 

Rights Watch, said last year. He has called for Vietnam to drop charges against bloggers and to scrap laws used to quash free expression.

One law bans the sharing of news and content critical of the government on social media, but prosecutions are usually carried out under the rubric of national security. ``The government should recognize it cannot drag the Vietnamese people by force back into a pre-Internet world where state controlled media was completely dominant,” Robertson said.

Other Southeast Asian nations are also seeking to curb speech on social media, most notably Thailand, where laws ban criticism of the monarchy and the circulation of material deemed detrimental to national security or that causes panic. Since a coup last year, Thailand’s military-

estimated had been producing 15,000 ecstasy pills a day for three years. Police confiscated 8,000 pills and thousands of dollars.

The others who were executed were Namaona Denis, 48, from Malawi; Daniel Enemuo, 38, from Nigeria, and Indonesian Rani Andriani.

Tran Bich Hanh of Vietnam asked authorities to let her face the firing squad uncuffed as one of her last wishes, Spontana said.  Associated Press writer Mike Corder in The Hague contributed to this report.

Have a story idea that you think would fit perfectly in Northwest Asian Weekly?

We want to know about it.

Send it to us at info@nwasianweekly.c om.

{SELMA cont’d from page 8} mixed reactions of whites to the movement, with the suggestion that it split some white families (and even some black families); and a harrowing scene where King has to confront the fallout of his own womanizing, with his wife Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo).

Oppression, hate. Dignity, bearing up, wearing away

installed government stepped up efforts to monitor online content.

Last month, Thai police announced that they could monitor the popular text messaging system LINE, an assertion denied by the Japan-based company.

Takorn Tantasith, secretary general of Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, said at the time he had asked representatives of Internet service providers and social media sites such as Facebook to help monitor and suppress content that might insult the monarchy. Thai law already allows prosecution of network administrators who don’t remove offensive content in a timely fashion, even when posted by third parties. 

{SALMON cont’d from page 5} migration. He is a potential primary challenger to one of the most prominent — and more moderate — Republicans, John McCain, if the senator seeks re-election next year as expected.

The Asia panel Salmon will chair has become more active than its Senate counterpart, although traditionally the upper house has been viewed as more influential in U.S. foreign policy, said former Republican Rep, Jim Leach, who chaired the subcommittee from 1996 to 2001. The political background of the chair matters less than their understanding of the region and staff support, he said.

“My priority is going to be helping the president keep his promise on pivoting to Asia, which really hasn’t materialized yet,” Salmon said, referring to Obama’s attempt to shift more U.S. attention to the fast-growing region after the post-9/11 preoccupation with the Middle East.

Salmon lambasted the president for failing to win congressional support last year for the main trade pillar of the pivot: a 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. “Obama used no political capital, as he doesn’t have any,” Salmon said.

Salmon is a long-time advocate of economic engagement with China, which isn’t in the TPP. He supported granting Beijing permanent most-favored-nation trade status and its 2001 accession to the

the stone of hate through the streams of patience and nonviolence. This movie should start people talking, keep people talking--it might drive people apart, but it illuminates how much and how little we’ve changed, what we’ve lost, what we’ve one, and what’s at the stake, right this minute. I’m just sorry we have to have discussions about what really happened.

I love my friend, and his family. I hope my friend’s

children grow up in a better world than what’s on screen and what’s outside the door, fifty years on.  “Selma” is currently playing at several local theatres.

Check local listings for prices, show times, and addresses.

Andrew Hamlin can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.

Thank you for recycling 湖景墓園 this newspaper!

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World Trade Organization. That provided leverage to persuade then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin to release Yongyi Song, the U.S. college researcher who had been arrested for gathering archive material on Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution.

“Salmon understood that when you deal with China on trade, you should still insist on democratic principles,” said Song, now a librarian and professor at the Los Angeles campus of California State University. “He actually argued with China’s top leader to win my release.”

Today, Salmon voices disappointment that economic opening has not led to more political and religious freedoms for the Chinese. He said the U.S. should be ready to “strengthen the hand” of those whose rights are infringed by China — as well as nations, including U.S. allies, whose sovereignty is threatened.

He shares the Obama administration’s view that China should be encouraged to become a responsible world power.

Salmon said China should use its economic leverage in Pakistan and the Middle East to help combat Islamic militancy, and lean on North Korea to rein in its nuclear program and cyber activities.

He disagrees, however, with the president’s effort to work with China on combating climate change, saying a recent agreement on carbon emissions will hurt the U.S. economically. 

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33 YEARS YOUR VOICE

■ astrology

JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

13

For the week of January 24–January 30, 2015

By Sun Lee Chang

Rat — Although you are in a hurry to make progress, there are a few things you have to take care of first before you can advance.

Dragon — There is no substitute for solid preparation.

If you have advance notice, then give yourself an advantage by doing a little homework.

Monkey — A thorny situation is about to take a turn for the better. When it does, extricate yourself as soon as possible.

Ox — Be careful who you trust with information that could impact you. Telling the wrong person could set you back a bit.

Snake — A small favor could quickly escalate into something else entirely. It is in your interest to be clear about what you intend to do.

Rooster — Resist the urge to fill your schedule to the brim this weekend. After a hectic few weeks, the downtime will be good.

Tiger — You have seen some changes lately that are quite noticeable. For better or worse, it could be a sign of what is to come.

Horse — You can’t be in two places at once.

Differentiate between where you want to be and where you need to be.

Dog — A sense of humor is essential this week.

Remember that there is no harm in being able to laugh at yourself once in a while.

Rabbit — Once you have decided on a course of action, put the pieces in place that will allow you to get the best results.

Goat — An abundance of options doesn’t necessarily mean you like any of them. Keep looking if none of them are what you are seeking.

Pig — Why just survive when you can thrive? You already know how to apply this in one area of your life; now it is time to expand.

What’s your animal sign?

Rat 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 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 Rooster 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005 Dog 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 Pig 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007

*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.

{INSATIABLE cont’d from page 9} NWAW: How did you go about writing your play? What are your themes? What were the easiest and most difficult parts of completing the work?

Kathy Hsieh: Plays usually come to me via an image or a scene or a character that pops into my head that I’m curious about and I use the structure of the play to learn more about that image or scene or character. Some plays feel like they write themselves - when I sit down to write, it literally pours through me onto the page. Others take much more time and come to me in fits and starts. For this play, [“Moms & Their Sons”], a few specific scenes formed in my head and so I started with those. The challenging part is connecting those scenes together into a cohesive play.

Maggie Lee: This year, I am presenting two one-act plays, both inspired by themes from H. P. Lovecraft. “A Silver Key” is based on one of Lovecraft’s stories. It’s actually one of the first plays I ever wrote, and was read as part of Insatiable! 2 back in 2007! I recently rediscovered it and thought it would be an interesting challenge to rewrite it now that my writing style and general outlook on life has (mostly!) matured. The piece is about what it means to be an adult, and if that means having to give up imagination and wonder.

My second piece “The Roots Run Deep” has more of a darker tone, steeped in the horror genre. It’s about two sisters who discover some secrets about their ancestors. I enjoy using genres like horror and science fiction to explore deeper issues, like exactly how much does your bloodline determine who

you are as individual? I hope to tackle that question with this play, and have some good creepy scares for the audience as well!

Roger Tang: [“The Jade Con”] started as an homage to the old TV series “Leverage,” but my show is part of a longer work about an Asian American con woman and her family. I deal with the idea of a con artist playing with society’s ideas of roles it has for women and minorities; in a lot of ways, the con artist fights back and exploits society’s preconceived notions for women, youth and minorities.

Celeste Mari Williams: The idea for my one-act, “Someday My Prince Won’t Come”, came to me when I was thinking about some of my personal life lessons. Ha-ha. So I ended up with this, hopefully funny, dark comedy. I realized that no matter how intelligent and independent the modern woman is, there is still this fantasy of finding true love with our “prince”. This fantasy is quickly dashed by the reality of imperfect relationships.

There is this fantasy of having this fairy-tale romance but many fairy tales (especially Grimm’s) are actually very moralistic, dark, full of unsettling imagery, and often have sad or gruesome endings.

Seayoung Kim: I wanted to start a new play and my brilliant playwriting teacher Stephanie Timm suggested I try writing a revenge tragedy. I looked up elements of this and decided to write my version as sort of a strange comedy set in a convenience store. She also helped me brainstorm ideas for scenes. Also, Live Girls! Theater commissioned me to write a short play about Risk and Reward which helped shape “Do it

TAITUNG

For Umma.” I felt so supported by Live Girls! and Stephanie that I decided to make it into a full-length play.

The themes I want to explore in this piece are the costs of revenge, empire, parental approval, and cultural loss for children when a parent dies.

NWAW: What’s in the future for SiS and the Festival?

Kathy Hsieh: Besides the Festival, SIS’ next project is as a producing partner with ArtsWest in their local premier of David Henry Hwang’s “Chinglish”--a comedy about miscommunication in business and personal relationships between America and China that will open in March. SIS is also finalizing getting the rights to a play that we hope to produce as a touring production that will go to colleges and different theatre venues.

SIS is also one of the original founders of “Represent! A Multicultural Playwrights Festival” with The Hansberry Project and eSe Teatro. And each year SIS also does a theatrical tour of the International District under the title “Revealed.”

Each year we take sold-out tours of people on walking tours of Chinatown where we bring the stories of the people, history and places of the District to life using theatre.

Maggie Lee: I hope that the “Insatiable!” festival will continue on for many more years, and that it helps to showcase more diverse voices in Seattle theater.  Andrew Hamlin can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.

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JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

{BOXER cont’d from page 5} Loretta Sanchez and Xavier Becerra, and state Treasurer John Chiang, whose parents came to the U.S. from Taiwan.

“It’s a huge sea change in the electorate,” says Democratic consultant Bill Carrick, who notes that only 25 percent of California voters today were registered in 1992.

The state has never elected a black or Hispanic candidate to the U.S. Senate. Only one Asian-American has cracked that barrier: S. I. Hayakawa, the son of Japanese immigrants, who served from January 1977 to January 1983.

In her announcement, Harris alluded to the state’s diversity, saying she would build a campaign “that reaches every community of California.”

In Boxer’s first election, Hispanics accounted for 8 percent of the overall tally. In November’s elections, exit pols found nearly 2 of 10 votes came from Hispanics, essentially doubling their clout over that time.

Asian Americans notched 4 percent of the vote in 1992, surveys found, but that nearly tripled to 11 percent last year.

Those changes have loosely followed population growth.

The number of registered voters in the state increased by 3.5 million between 1994 and 2012. Nearly 90 percent of those new voters were Hispanic or Asian American, according to the independent Field Poll.

Hispanics made up about a quarter of the population when Boxer was elected; they now make up about 40 percent of the total of 38 million. Asian Americans accounted for 10 percent of the population in the first Boxer run. They now make up 13 percent, according to the Census Bureau.

The state’s demographic shifts have been a difficult adjustment for Republicans. In the 1980s and early 1990s, GOP candidates running statewide sometimes rolled up more than 40 percent of the Latino and Asian American vote. But a turnaround came with Proposition 187, which prohibited people who entered the U.S. illegally from using health care, education or other social services.

The 1994 law enacted with encouragement from Republican Gov. Pete Wilson was eventually overturned, but it left lingering resentment with many Latino and Asian American voters just as their influence began to grow.

Most of California’s new voters are Hispanic, and they tend to register as Democrats or as independents. Republican voter registration has withered to 28 percent, while Democrats hold 43 percent.

This dominance could, however, create an opportunity for the GOP. Some analysts have suggested that a big field of Democrats could dilute the party’s vote in the Senate primary, allowing one or two Republicans — Assemblyman Rocky Chavez of Oceanside is among those considering a bid — to

slip into a November runoff.

Since 2012, the state has used what’s called a top-two primary in which all candidates appear on a single ballot.

Voters are permitted to pick anyone on the list, but only the two attracting the most votes advance from the primary to November, regardless of party affiliation.

In a Southern California congressional race in 2012, so many Democrats ran in the primary that they canceled each other out, sending two Republicans to a runoff in a Democratic-leaning district. U.S. Rep. Gary Miller ended up winning the seat.

The top-two system has never been tested in a competitive statewide race that could attract a string of credible, wellfunded Democrats, a group that could include billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer.

A generation ago in California, a political consultant could aim at a mostly monolithic block of older whites, but “now you need to know calculus,” says Democratic consultant Roger Salazar, alluding to turnout projections and other assessments that must be made of multiple voter groups.

“The best political consultants of the future,” he says, “are going to have to have a math degree along with political science.” 

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33 YEARS YOUR VOICE

{CUBA cont’d from page 11}

{MLK cont’d from page 1}

respect for Cuba’s sovereignty and right to self-determination.

Obama’s US-Cuba agreement is accompanied by a prisoner exchange, the opening of embassies in each other’s countries, easing of travel restrictions, easing of financial exchanges and remittances from the US to Cuban nationals, and expanded commerce. Of great importance is President Obama’s instruction to Secretary of State Kerry to initiate a review of Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and report on this within six months. Cuba was placed on the list in 1982.

As an Asian American, I have also learned that we share much in common with Cubans. Chinese laborers were brought to Cuba for an eight year contract after the end of African slavery in Cuba because of the need for a new labor force to work in the expanding sugar cane industry. The first Chinese recorded in Cuba was on June 3, 1847 and by 1873, over 130,000 Chinese laborers, mostly from villages in Guangzhou, had been shipped to Cuba. This was a significant number since at that time the island’s total population numbered less than one million.

There were also Japanese laborers and Filipinos who came on the Spanish galleon ships, but their communities were of less significant in numbers than the Chinese.

Today, there are probably less than 300 offspring of Chinese immigrants left in Cuba out of the population of 11 million Cubans. The majority of Cubans of Chinese descent, Chinos, as they are referred to, are of mixed race and in the main no longer speak any Chinese dialects. But over the last two decades, with the opening of relations and trade with China, there has been a renewed interest in the preservation of Chinese culture and language and the institutionalization of the history of Chinese in Cuba. This preservation has been funded both by the Cuban and Chinese governments and has included the hosting of both high level and people-to-people Chinese delegations to Cuba, reestablishment of Chinese festivals, Chinese language school and martial arts classes and stories about the role of Chinese in the Cuban revolution. There are often ceremonies held at the memorial in Havana to honor the Chinese who fought in the first war of Cuban independence against Spain. The inscription of the memorial reads, “There was not one Cuban Chinese deserter, not one Cuban Chinese traitor.”

Recently, I returned to El Barrio Chino in Havana to eat Cuban Chinese food and to revisit the Kwong Wah Po Newspaper, the only Chinese newspaper in Cuba. It had been some years since I first visited and spoke to the employees of this small paper, the only source of news on China for the dwindling number of Chinese Cubans who still read Chinese. It was closed with no signs of whether they were closed for good or closed for repairs.

I wondered if Abel Fung Way Man, the manager, was still alive and whether they were still setting the paper by hand – a laborious job since there were thousands of different Chinese characters neatly sorted by character in the large room next to the printing press. But I still remember Man’s last words to us in that visit that remind me so much of the many Cuban people that I have met, “If everyone treated each other like they were in their homes, no matter what country they were in, we would surely have world peace.” I hope that one day we can have a relationship with the Cuban people in that context. That would truly give meaning to the normalization of ties between the US and Cuba. 

climate that reveals racism still deep in American culture. Jelani Brown said “Race is a social construct.

Nothing more. There is one race. The human race.”

Outside, as marchers gathered for a rally, more speakers took the stage.

Louis Watanabe spoke to the crowd.

“You (the audience) are the legacy of Dr. King,” he said. Mayor Ed Murray and Governor Jay Inslee showed up at the rally to lend their support.

The march began at Garfield High School and the crowd moved downtown through Capitol Hill and

{BLOG cont’d from page 10} scientists working in the laboratory. I know they are well represented.

Instead, I question the low presence of African American scientists who are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in many parts of the country, including Washington State.

Most of these laboratories’ interviewees answers were inexcusable.

Perhaps the most pathetic reply was, “We have .5 African American scientists in research,” meaning he was doing the other part of the job for the agency. The .5 scientist is a figurehead for the organization, simply to embellish the agency or fulfill federal requirements when applying for grants.

Yes, we have an African American constituency, but…not really.

My role is to ask questions, not only for writing stories, but to help the public develop awareness, challenge the system to make things better. Leaders have a responsibility to deal with institutionalized racism.

What can we do as a community to help those who need the help?

The Asian Weekly begins with youth.

Every year, the Asian Weekly gives out five scholarships of $1,000 each to high school

15

JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

the International District, making stops at the Youth Detention Center, Yesler Terrace, King County Jail, the Seattle Police Department, and the Federal Courthouse, where noted city officials made speeches.

Throughout this nonviolent march, participants raised signs, including the one provided by the planning committee that read “Fight for your rights in 2015.” Marchers chanted the now ingrained slogans of “Whose lives matter? Black lives matter.”  Minal Singh be reached at info@ nwasianweekly.com.

{FCS cont’d from page 1} housing for seniors and small families.” FCS has partnered with Catholic Community Services of Western Washington to develop the village’s housing units.

Plans for FCS Village also include a half-round plaza, a characteristic of traditional Filipino architecture; an Innovation Learning Center with FCS’ computer-literacy and robotics classes; a rooftop garden; and parking spaces.

FCS Village’s yellow-sun plaza (including eight rays representing the Philippines’ first eight provinces to revolt against Spanish rule in the Philippine Revolution) and three, small, red roofs (representing Luzon, Mindanao, and Visayas) convey the image of the Philippine national flag from above.

Alex Rolluda and Bob Hale are principals at Seattle-based Rolluda Architects and co-lead architects for FCS Village.

Rolluda, a Filipino American, says affordable housing at FCS Village makes sense and has always been needed in the community. “Of all the different projects that the office has done, this one here is near and dear to my heart,” he said.

“This is one of the projects where you could say, ‘It’s for the Filipino people. It’s by them. They’re the ones that are sacrificing for it, paying for it. They’re the ones that are envisioning it, and it’s of the people. It’s who we are as a culture.’”

The project continues moving forward despite a controversy around recent changes to the FCS Constitution and by-laws – the cancellation of general elections, in particular.

“It’s like dropping the legacy of your pioneers,” said Sluggo Rigor, Filipino American Bulletin editor and publisher.

In the letter, Kern also identified seven reasons, including “to show the world that the FCS is a sustainable nonprofit, service-oriented organization composed of board members and officers who are truly qualified and not just ‘popular.’”

Kern said, “The train has left the station. You’re either on it or you’re not.”

“I know since the changes in by-laws and elections, some of us would rather just stay away from all the mess that has

students who have contributed to the community and fostered diversity. It means students have to help others who aren’t like them or act like them. It is imperative to learn and appreciate diversity during youth. It develops character and brilliance in their world view with other races.

Some years, we have no Asian winners.

That’s okay. It doesn’t matter if our name is the Northwest Asian Weekly. If there are not qualified Asian applicants, we just have no Asian winners, period. One year, we had all female winners. Hopefully, it’s a message for male youth that they need to step up with their desire to volunteer and make a difference in other people’s lives.

Being the majority (and minority) I lived with 99 percent Chinese in Hong Kong, a British colony, before I came to America for college. I had little opinion on race for my first five years in America.

Where I was raised—whites, a minority, were the superiors in government posts, corporations; even our high schools’ principals and some upper-class teachers were white. The other mentality was, we perceived teachers who taught English as being smarter, and they had more authority and respect than those who taught Chinese subjects. I was totally brain-washed as a kid.

Schematic for the proposed center

become the FCS,” said Brian Myers, co-creator of FCS’ FilStar Program (for youths) and FilStar Coordinator from 2007 to 2010.

“I hope the new facility will be able to provide the space and programs to really attract youth to being involved,” Myers added.

The Concerned Filipino American Citizens Movement (CFACM) formed to do more than just stay away. The group is urging FCS’ current board and officers to restore open elections.

“Our biggest concern right now is not the village per se. That is secondary,” said former FCS President Bert Caoili (1998-2008) and member of the group. He says the cancellation has led to FCS’ current “lack of transparency.”

“I am not against the village, but I am against the people who could be running it,” he said. “If these guys were legally elected, I would have no problem. There would be no protest.”

FCS plans to hold a general meeting to update the progress of FCS Village in late spring.  For more information about the Filipino Community of Seattle, go to filipinocommunityofseattle.org.

James Tabafunda can nwasianweekly.com.

Living in the U.S., I wasn’t aware that I had been discriminated against as much as I thought—not like my black brothers and sisters who had experienced refusal of service from restaurants, taxis, and being barred from entering certain areas.

But I have witnessed a lot of racism in the Asian community, especially those who are not getting jobs and the promotions they deserve, and for being badly treated at work, and getting fired and arrested unfairly.

Speak up!

I wasn’t born to have the ability to speak up. However, I quickly learned from my African American friends to use their voice. Their fighting spirit has inspired me to challenge people like former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, former Boeing CEO Phil Condit, and former University of Washington President Dick McCormick in public. My friends don’t worry about what others think. They spill their guts with conviction and courage when speaking up.

be

reached

at

info@

In the Asian community, there are still deep silences and detachment. Although it’s getting better, you often see the same old leaders speaking at meetings, while the majority keeps their views hidden, their voices silent. What are they afraid of? Their accents, lack of confidence and practice, and passive attitudes might be some of the reasons. Isn’t it time to break out from the insular self and let the boss, peers, colleagues and community know how you feel? Just do it. There will be something that will follow.

For a girl born in China, I have come a long way, not afraid to confront race and all the obstacles and messiness involved. And I was proud to join my African American friends in their Martin Luther King march last Monday. Some might label me as a radical. Am I!?

The purpose of questioning and challenging the status quo is to contribute to others having a better life.

It is as simple as that. 

Want to get the inside scoop on the latest happenings of Seattle’s Asian American community? Follow Publisher Assunta Ng’s blog at nwasianweekly.com under the Opinion section.

asianweekly northwest

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JANUARY 24 – JANUARY 30, 2015

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