NBC Asian America

source: Twitter @NBCAsianAmerica

A few months ago, I found my cousins followed on Facebook NBC Asian America. It wasn't long before I began following them too.

From their website:
ABOUT
"NBC Asian America Presents..." is a digital video channel by NBC Asian America that features original longform content and documentaries focused on themes and voices found in Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

New videos and series can be watched at NBC Asian America, as well as NBC Asian America's Facebook page, NBC News' official YouTube channel, and the NBC News app available on mobile devices, Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.

Launched in 2014 by NBC News, NBC Asian America is the country's first English-language national news resource dedicated to covering Asian American and Pacific Islander news, features, perspectives, and more. With the launch of "NBC Asian America Presents..." in 2016, NBC Asian America has grown into a robust multimedia platform for the AAPI community by the AAPI community.

Here's the trailer from their YouTube page:

James Shigeta, June 17, 1927 - July 28, 2014

image source: NBC News

Earlier this week, actor James Shigeta passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 85 (some news sources listed his age at 81).

Mr. Shigeta's best known and biggest role was as Wang Ta in the film "Flower Drum Song". As I wrote when I shared his obituary from the Los Angeles Times on my Facebook page, Mr. Shigeta's role left a deep impression on me. It was the first time I ever saw Asian Americans speaking without exaggerated Asian accents.

"The Joy Luck Club" and "Flower Drum Song" were among the few Asian Ameican films that have had any mainstream success in the US. Which is why most of Mr. Shigeta's career after "Flower Drum Song" were mostly in support roles such as "Die Hard" and "Midway".

For cinephile and/or Asian American culture geeks, there are 2 documentaries that discuss this issue: Arthur Dong's "Hollywood Chinese" (September 10, 2012 blog entry), and San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi's "The Slanted Screen" (May 21, 2006 blog entry). I highly recommend them.

The Brothers Jay

As this is Asian Pacific Heritage month, I want to acknowledge 2 people who were born, raised and educated in my native city of Columbus, Ohio to Chinese parents. They are John C Jay, and his younger brother, Ben. Their parents, Gim and Jan Jay, operated and ran Crestview Market in the 1960's until their retirement in the 1980's. Crestview Market was a primary supplier to most of the Chinese restaurants in greater Columbus, including my family's, Jong Mea.

In Ben's student days at Ohio State, my family saw him often, as he made many deliveries to Jong Mea. When he wasn't working or in school, he was involved in numerous sporting activities, which is why his current occupation comes as no surprise to anyone who knew him growing up.

After Ben received his bachelor's degree in accounting at Ohio State in 1981, he began his varied and very successful athletic administration career. In summary:

• General Manager, Redwood Pioneers, a minor league baseball affiliate for the California Angels. 
• Director of Operations, Cleveland Indians. 
• Master's Degree, athletics administration, The Ohio State University. 
• Assistant Athletics Director for Business and Finance, Fairfield (Connecticut) University. 
• Associate Commissioner for Business and Finance, PAC-10 Conference. 
• Senior Associate Athletics Director for Finance and Operations, The Ohio State University, and as of January, 2013,
• Athletic Director, University of Hawai'i, Manoa

Below is a YouTube video interview with Ben after his appointment as the new Athletic Director at the University of Hawai'i.

Ben's older brother, John C Jay, earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Ohio State in 1971. John's career began in New York at Bloomingdale's in the menswear and home furnishings department. In his 12 years at Bloomingdale's, he moved up the ranks to become Executive Vice President, Director of Creative and Marketing Services.

In 1993, John moved to Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, Oregon. As partner and global executive creative director for W+K, he led campaigns for Nike, Coca-Cola and Microsoft. He also established satellite offices in Tokyo, Shanghai and Delhi. In honor of his parents and school roots, he established the Gim and Jan Jay Scholarship Fund at Ohio State to provide financial assistance for students of Asian descent who seek careers in visual or performing arts and design.

As of January 2013, W+K appointed John as lead for their new unit, W+K Garage. From Kiran Aditham's article listed in the Agency Spy section of Media Bistro, the creation of Garage "will serve as a multidisciplinary creative agency for the connected age, focused on the concepting, creating and investing in innovative experiences, content and technology."

I've included a video interview of John from November 2011:



From this Asian-American, Columbus native and Ohio State alum, way to go. You homeboys make us proud.

Hollywood Chinese - update

In April 2008, I wrote about a fascinating documentary I saw at the Sundance Kabuki called "Hollywood Chinese", directed by Arthur Dong. As Wikipedia describes it, "Dong utilizes clips of more than 100 films and interviews of prominent Chinese Americans to create a thorough overview in the depiction of Chinese in mainstream Hollywood films."

I have since seen Hollywood Chinese at least 3 times. In May, 2009, PBS's American Masters aired the documentary. Above is a YouTube preview. Please note the embedded link is disabled. To watch the preview, click the link and you will be taken directly to YouTube.

East of Main Street - Small Talk and Asians Aloud

The focus of my last 3 blog entries has been on Asian-Americans. I decided I'd write another one, but had no clue as to what that would be. Some of the information I researched on "No Look Pass" featuring Emily Tay came from Asia Society.  So I went back to their website for ideas.

I found a trailer (shown above) for an HBO Family feature that aired in May called, "East of Main Street: Small Talk", directed by Jonathan Yi. Charming, sweet and funny, I laughed out loud. Mostly because I know I would have answered with the same responses when I was their age.

As I began to write this entry, I then noticed on YouTube a link under the same documentary name, but with a different subtitle, Asians Aloud. HBO On Demand aired this in April 2010 (May is officially Asian Pacific American Heritage Month).

The biggest difference in this trailer compared to Small Talk is that it's from adults - and, not all of it is funny. This time, I nodded at what the adults said because like the kids, I would have answered with the same responses.

Here's the trailer for East of Main Street: Asians Aloud:

HBO Family will rebroadcast Small Talk at the end of this month. Check the website for more information. HBO isn't among my list of subscribed cable channels, but I'll go back to YouTube to find out what I can.

The Hapa Project - Kip Fulbeck

Photo courtesy of Seaweed Productions
The Hapa Project - website

• Summer Olympics 2012 U.S. team members Nathan Adrian and Kyla Ross 
• Actors Jennifer and Meg Tilly, Russell Wong, Moon Bloodgood, Ian Anthony Dale
• USF men's basketball coach Rex Walters 
• MLB pitchers Tim Lincecum, Ron Darling (retired) and Danny Graves (retired)
• NBC news anchor Ann Curry 
• Sean Lennon
• The children of my cousins John, Kin, Ming, Kit, Faye 
• More than I can count on all my fingers and toes, my friends and their children

What do they have in common? All are of mixed ethnic heritage with partial roots in Asian and/or Pacific Islander ancestry*.

Or, in Hawaiian language, Hapa.  In 2001, American artist Kip Fulbeck began The Hapa Project, a photographic montage of 1200 volunteer subjects who identified themselves as hapa. To find out more about the project, please click the website link posted below Kip's picture.

For me, the objective of the project, as described in Wikipedia, said it best: The Hapa Project was created to promote awareness and recognition of the millions of multiracial/multiethnic individuals of Asian/Pacific Islander descent in the U.S; to give voice to multiracial people and previously ignored ethnic groups; to dispel myths of exoticism, hybrid vigor and racial homogeneity; to foster positive identity formation and self-image in multiracial children; and to encourage solidarity and empowerment within the multiracial/Hapa community.

While I may not be Hapa ethnically, I certainly am culturally. Loudly and proudly.

*from "about The Hapa Project" website.

Nathan Adrian - "Bok Choy"

Photo courtesy of Channel APA

Count me among the millions of women who find Olympic swimmer Nathan Adrian absolutely adorable. As I'm probably in the same age range as his parents, I'll admire him from afar. He's from Bremerton, WA (in the Seattle area) and a recent UC Berkeley graduate, with honors, so he's no slouch in academia either.

At the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics, all the publicity was on teammates Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. Nathan got heads turning when he upset favorite James Magnussen of Australia in 100m Freestyle which earned him a gold medal. He also swam the anchor leg (freestyle) in the men's 4 x 100 medley relay which got him another gold medal.

Cute, smart, and based on what we've seen and heard from him, humble, and friendly, with a quick smile (Reminds me of someone special I dearly miss). On top of that, his mother Cecilia was born and raised in Hong Kong, which makes his ancestry half-Chinese. When swim teammates found this out, they nicknamed him "Bok Choy" (Chinese cabbage).

Sigh. Best of luck to you, Nathan. You've got a bright future ahead. And I wish you even more luck in fighting off the swarm of women who'll desperately want to be your girlfriend.

Asian-American, former Harvard point guard, and not Jeremy Lin

Somewhere between the Giants-Dodgers game and the start of the Summer 2012 Olympics Games in London, I watched an awesome documentary called "No Look Pass". Melissa Johnson, a former member of the Harvard Women's Basketball Team, wrote, directed and produced the film.

The film's primary subject is Emily Tay, a Burmese-American point guard who also played hoops at Harvard University.  Emily was a year behind Jeremy Lin.  Her upbringing is typical of many children of foreign-born parents that come to the United States poor, hoping for a better life for them, but even more so for their children.  The goal for a better life is often achieved, but how they want their children to live that life can be a major source of conflict. Something many of us experience from our own upbringing.

Emily's mother is set on getting Emily married to a wealthy man once she graduates from Harvard.  Emily wants to play professional basketball in Europe and has made this known to her parents repeatedly. What Emily's parents don't know is that she's gay. The documentary takes us through slices of Emily's and Katie's life (Emily's best friend and basketball teammate) during their last years at Harvard and where life takes them after graduation.

As an Asian-American and former height-challenged hoopster with foreign-born parents, I could identify with so much of Emily's life. Except Emily is a much taller, faster, better dribbler, shooter and master of the no-look pass than I could ever be on my best day.

I found the documentary on Showtime through my cable provider's OnDemand service. It was also featured at the San Francisco International Asian Film Festival this past March. I highly recommend this film for any Asian-American, straight or gay, who has played sports at a competitive level.

Generation 1.5 (a different kind of generation gap)

For those who aren't sure and afraid to ask, I am second-generation Asian-American. Specifically, American-born Chinese (ABC). Both my parents were born in Guangzhou (Canton) in Guangdong province, which is the ancestral province to many of the first Chinese to settle in the United States.

As broadcasted across the media prominently last week, Seung-Hui Cho was identified as the lone gunman in the Virginia Tech University shooting. Cho was a Korean-American who came to United States with his family in 1992. What also has been noted not so prominently is that Cho was considered among Koreans-Americans as someone who was "Generation 1.5", a person who arrived in the United States during school age (Cho was 8).

Up until the Virginia Tech shooting, I'd only known of generations in whole numbers. Japanese have specific names of generations (Issei, Nisei, Sansei, and Yonsei). I think "Generation 1.5" is a far more accurate description of those who arrive at school age. Because they didn't arrive as adults, many successfully integrate into American society and we often forget their birthplace wasn't in the United States.

But as I think about friends and family, Generation 1.5 probably has the largest gap of how much integration immigrants have in American society. The younger the age, the more integrated the person becomes. For example, my mom arrived in her teens, but Cantonese (Toisan) is still her first language. My cousin David arrived at the age of 4 and speaks limited Cantonese.

The lack of integration for Generation 1.5'ers is what can make life difficult. Culture and lifestyle at home versus school or work can be vastly different. It's difficult to know where you do or don't fit in. And this is where I think Seung-Hui Cho failed miserably. Fortunately, the vast majority who suffer as he did don't go on shooting rampages and kill innocent people.

The Slanted Screen

Today we headed to the Roxie Film Center on 16th and Valencia in the Inner Mission district to catch the documentary, “The Slanted Screen”. Written, produced and directed by Jeff Adachi (current SF Public Defender), it addresses and examines the stereotypes of Asian-American males in film.

I only found out about the film on Friday at work. I was in the lunchroom grabbing a yogurt out of the fridge and decided to browse through the Datebook (entertainment) section of the San Francisco Chronicle. When I checked the screen times, only evening times were listed. I didn’t want to be in the Inner Mission during evening hours, so I checked SFGate.com to see if they listed daytime hours. No luck there either.

I really wanted to see this film. Especially since I read that veteran actors Mako and James Shigeta were interviewed for the documentary. So I went to Google, entered “Slanted Screen” and found the website. I already prepared myself to wait for the DVD release. I e-mailed the address listed at the website to let them know to contact me once the DVD became available.

Within 2 minutes of my e-mail, I got a response back. It was from the writer and director himself, Jeff Adachi. WOW. I was talking to a celebrity. He said there were 5 screen times on Saturday and Sunday, which I replied back and asked when they were because we’d make time to go. I also wished him luck on his Q&A Friday night at the Roxie. Jeff replied back again very quickly, and said thanks for the support.

As a film lover, it was great to see so many movie clips during the documentary. Actors such as Sandra Oh, Ming-Na, Tzi Ma, Daniel Dae Kim, and Lucy Liu wouldn’t have the roles they have now if Nancy Kwan, Bruce Lee, Mako and James Shigeta didn’t pave the way for them.

image courtesy of “The Slanted Screen”