FOR the first time since after George W. Bush defeated Al Gore for President in 2000 through absentee ballots, the winner of the 2020 presidential election amid the pandemic is still too close to call, with so many early voting mailed in ballots still left to be counted. This is a result of different state…
by Governor Gavin Newsom THIS November, millions of Americans prepared for the most consequential election of our lifetimes. So much is at stake, and I encouraged all Californians who can to cast a ballot to take this opportunity to shape the future of our country. But it’s also a time of dread for people who…
HOW DO WE START rebuilding our lives and our nation amid the continued threat of the coronavirus pandemic, more than nine months after it has become a health emergency around the world? Earlier I wrote about Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s plan “Build Back Better.” His website states that Biden believes “this is no time to…
by U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV-03) The date was March 6, 2020, one day after the first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in Nevada. I sat around a long table with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) small business owners, restauranteurs, and community leaders in YuXiang Korean Chinese Restaurant, an AAPI owned restaurant in southwest…
HOW do we start rebuilding our lives and our nation amid the continued threat of the coronavirus pandemic, more than nine months after it has become a health emergency around the world? Here is what the two candidates for commander-in-chief have to say. Donald Trump’s plan is “Let’s Go Back,” while Joe Biden wants to…
by Gloria T. Caoile My mother is a proud American citizen. Even now, in her 90s, she recites the Pledge of Allegiance and sings “The Star-Spangled Banner” enthusiastically. She came to this country with the belief that with hard work and determination, she can better her life. And she did. I grew up the daughter…
by Marc Ang When I sat and watched the ludicrous questioning of Judge Amy Coney Barrett by Senator Mazie Hirono, my first instinct was to identify with Amy as she sat on the dais in polite silence. Grilled with inappropriate questions that were frankly sexist, bigoted against her Catholic faith and downright defamatory, I realized…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden faced off on Thursday night, October 22 for their final debate before the November 3 election. The 90-minute debate was moderated by NBC’s Kristen Welker and took place at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Viewers who tuned into the final debate were pleasantly surprised to actually…
by Cherina Kleven I was 12 years old in 1970, when I first came to the United States from Taiwan. Like many, my family came to America seeking a better life, with the promise that if we worked hard enough and kept our heads down, we too could have our own American Dream. And we…
by Geordee Mae Corpuz Filipinos in California have a lot at stake in this election. As the largest Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) ethnic group in California, as well as one of the biggest voter blocs, Filipinos have a lot of power. And the 2020 election puts us at a historical juncture to use…
by Marc Ang Admissions and promotions based on race/gender (instead of merit) have the potential to destroy society. I challenge everyone to not look at this as a left-right issue, which oversimplifies and prevents us from exploring the nuances of an issue. I also challenge everyone not to look at this as a race issue,…
MY mother who lives in Manila frantically asked me during a phone conversation lately about what she called “black propaganda” against Joe Biden relayed to her by my sister-in-law which I think she must have heard from Filipino Trump supporters visiting in Manila. Mom said it is about Trump claiming repeatedly that Biden supports late-term…
By Jen Soriano There’s a lot of chaos surrounding the 2020 elections. But Filipino Americans understand chaos, don’t we? Many of us work in fields where we cut through crisis and confusion to get the job done: the military, health care, education, government, small businesses, domestic work and more. So let’s cut through the confusion…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump gets more unhinged as Election Day draws closer. He has intensified his spreading not only of the virus, but of lies, misinformation, conspiracy theories just to get re-elected. Trump continues to use and abuse the power, resources, and public trust accorded to the Office of the President of the United States, to…
“The human heart is the first home of democracy.” -Terry Tempest Williams, as quoted by Parker J. Palmer, “The Politics of the Broken Hearted” (2005) “This ‘one nation, indivisible’ is deeply divided along political, economic, racial, and religious lines. And despite our historic dream of being “a light unto the nations,” the gaps between our…
by Johanna Puno Hester It is sick to me that our current president and administration continue to target and threaten immigrants in this country when I know that it is us immigrant workers who are caring and fighting for the most vulnerable Americans. It was my father who taught me the values of taking care…
by Nevada First Lady Kathy Sisolak I am humbled to serve as Nevada’s First Lady, and I do so embracing my Chinese heritage. I am a native Nevadan, but I am also a proud daughter of immigrants. My mother worked as a data processor for Clark County, and my father was the first Chinese card…
By Dr. Noel Fajardo For many in Asian American communities, when we look at our systems of government we see too much gridlock and partisanship. We see elected leaders and campaigns who take our votes and communities for granted, often assuming, rather than asking, our point of view on important matters. Pair that with a…
There are so many things happening in America – shocking, scary, funny, ridiculous, unbelievable – that the usual single-topic format of Street Talk would be inadequate. We are, thus, breaking a pattern of over three decades of column writing by discussing several hot topics in this piece: Schadenfreude This is a German term that literally…
“Being a black person in this world doesn’t kill you, but being a black person in America clearly can.” — Mustapha Okango, Nairobi-based anthropologist In September, President Trump through Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought issued a ban on federal funding for “spending related to any training on ‘critical race theory,’ ‘white…
HEALTH CARE, more than ever, especially in the age of the coronavirus pandemic, remains to be the among the top concerns of the American people as we head to the polls to vote. In Part 1, I wrote about President Donald Trump’s “America First Health Care Plan,” which just laid out the three pillars of…
Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), which we founded and launched here in Manila on September 17-20, 2000, to serve as a forum for dialogue, understanding and cooperation on issues and challenges in Asia through the network of political parties. We earlier planned to hold our ICAPP…
by Daniel Ynchausti After attending the ‘Pinoys for Trump’ Rally in Walnut, California last week, it is clear that many Filipino Americans who do support President Trump this upcoming election have trouble reading between the lines when faced with ethical reasoning in comparison to their own religious values and virtues. When asked about how President…
HEALTH CARE, especially in the age of the coronavirus pandemic, remains to be among the top concerns of the American people as we head to the polls to vote. Last October 2, President Donald Trump announced he and First Lady Melania Trump had been infected by COVID-19, and just seven days after, on October 9, claimed…
by Philip Lim Nulud and Mari Bandoma Callado Former President Dwight Eisenhower once said, “[t]he future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter.” This is especially poignant as we approach the 2020 General Election in November. While the focus of the election is on who will be president, there is much…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump tweeted on Monday, October 5: ”I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good!” Trump sent this tweet to his followers shortly before making a dramatic exit through the front doors of the hospital, pumping his fist to cameras, NBC News reported. He said,…
Biden holds 13-point lead in the polls over Trump “The rest of the world – and future historians – will presumably look at it and weep,” the paper wrote, adding that Mr. Biden was the only man who looked “remotely presidential” on the stage and saying that if Mr. Trump was re-elected in November, “this…
ABORTION is perhaps the most contentious issue in America, a paradox given the fact that people, in general, value life and have been given by our Creator the instincts and the intelligence to protect life. Then why has this issue divided us when we uphold the same value for life? We all believe that life…
In the heat of the contest for the official Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump boasted that he could shoot somebody in the middle of Manhattan and not lose a single vote. He subsequently went on to win in the Republican Party primary and then, the presidency. In almost four years of…
“Our nation has lost a justice of historic stature,” Chief Justice John Roberts said. “We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her, a tireless and resolute champion of justice.” Women like me and my daughters…
