By Ditas Katague, Director, California Complete Count – Census 2020 Office 2020 has certainly been extraordinary, and what many are calling an unprecedented time. We’ve been hit with a worldwide pandemic, stopping the normal routine of our lives, in addition to facing social unrest due to racism and injustice. On top of that, our state…
Community Perspective by Nora Formento For our family, our restaurant, Manila BBQ, is everything. It is a place where we work, gather, celebrate each other, and where we go to support our community. As immigrants who came over from the Philippines in 1990, owning and operating our own restaurant was our American Dream. We are…
By Kathay Feng I live in San Gabriel, CA, where more than half the people were born outside of the US. My neighbors include families who immigrated from Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and China. When my daughter went to elementary school, so many parents were newcomers – but not a single person in the front…
A palpable sense of loss overcame me upon hearing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s (RBG) passing last Friday, September 18. Like many others, I turned to the internet to get confirmation, and was struck by the outpouring of posts about her. This made my sense of loss even more palpable. It’s like what one feels,…
“For the first time since I became a citizen in 1983, I will not vote for the Republican candidate for President. But as proud as I am to label myself as a Republican, there is one label that I hold above all else — AMERICAN. So I want to take a moment today to remind my fellow Republicans…
LAST Wednesday, September 9, those of us in the West Coast all shared a very eerie experience as we woke up to inferno-like orange skies, and it seemed the sun did not shine that day. The blazing skies, choking smoke and ash in the air were caused by wildfires that have been raging in the…
Commentary by Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen This election means more than any other in our lifetimes. We’ve seen what four years of madness from the White House has inflicted: An increase in hate crimes toward the AAPI community; Kowtowing to dictators around the world; Racism over the origins of COVID-19 that paints our community with a…
Commentary by John C. Yang IF you could do something in ten minutes or less that would make sure we have translated materials for limited English proficient members in our Asian American community, local grocery stores that carry Asian-related products, or tell Asian-owned businesses where to build new stores, would you do it? Right now,…
VIRAL. Breaking News. Facebook Live. Before the advent of social media, we received our news and information from newspapers, radio and television news programs — each with editorial boards that meet every day to discuss the news events of the day, confirm the veracity of the news, and answer the what, who, where, when, why…
By: Governor Gavin Newsom Better schools. Safer roads. Healthier neighborhoods. All Californians can help their communities secure these resources and more by participating in the 2020 Census before September 30. It’s as simple as answering nine easy questions online or on the phone. As we continue to address the double pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic…
As we remember the sad day in our nation’s history, when at least 3,000 people were killed and thousands more were injured in a series of coordinated attacks on American soil on September 11, 2001, carried out by the Islamist global terror network Al Qaeda, we come to realize another sobering fact happening now, almost…
By Grace Vergara-Mactal, SEIU and Gloria Caoile, APALA Kung flu. Chinese virus. These aren’t hurtful taunts from schoolchildren overheard on the playground. They’re the words of the sitting President of the United States of America — and they have fanned the flames of bigotry against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders throughout the course of the…
WITH 47 years in government, what has Joe Biden, former vice president and senator and now presidential candidate, accomplished? This is a timely moment to talk facts about what the candidates have really done to help the American people live a better, more just and equitable life in their years as government officials, accorded with public…
EXASPERATED — this is how many Americans, like myself, feel as a divide deepens among the country’s residents, especially since President Donald Trump first ran for office and is now running for a second term. What is more troubling is not just about ideology and policy differences. While it may seem that we are all…
By Gloria T. Caoile, Director of Civic Engagement / Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance NV THIS Labor Day is unlike what we have experienced in our lifetimes. While the COVID-19 pandemic has eliminated our time-honored tradition of parades and picnics, it has not dissuaded Asian Pacific American workers from celebrating Labor Day and reflecting on…
By Rep. Dina Titus LABOR Day is a time to celebrate the industriousness, talent, and perseverance of the American workforce. This year, we have seen these qualities on display more than ever. Our frontline workers have donned scrubs and saved lives. Some of them have put on gloves and bagged groceries. Others have equipped themselves…
DOOMSDAY in America is what President Donald Trump has been scaring people about in his campaign. He warns that if his opponent, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, wins in November, then people will not be safe with all the chaos, violence, and killing happening in the country. He claims only he can fix this and…
“We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal” “I HAVE A DREAM that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal,” civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr….
THE Republican Party was once known as the party of Abraham Lincoln; the party of true statesmen fighting for true conservative values and in the service of the American people; the Grand Old Party. But it has been hijacked by this reality star named Donald Trump. He has taken over the party, while its members…
“What we do echoes through the generations…” —Former President Barack Obama in his 2020 Democratic National Convention Address On August 17, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill, AB 1460, that requires all California State University students to take an ethnic studies class, in order to graduate. The class must be focused on one of…
KAPAMILYA, kapuso, kapatid, mga kababayan ko, I hope this letter finds you well, amid the threat of the coronavirus pandemic that has been threatening the lives of people around the world. This global health crisis has truly disrupted our lives and livelihoods, financial stability, families, culture and traditions, and our chance to visit our loved…
Commenting on my previous essay entitled “Utang na Loob,” (published in the Los Angeles Asian Journal issue on July 29, 2020), a family friend wrote: “Why did Asians rise a bit higher than Blacks? Is it their thirst for a good education, a lot of self-esteem and pride in their heritage as well as close family…
ELECTION FEVER is heating up this August as the two major political parties hold their respective national conventions for the next two weeks to formally nominate the next presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The members of each party will also work together to adopt the official platform which will be our guides as voters in choosing…
SUFFRAGE is defined as “the right to vote in electing public officials and adopting or rejecting proposed legislation,” according to Britannica. The exercise of the right to vote by every citizen is the very foundation of a democracy — the government of the people, by the people, for the people. But what would and should…
HAS President Donald Trump been fantasizing about becoming a dictator like his idol Russia’s Vladimir Putin and his favorite presidents-for-life China’s Xi Jingping and North Korea’s Kim Jung Un? In History News Network, author John C. Waugh, wrote an article with the eyebrow-raising title, “Trump – A Wannabe Dictator in Training.” “In a view shared by many,…
YES, BIDEN-HARRIS 2020! “I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, announced on Twitter on Tuesday, August 11. This personally excited me…
THREE MONTHS until the 2020 presidential election and amid the rising death toll and infected COVID-19 cases in the United States, we are bombarded with even more mixed messages on social media that confuse us more than answer our questions. Unfortunately, there are people in power who capitalize on our despair as this pandemic has…
I ACTUALLY survived reading the online transcription of the recent SONA delivered by President Rodrigo Duterte before a joint session of Congress last July 27. I noted that it was remarkably substantive. Too bad, the Malacanang speech writers mixed up the key points, in a rambling and disjointed speech, much like pinakbet or chop suey….
COVID-19 in the United States has killed over 158,000 and has infected more than 4.8 million, claiming the lives of at least 1,000 Americans each day in a widespread outbreak throughout the nation, from the densely populated cities to the rural areas. These are real people who died because of the coronavirus pandemic, with real…
COVID-19 does not discriminate against who to infect. It may hit you regardless of your gender, age, financial status, educational attainment, political affiliation, and religious beliefs. However, some groups of people may be more susceptible and vulnerable to being exposed to the virus because of their present health condition and their life, home and employment…
