Seattle Mourns Community Leader 'Uncle' Bob Santos, Dead at 82 - NBC News

My article for NBC Asian America

"By uniting not only the Asian American community in Washington, but many people of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds, Bob proved that lasting change comes from a united front," state Sen. Bob Hasegawa said in a statement on behalf of the the Washington Democrats. "There are children and families who received health care because of him, who got housing or were able to buy their first home because of him — not many people can say they had such a direct impact on the lives of their neighbors. His legacy will live on in their memories and ours. Like many of my colleagues, I am proud to have called Bob a friend. He was a mentor and moral anchor for our entire community."

Seattle Mourns Community Leader 'Uncle' Bob Santos, Dead at 82 - NBC News

Speaking at UM Law School on panel with Peter Liang's defense attorneys Friday

I've been invited to speak at the University of Michigan Law School this Friday, April 15, 12:00-1:00 pm, Hutchins Hall 220, on a panel with Peter Liang's defense attorneys.

Officer Peter Liang and the Asian-American Community: Scapegoating, Justice, or Something Else?
Officer Peter Liang was the first NYPD officer convicted in over a decade for a line-of-duty shooting against the tense political and social backdrop of a post-Ferguson world. Officer Liang’s defense attorneys, Rae Koshetz and Robert Brown, and local journalist and activist Frances Kai-Hwa Wang will discuss Liang’s legal case and the posture of Asian-Americans and other minority groups within a highly racialized criminal justice system.

The Korematsu Case and What it Means to Us Today - The Fred T. Korematsu Institute

Thanks to Keith Kamisugi for publishing my Korematsu Day remarks at Fred T. Korematsu Institute. It was a fun two days talking all around the state with Roland Hwang Ron Aramaki Mary Kamidoi Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission

The Korematsu Case and What it Means to Us Today - The Fred T. Korematsu Institute

MHP remembers landmark SCOTUS case | MSNBC

Great MHP video from last fall where Melissa Harris-Perry details the Supreme Court case from 70 years ago that became the test case to challenge the constitutionality of Japanese internment camps. #korematsuday Fred Korematsu

MHP remembers landmark SCOTUS case | MSNBC

Speaking Thursday at Troy High School for Korematsu Recognition Event

Yay! Last minute schedule change so will be speaking at Fred Korematsu Recognition Program at Troy High School (with Athens and Niles Community High Schools) Thursday, January 29, 2015

Applauding the State of the Union Address, Still Hoping for More - NBC News.com

My article for NBC News Asian America

President Obama's 2015 State of the Union address touched on many issues at the core of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, including childcare, education, voting rights, income disparities, immigration, discrimination, and more. Leaders from the AAPI community react to what they heard, and what they wanted to hear but didn't, in last night's address.

Applauding the State of the Union Address, Still Hoping for More - NBC News.com

The University of Michigan's 28th Annual MLK Symposium – Keynote Memorial Lecture of the University of Michigan Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium

The UM MLK Day Symposium keynote is amazing as always--with Dr. Marc Lamont Hill --Wow, just wow.

The University of Michigan's 28th Annual MLK Symposium – Keynote Memorial Lecture of the University of Michigan Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium

Eric Garner Case Resonates Among Asian Americans - NBC News

My article for NBC News Asian America

"While we do not experience racism in the exact same way as Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans," said Minneapolis-based poet and activist Bao Phi, "I think we should look at cases of state-sanctioned violence and police brutality against Asian Americans, Fong Lee being one example, to engage our communities."

Eric Garner Case Resonates Among Asian Americans - NBC News

Asian Americans Show Solidarity, Support for Ferguson - NBC News.com

My article for NBC News Asian America:

More than three decades after Vincent Chin's death, the decision not to indict Darren Wilson reminds us that our justice system is still broken,” said Emma Chen, president of American Citizens for Justice/Asian American Center for Justice. Chen was recalling the 1982 beating death of Chinese-American Vincent Chin, whose killers were fined $3000 and never spent a night in jail.

Asian Americans Show Solidarity, Support for Ferguson - NBC News.com

Dozens of Groups Sign Letter Demanding Justice for Chaumtoli Huq - NBC News.com

My article for NBC News Asian America:

“The Mayor has snubbed over 60 community-based organizations representing a diverse cross-section of New Yorkers calling for a town hall meeting and basic reforms to community policing,” said Chaumtoli Huq, “In doing so, he has failed New York in his simplest obligation to us."

Dozens of Groups Sign Letter Demanding Justice for Chaumtoli Huq - NBC News.com

Survey Reveals How Asian Americans Feel About Death Penalty - NBC News.com

My article in NBC News Asian America:

This issue is of historic importance to the Asian/Pacific Islander American community. “One of the first national pan-Asian movements was the campaign to free Mr. Chol Soo Lee who was wrongly convicted of a killing in 1973,” said Jung. “Due to the investigative reporting by K.W. Lee and Asian-American organizing that led to the Free Chol Soo Lee Defense Committee, Mr. Lee was freed from death row in 1983.”

Survey Reveals How Asian Americans Feel About Death Penalty - NBC News.com

Human Rights Lawyer Sues NYPD After Arrest For Blocking Sidewalk - NBC News.com

“It was so public, and so humiliating," said Chaumtoli Huq. "No one should experience that.” My article at NBC News Asian America

Human Rights Lawyer Sues NYPD After Arrest For Blocking Sidewalk - NBC News.com

Historic Sam Kee Laundry Building Damaged in Napa Earthquake - NBC News.com

My article at NBCNews Asian America. Check out the photo on the landing page to see what the building looks like now, post earthquake.

“It's a memorable part of California history when Chinese immigrants faced virulent discrimination and were denied a livelihood,” said Margaret Fung, Executive Director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), “Kee stood up for his rights and successfully challenged the town's discriminatory ordinance creating a ‘laundry-free’ zone in 1887."

Historic Sam Kee Laundry Building Damaged in Napa Earthquake - NBC News.com

Day of Remembrance: Korematsu Case and the Future

February 19 is the Day of Remembrance.

My article from Michigan's 2014 Korematsu Program:

Some people think that the incarceration of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II happened a long long time ago, and since the verdict in the Korematsu case was vacated, everything is okay now, and this could never happen again. However, after the events of 9/11, there has been an escalation of hate crimes and racial profiling all around the country targeting Muslims and Arab Americans, and those perceived to be Muslim and Arab Americans (like Sikh Americans). In fact, the first person killed in a hate crime after 9/11 was a Sikh American originally from India named Balbir Singh Sodi. There were also many people at the time proposing that we round up all Muslim and Arab Americans into concentration camps just like World War II. Luckily, many Japanese Americans stood up for the Muslim and Arab American communities and said, “Never again.” So it is important to continue to examine the Korematsu case as we look to the future, our future.

Chicago is the World » The Korematsu Case and the Future, Our Future

Chicago is the World » The Korematsu Case and the Future, Our Future

My article from Michigan's 2014 Korematsu Program:

Some people think that the incarceration of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II happened a long long time ago, and since the verdict in the Korematsu case was vacated, everything is okay now, and this could never happen again. However, after the events of 9/11, there has been an escalation of hate crimes and racial profiling all around the country targeting Muslims and Arab Americans, and those perceived to be Muslim and Arab Americans (like Sikh Americans). In fact, the first person killed in a hate crime after 9/11 was a Sikh American originally from India named Balbir Singh Sodi. There were also many people at the time proposing that we round up all Muslim and Arab Americans into concentration camps just like World War II. Luckily, many Japanese Americans stood up for the Muslim and Arab American communities and said, “Never again.” So it is important to continue to examine the Korematsu case as we look to the future, our future.

Chicago is the World » The Korematsu Case and the Future, Our Future

Civil Rights Icon Fred Korematsu Honored by State of Michigan at Huron High School Ceremony |

From AAPS News (but not from who you think):

“It is important for us, as young people, to look out for each other and to stand up for our friends and neighbors,” Wang said. “We should fight against all forms of ignorance and bigotry.”

Civil Rights Icon Fred Korematsu Honored by State of Michigan at Huron High School Ceremony |

Scalia says internment ruling could happen again - Las Vegas Sun News

Because the Korematsu conviction was only vacated but case was not overturned (which was his goal so that it couldn't happen again)

Scalia says internment ruling could happen again - Las Vegas Sun News

#KorematsuDay 2014 Across the Country

Look at all the events held on #KorematsuDay 2014 Across the Country. So proud to be a part!

A Discredited Supreme Court Ruling That Still, Technically, Stands - NYTimes.com

Korematsu v US has been vacated but not yet overruled. Could still happen again.

A Discredited Supreme Court Ruling That Still, Technically, Stands - NYTimes.com

Korematsu Day in Michigan this Thursday, January 30, 2014

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) and the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission (MAPACC) will recognize Fred Korematsu on Thursday, January 30, 2014 at 12:30 p.m. at Huron High School, 2727 Fuller Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105.

Japanese American Fred Korematsu is an American civil liberties icon. Born on January 30, 1919, he courageously defied the US Government’s order to report to an assembly center after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Korematsu was convicted for his refusal but appealed his case all the way to the US Supreme Court, which ruled against him in a 6 to 3 decision in 1944.

After World War II, Korematsu moved to Michigan. Mr. Korematsu’s conviction was formally vacated on November 10, 1983 by US District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel based upon information that the War Department misled the Supreme Court with false allegations of espionage and sabotage.

Fred Korematsu’s story is one of triumph and correction over the civil wrongs against the Japanese American community. Mr. Korematsu was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton in 1998.

Michigan Department of Civil Rights Director Matt Wesaw will read the Certificate of Recognition signed by Governor Rick Snyder at this event. Speakers include Dr. Jamie Hsu, Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission Chair; Roland Hwang, founding member of American Citizens for Justice and secretary of the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission; Mary Kamidoi, former internee at the Rohwer internment camp in Arkansas and officer at Japanese American Citizens League; Ron Aramaki, Redress activist and lecturer for Asian Pacific Islander American history and law at the University of Michigan; and Hao Hao, a student at Huron High School on behalf of Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, activist writer and lecturer for Asian Pacific Islander American civil rights activism and media at the University of Michigan.

All the World History and US History classes will be in attendance to hear a panel discussion about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, how Fred Korematsu and others in the Japanese American community challenged this grave injustice, and how this case continues to affect them today and in the future, especially after 9/11. The students will also watch this video documentary, "On Civil Rights and Wrongs: The Fred Korematsu Story."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOGSnx2k7b8

This event is not open to the public, but is open to media with credentials.

For more information about this event, contact Roland Hwang or email miapacommission@gmail.com.

For more information about the case, check out the Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education korematsuinstitute.org. More about Korematsu Day commemorations across the country at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgtAIQZUB6g

To learn more about the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, please visit www.michigan.gov/mdcr.