AML End of the school year - summer travels, moving away and international (and cross-country) friendships | AnnArbor.com

As the fifth graders processed into the auditorium under the brightly colored pink, blue, orange and green arches (swimming noodles held aloft) for the final end-of-school assembly, the whole school applauded. Congratulations! Fifth grade graduation!

So heartbroken by the other big goodbye we were also facing this day, goodbye to a much-beloved principal being transferred to another school, I had actually forgotten that today was a day of celebration. I was there to see the going-away video the teachers and students had made for him, sad, so sad, to see him go.

It was a relief to watch him wind up the year by asking all the kids to close their eyes and raise their hands if they had tried their best in reading and math this year, and it was heartening to hear the fifth grade graduation speaker reflect on the many lessons learned in his long years here.

It is the end of the school year, and everyone is beginning to leave for the summer, especially many international families I know. Summer is the time to go “home” to visit parents and grandparents, time to attend weddings and family reunions, time for kids to hone their language skills while playing with cousins, time for study abroad and “Loveboat” trips for the teenagers and college-aged.

The end of the school year is also the time we suddenly discover that friends are moving away, sometimes for a year or two, sometimes for forever. Every day the children and I attend another going-away party, birthday party, end of the school year party, barbeque, ice cream social, picnic.

click on link for more: End of the school year - summer travels, moving away and international (and cross-country) friendships

AML Resisting 'Slacktivism,' Remembering Vincent Chin, and Singing with Joe Reilly - NAM EthnoBlog

I recently interviewed for a job launching a new online literary magazine about literature and social justice activism. (The interview did not go so well, but...) What a great idea to link the glamour of novelists and poets with the purpose of social justice activism. This gives literature more weight and meaning, and gives activism more color and style.

Otherwise, social justice activism can be such a downer sometimes.

Don’t get me wrong. I am on the Advisory Board of American Citizens for Justice, the original Asian American civil rights nonprofit formed after the baseball beating death of Vincent Chin 29 years ago today.

click on link for more: Resisting 'Slacktivism,' Remembering Vincent Chin, and Singing with Joe Reilly - NAM EthnoBlog

Chicago is the World » How the Vincent Chin case continues to resonate after 29 years

Before I came to Michigan for graduate school, the only thing I knew about Michigan was that it was where Vincent Chin was killed. My parents’ Japanese-American neighbors warned me to sell my father’s Toyota 4Runner and buy a Ford Bronco. I asked about safety as much as I did about academics before I decided to come.

This year marks the 29th anniversary of the baseball bat beating that caused the death of Vincent Chin. Unfortunately, with the recession and rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, the case is even more relevant than ever.

click on link for more: Chicago is the World » How the Vincent Chin case continues to resonate after 29 years

On the 29th Anniversary of Vincent Chin’s Murder

Interesting links on the 29th anniversary of the baseball beating death of Vincent Chin:

How the Vincent Chin case continues to resonate after 29 years, by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang for Chicago is the World, June 23, 2011
http://chicagoistheworld.org/2011/06/how-the-vincent-chin-case-continues-to-resonate-after-29-years/

Crime Without Punishment: Why the Death of Vincent Chin Resonates Today by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in InCultureParent.com
http://www.incultureparent.com/2011/05/5009/

Vincent Chin? Remembering Ronald Ebens-the guy who got away with murder by Emil Guillermo at Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund:
http://aaldef.org/blog/vincent-chin-remembering-ronald-ebens-the-guy-who-got-away-with-murder.html

On Anniversary of Vincent Chin’s Murder, CAPAC Members Denounce Explosion of Anti-Chinese Rhetoric in Campaign Ads
http://capac.chu.house.gov/news/press-releases/2011/06/on-anniversary-of-vincent-chins-murder-capac-members-denounce-explosion-of-anti-chinese-rhetoric-in.shtml

Vincent Who? goes online; limited time offer to view for free by Curtis Chin at APAs for Progress:
http://www.apaforprogress.org/vincent-who-goes-online-limited-time-offer-view-free

Remember Vincent Chin Vigil 6/23/11
http://remembervc.tumblr.com/

remember vincent chin vigil, june 23, on angryasianman.com
http://blog.angryasianman.com/2011/06/remember-vincent-chin-vigil-june-23.html

In Retrospect: Who Killed Vincent Chin? AAJA Conference Panel in Detroit, August 2011
http://www.aaja.org/programs/convention2011detroit/panels/

Advancing Justice Conference coming up in San Francisco, October 2011
http://www.advancingjustice.org/conference/2011/index.php

“Asian Pacifically New York,” a Photo Exhibit by Corky Lee
http://chapters.aaja.org/NewYork/?p=995

Vincent Chin by Model Minority on Channel APA Music
http://www.channelapa.com/2011/06/vincent-chin-by-model-minority.html

Edward Hong HanSarang Day 6: Remember Vincent Chin Poem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_dH-3-F5Lk

Plaque honoring murdered Asian man, Vincent Chin, unveiled in Ferndale
http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/oakland_county/plaque-honoring-murdered-man-unveiled-in-ferndale


"Groom-to-be clubbed to death" video by Richard Lui on CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/crime/2009/05/28/lui.vincent.chin.cnn.html

Remembering Vincent Chin, Detroit News Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68k0R3uJoRg


Adventures in Multicultural Living column: Resisting 'slacktivism,' remembering Vincent Chin, and singing with Joe Reilly by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang in annarbor.com and newamericamedia.org
http://annarbor.com/entertainment/parenting/resisting-slacktivism-remembering-vincent-chin-and-singing-with-joe-reillysocial-justice-and-environ/


Mark your calendars for the thirtieth anniversary next year with American Citizens for Justice, June 23, 2012, Chinese Community Center, Madison Heights, Michigan.

AML Being Surprised by the Lunar Calendar, Dragon Boat Festival, and the Sudden Maturity of Our Children - NAM EthnoBlog

The tricky thing about using a lunar calendar is that if you are not paying attention — or if you have not properly aligned your lunar calendar with your regular planner — holidays and festivals can sneak up on you unawares. The big holidays are easy. Lunar New Year’s is usually in January or February. The Mid-Autumn Moon festival is in, well, autumn.

click on link for more: Being Surprised by the Lunar Calendar, Dragon Boat Festival, and the Sudden Maturity of Our Children - NAM EthnoBlog

AML Resisting "slacktivism," remembering Vincent Chin, and singing with Joe Reilly, social justice and environmental activism and the arts

I recently interviewed for a job launching a new online literary magazine about literature and social justice activism. (The interview did not go so well, but...) What a great idea to link the glamour of novelists and poets with the purpose of social justice activism. This gives literature more weight and meaning, and gives activism more color and style.

Otherwise, social justice activism can be such a downer sometimes.

Don’t get me wrong. I am on the Advisory Board of American Citizens for Justice, the original Asian American civil rights nonprofit formed after the baseball beating death of Vincent Chin 29 years ago today.

I am involved with many other nonprofit organizations. I lecture about civil rights and activism. I know this stuff is important.

However, I also get hundreds of emails in my inbox every day, thousands of tweets on my Twitter feed and more posts than I can deal with on Facebook and Linkedin. Sometimes I simply do not want to click on that link, open that email, read that news clip that I know is going to be bad news.

click on link for more: Resisting "slacktivism," remembering Vincent Chin, and singing with Joe Reilly, social justice and environmental activism and the arts

Vincent Who? goes online; limited time offer to view for free | apaforprogress.org

from Curtis Chin and APAP:

To honor the 29th anniversary of the death of Vincent Chin (June 23, 2011), an online version of "Vincent Who?" can be viewed for free. This limited-time offer (until the end of July 2011) is brought to you by Asian Pacific Americans for Progress (APAP) and the producers of "Vincent Who?" via a new website: vincentwhomovie.com.

Vincent Who? goes online; limited time offer to view for free | apaforprogress.org

CAECC Spring Festival - A Chinese Nutcracker | Arborweb.com

Chinese New Year performance in April? I was confused, but Auntie Ning explained that the Chinese American Educational and Cultural Center (CAECC) Spring Festival event was going to be like a "Chinese Nutcracker," a showcase of different performances--dance, music, martial arts, yo-yo--organized around a storyline to meld various Chinese New Year rites, beliefs, customs, and traditions. This was going to be much more than an ordinary variety show or dance recital. This was going to be a story.

One of Ann Arbor's oldest Chinese cultural associations, CAECC, directed now by Chen-Oi Chin, is back on the scene after several years of quiet. Founded in 1976, it offers educational outreach and Chinese cultural classes like dance and martial arts to the community.

click on link for more: CAECC Spring Festival - A Chinese Nutcracker

AML: Pondering picnic food - 'normal' and not - and its power to bring us together | Annarbor.com

While cleaning up after our annual Memorial Day potluck picnic barbecue, my daughter Hao Hao asked, “Who brought the potato salad? That was random.”

A lifetime of mayonnaise angst flashed through my head and I explained, “Actually, potato salad is a pretty normal thing to bring to picnics.”

“Really?” She had never even noticed.

I think she associates potato salad with Easter, since that is the only time I ever make it. With four children, we always end up dying a lot of Easter eggs, so that translates into a lot of potato salad (inevitably multicolored) in the days following — usually so much that we cannot even bear to think about it again until the following Easter.

I recall the many family picnics we have had in Gallup Park and the fun of preparing Spam musubi, onigiri, inari sushi, edamame, teriyaki chicken. Watching for rain, I start cooking early in the morning, pack everything up into beautiful big bento boxes, throw in our much-loved Hello Kitty picnicware and our trusty Nepalese picnic blanket, and hop onto our bikes for a day at the park.

This isn’t what other people bring to picnics? What is normal picnic food?

click on link for more: Pondering picnic food - 'normal' and not - and its power to bring us together

AML Lunar Calendar, Dragon Boat Festival, Graduation | RainbowKids.com

on voices of adoption at Rainbowkids.com:

Being surprised by the lunar calendar, dragon boat festival, and the sudden maturity of our children--Adventures in Multicultural Living

click on link for more: http://www.rainbowkids.com/ExpertArticleDetails.aspx?id=382&title=Being%20surprised%20by%20the%20lunar%20calendar,%20dragon%20boat%20festival,%20

AML Being surprised by the lunar calendar, dragon boat festival, and the sudden maturity of our children | AnnArbor.com

The tricky thing about using a lunar calendar is that if you are not paying attention, or if you have not properly aligned your lunar calendar with your regular planner, holidays and festivals can sneak up on you unawares.

The big holidays are easy. Lunar New Year’s is usually in January or February. The Mid-Autumn Moon festival is in, well, autumn.

However, the secondary holidays, like duanwujie (dragon boat festival) which is sometime in June or July, I sometimes (ok, often) forget until suddenly I turn the corner and am unexpectedly awash in zongzi, those delicious pyramids of sticky rice bundled into ti leaves and tied with string), an unexpected seasonal delight. For a few miraculous days, zongzi appear on our doorstep, arrive as gifts, show up scrawled onto the Chinese menu, are sold as fundraisers.

click on link for more Being surprised by the lunar calendar, dragon boat festival, and the sudden maturity of our children

The Mini-Maker Faire - arborweb.com

The first time my children and I attended the Mini-Maker Faire, we were greeted at the entrance by two young men in silk vests and top hats. They doffed their hats and bowed with a flourish I have not seen since my last Renaissance fair a very long time ago.

As we walked further, we were greeted again by several robots--some that looked humanoid, others that did not, all blinking and beeping and talking and rolling around a large circle. One two-foot-high red robot was a real smart aleck, rolling right up to people, bumping into their shoes, and making wisecracks. The audience gathered close; the robot handlers stayed hidden in the crowd.

click on link for more The Mini-Maker Faire - arborweb.com

Chicago is the World » “Why I write for ethnic media,” Frances Kai-Hwa Wang

My column just got picked up by a Chicago new ethnic media blog thanks to Stephen Franklin who promises a box and a regular spot. Cool! I've sent him a better, less pixelated picture. Neat website. Check it out!

click on link to see: Chicago is the World » “Why I write for ethnic media,” Frances Kai-Hwa Wang

Crime Without Punishment: Why the Death of Vincent Chin Resonates Today | InCultureParent

Before I came to Michigan for graduate school, the only thing I knew about Michigan was that it was where Vincent Chin was killed. My parents’ Japanese-American neighbors warned me to sell my father’s Toyota 4Runner and buy a Ford Bronco. I asked about safety as much as I did about academics before I decided to come.

This year marks the 29th anniversary of the baseball bat beating that caused the death of Vincent Chin. Unfortunately, with the recession and rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, the case is even more relevant than ever.

click on link for more: Crime Without Punishment: Why the Death of Vincent Chin Resonates Today | InCultureParent

AML: The importance of ethnic new media for filling out the conversation

As my children scurry around excitedly before our neighborhood’s annual Memorial Day Parade—decorating their bikes, finding bags for the candy the Girl Scouts will throw, thinking about doughnuts in the park, planning to barbeque with friends afterwards — I remind them to be respectful, that Memorial Day is not just about the parade, that it is actually a very somber occasion, one that honors the brave men and women who have given their lives to protect our freedom in America, and that although we do not glorify war, their great-grandfathers and grandfathers were all in the military.

Yet, every year when parade organizers ask if I want to bring a group of Chinese School kids to march or lion dance in the parade, I hesitate. I worry. I agree only if I can get a big group of parents to walk with the kids, as security, just in case someone thinks people who look like us do not belong.

Of course, I know that people who look like us do belong. My grandfather trained in Texas (with Connie Chung’s dad!) and flew alongside General Chennault’s Flying Tigers during the Sino-Japanese War. Another friend’s father was a South Vietnamese medic during the Vietnam War who took care of wounded U.S. servicemen.

click on link for more The importance of ethnic new media for filling out the conversation

AML: Explore the richness of the Asian Pacific American experience with literature and the arts - NAM EthnoBlog

Asian American writer Lisa Yee, author of Millicent Min Girl Genius, recently wrote an article for parentdish.com about how her mother instilled in her a love of reading. She opened by recollecting the books she and her mother read together:

click on link for more: Explore the richness of the Asian Pacific American experience with literature and the arts - NAM EthnoBlog

AML Explore the richness of the Asian Pacific American experience with literature and the arts

Asian American writer Lisa Yee, author of Millicent Min Girl Genius, recently wrote an article for parentdish.com about how her mother instilled in her a love of reading. She opened by recollecting the books she and her mother read together:

“When I was little, my mother and I had a nighttime ritual. After my bath, when I was zipped into my pink footie pajamas, she'd sit on the bed and read to me. Mom's voice wrapped me up in fairy tales about princesses beset by trolls, a monkey named George and the adventures of Madeline who resided in an "old house in Paris that was covered in vines.”

When my daughter Hao Hao read the introduction (over my shoulder, as always), she said, "I know all those books." Then we joked that if she wrote a similar article someday, it would read, "My mom read me Ed Young, Allen Say, Laurence Yep, Grace Lin, Lisa Yee, Linda Sue Park..."

click on link for more Explore the richness of the Asian Pacific American experience with literature and the arts

AML Challenging stereotypes and defensiveness regarding the Geronimo codename and the Paper Tiger - NAM EthnoBlog

Seven-year-old Little Brother came home recently wearing a spiffy new Cleveland Indians baseball cap with a bright red Chief Wahoo embroidered on it. A gift.

He was so happy to have this special gift from special friends.

But Chief Wahoo? Seriously? Still?

click on link for more Challenging stereotypes and defensiveness regarding the Geronimo codename and the Paper Tiger - NAM EthnoBlog

Adventures in Multicultural Living: Challenging stereotypes and defensiveness regarding the Geronimo codename and the Paper Tiger

Seven-year-old Little Brother came home recently wearing a spiffy new Cleveland Indians baseball cap with a bright red Chief Wahoo embroidered on it. A gift.
He was so happy to have this special gift from special friends.

But Chief Wahoo? Seriously? Still?

I did not want to criticize the friends who gave it to him — nice, well-meaning folks who know nothing about the controversy surrounding the use of Native American caricatures as mascots.

Caught between the conflicting desires to honor this friendship and not perpetuate harmful stereotypes, I let Little Brother wear the cap around the house for a few days until the newness wore off and then let nature take its course — the cap got swallowed up and disappeared somewhere in the mess that is our house.

Then we went to the library and read about real Native Americans to gently supplant that stereotype in his young mind.

A week later, the message that Osama bin Laden had been killed came across the news, “Geronimo E-KIA” (“Enemy-Killed in Action”).

Again. Disbelief. Geronimo? Seriously? Today?

click on link for more Challenging stereotypes and defensiveness regarding the Geronimo codename and the Paper Tiger

AML: Citizenship questions on Mother's Day for President Obama, Wong Kim Ark, Superman and the 'birthers' - NAM EthnoBlog

My oldest daughter was almost born in Thailand. I was living in Kathmandu, Nepal, at the time, and the closest western hospitals were a day’s flight away in Bangkok. I loved cruising Bangkok Chinatown, and I thought that would be a fun way to spend a month, hanging out, waiting for the blessed event.
My mother said absolutely not. I had to go home to deliver the baby so that the child would be a U.S. citizen.

click on link for more Citizenship questions on Mother's Day for President Obama, Wong Kim Ark, Superman and the 'birthers' - NAM EthnoBlog