18 MILLION RISING

Happy Birthday to the homie, the hip hop historian, the writer, and culturemaker, Jeff Chang! Wishing you many more turns around the sun!

Also, keep an eye out for his upcoming book!

Right now, Barack Obama is speaking at the Civil Rights Summit.

Three leaders from United We Dream were arrested outside.

Support them in the fight to end the deportations.

The Mickey Rooney Role Nobody Wants to Talk Much About - Speakeasy - WSJ

Key quote: “the mainstreaming of these images has the unfortunate side effect of making them seem safe for public consumption…so long as their intent isn’t to ‘harm.’”

Did you know the number of folks +65 will double in the next 20 years? Great article from our friends at Hyphen magazine about the emergent needs of AAPI seniors. - Alice

An Open Letter to Dan Snyder: #ChangeTheName, Native People are #NotYourMascot

Dear Dan Snyder,

We suspect that you’re probably pretty excited about what #CancelColbert has done for you these past two weeks. The media feeding frenzy over the public battle between Asian America and Stephen Colbert seems to have provided you the perfect cover for your ongoing exploitation of Native peoples. While the news cycle has focused squarely on Asian Americans’ justifiable anger at a cable network satirist, you’ve managed to carry on with both the Washington R**skins and launch a foundation that supposedly focuses on the needs of Native youth – detestably named the Washington R**skins Original Americans Foundation.

Truth be told, we’re over you and your offensive Native mascotry. We’re joining our Native friends and fellow organizers in demanding that you change both the name and mascot of the Washington R**skins.

And seriously, this “foundation” of yours? We see your sham. We know that despite your publicly stated mission to “serve” Native communities, this foundation actually serves you by drastically reducing your own tax liability.1 We also know that Gary Edwards, your right hand man at the foundation, has notoriously misappropriated, misused, and outright taken nearly $1 million from the Bureau of Indian Affairs while falsely claiming to “help” Indigenous communities through his Native police association.2 Meanwhile, we see you laughing all the way to bank by taking full advantage of Native people and their dehumanization.

Running multi-million dollar cash cows emblazoned with a racist slur and caricature is a far cry from “honoring” Native peoples. And we’re not having it.

We wish that the “Washington R**skins Original Americans Foundation” was just the punchline of a racist joke gone horribly wrong. In reality, it’s nothing short of you slapping Native communities in the face and calling it a handshake. And now, between the football team and your joke of a foundation, you’ve got two ways to perpetuate Native mascotry.

If you’re as committed to responding to the needs of Native peoples as you claim to be, then respond to the repeated requests to change the name. Because this has been – and continues to be – a clearly articulated need from the Native community.

We demand that you change both the name and mascot of the Washington R**skins. SIGN THE OPEN LETTER HERE.

[1] Bureau of Indian Affiars’ Law Enforcement Recruitment Services Contract With the National Native American Law Enforcement Association, May 2013

[2] More Trouble for Dan Snyder’s Foundation, ColorLines 3/28/2014

“Fewer students take [Asian American Studies classes] and therefore fewer classes are offered and it just becomes a vicious circle where eventually in the end there will be neither of either group — either professors or students.”

—

Sunli Kim, Stanford Class of 2015.

More on the future of Asian American studies at Stanford, and what the recent decision to deny tenure to Professor Stephen Hong Sohn.

The murder of an adopted toddler galvanizes other Korean adoptees to speak out. - CM

CW: child abuse.

Artist & activist Gregg Deal on the NFL football team in D.C.: “…it’s not just a silly name that some Indians are complaining about, but a name, image and idea perpetuated by the history of this country, and the sub-human mindset that is instilled in the psyche of American Culture.” WORD. - Alice

(Photo by Dakota Fine)

Mindy, We Love You. But That Doesn’t Mean We Can’t Critique You.

Let’s be clear: we LOVE Mindy. Really, what other South Asian women are out there kicking ass in a sitcom industry still dominated by white men?

Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t engage in some loving reflection and critique on what The Mindy Project has (and hasn’t done) in its representations of gender, race, and body image. -MTP

http://bzfd.it/1hzzjXS

Nomination Form for "50 Over 50: Inspiring AAPIs"

Show a little love to your elders! AARP is taking nominations for a 50 over 50 list of inspiring Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders. - CM