4/5 stars

A cute coming-of-age tale, Didi sprang from the mind of first-time writer-director Sean Wang, who successfully mines his own Asian-American adolescence and the awkwardness it entailed.

Set in 2008, just as Facebook was becoming a thing and kids were beginning to live their lives online, the film sees Wang-Wang hang out with fellow nerds Fahad (Raul Dial) and “Soup” (Aaron Chang).

But this is no Superbad, where there is camaraderie among friends.

All Wang-Wang wants to do is fit in – the eternal dilemma for teenagers from any background. He comes across a group of cool skater boys and is soon ingratiating himself within their group, claiming he can film their tricks like a pint-sized Spike Jonze.

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According to a poll published by Reuters/Ipsos on September 24, Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump at the national level in the U.S. by a margin of 47% to 40%. While these results may be indicative of the overall picture, they don’t mean much due to the Electoral College. In key swing states that can be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate, Trump and Harris are tied, with differences falling within the margin of error. Every vote counts, including those of ethnic and racial minorities. Asian Americans—the fastest-growing minority community in the U.S.—will have a significant impact on the election.

A University of Chicago poll showed that Harris has a 38% lead among Asian Americans. 66% of them plan to vote for Harris, while only 28% for Trump, and 6% remain undecided. A similar trend can be seen in the vice-presidential candidates’ ratings, with Tim Walz receiving 56% support compared to JD Vance, who has 21% of the Asian American vote. Harris enjoys a positive perception among 44% of Asian Americans, while 42% view her negatively. In Trump’s case, 70% have a negative view of him, while only 28% view him positively. Polls also show that Democratic activists are more engaged with the Asian population than their Republican counterparts.

Asian American Support for Harris

Polls reveal that Kamala Harris fares much better among Asians than Joe Biden. A study conducted this spring by the American non-governmental organization tasked with educating Asian Americans, the Asian American Voter Survey (AAVS), showed that Biden had the support of 46% of the population, Trump 31%, while 23% were undecided. The numbers were similar in 2020. This shows that Harris has 20% more support than Biden. Why? Since there is no substantial political difference between Biden and Harris, with only minor nuances distinguishing them, Harris’ Asian heritage is the key factor attracting Asian Americans. As they consider her “one of their own,” they are likely…

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There has been a significant rise in Indian-origin politicians around the world in recent years. While it is a matter of pride for the nation it has sadly sparked a barrage of online hate against the community.

Also Read – Trump Seeking Revenge On India?

According to a new report, anti-South-Asian activities in the US have increased online in the last two years. What is more shocking is that this rise coincides with the increased popularity of political leaders like Kamala Harris and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Hate against the Indian community reached its peak in August when Kamala Harris was declared the new presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention.

Also Read – US Election: Trump Steals Kejriwals’s Strategy?

Even opposing political leaders have passed racist statements against the US Vice President which reflects in their supporters.

It is a major cause of concern for the Indian-American and NRI communities in the US which is close to 5 million. They become the victim of this ideology, facing racism in their day-to-day life.

Also Read – USA: Can Star Composer Boost Kamala’s Campaign?

Many thought that representation in the political sphere would become a celebration of diversity, leading to more tolerance in public. Thus, it is sad to see the wave of online hate from far-right extremists.

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Online hate against Americans of South Asian ancestry has risen steadily in 2023 and 2024 with the rise of politicians from that community to prominence, according to a report released on Wednesday by nonprofit group Stop AAPI Hate.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris is of Indian descent, as are former Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, is also Indian American.

Harris faces Republican former President Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. elections.

There has been a steady rise in anti-Asian hate in extremist online spaces from January 2023 to August 2024, the report said.

The nonprofit group blamed the rise on a “toxic political climate in which a growing number of leaders and far-right extremist voices continue to spew bigoted political rhetoric and disinformation.”

KEY QUOTES

“Online threats of violence towards Asian communities reached their highest levels in August 2024, after Usha Vance appeared at the Republican National Convention and Kamala Harris was declared a presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention,” Stop AAPI Hate said.

“The growing prevalence of anti-South Asian online hate … in 2023 and 2024 tracks with the rise in South Asian political representation this election cycle,” it added.

BY THE NUMBERS

Among Asian American subgroups, South Asian communities were targeted with the highest volume of anti-Asian online hostility, with 60% of slurs directed at them in that period, according to the report.

Anti-South Asian slurs in extremist online spaces doubled last year, from about 23,000 to more than 46,000, and peaked in August 2024.

There are nearly 5.4 million people of South Asian descent living in the United States, comprising…

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Campaign signs in Huntington Beach for state Sen. Dave Min‘s congressional bid were vandalized this week with racist, anti-Asian slurs, the Huntington Beach Police Department said.

Min, who is Korean American, is running in California’s 47th congressional district, which spans the Orange County coastline.

Investigators are looking into the case as a potential hate crime, according to police department spokesperson Jessica Cuchilla, noting that the investigation is ongoing.

A video shared by Min’s campaign on YouTube showed that the slurs were spray-painted onto the blue signs lining a roadway. According to his campaign, supporters living in the area discovered the vandalized signs while walking their children to school Tuesday morning.

Police were first alerted around 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, near Newland Street and Lamar Drive, Cuchilla said, where they found five to six signs vandalized with a derogatory slang term for an Asian person.

“Hate of any kind, directed against anyone, is unacceptable. Full stop,” Min said in a statement Tuesday.

Min connected the display of racism targeting his campaign to the rhetoric of former President Donald Trump, this year’s Republican presidential nominee.

“We have seen a sharp rise in hate in recent years due to the xenophobia and racism that have come to define Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. We’ve all seen and heard Trump’s anti-Asian rhetoric and his racist comments about Haitian immigrants,” said Min. “It is saddening, but not surprising, that we are seeing this type of anti-Asian hate in the immediate aftermath of the Trump MAGA event in Huntington Beach this weekend.”

A pro-Trump rally was held at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in downtown Huntington Beach on Sunday, Oct. 6, according to social media posts. Cuchilla said the rallies have been occurring regularly for several weeks in the area. Trump was not in attendance.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for…

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DOWNTOWN — A 25-YEAR-OLD ASIAN WOMAN was mugged on a busy street in Downtown Brooklyn on Saturday, Sept. 28, at about 3:25 p.m, in an incident police have labeled a hate crime. The victim was walking in front of 387 Jay St. (between Fulton and Willoughby streets) when two individuals approached her. One made anti-Asian remarks and the other, a woman, forcibly removed her $1,000 cell phone and caused minor injuries to the victim. The pair then fled the location on foot, traveling eastbound on Willoughby Street. 

EMS transported the victim to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn in stable condition. NYPD released surveillance photos of the female suspect who allegedly grabbed the phone. The other individual was not pictured or described. NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), on X @NYPDTips, or by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website.

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In a rehearsal space in Lexington earlier this summer, three dancers crowded together on the top step of a stool. Below them, a fourth prowled along the ground.

Elizabeth Mochizuki stood nearby, watching as the dancers interacted. To an outsider, it might not have looked like much, but to her, it was the three sisters of “Lon Po Po” hiding from a wolf who tricked its way into their lives by pretending to be their grandmother.

“Good, yeah, yawning — tired, but still worried,” Mochizuki instructed the group as they ran through portions of the roughly 10-minute ballet.

In the scene, the girls climb up into a ginkgo tree to hide from the wolf. Mochizuki gave feedback as they rehearsed, as she does with all the productions danced under her company the Asian American Ballet Project.

It’s billed as the only ballet company in the country working exclusively with Asian American and Pacific Islander artists to create ballets about the Asian American experience. Mochizuki, who is part Japanese, founded the company in 2022. As a professional ballet dancer for decades, she saw few Asian American dancers around her, and none were leading productions, a path she knew she eventually wanted to take.

“I felt isolated, even though I had this idea in my head that I can do whatever I want,” Mochizuki said. “I think it’s a very American idea: if we work hard, we can get what we want. I felt that when I was dancing, I couldn’t always reach those goals.”

Mochizuki started dancing as a toddler in her home state of California. She then moved to the East Coast for college at Tufts University and apprenticed at a ballet company in Rhode Island.

While at school, she completed her thesis on the history of Asian Americans in ballet, which has long depicted Asian characters using racist stereotypes — for example, using makeup to accentuate facial features or costumes that mock traditional clothing.

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]]> https://theproudasian.com/soma-is-transforming-into-an-urban-art-gallery-dedicated-to-filipino-american-heritage/ Fri, 04 Oct 2024 17:28:39 +0000 https://theproudasian.com/soma-is-transforming-into-an-urban-art-gallery-dedicated-to-filipino-american-heritage/ SOMA Pilipinas is on a mission to bring the streets of downtown SF’s Filipino Cultural Heritage District alive with vibrant color—and soon they’ll unveil the most precious work in their growing collection of public art. It won’t be the first time the “Ang Lipi ni Lapulapu” mural rises above the neighborhood. It’s been 40 years […]

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SOMA Pilipinas is on a mission to bring the streets of downtown SF’s Filipino Cultural Heritage District alive with vibrant color—and soon they’ll unveil the most precious work in their growing collection of public art.

It won’t be the first time the “Ang Lipi ni Lapulapu” mural rises above the neighborhood. It’s been 40 years since artist Johanna Poethig designed the public work of art, the first in the country to celebrate Filipino American immigration. Restoring and updating its faded images decades later brought both her, and the mural’s themes, full circle.

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“This is a historical mural, it’s telling a story,” says Poethig. “Filipino Americans, how long they’ve been here and their contribution, is underappreciated. Immigration continues to be a trigger issue, so bringing this story back and focusing a light on it again [is more important than ever].”

Inspired by the traditions of Diego Rivera and the WPA movement, and designed in conversation with the community, the 90-foot tall “Lapulapu” integrates the figures and elements that have had a hand in shaping the Filipino American experience. The mural moves through the centuries, from Indigenous resistance to early European settlement and the galleon trade (which brought luxury goods from Asia to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries), to the agricultural workers and healthcare providers that made their homes here in the 20th century.

Muralist Johanna Poethig works to restore the “Lapulapu” mural 40 years after it first debuted in SOMA.(Courtesy of SOMA Pilipinas)

“I added a veteran to honor those who protested for so many decades to get what they were owed from the U.S. government, and a Lola, a “comfort woman,” from World War II as a sort of elder, not only of the Filipino community but of all of us protesting the violence against women,” says Poethig.

The first Asian American Olympic gold medalist, diver Vicki Manalo Draves, who was raised in SOMA, appears; so…

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