All of the films in the documentary competition this year revealed stories that are largely untold, and I believe all deserve a larger audience. Many congratulations to all of the filmmakers for completing a documentary (no small feat!), for being accepted into the festival, and for the many sold out screenings. But we did have to narrow it down to one winner.

We decided that the winner for this year’s documentary competition is A Lot Like You, directed by Eliaichi Kimaro. This is our juror’s statement:

A LOT LIKE YOU takes us on a personal journey into the most vulnerable corners of a family history spanning generations and continents. This layered documentary starts with a familiar exploration of mixed-race identity as the narrator searches for her roots, but brings the discussion to surprising levels of personal and political self-awareness. Fresh and inspired, tender and uncommonly smart, A LOT LIKE YOU triumphs as an exemplary work of first-person documentary for the 21st century.

This film really surprised me because I thought I knew where it was going in the beginning, and it turns out quite differently. The film takes you on a journey, and I found Eliaichi to be a very compelling and trustworthy narrator and guide. Funny thing is, if I were to try to describe this film to someone, I wouldn’t really be able to. It’s about so many things, including culture, insider/outsider status, suffering, family secrets, and human dignity.  I hope this film reaches an even wider audience in the future, like on public television.

Congrats also to Patrick Wang, who wrote, directed and starred in the narrative In the Family, which garnered him the Emerging Filmmaker and Comcast Narrative Jury Prize awards. Another phenomenal film. Thanks to CAAM, and especially Stephen Gong and Christine Kwon, for inviting me to be a part of this.

Here’s my story in last week’s East Bay Express: Angela Davis and Grace Lee Boggs Ponder Activism in the Age of Occupy. I was able to attend the free event at UC Berkeley, and was impressed by Angela Davis and Boggs’ humor, charm and warmth. If you haven’t heard either of them, I encourage you to do so. Davis is of course a well-known activist, scholar and writer. Boggs is less well-known, but it’s mind boggling how that could be since she has been active – and a pivotal player – in almost all the major social movements for the better half of the century (she was born in 1915).

I also posted most of the Q&A with her at Hyphen where she talks more about activism today and her identity as a Chinese American: Reimagining Revolution: Q&A with Grace Lee Boggs. Colorlines.com’s Julianne Hing did a nice write up of the Q&A for their “Celebrate Love” feature.

Thanks for reading!

Many of the refugees I interviewed are very recent, ranging from fresh off the plane to several years of living here. They all say they want to work, and many are taking English classes. However, cutbacks to social services, including English classes, means that this population has less and less resources to rely on. This means that they are living in pretty dire conditions – and are forced to sink or swim. Some of the crucial needs are translation services, such as medical interpreters, because this could mean life or death. Other troubling findings from the report include the fact that some people eligible for welfare were not on it.

A few years back, I wrote a cover story, also for the East Bay Express, about the newly arrived Karenni population. You can read it here.

I’ve also been meaning to post about this: a few months ago, I was Angry Asian Man’s “Angry Reader of the Week.” I’m an avid reader of many news sites and blogs, and Angry Asian Man is one of them. Phil Yu pretty brings news stories, events and issues related to all things Asian American. It’s really a must read for Asian Americans and folks interested in Asian American issues. To folks who are not familiar with Angry Asian Man, it might not seem like a big deal. But it was definitely an honor, and very fun, to be reader of the week!

Here’s a description of the textbook:

As a leading introductory women’s studies reader, Shaw and Lee’s Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions offers an excellent balance of classic, conceptual, and experiential selections including new contemporary readings. This student-friendly text provides short and accessible readings reflecting the diversity of women’s experiences. With each new edition, the authors keep the framework essays and selections of readings fresh and interesting for students.

In other collegiate reader-ly news, a ColorLines article (”Under the Varnish” – PDF here) I wrote about health impacts on nail salon workers was included in a Southeast Asian studies reader.

And, here’s a new post on Hyphen’s blog about a postpartum food delivery service in Oakland’s Chinatown. If you’re in the area and interested, the company, Liu Mama, is having a tasting this Saturday at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, from 3-4 pm. RSVP.

Sesame oil chicken is one of several traditional postpartum recipes. Photo by Damien Maloney

My most recent story centers around Asian American moms who are embracing ancient postpartum traditions. The full feature story can be read here as well as in the most recent issue of Hyphen, the Bittersweet Issue. Special thanks to everyone who donated to the story via Spot.Us, an outfit that allows the community to fund journalism projects. The story was truly a community affair, since so many people helped in making the story happen from tips on traditions to sending recipes to connecting me with sources.

As part of the story, I also compiled some traditional recipes, including sesame oil chicken, Korean seaweed soup and chicken tinola. Last, but not least, check out Motherhood Rooted (the video), a collaboration between myself and Center for Asian American Media producer R.J. Lozada. Thanks for reading and watching!

He also published a controversial community newspaper that reprinted some stories from Vietnam. On July 21, 1981, he was shot dead outside his Tenderloin apartment, in broad daylight. Within days, an anti-communist paramilitary force in the U.S. claimed responsibility for his death. His death was just the first in a string of killings of Vietnamese American journalists. In total, between 1981-1990, five Vietnamese American journalists were murdered, many believe for political reasons. Yet none of the murders have been solved, including Lam Duong’s. A little-known fact is that Vietnamese American journalists are the largest group of immigrant reporters to have been killed (five of 10 deaths).

Director Tony Nguyen brings the story to life and examines an issue that is disturbing and difficult within the Vietnamese community. For the first time on film, Duong’s friends, federal investigators and journalists speak about the risks that Vietnamese Americans faced for exercising their freedom of speech in the United States. The issue still resonates within the community as well as outside. The film takes an in-depth look at a war-torn community
that is still struggling to find its place in a democratic society.

I interviewed more people than I was able to fit in the stories, including DREAM Act activist Carlos Roa, Najma Nazy’at of the Boston Youth Organizing Project (she’s in the slideshow), youth from the Ella Baker Center’s Heal the Streets program, professor Cathy Cohen, whose recent book, Democracy Remixed delves into all the key issues facing African American youth, and others. I met and talked with many amazing activists from local groups, from Oakland to Boston to Florida.

The thing I learned is that challenges that youth of color, and youth in general, face today are ever more daunting. Statistics for youth of color, from high black male unemployment rates to suicide rates of Native youth are more than heartbreaking. Drop-out rates for many youth of color, particularly Latino/Hispanic youth, are sky high at 50 plus percent in some regions. Statistic show that the quality of life and outlook for youth of color are not much better than before. While we may not see a huge national, cohesive movement right now, as Cohen stated, there is a lot of activism going on in our neighborhoods, cities and streets. Youth of color in fact are standing up to make their worlds better, fighting for many similar causes across the nation. And we should be thankful for that. These are our country and world’s next generation of leaders. The stories highlight just a few of many amazing activists and organizations working to better our communities and our world.