Podcasts about i hotel

​Nicole Salaver is the kind of person I wish I had met long before that happened. In this episode, meet Nicole. She's the program manager at Balay Kreative these days. But her San Francisco roots go way, way back. Her maternal grandfather came to the US in the 1920s. He was one of the first Filipinos to own a restaurant and pool hall in Manilatown (please see our episode on Manilatown Heritage Foundation). He was a manong who lived at the International Hotel. Stories that Nicole's mom has told her were that he was more or less a mobster, paying off cops to keep his place safe. Nicole's maternal grandmother came to the states in the Fifties with her first husband. But he was an abusive alcoholic, and so her grandmother divorced him. She turned to the government for help for her and her four kids. They sent the single mother and her family to live at what turned out to be a brothel. But she wasn't aware of that at the time. The two met at the I-Hotel, where Nicole's grandmother helped the manongs with anything involving English—paperwork for green cards, lawyers, visas, etc. It was just a side hustle to her job at the US Postal Service. She knew all the manongs, but fell in love with Nicole's grandfather. They married and had three kids, including Nicole's mom. Her mom was born in the Sixities and grew up in the Seventies in San Francisco. Her dad's parents arrived in the US in the Fifties, after World War II. Her paternal grandfather was a merchant marine who cooked on a Navy ship. He met Nicole's grandmother on one of his voyages back to the Philippines and brought her back to the US. They had two boys—Nicole's dad and her uncle. Nicole says that her dad grew up a hippie in Sixties San Francisco, and retained that sensibility throughout his life. He worked for SF Recreation and Parks, smoked weed, and made art. He met Nicole's mother at a collage party while playing guitar in his brother's band. More on Patrick Salaver, Nicole's uncle, later. Nicole, an only child, was born at St. Luke's hospital in 1980. Her mom and dad lived in the Excelsior, where Nicole grew up. She went to Guadalupe Elementary. Her parents were agnostic, but her Catholic grandmother enrolled her in a Catholic school without telling them. Nicole's mom pulled her out on Day 1 and got her into public schools. She was supposed to go to Balboa High School, but it was the Nineties and that school was going through a rough time (see our episode with Rudy Corpuz from United Playas for more on that story). And so the family moved down to South San Francisco. From here, we sidebar to talk about The City of Nicole's youth, in the late-Eighties and early Nineties. She laments the massive loss of art and community that tech money wiped out. And she reminisces about taking Muni all over town. They went to film festivals, galleries, museums, restaurants. In her high school years, Nicole and her friends came to the Haight a lot. She'd also attend as many Filipino events as she could—Pistahan, Barrio Fiesta, and more. Her mom was a dancer and her dad a musician. They pushed her to do one of those two things or visual art. Of them, she gravitated toward art, but as she got to her teen years, she decided that acting and writing were more her jam. That all started when her uncle, Patrick Salaver, gave her a video camera when Nicole was 12. Nicole was and is a fan of "Weird" Al Yankovic. She says she digs quirky humor. She watched lots of SNL, In Living Color, Golden Girls. Using the camera her uncle gave her, she and her cousin created soap operas, commercials, talk shows, SNL-type sketches, and more. But despite loving creating that stuff, she saw that her parents' art was just a hobby. It didn't seem possible that it could be a career. It wasn't until her dad passed away suddenly that Nicole decided to pursue her art. She shares that story with us. She'd been performing a one-woman show about her grandmother, who had Alzheimer's, at Bindlestiff. She was taking classes from W. Kamau Bell and doing stand-up comedy, opening for big names like Jo Koy, Ali Wong, and Hassan Minaj. Then she got a call: "Your dad is in the ER. You should go." During a botched tracheotomy, his heart stopped. By the time doctors got his heart beating again, he was brain dead. Prior to that, not knowing that it would be the last time she saw her dad, she recorded him. He told her that she should move to New York, follow her dreams, and never work for "the man." One of the last things Nicole's dad said to her was, "If you stop doing art, you will die." Three months after her dad's funeral, Nicole quit her job and moved to NYC. Check back next for Part 2 with Nicole Salaver. Photography by Mason J. We recorded this episode at Balay Kreative in October 2024.

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 34! In today's episode we share The History of the Fight for the I-Hotel. August 26, 2024 will mark 19 years since the new International Hotel opened their doors. But do you know what happened to the old I-Hotel? It's amazing how the community, civil rights activists, residents, and others came together to help fight for the rights of the people living in the I-Hotel who were predominantly Filipino and Chinese laborers. As terrible as the decades-long fight was for the residents of the I-Hotel, there were some positive outcomes that still help promote the rights of low-income seniors and their right to affordable quality housing. Additionally, the fight for the I-Hotel was a key moment in bringing together Asian Americans from a variety of groups to fight for a common cause… something that we can all use more of. To learn more about the International Hotel, you can watch the award-winning The Fall of the I-Hotel by Curtis Choy or read the award-winning I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita. And finally, there's a new book by Emil De Guzman called Red Sky: Recollections of the International Hotel, and it's published by the amazing Eastwind Books.  To close this episode we celebrate some of the API athletes who won in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com. Segments 00:25 Intro Discussing Hotels 07:09 The History of the Fight for the I-Hotel 34:10 Celebrations: Asian Pacific Olympic Highlights

We're joined today by Josh Cook. Josh is a bookseller and co-owner at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he has worked since 2004. He is the author of the critically acclaimed postmodern detective novel An Exaggerated Murder and most recently of The Art of Libromancy: Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-First Century, published by our friends at Biblioasis.We chat about his work as well as I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita, published by Coffee House Press. Some words get thrown around a bit too often and are frequently misapplied. However, I Hotel is absolutely a masterpiece. To give any kind of synopsis is to do the book (and you) a disservice, but in a somewhat quixotic attempt at that: this is a novel comprised of novellas, all set in the San Francisco of the late 60s and early 70s exploring the revolutionary movements (political, cultural, artistic, romantic, and everything that makes life a dazzling experience) of that time and place. It's a wide-ranging conversation and one we hope you'll find as exciting and engaging as we did.Books/authors mentioned (another curriculum for you!):all of Yamashita's other works (Tropic of Cancer is next up for Tom, he thinks)Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria LuiselliWhite Teeth by Zadie SmithNever Did the Fire by Diamela Eltit, translated by Daniel HahnThree Trapped Tigers by G. Cabrera Infante, translated by Donald Gardner and Suzanne Jill LevineThe Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Natasha WimmerGravity's Rainbow by Thomas PynchonUnderworld by Don DeLilloInfinite Jest by David Foster WallaceIf you'd like to read a bit more about/from Yamashita, here's a LitHub article Josh wrote “Why Everyone Should Read the Great Karen Tei Yamashita” and another LitHub article on the “The Craft of Writing” by Yamashita herself.To hear more from Josh follow him on Instagram (@joshthelibromancer) and Bluesky (@joshthelibromancer), and follow Porter Square Books on Instagram (@porter_square_books), Bluesky (@portersqbooks), and Threads (@porter_square_books).Click here to subscribe to our Substack and find us on the socials: @lostinredonda just about everywhere.Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by TrafficLogo design: Flynn Kidz Designs

Nonprofits could never: Three members of the autonomous West Side Tenants Association/WSTA discuss the evergreen problem of charity; what movements gain by putting collectivism before individualism; how knowing your neighbors is the most effective and meaningful survival tactic; and the inspiration we all get from past solidarity work in the Bay, like the thousands of people who came together around the I Hotel in the 1970s. West Side Tenants Association (also on Instagram) The Worst Evictors of San Francisco and Oakland Past episodes mentioned: Should Social Movement Work Be Paid? f/ Dean Spade How City College Got Free f/ James Tracy Landlord Tech Watch f/ Erin McElroy

San Francisco'nun göbeğinde gerçekleşen bir kentsel geri dönüşüm projesi ve akabinde ortaya çıkan ikonik bir "direnç"! Azınlıkların barınma hakkı için savaştığı I-Hotel olaylarını anlattığımız bölümü keyifle dinlemeniz dileği ile! Support the showBize ulaşmak için: Twitter @hkbu_podcast İnstagram @hkbu.podcast Facebook hkbupodcast.com hkbu.podcast@gmail.com Bizimle yolculuğa devam ettiğin için teşekkürler!

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Host Miko Lee is joined by Guest Host Aisa Villarosa for another episode focused on Filipinx American History Month. This episode is focused on artist, activist, I Hotel survivor and rebel rouser Jeanette Lazam. We also hear a poem from Emily Lawsin and music from Bay Area's Power Struggle. Learn more about and support collective resistance to militarization and genocide in Palestine: https://www.instagram.com/ucethnicstudiescouncil/  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe7SomsNyhrKIuR-FzwTKjPC5bM1lCi3i6GsXJLRXJvKK7JrA/viewform Jeanette Lazams life and artwork: https://convergencemag.com/articles/coming-home-jeanette-lazam-returns-to-the-i-hotel/ https://www.instagram.com/lazamjg/ Emily Lawsin Power Struggle https://www.powerstrugglemusic.com/ https://beatrockmusic.com/collections/power–struggle. No More Moments of Silence Show Transcript 11.2.23 [00:00:00] Aisa Villarosa: In this episode, we're providing a content warning. Our guest, Jeanette Lazum, discusses personal instances of racist threats, police violence, and utilizes a racial epithet. [00:00:47] Miko Lee: Good evening and welcome to Apex Express. This is Miko Lee and I am so thrilled to have a guest co host this night, the amazing and talented Aisa Villarosa. Aisa can you please introduce yourselves to our audience? Say who you are, where you come from, and a little bit about yourself. [00:01:09] Aisa Villarosa: Thank you so much, Miko, and it's a joy to be with you and the Apex Express family. My name is Aisa, my pronouns are she, her, and I'm a Michigan born gay Filipino artist, activist, attorney with roots in ethnic studies organizing and teaching Filipino studies, in the wonderful Pa'aralang Pilipino of Southfield, Michigan. If you ever find yourself at the intersection of Eight Mile and Greenfield near Detroit, stop on by. And the genesis of our talk today started with a conversation around Filipino American History Month, right? [00:01:54] Miko Lee: That's right. And that's what we're going to be talking about tonight. so Tonight Aisa and I are going to be talking about Filipino American History Month. We know that it's the month of October, so Filipino history, that's something that's deep and should be all year round, just like all of our histories should be something that we study. Tell us a little bit about who we're going to be speaking to tonight. [00:02:17] Aisa Villarosa: We have the honor of speaking with Jeanette Lazam, who is a many decades long living legacy, an artist, an activist. Jeanette has worked in spaces like the capital of California, but has also faced down state violence. Both at the hands of the U. S. government through the very violent eviction of elders, primarily Filipino and Chinese elders, at the International Hotel or the iHotel in San Francisco, what was then Manila Town and Jeanette also is a survivor of political violence at the hands of the Ferdinand Marcos regime in the Philippines and is a champion of Nonviolent people power and that is only just the tip of the iceberg. Jeanette is also a prolific artist . She is the only surviving Filipino Manang to return to the iHotel After being a young person who stood and locked arms with the seniors to fight the eviction decades and decades ago, and she'll be sharing some of her story with us. [00:03:34] Miko Lee: I love this. We get to hear firsthand from experiences of people who were engaged in a fight for equality and still continue to do so. I love elders just taking the reins and keeping on fighting out there. Because we're talking about issues that are deep and complicated, including Marcos' dictatorship in the Philippines, and what went down at the iHotel in San Francisco, we'll have some links in the show notes so that folks can delve deeper and find out more. But Aisa can you back us up a little bit? And for folks that might not know, give us a little quickie about the iHotel. I know we talk about it in the interview, but for folks that don't know, give a little bit of background about the importance of the iHotel within Asian American movement spaces. Why do people need to know about this? [00:04:23] Aisa Villarosa: Such a great question and a grounding question Miko. The iHotel is both a physical site, it is in San Francisco, and it is also in many ways A symbol of the struggle for collective liberation, for housing rights, for justice in the city of San Francisco and beyond. And that is why often in many ethnic studies courses, in many Asian American and Pacific Islander courses, students learn about the iHotel. But as Jeanette will share with us, there is really no text that can describe the violence of an eviction, 3 a. m. in the morning on August 4th, 1977, when Armed police officers on horses essentially rounded up the peacefully protesting tenants and supporters of the International Hotel. And This was part of a larger movement, a violent movement across the country that was under the guise of urban renewal, but was really about the continued criminalization of Black and brown and Indigenous and AAPI people. And Jeanette was a survivor of that. It is a story that is painful and yet one that we must not forget and that our generations must learn from in order to continue the fight for social justice. [00:05:55] Miko Lee: Thanks, Aisa, for the little Asian American history lesson. We appreciate it. Folks should find out more if this is the first you're hearing about this. It is a seminal moment. I also think one of the things we didn't actually talk to Jeanette about is how Intersectional, the folks that were protesting at the iHotel were. That there were Black Panthers there, that there are folks from the disability movement. , that's one of those things that really gets hidden under the rug is the different people that were engaged in that fight. [00:06:23] Aisa Villarosa: Absolutely, Miko. The fight for the survival of the International Hotel was intersectional. It really is a demonstration of what healthy movement building can be. It is never easy. It's often complicated. And yet, They answered the urgency of the moment and they did so together. [00:06:46] Miko Lee: There were thousands of people that were involved in that movement. There were hundreds that were there. And tonight you get to hear from one person's story, a little bit about the iHotel, and mostly just from an amazing activist, artist, and social justice champion. So we get to listen to the brilliant interview with Jeanette. [00:07:08] Aisa Villarosa: It's so meaningful to hear from Jeanette and as someone who is living currently in San Francisco's Chinatown is someone who is revered enough to be on murals in Chinatown and yet popular culture and history often forget that Manila Town and Chinatown Coexist, that these are two powerhouse cultures, identities, people who, in some ways, as Jeanette shared, were forced together due to redlining, due to discriminatory housing practices, and yet the activists in Chinatown today are trying to preserve the stories of elders like Jeanette and also telling new stories through art and through activism and protest. [00:08:00] Miko Lee: Aisa, please introduce me to your mentor, the amazing Jeanette. [00:08:05] Aisa Villarosa: Thanks, Miko. We are so honored to have with us today Jeanette Gandianko Lazam. Jeanette, hi, how are you doing today? [00:08:14] Jeanette Lazam: I think I'm doing okay, yeah. I like the warmth, so I'm glad we have sunny days here in San Francisco that are not windy nor cold. [00:08:26] Aisa Villarosa: Are you cuddled up with Samantha? And for the audience Samantha is Jeanette's adorable cat. [00:08:33] Jeanette Lazam: Samantha is cuddled up by herself. Oh, [00:08:37] Aisa Villarosa: that's all right. She can support us from afar. [00:08:39] Jeanette Lazam: Yes, she most definitely will. [00:08:43] Aisa Villarosa: And you know, in these, heavy times, sometimes okay is okay. So we are, we're so happy to have you with us. I'm happy to be here. Thank you. Um, Miko, do you want to kick us off? [00:08:57] Miko Lee: So we are here talking about Filipino History Month and the significance of that. Can you tell us what the significance of the History Month is to you, Jeanette? [00:09:08] Jeanette Lazam: I think it's a time where, you know, for many Filipino and Filipino American organizations, they come to the fore. And what I mean by that is they come and expose the culture, the languages, not just one language, but the languages and the food, the this, the that. And it really comes to the surface. And you can see how much pride people have, I was talking with somebody the other day about the colonization of the Philippines. And when you look at the history of the Philippines, you have to take it for what it is. You can't take something out just because you don't like it. So many people have decided that the colonization of the Philippines shouldn't be… demonstrated during Filipino American History Month. I disagree. And so do a lot of other people. You have to tell that history because that's over 300 years of history right there in terms of the Filipino community. In a nutshell, culture, language, food, dance, They all come to the fore during this particular month, Filipino American History Month, and I'm really happy about that. That's what it means to me. [00:10:46] Aisa Villarosa: Thank you so much, Jeannette. What you're naming is so important that to be Filipino American is to take stock of the good, the bad, the joyful, the challenging. And you mentioned colonization. So much of what colonization forced upon us was almost an incomplete. identity, right? That we had to ignore the pain, pretend it's not there. Or there's the concept of hiyap, right? Which is shame. And, And you know, this really more than me and Miko, but for the listeners, can you share In terms of Filipino history, and because we are currently seeing a second Marcos regime, you've lived through some of the toughest attacks on civil rights, both here in the United States and in the Philippines. Can you just share a couple stories for the listeners about that time? [00:11:53] Jeanette Lazam: We're talking, Bongbong Marcos, who is now the president of the Philippines, his father, Ferdinand Marcos was the president of the Philippines for 20 some odd years. He declared martial law in 1971 and it stayed for 20 years in the Philippines. I don't think I've ever experienced direct fascism, up in your face and very personal. Civil liberties that people had. We're totally stripped the press in the Philippines was shut down and only one press was allowed to function which was the mouthpiece for Marcos. You could not congregate on corners of more than three people, you would get arrested. Many got arrested because they were journalists, because they were activists, because they were civil libertarians. Thank Anyone and anything that posed a threat to the Marcos regime was either arrested, deported, or killed. And I was there during the imposition of martial law and it was really scary. I have never experienced that kind of fear in my lifetime. In the United States, I was traveling with a group of friends. When I was about, I don't know, maybe nine, 10 years old, we stopped in Macon County, Georgia, and it was the 1960s, late 50s, 1960s, and we were very thirsty, so we all jumped out of the car, and I did not notice there were two water fountains, and I went to the first one, and it turned out to be a white people's water fountain. And um, about a few seconds later, as I was leaning down and drinking from it, I felt a very cold piece of steel against my neck. And I thought, it's not a knife, so it's got to be a gun. And sure enough, it was. And I'm nine or ten years old, and this sheriff is standing over me with this gun pressed against my neck and said to me, you're not allowed to drink at a white person's water fountain. And he said, if I could kill you right now. There'd be one less, and this is exactly what he said to me, one less nigga. And no one would mind. That point on, from that point on, I knew where the color line was. I'm not black, but I'm not white. And I wasn't allowed to drink at a white person's water fountain. scared the living daylights out of me. And I backed up from that water fountain. All of us backed up and we got into the car and we left that example of the incredible racism in the United States. just steered into my brain. I was just like, totally taken. I was so scared. I'm a kid. I'm nine years old, 10 years old. I'm a kid. And to have a gun pointed straight directly onto your, neck ain't no laughing matter. [00:15:50] Miko Lee: That sounds so scary. I'm sorry that you had to go through that. I'm wondering there's such a vivid memory that you have from being a child. I'm wondering at what point was a turning point for you in becoming an activist. [00:16:04] Jeanette Lazam: Oh, was that right then and there I was a kid from New York, so I knew that there were stratas and class levels and where people of color fell in, but it never came that home to me. I was finally able to take the whole question of low income or working class people of color, and racism. It all intersected on that one day. And I thought to myself, no we can't go on this way. And it was that moment I decided I have to do something about the situation. Because I am not going to allow people to do this without a fight. Yeah, it was that day. And it continued all the way when I lived in the Philippines. And martial law was declared. I fought it there and I fought it when I came back to the United States. [00:17:09] Miko Lee: Is there a difference in being an activist in the Philippines versus being an activist in the United States? [00:17:15] Jeanette Lazam: Yes. First of all, in the Philippines, you're dealing with an island nation. And so with an island nation, there are all these islands that you have to You know, deal with dialect, with culture, with this, with that , it's a very difficult process undertaking to do to bring out democratic notions when people have been so oppressed and repressed for over 300 years because the Americans come in after, the Spaniards. So we. We never as a nation never really experienced our own homegrown democracy, and it's very hard to deal with that over here in the United States. It's much different. You're not dealing with an island you're dealing with, yes, many states, but they're all contiguous and there has been a history of revolutionary. Fervor and revolutionary sentiment throughout the history of the United States, and it exposes itself in the labor movement, the gay and lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer movement, women's movement. It gets manifested in those movements. In the Philippines, very difficult to do. So the concentration for revolutionary organizations happens within the larger cities in the Philippines. And the, New People's Army is more in the rural areas outside of the major cities. you can't compare it. It's like apples and oranges. You can't do it. You have to look at the concrete conditions where people at and work from there. You can't go into a situation and wish that it could be this way. It takes hard work and long days, [00:19:41] Aisa Villarosa: so many long days and Jeanette always appreciate your nuance and the ethos of humility that you are challenging organizers and activists to have right that we in whatever space we're in cannot come in with assumptions. And yet. At the same time as you were sharing, one could see similarities between the oppression in the Philippines. In the States, and that oppression is around, how is your home stolen? How is your home and your sense of safety ripped from you? And you just talked to us about your experience as a nine year old, not being safe enough to go to the drinking fountain you wanted, right? And I know that at this moment, you're talking to us from the Senior Center, the iHotel can you share? about what the iHotel means to you, knowing that you've had possibly more history with the iHotel than maybe anyone alive at this moment. [00:20:55] Jeanette Lazam: The iHotel has to be situated Within the context of a Manila town. Generally, anytime you get a Chinatown, there's some sort of other town that kind of is adjacent to it. And you have it in Stockton, you have it in Sacramento, you have it in Seattle, you have it in Portland, you have it here, you have it in Los Angeles. Manila Towns are very is the hub or was the hub of the Filipino community starting from the 1920s on up. And so the International Hotel, as part of Manila Town, plays a very significant role in how Manila Towns functioned, what they offered. What they did and why they were established. It's not just because of the proximity to Chinatown, the Chinatowns and Manila towns of the United States get set up mainly because of racism. We are not allowed to move or to buy outside of those established boundaries. And who established those boundaries, the local governments, the state governments. Which were predominantly white people. It's like the history of Oregon. Oregon was a state that was supposed to be set up for white people only. And many people don't know that. But the iHotel is a very significant place. Historically significant, it welcomes in the first Manong generation. Now these are the people who came before me. The Manong generation, mainly elderly men. Some of them are married and their wives and their children are in the Philippines and some of them are single. And they come to the International Hotel and stay, and then they go away. Merchant Marines it's the first generation, the Manong generation, that started this all. It's the Larry Itliongs and the Philip Veracruz and Joe Dionysus, that all started the activism of the Manong generation. And it's important for people to understand who and what. And where this Manong generation stood for and where they went in terms of labor and how they stood up, how they stood up against the brutal, the incredibly brutal oppression of the contractors and the large agribusiness of California, Oregon, and Washington, and then the Alaskan canneries. To understand that history is so important because that's where we begin in many ways. We begin with that history of understanding the plight. Of the Manong generation who lived in Manila town and who lived and sometimes died at the International Hotel. My father was one of those guys. And when I found that out, I was even more curious, more thirsty to want to know what did they go through and how in the world they withstood the onslaught. Of worker oppression and racism and still kept on going I look at myself and, that's my inspiration. That's what's kept me going for the last 60 somewhat odd years is looking at that initial generation, the Manong generation, and what they brought to our community. [00:25:34] Aisa Villarosa: And Jeanette, I love you because you keep it real, and I know we've talked about the Manongs both as what you're describing as revolutionary in so many ways, right? These are labor activists and fathers, and yet they were also human. And flawed. And so I've appreciated the stories you've talked about where Manila Town, at that time, as you describe it, before the violence and the eviction surrounding the iHotel, it was bustling. It was loud. It sounded noisy. When you talk about it, I picture people like my dad who were walking around and Zoot suits, because Filipino men at the time, I've read, were trying to go to tailors and were outfitting themselves in the best suits they could just to really stand up to some of the hostility and the racism they were encountering. [00:26:38] Jeanette Lazam: That is so very true. it put everybody else to shame. They were so sharp with their double breasted, sometimes zoot suits, polished shoes. Fedora hats. They were genuine and incredibly good looking. And I've seen, I have pictures of my father he's standing on this little bridge in Central Park with his friends, with his army buddies, and they were all dressed up. And you'd think they were going to a fancy dancy, whatever place. No, they had swag. That's the only thing I could say. [00:27:19] Miko Lee: I love that, and I could picture it perfectly, and I like the way that you describe all these people strutting around, and the way you describe it is so visual, and I was saying to you when we first got on how honored I am that I have a piece of your art that's hanging in my house, from the amazing Aisa and Lauren, and I'm just wondering if you could talk to us a little bit about it about your artistic practice. What inspires you and how do you combine your work as an activist with your work as an artist? [00:27:51] Jeanette Lazam: I had always wanted to draw, but I never really did because my sister, my oldest sister she was a graphic designer. And so I was always like in her shadow. Years passed, so I'm sitting there doodling, and and in twenty, sixteen or seventeen, I moved to Taos, New Mexico. And my bedroom window faces Taos Mountain. Taos Mountain is a vortex, and you can feel the incredible energy. That vibrates from that mountain and I would get this every morning and it was telling me draw. This is your time to draw So I did. So I started drawing the Pueblo. And I started drawing scenes in and around Taos. And Taos is a very artistic community to begin with. So that also provided a lot of inspiration. And as the years went by, I started to draw more and more outside of Taos. When I finally moved I started doing owls. I suddenly realized that there's a whole level of animals and insects and so forth that are on the endangered list. So I started drawing bees and bumblebees and all sorts of bees. Then I started doing the American bison or the buffalo, how all of these creatures Were on the endangered list or practically at that point where they didn't exist anymore. And I knew that I had to do something about that in terms of my art. And so I stayed with that for several years. And then I turned myself to culture. I started looking at the Inca, the Maya and the Aztec and how rich and often bloody, but rich. history they had in building civilizations that somehow disappear from the face of this earth. And I started looking at their colors, their color schemes were incredible. So I did that for a while and I wanted people to get exposed to that. However, In between that, I found myself getting wrapped around Philippine mythology, and when I went to look at our gods, our deities so forth and so on, our supernatural forces, I found very little. There weren't pictures so if there was something written, there were no pictures. And so I finally found a book that gave me some sense of what they looked like. And I have to say, fi Philippine mythology, whomever interacted with it, had an incredible creative mind. We had the most blood thirsty, , mythological creatures that I could think of. Anywhere from the Aswang, which everyone knows about, to this creature called the Pugot, P U G O T, which is mainly from the Ilocos region. And it's a huge mouth with a body from the mouth that walks on its legs and hands and feeds on children. And when I found, I was like, Oh yeah. I was absolutely mortified. But you know, that's what Philippine mythology is. We do have the supreme bakala, who is the supreme god, and all the other deities, his daughters and his sons. But there are also these horrendous and wicked mythological creatures. And the reason why I was trying to bring it out was, I firmly believe, and I found this out, In my research and drawing that you cannot. Cannot understand the history of the Filipino people unless you take into account their mythology and their religions, whether you disagree with it or not. That's part of the history of our people. And that part is incredibly rich. So I learned a lot from it. [00:33:02] Aisa Villarosa: It is rich, and it is a mythology that has been threatened by colonization, when you mentioned that it was difficult to find writings that is all by design due to colonial oppression and the myth that Filipinos We're always Catholic or always followed Spanish culture and religion is completely false, right? So I always appreciated your deep diving, not only into Filipino mythology and culture, but connecting those dots, especially to other indigenous cultures. Jeanette, for our listeners, can you briefly share for folks who aren't familiar with the Aswang, and because even for me, I remember watching the Filipino channels as a kid, and they're usually depicted as cheesy vampires, but we'd love to hear your [00:34:10] Jeanette Lazam: your take on them. They are. They are. They are vampires. They are usually women. They have the body up to the stomach of a woman and the rest is a fish tail and then they have bat wings and they fly around at night and your parents tell you about them because they want you to go to sleep and it's scary enough. They are very, very scary. [00:34:46] Aisa Villarosa: Yeah, that's effective. It also reminds me of, there's a wonderful older book by Dr. Clarissa Estes called Women Who Run With the Wolves, and it unpacks mythology and also often, it was a culture's way of depicting women's power and I have to say, as someone who identifies as gay, so much of your art has spoken to me, particularly because there is real homophobia in Filipino culture. Part of that's due to colonization and religion, but your art really centers deities who go beyond a sexual binary. I suppose somewhat similar to two spirit indigenous depictions, and that's really special. [00:35:39] Jeanette Lazam: I'm hoping to do more research on the movement of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer Filipinos here in the United States. As well as in the Philippines, and try to be able to capture that in art. So I think that's my next real challenge. [00:36:04] Aisa Villarosa: I would love to see that. [00:36:06] Miko Lee: You are tuned into apex express, a 94.1 KPFA and 89.3 KPF. Be in Berkeley and online@kpfa.org Next up, take a listen to Live It Up. By Bay Area's Power Struggle. [00:36:21] Aisa Villarosa: You were listening to Live It Up by the artist Power Struggle. Jeanette, in terms of thinking about the future, talk to us more about that. Talk to us about your hopes and dreams. [00:40:01] Jeanette Lazam: My hope is that, in particular to the Filipino community here in the United States I hope that they will be open and above board take whatever knowledge my generation can give that generation, that they appropriate the genera that, they appropriate the knowledge and the history that my generation is releasing. It's important for several reasons. One, it makes our, history of Filipino people alive, very alive in the faces of the ones that are coming up after that generation. It also provides the continuity in our history. If there's a break in continuity, it's very hard to kind of climb back because what happens then is that people die. And if my generation dies, and it will, it's important that your generation and the generation after yours appropriates whatever we're giving, you don't have to like it. You don't have to love it. You just have to take it and then sort it out for yourself and then transfer it to the next generation. So there's a level of continuity. That's my hope and in the broader, population. I want people to understand what it took to build the United States, what it took the level of sacrifice that the working class of this country had to make in order for this country to be built. California's agribusiness. Would not be where it's at today if not for the Filipinos, if not for the Mexicans, and a few other Asians like Japanese. That's also true for Hawaii. Who built this country? Who built this country? And people have to answer that question with fervor and knowledge. [00:42:38] Aisa Villarosa: And with honesty. [00:42:39] Jeanette Lazam: Yes, total honesty. [00:42:44] Aisa Villarosa: Jeanette, you end… Each of your emails with, when I dream, I dream of freedom. And what you're saying to us is that in order for us to realize this freedom, we must do so collectively. [00:42:59] Jeanette Lazam: Yep. And that's no easy task. Because at every twist and turn of the struggle for true democracy in the United States, true social justice, You're going to be making allies and you're going to be leaving other allies behind because you no longer agree with some of the things they do, but it's not to mean that they're enemies. And you're going to be meeting new people, and you're going to get involved with their lives and their struggles. And get to know them. So it's every step of the way for the larger struggle at mind is a very intense and deep personal struggle. Do you choose to say you're gay or lesbian or bisexual, transgender or queer? Do you choose to say that openly and above board to let people know? That this is who I am that happened to me when they had the first time they had district elections in San Francisco, I was at a open forum and somebody asked so how is this going to affect at that time the Castro and everybody knew this person was talking about how is the district elections going to affect the Castro. I didn't see anybody raising their hands and I just said as a lesbian, it will affect me greatly because we finally will have some level of and form of representation on the board of supervisors. Sometimes it's a split second decision. Sometimes it's something that's well thought out. And that's also true when you're walking where you're working with people. Sometimes it has to be. A split second decision, and other times, it's longer. When I say I dream, I dream for freedom. I dream for freedom for all people. Freedom from the shackles of sexism, racism, homophobia. That's what I dream of. A true, functioning, honest democracy. Where social justice is not a movement, it is, it simply is. [00:45:46] Aisa Villarosa: It simply is. Gosh, that brings to mind the image of an ocean and that saying that the ocean is so many tiny drops. And what you're challenging us to do is, in those moments where there is a sometimes split second decision, that we choose bravery. And we choose truthfulness in those moments. Jeanette, thank you so much for talking with us today. We've pictured Filipino deities. We've jumped from the Castro to the Philippines. And I am always in awe of your imagination and your artistry and your advocacy. Thank you. [00:46:33] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for sharing with us, Jeanette. It was an honor to spend a little bit of time just learning from you, hearing about your artistry, your activism, and your vision for the world. We really appreciate you. [00:46:47] Jeanette Lazam: Oh, I appreciate people like you because it's through you that we have a voice and that's important. That's important. One of the first tasks is always going to be On some type of journalism and media, and we have to protect that we have to protect the progressive and revolutionary sources of media. [00:47:15] Miko Lee: Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us. [00:47:18] Jeanette Lazam: Thank you. [00:47:20] Miko Lee: I really loved talking with your mentor, Jeanette. Tell me what's your walk away. What did you hear her saying? [00:47:27] Aisa Villarosa: It was such a rich conversation and. One of the many things I adore about Jeanette is she is a world builder in that she encourages anyone who is in her space to exercise their imagination. And as someone who's been a bit of a veteran of the nonprofit industrial complex for, almost three decades now, it is shocking how frequently our imaginations are shunned, how we are often sent to work in siloed areas. The solution to so many of our heartaches is intersectional, is creativity. So my big takeaway is hearing Jeanette talk about the trajectory of her life and how it essentially led her to really lean into becoming an artist. She has shared that she became an artist rather later in life. It's a great example that You're never too old or too young to start anything, to lean into your true self, and so many of Jeanette's art pieces are odes to her identity as a social justice leader. How about you, Miko? What's your takeaway? [00:48:42] Miko Lee: She's just a delight. She's funny. She's smart. She has so much wisdom. I really love interviewing OGs because it's just constant pearls of wisdom. So I appreciate that. But I have another question for you, which is how did she come to be your mentor? When did you first meet? [00:49:00] Aisa Villarosa: I first interviewed Jeanette during the Earlier parts of the COVID 19 pandemic, at the time, and this is a bit of my personal story, I was struggling with coming out to my family as a gay Filipino, and Jeanette shared with me her identity as someone who is LGBTQ, and it was such a moment of connection, even if we have many decades between us. The story she shares of being an artist, of being a Filipino, a gay person, a civil rights defender. It's just a reminder that we don't have to be only one thing. We are so much more alive if we can lean into our multiple identities, and Jeanette is a living example of that. [00:49:56] Miko Lee: Oh, thanks for that. That is so right. We are all multifaceted. We are all these kaleidoscopes of change given where we are in life and the experiences we have. And it's a delight to talk with your mentor and somebody I've heard about from a long time. So thanks so much for celebrating Filipino History Month by really talking with somebody that you admire so much and I can see why. [00:50:23] Aisa Villarosa: Last week for our part one of Filipino American History Month, we talked with Pinay scholar, poet, activist, and historian, Emily Lawson, about her poem, No More Moments of Silence. It is Ate Em's chronicling of the power, complexity, heartache, and love. Behind Filipino American identity, held together by centuries of struggle against colonial oppression and white supremacy, our Makibaka heritage, one shared by Black, Indigenous, and people of color grappling with settler colonialism and government extraction. Now, to close out Filipino American History Month, I'm honored to share with you an excerpt from No More Moments of Silence, taken from a 2011 Michigan State University performance by Emily Lawson. No more moments of silence in memory of Joseph Aletto and Chongberry Zhang by Emily Lawson. With respect and apologies to Emmanuel Ortiz and Doria Roberts and thanks to Reverend Edwin Rowe who taught us to pray out loud with our eyes open at Vincent Chin's grave. This is a scream, not a shout out, at all of those right wing Christian conservatives and wannabe left wing liberals. Who start all of their speeches with a moment of silence. Crossing themselves, genuflecting, lighting boat of candles and incense for every single damn lost soul on this earth, but their own. This is not an old Simon and Garfunkel song. This is a fighting song for you flag waving, war on terrorism, 9 11 memorial addicts. Clean out your ears and your skeleton closets, because I cannot take any more moments of silence. You hear me? I cannot take any more moments of silence. For silence is what buried one million of my ancestors in a hundred American wars. Silence is what drove the stakes through the backs of my people, whipped with chains of cane fires as low paid migrant workers burned out of their bunkhouses as they slept and white collar neighbors watched in silence. See, I cannot take any more moments of silence. Silence for silence is what robbed our Filipino people of our multiple tongues as the noose of colonialism wiped out 7, 000 islands of surnames and languages. Leaving us with a bastardized Hollywood identity of John Wayne Dust Bowl movies with Panoi Indios playing Indians in silence. I cannot waste any moments of silence because they add up to decades and years like the 10 plus that kept my cousin estranged from her brothers and sisters who refused to acknowledge how they all inherited. The brunt of the beatings brought on by their father, in the bedroom of their mother, even ten years after their deaths. The wounds still lie wide open in silence. I cannot waste any more moments, for our concept of time has been warped by the violence that pervades our homes and hearts. Like the self righteous, now terminated governor, who stood at the cold stone podium, singing the heroic praises of the North Valley Jewish Community Center's staff. While signing a historic anti gun bill into law, looking down and right over the entire family of Joseph Aleto, who had also been shot nine times by a white supremacist a month earlier while he delivered mail. And the bold faced governor, in his corporate suit and tie, looked right past the family and only into the TV news cameras. As Joseph's mother, Lillian, hung her head in silence in the front row, ashamed that the governor couldn't even offer his condolences, didn't even mention her son's name, Joseph Aletto, what more, his death or existence. Her surviving children's fury helped her stand up, and that is why she is not silent. That is why they are not silent. That is why we cannot be silent anymore. For silence is what allowed the Warren cops to storm in a Hmong American family's home, barge down the steps to their Michigan basement, shoot 18 year old Chong Berizhong 41 times, killing him with 27 bullets at close range, and say the force was… Justified? Silence is what prevents our Hmong teenagers from telling their story. Afraid that they will be the next casualty of police brutality. Afraid that they will be deported for being unpatriotic. Sent to a landlocked country they have never seen. Even though they obey all laws, pay taxes, go to poor schools, and work three jobs no other Americans dare want. See, we cannot waste any more moments of silence. And this ain't about just taking back the night, I'm talking about taking back the day to day, because I am done with the silence. Our feet can no longer be bound. Our eyes cannot be taped. Yell your prayers as poems. Scream the names of the dead out loud. For I cannot take any more moments of silence because silence has already taken too much from me. Emily Lawson. September 11th, 2003. Revised September 17th, 2007. Detroit, Michigan. Amidst protest for an immediate ceasefire and end to occupation in Gaza, may all who continue to resist against colonization and militarization root in Atta Emily's call, now and always, no more moments of silence. Visit our Apex Express website to learn more. [00:57:06] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for joining us. Please check out our website, kpfa.org backslash program, backslash apex express to find out more about the show tonight and to find out how you can take direct action. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important. [00:57:30] Miko Lee: Apex express is produced by me. Miko Lee. Along with Paige Chung, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar, Anuj Vaida. Kiki Rivera, Swati Rayasam, Nate Tan, Hieu Nguyen and Cheryl Truong tonight's show is produced by me Miko thank you so much to the team at kpfa for their support have a great night. The post APEX Express – 11.2.23- No More Moments of Silence: Filipinx Identity & Critical Resistance appeared first on KPFA.

"This land is too valuable to let poor people park on it," said SF Redevelopment Agency head Justin Herman, about Asian and Black people living in Central San Francisco. Today many politicians are acting like it's the 1950s all over again. Niccolo Calderaro, professor of anthropology at SF State, speaks on resistance then and now. Niccolo Calderaro's article in Progressive City: "Community Mobilization against Eviction in 1970s San Francisco & the contribution of Chester Hartman": progressivecity.net/single-post/community-mobilization-against-eviction-in-1970s-san-francisco-the-contribution-of-chester-hartman  Niccolo's book, "An Ethnography of the Goodman Building: The Longest Rent Strike": link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-12285-0 John Fossum, California Law Review, "Rent withholding and the improvement of substandard housing": sci-hub.ru/10.2307/3479098 "Oakland-Based Government Finance Director Pleads Guilty To Embezzling Public Funds": justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/oakland-based-government-finance-director-pleads-guilty-embezzling-public-funds Curtis Choy's "Fall of the I-Hotel" (trailer): youtube.com/watch?v=lzrWwvI8JpI Chris Carlsson's essay "The Freeway Revolt," at FoundSF: foundsf.org/index.php?title=The_Freeway_Revolt  Bay Area Tenant and Neighborhood Councils: baytanc.com patreon.com/sadfrancisco

Andrew Szeto makes food and zines. Their most recent zine is “Heartbeat of Struggle," part of Kearny Street Workshop's "Dreaming People's History" (www.kearnystreet.org/dreaming-peoples-history). Anti-Eviction Mapping Project: antievictionmap.com | Andrew at Truthout: truthout.org/authors/andrew-szeto | "Fall of the I-Hotel" by Curtis Choy: youtube.com/watch?v=lzrWwvI8JpI | “San Francisco's International Hotel” by Estella Habal: tupress.temple.edu/books/san-francisco-s-international-hotel-2 | “The Prison Industrial Complex and the Global Economy” by Linda Evans and Eve Goldberg: www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC510_scans/Prison_Labor/510.prison.complex.global.economy.1998.pdf

Today on Speaking Out of Place I talk with the intellectual, writer, and activist Hilton Obenzinger about his remarkable life as all those things. He starts by talking about his earliest exposure to art and politics, as both a witness to and participant in such moments as the takeover of the Office of the President at Columbia University in 1968, the Farm Worker's strike in California, the fight for the I-Hotel in Manilatown, activism around Indigenous rights in the 70s, to his work in the anti-apartheid movement and the anti-Zionist struggle for Palestinian rights, and finally to his recent work on Stanford's Chinese Railroad Workers History project and his poetry on living through the pandemic, environmental crises, and the fascism of the Trump era. Winner of an American Book Award, and a published scholar, Hilton Obenzinger has been the embodiment of an engaged writer through some of the most important moments in US and world history.Hilton Obenzinger writes poetry, fiction, criticism, and history. His books include Witness: 2017-2020, Treyf Pesach [Un-Kosher Passover], an autobiographical novel Busy Dying, How We Write: The Varieties of Writing Experience at Stanford University, Cannibal Eliot and the Lost Histories of San Francisco, American Palestine: Melville, Twain and the Holy Land Mania, New York on Fire [selected by The Village Voice as one of the best books of the year], and This Passover Or The Next I Will Never Be in Jerusalem, which received the American Book Award. Born in Brooklyn, he participated in the Columbia University rebellion of 1968, graduated in 1969, helped to operate a community printing press in San Francisco's Mission District, and was active in the anti-imperialist, Native American, and Palestine solidarity movements. He taught writing, literature and American studies at Stanford University, and is Associate Director Emeritus of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America project. 

The Legacy of Eastwind Books Tonight APEX Express focuses on the legendary Eastwind Books, the oldest AAPI book store in the country closes on April 30, 2023.  Host Miko Lee speaks with founder Harvey Dong and staff Cheryl Truong and Banoo Afkhami about the history and the future of this beloved community activist book store.     SHOW TRANSCRIPTS EastWind Books 20230323-Thu1900 [00:00:27] Miko Lee: Express. Good evening, you are tuned into Apex Express. We're bringing you an Asian and Asian American view from the Bay and around the world. I'm your host Miko Lee, and tonight we're talking about the beloved and amazing East Wind Bookstore. It'll be closing its doors on April 30th after 41 years in operation. Joining us are is the founder Harvey Dong. Staff Cheryl Truong and Banoo Afkhami. So keep it locked on Apex Express. Welcome East Wind Books to Apex Express. I am so excited to talk to you all about the legacy of East Wind Books, I wanna start first with our legacy make. Harvey, can you just first share, I mean, I think many people know about you and we've interviewed you on Apex Express before talking about the history of where the terminology Asian American even comes from. And we know you're an esteemed professor at, um, uc, Berkeley. But can you, in your own words, tell us who you are, who your people are, and what legacy you carry with you from your ancestors? , [00:01:33] Harvey Dong: that's a tough, uh, question because, um, it would take quite a lot of thinking of the different places I've been in in the past. But, um, I, I would just start with, uh, this was our decision to, uh, continue the operations at East Wind Books, uh, was when a friend of ours, uh, Who was the manager of East Wind Books and Art, uh, informed us that this bookstore, uh, 1986 Shaddock, uh, was planning to be closed. And he was sad to see it closed, and he asked us, Myself and my wife Beatrice, if we'd like to continue it, possibly as an Asian American bookstore. Um, and we said that, uh, we'd think about it and it took us about two years. 9, 19 94, we were customers at his store and in 1996 we decided to take the leap, um, Beatres. Uh, graduated with a degree in ethnic studies, studying literature with, uh, professor Barbara Christian in African American Studies and Professor Elaine Kim in Asian American Studies and also Saling Wong in Asian American Studies. So she was very familiar with ethnic. lit and myself, I had the experience of, being involved when I was in the AAPA Asian American Political Alliance, to open the first Asian American bookstore on Kearney Street. Yeah, on the international hotel. We were evicted from that location in 1977. We gave it another try for another two years and, uh, everybody's shut down it's operations. So this is post third World Strike Post, um, uh, I Hotel. It was a time. Conservatism Prop 2 0 9, uh, attacks on the affirmative action and so forth, and we decided that maybe we could make a contribution by opening up and continuing. And evolving East Wind books of Berkeley. Uh, so since then, um, it's been a, uh, uh, quite a ride, you know, in terms of the people we've met, the people we interacted with, uh, the social movements that have come up and. We offered it as a, a place for up and coming, uh, Asian American studies, ethnic studies, uh, poets, uh, writers, um, and so forth. And it's, it's a, uh, a, a spot that we really. Treasure, we really enjoy. Um, the, the dream I had back then was, uh, people go all over to go to City Lights. Maybe East Wind books could be something like that. You know, we, we knew, uh, someone who worked at City Lights. Too. I [00:04:55] Miko Lee: love that. And I think for many people it has become a version of city lights, especially for the Asian American Pacific Islander community. But Harvey, you ignored my initial question. You went right into East Wind Books, which we're gonna be spending our whole episode talking about. And I wanna know, go way back and go back to growing up in Sacramento and, and tell me about, I know that your mom was also an activist. Can you tell me about how your mom influenced you as an organiz? [00:05:23] Harvey Dong: Well, my mom was always a very outspoken person. A lot of this had to do with the fact that because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, people who came over as paper sons, paper daughters, uh, she was left behind by both her parents, uh, because, uh, boys were prioritized over girls and her papers were given to a male cousin who could help at the, uh, grocery business. So she was, uh, left. And she went through the sin, uh, jaap Japanese war, uh, during war, war, war ii. Uh, she, uh, was a political refu. She was a refugee, uh, moving from China to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Macau, and then back to China. So she had all this experience, and so she wasn't afraid to speak. Uh, we did see her speak out when, uh, acts of racism, uh, happened and, uh, she was also active in the, uh, uh, unions in, uh, for the state employees. So she, she was an inspiration to us, although we were probably too young to realize that we thought that she was just someone that was. Loud, [00:06:38] Miko Lee: loud. What wasn't afraid to speak out or speak her mind, right? Mm-hmm. . So not the model minority, your [00:06:44] Harvey Dong: mother? Uh, no, definitely not. Um, later when we, when I myself became active, uh, her main concern was not so much the, the content of the activism, but more whether or not I would graduate. [00:07:00] Miko Lee: Uh, yes. Graduating from college. That was the critical component to your. . Right. So tell me what was your, I know you have been involved in so many of the fabric that makes up Asian American movement building from the Third World Liberation Front to the Black Panthers to and with bees involvement in the Garment workers movement to the I Hotel. Tell me, what was your very first activist, uh, involvement? What was the thing that spurred your organizing? [00:07:30] Harvey Dong: Well, my first activist involvement. Dropping out of the, uh, RTC army program at uc, Berkeley. Uh, because I had talked to, uh, fellow classmates about the war. I went to a bookstore, uh, right around the corner from unit three where I lived. I just went out that exit and I just went in Cody's and read all their books about us imperialism and colonialism. And so I became, uh, anti-war and I. Lose some friends in the dorms over that cuz fellow Asian American friends who, uh, weren't as, uh, informed. You know, I would get into discussions and debates and so forth. [00:08:16] Miko Lee: And you had been reading all the books so [00:08:17] Harvey Dong: you knew Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I, I, I felt really passionate about it and I participated in Stop the Draft week 1967, uh, to, to, to, uh, uh, sit in at the induction. In Oakland, uh, I witnessed, uh, police brutality on demonstrators and it only fired us up, uh, for next year. Stopped the draft week part two in 1968. And so that kind of got me. Involved as an individual. Um, the anti-war movement, uh, began to relate with the, uh, black Panther movement. And from there I attended Black Panther functions. I even went down to the, uh, the headquarters as a volunteer witness, uh, because of the fact that there was news that there was gonna be a, a raid on the Black Panther headquarters and they needed community support. So I did have that background experience and then when the Asian American Political Alliance started in around May of 1968, um, I joined it the following fall. , um, they, they helped organize one of the first Asian American studies courses. It was an experimental course, and from there, I, I was, uh, became active in A A P A That led to the formation of the T W L F in, uh, December of 1968, and the strike begins in January, 1960. So I did, uh, meet quite a few people. We did, uh, connect with, uh, different, uh, peoples of color. Um, and white supporters during that time. [00:10:14] Miko Lee: Thank you for sharing that. And I know, um, B couldn't be with us here today, but b is your spouse and partner and collaborator, um, life partner and business partner. And I'm wondering if you can share a little bit about how b for Scott involved, and I know that she worked with the, um, garment workers, but do you know her origin story, her activist origin story? [00:10:35] Harvey Dong: Uh, sure. The, um, the strike, uh, ended. Um, with a moratorium of strike activities pending further negotiations for a third World College. Um, part of that agreement would be the establishment of an interim Department of ethnic studies at uc, Berkeley to begin fall, uh, 1969 and b. , the first, uh, among the first students to be part of that fall 1969, uh, ethnic studies, Asian American studies class. So she, so from there she, uh, she was actually, uh, previously active in the Asian block at Oakland High. They worked with the Black students Union. So she started [00:11:22] Miko Lee: as a high school student? Yeah. As an activist. [00:11:24] Harvey Dong: Wow. Yeah. Yeah. They, they had a group there and the, quite a few number of the. Black students, uh, uh, went to Berkeley that following fall, and they became very active in Asian American studies. Asian American studies was, uh, somewhat of a liberated, uh, program because they gave us a minimal amount of funding, uh, with the hope that we would, um, burn ourselves. Ah, but instead we, we used whatever funding we had. Uh, we used the, uh, the classes to develop Asian American studies and reached out to the communities nearby, such as Japan Town in San Francisco, uh, Oakland, Chinatown, Oakland, uh, Manila Town, uh, San Francisco, Manila Town, south of Market. And so forth. And, and then students from Asian American studies classes would go to all these locations and they would become, uh, uh, people who would start, uh, serve the people type programs. [00:12:38] Miko Lee: I love that. So they thought they were gonna squish y'all, but instead they kind of helped to fire up a movement. [00:12:42] Harvey Dong:.Yeah, we had to really Think and brainstorm, you know, solutions, you know, given the limitations. So Bee became, very active in, Asian American studies. It was called Asian Studies back then, and she was actually in the, governing body, you know. Oh, wow. So just imagine a university program where you have a freshman having a say in the running of the program. [00:13:15] Miko Lee: Does that happen nowadays? [00:13:15] Harvey Dong: Uh, now it's very distance, you know, it's, it's not, not at all [00:13:21] Miko Lee: basically. No, no, that doesn't happen now. Wow. And then how did you two meet? What is the activist love story of Harvey and B Dong? [00:13:30] Harvey Dong: Well, we've met, in Asian American. we became closer through the formation of the, uh, Chinatown Cooperative Garment Factory, which was a, uh, an alternative to the, sweatshops in San Francisco Chinatown. Uh, that was also an, originally an Asian American Studies, community course project where there's investigation, uh, interviews, oral histories, and, and then we applied for, uh, seed. To purchase equipment machinery to establish a, um, a cooperative garment factory, um, in the basement of the International hotel. [00:14:14] Miko Lee: Oh, so you started that first and then it was at the I Hotel that you started mm-hmm. , everybody's bookstore, is that right? [00:14:20] Harvey Dong: everybody's bookstore was on the, Kearney street entrance of on the international hotel block. that started as a  like a 10 by 10 room. We, solicited like 50 bucks each from different  AAPA members and we raised about $500 and we got a business license. We went down to l n s bookstore., the book vendor in San Francisco, uh, book people was another. and also China books, which had a, never ending supply of, of red books and, literature from China. that's how the bookstore started. And that was actually I think the, the last activity of the Asian American Political Alliance. It, it ended, you know, cause So, so [00:15:25] Miko Lee: was was founding [00:15:26] Harvey Dong: the bookstore? Uh, yeah. Was founding the bookstore. And then after that, the, the bookstore, uh, is, um, becomes independent of, uh, of the aapa because people, scatter, move, go to different directions and stuff. we then inform. around that same time, we, we, Asian American Studies, formed this Asian studies field office, which brought students to, uh, San Francisco Chinatown and Manila Town holding classes. So, so we had this bookstore, we had this Asian studies field office. Uh, a couple years later, funding gets cut for, for the field office. And we then form an independent Asian community center known as acc. And the acc, um, had to raise its own monies. Uh, there were a lot of elderly people coming down, a lot of seniors, and they themselves felt really very attached to the center and they. , um, solicit funds to cover the rent. Yeah. Wow. So it became a community space. what happened there was we, we, we had people go to, uh, Portsmouth Square and we told the, uh, people sitting there, the elders that, you know, you can come down to our center and sit. You don't have to sit out here in the cold. Ah, in the rain. [00:16:57] Miko Lee: You gave them a space. [00:16:57] Harvey Dong: Yeah. So they all came down. The only problem was, you know, there was a lot of smoking and, uh, we did, there's no, you know, tobacco type related regulations and stuff like that, right? But,  there was tea serve. some of the old men, elders would tell us talk stories, while we're drinking tea. we connected, you know,  this type of phenomenon, we found out was also happening. Other locations and places. There was community center set up in, Japanese Community Center. in J Town there was a basement workshop in New York City., so you have this, the Civil rights Movement, black power movement, ethnic studies, movements. These classes,, wanting to send students to the community. then you have these centers developing. So it shows how like movements interrelate and connect the bookstore, everybody's bookstore was a part of that, providing the information. [00:18:13] Miko Lee: So it's always been, even in its very roots, it's been based in and of, and by and for the community as a way of building in political action. Is that right? [00:18:21] Harvey Dong: Yeah. exactly. We were definitely about, Building this wave of activism by going to the grassroots, you know? and that was happening, uh, in, particularly in, in, in the African American community, the Puerto Rican community,, Chicano community. All that was, was happening where you have young people, redefining their, their purpose in life. [00:18:57] Miko Lee: and their connection with their elders. Harvey Dong: Exactly. Yeah. Miko Lee: That's amazing., I have a question that has come from my colleague, which runs, Nancy Xiong that runs Hmong Innovating Politics. And actually tomorrow, our network at AACRE, we're doing an intergenerational exchange all about organizing and it's, elders speaking with young folks about how they're organizing and how they're uplifting their community. And her question is, can you talk about. organizing has evolved over time as you go through the different life transitions, like starting a family, taking care of kids, take, taking care of parents. How do you, what, what is a way to keep a healthy work life balance with your [00:19:40] Harvey Dong: activism? Well, taking care of um, uh, elders is a very tough task cuz we're, we're dealing with that now cuz Bee's dad passed. Last month, and then her mom moved into our, our house, uh, this, this month. So, so definitely it's, it's, it's something that, that has to be, uh, addressed. I, I know back then, you know, we, we, um, we did have, um, quite a few elders, uh, relate to our organization, but we, we didn't have any specific, uh, program. Uh, other than recreation, um, showing of films, uh, celebrating holidays, uh, together and, and so forth, the international hotel tenants, um, I, I know the International hotel, um, tenants collective, they, they, they actually, uh, brought in, uh, food programs, social services. Needs, you know, things that could meet, meet the daily needs of the elderly. So, so definitely it, it has to be a, uh, Dealt with on a community-wide basis so that people aren't isolated. [00:20:59] Miko Lee: But for you personally, how do you balance work and life with all of these things that are going on? You're still a professor, you're still, you know, been running the bookstore, you've been doing your activism, you've been doing so many different things. How do you, Harvey, I know in the past you used to do Tai Chi, and I'm just wondering, are there other tools that you utilize on the daily to be able to stay sane in a crazy world? [00:21:20] Harvey Dong: Well, sometimes if I, I. Extremely stressed. I would get on a bike and ride it and I would take pictures of water. [00:21:30] Miko Lee: What is it about water that's calming for you? [00:21:32] Harvey Dong: Uh, well, the, the, if, if you ever look at the bay, the water changes, you know, sometimes it's higher, sometimes it's lower, sometimes it's blue, sometimes it's gray. So it, it does, it does, uh, make you kind of, um, think about how things. Um, and it never stops. You know, it, it's always something you can learn and pick up. Tai Chi, I, too, Kung fu, especially when we started, we were getting threats and, uh, from the. Messages. And, you know, when you started the bookstore, [00:22:13] Miko Lee: you were getting threats? [00:22:13] Harvey Dong: Oh, oh, yeah, yeah. And the Asian Community Center, we, we, because we were an alternative to the, uh, conservative establishment, um, in Chinatown, uh, there were newspaper articles and, uh, from conservative newspapers that, that, uh, something should be done. And, and, and, and, and then we, we, we did, uh, uh, participate in some activities where, um, the Dolui movement, uh, back then, I, I, I remember it was attacked by, uh, hired thugs. And so it was ver very tense times too. You know, it wasn't like, um, easy going, you know? Right. There's, there's always violence, the threat of violence, and you have to figure. How to survive, uh, preserve your, your energy and also, uh, protect, uh, the community. So what did you figure out about that? Uh, well, an elder came down and sat down with us and said, uh, I'm gonna bring you guys to, to these, uh, uh, seafoods who can, uh, teach you, uh, some martial. . Um, so, so we did that and, but, but I, I would say that the, the main thing was to establish ties and con connect and connections with, uh, the youth in the community, you know, that could be used against you and, um, know your enemies, know your enemy, uh, build allyships, um, run, uh, programs that have meaning. You know, we, we. We, uh, distributed food to, um, maybe a thousand families every month. You know, uh, Lonnie Ding, the filmmaker actually, uh, found that there was this government surplus food, and she initiated that program and the Asian Community Center provided the. So every month it, the, the, the place from front to back was filled with surplus food, And in that surplus food we would have literature, uh, uh, about resources, services. Uh, a lot of the, uh, the people who received the food were workers and when they had labor disputes, they would come to us and we would provide translation. Uh, seek out legal aid and so forth. Yeah. So [00:24:46] Miko Lee: provide the community what they need. Harvey Dong: Yeah. Food, legal services, advice. Yeah. And educate them about what's going on in the exactly capitalistic system. Yeah. Um, we're hearing words of wisdom from East Wind Books Founder Harvey Dong. We're gonna take a moment and just have a little break and listen to some music. Uh, the Yellow Pearl from. Old School Movement Song Collective Charlie Chin, Chrissy Gemma, and Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto. And we'll be back in a moment after listening to Yellow Pearl. Song [00:27:02] Miko Lee: Few. All right. That was Yellow Pearl from A Grain of Sand by Old School Collective Charlie Chin, Chris Ijima, and Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto. And we are here with the folks from East Wind Bookstore and you are tuned in to Apex Express, a 94.1 K P F A, and 89.3 KPF FB in Berkeley. 88.1 KFCF in Fresno, 97.5 K2 four eight BR in Santa Cruz and online@kpfa.org. So we are here talking about East Wind Books, talking about organizing and talking about the impacts that this has on your body. And I'm gonna actually throw the mic over to Cheryl Trong to ask a question of Harvey about, that you're curious about. Go ahead. [00:27:54] Cheryl Truong: um, hi everyone. I'm Cheryl. I work at Eastman Books. I've been working here for maybe two years now. Over two years. Um, yeah, I mean, just going back to that question of navigating this work life balance, I think there's something that's not always talked about in these radical organizing is the effect it has on your life. Kind of like a sacrifice. And while Harvey is super humble and you know, is someone who does everything with all of his heart, as I know, and Bonnie's also right here next to me on my right, who also works at the bookstore and started when I did, we've seen just within these last two years, you know, the, how much it affects. How much organizing affects you and how much you sacrifice for it. Um, something Harvey doesn't talk about often is one, like financially, like back in the day when he was organizing, he didn't have a fridge. He would put a gallon of milk on his balcony every night just to keep it from spoiling and eat bread. Um, so there's a lot you do. I mean, there's a lot you gain too. You know, the community. And that spiritual, you know, aspect of fighting for the things you believe in with people that you care about. Um, but there's also, you know, you sacrifice a lot. I mean, also, you know, b the co-owner of East Wind Books, she stays up till 3:00 AM ordering books and planning our next events. You know, they both put all of their heart into everything that they do. And while it's such a beautiful sentiment, they're also. Real life aspects as well. Um, oh, I was supposed to ask a question. [00:29:37] Miko Lee: Well, Cheryl, I think you wanted to ask about how, um, you were mentioning this to me before about how both Harvey and Bee hold all of this space in their bodies, how they take care of themselves, how they work through this, because you've been doing it for a long time. So what are the elements that keep you going day? . [00:29:58] Harvey Dong: Um, well, I just wanted to address the, uh, the milk being put up on the window. So , [00:30:04] Miko Lee: critical component. . [00:30:07] Harvey Dong: Uh, yeah, actually I, I, I did get away with doing that and I thought it was convenient, except that one day I saw a rat, um, trying to get the milk. So after that, that, that stop [00:30:20] Miko Lee: So then what did you do with the milk Harvey? [00:30:20] Harvey Dong:  Um, well, shortly after that, me and. Um, got married and she did have a refrigerator, . And so, so with that marriage we, the wonders of marriage, we had a refrigerator . But, um, but definitely, I, I, I, I think it, it is not unusual for, for activists in the sixties and seventies to, to, um, do many tasks cuz there were so many things going on. Time was co. You know, you say, uh, 1968, so many things happened in one year, um, internationally, the war nationally, um, assassination of civil rights, uh, leader, uh, Martin Luther King, uh, SF State, uh, students, uh, negotiating for, uh, uh, thorough studies, um, the, the Chinatown protests against Poverty. Um, the French, uh, student rebellion, the Zarin student rebellion. So, so time is really compressed and you feel that you, you have to do the, the best you can, you know, given the, the short amount of time. I, I, I think that people felt that they, they did have to sacrifice because of the, the fact that, uh, the world could end too, you know? And so, so, so there's that time. That a lot of the activists had, uh, back then. And, um, so some of that, uh, probably does come back and kind of, uh, define what I do. I, but lately, I, I do know that, you know, as you get older, you, you can't do so many things at. Uh, much lesser. Remember ? , [00:32:16] Miko Lee: I think you have an amazing memory. You're always spitting dates out that I'm saying. How does he keep all that in his mind? ? Yeah. Um, we're gonna get, we're gonna talk about the future of East Wind Books in a moment, but I, I wanna just go and talk a moment about like, what is a memory that stood out? Like when you, when you're just talking about how you learn martial arts, um, as a way. You have, have safety and also a sense of wellness. I'm wondering, was that before or after the whole Bruce Lee Wong jog Jack Man fight schools that were in East Wind Books. And can you tell that story to our audience about what [00:32:51] Harvey Dong: happened? Well, the, the learning of martial arts was, was actually, um, even before Bruce Lee became famous, you know, because we, there was definitely a need to defend yourself safety. Yeah. For safety. Um, but years later, uh, at East w Books of Berkeley, um, there was, um, a book event we had, um, with, uh, Rick Wing who teaches at community college. I think he's a math professor, but he was also the, uh, the. assigned by Wal Jackman to carry on the legacy of his school. And Wong Jackman was the person who fought Bruce Lee. And there's many stories about who, who won that? Wong JackMan or Bruce [00:33:41] Miko Lee: Lee won one of the most famous karate battles. Yeah. Ever. [00:33:42] Harvey Dong:  And it's, it, it, it's, it is comp continually being retold with different angles and stuff like that. But, uh, Rick Wing, um, did research on it and he wrote about it. Um, I think it's online. Um, and he invited, uh, he wanted to have a book event and we had at East Wind Books and he invited all the martial arts schools in the Bay Area and. , the first thought that came to my mind is, oh, no , what's gonna happen? Yeah. What's gonna happen? Or, or, or, how big is our space? How big is our space? And, um, would this create like rivalry between different clubs over their styles? And so, so there were TaeKwonDo, uh people, karate people, kung fu. Um, how many people showed up? Uh, about 45 or 50. Mm-hmm. and some of 'em were huge , big people, Uhhuh, and they were, uh, but we just sat around and, and, and, and people were sharing stories about their martial arts club and, and their interactions with Bruce Lee and Wal Jackman and, and, and, and, and then there's one huge, uh, Puerto Rican, uh, karate guy said, man, this. uh, I feel like a, a child in a candy shop. I, I, I'm really enjoying all these stories. , . [00:35:12] Miko Lee: So it became a talk story event. Yeah. Not just like, oh, my school's better than your school, or, he won this [00:35:17] Harvey Dong: fight. Yeah, yeah. None of that. Yeah. And, and, and, uh, people really respected each other. And when the, the, the, the, the event ended, uh, , everybody went across the street to the Taiwan restaurant, which is no longer there.Oh, yeah. Yeah. And, um, for, for a meal. And, um, one person said, I don't, I don't know what I should do, uh, because I feel that we all got together here, and this is like a. Sacred place. And then he turned around and did a bow as if he was in, in, in a, uh, a studio in Dojo, dojo, , or, good. Love it. [00:35:54] Miko Lee: Love it. That is so fun. Are there other, um, memories that have stood out for you in the 41 years of experiences that have happened at East Wind Books that you think, oh [00:36:04] Harvey Dong: wow. Uh, let's see. Yang did an event, [00:36:10] Miko Lee: Jean Yang of the graphic novelist, the Eisner Award-winning graphic novelist that did American Boy in Chinese. That's actually just about to come out as a whole series, I think, on Disney with, um, almost all of the same performers from everything everywhere all at once. But anyway, that Jean Yang, yes. [00:36:31] Harvey Dong: Yeah, yeah. He, he, he tells the story about how he, he. , um, uh, affections for East Wind Books of Berkeley because when he first started out, he created this, this zine that was, uh, stapled and he came into East Wind Books. And he said, uh, would you carry this? And I said, yeah, just put it there. But, but he went, but he went to other stores and they, they wouldn't take it cuz they thought he was this young kid. Yeah. Uh, trying to promote something that wouldn't grow or develop. Do they sell? Uh, yeah. Yeah. They sell. Do [00:37:06] Miko Lee: you have one? Um, that would be such [00:37:08] Harvey Dong: a collector's item. I think we, we, we, we sold out. Oh. But, but he always remembers that. So whenever we have an event, you know, he. ask him to do an event. He's willing to. Yeah. I love [00:37:20] Miko Lee: that. Yeah. That is so amazing. Um, okay, now tell me about what made U N B decide to close East Wind Books? Uh, [00:37:29] Harvey Dong: well, it, there's the issue of gentrification, the rent, so there's the economic part there. Uh, age is, is another part. And, um, family responsi. . Um, so we had to kind of weigh that, you know, um, I, I think one time, um, the last time we were thinking of closing it, I, at, at, at a book event. I, um, I think it was, um, uh, black Against the Empire, um, is, uh, Waldo Martin, um, um, worked on a. About the Black Panthers. Mm-hmm. and, uh, Bobby Seal was there and we, we talked about, uh, the importance of the book and the importance of the bookstore. Uhhuh . And I think I said, oh yeah, we'll, we'll be here forever. [00:38:29] Miko Lee: Alas . [00:38:30] Harvey Dong: And so after making that statement, we, we did commit for another five years on. You, [00:38:38] Miko Lee: you boxed yourself in there, , but I'm, I'm wondering you what your take is. Okay. We're gonna get back to that one second, but I'm wondering what your take is on ethnic bookstores like Marcus Garvey books and East Wind Books. It's really there. Yeah. There's, it's a, it's a hard thing to keep going these [00:38:54] Harvey Dong: days. Uh, yeah, yeah, definitely, uh, difficult, uh, largely having to do with rent and, uh, gentrification and, and we have a, um, a huge. you're in, um, net, net, net, uh, bill mm-hmm. , which means that we, we pay something like 4% of the bill for the entire building, including water, to insurance, to property tax, to Right. Uh, repairs, which is not feasible. Yeah. So it, it definitely, uh, every year it's, it's, um, increasing. Um, and then the, uh, overhead we have to deal with, uh, The payroll tax, which is important, but um, is, it's a big pill. And, and also the, um, um, sales tax. Yeah. That always comes up. [00:39:48] Miko Lee: So modern living, modern living as, uh, then the burdens of trying to just keep things going are just too much. [00:39:56] Banoo Afkhami: Yeah. But to go back to your question, Miko, um, about like, you know, the role of ethnic bookstores, uh, well, I, I can't speak for like Harvey, but I can speak on, you know, as a staff person who has seen and helped many customers through the store and also as a person, like who enjoys shopping at Eastwood and spends a portion of their paycheck back at the bookstore just buying books again. Love it. Um, , it's ethnic bookstores are really hard to come by and, you know, as Harvey like really highlighted like there's a lot of costs that just make it really hard to exist as a small bookstore without all the additional like, challenges you face. Just, you know, of like carrying a very niche selective books that you know though very important, not a lot of people are gonna. Really want to go for it, you know, because Right. It goes against, um, pop culture. It goes against like, you know, the common media stream, you know, which is centrist, if not conservative. [00:40:50] Miko Lee: Or even just taking some young person's little zine that they stapled together. and putting it on the shelf. [00:40:56] Banoo Afkhami: Yeah. You know, and supporting like local artists and everything. Yeah. Like it's, they're super important, you know. Though, you know, though we are small, um, you know, there are so many people that come into the store and are just like, wow. You know, like, I've never seen it all in one place. Right. You know, I, I like, I'm, you know, like seen [00:41:13] Miko Lee: what in [00:41:13] Banoo Afkhami: All plate, one place seen. So, you know, we feature Asian American books, but also just radical, radical books at all times. And by authors? Yes, by bipo authors. And you know, like for example, I remember, especially with like, you know, our Filipino-American population here in the Bay Area, there's not a lot of representation in media of like Asian-Americans in general, but especially anything outside of like, you know, Chinese American, Japanese-American, Korean American, like the rest of us go kind of forgotten, you know? Right. Um, and so like, you know, especially like seeing this happen with like a lot of more like, you know, niche communities, you know, like. just a few days ago, you know, there's a Phil Filipino American, uh, person, and they came into the store and they're like, do you have any stuff on, like, anythings on like Filipino, you know, diaspora, Filipino American stuff. I'm like, yeah, actually we have a whole shelf on it. You know, I added them over. There's exception on that . And like, they were so heart warmed and overwhelmed by that, and it's like, oh my God, I ha I never saw them in all in one place. You know? Like you might find like in, you know, an Alan Robles book, you know, here, or you know, you could find like this other book there, you know, but you don't. all together. Right. And when you see an entire shelf full, it's kind of magical. Um, and I remember that person, like I ended up bringing them a stool just cuz they wanted to like, flip through all the books and like decide which ones they wanted to go through, you know? And, and they ended up buying a bunch of them, you know, and it's just, it's moments like that, you know, where you remember, wow, like, this is a really important thing to have. Um, and it's really difficult to keep open, you know, because, , there's, you know, these communities are intentionally like left out of mainstream media. Right. You know, like there's, it's a constant fight to get more representation and when you're already underrepresented, you know, and like the most that maybe a common person might want to get. In the store. I don't, I shouldn't say common, but like, you know, a person who only watches mainstream media. Like they, they might come in and be like, Hey, do you have the new chan? You know, like the Chani comic book or like, do you have like, you know, like, you know, crying in Amart, although that one's really good, you know? Or like That's a good book, . Yeah. But it's like, you know, they only, what's the bestseller ones? Yeah, what's the bestseller? You know, do, right. Do you have like, , you know what, what was the other one? Bullet train. You know, that one sold. Like things like that. Right, [00:43:31] Miko Lee: right. Well, um, I love hearing that about how there will be East Wind is continuing in some way and I wonder if, um, both Bonu and Cheryl, can you talk about what is the future of East Wind Books, the brick and mortar Store we know is closing in April. Right. And, and we're inviting folks to come to the bookstore. Yeah. There's a what, tell us what's happening at the bookstore before it closes first and then where, where we are going in the future. [00:44:00] Cheryl Truong: So right when you said, asked us to start talking about the future, Harvey gave me this really funny look. [00:44:06] Miko Lee: I noticed that. What's that about? Please tell us. [00:44:08] Cheryl Truong: I mean, he's curious too, you know, because this is something really only our generation can answer. Um, so, okay. So as for now, I mean, Eastland Books is still gonna be here in the Bay Area. We're still gonna be doing our community events. We're gonna be online distributing books on a even wider reach. Now, you know, we can ship. Globally, uh, instead of just having in-store pickup, things like that. Um, [00:44:37] Banoo Afkhami: our website is asia book center.com [00:44:39] Miko Lee: and we're talking about doing some kind of apex collaboration Yes. So that we can celebrate a p i books on air as well. But what's happening if somebody walks into the bookstore right now on University Avenue, what do they see? What's happening right now? [00:44:54] Cheryl Truong: You're gonna see a whole bunch of. On for sale for $5. Wow. And we're talking actually like really amazing, incredible books. Um, so we're trying to clear our shelves. Lots of really great books are on sale for 30% off. Um, you're gonna see Harvey in the back office drinking a can of Diet Coke, even though I tell him not to. You'll probably see me or Bonoo at the front counter and we're. . Also happy that it lasted for as long as it did and will end [00:45:31] Miko Lee: strong. And then there's community events that are still ongoing. I know that you have one coming up. Yes. The Oakland Cultural Center. Asian Cultural Center. Can you tell us about that one? [00:45:40] Cheryl Truong: I'm so excited for this one. So Chiwan just re released a book called, have you Eaten yet? Recipes from Chinese American Family or something like that. Um, and then he's going to be in conversation. Amazing. Chef Martin Jann from YN Can Cook, and I think a little birdie told me that, uh, Jann is going to be doing a surprise cooking demonstration at the O A C C too, which is something I think they've never done before. So yeah, we're excited. [00:46:11] Miko Lee:  So how do people find out about coming to that event? [00:46:14] Cheryl Truong: Well, you can go on our Instagram. , uh, at Eastwood books or follow the Oakland Asian Cultural Center at Oakland Cultural Center on Instagram. Or you can go on occ.cc/events and you'll see a whole bunch of their events there too. [00:46:31] Banoo Afkhami: And you can also check out our website and send up to our newsletter, uh, which is also on our website. Um, like I said, it's asia book center.com. Uh, we post all of our events on there as well as links to purchase the books of the events. [00:46:46] Miko Lee: Um, so while the brick and mortar store is closing, you will still continue.I know East Wind Books is also a nonprofit, so the nonprofit arm is the aspect that's continuing. Is that right? Mm-hmm. . So the community center part, the community, maybe it's a virtual community or a community center at different locations will continue to exist? Yes, [00:47:09] Harvey Dong: correct. And then the, the other, um, activity that'll continue is, um, uh, the publishing of, um, books. [00:47:19] Miko Lee: Oh, great. Tell us about that. [00:47:20] Harvey Dong:  Uh, well, professor Carlos Munoz, who's active in the Chicano movement. is, um, writing a book about his, uh, life story, uh, his autobiography, and it it'll be published by East Wind Books of Berkeley. And the book covers his life from being involved in the, uh, LA student, uh, uh, blowouts. It was a huge walkout in, um, around 1968 and, um, his, uh, teaching of ethnic studies and Chicano studies. at uc, Berkeley and his activism in the Chi Chicano movement. Um, another uh, book that we recently released is titled The Power of Our Stories Won't Stop. And Who's that by? Uh, that's published by, um, uh, Helene Helen Lee. that book, uh, uh, is an anthology of. peoples of color, uh, who write about their early activism and sharing their stories, uh, to the younger generation. Oh, [00:48:37] Miko Lee: love that. That would be, that's very appropriate to our conversation today. Maybe we could do a book club on that. That sounds fun. Um, how many books has East Wind published? [00:48:48] Harvey Dong: We put 'em out on the table that day and there must be about six or seven. [00:48:52] Miko Lee: There's more than that. There's [00:48:53] Banoo Afkhami: more than that. Harvey. Those was just the ones we had on hand, Harvey. Yeah. And also like I, I was limited on table space there. Okay. You know , [00:49:01] Miko Lee: you'll see East Wind at a series of different community events that are happening. Um, I saw you backstage at Cambodian Rock Band. We. So good. Yeah, so different events. You'll see East Wind books and we always encourage folks to support local bookstores, not the big bad monsters. In [00:49:18] Cheryl Truong: addition, uh, there's a East Wind documentary in the works being worked on by Banu, uh, our good, good French Shine Lee and um, myself. [00:49:30] Miko Lee: Oh, great. What's the timeline for that, Cheryl? Tell us about the document. , we're [00:49:35] Banoo Afkhami: gonna hopefully have a teaser done by sometime in April. Um, you know, to commemorate the closing of the store. And I don't know, as of right now, I mean, there's no complete set timeline. We're just kind of, we want to capture these stories and the stories of, you know, Harvey and b and, you know, everyone involved in the movement. Um, So we actually agreed, you know, a couple weeks ago in a, in, in a Zoom meeting, sometime ridiculously late into the middle of the night , um, that, you know, we wouldn't set a 100% firm timeline for the super final product, but we will be releasing a teaser sometime in April. Um, just because we wanna make sure that we're doing justice to their stories and we don't want. Rush that process. Um, especially, you know, once we, you know, feel, like, feel out what, like the final through lines of the story are gonna be, um, and just to make sure that we do it just as, because it's such an important part of the community, it's such an important part of the Asian American movement. Um, and it can serve as a really beautiful metaphor for, you know, passing the torch and also just. Um, what it means to be an activist. So we don't want to rush that process. But, um, we're [00:50:53] Cheryl Truong: also definitely approaching it kind of with a whole bunch of seeds of curiosity. I think our hypothesis is kind of us asking how do we navigate, uh, post East One society? Not that, you know, east wind's forever gone, but just how do we move on after being impacted? Influentially by such a wonderful [00:51:16] Miko Lee: place. I love that. Thank you for sharing. Can each of you, Cheryl and Bonous, share what, who you come from, who are your people, and what is the legacy you carry with you, especially as you go into this next envisioning of what East Wind becomes? I [00:51:33] Cheryl Truong: love this question so much, right? When you asked it, Bonu, Bonu basically gave me a mental fist bump. Um, we love talking about this, so I. . I was born and raised in Long Beach, California, right? Harvey? Harvey loves Long Beach, um, . So I was born and raised in Long Beach. I come from a family of three or four siblings, or no, three other siblings, four people in total. Um, both of my parents are refugees from Vietnam. My mom left Vietnam when she was young to China, and then eventually, Had to leave China and walk or and go to Cambodia. And from Cambodia, she walked all the way to Vietnam again. Um, my dad was part of the second wave of Vietnamese boat people. He was on sea for, you know, five, five days, four nights I think, before he eventually landed in a refugee camp in Malaysia. Um, so I think our connect. I feel really similarly with Harvey, our connection to water. You know, we can trace our bloodlines through waterlines basically. Um, and yeah, we're, yeah, that's my family I guess. I have other family in Orange County as well in the little Saigon area, and my sister and I are up here in the East Bay. Love it. [00:52:52] Miko Lee: Thank you. And finally, I'd love to hear. [00:52:55] Banoo Afkhami: Yeah, so, um, my mother's actually Mexican American. My dad is Iranian. Um, he immigrated after the revolution. Um, as an artist. He was a photographer and at the time he was studying and working to be a director in cinema. Um, but then the revolution happened and there were a lot of restrictions on art, um, and self-expression. So he had a really complicated immigration story. Um, That I'm probably not gonna own to right now, but he, uh, after a lot of trial and error and years of trying, he made his way over to America. Um, and he opened a Photoshop, um, in San Leandro near the Bayfair Mall. Um, and my mom, uh, so she was Mexican American. Uh, she grew up in la um, To at the HNO family. So we're at the Hans, uh, generationally speaking. So like the border crossed us, we did not cross the border. . Yeah. Uh, we were Mexicans native to Texas. Um, and then Texas became a part of the US after my people were already there. Um, but yeah, so my grandparents left Texas because Jim Crow there was really, really awful. And, um, they moved to LA and my mom grew up in LA and. . Um, then she moved up to north, uh, northern California and she was into photography as a hobby. And so that's how my parents met. Um, my mom was his customer and so that meant for growing up in a really interesting upbringing. Um, just in the sense of it was weird, but in a lot of ways, being Iranian taught me how to be Chicano and being Chicano taught me how to be proud of being Iranian and Asian American. Cuz as far as diaspora goes, like. Um, like as Chicanos, we've been here and dealing with this type of racism for like a lot longer than the Iranian community has, where as a lot of us only immigrated in the eighties. So it really helped having, you know, people who like for generations understood what racism was to a community that was. So that's where it's like, you know, like I'm, you know, second gen in this, you know, where it's like my dad immigrated, you know, hoping to live the American dream and, you know, Now I'm the one that has to deal with like growing up Iranian American in a society that, you know, hardly wants to recognize that you exist. So in that sense, to go back to your original question of like, what does that do for, you know, east Wind or whatever, I mean, or whatever, , . Well, I don't know. I think in terms of our generation when it comes to community work, I don't feel like I can take claim. our movement. I think our movement is made up of everyone. You know, I don't think it can just be one person or, um, what I do see in terms of differences between our generation and older generations is some of the ways that we organize. Um, and also like, I don't know, we have to kind of evolve that and evolve how we trust each other. Cuz I remember Harvey, you know, would talk about how back in the day, they just had to trust in each other to show up and for us, I don't know, we have to be more creative with it. Um, [00:56:09] Miko Lee: thank you so much for sharing so much information about Legacy and about the future of East Wind Books and how we have to work together to be able to make it all happen. this is so critical for our movement, for our movement building. Webid a fond farewell to the brick and mortar store of East Wind Books. We encourage people to come there. Door closes,  in April and encourage people to get involved in all the different events that are happening. Um, that will continue to happen both online and at different locales. So find out more information at the East Wind website. You can also check out more information about. Amazing community events that are happening. There's a Women of Color Leadership conference tomorrow in San Francisco. There's the People Get Ready Political Conference at uc, Berkeley on Saturday. Cambodian Rock Bands still playing at Berkeley Wrap and Muni raised me is at San Francisco. Check those out. Um, and please check out our website, k pfa.org to find out more about these events and about East Wind Books. And we thank all of you out. Listeners, keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions for the world. Because your voices are important. Apex Express is a proud member of Acre Asian Americans for civil rights inequality, a network of progressive AAP I groups. Find out more@acre.org. Apex Express is produced by Paige Chung Swati. Raam Anju Pret Man, Shak Jalina Keenly, and me Miko Lee, thank you so much to our engineer, Jose Gonzalez, for making this show happen. Woo, and to all have a great night. The post APEX Express 3.23.23 The Legacy of Eastwind Books appeared first on KPFA.

Alex Abalos is a San Francisco OG. Find out more about his history in the Bay Area experimental music scene and how he's designed a new immersive composition around the “punk rock” spirit of Audium. Alex will also drop some knowledge about the inspiration for his work, The Fall of the I Hotel, a documentary that chronicles an activist movement around the demise of a Filipino housing project in the 1980's. Find more of Alex here. Audium Listens II is here! Meet Audium's three 2022-23 artists-in-residence, learn about their work and discover their process designing a fully immersive work at Audium. Hosted by Carlino Cuono.

This story, as Caroline Cabading so elegantly frames it, is about the longevity of struggle. Part 2 picks up with Caroline sharing the story of her grandfather moving her family out of Manilatown and into the Fillmore, where she grew up two generations later. To her, the neighborhood was family. This was post-"urban renewal," but she still found plenty of folks with makeshift music studios in places like garages. She credits the neighborhood with her own lifetime in music. Then we do a deep dive into the history of the International Hotel. It was an SRO (single-room occupancy) hotel on Kearny at Jackson that was part of a de facto network of such spots running from wine country to the Central Valley. Seasonal, migrant workers (mostly immigrants) stayed in these SROs throughout the year. And at the I-Hotel, many FIlipinos eventually settled and made it their permanent home. But as so often happens, especially around here, greedy developers wanted to raze the building to make way for ... a parking lot. After years of organizing and fighting the effort to displace them, scores of people were evicted in the middle of the night on August 4, 1977. The group that tenants had formed to fight eviction stayed tight, gathering every August at Kearny and Jackson to commemorate. Nearly 20 years later, as an opportunity to rebuild on the site became more and more realistic, the group morphed into the Manilatown Heritage Foundation. In 2005, the new building opened. Today, on the ground floor, there's a living museum dedicated to Manilatown and I-Hotel history. Above that is housing for low-income seniors. And this is where that longevity Caroline emphasizes comes into play. We end the podcast with Caroline's telling us what all goes on in the space at 868 Kearny. In addition to the museum, she says that it's a space to learn Filipino art, music, and culture. The foundation invites the public to visit and share in the rich history that is Manilatown, San Francisco. Photography by Michelle Kilfeather Sound design by Kayla Anchell

Nearly 100 years ago, the stretch of Kearny Street from Jackson south all the way down to Market was filled with Filipino shops, restaurants, and SRO hotels. Perhaps most notably, the International Hotel (I-Hotel) was located at the intersection of Kearny and Jackson. Today, that space is occupied by a residence for older folks, some of whom have connections to the last of the mostly immigrant population who were evicted in the middle of the night from their homes at the I-Hotel in 1977. It's also home to the Manilatown Heritage Foundation. In Part 1 of our podcast, our guest, foundation Executive Director Caroline Julia Cabading, guides us through her own fourth-generation Filipina history in San Francisco. Caroline lays out the history of U.S. imperialism and capitalism that sought cheap Asian labor and therefore brought Filipinos, mostly men, to this country for migrant work in Northern California. As they aged, those young men later settled in the I-Hotel, forming a community and chosen families until they were unjustly thrust from their homes by a real estate developer (sound familiar?). Check back next week for Part 2 and more of our chat with Caroline Cabading. We recorded this episode at the Manilatown Heritage Foundation in February 2023. Photography by Michelle Kilfeather Sound design by Kayla Anchell

The 2022 Winter Olympics comes to a close, Illinois men's and women's basketball games have opposite outcomes, the mayor of Champaign denounces an occurrence at a city council meeting, a shooting takes place in Champaign, and the I Hotel hosts a summit. Hosted by Laszlo Richard Toth. Stories by Tori Gellman, Jackson Janes, Jane Knight, Josie Alameda, and Laszlo Richard Toth.  Music by Boxout.

Pete, Chris, and Joey throw down another episode, but this time with Brian Ward in studio, the man behind the Dark History & Horror Con.  Brian talks about the various vendors and celebrities who will be there on 10/23/21 at the I Hotel in Champaign, Illinois for this annual event.  Plus, his motivation for doing the event and how it's evolved over the years.CK calls in to talk about Fear Factory plus other heavy metal news, a new Killer Cage Match, a funny mayhem story from Joey, karaoke destruction and much more.Music by Fear Factory, Exeloume, and Possessed.Brought to you by Pete Altieri (author).66fuckin6 music by Onslaught.Get your ticket to the Dark History & Horror Con here.Order Pete's new book, Creation of Chaos III now!  Download his audiobook on Audible here.Follow Joey's Goremonger page for updates on his music and his distro, FTA Records.Go to Murder Metal Mayhem to listen to our show!Order one of the new MMM shirts with the zombie design from Jeff Gaither!Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter, and Subscribe to our YouTube channel.Join the 666 Club and become a Patreon supporter of the show.  Only $3 a month for bonus content, VIP access, discounts on merch and more!Check out Pete's other podcast on horror, Voice Of Dread.Karaoke by I Kill Karaoke

It's our favorite time of year and just in time for this year's Dark History Con! This will be the sixth Brian has hosted and put together. This year it will be held at the I Hotel & Conference Center in Champaign IL. October 23rd will be a day filled with films, vendors, and many inspiring guests. This is a very busy time for Brian and this week he will give you a sneak peak into the convention as well as some dark history to hold you over until he returns! Dark History and Horror Con: https://www.facebook.com/DarkHistoryCon

Documentaries are essential for our community.  There are certainly a number of good films that document the Filipino and Filipino American experience – Delano Manongs, The Fall of the I-Hotel, Imelda, The Learning, Bontoc Eulogy, to name a few.  These films are so important in spreading awareness of our people’s history and culture and keeping...

Joy Ng is a born-and-raised San Franciscan. In this episode, Joy talks about her childhood, in Chinatown, North Beach, and a couple other neighborhoods. She ends with her time at SF State, where she changed her major and got involved in community organizing. A large influence in that shift was Curtis Choy's documentary, The Fall of the I-Hotel. FoundSF has more info on the story of the International Hotel eviction and demolition. Join us again Thursday, when Joy will talk about her work as a hip-hop blogger. Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather  

For our fellow Asian Americans out there, how much do you know about events that impacted us and generations before us in this country? Have you heard about Tape v. Hurley? The I-Hotel? LA Riots? Vincent Chin? Here is our personal exploration and deep dive into Asian American events and how learning them have and could have informed our identities as we grew up in America as one of the fastest growing racial groups in the country.Don't forget to follow us on IG @bambooandglass!Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/bambooandglass)

  Today our podcast connects with Karen Tei Yamashita, author of novels such as Tropic of Orange, I Hotel, and Through the Arc of the Rain Forest (Coffee House Press), and Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Producer: Jon-Barrett Ingels and Kevin Staniec Manager: Sarah Becker Host: Jon-Barrett Ingels Guest: Karen Tei Yamashita

Exclusion, discrimination, internment, racist violence – Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have gone through a lot in the U.S. Karen Ishizuka has written about the people and groups that pushed the concerns and struggles of Asian Americans to the fore. Among other things, she talks about the shift from “Oriental” to “Asian American”; efforts to build coalitions between APIs and other people of color; and the iconic struggle to save the I-Hotel. Karen Ishizuka, Serve the People: Making Asian America in the Long Sixties Verso, 2016 The post Asserting Asian America appeared first on KPFA.

Tony Robles at the 40th anniversary of the I-Hotel eviction Tonight, we reflect back on lessons from the Fall of the International Hotel and organizing against gentrification and displacement today. First we hear from Tony Robles, writer, activist, and president of the board of directors of the Manilatown Heritage Foundation. This segment was produced by Ikino Kubo and Sarah Lee. We also hear from Angelica Cabande who continues the fight for working people in South of Market where many of the Filipino I-Hotel residents moved to And we talk with Raquel Redondiez, project manager of the new SOMA Pilipinas Cultural District. And Gina Rosales will talk about the new night market launching this month in the neighborhood. SOMCAN worked with Trinity Plaza Tenants Association to preserve 366 units of rent controlled housing. Tonight we have a guest host, co-owner of Arkipelago Books, former KPFA apprentice, and music superstar, Golda Supanova! And we have a special call to action by Yuri Kochiyama Fellow Danny Thongsy. Community Calendar Friday at 8:30 a.m. people will pack the court to show support for Ny Nourn. Granny Cart Gangstas show opened tonight and runs Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at Bindlestiff Studio with a matinee at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The 24th Annual Pistahan Parade and Festival is this weekend at Yerba Buena Gardens. New Filipino Cinema 2017, a showcase of independent films from the Philippines opens on August 17 at YBCA. The Undiscovered Creative Night Market launches on August 18! The post APEX Express – After the I-Hotel appeared first on KPFA.

Come by  the I-Hotel/Manilatown Center, 868 Kearney St. SF,CA Friday, Aug. 4 to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the eviction. Emil will moderate a panel and Curtis Choy will screen his film. 6pm - 9pm. PDT   See more at http://www.aaldef.org/blog See more about Curtis Choy, director of "The Fall of the I-Hotel." http://www.chonkmoonhunter.com/Asian-American-History.html   Emil Bio:   Emil Guillermo wrote for almost 15 years his "Amok" column for AsianWeek, which was the largest English language Asian American newsweekly in the nation. "Amok" was considered the most widely-read column on Asian American issues in the U.S. His thoughtful and provocative social commentaries have appeared in print in the San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate.com, San Francisco Examiner, USA Today, Honolulu Star Bulletin, Honolulu Advertiser, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and in syndication throughout the country.  His early columns are compiled in a book "Amok: Essays from an Asian American Perspective," which won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation in 2000. Guillermo's journalistic career began in television and radio broadcasting. At National Public Radio, he was the first Asian American male to anchor a regularly scheduled national news broadcast when he hosted "All Things Considered" from 1989-1991. During his watch, major news broke, including the violence in Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of dictatorships in Romania and Panama. From Washington, Guillermo hosted the shows that broke the news.  As a television journalist, his award-winning reports and commentaries have appeared on NBC, CNN, and PBS. He was a reporter in San Francisco, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. After NPR, Guillermo became a press secretary and speechwriter for then Congressman Norman Mineta, the former cabinet member in the Bush and Clinton Administrations.  After his Hill experience, Guillermo returned to the media, hosting his own talk show in Washington, D.C. on WRC Radio. He returned to California where he hosted talk shows in San Francisco at KSFO/KGO, and in Sacramento at KSTE/KFBK. Guillermo's columns in the ethnic press inspired a roundtable discussion program that he created, hosted, executive produced, resulting in more than 100 original half-hour programs. "NCM-TV: New California Media" was seen on PBS stations in San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles, and throughout the state on cable. Guillermo also spent time as a newspaper reporter covering the poor and the minority communities of California's Central Valley. His writing and reporting on California's sterilization program on the poor and minorities won him statewide and national journalism awards. In 2015, Guillermo received the prestigious Dr. Suzanne Ahn Award for Civil Rights and Social Justice from the Asian American Journalists Association. The award, named after the late Korean American physician from Texas, recognizes excellence in the coverage of civil rights and social justice issues in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Guillermo, a native San Franciscan, went to Lowell High School, and graduated from Harvard College, where he was an Ivy Orator and class humorist. Find out what he's up to at www.amok.com.  

Joshua Fisher Lee and Lubab Alkhayyat from AYPAL Tonight on APEX Express: Renee Geesler talks with members of AYPAL, Building API Community Power, join us to talk about their anti-displacement organizing work in Oakland; Cristal Fiel talks with Oliver Saria about Legions of Boom, a book by Oliver Wang on the Filipino American mobile DJ scene, and Bindlestiff Studio‘s  API Heritage Month events inspired by the book; And, we head to the dump — yes, the dump, to talk with visual artist Weston Teruya about his latest residency where he's exploring displacement and gentrification in San Francisco. Community Calendar Weston Teruya at his residency at Recology. Photo by Micah Gibson For a quick recap of what we featured on tonight's show: Legions of Boom, the discussion on Filipino American mobile DJs and the immersive theater experience is on Friday, May 13 for the panel discussion, and Saturday, May 14 for the immersive theater experience at 8 p.m. both nights at Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco.  AYPAL's May Arts Festival is on Saturday, May 14 from 11 to 4 at San Antonio Park in Oakland.  and the Recology exhibition dates are Friday, May 20 from 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday the 21st from 1 to 3, and Tuesday, May 24 from 5 to 7 p.m. at 401 Tunnel Avenue in San Francisco. You may remember that on April 6, APEX covered a story about a Bay Area production of the Mikado where it was feared performers would be in Yellow Face. That controversy led to an important community discussion on equitable representation in the arts. It takes place on Monday May 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Arts activist Marc Bamuthi Joseph will be moderating a conversation on this topic with the members of the Ferocious Lotus Theater. May 10th is Asian American Mental Health Day. Asian & Pacific Islanders make up one of the fastest growing ethnic communities in the United States, yet they have the lowest rates of utilization of mental health services among ethnic populations. To destigmatize mental health issues, Kearny Street Workshop has teamed up with the Richmond Area Multi-Services Inc. to present “Frames of Mind,” a seven-week photography workshop. An exhibition of their work focused on mental health led by documentarian R.J. Lozada that will be on display at the I-Hotel in Manilatown on May 10 to May 12. As part of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance's #RedefineSecurity week of action, a broad coalition of API community organizations are coming together to discuss what safety looks like for queer and trans API folks, particularly in the context of incarceration, immigration and racial profiling. This conversation will take place at Excelsior Works on May 15 from 3:30 to 5:30 with our friends at AACRE: API Equality of Northern California, the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, Asian Prisoners Support Committee, and ASPIRE  And closing out May, spoken word artist and author Jason Bayani will be performing pieces drawing on stories from the fourth wave of Pilipino immigrants at Bindlestiff Studios on May 27 and 28. The post APEX Express – May 5, 2016 appeared first on KPFA.

Dave has a great chat with Holly Haberkorn and Kristi Kern of Vivid Studios Inc.  Weddings, senior pics, and baby photo packages are discussed for starters.  The ladies stress how Vivid photo shoots are FUN and UNIQUE, no two are ever the same. The senior spokesmodel program is discussed, involving several area high schools.  Vivid also is active with promotional shoots for business, and Kristi outlines two such programs with Lincoln College and the I Hotel in Champaign.  Holly gives a favorite shoot she's worked, and tells how best to contact Vivid to arrange a photo shoot of your own.  Find them on the web at www.vsi.co

The Apex Express crew was saddened to hear of Yuri Kochiyama's passing this weekend. Yuri Kochiyma. That name is a bell toll for this disparate group of radio journalists and organizers. Her die-hard radicalism, as much as her die-hard compassion and warmth, drove many of us into the movement and kept us there. Not only has she inspired us, but in a generous act of giving, APEXer Karl Jagbandhansingh has been her caretaker for many years. So it is with a heavy heart that we produce this week's show. While the mainstream press's lackluster coverage recognize Yuri's association with Malcolm X as her claim to fame and note her participation (with her husband Bill) in the movement for redress and reparations for Japanese Americans, we know Yuri politics were much more broad than that. Over the next two weeks, in remembrance and celebration of Yuri Kochiyama, APEX Express will feature rare recordings including: *An interview with Yuri about the 1977 take over of the Statue of Liberty to demand the release of Puerto Rican political prisonersher speech to Laney's API Heritage Celebration in 2002. *Tape from Yuri's surprise 80th birthday including interviews with I-Hotel tenants Bill Sorro and Emil Deguzman, Betita Martinez, and many, many more. *Yuri talking about APA-African American solidarity. *An interview with Professor Diane Fujino who published Heartbeat of Struggle.   And this week, we invite our listeners to call in with your memories of Yuri. This Thursday, 7-8 p.m. call 1-800-958-9008. Join us as we bring the community together to share in our collective celebration of a full and powerful life. With Hosts Roseli and No-No Girl. The post APEX Express – June 5, 2014 appeared first on KPFA.

  With the Summer comes the fruits of our labor (literally) – harvest time is approaching and everyone's gardens are poppin' with the fortune of food. At the same time, Summer sets a beautiful stage for sharing and celebrating community. This week's APEX celebrates two incredible stories of Chinese communities organizing and building legacies of defending land and life. The powerful documentary Waking the Green Tiger.  With special coverage of China's grassroots environmental movement, it tells the compelling stories of environmental struggles across the country, including how villagers organized and rose up to fight the development of dams along the Yangtze River.  Plus, an exclusive interview with producer/filmmaker Gary Marcuse. Happy 40th Anniversary Chinese Progressive Association!  I had the honor of sitting down with long-time activist and CPA co-founder Pam Tau Lee, to hear about CPA's deep history of organizing the Chinese community in San Francisco over the past 4 decades – including stories of the I-Hotel struggle. With Host Ellen Choy. The post APEX Express – August 2, 2012 appeared first on KPFA.

Get ready for laughter and remembrance on tonight's APEX Express. Live, in studio we're featuring comedians Susan Alexander, Kat Evasco, Lilibeth Helson and Priya Prasad from the Five Funny Females Festival this weekend at the legendary Purple Onion in San Francisco. We also visit the August 4th Eviction Commemoration of the I-Hotel, and the unveiling of the I-Hotel Mural by Johanna Poething, honoring the decades-long struggle for low income housing and the manongs who helped lead the way in 1977. And we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Angel Island Immigration Station, one of the most important immigration sites in US history, featuring a reading from Judy Yung and Erika Lee's new book, Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America. Hosted by Eloise Lee and RJ Lozada.  Tune in! The post APEX Express – August 5, 2010 appeared first on KPFA.

A look at the US/Korea Free Trade Agreement, or Korus, which was signed by representatives of Korea and the US on June 30. We look at the implications of Korus, which is the largest Free Trade Bill since NAFTA back in 1994. Also, we explore the impact that militarization has had on the island of Guam, and the Chamoru people, who are indigenous to the island. As the US ramps up to import 8,000 marines to the island, what will the repercussions be for the people? Also, a look at Amerasian Identity in the United States. And finally a tribute to Bill Sorro on the 30th anniversary of the I Hotel. With hosts: Rainjita G and Wayie. The post APEX Express – July 26, 2007 appeared first on KPFA.