Sharkbites Newsletter

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JULY 5, 2022


Hello, everyone!

It has taken 76 years for the U.S. government to recognize 11 Filipino WWII veterans who served when the Philippines was a U.S. colony.
None of them lived to receive their Congressional Gold Medals, but their families attended the ceremony in their stead.

Today, fewer than 10,000 Filipinos from the Greatest Generation are still alive. Many advocates continue to hope that the government will honor their promise to recognize these veterans for their service as official U.S. citizens.

Oscar Bangui, the president of the World War 2 Filipino American Veterans Hawaii chapter, continues to fight to preserve their history. For Bangui, the U.S. government’s actions come too late. 

“All our companions are dead already. And I am the only one who is standing now."

A Filipino WWII veteran stands next to two family members to take a picture at a recent ceremony.

Image: Hawaii News Now

Race in America 🌎

In Orange County, California, unhoused Vietnamese Americans on the streets of Little Saigon are struggling with mental health, drug use and shame from their culture.

These immigrants, many from the Vietnam War, previously held jobs but their struggles led to their isolation and subsequent cultural shame. Often, unhoused immigrants fear asking the government for assistance and are too ashamed to ask for help. Their conditions only worsen with the crushing weight of self-deprecation and sorrow.

Little Saigon lies in the city of Westminster, which according to Councilmember Kimberly Ho, cannot afford to provide funding or other welfare services to its homeless population. While the local government continues to partner with other cities to build facilities, the Vietnamese community’s cultural expectations and work ethic sentiments against handouts and enabling laziness further divides the community.

Tran, a homeless individual who sits outside a local fruit shop, said that he “thought, for sure, refugees know what it’s like to be stranded. Yet many of them look past us.”




In Other Asian News 🗞


The Japanese government is launching a research group to address how many of the country’s women are severely underweight.

In Japan, one in five women are underweight. While cultural beauty standards are the primary motivator, the researchers also aim to understand why and how this is happening. Being underweight presents multiple health risks, including complications for any potential pregnancies. The health ministry plans to use this data to spread awareness and education about proper eating and a healthy weight balance. 



In Oregon, five Vietnamese Americans are running for the state legislature. Although none of them knew each other before they ran for office, after seeing each other’s campaigns, they created a professional network for encouragement and solidarity.

Should each candidate win their elections, the Oregon state legislature would have the largest Vietnamese American representation of any state legislature in the nation. All five candidates are children of refugees and come from diverse careers and backgrounds, including dentistry, food, optometry and more.


All candidates have their own ideological stance, spanning a large spectrum of left-leaning politics. However, all of them know the struggle of the Asian American family, from working odd jobs with their parents and taking long shifts at the family convenience store to inaccessible healthcare, cancer diagnoses and military service. 



Art and Dance 📷

San Francisco artist and photographer Irene Poon will be on displaying her work during the month of July at San Francisco State University’s Fine Arts Gallery.

The gallery is a presentation of Poon’s images taken from 1962 to 2015. Her mostly black and white photos document the everyday of crucial cultural enclaves like Chinatown from the ‘60s to ’70s, among others. 

Poon was born in S.F.’s Chinatown to immigrants from Guangzhou in 1941 and has stayed in her hometown since. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in 1964 and Master of Arts in 1967 from what was then San Francisco State College. At 81, she and her partner still live in S.F. today.



Choreographer H.T. Chen died on June 12 in Manhattan. He was 74.

Chen was known for establishing the Chen Dance Center in New York’s Chinatown with his wife Dian Dong in 1980. The center, which added a theater in 1988, was home to vital dance education programs, performance shows and multicultural events. He was regarded for blending Eastern and Western influences in this choreography. 

Dong, in an email interview with The New York Times, wrote “Because H.T. Chen focused much of his creations on the stories of Chinese in the Americas, these works are important for enabling students to understand the contributions of Chinese in the building of America.” 

H.T. Chen looks at the camera as he explains his concept of melding Eastern and Western dance techniques together. He has thin wire framed glasses and his hair and mustache are black with speckled gray.

Image: Pentacle Danceworks

What else is on our minds? 🧠
 

Have you filled out our survey yet?

We can’t fill it out ourselves, so we would appreciate it if you did!

Sincerely, Mya Sato and Daniel Anderson 

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