OCTOBER 12, 2022

Hello, everyone!

In a new study by The Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession (IILP), Asian women in law were found to be chosen the least often by corporations hiring counsel; in fact, almost 72% of corporations admitted that they give less than 10% of their business to Asian American lawyers.

This lack of representation is very similar to Indigenous lawyers in the field as well, with almost half of corporations admitting that they give less than 10% of their business to the group and 41% saying they give no business to them.

Sandra Yamate, CEO of IILP, explained that “when corporate clients, even those who value diversity, are thinking about outside counsel, they are not giving significant amounts of business to women, to people of color. Native American women and Asian American women are the poorest in terms of this.”

While Asian Americans enter the private sector of law at the highest rates, they advance at the lowest, with Yamate highlighting that “the conversion rate from associate to partner is the lowest for Asian Americans.”

Race in America 🌎
 

A new food truck park in Albuquerque started by Chinese restaurant owner Judy Chiang aims to support local Asian woman-owned businesses impacted by the pandemic.

Chiang worked with the local church that sits next door and owns an empty parking lot and transformed it by putting down grass, shade sails and tables, and invited five food trucks to jumpstart the project.

Pacific Rim Food Truck Park now features all-Asian and women-owned businesses that offer Vietnamese, Japanese and South American food. Plans are set to expand the amount of food trucks and “set up camera, wifi, security, so we can have a better environment for people to dine, sit down dining too.”

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During this week, over a dozen Asian American and Pacific Islander nonprofits are participating in Civic Action Week, encouraging voting, philanthropy and vaccination.

Organized by Gold House, this week highlights national and local resources as the nation heads into midterm election and flu season. Organizers hope to support the Asian American community and its voting power, and raise awareness toward public health and the continued likelihood of chronic illness in Pacific Islander communities.

In Other Asian News 🗞

Since the horrific mass killing at a Thai daycare, Thailand’s Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, ordered law enforcement agencies to tighten their rules on gun ownership and drug use.

Prayuth directed authorities to be proactive as they search and test for illicit drugs as well as stepping up treatments for addicts. He also ordered government registrars to revoke gun licenses for registered owners who behave in a way that “threatens society” and “creates chaos or causes unrest.” Alongside all those measures, the government instructed a crackdown on weapons smuggling, the use of illegal firearms and illegal gun sales.

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake at sea rattled Taipei on Tuesday.

There are no immediate reports of damage and the quake only briefly shook buildings on the island, but shockwaves could be felt across the northern, central and eastern parts of Taiwan.

TV and Pop Culture 📺
 

Disney+ dropped a new trailer for a South Korean crime drama called “Shadow Detective.”

The series stars Lee Seong-min as police detective Taek-rok who gets framed for murder right as he is set to retire. Fellow officer Kook Jin-han, played by Jin Gu, helps Taek-rok uncover the identity of the true mastermind. It is slated to premiere on Oct. 26.

Iconic comic book character Lois Lane is getting reimagined as a biracial Japanese American teenager for a new graphic novel from DC Comics.

Author Sarah Kuhn said of the decision, “I was always desperately searching for some tiny scrap of representation in the stories I loved and Lois had dark hair, so sometimes I'd fantasize that she was Asian American -- like me."

What else is on our minds? 🧠
 

• Constance Wu says she has forgiven the actor whose DMs caused her to consider suicide. 

• Jessica Pegula and Vania King are some of the founders of the Asian American Pacific Islander Tennis Association, a nonprofit advocacy organization hoping to help “develop, grow and elevate the visibility and interests of the AAPI tennis community.”

• K-pop girl group MAMAMOO made their first full group comeback in over a year with the new album “MIC On.” 

• Miss USA winner R’Bonney Gabriel addressed the controversy around her allegedly rigged pageant victory.  

• Nobel Laureate and Rappler founder Maria Ressa plans to appeal her cyber libel conviction to the Philippine Supreme Court.