Sharkbites Newsletter

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Hello, everyone!  

The city of Alhambra, California honored
Brandon Tsay, the hero who disarmed the Lunar New Year shooter, with a medal of courage from the Alhambra Police Department. 

The ceremony was held as part of the city’s decision to move forward with the Lunar New Year celebration, which took place on Sunday. Tsay, who is 26 years old, spoke at the ceremony and reflected on the tragedy. Despite the loss, he said he hoped the victims’ families would be able to heal and find joy again. He also stated that life is fragile and the community should spend its time reaching out to one another.

Beyond the medal of courage, Tsay’s bravery was widely recognized, with President Biden calling him to thank him for his actions. He will be President Biden’s guest at the upcoming State of the Union address on Feb. 7. Tsay acknowledged the grief and pain of losing friends who he considered family and expressed that he is still processing the tragedy.

Brandon Tsay 
CBS News
Spotlight đź’ˇ
  • Shasti Conrad has been elected as the new chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. At 38 years old, she is the youngest and first Indian American woman to hold this position in the country. Conrad is a former leader of the King County Democrats and a political consultant. She takes over from Tina Podlodowski, who has served as chair since 2017. 
Race in America 🌎
  • Vicha vigil: A vigil was held on Saturday in San Francisco Chinatown’s Portsmouth Square on the 2-year anniversary of Vicha Ratanapakdee’s death. The Thai immigrant’s killing in 2021 is remembered as one of the first incidents in the anti-Asian crime surge in the city when he was violently pushed to the ground, hitting his head on the pavement. The vigil and lantern lighting also remembered other victims of violence in the shootings at Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay. Vicha's daughter, Monthanus Ratanapakdee, urged the community not to grow numb to the violence and to stay strong.

...

  • Young Oak Kim bill: A bipartisan bill has been introduced by the four Korean American members of the U.S. Representatives - Young Kim (CA-40), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Michelle Steel (CA-45), and Andy Kim (NJ-03) - to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Colonel Young Oak Kim for his heroism, leadership, and humanitarianism. Young Kim described Kim as a military hero and cited some of his feats including helping free Rome from Nazi control during WWII and leading a U.S. Army battalion during the Korean War. Andy Kim said the award would help recognize the many heroes and contributions of the Asian American community.
In Other Asian News đź—ž
  • Pakistan mosque bombing: At least 87 people were killed in a suicide bombing that targeted a mosque in Pakistan on Tuesday. The attack took place in a fortified area of the northwestern city of Peshawar, which houses offices of the police and counter-terrorism departments. The bomber detonated himself shortly after hundreds of worshippers had gathered for afternoon prayer in what is being described as the latest in a string of attacks targeting police.

...

  • TikTok testify: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Mar. 23 to address privacy and security concerns about the app and its ties to China through parent company ByteDance. The announcement of the hearing comes as negotiations between TikTok and the U.S. government continue over how to secure the app in the U.S, with many states passing bills to ban TikTok on government devices. The company has denied allegations that TikTok has allowed the Chinese Communist Party access to U.S. user data.
Shou Zi Chew
Reuters
Entertainment đź“ş
  • Time to “Pull Up”: K-pop girl group Viviz has released their latest EP, “VarioUS,” featuring their lead track “Pull Up.” Members SinB, Eunha and Umji presented the new music during a showcase in Seoul. The EP also includes tracks like “Blue Clue,” “Love or Die,” “Vanilla Sugar Killer,” “Overdrive,” and “So Special.” SinB, Eunha and Umji are all former members of the girl group Gfriend, which disbanded in 2021 but recently celebrated its eighth anniversary.  

...

  • Shib Sib hall of fame: Figure skating duo and siblings Alex and Maia Shibutani have been inducted in the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame Class of 2023. The achievement makes Alex the first Asian American man to be inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame. The Shibutani siblings are two-time Olympic bronze medalists and three-time World medalists.  
Maia (left), Alex (right) 
ELLE
What else is on our minds? 🧠
  • Dave Bautista met with James Gunn to talk about playing Bane in the new DC films universe, but he will not be joining Gunn’s vision.
     
  • You can now order the world’s largest type of daikon radish from an online store in Japan. 
     
  • A big boulder crashed into a woman’s home in Hawai'i as she narrowly escaped getting injured. 
     
  • Japan is declaring Jan. 31 as “Final Fantasy 7” Day. 
     
  • BBC Arabic Radio aired its final broadcast on Friday, marking the end to an 85-year run. 
Resources đź’ť

GoFundMe Monterey Park: Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL), in partnership with The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF), Stop AAPI Hate, Gold House, Stand with Asian Americans and Chinatown Service Center, has organized a GoFundMe page for the benefit of the victims. As of this writing, the campaign has raised over $904,000. 

GoFundMe Half Moon Bay: The GoFundMe for the victims and surviving families of the Half Moon Bay Mass shooting. The funds are organized by several Bay Area organizations and others including Stop AAPI Hate, The Asian American Foundation, Hate Is A Virus, and Stand with Asian Americans. It has over $16,000 raised at the time of writing.  

GoFundMe for Tyre Nichols Memorial Fund: The memorial funds for Tyre Nichols. It has raised over 1 million at the time of writing. 

Mymy Nhan’s GoFundMe: Individual page for Mymy Nhan’s funeral funds. 

Xiujuan Yu’s GoFundMe: Individual page for Xiujuan Yu’s funeral funds.  


Ming Wei Ma’s GoFundMe: Individual page for Ming Wei Ma’s funeral funds. 

Memorial and resource center: A memorial honoring the lives lost and survivors has been established at Monterey Park City Hall located on 320 W. Newmark Avenue. A resource center is open at the Langley Senior Citizen Center in Monterey Park.  

Asian Mental Health Collective: A list of mental health and other great resources. 

Yellow Chair Collective Therapy Sessions: Yellow Chair Collective are offering six free trauma-informed therapy sessions available in English, Mandarin Chinese and Korean.  

Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California hotline: Confidential hotline available in seven Asian languages.  

Would you have wanted to see Dave Bautista as Bane?

I think he would have made a great Bane, but I can understand why he won’t be moving forward with the part. 

Sincerely, 

Daniel Anderson

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