JUNE 23, 2022

Hello, everyone.

Today is the 40th anniversary of Vincent Chin’s murder.

On June 19, 1982, Chin died after a brutal beating from his assailants scapegoating him for the economic downturn and subsequent unemployment in Detroit, brought on by Japanese automotive companies. Their hate for anyone Japanese American, or Japanese-appearing, motivated them to bludgeon Chin with a baseball bat.

Chin would die four days later in the hospital, but his assailants, Ronald Ebens, and his stepson, Michael Nitz, were never convicted despite overwhelming evidence in various federal and state legal proceedings. His case remains one of the most important cornerstones in enacting laws against hate crimes and for the Asian American civil rights movement.

Tonight, NextShark will be hosting a panel with Gary Koivu (Chin’s best friend), Christine Choy (Director of the Oscar-nominated film, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?”) and Theodore Merritt (Federal Prosecutor for the Detroit federal trial) starting at 4 p.m. PDT. We hope to see you there.

Race in America 🌎

In Philadelphia, a Filipino lawyer died in a drive-by shooting.

On Saturday morning, John Albert Laylo, along with his mother, were headed for the airport. When their Uber stopped at a red light near the University of Pennsylvania, the car next them fired several rounds into their vehicle, which struck Laylo in the back of his head. His mother sustained injuries due to broken glass.

Currently, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is offering a $20,000 reward for any information about the gunman. Laylo’s remains have been sent back to the Philippines as the investigation continues. 



In Other Asian News 🗞

The recent floods in India and Bangladesh have led to many concerns about infections from waterborne diseases, including diarrhea, dysentery, fever, skin infections and more.

The recent flooding in Bangladesh has left 4.5 million people stranded, 68 dead and more than 4,000 ill. Healthcare officials are logging more patients daily, fearing an epidemic of these waterborne diseases due to lack of clean water.

With thousands of homes and acres of crops destroyed, many are faced with the aftermath of a disastrous crisis that is just getting worse.



Tourists in Southeast Asia are welcomed back legally, but logistically, that’s a different story. 

Besides the obvious issue of inflation and outrageous gas prices that airlines are struggling with, staffing is becoming another huge issue. Plane tickets are getting more expensive to make up for the cost in gas and flight cancellations due to a plentiful staff shortage. With layoffs during the pandemic, companies have not brought back enough workers for the influx of visitors as countries open back up their borders.

Tourists are finding their plans delayed or stretched over multiple days and the travel chaos continues to unravel as people spend their savings on trips they’ve missed during the pandemic.



Tea and Culture 🍵

Sustainable tea culture? Let me in!

In Southern California, Lani Gobaleza and Amy Truong own PARU Tea. The two focus on providing their customers with lesser-known, sustainably grown Southeast Asian teas. The couple works with small, family-owned farms for their leaves so that you can say you liked this underground (or, I guess, it’s more above-ground) tea before it was cool. 

Gobaleza and Truong plan to work with small farmers all across Asia and to help spread diverse tea cultures internationally. They also prioritize developing a strong relationship with each farmer they work with to nurture small producers.

I’m proud to say that Queer POC woman-owned shops are setting the new standard.

What else is on our minds? 🧠
 

• We know her as Edwina Sharma from Netflix’s popular period drama, “Bridgeton,” but Charithra Chandran is taking on another historical reimagining with rom-com podcast Meet Cute’s retelling of Shakespeare’s play titled “A Mid-Semester Night’s Dream.” 

• Remember how our parents wanted us to be musical prodigies? Well, 18-year-old Yunchan Lim from South Korea just became the youngest winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. (Don’t share this with your parents, they might just put you on music lessons again.)

• As part of their ongoing policies to strengthen internet safety, Beijing now plans to review every single comment on Weibo before it gets posted. Users are worried this is a new wave of censorship. 

• In a new ruling by the Supreme Court, New York’s law limiting guns in public was stricken down, explaining that it went against the Second Amendment.

• In an act of rebellion, Mitoshi Matsumoto, a franchisee of a 7-Eleven in Japan, lost his case in court and now owes the corporation $845,000 in damages. Matsumoto would close his store five hours earlier than stated by the company due to a lack of adequate pay and fatigue. However, the corporation did not take lightly to this transgression, showcasing the toxic work culture and expectations still present in the Japanese labor force.