1/5/12 Reflecting Back on 2011

BAYAN USA marching to the Oakland Port during the General Strike

Tonight, we bring you a special 2011 year-in-review show featuring:

• Eddy Zheng and youth from Community Youth Center
• Reflection on the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami with updates on the floods in Thailand and the typhoon in the Philippines
• Ellen Choy talking about the Occupy Movement, with a focus on the Bay Area
• Alex Tom of the Chinese Progressive Association, taking about Occupy, what Ed Lee’s mayoral win means to the Chinese community, and the unrest seen in Wukan, China
• Continued discrimination against the Muslim American community in New York and on the media
• An update with Anh Pham, her grand jury trial, and her response to the NDAA of 2012
• Lisa Chen of Asian Law Caucus talking about the California Dream Act and what campaigns they’ll work on in 2012
• Bernadette Ellorin of BAYAN USA looks at the issuance of the arrest warrant for former General Jovito Palparan and the calling of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to trial for human rights abuses
• Matthew Ledesma‘s commentary which challenges Manny Pacquiao‘s masculinity
• National Film Society, a new media studio co-founded by filmmakers Patrick Epino and Stephen Dypiangco in Los Angeles
• And Irene Kao, executive director of Hyphen, talks about  independent media and its important role in challenging what the mainstream has put forth including Tiger Mom and Wesley Yang’s interpretation of Asian male-ness

Whew! Tune in!

9/23/10 Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority

Tonight on Apex Express, we highlight the documentary film, Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority. This film by Kimberlee Bassford explores the political life of Patsy Takemoto Mink, an Asian American woman who battled racism and sexism and redefined American politics. Mink was the first Asian American woman and woman of color in the United States Congress. She entered the 1972 presidential primary, making her one of the first women to seek the nation’s highest office.

The Director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program Franklin Odo says in the documentary, “Patsy Mink offers a phenomenal political story, because she was so outside what you would expect of a woman, of a Japanese American, and of a member of Congress. She was truly a force of nature.”

3/18/10 Asian American theater and film

Tonight we interview members of Asian American Theater Company about their world premiere of “Macho Bravado.” This play is about a Korean American soldier returning home from fighting abroad, in his quest for love, identity, and masculinity.

We also interview Lewis Kawahara, coordinator of the College of San Mateo Ethnic Studies’ Asian Pacific American Film Festival.

And finally we have Apex producer Robynn Takyama interviewing director Anne Misawa and associate producer Connie M. Florez about their documentary, State of Aloha, currently being screened at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

Listen:

2/11/10 US Census, Citizens Redistricting Commission, and Day of Remembrance

This week on Apex Express, Sirch Chanthyasack and Sonny Le join us to discuss the upcoming US Census and why it is critical for APIs to be counted.

Also, Carlo De La Cruz of the Asian Law Caucus talks about the new Citizens Redistricting Commission and the need for API’s to apply by the newly extended deadline of February 16, 2010.

We’ll have an update from Jill Shiraki of Preserving California’s Japantowns about the upcoming Day of Remembrance commemoration taking place Feb 21, 2010. The theme this year is “Dreams Interrupted, Dreams Fulfilled” and it marks 68 years from the date Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066.

And, Tia and Frankie Legoski join us to talk about Journey to Motherland a Korean Amerasian unification trip to Korea in collaboration with AmerasianUnityFoundation, HalfKorean.com, and HAAUSA.

Listen: