Wow, more intimidation of non-profit groups:

"The Republican-controlled U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security is investigating the Chinese-American Planning Council, a New York City nonprofit, alleging in a letter that the taxpayer-funded group’s know-your-rights training sessions may help undocumented people evade immigrant enforcement officers."

https://gothamist.com/news/house-gop-panel-probes-nyc-chinese-american-nonprofit-over-rights-trainings

AANHPI Heritage Month is here — and so is #GiveInMay! Join us in honoring the strength, stories, and struggles of AANHPI communities by supporting orgs on the frontlines.

We're fundraising to support our summer newsroom intern, in partnership with the CUNY Newmark J-Corps. Give today:

https://www.giveinmay.org/donate/The-Xylom

"This April, 50 years after the loss of their homeland, Vietnamese refugees and their descendants who helped shape San Jose and Silicon Valley are pondering their legacy and what it means to be Vietnamese American moving forward. For Vương, who goes by Lauren Vuong and now lives in San Francisco, this includes illuminating what became of those left behind after the U.S. withdrawal from the Vietnam War."

: https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/04/27/san-joses-vietnamese-refugees/?share=on2ye4w2ss25euwotose

"Tháng Tư Đen or Black April commemorates the Fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese Communist forces on April 30, 1975 after a month-long campaign into the southlands that would end the Vietnam War and start one of the largest refugee crises in history."

https://voiceofoc.org/2025/04/from-exodus-to-emergence-black-april-50-years-after-the-fall-of-saigon/

"The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, when the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces. But millions of people still face daily battles with its chemical legacy.

Nguyen Thanh Hai, 34, is one of millions with disabilities linked to Agent Orange. Born with severe developmental challenges, it’s a struggle for him to complete tasks others take for granted..."

https://apnews.com/article/vietnam-war-anniversary-agent-orange-0829caefe48cc11fb88ab27982da922b

"The Trump administration has told its senior diplomats in Vietnam not to take part in events marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.

Four U.S. officials who insisted on anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic decision-making said that Washington had recently directed senior diplomats — including Marc Knapper, the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam — to stay away from activities tied to the anniversary on April 30."

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/world/asia/us-diplomats-vietnam-war-anniversary-trump.html

"If Trump’s full slate of tariffs goes into effect in a few months, the pain won’t stop at Chinese grocers. Vietnam is facing some of the steepest proposed tariff hikes. South Asian grocers might see seasonal delicacies like Alphonso mangoes get more expensive, if they can get them at all. ('Crying in H Mart' may soon take on a new meaning.)"

I had not thought of this yet.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/04/chinese-grocery-store-tariffs-trump/682591/

"Today, an intimacy coordinator would be on set to ensure I was comfortable with such a sensitive scene, but we didn't have that kind of protection in 1960. I was expected to follow the director's instructions. When I refused, crying because I was embarrassed to wear something so revealing, I was reminded that it was part of the job. Were they taking advantage of my youth and inexperience? Absolutely, but I didn't have a choice."

https://ew.com/nancy-kwan-recalls-fight-exploded-over-underwear-world-of-suzie-wong-11717471

"This month marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. It’s also the anniversary of many Vietnamese families arriving to start a new life in the Pacific Northwest. Thousands of people fled the country and became refugees in 1975, and many of those people ended up on the West Coast of the United States. According to census data, there are now more than 37,000 Vietnamese Oregonians."

https://www.opb.org/article/2025/04/21/the-evergreen-podcast-vietnamese-american-vietnam-war-immigrants-culture-history/

"Americans had adopted children from abroad in previous decades, most notably from South Korea, but Operation Babylift created a story around adoption that transformed the displacement of a foreign baby to an American home into an act of charity. Out of the horrors of war came an opportunity for benevolence and absolution."

https://www.theverge.com/cs/features/651701/vietnam-operation-babylift-adoption-transnational

"A University of Houston assistant professor says he is preparing to return to South Korea after telling students over the weekend he could no longer teach their class because of the 'unexpected termination of my visa.' ”

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/immigration/2025/04/15/518784/uh-assistant-professor-says-his-visa-has-been-unexpectedly-terminated/

"A Brigham Young University graduate student from Japan who had his visa revoked — seemingly because of an old fishing violation — has now had his visa reinstated, his attorney said."

https://www.deseret.com/education/2025/04/18/japanese-byu-student-suguru-onda-visa-reinstated/

"An Indonesian father of an infant with special needs, who was detained by federal agents at his hospital workplace in Minnesota after his student visa was secretly revoked, will remain in custody after an immigration judge ruled Thursday that his case can proceed."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/19/aditya-wahyu-harsono-immigration-indonesia

"Director Andrew Ahn adapted the screenplay with producer James Schamus from Ang Lee’s 1993 rom-com — a movie that Chen at one point was going to star in. Chen and Youn, who goes by YJ, spoke to Variety about relating to their characters, how filmmaking differs around the world and finally working together."

https://variety.com/2025/film/features/wedding-banquet-joan-chen-youn-yuh-jung-1236372887/

Tran is now feeling both the “pressure of representing a community in a specific way,” and the struggle of continuing to work through her own internalized misogyny, racism and homophobia. But the actor wants “to live in a world where there is a generation after me that does not have any of that.”

https://www.them.us/story/kelly-marie-tran-the-wedding-banquet-queerness-relationship-rom-com-interview

“Anti-Asian online hate in US saw 'alarming surge' after election — report

January 2025 marked the highest number of online anti-Asian slurs by month since monitoring began in August 2022, the report says, with a total of 87,945 slurs.”

Link to article: https://www.trtworld.com/discrimination/anti-asian-online-hate-in-us-saw-alarming-surge-after-election-report-18267361

Link to report: https://stopaapihate.org/2025/02/20/post-election-surge-in-hate/

Multnomah County Library: Indigenous Voices for High Schoolers
Explore compelling fiction and nonfiction from Native American, First Nations, and Indigenous authors. Perfect for high schoolers!
https://multcolib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/135258471_multcolib_teens/1941270819_indigenous_voices_for_high_schoolers_from_multcolib_teens

For me, #2025 will be "The Year of the Marginalized." (Or the Margins.)

It won't be perfect, but essentially I'm going for 80% of the media I consume is written / directed / created by or starring people from marginalized populations. Music is impacted too, though likely by creating marginalized-centric playlists and listening to those.

If the name seems familiar, it echoes 1992 in the US after the election which was called "The Year of the Woman."

I'm definitely up for suggestions, though of course no guarantees.

The contrast--the majority--is to me for purposes of this, white, straight, male, US or England since they have an inordinate amount of influence over everything. And marginalized is basically everyone else. (FYI, I am white, male-presenting and in the US.)

To be clear, it's not to remove the majority, just to find more balance in what I consume.

#lgbtqia #lgbtq #marginalized #nonbinary #genderfluid #women #minorities #blackfilm #AANHPI @movies @bookstodon @lgbtqia

Join us in celebrating the beauty and diversity of our #AANHPI communities with our AANHPI Heritage scarf, designed by the talented Sanjana. Order yours today and know that 10% of proceeds support @AYC100@twitter.com in their mission of empowerment: https://shop.angelcity.com/products/angel…