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INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER May 19 2015 – May 19, 2015 — 1

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By Izumi HansenIE Assistant News Editor

Forty years ago, Saigon fell, marking the end of the Vietnam War and bringing 500 Vietnamese refugees to Washington for a brighter future.

On April 26, many of these refugees, their families, and supporters returned to Camp Murray, the fi rst place the refugees arrived at in Washington state, to thank those who helped them settle into their new life in Washington and to help newer generations understand the impact of the resettlement.

The Vietnamese American Community of Washington State organized the event and an estimated 500 people attended. Imbued throughout the event was a Vietnamese proverb: “When you eat the fruit, remember who planted the tree.”

“It was the worst day for all of the Vietnamese here and back home,” said Le Tran, president of the Vietnamese American Community of Washington State, through a translator. “We are here to thank the American people, the governor of this state who adopt us with open arms.”

Vietnamese Americans commemorate 40 years in WA

Former Secretary of State Ralph Munro (center) at the “Vietnamese Journey to Freedom” commemoration on April 26. • Photo by Izumi Hansen

Thousands of South Vietnamese soldiers, government offi cials, and citizens came to four military bases just after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. Those who arrived on the West Coast went to Camp Pendleton, located between Los Angeles and San Diego in California.

Then-California Governor Jerry Brown opposed the arrival of refugees, which upset former Washington Governor Dan Evans. Evans sent staff member Ralph Munro, who later became Secretary of State of Washington, to Camp Pendleton to personally invite refugees to Washington. That May, 500 people arrived at Camp

Murray, located adjacent to Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma. A few thousand more refugees arrived later.

During the ensuing months, religious and community organizations sponsored immigrants as they built a foundation in their new country.

“We wish to show appreciation for those who helped us, especially Evens, Munro, and all the people who helped us,” said Dat Giap, a member of the organizing committee. “With the political uncertainty at the time I think that’s the courage of the leadership.”

Munro, along with former and current elected offi cials, U.S. government workers, and community leaders attended the event. Evans was unable to attend due to health reasons.

“The Vietnamese people have richly helped our state. You made the state a better place to live,” Munro said to the audience. “You contributed immensely. You don’t have to thank us. We thank you.”

Munro also thanked Evans, Washington cities, and members of assisting

. . . CAMP MURRAY: Continued on page 5

Sharon Lee (right) of LIHI observes the crowd as Seattle Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim speaks at the opening of the Cheryl Chow Court low income housing apartments in Ballard. • Photo by Shawn Porter

By Shawn PorterIE Contributor

It was hard for Cleveland Harmon to fi nd words to express his feelings about his new home.

“No more boxes,” said Harmon in front of a crowd gathered in the building’s downstairs conference room and overfl owing down a narrow hallway. “Today I have a key that opens the door. My door ... today I’m proud to say that the Cheryl Chow Court is my home.”

The Low Income Housing Institute opened the 50 new apartments in Ballard last Friday. Split between one-bedroom apartments and studios, all tenants are seniors over 62, and 40 percent were previously homeless.

The apartments, located at 2014 NW 57th St. in downtown Ballard, are within

Cheryl Chow Court—50 new low income apartments become homes

walking distance from the Seattle Public Library, Ballard Commons Park, NW Market Street and the Bay Movie Theatre.

. . . CHERYL CHOW: Continued on page 4

By Ron ChewIE Contributor

When the 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, Jeshmin Bhaju was asleep with her husband in a Portland, Oregon hotel room.

“My brother called in the middle of the night,” recalls Bhaju, a Nepali native who works as a clinical psychologist for International Community Health Services (ICHS) at the Holly Park clinic. “Whenever you’re so far away from home, your heart trembles when you get a late night call like that. My brother told me about the quake and said that he hadn’t been able to connect with anyone back home. Frantically, I began to make calls, especially to family and friends, but nothing was going through.”

Bhaju, employed by ICHS since 2011, was raised in Kathmandu, the densely populated capital of Nepal that is home to many major world heritage sites. Although the quake was centered 80

kilometers northwest of the capital, it wreaked havoc throughout Kathmandu and neighboring cities because of the earthquake’s force and the heavy concentration of unstable and old buildings throughout the cities. The earthquake was also followed by an avalanche on and around Mt. Everest, a major tourist destination.

“Right after my brother called, I got online and saw the pictures that were coming out on social media,” she said. “These images shook me. ‘Nervous’ wouldn’t begin to describe how I was feeling. The Kathmandu Durbar Square was devastated along with other major historic squares. The iconic Dharahara Tower was no more. It’s like if you’re a resident of New York City and Times Square vanished and didn’t exist anymore. It’s like if you’re from Seattle and the Space Needle and Pike’s Place Market collapsed and were in rubbles.

. . . NEPAL: Continued on page 4

Nepal quake: Seattle offers support

2 — May 6, 2015 – May 19, 2015 INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE OPINION

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Legacy of Justice at Hirabayashi Place—Memorial honors Gordon Hirabayashi and the Japanese American Community

By Clarence MoriwakiIE Contributor

I’ve heard it said that “heroism is some-thing done by ordinary people responding to extraordinary things” which rightly defines the lasting and timely legacy of Gordon Hi-rabayashi, a true American hero.

Born in Seattle on April 23, 1918, Hira-bayashi’s life was not unlike that of many ordinary Americans, growing up on a ru-ral farm in Auburn’s White River Valley, graduating from Auburn High School and becoming a student at the University of Washington.

December 7, 1941 was an extraordinary day that forever changed his life. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and months later, Hirabayashi and his family became among the more than 120,000 Japanese Americans who were stripped of their constitutional rights and liberties, forcibly exiled and in-carcerated from the west coast during World War II.

Despite this shameful exclusion and in-carceration by our government, powerful and evocative stories emerged of selfless contributions by ordinary Japanese Ameri-cans—many giving the ultimate sacrifice—doing extraordinary things to prove their honor, loyalty, and love for America.

Some tirelessly labored on farms sav-ing valuable crops to feed a hungry nation, while others bravely fought in the European and Pacific Theaters in the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team/100th Battalion and the Military Intelligence Service.

Gordon Hirabayashi courageously chose an extraordinarily different—and very con-troversial—path to prove his loyalty and pa-triotism.

To protest the loss of constitutionally pro-tected rights, freedoms and liberties result-ing from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, Hirabayashi, now

a senior at the University of Washington, deliberately stayed out past the federally imposed curfew, turned himself in to local police and demanded that he be arrested. The police officers knew him and told him to go home, but Hirabayashi persisted and was eventually arrested by the FBI, tried and found guilty of violating the curfew.

Hirabayashi spent nearly two years in different prisons while appealing his cur-few verdict, first serving nine months in the King County jail and then sen-tenced to serve time in Ar-izona. However, the gov-ernment did not provide Hirabayashi any money or transportation to Ari-zona, and refusing to pay out of his own pocket to go to prison, he decided to hitchhike.

Eventually in 1943, his case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court that unanimously ruled against him.

Hirabayashi’s prin-cipled stand was both unusual and lonely. Hardly anyone stood up for civil rights in the 1940s like they did in the 1960s, and most people in the Japanese American community—let alone the nation at large—disagreed with his views as being unpatri-otic and criticized him for making things harder by “rocking the boat.”

Forty years after his Supreme Court ver-dict, the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned Hirabayashi’s conviction. Blockbuster evidence was uncovered that the federal government deliberately withheld impor-tant military documents from his Supreme Court case, disclosing that racial reasons and not military necessity were used to justify the exclusion and incarceration of Japanese Americans.

About this same time, a bi-partisan federal commission released an exhaustive report that unanimously concluded that exclusion and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II was not caused by con-cerns over national security or military ne-cessity, but that it “was caused by fear, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership.”

After the war, Hirabayashi earned his masters and doctorial degrees in sociol-

ogy from the University of Washington, enjoyed a successful academic career and received many awards including our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Free-dom.

Hirabayashi died on January 2, 2012. To ensure that his extraordinary story lives on and inspires gen-erations to come, the per-manent Legacy of Justice installations of public art and interpretive elements will be the cornerstone of Hirabayashi Place, InterIm CDA’s affordable housing

project under construction at 4th and Main that will be completed by the end of the year, becoming a high-visibility gateway location for Nihonmachi, Seattle’s historic Japan-town.

The Legacy of Justice at Hirabayashi Place will be Seattle’s first permanent out-door memorial dedicated to the history of the Japanese American community and commemorating the injustices committed during and after World War II.

The memorial will serve as a timeless bea-con of hope for current and future genera-tions to both learn from and vow to never re-peat the painful lessons of the past, and that in our current climate of deplorable religious intolerance, irrational fears, racial bias, and

sexual prejudice to be inspired to protect ev-eryone’s basic constitutional rights, liberties, and pursuit of happiness.

To embody and honor Hirabayashi’s legacy and the Japanese American experi-ence, the Legacy of Justice exterior features permanent educational and artistic elements that include:

• Street-front columns with back-lighted historic photos and informative plaques

• Sidewalk-level pavers at the base of the building inscribed with inspirational quota-tions from Gordon Hirabayashi

• Entry area featuring a dramatic 10’ tall x 8’ wide mural by Roger Shimomura depicting Hirabayashi’s life, along with a plaque engraved with the poem “Man From White River” by Larry Matsuda that can be seen by all who pass by

The interior elements of the Legacy of Justice includes interpretive historical ex-hibits to explore the issues and themes of Gordon Hirabayashi, as well as interactively encouraging everyone to “Stand Up for Jus-tice” by folding origami cranes and bow-ties, upon which they will be asked to write a wish or promise for social justice, which will all be combined into a large “Stand Up for Justice” mobile that will hang in the lobby.

Funding is still needed to complete the Legacy of Justice project and the cost of in-stallation.

Everyone is invited to attend the first public unveiling of the ‘Legacy of Justice at Hirabayashi Place’ art and interpre-tive materials on May 30, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Addison on Fourth, 308 4th Avenue South, Seattle, WA.

“I never looked at my case as my own, or just as a Japanese American case,” Hira-bayashi said in reference to his overturned conviction. “It is an American case, with principles that affect the fundamental hu-man rights of all Americans.”

A young Gordon Hirabayashi. • Courtesy Photo

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER May 19 2015 – May 19, 2015 — 3

IE OPINION

By Charles Som NguyenSpecial Guest Columnist

April 17, 2015 marked the 40th anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh by the Khmer Rouge, which was the start of a horrific four-year long genocide that claimed the lives of an estimated 2 million Cambodians, or nearly a quarter of the population (Cambodian Genocide Program). The genocide’s legacy of trauma and loss reverberates across generations and continues to affect Cambodian-Americans today through social injustices.

I was recently interviewed by Jeannie Yandel from Seattle’s NPR station, KUOW, about my family’s experience during the genocide. My mother lost five out of 10 family members during the genocide and vividly recalls stories of her brothers and sister dying in her arms from starvation, malnutrition, and disease. Since my grandfather worked for the former government and was in danger of being killed, my mother remembers lying about her background to save her family from execution, and several instances where my grandmother was almost killed by Khmer Rouge cadre. She recalls seeing mass executions and stepping over corpses on their seemingly endless marches to work camps around the country.

The Khmer Rouge attempted to create an extreme Marxist, purely agrarian utopia that in reality became a hellish dystopia. During their only four-year regime, roughly 90 percent of the country’s intellectuals, educators, minorities, people in the arts, religious leaders, and anyone connected to the former government were disposed (Cambodian Odyssey). The

40 years after the Killing Fields, deep issues remain for Cambodian-Americans

brutal regime carried out horrific crimes against humanity in killing fields and the infamous top-secret prison camp, Tuol Sleng or S-21. Although several top Khmer Rouge leaders have been convicted of war crimes and genocide, controversies regarding the current government’s opposition against further prosecutions in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal continue to prolong justice and unanswered questions for millions of victims. The issues are compounded by the fact that many Cambodian government officials, including prime minister Hun Sen, are former Khmer Rouge cadre.

The Cambodian genocide was largely unknown to the outside world until the Hollywood movie The Killing Fields was released in 1984. During the 1980s, tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees came to the United States, including my grandmother, mother, and uncle. Currently, Washington state has the third highest concentration of Cambodians in the United States, most of which live in the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area.

Although 40 years have passed since the genocide, Cambodian-Americans continue to struggle with issues such as high poverty rates and low educational attainment. In Washington, 18.2 percent of Cambodian families are living in poverty, compared to 9.4 percent of families in the entire state (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011-2013 American Community Survey). Drop-out rates remain high: only 68 percent of Cambodians have graduated high school compared to 90.2 percent in the state

(U.S. Census). Also, only 13.6 percent of Cambodian-Americans have a Bachelors degree or higher, compared to 32.1 percent for the state (U.S. Census).

The low educational attainment of Cambodian-Americans severely prevents social mobility and perpetuates cycles of poverty for younger generations. In addition, 35.9 percent of Cambodian-Americans in Washington report that they speak English less than “very well” (U.S. Census). Low levels of education and English language proficiency make it difficult for Cambodian-Americans to be civically engaged and advocate for their rights.

In addition, the data refutes the myth of Asians as the “Model Minority,” which purports that Asians regularly academically and financially out-perform their peers. As a whole, 45.6 percent for Asians have a bachelor’s degree of higher, which is higher than the state average (U.S. Census). However, we have seen above that the rates for Cambodians are more than three times less. The aggregation of Cambodians under the umbrella of “Asian” leaves Cambodian-Americans out of important policy decisions that will improve their socioeconomic status.

Significant progress has been made toward disaggregating data and revealing hidden opportunity gaps through the 2015 Washington State iCount Report. However, more efforts must be made to bring the report to the attention of policy makers. In addition, the reinstatement of UW’s Southeast Asian recruiter position is a major step toward the right direction, but much work is needed to help retain students once they matriculate.

Cambodian-American survivors of the genocide also suffer from very high levels of mental illness. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates that 62 percent suffer from PTSD and 52 percent suffer from depression, which rank among the highest of any ethnic group. This is shockingly high compared 7-8 percent and 6.7 percent of all U.S. adults experiencing PTSD and major depression as reported by the National Center for PTSD and NIMH. An untold number remain undiagnosed and untreated due to stigma in the Cambodian community surrounding mental illness, as well as a reluctance to talk openly about the traumas Cambodians have faced during and after the genocide. In addition, the previously mentioned low levels of English proficiency in the community make it difficult to communicate with healthcare providers and learn how to seek help.

Low educational outcomes, high poverty rates, and high rates of mental illness in Cambodian-Americans continue to plague our families today. However, through civic engagement and increased awareness of disaggregated data among the public, we can give a voice to silenced members of the community and continue to heal.

Charles Som Nguyen is a Cambodian-Vietnamese American alumnus of the University of Puget Sound with a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology. He is a representative of the Cambodian Cultural Alliance of Washington, and he has a strong interest in advocating for marginalized and underrepresented people. Charles will be attending medical school in Fall 2015.

The following opinion was written by Pa-cific Rim Solidarity Network (PARISOL):

There is much hype these days about the economic relationship between China and the United States. We hear endless chatter in the media about how Chinese workers have “sto-len” U.S. jobs and are a threat to the well-being of the U.S. economy and security. At the same time, we see universities and companies in the U.S. courting Chinese capital and investments. If corporate media were our only source of information about Chinese people, one would think that Chinese were all wealthy business people attracted by investment opportunities to come to the United States.

Many of us of Chinese descent do not see ourselves in this narrative. Sensing a lack of grassroots progressive Chinese American voice led by young people in this city, a few of us have come together to form the Pacific Rim Solidar-ity Network (PARISOL), a grassroots Chinese American/Chinese diaspora group that is local-ly and internationally engaged in social justice issues.

Until we found one another, our own fami-lies’ experiences were all that we had known.

We arrived here through different waves of Chinese migration, some of us via Southeast Asia. Amidst our difference, what brings us together is that Seattle is now our home. We have a deep desire to understand ourselves in light of our own histories and through our relationships with communities of color, in-digenous, and Black communities.

Chinese people have been in Seattle since the mid-19th century. Initially welcomed because of labor shortages during Seattle’s early days as a settler logging town, Chi-nese people became easy scapegoats when an economic recession hit just three decades later. Seattle and its surrounding areas be-came sites of several infamous anti-Chinese riots that led to the expulsion of hundreds of Chinese workers.

Since the blatant anti-Chinese hostility during the 1880s that led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, our status has been elusive and precarious, and often de-pendent on U.S. relations with the PRC. Dur-ing World War II, Chinese people wore pins stating, “I am Chinese,” to distinguish them-selves from Japanese Americans peers. We

have been labeled “the model minority” and used as tools for anti-Black rhetoric. Yet we simultaneously represent a threat—“yellow peril”—especially today as the PRC positions itself as an economic superpower in competi-tion with the United States, and so many of the products we buy are assembled by rural migrant workers in mainland China.

The Seattle Chinese community itself is complex and divided. We are split into first, second, and later generation immigrants with varied access to English language and assorted experiences with assimilation and white U.S. culture. We occupy different so-cioeconomic backgrounds; while many el-ders and low-wage workers struggle to get by, wealthy Chinese capitalists purchase property, driving up housing prices and displacing working-class communities. We reside here with every possible variety of legal documentation—citizenship, work vi-sas, student visas, green cards, and no docu-ments—and with varied interactions with the state and immigration enforcement.

This May, PARISOL is hosting a film se-ries in the Chinatown/International District

with the aim of bringing our communities to-gether to watch, share, and discuss the experi-ences of Chinese migration and livelihood in the United States.

The three films we are screening explore the varied experiences of migration and liveli-hood. Produced in the 1990s and early 2000s by Chinese directors, they span oceans, tying together narratives from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and the United States. The memories of homelands are intertwined with the cur-rent realities and challenges of migrants in the United States. These films reflect a chal-lenging, if optimistic, view of U.S. migration. We ask, how do these stories resonate with our own experiences here as young ethnically Chinese people? Beyond these stories, how do we as Chinese American/Chinese diasporic young adults engage with current political events like #BlackLivesMatter and display solidarity with striking factory workers in China? How do we understand ourselves as immigrants or the descendants of immigrants while recognizing the United States as a coun-try built on stolen native land and slave labor?

An intergenerational exploration of Chinese migration through film

. . . PARISOL: Continued on page 5


IE NEWS

The grand opening was hosted by Sharon Lee, executive director of the Low Income Housing Institute, a nonprofit Seattle based organization involved in low-income housing services, advocacy and management.

Those involved with the project said they are proud of providing apartments to such a diverse group in an area known for its likability, but not its diversity.

Many of the CCC’s apartments are ac-cessible to those with mobility challeng-es. The building also has rooms acces-sible to the hearing and sight impaired. The apartments also contain special fea-tures that include lower counter-tops and roll-in showers. The building is green friendly with low-flow water fixtures, na-tive plant landscaping, and an efficient drip irrigation system in the building’s rooftop garden.

The late Cheryl Chow worked some 14 years ago to help implement downtown Seattle’s Urban Rest Stop while she was chair of Seattle City Council’s Housing and Human Services Committee.

Carrying on from the trend set by Chow, the CCC will also provide Ballard’s homeless and CCC tenants with an Urban Rest Stop of their own. Currently under construction, the first floor URS will provide showers, restrooms, and laundry facilities.

For many CCC residents like Harmon, the safety of having a home doesn’t yet feel like reality.

“This has been a long and very difficult journey for me,” said Harmon. “Having to search alleys for cardboard boxes to sleep in. Going through what you can while battling nights so cold, you couldn’t fall asleep if you wanted to.”

The Low Income Housing Institute helped the CCC implement a sliding rent program, which was brought together through a HUD contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The sliding scale allows tenants to pay 30 percent of their adjusted monthly income, with HUD paying the difference between that and the actual rent.

Many different speakers were present and received plaques for their part in the CCC’s opening, including Seattle City Councilmember Mike O’Brien.

“The fact is that we came together throughout the community and across the country to make this happen,” said O’Brien.

With $2 million coming out of the housing budget to help with construction, O’Brien spoke on what he, his colleagues, and the city went through in order to complete the project.

“That’s all of your money,” said O’Brien. “That money happened because of the generosity of the people of Seattle, who have repeatedly voted to tax themselves because funding affordable housing is a priority.”

At the end of the speeches and as guests shuffled outside into a sunny but windy spring day, the new CCC apartments officially started their new life.

“There was help on the way, someone willing and able to give me another chance,” said Harmon. “A chance to live again and be the person I was meant to be, and by the grace of God, a lot of prayer and help from people like yourself, I stand before you today thanking each and every one for giving me that chance.”

LIHI project honors Cheryl Chow legacy in community. . . CHERYL CHOW: Continued from page 1

“These are more than landmarks and buildings. These are our icons and our symbols and our heritage—our identity. Every Nepali in and out of Nepal feels that part of them have been buried in the ruins with this earthquake.

“The earthquake happened Saturday morning, but because of the 12 hour time difference, I heard about it Friday night. My husband and I slowly learned that the reason we couldn’t reach most people was because land lines were down and people were still out on the streets. Saturday, we began to get more information. We were fi-nally able to reach family and friends back home. There was a big 6.9 aftershock, and it was just terrifying. Sunday, Monday and throughout the week, there have been after-shocks.”

Bhaju said she feels very lucky that her family and friends are safe but has been shaken by the many stories of others who have lost loved ones and have seen their homes reduced to wreckage. “Entire villag-es have been wiped out and to see the dev-astation of this magnitude is gut wrench-ing,” she said.

Bhaju said that after returning to work to ICHS on the Monday after the earthquake, she found herself struggling to cope: “I had to take a break and go for a walk and try to recoup and think about what I could do. I felt that staying at home wouldn’t help. I am still on edge. Because I am so far from home, I feel helpless that I can’t do much. It’s almost like experiencing second-hand trauma. But I thought it would be best to try and spread awareness about the relief and reconstruction efforts.”

Bhaju said ICHS serves a significant Ne-pali Bhutanese community in South Seattle and other Nepalis on the Eastside as well. Because of the strong local interest in hiking and mountaineering, there is a vibrant Sherpa community here, she said.

Last week, Bhaju sent out a message to fel-low ICHS staff members, asking them to sup-port efforts to help bring food, water, shelter and medicine to survivors. “You may have heard of the earthquake that struck Nepal over the weekend,” she wrote. “This massive earthquake has resulted in utter devastation to the city where I grew up. My country and my people need your help. Every penny counts!”

Bhaju said tax-deductible contributions can be made to the following organizations: American Red Cross (www.redcross.org/donate), the Nepal Seattle Society (www.nepalseattle.org), or the Help Nepal Network (helpnepal.net).

To date, the earthquake is reported to have killed over 7,000 people. According to recent news reports, rescue crews have yet to pene-trate remote villages, where the quake also in-flicted catastrophic damage. The earthquake is the worst to hit Nepal since the 1934 quake.

Bhaju said the danger of another quake has always loomed over the people of Nepal. “In 1988, there was a big earthquake that I personally experienced,” she said. “I was 8 years old, and I remember the shaking and all of us running out of the house. But this time, we were all taken aback by the magni-tude and scale of the devastation.”

Bhaju came to the United States in 1998 to pursue her undergraduate studies in Wisconsin. She earned her PhD in clini-cal psychology from Auburn University in Alabama and moved to Washington state with her husband in 2009. She began working at ICHS in 2011. “The position matched my interest in minority health, health psychology, and care for the under-served,” she said.

Even with the enormous tragedy still un-folding in Nepal, Bhaju and her husband have another reason to go home. “In my 16 years in America, I’ve only been back to Ne-pal twice,” she said. “The last time was in 2010. My husband and I are planning to go back at the end of this year to visit and in-troduce our 2½-year-old son to our extended families.”

Jeshmin and her husband, Ajaya, during their visit to Nepal in 2010 in front of the prayer wheels at the Swayambhunath temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. • Courtesy Photo

. . . NEPAL: Continued from page 1

Quake kills 7,000, destroys iconic symbols of heritage

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INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER May 6, 2015 – May 19, 2015 — 5

IE NEWS

organizations that helped resettle the new Washington residents.

“As we started into this, it was very controversial and we were adamant we were going to help,” Munro said. “To see the success—we started with 500 people and now there’s 70,000 people [in Washington].”

The event also served as a way for younger generations to remember resettlement and reflect on their lives in America.

“What I would like the next generation to do is to appreciate the struggles of their parents and grandparents,” said Giap. “We want them to be active in public service, to return to the community and return to the society, and to give others a second chance like we were given.”

Sam Tang, a lawyer in Bellevue, spoke at the event as part of the new generation.

His parents met at Camp Murray, and from them he learned the value of education and community.

“My parents worked hard so my brother and I could have an education,” Tang said. “America is built on the back of diverse immigrants. The seed you had planted 40 years ago have now grown and gone on.”

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Elizabeth Pham also spoke at the event. Pham is the first Asian American to become a Fixed Wing Naval Aviator. She’s served two tours in Iraq and totaled over 1,000 mishap-free hours in an F/A-18. Her parents went through Camp Murray.

“I’m able to defend and serve as part of the American dream,” Pham said. “It’s important to the next generation to experience this [event] because freedom is never free; to know of the legacies of the past and to embrace those legacies.”

. . . CAMP MURRAY: Continued from page 1

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IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK.CABLE CHANNEL 21 | SEATTLECHANNEL.ORG

Photo credit: Ian Devier, Seattle Channel — Enfu, aka Ken Taya, a Japanese Americanartist profiled as part of the Community Stories series on Seattle Channel.

About 500 attended the “Vietnamese Journey to Freedom” commemoration on April 26. • Photo by Izumi Hansen

Former refugees thank those who helped following Vietnam War

Seattle City Council appoints John Okamoto to fill vacant seat

IE News Services

The Seattle City Council selected John Okamoto on April 27 to fill the vacancy in Council Position 9. The seat was formerly held by Sally Clark, who resigned earlier this month.

The council selected Okamoto by majority vote from a pool of eight finalists: Jan Drago, Noel Frame, Sharon Lee, Sharon Maeda, David Moseley, Okamoto, Sheley Secrest, and Alec Stephens.

Okamoto takes office effective immediately and his first Full Council meeting as a seated Seattle City Councilmember will be May 4, 2015, the City said.

Okamoto has run three different cabinet departments for the City of Seattle. He stepped down as interim director of the Seattle Human Services Department in February. He is currently assisting with the transition of leadership to the new acting director and some special projects within department. From 2008 to 2014, he served as Executive Director of the Washington Education Association, an 82,000 member professional education organization.

“I’m humbled and honored by this opportunity and welcome this new challenge,” Okamoto said in a statement. “I’ve invested my working life making this City better, and I intend to continue that work in this new position as Seattle City Councilmember.”

Okamoto has pledged that he will not seek election to the City Council this November. He will serve as on the council until King County Elections certifies the November General Election results on November 24, 2015, at which point the winner of the General Election for Position 9 will take office.

Councilmember John Okamoto takes the Oath of Office. • Photo by City of Seattle

The first film, Comrades Almost a Love Sto-ry, is a 1996 romantic drama starring Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai. Two mainland Chinese migrant workers meet in Hong Kong, but their differing philosophies of work and life disrupt their romance. The film spans 10 years and fol-lows the characters’ lives from Hong Kong to New York City. The film is set to the nostalgic music of Teresa Teng, a well known Taiwanese singer from the 1980s.

The second film will be the 2001 film The Gua Sha Treatment, starring Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Zhu Xu, and Jiang Wenli. A man from China visits his family in the United States and treats his grandson with gua sha; the treatment leaves behind marks that are deemed suspi-cious, and the child is removed from his family. The family spars with Child Protective Services and the ignorant misconceptions of their co-workers as they see the American dream shatter before them.

The final film in our series, The Wedding Banquet, is a 1993 comedy directed by the re-nowned director Ang Lee. A gay Taiwanese

man, succumbing to pressure from his family, decides to marry his mainland Chinese tenant who hopes to acquire a green card. We would love to have this discussion especially with trans* and queer Chinese folks!

After each screening, we will facilitate a dis-cussion about the film and invite audience mem-bers to discuss their own experiences of living in the United States. Our aim is to offer a fun, family-friendly environment where we bring Chinese people and friends together and facili-tate intergenerational story sharing.

We hope you can join us at these screenings. They are free of charge, and light snacks will be provided. The films and discussion will be in both Mandarin Chinese and English.

Comrades, Almost a Love Story will be on May 3 at 2:00 p.m.

The Gua Sha Treatment will be on May 17 at 2:00 p.m.

The Wedding Banquet will be on May 31 at 2:00 p.m.

All screenings take place at Legacy Com-munity Hall, 409 Maynard Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98104.

. . . PARISOL: Continued from page 3

Screenings at Legacy Community Hall


IE COMMENTARY

By Hong HaSpecial Guest Columnist

“The notorious Vietnam war, was the war that exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, including 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both sides, 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians, and 58,159 U.S. soldiers.”

Every year, my parents remind me of the date “30 thang 4,” better known as the Fall of Saigon. Every year my parents remind me to say my prayers, and remember those who lost their lives for Vietnam. This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. The 40th Anniversary of the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by Việt Cộng on April 30, 1975. This date has always held a bittersweet place in my heart.

I always knew growing up that the Viet-nam War was like a shadow looming over the Vietnamese people. Being an Ameri-can-born Vietnamese, I didn’t live through the horrors that was the Vietnam War, but I could see the mixed emotions on the faces of my parents and members of the Vietnam-ese community. I remember always being told that despite the fact that the war was a tragic event in history, without it many Vietnamese people, such as myself, would not have the same opportunities as we have today. As I aged, a part of me couldn’t help thinking that my parents sheltered me from

the truly dark things that happen during the war.

This became more apparent when my par-ents took me to watch the movie The Jour-ney from the Fall, a movie about the Viet-namese Reeducation Camps, boat people, and what they went through after the Fall. The movie is set around a family’s struggle to survive in the aftermath of the Fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese Commu-nist army. This movie brought to life some of the stories that my parents couldn’t talk about and it really struck a chord in me. Like a lot of you here, I’ve heard the stories and read about it in history books, but actu-

ally seeing it on screen gave it me a whole new perspective.

As a Vietnamese American growing up with a strong Vietnamese community, I was not exposed to the horrors of isola-tion and cruelty depicted in the movie. Af-ter watching this movie, I had a newfound respect for my parents and many others in the Vietnamese community and what they went through to fight for their freedom.

The following year, I realized there was more than one side to the story. Another ex-perience that made this war even more real was when I went to Washington D.C. for a National Young Leaders Conference. At

the time I was dabbling with the idea of a ca-reer in politics and I was expecting this con-ference to help solidify my desire. During the conference I was able to see many historical monuments and buildings, meet politicians, and attend leadership seminars, but the one experience that I had that I could never forget was my visit to the the Vietnam Memorial, and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial.

I remember this experience very vividly. It was a very hot and beautiful day and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. As I walked through the Washington Mall look-ing at the monuments all I could think about was how beautiful everything was and I remember thinking nothing ruin this day. When I arrived at the Vietnam Memorial, the first thing that struck me were the thou-sands of names engraved into the wall. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial serves as a tes-tament to the sacrifice of American military personnel. All I could think about was how so many people had died. These people died fighting for Vietnam. These people had fami-lies and loved ones that they left behind as they fought for our freedom. I remember gaz-ing up at this 75m long wall and seeing my-self reflected back simultaneously with the engraved names and flashing back to my 10th grade high school history teacher fawning over the wonderful symbolism behind this image: bringing the past and present together. I remember standing there alone, as I was left

Vietnam War: We need to remember those who have fallen

Scenes from the “Vietnamese Journey to Freedom” commemoration on April 26. • Photos courtesy of Willon Lew


IE COMMENTARY

2015 Community Voice Awards

We, at the International Examiner, invite you to our exciting 2015 Community Voice Awards celebrating the exceptional achievements of our Asian Pacific American leaders. The annual benefit dinner and fundraiser will be held on Thursday, May 21, 2015 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the New Hong Kong Res-taurant in the Seattle Chinatown International District.

Each year, as the only nonprofit pan-Asian Pacific American newspaper in the U.S., we publicly honor exceptional leaders who have inspired and greatly impacted our communities at the local and/or global level. We are proud to present our 2015 Community Voice Awardees for:

• Arts: Kathy Hsieh. As the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture Community Partners Manager, she continues to increase access to City funding for under-represented communities. In particular, her leadership in convening the dialogue on the Mikado production enlightened mainstream theatre communities and our broader community to be an active partner in creating solutions.

• Community Service: Connie So. As faculty at the University of Washington American Ethnic studies, Dr. So touched a multitude of lives, helping shape young people in learning and understanding themselves, their Asian Pacific American history, and their role and responsibility in undoing the racism, sexism, and other injustices in our society.

• Entrepreneur of the Year: Debadutta Dash. He is a shining example of a successful businessman who con-tinuously leads and serves in APIA community as former President of the India Association of Western Washing-ton, President of Asian and Counseling Referral Services, founder of South Asian Music and Performing Art Cen-ter and member of the Washington State Commission on Asian and Pacific American Affairs.

• Posthumous Lifetime Achievement: Ticiang Diangson. For 31-years with the City, she focused on addressing environmental and racial and social justice issues. In her early years with City Light, she served as a home energy auditor and took notice of service disparities in different parts of the city. She became the first outreach staff member and a major force behind the City’s recycling program with Seattle Public Utilities. Ms. Diangson served as editor of the Utilities’ award-winning newsletter and a leader of the City’s Race and Social Justice Initiative. She served as the inaugural director of the Utilities Environmental Justice and Service Equity Division. She was the first person in the nation to hold such a position.

• Organization: Vulcan Incorporated. Vulcan con-sistently demonstrated leadership as a corporate citizen. Their strong and consistent track record of supporting the non-profit, community-based organizations and small businesses in the ID has positive lasting impacts. Vulcan has been a caring and thoughtful partner in the International District/ Chinatown neighborhood.

• Tatsuo Nakata Youth: Tony Vo. Tony Vo is an incred-ible emerging leader. He has given voice to Asian Pacific Islander students as Director of the UW Asian Student Commission. He helped unite students and the API com-munity to successfully reinstate the UW Southeast Asian Recruiter position and as a community builder, he started the White Center Super Hero 5K Walk and Run to engage the White Center residents and donate the proceeds to the White Center Food Bank, the White Center CDA and YES Foundation of White Center.

For questions or more information, contact event coordinator Third Andresen at [email protected] or visit iexaminer.org/cva2015.

23rd Annual Community Voice AwardsInternational Examiner 41st Anniversary Benefit Gala & Auction

Thursday, May 21, 2015 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tickets: $100New Hong Kong Restaurant, 900 S Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104

Sponsored by:

behind by the tour group, and coming to a realization that without the past there could be no present. Without this war, I would not be where I am today.

In the end, to me, the Vietnam War was both a gift and a curse. If it wasn’t for the Vietnam War, we could not have come to America to live a free and good life. With-out the war, I would not have been able to go to college. Without the war, I would not have been able to make my own choices. With-out the war, I would not be free. Because of this I am very grateful for all of the people that fought in the war, the United States, the state of Washington, and Gov. Dan Evans for making this possible. But as a conse-

quence my parents and grandparents have lost their home country as they knew it. The United States also lost many soldiers as well. I learned that nobody wins when there is war.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. But for many of us, that wasn’t really the end. Many lives were lost, many families were torn apart, and many nations were impacted. We need to remember those who have fallen because of tragedies like this. These proud men and woman went to war to make sure that we could be free today. I want remind us all even if there’s only a few national day to celebrate our war veterans, we should always have their accomplishments in our hearts. Members of Washington’s Vietnamese community commemorate 40 years in Washington at Camp Murray on April

26. • Photo by Izumi Hansen


IE COMMUNITY

By Tamiko NimuraIE Contributor

“It was the simplest of questions,” Christine Tran says now, “and it completely changed my life.”

Tran’s father, a day laborer, had just come home from work. He and Tran’s mother, a sweatshop worker, were “boat people,” refugees from Vietnam. He used to tell his daughters that he could have become a doctor if he was born in the United States. But at the end of his workday, he was exhausted. His hands were blackened. He asked his 10th grade daughter, “How was your day?” His daughter stared at his hands. She couldn’t believe that after his day, he found the simple courtesy and grace to ask how her day had gone.

Tran now calls that conversation one of her “lightbulb moments,” one which inspired her to create change, to believe that “tomorrow will be better for everyone.” That idealism extends into her work today, including her work as a volunteer at the Pike Place Market Education program. A graduate student at the University of Washington Seattle, Tran is working towards a degree in Educational Leadership and Policy, specializing in school nutrition programs. She characterizes her work as existing at the intersection of educational practice and policy, or “when good intentions go right.”

As an undergraduate at UCLA, Tran struggled with her classes, and worried about the cost to her family. “I had financial aid,” she says. “I knew what one class cost.” Ethnic studies, especially Asian American studies classes, were the classes which sustained her. Even growing up in ethnically diverse Southern California, “[these classes were] the first time I saw myself in history,” she says.

The inspiration she gained from her Asian American studies classes led her—as an undergraduate—to create teacher education workshops. “People always said to me, ‘I want to be a teacher,’ but they didn’t know how to go about it,” she recalls.

After graduating college, Tran taught middle school for two years in South Central Los Angeles. Sixty percent of the students lived in foster homes. There were homeless students, students who arrived post-Katrina from New Orleans, “refugees,” she says, and their connections to her own family story gave her pause. Moreover, nearly every student qualified for free lunch. “The moment I stepped into the classroom,” she says, “I noticed there was a problem with food.” A student lost consciousness during class, and fell over. After he came back from the nurse’s office, he brought a note, which told her not to send hungry kids to the nurse. Anxious about her students, Tran began to buy extra food and bring it to school. “I didn’t know who was hungry.”

Later, teaching at a high school in East Los Angeles for two years, Tran worked with students who lived in hunger, but often did not eat the free lunch offered because of the social stigma attached to free lunch because “[they] genuinely believed it was something bad.” Many of her students had family members in jail or had been in “County” themselves. But she had also grown up a “free lunch kid” herself.

“We didn’t have the myth of stigma attached to school food,” she says. “I wanted to find out more about where the stigma came from.” But her students had culturally structured stigma, generationally passed down. When she interviewed students and families about their school lunches, parents

and older generations were surprised, exclaiming, “They’re still calling it ‘County’ food?” And their perceptions were not so far off; Tran noted that many of the same vendors who provided food for the prison system also provided food for the school system.

These kinds of experiences fueled Tran’s interest in school nutrition and the social stigma attached to school food—her Master’s thesis was on why students ate “hot chips” for lunch. When

asked how interested citizens and parents can advocate for better school nutrition, she responds:

“We know that good food helps students be happy, healthy, and supports their ability to perform academically. ... [So,] we have to look at where we want to be advocates. ... I think starting at the school-level is a good start because its the most direct and community-based approach. Schools are pillars in our communities and we are all stakeholders—students, parents, and the public-at-large. Unfortunately, at the school level many interests collide.

“Between instructional-related agendas like meeting adequate yearly progress and high stakes testing, school nutrition is often hard for school leaders to focus on or even invest in. If we prioritize quality food

Better school lunches, a better world: UW grad student Christine Tran on school nutrition

and overall school food experiences like adequate time to eat and play, then students can ultimately perform better across the board. As a parent or a citizen, we have the ability to use our voices to speak up, especially students. As a society we often don’t listen to students and we need to. ... Not only can we learn about what the issues are first-hand, but it provides students the opportunity to be agents of change and start early to become who they want to be in this world.”

Though Tran’s educational journey has taken her all over the country, her parents remain proud of their oldest daughter, her travels, and her independence: “Culturally, daughters only leave the home when they are married. Although my parents never went to college, they knew that it was important and encouraged me in my educational pursuits. As my pathways have gotten more complex with as my travels and work took different turns, it was hard to explain to my parents what I was doing. Words and concepts like “fellowships” and “policy work” are not easy to explain in Vietnamese or English.” After several fellowships related to school nutrition, she is pursuing her doctorate in Educational Policy and Leadership at UW, hoping to provide assistance to those who need it.

“I see myself as a product of great social policy,” she says. “I’d like to lend what I’ve learned to people who can use the help. I’d like to go where I can be of service. No matter how my life has changed since 10th grade, I am still very much driven by social justice and to do good in this world. ... The only thing that has really changed is my scope [and] my sense of community—they have grown, both ideologically and geographically. ... I often reflect on this—my parents endured and survived war and poverty—the best thing I can do for them and for myself is give this world the best me I can put forth.”

Christine Tran. • Courtesy Photo

By Wingate PackardIE Contributor

In Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back, Janice P. Nimura tells the true story of three young Japanese girls who were sent by the Meiji government to the United States in 1871 for 10 years of education and English-language learning. They were taken in by white American families in Washington, D.C. and New Haven, Connecticut, and educated before returning to a Japan they barely remembered. They could hardly read and write Japanese after their time in the United States. Sutematsu Yamakawa Oyama, Ume Tsuda, and Shige Nagai Uriu shared this childhood and remained friends for life.

Nimura has worked as a book critic, editor and essayist. She is a white American who is married to a Japanese man. They now live in New York. She has a master’s degree from Columbia in East Asian studies, and became fascinated by the Meiji period of Japanese history. Her book is excellent in many ways—stimulating, entertaining, vivid in detail and impressive in scope. One of the things I enjoyed most was her use of the women’s letters to each other, primary documents that were personal and also of a specific cultural moment.

I recently interviewed the author by phone for the International Examiner.

International Examiner: How did this book evolve?

Nimura: I found treasure in the New York Society Library in Manhattan, which is a reader’s library, not a scholar’s library. In the second sub-basement, there were the Japan travel books. Everybody who visited Japan in the late 19th century wrote a book about it. There was this slim, green book, with an understated title, A Japanese Interior, by Alice Mabel Bacon, about her visit to Japan in the 1880s. She wrote of living with “Japanese friends, known long and intimately in America.” She had known them growing up in New Haven. Sutematsu had lived with her family starting when Sutematsu was 12 and Alice was 14.

Alice was frank, wry, witty, and open-minded. I loved her voice. I discovered her first, and then saw her as a character

in a much longer story about the three Japanese women, who called themselves the “trio.”

I have been asked if this story is famous in Japan, and certainly, parts of it are; Ume Tsuda, founder of Tsuda College, is famous. Tsuda College is one of the more prestigious schools for women, with illustrious alumnae, and 4,000 undergraduates now. The campus is a shrine to her. Her name is a household name. You can find evidence of them as adults, but Alice knew them as children. And this story has never been told this way. The three of them meant the world to each other.

. . . NIMURA: Continued on page 9

‘Daughters of the Samurai’ tells true, impressive story of three friends


IE ARTS

IE: Your subjects were superb letter writers. Where did you find their letters?

Nimura: The first cache of letters I saw was at Vassar, letters from Sutematsu to Alice during her college years. Yale has the Bacon family papers, lots of letters from Shige to Sutematsu. Other collections of letters are at Rutgers, which had the first academic relationship with Japan. Many of the young Meiji men studied there.

The trio spoke and wrote in English, and their letters “home” (back to the American families who raised them) are like therapy sessions. When they returned to Japan, they were hobbled physically, emotionally, and linguistically. They poured out their emotions in those letters.

After Sutematsu married, her letters became more restrained, for reasons of etiquette. It was not seemly, as the wife of a highly placed political man, to blurt out her emotions.

The hardest part for me was in knowing that there were more letters [in Japan] than I had access to. In Japan more than here, the archivist’s job is to protect the legacy, and biography there is usually more hagiography than it is here.

IE: Did you have a favorite of the trio?

Nimura: I started out seeing everything through Sutematsu’s eyes first. She came from farther up north, a very remote samurai family. The Boshin War of 1868 came through her house, quite literally. She graduated from Vassar College within 10 years of arriving in America. She had a blazing intellect. She went back and rather suddenly was enclosed in a rigid, lacquered life at the top level of Japanese society. She thought she could do more good, be more influential at that level, than in obscurity. She married a man her father’s age. There were times I wished I could be a novelist to deal with this material.

Another character I enjoyed was Mrs. DeLong, wife of the American ambassador to Japan, Charles DeLong. Elvida DeLong was the girls’ chaperone across the Pacific and then across the American continent. She was a piece of work. There was much American press attention to the dresses she was buying (for herself); meanwhile, she was not buying Western dresses for the Japanese girls in her care because she enjoyed the press attention they got in their kimonos [despite their pleas for warmer winter clothing on their journey].

IE: What particularly interested you in your research? Were you surprised by what you found?

Nimura: I was surprised by everything in my research—surprised by their candor in letters, given their training. I was surprised to find incredibly American ideas coming out of their

mouths. They often sound like white Protestant missionary women. Ume’s letters on Chinese and black Americans are products of their time.

The girls weren’t sent to America so that they could become leaders. They were sent to spawn men of future generations. The government didn’t think they would “found” institutions. The purpose of educating girls was not to prepare them for leadership in the public sphere, but to give them the tools to be good wives and wise mothers.

I was most riveted by the “cusps”—when the girls first got to Washington, D.C., then when they first got back to Tokyo and two of them were getting married.

IE: Could you talk about the way Americans viewed the Chinese at the time the Japanese delegation landed in San Francisco, and how their views of the Chinese shaped American views of the Japanese?

Nimura: Two things were going on in the early 1870s. The Japanese and the Chinese were seen very differently in America. The Chinese were laborers. The Japanese were not laborers—they were quasi-Yankee, up and coming promising foreign students, not seen as leeches on the American system.

Some of that was differences between the West and East coasts. The Chinese sent 100 students on an educational mission, many of them to New England, the same year the girls arrived. The Congregationalists in New England, like Alice Mabel Bacon’s family, saw themselves as part of a civilizing mission, and many families like them had open minds [and volunteered to take in those students].

We may see that as paternalistic now, but there was no shortage of families who wanted to have these boys in their homes, and became very fond of them. Like the Abbott family, with whom Shige lived. One of the Chinese boys, whom Sutematsu knew, became a protégé and was even funded by one of the American families after he told the Chinese government he wanted to stay and study longer.

. . . NIMURA: Continued from page 8

Nimura unveils treasured stories City University of Hong Kong announces closure of MFA

writing program, authors protestBy Shin Yu PaiIE Contributor

The Department of English at City University of Hong Kong announced in April that it plans to close its low-residency MFA creative writing program. Established five years ago by Hong Kong-based novelist Xu Xi, the two-year program is designed to provide the best education possible for aspiring creative writers, with a special focus on Asian writing in English.

In protest, 25 distinguished authors from around the world, including Shawn Wong, Marilyn Chin, Luis Francia, Ravi Shankar, Tina Chang, Nami Mun, Chang-rae Lee, and Ira Sukrungruang have signed a letter to academic administrators protesting the university’s decision.

The acting chair of the Department of English announced the elimination of the program on Monday, citing the niche quality of the program and small enrollment numbers. However, the current size of the program (approximately 40 students) is well within the plan originally proposed when the university established the program in 2010. As a self-funded offering, the program has been financially self-sustaining as of 2015.

According to Xu Xi, the decision was made in February. The acting chair, Hon Chan, who comes out of a public policy and administration background, rushed to implement the closure through the Faculty Senate in March. “It was absurdly abrupt,” says Xu Xi. “I, as the Program Leader, was not involved in any of the representations made to the various committees that were reviewing our Masters program; once the Acting Head came on board, he handled all that himself.”

MFA alumni Nicholas Wong comments, “We are still pondering

other possible factors of the closure.” Many members of the creative community reflected upon the Umbrella Movement in their writing. “We don’t know if it is ultimately about our being vocal about the

movement. A good number of faculty members and alumni have published [work] that, in one way or other, deals with the movement thematically.”

Xu Xi says the university is obliged to fulfill the program as promised until current students complete their degree—the majority of students will finish the program by June 2016. “While the individualized distance mentoring will be less problematic, the ability to hold a week-long residency beyond this summer becomes increasingly difficult if you only have, say six to 10 students left,” she says. Alumni have taken to social media to express their anger and disappointment.

Despite constant pressures from academic administration and the general sense that “they just don’t understand the pedagogical model because it doesn’t fit what they know,” Xu Xi remains passionate about the international writing community that she helped to create at City University.

“Regardless of what happens now with all the students and faculty protesting, I don’t regret the work to keep this program going for as long as it did because of the wonderful international writer community it’s fostered here in Asia,” Xu Xi says. “That is a moveable feast, should the university refuse to reinstate the program. I have a feeling I will reincarnate it somehow.”

Janice P. Nimura. • Courtesy Photo

Xu Xi


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Chinese Information & Service Center611 S Lane St, Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-624-5633 fax: [email protected] www.cisc-seattle.org

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1501 N 45th St, Seattle, WA 98103ph: 206-694-6700 fx: [email protected] www.solid-ground.org

Seattle Rotary ClubMeets every Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.New Hong Kong Restaurant 900 S Jackson St.seattleidrotary.orgShannon [email protected] the local community by engaging

activities such as community improvement projects, scholarship opportunities, and undertakings that promote education.

PO Box 14047, Seattle WA 98114(206) 325.0325 (Helpline)[email protected]. apichaya.orgAPI Chaya is dedicated to serving survivors

of domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking in the Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander communities. We offer multi-lingual services that are free and confidential.

Seattle Chinatown/International District Preservation and Development Authorityph: 206-624-8929 fx: 206-467-6376 [email protected]

Housing, property management and community development.

Executive Development Institute310 – 120th Ave NE. Suite A102 Bellevue, WA Ph. 425-467-9365 • Fax: 425-467-1244Email: [email protected] • Website: www.ediorg.orgEDI offers culturally relevant leadership development programs.

Professional & Leadership Development

Please mail a check for $35 to the International Examiner or donate to: 409 Maynard Ave. S. #203, Seattle, WA 98104.Thank you for your contribution.

ph: 206-624-3426 www.merchants-parking-transia.org

Merchants Parking provides convenient & affordable community parking. Transia provides community transportation: para-transit van services, shuttle services and field trips in & out of Chinatown/International District & South King County.

Social & Health Services

Agape Senior Group Activity Center36405 Cedar St, Suite UTacoma, WA 98409ph: 253-212-3957 [email protected]

SUBSCRIBE TO THE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER FOR

$35/YEAR FOR 24 ISSUES!

Senior ServicesHorizon House900 University St Seattle, WA 98101 ph: 206-382-3100 fx: [email protected]

www.horizonhouse.orgA welcoming community in downtown Seattle, offering seniors vibrant activities, independent or assisted living, and memory care.


Check back for Sudoku in the IE every issue! Answers to this puzzle are in the next issue on Wednesday, May 20.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Jobs

CLASSIFIEDSEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENTRENT HELP WANTED

Sales CoordinatorThe Washington State Convention Center (WSCC) is accepting applications for the position of SALES COORDINATOR. Duties include maintenance of the facility’s master schedule of events and license agreements.

Requirements: Relevant BA or BS; 2 yrs exp in hotel or multi-use facility in a scheduling, event coordination or related position with direct exp maintaining a sales/scheduling filing and training system. 3 yrs exp in word processing and spreadsheets. Preference for 1yr exp with an automated event scheduling system.

Visit www.wscc.com for further info or to download an app. Apps are also available at the WSCC Service Entrance, 9th and Pike, Mon-Fri, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. WSCC app must be completed for consideration. Position is open until filled. Jobline: (206) 694-5039. EOE.

Logo: $12.00Regular Lines: $6.00 X 19 = $114Bold Lines: 10.50 X 5 = $52.50

TOTAL = $178.50

Parking Washington State Convention Center (WSCC), located in downtown Seattle, is accepting applications for Parking Cashier Part-Time (20 - 35 hours per week).

Duties include monitoring incoming vehicles, collecting parking fees & providing customer service to WSCC guests. Requires HS diploma or GED and one year of cashier experience. Applicants must be available to work flexible hours including weekends, evenings and nights.

Visit www.wscc.com for further info or to download an application. Apps are also available at the WSCC Service Entrance, 9th and Pike, Mon-Fri, 8am – 5pm. WSCC application must be completed for consideration. Jobline: (206) 694-5039. EOE.

Logo: $12.00Regular Lines: $6.00 X 13 = $78 Bold Lines: 10.50 X 8 = $84.00

TOTAL = $174

EVENT MANAGER

The Washington State Convention Center, located in downtown Seattle, has an opening for the position of EVENT MANAGER. The position is responsible for the successful coordination of assigned events within the facility. Working directly with WSCC clients and Service Partners, the Event Manager communicates the needs of the client to other WSCC departments and ensures compliance with the event contract.

Required Qualifications: BA/BS degree and two years experience within the hospitality/convention meetings industry. Prefer at least one year experience coordinating complex events.

Visit www.wscc.com for further info or to download an application. Applications are also available at the WSCC Service Entrance, 9th and Pike, Mon-Fri, 8:00am – 5:00pm. Jobline: (206) 694-5039. EOE.

Operations

Building Operating Engineer

Washington State Convention Center (WSCC), located in downtown Seattle, is accepting applications for a Building Operating Engineer. Duties include operation, maintenance and repair of EMCS & other building systems.

Requires HS diploma or GED, & 5 yrs. exp. as a bldg. operating or stationary engineer; or any equivalent combination of training/exp. City of Seattle Refrigeration Operators License, CFC certification and City of Seattle Steam Engineer License required.

Visit www.wscc.com for further info or to download an app. Apps are also available at the WSCC Service Entrance, 9th and Pike, Mon-Fri, 8a – 5p. Jobline: (206) 694-5039. EOE.

CLASSIFIEDSEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENTRENT HELP WANTED

Sales CoordinatorThe Washington State Convention Center (WSCC) is accepting applications for the position of SALES COORDINATOR. Duties include maintenance of the facility’s master schedule of events and license agreements.

Requirements: Relevant BA or BS; 2 yrs exp in hotel or multi-use facility in a scheduling, event coordination or related position with direct exp maintaining a sales/scheduling filing and training system. 3 yrs exp in word processing and spreadsheets. Preference for 1yr exp with an automated event scheduling system.

Visit www.wscc.com for further info or to download an app. Apps are also available at the WSCC Service Entrance, 9th and Pike, Mon-Fri, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. WSCC app must be completed for consideration. Position is open until filled. Jobline: (206) 694-5039. EOE.

Logo: $12.00Regular Lines: $6.00 X 19 = $114Bold Lines: 10.50 X 5 = $52.50

TOTAL = $178.50

Parking Washington State Convention Center (WSCC), located in downtown Seattle, is accepting applications for Parking Cashier Part-Time (20 - 35 hours per week).

Duties include monitoring incoming vehicles, collecting parking fees & providing customer service to WSCC guests. Requires HS diploma or GED and one year of cashier experience. Applicants must be available to work flexible hours including weekends, evenings and nights.

Visit www.wscc.com for further info or to download an application. Apps are also available at the WSCC Service Entrance, 9th and Pike, Mon-Fri, 8am – 5pm. WSCC application must be completed for consideration. Jobline: (206) 694-5039. EOE.

Logo: $12.00Regular Lines: $6.00 X 13 = $78 Bold Lines: 10.50 X 8 = $84.00

TOTAL = $174

Study

Men and women ages 21-70 diagnosed with Fibromyalgia needed. The University of Washington’s Fibromyalgia Research Program is conducting a study supported by a grant from the NIH. Qualified participants may receive a comprehensive medical exam and a combination of a pharmacological and behavioral health treatment.

(206) [email protected]

Jobs

Principal S/W Dev Engineers. Dsgn & dev server platforms & APIs etc. REQS: MS in CS, S/W Eng, or rel fld & 5 yrs s/w dev exp, etc. Positions at Impinj, Inc. in Seattle, WA. For full job descript, reqs, & to apply go to: http://www.impinj.com/careers/apply/ & ref job #041615

IE COMMUNITY

By Bianca SewakeIE Digital Media Specialist

On the corner of 6th and Main Street in the International District’s Chinatown, sits the historic Panama Hotel. It will remain there for years to come, now that it was named Seattle’s first National Treasure.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation added the Panama Hotel to its list of National Treasures on Thursday, April 9. It is currently one of 19 National Treasures named in the Western region of the United States

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is dedicated to preserving America’s history, is focusing on maintaining the building. The organization will be working with Panama Hotel’s owner, Jan Johnson, to identify new long-term owners who will continue preserving the building, its collections and history.

The hotel dates back to the early 1900s. Seattle’s first Japanese American architect Sabro Ozasa, a graduate of the University of Washington, designed it. The Panama Hotel was constructed in 1910 and the design, structure and materials continue to remain intact today.

The rooms evoke what pre-World World II life was like for Japanese Americans. The basement, which was used as storage, still contains suitcases and belongings from the past. It’s also home to the

Panama Hotel honored as Seattle’s first national treasure

country’s only remaining and in tact Sento—or Japanese Bathhouse—which was used as relaxation and a cultural activity by generations of Japanese Americans. Signage of advertisements within the basement is preserved and can still be seen today.

Today, the hotel continues to maintain its presence in the International District. There are also ongoing tours for the bathhouse and the hotel’s collections.

April 9 will now be known as Panama Hotel Day, as declared by Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim. • Photo by Joe Mabel

Gang of Four book launch and discussion panel

IE News Services

Seattle’s “Gang of Four” (Bernie Whitebear, Larry Gossett, Roberto Maestas, and Bob Santos) changed the face of the city in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s by bringing together a powerful alliance of four ethnic communities to battle the local and state power brokers for racial and civil rights and social justice.

The book, Gang of Four, Four Leaders. Four Communities. One Friendship, is co-authored by Bob Santos and Gary Iwamoto and published by Chin Music Press.

A book launch happens on Tuesday, May 12 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), 860 Terry Ave. N, Seattle, WA 98109. Free admission. For more information, contact [email protected].

There will also be a discussion panel titled, “A Conversation with Gang of Four Member Bob Santos and others,” on Friday, May 29 at Nagomi Tea House, 519 6th Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98104. Free admission. For more information, contact [email protected] or call (206) 624-1802 ext. 10.

12 — May 6, 2015 – May19, 2015 INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE COMMUNITY

By Janelle RetkaIE Contributor

Seven years of filmed heritage exploration were shared with the community during the third annual public documentary screening by the Southeast Asian Young Men’s Film Program.

On April 21, Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) hosted a community event culminating the hard work and self-exploration of participants in the organization’s film group for young men, whose involvement ranged from 2008 to the present.

The evening was filled with vibrant festivities. A trio from the Franklin High School Break Dance Club kicked off the night before diving into the first film. Later, Niu Roots and Ocean, one of the cosponsors of the event, performed a series of songs and dances with drumming guiding the way.

Additionally, the University of Washington’s Khmer Student Association performed a delicate coupled scarf dance, and Khampha Chantharangsy played a beautiful song on the khene, a traditional Lao instrument.

But the night was dedicated to spotlighting four films developed from the Southeast Asian Young Men’s Film Group.

The group emerged out of an in-school program led by Joseph Mills, a social worker and counselor for ACRS, which was created as a place for young men to come together to share their personal experiences, history, and culture with one another.

Kenny Setiao, 25, met Mills through the in-school group meetings as a freshman at Franklin High School.

When he transferred to Cleveland High School as a sophomore, there was no program for Southeast Asian men, so he began meeting with Mills outside of school. Mills became Setiao’s mentor.

Setiao began interviewing his mom about her life experiences in 2009, when Mills invited him to explore his heritage and culture through documentary making. His story became a piece of one of the first films that emerged in the film group, Across the Mekong.

“I had never asked her what obstacles she went through,” Setiao said.

Setiao’s mom, Nang Seng Setiao, was born in Soun Kham, Laos. She fled Laos in the middle of the night to escape communist rule. After crossing the Mekong River, she found refuge in France, where Setiao was born and she remained before moving to Seattle when he was 12.

Until the age of 18, when Setiao married his wife, Mary Setiao, he remained an undocumented immigrant. Unable to work, Setiao felt like he could

not contribute to his family or start his own.

Before beginning the film project, Setiao struggled to understand why he faced these limiting circumstances. Making the film brought context to his life, allowing his mom an opportunity to vent and bringing the two of them closer together, Setiao explained.

Across the Mekong also includes the stories of four other men whose families fled Laos. The making of the film spanned the course of seven years, ending with each man’s accomplishments as of 2015.

“It was really eye opening,” Setiao said. “I learned to embrace my ethnicity and culture a lot more now.”

This is the intent of the film group, which offers Southeast Asian men an opportunity to explore their heritage and educate the community.

Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, the Southeast Seattle P.EA.C.E. Coalition of Neighborhood House, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, and Comcast sponsor the film group.

As a board member at ACRS, Diem Ly, the community investment manager of Comcast, learned of the film group about three years ago. She was immediately interested in funding the program through Comcast.

“Part of the reason we sponsor the film program is that technology really empowers people,” Ly said. “We want to put technology in the hands of young people so they can share their stories.”

In addition to Across the Mekong, the screening included Chanthadeth, Why I Don’t Smoke, and Model Minority Stereotype.

Chanthadeth is 19-year-old Chanthadeth Lucky Chanthalangsy’s exploration of his biracial Cambodian and Laos heritage. Through this film, Chanthalangsy learned to appreciate where each of his parents came from and how this contributed to who he is.

“My family has been through a lot and I have benefited from their strength,” Chanthalangsy said during a Q&A following the film.

While these two films exposed intimate explorations of family heritage, struggle, and the cultural gap often experienced between Southeast Asian immigrants and their American raised children, Why I Don’t Smoke and Model Minority Stereotype offered a variety of voices and perspectives.

Both spoke to larger issues within the Southeast Asian community.

Why I Don’t Smoke was directed by Ricky Nguyen, Christian Carmen, and Kevin Ha. The students included their personal experiences with marijuana and why they choose not to smoke, and also offered other youth an opportunity to voice their reasoning.

“A lot of youth are scared,” Nguyen said, referring to peer pressure, “but there are people that choose not to smoke.”

Ranging from youth who had previously smoked and chose to quit to one woman who simply disliked the smell of marijuana, these young men show that there are various reasons to live above the influence of marijuana.

Model Minority Stereotype examined “the roots and implications of the model minority stereotype,” which generalizes all Asian heritage and puts unrealistic expecta-tions on Asian students. Over the course of two years, 14 to 15 students worked to cre-ate the film, according to Mills.

The film served to point out the harm these stereotypes can cause by implying

that there is one “good” minority. Instead, the film suggests that communities of color should work together as allies against racism.

Combining personal experience and an interest in exploring underlying heritage and context, the young men involved in the Southeast Asian Young Men’s Film Group have continuously discovered untold truths over the course of the nine-year program.

Mills estimates 150 or more people attended the screening, which took place in the ACRS gym in South Seattle.

Like past films produced by the group, these four films will be published online. Mills anticipates the full website with additional film and program information will be available in the coming months. Meanwhile, he says the group plans to submit the films to larger festivals in order to spread their messages to a broad audience.

“I thought it was a reflection of the impressive work the young men had done that so many peers came to support them,” ACRS executive director Diane Narasaki said.

Narasaki said she was proud of the thought provoking films produced through the film group and the overall success of the event.

“The feeling in the room was tangible,” Narasaki said, “the feeling of appreciation and inspiration in the audience.”

Seven years of heritage exploration shared at ACRS film screening

Chanthakhard Chanthalangsy (right) at the ACRS film screening just after seeing his brother Chanthadeth Lucky Chanthalangsy’s (left) documentary film, Chanthadeth. • Photo by Janelle Retka

A candlelight vigil was held on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at Hing Hay Park to show support for Mary Jane Veloso and all other victims of of forced migration, exploitation, and trafficking. Veloso was scheduled to be executed by firing squad that day. Just hours before the vigil, she was granted a sole reprieve. For more information and to sign a petition for her release, visit https://www.change.org/p/indonesian-pres-joko-widodo-jokowi-do2-save-the-life-of-human-trafficking-victim-mary-jane-veloso. • Photo by Isaac Liu

international examiner may 6, 2015

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