Equity Lab: What’s AAPI Heritage Month? + Ziwe on Showtime + Interview with The Bee’s executive editor
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May is Asian American and Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and is a designation that is actually relatively new (President George H.W. Bush signed a bill in 1990 to extend Asian-American Heritage Week to a month).
The month generally serves as an opportunity for corporations to make clumsy attempts at showing solidarity, and a reminder to consumers to spend money at AAPI-owned businesses and on AAPI-made products.
I love all these diverse reading lists, but I’d also be fine with them coming out any other time of the year. As is the common refrain: I am Asian American every day, not just for the month of May.
That’s something my colleague and friend Ashley Wong has thinking about, too. She’s spent the last year covering the region’s diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander community, and is wrapping up her tenure here this week. I caught up with her about her time at The Bee, what she’s learned, and what she hopes readers have learned in turn.
Here’s our chat, conducted between story deadlines, below. It’s been edited for length and clarity.
What are some things you’ve learned about the AAPI community in Sacramento in particular?
My first story was about anti-Blackness in the Asian community. So starting off real light. It was in response to one of the officers present when George Floyd was killed being Hmong. He was not directly involved, but it sparked conversations that were already happening for a long time.
That’s one thing I learned about Sacramento. It’s historically been a place where Asians have established solidarity with other communities of color, and have also sometimes been pitted against each other.
A lot of people talked about tensions that existed in neighborhoods like in South Sacramento, where some refugee families were housed in neighborhoods that didn’t have resources and where Black communities already existed. It created this sense that they had to compete for public resources. It was a circumstance forced into being by a government that hasn’t always cared about these communities.
How did the pandemic change not only what you covered, but how you were able to cover your beat?
If there wasn’t a pandemic, one way I know I could be visible is at local churches or community meetings or grocery stores. In non-pandemic times, they would’ve been a really good meeting point.
I didn’t do a lot of COVID-19 reporting, so much as reporting on access to COVID-19 resources. Pacific Islanders were seeing crazy disproportionate rates of deaths. Many live in multi-family style homes where they can’t quarantine, but a lot of them are not getting information that’s in their language and culturally competent.
And the hate crime stories were really draining, too. Of course that was tied to the xenophobia that’s become a lot more front and center in the pandemic.
It felt like all of a sudden, all I was seeing were these horrible videos of attacks, and Asian American celebrities on Twitter decrying it. Given that you’ve been writing about the AAPI experience full-time for a year, how did that sudden attention feel?
It was honestly overwhelming. I had been thinking about these issues and reporting on them for so long, I think what was overwhelming was suddenly you see these headlines coming out at all sides, seeing it happen in communities across the country. It was really overwhelming to wrap my head around.
I think it grates me a little that Asian Americans have become more prominent in the news cycle because of discrimination and hate crimes and racism. I resent the fact that Asian Americans are being considered more relevant to the wide national mainstream coverage because of their pain. Asian American experiences aren’t defined by oppression and pain.
What do you hope readers takeaway from your stories?
I hope that people understand that discrimination against Asians is not new, it’s existed since the first Filipino came to America. It’s a part of California’s history, and is in some ways defined by it — the transcontinental railroad was built by Chinese laborers who were underpaid and underfed.
There’s also a long history of Asian American activism and contributions. Sacramento was built in no small part by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
And speaking of Sacramento, is there anything in particular you’ll miss about the city?
I’m going to miss being able to go to South Sac and parking my car at the 99 Ranch, or walking through the Seafood City plaza and indulging in all kinds for food from Asian communities to my heart’s content. There are not a lot of places in this country where you can do that, see different cultures not just concentrated in one area but spread out across a city.
— Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks
Here’s what else you need to know this week:
Must-Read Stories
CITIZEN OVERSIGHT COMMISSION: Sacramento County is creating a new citizen commission that will provide oversight of the Sheriff’s Office, as communities across the United States look to provide greater accountability over law enforcement agencies after the murder of George Floyd last year.
HELPING LOW-INCOME TENANTS: Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to set aside $7.2 billion to help low-income tenants financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic cover all of their outstanding rent and utility payments as part of a $100 billion economic recovery plan he announced Monday.
REPRESENTING CALIFORNIA’S NAACP MEMBERS: Dominique Donette is the new public affairs specialist for the California Hawaii State Conference NAACP(CA/HI NAACP). She will be the CA/HI NAACP’s lead lobbyist and will also support the organization’s communications and public relations strategies. Donette is a Sacramento native and was raised in Oak Park. She recently spoke with The Sacramento Bee to discuss her journey back to her hometown and her work with the NAACP.
NEW GRADING POLICY: The lowest grade students can get in a Sacramento school district is 50. Here’s why that’s equitable.
She reported on Latino communities as COVID spread. Help The Sacramento Bee fund her work
Kim Bojórquez joined The Sacramento Bee last year through Report for America as the newspaper’s Latino communities reporter. So far, she’s reported on the pandemic’s unequal toll on Latino Californians, Latino representation in California’s public offices, and how Latino business owners are weathering the health crisis.
As she enters her second year with The Bee, she will dig deeper into the health and economic inequities facing Latino communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
➡️ Here’s how you can support her reporting.
»» Read Local. Support Local. Donate today.
Watch: ‘Meet The Bee’s New Editor and Help Shape Our Coverage’
The Sacramento Bee’s new executive editor, Colleen McCain Nelson, spoke with Bee reporters Marcus D. Smith and Sam Stanton. They asked Colleen subscriber questions and joined the discussion about the future of The Bee and local news.
In case you missed it, catch up here.
More Interesting Reads
More Californians would get new $600 stimulus checks from the state under Newsom plan | The Sacramento Bee
Who’s getting a California stimulus check? Here’s a look at who qualifies in Newsom plan | The Sacramento Bee
Gavin Newsom wants to spend billions to fight homelessness in California. Here’s the plan | The Sacramento Bee
Noriko Nasu was the victim of a violent, unprovoked attack in Seattle. Now, she’s speaking out against anti-Asian hate crimes | The Seattle Times
Why Black women are often missing from conversations about police violence | FiveThirtyEight
Moms Are Speaking Up About The Trauma Of Childbirth | BuzzFeed News
What we’re listening to (and you should, too!)
Produced by Ziwe, starring Ziwe, and musical performances by Ziwe, too. Those words read as warning. If you’ve been on Twitter or Instagram in the last year, I’m sure you’ve seen some snippet of her mischievous and quick-witted interviews originally recorded on Instagram Live. Her style: making liberal famous people hilariously expose the irony in their own sometimes prejudices, sometimes irreverent thinking. The Showtime presented (also home to Desus & Mero) special is peak new style late-night television. The show started with an interview between her and Fran Lebowitz (who she later pinned as the “Martin Luther King of women writers who are satirical”) and was followed by scenes from a panel of middle-aged women lamenting their burden and ultimately their pride in being named “Karen”. The show was funny and sharp. I do hope, though, to see a range of topics from her. Until then, I hope you enjoy!
— Keiona Williamson
Where to find us
❗ We want to hear from you! Please send us your story tips and thoughts to equitylab@sacbee.com.
➡️ You can also follow us on Instagram and Twitter, and like us on Facebook at @EquityLabSac.
Thank you for reading, and we will see you again next week!
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This story was originally published May 12, 2021 at 2:15 PM.