Introducing our newsletter on Sacramento’s Asian-American community, curated by Theodora Yu

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My name is Theodora and I am a Report for America corp member and a new reporter at The Sacramento Bee covering Asian American issues. Welcome to my new weekly newsletter!

Growing up in Hong Kong, the city has always been a place dear to my heart. During my junior year at the University of Hong Kong, where I majored in sociology, I helped cover the Umbrella Movement, a sit-in protest for universal suffrage in 2014, for the Associated Press. Being able to tell stories about home made me want to become a journalist.

Upon graduation, I worked at FactWire News Agency, a local investigative newsroom in Hong Kong funded through crowdsourcing. During my stay at FactWire, I realized the impact local journalism has in fostering understanding, and the privilege of accessing these groups further motivated me to report on local stories.

Before coming to The Bee, I spent a year in New York where I studied investigative journalism. There I found my interest covering issues pertaining to immigration, women’s rights and climate change. The experience of living abroad in diverse communities prompted me to start thinking about my own ethical identity and it sparked my interest to learn about the diaspora and generational differences in immigrant communities.

Wishing to further my career in reporting on local stories, I came to The Bee. I will report on under-reported stories in ethnic enclaves that are in the public interest and reflect broader systemic issues. Sacramento is a diverse city: nearly 20 percent of residents are Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders.

I hope to cover the Asian diaspora, the model minority myth, and immigration and mental health issues. On a broader level, I’ll write to inform the public on important matters such as Census 2020, an issue especially critical to people of color who are more likely to be undercounted. I wish to thank the local organizations for the warm welcome, and throughout the year, I hope I can embed myself in the community and report on stories, big or small.

I’ve already started. Last week, I told the story of the Buddhist Church of Florin, whose members opened a time capsule buried 37 years ago. The church is the only remaining property still used by Japanese Americans in Florin from before World War II and the time capsule contained newspaper clippings, family photographs, record tapes and church leaflets dating back to as early as the 1950s.

I also reported on a new federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health that will help health care service providers screen patients for hepatitis B, including Asian Americans, the population found to have the highest percentage of diagnosed cases for hepatitis B.

Email is the best way to contact me. Please feel free to say hi or send tips to tyu@sacbee.com. Looking forward to hearing from you.

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This story was originally published August 7, 2019 at 10:55 AM.