Giving back to Elk Grove district + How to get into college + Coronavirus fears: Your AAPI newsletter
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It is Wednesday, March 11, and this is The Sacramento Bee’s AAPI weekly newsletter.
Here’s a recap on the stories I recently covered and issues I’m following:
Four positions on the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Trustees will be open at the end of the year. A Hmong American who is an alumni of the district has announced his candidacy for a seat. Sean Yang is a refugee who left Thailand with his parents to come to the U.S. at age 12 after the Vietnam War, He lived in Fresno, then south Sacramento and now Elk Grove. Growing up on welfare, Yang graduated in Valley High School in 1996.
Yang advocates for a safe and nurturing learning environment, cultural relevance and equity, among other goals. He said he wants to give back to the community that raised him. Experts who endorsed Yang talked about the importance of representation within the district to understand and address struggles that reflect the student body.
To encourage students to pursue higher education, Sacramento State on Friday hosted its second Asian Pacific Islander College Day. Prospective students were able to familiarize with the college admission process, debunk myths about financial aid and see what life on college campus looks like. More than 800 middle and high-school students from the Sacramento City Unified School District attended the event.
“Going to college can be daunting, but when you get familiar and you see how easy it is to go to college, and you find that it is affordable, and that there are scholarships, then you can say, ‘I’m going to do this,’” said Robert S. Nelsen, Sacramento State president.
In other news
Sacramento food vlogger becomes a homegrown success, with an Asian sensibility [The Sacramento Bee]
Asian American lawmakers urge Congress members to help stop coronavirus-fueled xenophobia [NBC News]
As coronavirus spreads, fears of taking down California’s economy [CalMatters]
Three leaders of Philippines-based church in Van Nuys indicted on human trafficking, immigration charges [Los Angeles Times]
Amid coronavirus outbreak, Vietnamese American student alleges teacher singled him out for coughing in class [Los Angeles Times]
Korean American community fights coronavirus rumors spread through social media, part of a campaign effort organized by U.S.-based Korean language newspaper The Korean Daily [Orange County Register]
U.S. to begin taking DNA samples from immigrants who enter the country illegally [NBC News]
A Chinese restaurant chain in California is checking customers’ body temperatures and turning diners away amid coronavirus fears [Business Insider]
Across languages and generations, one family is reviving Cambodian original music [NPR]
Remembering Tony DeZuniga, Fil-Am master creator of superheroes “in the ranks of DC and Marvel artists” [USA Inquirer]
Why it matters that Asian representation is growing in audiobooks [NBC News]
For things to do in Sacramento and beyond, the Hmong Youth and Parents United is organizing a “Mulan” movie night on March 27 at the Regal Natomas Marketplace & RPX. Reservations begin on Friday.
The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco is organizing a free art workshop on March 21 in support of Tsuru for Solidarity.
What stories would you like to read about? Send your story to me at tyu@sacbee.com.
That’s it for this week’s newsletter. Thank you for reading!
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 6:34 AM.