Updates
Blog
- Contributor bio:
- Emil Guillermo
In the red part of blue state California, Asian Americans have felt the burn, find hope in Sanders
With everything so presumptive in politics these days, it’s easy to see why the primary season has turned secondary. So Donald Trump crushing his GOP opponents in Nebraska and West Virginia was just…
Does SFPD racist texting scandal help us understand NYPD’s Liang-Gurley case?
Happy Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month (the official name signed into law, as per President George H.W. Bush‘s pen), or Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, or AANHPI Month. By…
Prince–Beyond race, a genius’ vision, an activist’s heart
For an Asian American guy like me, who has a penchant to go amok, Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy,” with its purple banana reference, was always a favorite. But now the lyrics seemed to have a divine…
We are all No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day, even Asian Americans like Tim Lincecum
Color lines were broken on April 15, 1947, almost a generation before the Civil Rights Act. That still left a lot of barriers to break down, even after Jackie Robinson took his first step into fair…
The nostalgic racism of Fox and “American Idol,” still hung up on William Hung
I was just getting back to normal. Not from the overwhelming sentimentality of watching the original “American Idol” judges–Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and Simon Cowell–take their star turn on last…
Harvard admits record number of Asian Americans, and a majority-minority class of 2020
I went back to Harvard last October, and there were Asians and Asian Americans everywhere. I even saw a Vietnamese sandwich truck at the foot of the Science Center, just outside the gates of Harvard…
The tie that binds–the Supreme Court after Scalia is a boon to labor unions
Hooray for the unions. For more than a generation since Ronald Reagan’s takeout of air traffic controllers, unions have been taking it on the chin, in the shorts, and every other soft tissue place…
Thinking about the Brussels strikes and my new fear–Demagoguephobia
I confess to something very un-American. Or since it’s me, would that be un-Asian American? Un-Filipino American? This week on the day after the attacks on Brussels, for the first time ever, I really…
Barack and Raul is the new dance beat in Cuba, but will it catch fire for Congress to end the blockade?
Even as an American Filipino, an Asian American, it’s hard not to be engaged by the historical news happening in Cuba. People are getting choked up over seeing the first American president in Cuba…
On the race question, Donald Trump, Democrats, and why not an Asian American debate?
Is Donald Trump a racist? That was a great first-round made-for-TV question from reporter Karen Tumulty at Wednesday’s Democratic debate in Miami, put on by Univision, the Washington Post and carried…
#OscarsSoWhite? Oscars so long, dull, and out of focus
It was getting so bad on the 88th Oscars telecast, I had the sound turned down. But then Chris Rock introduced the Oscar accountants. It was a bad enough sight gag. I only saw the three Asian American…
Shut down Guantanamo, and while you’re at it, don’t call it Gitmo
My dad once told me that when he first arrived in the U.S. in the 1920s, some Americans would say the family name in an odd way to his face. I always pronounced our name, Guillermo, the Filipino way:…
Justice Antonin Scalia’s death signals potential for change–time for an Asian American justice on the Supreme Court?
The Twitterverse was abuzz as soon as the news broke that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had been found dead at a resort in West Texas. I saw honest expressions of shocked disbelief, some with a…
Year of the Monkey, my father’s birthday, & Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins’ ignorance
Oakland Raiders quarterback great Kenny Stabler getting elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame made my Super Bowl Weekend. For me, that overshadowed the corporate juggernaut known as the Super…
Why I’m not watching #SuperBowl50, but rooting for Kenny Stabler instead
If you’re not a fan of the Carolina Panthers or the Denver Broncos, what team do you root for if you even bother to watch Super Bowl 50? You might go ethnic. When it comes to football, Asian Americans…
Iowa? More than 90 percent white, but Asian Americans will caucus in Election 2016
Donald Trump not on the debate stage on Thursday night? Big deal. Neither was an Asian American. But Asian Americans in Iowa are hoping to make some noise at the Iowa caucuses. There are some Asian…
Vincent Rodriguez III as the love object of Rachel Bloom? CW’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is my kind of show
I’ve talked about the lack of diversity in movies and TV forever in my pieces on this blog. And though the Oscars are once again all-white and deserving of our ire, Asian Americans of Filipino descent…
Obama’s one last appeal for a United States that works–together
State of the Union addresses are usually more “I have a list,” than they are “I have a dream.” But for this last go-round for President Obama, his list was shorter than normal, and the dream part was…
Asian Americans not immune from gun violence, so why no mention in Obama’s CNN gun show?
I hate guns. But I hate wimpier attempts at gun control more. And President Obama’s latest attempt is so modest, so restrained, it hardly makes the NRA quake in its boots. Even the president admitted,…
50 years later, Asian American images and links galore for 2015; Here comes Aziz Ansari in 2016
In 2015, is there a bigger story for Asian Americans than Islamophobia? What? You’re not Muslim? Aren’t you a big-beach-umbrella-Asian American? You don’t have to like sand. What about a golf…
Stay in touch with AALDEF
Get occasional updates via email, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.