Thousands rally and march to demand full legalization and declare "round two" in response to a new wave of Sensenbrenner-backed attacks.
Today, the New York metropolitan-area immigrants rights movement presented its platform of demands to the nation from Union Square, and declared Round Two of its response to lawmakers failure to propose and pass a full, fair, and humane legalization bill. Marching to Times Square, more than two thousand protesters declared, No Deal! No Half-Steps, No Half-Measures! Full Legalization Now! and demanded an immediate end to detentions and deportations.
Earlier this week, New York United for Immigrant Rights (NYUIR)a coalition of more than 75 immigrant and human rights organizations in the New York metro areacalled on all communities to denounce the new wave of Sensenbrenner-backed attacks on immigrants. In September, the House passed a series of enforcement-only bills that authorized the construction of a redoubtable $6 billion border fence, and proposed to misuse state and local police to enforce civil immigration laws and shield the government from accountability for misdeeds or misapplication of immigration law, among other measures.
Local residents from Latino, Asian, Caribbean, African, Arab, labor, religious, civil rights, and human rights communities marched to Times Square, carrying a Border Wall of Remembrance and Resistance to commemorate the people who are suffering under current immigration laws, and a series of funeral coffins...
James Kim, a Father and a Hero
I don't know what it is, but, even after all these years, I feel a sense of pride when I see an Asian face in a prominent position in the media.
I was proud, then, to see James Kim's smiling alongside his many pieces on CNET's site, explaining and reviewing digital music products, making them understandable to geeks and non-geeks alike. He was a senior editor at CNET, specializing in reviews of mp.3 players. He also appeared on the site's online show, Crave, talking gadgets in an unassuming style. He had an easy laugh, and got others to laugh with him.
So it was a disturbing piece of news to hear, in late November, that he and his family were missing in the wintry woods of southern Oregon, where theyd gone on a Thanksgiving trip from their home in San Francisco.
James, 35, his wife Kati, 30, and their two daughters, four year-old Penelope and seven month-old Sabine, came from San Franciscofrom my own neighborhood, in fact: Noe Valley, where James and Kati owned an an apothecary shop. They also had a small clothing store in the Haight-Ashbury, and James worked full-time at CNET. This was a handsome, happy family, full of life and future.
And then they got lost in the Oregon wilderness. For agonizing days, there was no word of the family, which had traveled north in a station wagon. On December 4, a helicopter pilot spotted Kati and the girls, and they were rescued. We then learned that James had set off, in the snow and through unknown...
Javade Chaudhri, Nicholas deB Katzenbach, and Helen Zia to receive 2007 AALDEF Justice in Action Awards at Lunar New Year Gala in New York.
New York, NYOn Thursday, February 22, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) will honor Javade Chaudhri, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Sempra Energy, Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, former Attorney General of the United States, and Helen Zia, author and activist, with the 2007 Justice in Action Award at its annual Lunar New Year Gala at PIER SIXTY, Chelsea Piers, in New York City. ABC News Correspondent Juju Chang will be M.C. for the evening's festivities.
The Gala begins with a 6 p.m. cocktail reception followed by the Justice in Action Awards ceremony, a three-course dinner, and a silent auction. Tables of ten, available at $50,000, $20,000, $10,000, and $6,000, include a VIP reception. Individual tickets start at $500. Special $200 member-priced tickets are also available. For ticket information, contact Lillian Ling at 212.966.5932 x202.
Proceeds from the Lunar New Year Gala benefit AALDEF's legal and educational programs in immigrant rights, economic justice for workers, voting rights and civic participation, affirmative action, language access to services, youth rights and educational equality, and the elimination of hate violence and police misconduct.
AALDEFs Justice in Action Awards recognize exceptional individuals for their outstanding achievements and contributions in advancing justice...
UNITY Exec. Director urges ABC's "The View" producer Barbara Walters to make a public statement acknowledging racial comments by Rosie O'Donnell are offensive and unacceptable
The offensive behavior displayed by "The View" co-host Rosie O'Donnell in attempting to mimic the Chinese language reflects poorly on ABC Daytime and the show's producer, ABC News correspondent Barbara Walters.
UNITY: Journalists of Color represents more than 10,000 journalists nationwide from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, including Chinese American.
In one brief action, O'Donnell and "The View" not only offended Chinese Americans, but all of UNITY's partner organizations: the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association.
"The View" offers robust commentary on issues of the day, which viewers tune in to learn what the show's high-profile women think about these topics. When one of the co-hosts demeans and mocks the language of an entire race of people on national television, it warrants an explanation by the show's producer at least, and by the network at most.
UNITY recognizes that while O'Donnell is an entertainer and not a broadcast journalist, her producer is one. As producer, Walters should publicly acknowledge that O'Donnell's remarks were patently offensive and that such insults should have no place on the public airwaves.
By allowing O'Donnell's...
Ti-Hua Chang Reports on Asian American Poverty in New York City.
In reporter Ti-Hua Chang's story on Asian American Poverty in New York City, which airs tonight on Channel 9 ( WWOR-TV) at 10pm, the segment begins with Asians picking through garbage for food. According to Chang, "In New York City, Asians and Asian Americans are poorer than African Americans if you count government programs. "
I caught up with the award-winning journalist and his family in New York Chinatown after the Chinese New Year parade. Over dinner, he shared the news of his move to WNYW/Fox 5 in 2009 as a general assignment reporter from sister station WWOR/My9, where he served as a general assignment and investigative reporter since 2008. He has worked as a general assignment and investigative reporter at WCBS-TV, as a reporter with WNBC, and as the host of his own talk show, New York Hotline at WNYC-TV. Before he began his on-air career, he was an investigative producer at ABC News.
The recipient of numerous awards, in 1996, Chang won the Peabody Award for a series of reports he filed on accused drug-dealing murderers. In 2004, he won a New York Press Club award for his reports on a shooting at City Hall. He received an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2005 for a piece exposing police officers using a helicopter and high tech infra-red equipment to spy on private citizens. Chang is especially proud of discovering the four witnesses to the 1963 murder of Medgar Evers, which led to the reopening of that...