A National Townhall on Hate Crimes takes place from June 19th-24th recognizing the 25th Anniversary of the Death of Vincent Chin.

In June 1982, Chinese American Vincent Chin was killed in Detroit by two unemployed white autoworkers who had been recently been laid off. This hate crime, motivated by anti-Japanese sentiments, served as a rallying cry for
the Asian American community and is often considered the beginning of a pan-Asian American movement.

Twenty five years later, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress and local partners around the country look back in time and assess where we are now. With recent high-profile attacks on Asian Americans in New York, Michigan and Wisconsin, APAP is organizing a series of events throughout the nation around the anniversary of Vincent's murder. Each event will include a special screening of the Academy-Award nominated documentary, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" and panels with local community leaders.

NEW YORK
June 19, 6:30 PM
Co-sponsored by the Museum of Chinese in the Americas
MOCA (70 Mulberry Street, 2nd Floor)
John Liu (New York City Councilman), Liz Ouyang (Executive Vice President,
OCA), Darwin Davis (President and CEO, New York Urban League)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI
June 19, 6:00 PM
Co-sponsored by the Asian Victims Relief Fund
St. Mary Magdalen Family Center, 1213 52nd St., Kenwood
Dan Levy (Chief Legal Officer, Michigan Dept. of Civil Rights) Pravina
Ramanathan (Asian American Liaison, Michigan Dept. of Civil Rights),
Ingrid

Farewell to John "Lukey" Yang, 16

AsianConnections thanks Elvis Thao for his permission to reprint his
personal tribute to his friend.

FAREWELL
John "Lukey" Yang

September 13, 1991 -
April 22, 2008

The untimely death of John "Lukey" Yang, 16, on Tuesday
from an automobile accident has shocked and saddened
the Milwaukee, Wisconsin community and all the friends and family that knew young John. The local news reported the tragic accident.

Funeral services observing Hmong traditions
will begin tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday for Lukey
at Church and Chapel Funeral Home in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. Lukey will be laid to rest on Monday.

"Lukey", as he was called was like a little brother to Elvis Thao 25, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Elvis, a freestyle rapper and musician with
RARE, a popular band that is based in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin writes this tribute to his young friend Lukey.

He was a good kid. Smart, brave, creative, and to me,
most importantly, fun. This dude was funny as all
hell.

Man, he was funny. If there was one thing that I
liked, it was his brightness. At age 16, he knew how
to hunt, fish, touch cars, fix houses, drive and so
much more.

A lot of things that at my age (25) I do
not know how to do. He was also very athletic, yet
clumsy (haha) at the same time. He was also a rapper
and a great dancer.

This dude could dance. We always had fun with it.
Messing with each other. He absolutely
loved music. And I really would have liked to use him
for something of that in the...

Awareness of the common symptoms of Ovarian cancer could to lead to an earlier diagnosis.

According to the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF), it is estimated that more than 22,000 women will be told they have ovarian cancer this year and more than 15,000 will die from this deadly cancer. At present, about 80% of these cancers are not diagnosed in their early stages, leading to a reduced chance of survival. Often referred to as the "silent killer" because there are no warning signs or symptoms, ovarian cancer is the most deadly reproductive cancer, ranking fifth in cancer deaths among women.

According to Dr. Barbara Goff, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington and other researchers, bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly, and urgency or frequency in urinary symptoms are more likely to occur in women with ovarian cancer than women in the general population.

The Gynecologic Cancer Foundation led this research effort to form a consensus in response to ovarian cancer survivors who long held the belief that there were common symptoms of ovarian cancer.

"This agreement on common symptoms of ovarian cancer hopefully will lead to earlier diagnosis when a cure is more likely," said Dr. Goff. "We know that when women are diagnosed in Stage I of the disease, it is 90% curable. Unfortunately, until now there has been no agreement on common symptoms, allowing women to go undiagnosed, despite visits to the doctor, until it was...

Berkeley, California 

Memories of Sweet Caroline,

and of Oakland’s Chinatown 

by Ben Fong-Torres

Caroline Chin was a neighbor and classmate of mine when we grew up in Chinatown, Oakland, in the ‘50s. We went to Lincoln Elementary, Westlake Jr High, and Chinese school together.

She went on to become a teacher, an administrator and, finally, principal at (full circle) Lincoln School, in the early 2000’s, just before retiring. Under her leadership, it became a California Distinguished School, and would go on to become a National Blue Ribbon School. At her various stops, she encouraged kids and teachers alike to "work hard; learn a lot."

A large, overflow crowd--maybe 750 or 800--learned a lot about Caroline Chin Yee, who passed away last month, at her services at the First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley.

Caroline had what appeared to have been a full and perfectly balanced life. She and her husband since 1968, Gary Yee, were devoted to their church – and to traveling the world. She even combined globetrotting with teaching, once in Zhongshan; another time, in Edinburgh, Scotland.  She had wonderful siblings, two children, grandkids and in-laws. One niece, Terri Lee, introduced herself as “the oldest of her nieces. So I’m guessing I was her favorite.” 

She and others, family and friends, told of Caroline’s dedication to them, and to children in general, and to the wider community.

Caroline passed away on February 21; her memorial was...

Have you heard this before? “Love or Business, you have to choose.” The message is direct - you have to decide what you value more, something/one you love or your work/business. Actually, there is a more factual statement – Love is Good Business.

February is the month of love. A great deal of thought and energy will be spent on expressions of love, usually for a romantic partner. The truth in the old axiom, Love makes the World Go Round, applies to all aspects of life, not only to romantic love. When you are doing what you love, you are going to be more successful in it, and you will also be happier and at peace. It’s only natural.

“I don’t think I have ever worked in my life, because work to me means that you are really doing something you don’t like.”

John Kluge, multibillionaire founder of Metromedia

            How do you harness the immense power of love in your business? You’ve guessed it – love what you do. Wait, you say, I work for money, I don’t love my work. Or, I used to like my job but over the years it’s gotten boring; now I am doing it because I can’t think of what else I can do to earn a living. Uh oh, we need to talk. It is highly unlikely that you are going to be able to excel in your business if you are just going through the motions. Equally if not more important, your quality of life is reduced because you are spending many of your waking hours at something which gives you...