A Conversation with Curtis Chin

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 10! Today we’re talking about Bangladeshi Americans, a separate group of the South Asian diaspora (Desi community) that’s a growing presence in the U.S. We go back to Bangladesh and talk about the importance of the area to the rest of India and the British Empire. Knowing the history of Bangladesh is essential to understand some of the struggles the Bangladeshi community has had in America.

We also discuss the trauma of the Partition of India in 1947 as well as the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971… but both events contributed to the formation of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. It’s a unique area in South Asia, and the resilience of the people has added to some of the most positive qualities found in Bangladeshi Americans. This episode just scratches the surface of the community. We highly recommend Bengali Harlem, created by filmmaker and scholar Vivek Bald, which now includes a book, a documentary, and a site with Family Stories. 

If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Segments

• 00:25 Quick Intro
• 01:38 The History of Bangladeshi Americans
• 33:22 Shameless Plug… We’re Consultants for Hire

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 9. We had a lot of fun talking to Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh about her life, her career, and her work with the Asian Classical Music Initiative. Dr. Deviatkina-Loh performs on violin and viola, and she is also a pedagogue, sharing her knowledge in various settings across the world. She’s the president of the 2024 ACMI @ MSMU conference at Mount Saint Mary’s University on April 13-14, 2024. It’s open to the public and will feature performers, composers, and scholars.

Originally from Australia, Dr. Deviatkina-Loh received her Bachelor of Music in Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before furthering her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London for her Master of Arts degree and then the University of California, Los Angeles for her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 2020. She has performed as a soloist and recitalist internationally in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, The US, and China. Her solo album Soliloquy as well as her collaborations can be found on pretty much any music platform out there.

As a pedagogue, she’s been a speaker and presented at conferences including the Alliance of Women in Media Arts and Technology and the Asian Classical Music Initiative, and also worked as a Teaching Assistant and Fellow at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, the Beckman YOLA Center, and for the International Grand Music Festival in Indonesia.

You can support ACMI by participating in the conference as an attendee or speaker/performer. To apply to be a part of the conference, you can go to this Google Form that they’ve set-up. To learn more, we encourage you to visit Xenia’s website or social media on YouTube or Instagram, ACMI@MSMU’s website, ACMI’s website or social media on Facebook or Instagram.

If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 8! Today’s conversation is with Amy Chu, a co-founder and former editor of A. Magazine, screenwriter, co-founder of Alpha Girl Comics, and well-known comic book author. Her latest title is Fighting to Belong! Volume 1 (out now, so go get it), which is a graphic novel focused on the history and contributions of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders in America. Published by Third State Books, Fighting to Belong! is co-written with Amy’s son, Alexander Chang, and illustrated by Louie Chin. It’s a collaborative project with The Asian American Foundation, The Asian American Education Project, and others. The importance of Fighting to Belong! cannot be overstated. Through an engaging story, readers will be entertained, engaged, educated, and empowered.

Amy has written a diverse collection of titles that include Poison Ivy, Kiss, Wonder Woman, Red Sonja, Dejah Thoris, and Ant-Man. Two of our favorite works by Amy are the Trot and Cap’n Bill series for teens and Carmilla: The First Vampire graphic novel. Amy is able to weave in diversity and depth to her stories in a way that makes typically underrepresented people (like API) feel seen and heard. In our conversation, we talk about all of these things as well as her journey to comics, the importance of diverse storytelling, the status of Fighting to Belong! Volume 2, what draws her to writing complex characters, and so much more.

Whether you like comics, good storytelling, history, or diversity, we highly recommend getting Fighting to Belong! or any of Amy’s other work, but especially the Trot and Cap’n Bill series, Carmilla: The First Vampire, and Poison Ivy. You can learn more about Amy through her website and her work with Alpha Girl Comics. She also has signed copies of her work available. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram as well. 

If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 7! It’s no secret that we love sumo. We even talk about AAPI in Professional Sumo back in S02E40. So it was really exciting to get a chance to have a conversation with Ter, the creator of the YouTube channel SumoStew. She’s one of our favorite content creators… definitely our favorite who covers sumo. It all comes down to her passion and creativity. Her videos mix authentic voice with thorough research and eye-catching graphics.

So in this conversation Ter takes time to talk about her love of sumo, her process of creating episodes, the challenges of being a YouTube content creator, her reflections on the recently completed January Basho (tournament), her hopes for the upcoming March Basho, and a lot more. If you want to learn what mawashi (the belt rikishi wear) trend Ter would love to see or the fighting style she’d adopt if she was a rikishi, then listen to the episode! We highly recommend finding SumoStew on YouTube... and if you’re a fan of her work, then consider supporting SumoStew on Patreon as well.

If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 6. Father Jun is one of our favorite characters on Warrior… so we were so unbelievably excited to have a conversation with Perry Yung! With about 30 acting credits to his name for TV and Film, Perry has also worked on stage and in music. We also love how he merges his activism and beliefs into his acting and music. In this conversation, we talk a little about his love of music, the shakuhachi flute, the SLANT Performance group that he co-founded, his journey as an actor, the special experience on Warrior, his directorial debut with the Stop Asian Hate! Love One Another short film, Grace Lee Boggs (we did an episode on her for S01E04), creative agency, and so much more.

Warrior was not renewed by Max (Boo!), but the first three seasons will be released on Netflix on February 16th (Yay!). To get a season 4, it’s essential for Netflix to understand what Warrior means to the Asian American community and the world of diverse stories. Supporting Warrior supports stories for all underrepresented groups. So if you have Netflix, please support them on February 16th and beyond! And If you don’t have Netflix… maybe you should get it just to watch Warrior. 

We begin this episode by talking about the Asian Classical Music Initiative (ACMI), and the upcoming 2024 ACMI @ MSMU International Conference. It’s going to be held on April 13th and April 14th, 2024 at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles, and it’s open to the public. Please check out ACMI and their upcoming conference. If you’re a performer, composer, or scholar, you can apply to present… or you could just attend and learn. For more info, go to www.kuacmi.com/2024-conference-call.

Again, please support Warrior when it releases on Netflix! And if you want to see more of Perry Yung, visit his acting site, his Yung Flutes site, follow him on Instagram @perryyungofficial, follow his band Judo Club, and look out for the short film Stop Asian Hate! Love One Another at the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival in Eugene, Oregon Live March 8-10 and Virtual March 11-17 (and hopefully many other places). 

If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Segments

• 00:25 Talking about ACMI and Intro to Perry Yung
• 02:03 A Conversation with Perry Yung

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 5! Our conversation this week is with the talented author, Jamie Jo Hoang. Her latest novel, My Father, the Panda Killer is a heartfelt story based on her life. We really enjoyed the book, even the moments that were tough to read… and that’s because Hoang’s novel focuses on a Vietnamese American family that is dealing with the intergenerational trauma that’s a result of the Vietnam War and the refugee experience. It’s also told from the dual perspectives of the Jane (the main character) in 1999 and Phúc (Jane’s father) throughout his traumatic refugee experience as a child.

Hoang brings up topics that are often glazed over in novels or told from an American (white) perspective, so the story comes across as a unique perspective that’s more personal. In our conversation, we discuss her career; My Father, the Panda Killer; the challenges with overcoming trauma; and so much more. You can learn more about Jamie from her website, social media posts on Instagram or Twitter/X, and from her blog. And don’t forget to get My Father, the Panda Killer or her first novel Blue Sun, Yellow Sky!

If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 4. If you’re new to our podcast then just know that we occasionally do a series called Most Forgotten Massacres, where we take time to talk about a moment (generally in U.S. history) where racism and discrimination turned to violence against the Asian Pacific American community. The Anti-Filipino Watsonville Riots were one of those moments. 

Filipino workers were targeted in this five-day outburst of violence. There were several factors that contributed to the death and destruction, and the impact was felt for years. It’s important we acknowledge these moments in our history, learn from them, and improve. We highly recommend reading more about the Filipino experience through the excellent book Little Manila Is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California by Professor Dawn Bohulano Mabalon.

In our additional segment, we take time to talk about the Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, and Critics’ Choice Awards. And in our intro, we cover a few notable current events in the APIDA world. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Segments

• 00:25 Current Events 
• 04:58 The History of the Anti-Filipino Watsonville Riots
• 27:09 Celebrations! It’s Awards Season with Emmy, Golden Globe, and Critic’s Choice Awards

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 3. As many of you know, we love hockey! Recently, in November 2023, George Chin, a legend of Asian Canadian ice hockey, passed away. He was the star winger on the Chin brothers line along with his brothers Bill and Albert. The Chinese Canadian trio helped their hometown Lucknow team to be highly successful. In this episode, we talk about the life of George Chin and all the teams he made an impact on. 

In our opening, we discuss our personal goals for the New Year. In our recurring segment, we bring back What Are We Watching and talk about Scott Pilgrim Takes Off on by Bryan Lee O’Malley and Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan. What do we think of these shows? What’s the API representation like? And most importantly, how have they adapted the stories?

If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Segments

• 00:25 New Year’s Resolutions
• 02:03 The History of George Chin
• 19:32 What Are We Watching? Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and Percy Jackson

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 2! There’s a global fascination with the Old West cowboys in America. Did you know that the Hawaiian Paniolo pre-dates the Old West cowboys by several years? The Mexican Vaqueros have even more history. In this episode, we talk about the history of the Paniolo… AKA the Hawaiian Cowboy. 

You’ll learn about the origin of longhorn cattle in Hawaii; how riding, roping, and herding cattle came to be a practice on the islands; and the names of several well-known Paniolo like Ikea Purdy and Eben Low, who became local and national heroes. Their impact at the 1908 Cheyenne, Wyoming Frontier Days was a moment of pride for the islands that had just been annexed by the U.S. Government. For deeper insight into the cowboys of this era and the Paniolo, check out the book Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World’s Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West by David Wolman and Julian Smith. It’s very well written. You can also check out the Paniolo Preservation Society. 

We open the episode by talking about a lot of current events we needed to make time for… and we cover politics, sports, entertainment, and more! In our recurring segment we share one place to help… the Kāko‘o Maui Fund. Many people in Maui could still use our help. Recovery from the fires will take a lot longer, and the Kako’o Maui Housing Program is here to help. They often have matching donors. 

If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Segments

• 00:25 Lots of Current Events
• 07:40 The History of the Paniolo AKA the Hawaiian Cowboy
• 28:57 Places to Help… Kako’o Maui Housing Program

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 1. Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful holiday season and had fun on New Year’s Eve. To launch this new season, we’re going back to the thing that’s at our core… Asian American History. Our special guests for this conversation are Professor Yoon Pak and Dr. Sharon Lee, two of the key leaders helping with the implementation of the TEAACH Act. The Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act was a historic moment for Illinois and the country, because it made Illinois the first state to mandate the teaching of Asian American history in K-12 public schools. 

Although it was an unfunded mandate, groups like The Asian American Foundation and Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago stepped in to help raise awareness and funds. None of this would have happened without the hard work of Yoon Pak and Sharon Lee from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who created the curriculum and resources organized in three modules. The professional development for K-12 educators is key in implementing the TEAACH Act well. 

Yoon Pak is the Head of the Education Policy, Organization and Leadership department at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Among other things, she specializes in the history of intercultural education from the 1930s-1950s. She was recently awarded the 2023 Campus Executive Officer Distinguished Leadership Award. Sharon Lee is a Teaching Assistant Professor in EPOL and program coordinator for Diversity and Equity in the department. Her research and teaching background is in diversity and equity in higher education; history of education; and Asian American student experiences. Her book An Unseen Unheard Minority: Asian American Students at the University of Illinois was published by Rutgers University Press. Check out the TEAACH Act Resources and enjoy the conversation!

If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.