Category Archives: blog

blog, diversity, journalism, news, race

NABJ, the National Association of Black Journalists, pulls out of 2012 Unity convention: Not a good sign for coalitions of color

Read my column at  http://www.aaldef.org/blog  to see why it’s a shock that the black journalists group has pulled out of Unity.

Established in 1994 to be a prime example of diversity in action, Unity’s biggest accomplish was just being there every four years, thousands of journalists of color all together.

When NABJ says it wants more of cut from the big confab that Unity puts on simply because it’s bigger, that’s a bad sign not just for diversity advocates in journalism but for any coalitions based on minority groups of varying size.

Who gets the bigger say? What happened to the greater good?

Greater what? NABJ essentially is saying don’t take it personally bleeding hearts. It’s just business.

And when the largest group pulls out of Unity, what are you left with? 

Nether unity, nor Unity.

blog, news, politics

Our government’s covert mission in Libya: Is the U.S. creating a new Hmong? What we can learn from the Hmong experience

At his Tuesday speech on Libya, the president used the phrase “To be blunt…”  The implication was that he was about to deliver a kind of crushing truth.

But instead of being blunt on Libya, he was really being blunt about the path the Bush administration took in starting a war in Iraq, putting troops on the ground, taking eight years and thousands of lives, and nearly a trillion dollars. “That is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya,” the president said.

So what can we afford? 

A covert action!

NBC is reporting the U.S. is involved in a “covert” action in Libya, which could lead to arming the rebels who appear to be in grave need of at “military advisors.”

Hmmm. Sound like Vietnam yet?

The covert part should at least bring back the image of the Hmong who were involved in the so-called “Secret War” in 1961. Armed by the U.S., tens of thousands of Hmong were trained by the CIA  to help beat back Communist troops threatening Laos.

In the long war, over 100,000 Hmong lost their lives, as Laos ultimately fell. The U.S. began resettling them to America in 1975. Today the Hmong population approaches 300,000 in the U.S., their new homeland.

Is that the fate of the Libyan rebels?  Many of them have travelled from places like the U.S. and Canada to join the fight for their land. One said to NBC’s Richard Engel, that they don’t care about the rockets, and that he wants to die.  “It’s freedom,” he said.

Makes the rebels sound like they are on a suicide mission. Unlike the Hmong, the Libyan rebels have no jungles to hide in to wage a rebel fight. They’re in the open desert, staying near the public roads where they are  sitting ducks.

But does that make our greater  humanitarian effort aiding in the war?  Or is the real humanitarianism in the bringing back survivors to the U.S. when the fighting ends?

Obama can learn a thing or two from the Hmong experience.

Read my other comments on Libya at www.aaldef.org/blog

blog, news, politics

Obama’s “War”: As NATO takes over in Libya, rebels find they can’t move without U.S. enablers

Reports out today that the Libyan rebels are finding that the ease of movement last week is no longer. Last week, the U.S.’ rebel partners had airstrikes and were traversing more friendly territory. Now NBC News is reporting the rag-tag rebels are having a tough time advancing  on and confronting the Gadhafi loyalists.  The rebs want more sophisticated weapons. Rocks won’t cut it. Now does NATO and the U.S. arm them?  

We’re getting sucked into a real war here, folks. No matter what the president says, the U.S. is the war enabler.

Now, how humanitarian is that? 

Check out my blog at www.aaldef.org/blog  to read my reaction to the president’s Libya speech.

blog, diversity, race

Asian Americans fastest growing minority in the country? What would Alexandra Wallace, the anti-Asian rantng, ex-UCLA coed say?

Asian Americans have been using Alexandra Walace as our domestic diversion from the real news of Japan and Libya.

But she’s what all Asian Americans face, especially as more AAPIs find themselves in far-flung places, recycling the immigrant experience in areas that to date have relatively  little AAPI experience beyond a Panda Express.

When Vietnamese refugees were sent to Texas in the 70s and 80s, we know what happened. It wasn’t exactly California. But go there now and see a thriving community a generation later.

Today, a new cycle begins for the nation’s fastest growing minority in brand new states  like Kentucky,  Tennessee and Georgia, where it’s 1965 all over again. Only the outsiders aren’t black—-they’re various shades of yellow.

On the inside?   I’d say, the odds are good  you’ll find clones of UCLA’s Alexandra Wallace.

For more on her, read my blog at www.aaldef.org/blog