Transpacific Routes
Elson Trinidad tracks the waves and currents of Southern California's
Asian/Pacific Islander communities.
Transpacific Routes:
The ethnic restaurants that dot SoCal are perhaps the most prominent ways that people can either introduce themselves to a certain culture, or for others to maintain their own cultural ties. But just as visible on the streets are the presence of ethnic supermarkets.
Transpacific Routes:
Perhaps one of the solutions to Los Angeles' illegal street vending problem lies in an example set over four decades ago in a city some 9,000 miles away.
Transpacific Routes:
For most travelers, airports are merely utilitarian structures, facilities for processing and more. But for those who send-off or greet travelers, airports are places of tearful farewells, cheerful reunions, and every other kind of emotion in between.
Transpacific Routes:
Though Asian Americans aren't totally above making up phonetic pun jokes of our own, actual names of Asian origin, particularly family names, are much more than just random monosyllabic noises -- they have actual meanings.
Transpacific Routes:
In a city that prides itself on its cultural diversity, its legislative body is currently comprised of eight whites, three Latinos, and three African Americans. And zero of Asian/Pacific Islander ancestry.
Transpacific Routes:
Whenever I mentioned to friends and family that I was going to Hong Kong, I would often hear, "Don't forget to visit the Night Market.
Transpacific Routes:
The multi-city Greater Little Saigon area in Orange County now boasts some 2,000 businesses and a population of some 125,000 residents of Vietnamese descent.
Transpacific Routes:
I improvised my presentation by engaging in a discussion about current social media practices here. But somewhere in the discussion, I went off on a not-too-irrelevant tangent and unexpectedly landed on the topic of Asian American identity.
Transpacific Routes:
What is certain will be our demographics: Los Angeles County's population will be predominately Latino and Asian.
Transpacific Routes:
The purpose of the video at UC Irvine was innocent enough -- that is, until one of the members performed in blackface.
Transpacific Routes:
Long Beach resident and community organizer Marin Yann has decided, after an entire decade of writing about it, to tell his story.
Transpacific Routes:
Only in America could people whose heritage hails from within and around the world's largest continent be considered a single demographic group.
Commentary:
It was 425 years ago on this day that the first Filipinos arrived in what is now the United States on a Spanish galleon near Morro Bay, CA -- some 33 years before Pilgrims from England arrived at Plymouth Rock.
Commentary:
Ryan Suda, owner of Torrance-based Asian American t-shirt company Blacklava. | Photo: Elson Trinidad "I SPEAK ENGLISH." "GOOD ASIAN DRIVER." "I SUCK AT MATH." "I WILL NOT LOVE YOU LONG TIME." These are all satirical phrases boldly emblazoned on t-shirts...
Commentary:
Tucked away in northern Hawthorne, a small but active Tongan community flourishes like nowhere else in the Southland.
Commentary:
On any given night, restaurant tables are filled, cash registers ring, and empty street parking spaces are nonexistent. But Thai Town still faces some big challenges.
Commentary:
Cultural festivals are an integral part of the Southern California ethnic dynamic.
Commentary:
It has long been the (Asian) American Dream to be well-represented and recognized in the mainstream, most particularly within the entertainment industry. Then, this summer, something happened.
Commentary:
In 21st century America, Korean culture is emerging into the mainstream, yet it still remains a mystery to most Americans.
Commentary:
Well-refrigerated, it's the perfect beverage on hot summer days like these. Until I saw it: A large Hollywood office building swaddled in oversized advertising wrap featuring pop singer Rihanna, hawking... coconut water.
SoCal Focus is a blog about the people, places, and issues in and around Southern California.
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