In honor of Private Danny Chen’s 20th birthday, please join us for an artistic tribute and fundraiser. All proceeds will go towards mobilizing the family & community to attend the courts-martial and our continued efforts to raise awareness on Danny’s case.
Adults: $25.00 ; Students: $10.00 Purchase tickets here:
Performers include:
- Ada Chen
- Amy Chen
- Binari Drummers
- Jason Chu
- Kris Lew
- Project Agent Orange
- Taiyo Na
- Alex Wong
- Banny Chen
- Corky Lee
- Jason Kao Hwang
- Magnetic North
- YaliniDream
Donated Raffle Prizes: HD LCD TV, Wii, 5-day Cruise, Starbucks giftcards, Blacklava T-shirts & more!
Co-sponsors: Asian American Arts Alliance, Asian American/Asian Research Institute, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance-NY, Chinatown Partnership, Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans, East Coast Asian American Student Union, FCCNY, Gin Sun Hall Benevolent Association, Korean Americans for Political Advancement, NYU A/P/A Institute, OCA-Long Island, OCA-New Jersey, OCA-Westchester/Hudson Valley, United East Athletic Association
For more information, check them out on Twitter and Tumblr .
Asian In NY is also putting together videos of “salute” to Danny Chen on their Youtube.
Happy Mother’s Day!
I’d like to share a recipe my own mother passed onto me that I made tonight. This was a meal I ate all the time growing up, and when I was old enough, immediately asked to learn how to cook. From mapo tofu to tomatoes and eggs, from stir-fried bok choi to tang yuan, from steaming a giant fish to mixing all the leftovers with some water and rice to make pao-fan…I am my mother’s daughter. Food has always been a crucial part of who I am and if I go too long without eating some home cooking, I start feeling that loss in the very core of my identity.
This is how traditions, cultures, stories, and rituals get passed down in my family: in the kitchen. My dad would be singing while cooking up some vegetables while my mom was carefully controlling the oil splash from the pork chops as my brother and I sat at the table arguing and chatting.
Happy Mother’s Day, mom. I love you, this one’s for you!
Rena’s Pork Chops:
- Four center cut pork chops (I got mine from the local Asian supermarket for $4 for 6!)
- Soy sauce
- Ginger
- Green onion
- Garlic
- Vegetable stir-fry sauce
- White pepper
- Sugar
- Black pepper
- Salt
First, marinade the chops in a generous amount of soy sauce, vegetable stir-fry sauce, chopped garlic, chopped ginger, chopped green onion, black pepper, and white pepper. Let it sit for a couple hours and really soak in the flavor. Heat up a pan with some corn oil, ginger, garlic, and green pepper. After they’re browned and the smell has completely filled up your kitchen, splash a little soy sauce and put the first chop in. I poured a bit of the marinade in too since it was too dry. If it’s too salty, sprinkle some sugar on top and mix it into the sauce. Flip the chop after about 8 minutes and cook the other side thoroughly. Add in seasonings to taste and serve with steamed rice!
The manslaughter charge against Ryan Offutt has already been dropped.
NEW MODEL MINORITY!
Model Minority is a hip-hop trio made up of Grandmaster Chu, Inglish, and D-One (Jason Chu, Andrew Fung, and David Fung). They’re all sorts of badass and awesome, you might recognize them as the guy who did the “2011 Rap-Up” and the comedy duo the Fung Brothers.
Check out their freshest track, Year of the Dragon.
‘Round the Clock: Chinese American Artists Working in Los Angeles will present the work of five contemporary Chinese American artists — George Chann, John Kwok, Jake Lee, Milton Quon, and Tyrus Wong — is part of the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time initiative.
The exhibition features more than one hundred works by these Los Angeles artists including paintings, watercolors pre-production sketches, drawings, kites and ephemera. Central to the exhibit is an examination of how these artists balanced their art practices with their professional lives, and how they achieved success in the context of the social forces that surrounded their early lives.
“It’s imperative that, at the 32 hearings, that the top charges of negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter are not dropped,” Elizabeth OuYang, New York branch president of OCA, a national civil rights organization serving Asian Pacific Americans, said Friday. “What they did to Danny, drove Danny to his death and a strong signal must be sent throughout the military that anyone will face these charges if they engage in this type of conduct.”
Romney don’t you dare disrespect her and flip your hand in “blah blah” mode when she repeats that she loves this country. Tell it like it is auntie!
B.A.D.A.S.S.
The parents of a New York City Army private who committed suicide in Afghanistan have been told distressing new details of the racial bullying and mistreatment their son endured at the hands of his comrades.
A spokeswoman for Chen’s parents said investigators told them that on the day of his death, he was forced to crawl 100 metres on gravel with his equipment on as fellow GIs threw rocks at him.
Speaking through an interpreter, his mother said her 19-year-old son was called ‘dragon lady’ and derogatory phrases.
Soldiers made him give orders in Chinese while they mocked him. He was also forced to do multiple push-ups and sprints.
Private Danny Chen, who grew up in New York’s Chinatown area, was found dead in a guard tower at Combat Outpost Palace on October 3 after apparently committing suicide.
Eight U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan have been charged in connection with multiple counts of negligent homicide, assault and involuntary manslaughter.
Chen’s parents met with Army officials at the Fort Hamilton base in Brooklyn, where Army officers released the results of their investigation.
They later held a news conference where they revealed the distressing new details.
On the day of his death, Chen was forced to crawl on gravel while soldiers threw rocks at him.
He was separately taunted and mocked, all because he was the only Chinese-American in his unit, said Elizabeth OuYang, a spokeswoman for the family.
‘Almost immediately after he arrived, Danny was required to do exercises, which quickly, within a few days, crossed over into abuse,’ she said.
The alleged anti-Asian bullying and taunting started during basic training when fellow soldiers used a mocking accent while calling him Jackie Chen; others allegedly told him to ‘go back to China’.
On September 27, OuYang said a sergeant dragged Chen out of bed and over gravel, which left him with shoulder bruises and cuts on his back. The top two leaders of the platoon knew about this, she said, but chose not to report it.
His mother, who wept throughout the conference, told reporters that the pain of her only son’s death still has not subsided.
His father urged that the trial of eight fellow soldiers, for an array of counts from dereliction of duty to negligent homicide, should be held in the United States, not in Afghanistan.
‘The family has been through absolute hell,’ OuYang added. ‘They must have the right to face those who are found guilty.’
The family also is awaiting answers from 25 questions they asked the Army, they said, which promised a response by January 13.
Investigations continue into Chen’s death. It is now no longer clear whether Private Chen, who was from the Chinatown area of Manhattan did in fact take his own life.
Hundreds of supporters held a vigil recently after demanding officials address the treatment of Asians in the military, reported MSNBC.
His cousin Banny Chen read out a letter sent by Private Chen in February at the vigil last Thursday, which said: ‘Everyone knows me by Chen’.
‘They ask if I’m from China a few times a day,’ he wrote. ‘They also call out my name Chen in a goat-like voice sometimes for no reason.
‘People crack jokes about Chinese people all the time. I’m running out of jokes to come back at them.’
Around 400 people were at the vigil and march in Manhattan as Occupy Wall Street protesters also got involved.
Asian Pacific Americans civil rights group OCA has expressed outrage at what happened and have their own theory on why he was allegedly abused.
‘They did it because they knew that there was an environment that they would get away with it,’ an OCA spokesman said, reported NBC New York.
FAMILY ENCOURAGED
Relatives of Private Chen said they are encouraged to learn of the charges brought.
His father Yen Tao Chen said the family realises he will never return, but the news ‘gives us some hope’.
First Lieutenant Daniel J. Schwartz, Staff Sergeant Blaine G. Dugas and Staff Sergeant Andrew J. Van Bockel were all charged.
Sergeant Adam M. Holcomb, Sergeant Jeffrey T. Hurst, Specialist Thomas P. Curtis, Specialist Ryan J. Offutt and Sergeant Travis F. Carden were also charged.
All eight soldiers are of 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
MY BROTHER, MY HERO
Yangtze Repertory Theatre in collaboration with the Asian American Film Lab
Staged Read of full length play @ the Richmond Shepard Theatre
Audition: January 21st, 2012 6pm - 9:30pm
Rehearsals: January 26th and 30th, 2012 from 6:00pm - 9:30pm; February 3rd, 2012 6:30 - 9:00pm
Stage read: February 4th, 2012 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Pay Rate: $100 for the entire production
Casting & Directing: Wayne Chang
Writer: John Ho
Only submit if you are available for the required rehearsals on January 26th andFebruary 3rd, and performance on February 4th from 4pm-7pm. (Rehearsal on January 30th is an optional session for actors who are available)
Actors cast in the Stage Reading will be reading for Multiple Roles. All dialogues will be in English, with certain words in Chinese
Synopsis: A fictional story based in Ancient China; Two brothers, one chosen to work for the government, and the other stayed behind at their hometown - sworn to protect the lives of their people. A princess, willing to abandon the life of comfort to fight for righteous. ‘‘My Brother, My Hero’’ is a tale that follows the three youths, as their fate intertwines in betrayal, jealousy, wit, and sacrifices in the time of war.
Breakdowns:
Zhi-Au: Asian Male, age 20-30s, a charismatic and handsome man. Ambitious, but torn between following his heart, or follow the path that was chosen for him.
Tian-Tsai: Asian Male, age 20-30s, Lead. The normal, regular-looking brother of Zhi-Au, who prefers to ‘work behind the scene.’ An extremely intelligent and self-less man.
Bing-Jia: Asian Female, age 20-30s. Lead. The courageous young lady whose initial intention was to escape from an arrange marriage, but ended up being a key figure in the war.
Bing-Mei: Asian Female, age 18-20s. The boyish and witty younger sister of Bing-Jia. Talent will also cover some supporting and smaller roles.
Bing-Mu: Asian Female, age 30-60s. The Prime Minister of the Country, mother of Bing-Jia. A strong, intellect woman who attempts to out-smart Lord Cao Cao. Talent will also cover some supporting and smaller roles.
Cao-Cao: Any Ethnicity, Male, age 30-60s, Calm, calculated and manipulative, he’s the Lord of Country. Talent will also cover some supporting and smaller roles.
Ai-Song: Any Ethnicity, Male, age 25-40s. The obvious antagonist. Evil, but lack a spine. Talent will also cover some supporting and smaller roles.
General Fei-Zhang: Any Ethnicity, Male, age 30-50. A man of honor, and go by the rules of his duty. Talent will also cover other supporting and smaller roles.
Narrator: Any Ethnicity, Male or Female, any age. Articulate and don’t mind reading chunk full of text!!
Everyone Else: Any Ethnicity, Male or Female, any age range. The talent will be reading 20+ smaller and supporting roles. Prefer talents who enjoy doing a variety of characters & voices.
Audition by Appointment Only. Please send headshot & resume to: wccasting@gmail.com and indicate which character (yes, pick 1) you are interested in the email subject.
This is a Non-Equity production; however all cast will be covered by the Volunteer Insurance. (If cast, talent will be required to sign a volunteer agreement) A copy of the agreement will be available at the audition for your review.
For more information regarding the Theatre Company, please visit: http://www.yangtze-rep-theatre.org
For more information regarding the Asian American Film Lab, please visit:http://www.aafilmlab.org
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Castings can be sent to info@aafilmlab.org
Thanks to everyone who participated in our last Unfinished Works on 11/7. Connect and reconnect with those you met at our previous meetings at our Facebook Profile Page and our Facebook Event Invite: Past Events!
The AAFilmLab is a not-for-profit organization committed to challenging our membership to continually strive to be better. If you found our programs helpful or were able to find or utilize resources from AAFILMLAB meetings to improve your film, we kindly ask for an appropriate credit. Thanks!
