Sunday March 11 marks the first anniversary of Japan's 9.0 quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. Japan's Emperor Akihito, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and millions of others paused at 2:46 p.m. for a moment of silence, prayer and reflection to mourn the more than 19,000 people lost to the disaster. For the full story. 

AC Team got up bright and early and cast our votes. We hope you did the same!

AC Team got up bright and early and cast our votes. We hope you did the same!

Asian Pacific American civil rights, civic and legal groups, including the Organization for Chinese Americans (OCA), APIA Vote, and Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) mobilized to register APA voters and monitor the polls.

November 6, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC

OCA, a national social justice organization with 81 chapters and college affiliates, is proud to have been part of this historical US election, where Asian Pacific American (APA) voters registered and turned out in record numbers. Multiple OCA chapters representing all regions of the country mobilized to register voters in partnership with APIA Vote and hosted town halls and candidate forums. OCA also partnered with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) to monitor polls and protect the APA vote.

OCA is very proud of our members for all the voter registration, education, turnout, and protection efforts we coordinated under our OCA Vote 2008 program, said Michael C. Lin, OCA executive director. OCA looks forward to working with President-elect Barack Obama and the new Congress, including continuing our work with Senator John McCain around immigration reform and other issues important to the APA community.

However, OCA is disappointed over the results of several state ballot measures:

The passage of Proposition 8 in California overturns a previous state Supreme Court decision and denies the right of same-sex partners to marry. Arizona and Florida also passed similar ballot...

 Business and Heartbreak

By Marilyn Tam

“Violence is what happens when we don’t know what to do with our heartbreak… learn how to allow your heart to break open to embrace the lessons with compassion, not broken into sharp shards that hurt others as well as yourself”

-                     Parker J Palmer, author, educator, and founder of the Center for Courage & Renewal. 

Dr. Palmer directed the above quotation at leadership and democracy, but I think it applies to how you should manage your business and life too. Violence in business and life thankfully does not usually degenerate into physical force, but the above concept is instructive in how we deal with all our challenges. 

When we have a life or business challenge, do we narrow our focus to how we can get out of the immediate circumstance, or do we expand our vision and strategy to learn how we can improve the results for this and other situations?

With a challenge is looming in front of us, it is easy to fall back into a reflexive mode. We want to make the problem go away immediately, but a decision made in haste or from anger is less than ideal. The flight or fight instinct is activated and to respond aggressively or retreat without full consideration of the options, often prove to be worse than the initial situation. 

Many years ago when I was Vice President of Nike Apparel & Accessories, we were faced with a severe...

Remembering Betty: The Voice of Flight 11

by Lynda Lin, September 11, 2006

Pacific Citizen, a member of New America Media
http://www.newamericamedia.org/

Editor's Note: Betty Ong, a flight attendent on United Flight 11, has been called an unsung hero for her 23-minute phone conversation relaying vital information that later allowed the FBI to identify the terrorists including purported ringleader Mohammed Atta. But the public has been fickle with Betty's memory.

Sept. 11, 2006

Pacific Citizen News Feature

by Linda Lin

NAM Editor's Note: Betty Ong, a flight attendent on United Flight 11, has been called an unsung hero for her 23-minute phone conversation relaying vital information that later allowed the FBI to identify the terrorists including purported ringleader Mohammed Atta. But the public has been fickle with Betty's memory.

How do you heal a wound? Each time this year, the suture seems to bleed a bit and some commemorate the loss in the same way America has traditionally honored presidents: renaming streets, schools and public buildings. On the East Coast, a post office named Todd Beamer reminds its patrons of the exhortation, "Let's roll." And for the new school year in San Jose, Calif. students pass through the threshold of Capt. Jason M. Dahl Elementary School, the pilot of United Flight 93 whose untimely death has recently been immortalized in a Hollywood movie.

But who remembers the young woman with the calm voice telling American Airlines officials the morning...