April 11, 2025 | Vol. 54, Issue 7

The only bilingual Chinese-English Newspaper in New England

Day: April 11, 2025

Double Exposure Photographer Lisa Tang Liu explores what it means to be ‘American’

Photographer Lisa Tang Liu made a career out of taking other people’s portraits. But she was never interested in taking her own photo — not even selfies on her phone. Then Covid hit, and some old, bad feelings from her childhood began to return. Having grown up in a predominantly white suburb in New Jersey as a child, she said, she felt “a sense of shame” for being Chinese. She wanted those around her to embrace that she was as […]

Demonstrators rally in support of Rumeysa Ozturk in Somerville in late March. Photo by Harmony Witte

Citizens’ Role in Defending Rights on Display in Öztürk Rally: Legal Experts, Activists

“Who keeps us safe? We keep us safe.” This line was among the chants shouted by the thousands of people gathered in Somerville to support Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk in late March after she was abducted and set for deportation at the direction of the U.S. Secretary of State in what has by now become an international drama. The call from the protesters may have been more than a simple rallying chant, however, and more likely one of the […]

‘We Don’t Want to Repeat History’: State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven Discusses Activist Fred Korematsu, Öztürk, and Trump 

The day before the Sampan had a scheduled interview with State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, her district was suddenly under an international spotlight. Thousands of people had come out to rally in the city of Somerville, part of Massachusetts’ 27th Middlesex District, for Rümeysa Öztürk. Öztürk is the Tufts University doctoral student who was detained by the Department of Homeland Security and was set for deportation back to Turkey — apparently, because she co-wrote an Op-Ed in her university newspaper a […]

As Some See a Taller Chinatown With New Zoning, Let’s Focus on Getting to the Right Heights

In the black box theater inside Chinatown’s Josiah Quincy School last month, hundreds of people reached into their little gift bags and pulled out small bottles of soap. As Dr. Heang Leung Rubin led the room in a collective wish, her voice was gentle: “Close your eyes and imagine — what could Chinatown look like in ten years?” Kids, young families, seniors, city officials and others all held their wishes in silence. Then, as bubbles filled the room, they caught […]

Knowing About Birthright Citizenship’s Past Critical to Ensuring Its Future, Say Experts

“I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.” That quote, from the first U.S. president, George Washington in a letter penned in 1788, kicked off a panel discussion last month on the future and history birthright citizenship and Trump administration’s attempts to reinterpret the 14th Amendment. As clear-cut as Washington’s quote sounds, history tells a different story. That was a […]

REVIEW: ‘White Poverty’ Exposes Myths of Race, Class and Democracy

The triple threat Venn Diagram bubbles of race, class, and social identity have conspired to define us as a nation since our founding. As we sit on the eve of our Bisesquicentennial in 2026, Americans are more divided and disturbed than ever before. Who are we? What have we become? Is this the legacy we really want to leave behind for our children? The much discussed (but never fully owned) “Project 2025” has planted seeds and borne fruit in the […]

‘SenStory’ Breaks Mental Health Taboos With Performing Arts

Elderly Chinatown residents took the stage at the Pao Arts Center last month – some sang karaoke to their favorite classic Chinese songs, a couple of them showed off their jianzi (birdie foot game) skills to the rest of their crowd, while others watched bilingual improv theater sketches in Mandarin and Cantonese. But behind the music, crafts and performing arts enjoyed by the nearly 200 participants, the March 8 event, “SenStory: Home as a Verb” contained a central theme: How […]

Make America Great. Period.

What is America at its best?We put this question to our team — to find out what version of America meets the potential of what we want America to be. Some of us answered, some didn’t. Some wondered if doing so could — in this America we’re living in right now — draw punishment from the powers that be.Some looked at history and others the future and others, songs. Here’s what we said: In my American history class, we learn […]

Northeastern Prof.: Better to Speak Out Now

As international students nationwide are facing deportation threats and canceled visas for their political activism, and universities are under pressure to prevent campus protests and end some diversity initiatives, some professors are taking a stand against the crackdowns and political influences. Among those speaking out is Alexandra To, an assistant professor at Northeastern University, who cowrote an Op-Ed this week in the university paper, The Huntington News, along with professors Kylie Ariel Bemis, Rahul Bhargava, Richard Daynard, Rachel Rosenbloom, and […]

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