Harmony Witte, Author at Sampan

Harmony Witte

Front Page April 11, 2025 0

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 […]

Immigration March 21, 2025 0

Nobuko Miyamoto Takes Fight for Rights to Boston Stage

Activist legend Nobuko Miyamoto came to Boston for the ArtsEmerson screening of the documentary about her – “Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement” – and the timing could not have been more appropriate. Amid the anniversary of Executive Order 9066 – which led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II – and just before immigration authorities began coming after pro-Palestinian protesters, Nobuko Miyamoto graced the stage and enraptured the audience by performing a set of four of […]

Boston February 7, 2025 0

Special Delivery: Post Office Named After Caroline Chang

Just in time for the Chinese New Year, the Fort Point Post Office at 25 Dorchester Ave. in Boston has been named after Chinatown activist Caroline Chang. This marks the first Federal building in Massachusetts to be named after a person from the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. “Caroline made history, even though she never set out to do it. She was just doing the work of advancing civil rights and public health and equity. But she made history. […]

Front Page January 30, 2025 0

Tangled Up in Art: Chatting With ’Ravel’ Sculptors Jongeun Gina Lee and Verónica Pérez

About a decade ago, while in grad school, artist Verónica Pérez received a strange gift: a trash bag full of hair. And they immediately put the furry find to good use. “That was my foray into using hair to represent a human or a body, without actually putting a body into the piece,” says Pérez of their method of creating sculptures. Since that time, the artist’s main medium has become artificial hair. Perez is among the 14 artists who are […]

Arts January 24, 2025 0

A Year in Film Review

Looking back on 2024, Sampan’s arts writer, Harmony Witte, compiled the following list of influential and important films of the year with connections to immigration in some way, or with foreign cast members. Some have immigration-focused stories, others have immigrant directors or actors or other cast members. Witte’s list includes hard-hitting documentaries, a martial arts adventure, both tense and funny crime stories, a surreal art romp and even a big-budget mystery thriller.“This selection of films,” writes Witte, “is of the […]

Features December 6, 2024 0

Jon M. Chu’s ‘Wicked’ Is a Blockbuster Queer Romance Film for Our Times

“Wicked” is a blockbuster-bound love story for the ages in the grand style of Old Hollywood. This queer-coded romance tells the classic story of two enemies to lovers whose chemistry and complicated love for each other is so well known in the intimate world of female friendship. Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) was born with green skin in the land of Oz and must fight to find her place in society. Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) is also looking to find herself and establish […]

Arts November 22, 2024 0

AAPI Arts Summit Inspires ‘Hope’

Organizers of the 2nd Annual Asian American and Pacific Islander Arts & Culture Summit on Nov. 15 at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston say they see the event as bigger than enhancing the arts community itself: It’s about providing hope. “I think in times of uncertainty and crisis, people have always looked to the arts as a source of light and hope,” Danielle Kim, executive director of the Asian Community Fund, told the Sampan during the event.Hosted by […]

Boston November 8, 2024 0

Author Charles Yu Talks About His Work on ‘Interior Chinatown,’ His Start as a Lawyer

Writer Charles Yu has seen his career transform from law, to book author and now to television. That latter shift will be further proven when “Interior Chinatown” – his award-winning book – airs on Hulu and Disney Plus on Nov. 19. Produced by Taika Waititi, with a pilot that is also directed by Waititi, the edgy, fast-paced show tackles weighty themes of race, class, and immigration with a sense of humor that left the audience at the recent screening at […]

Features November 4, 2024 0

‘Imagine Yourself in My Place’: Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha Asks of MIT Audience

Perhaps Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha’s most threatening weapon against Israel in its relentless and devastating bombardment of Gaza is his pen. But that very pen could also be what puts him in the most peril. “I think the fact that I’m a poet and a writer, I should be killed maybe sooner than others,” said Abu Toha to a packed audience late last month near Boston. This was one of several powerful moments during Abu Toha’s talk on Oct. […]

Arts October 28, 2024 0

Cuban Diaspora Artist Carves a Space Out in Boston’s Art Scene

New England sculptor and painter Fermin Castro knew he was an artist from the time he was a child, drawing in classes with friends. But he wouldn’t realize that calling until after a detour into the sciences. “Social media is also a good chance to be in contact with different kinds of artists, specifically for an emerging artist today. That’s very important because you will be able to adapt an idea or form and transform it into your own style […]

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