Features

March 7, 2025 0

AACA Is Offering Free Tax Prep, Dispute Help

As the 2024 tax filing season is upon us, the Asian American Civic Association, publisher of the Sampan newspaper, is providing free, bilingual tax services vital to many low-income individuals and families.The program, sponsored by two initiatives implemented by the IRS, offers tax preparation help as well as assistance in resolving tax disputes. The Volunteer Income Tax Clinic, also known as VITA, provides free tax preparation services to clients ready to file their 2024 tax returns. For people who need […]

March 7, 2025 0

How Asian Americans Fought Key Battles for Immigrant & Civil Rights

by Esther Wang

Tens of millions of immigrants in the U.S. are now, as long promised, in the sights of the administration of Pres. Donald Trump, who is carrying out his threats of mass deportations. The administration is also using various executive orders in attempts to boot certain visa holders from the U.S. and to end Constitutionally protected rights, such as birthright citizenship. Some of these very rights are the same that throughout history Asian Americans have fought hard for, in a long […]

March 7, 2025 0

Zoning Plan to Boost ‘Affordable’ Units Will Still Price Out Many

by Mingjia Chen

As the light snow whispered down Harrison Avenue on the morning of Feb. 9, it seemed to carry some quiet promise. Soon, Phillips Square would warm up as hundreds gathered in clusters, their anticipation bright in the winter. Lion dancers moved with radiant grace, while firecrackers burst, clearing the path for good luck in a new year clouded by uncertainty. Chinatown is indeed facing its own uncertainties. Just two days before the parade, the City of Boston closed public comments […]

March 7, 2025 0

A Lesson in Shared History

by Zoe Voss Lee

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States. As a community, we come from countless countries, have a diversity of immigration stories, some recent and some dating back hundreds of years, and now have many different versions of an American life. So where does one begin in telling the story of Asians in America? For educator Vivian Wu Wong, the answer is clear: Asian American history is American history. Wu Wong is a designer of “Beyond Gold […]

February 21, 2025 0

Behind the Drum, Cymbal and Lion, There’s Adrenaline, and Then Hunger

by Anna Hu

This is at once a specific story —one day in Boston Chinatown during the lunar new year parade — and an expansive one, which has played out time and time again in cities around the world. This is a story about colors, red fabric draped over a dancer’s back, golden sequins that catch the light, yellow fur in the lion’s mane, the whites of its eyes. This is a story about sound, the bright crash of red tasseled cymbals, the […]

February 21, 2025 0

Don’t Miss Out on These Credits

by Mark Cotton

Tax season, regardless of the year, is both confusing and stressful. This can lead to some families putting off their taxes, incurring needless fees and penalties. However, tax season is also an opportunity for families to claim a number of tax credits that can be highly beneficial to them. A common misconception is that individuals don’t believe they have earned enough income to be eligible for tax credits. The reality is that every person’s individual situation is different and working […]

February 21, 2025 0

Time to Brush Up on Kids’ Dental Health

by Cheen Loo

One of the most common questions I hear as a pediatric dentist is, “When should I start bringing my child to the dentist?” I remember a dad walking into my office, his chubby-cheeked one-year-old daughter perched on his hip. He glanced around, a bit unsure, and asked, “So… am I too early? Too late?” I smiled. “Actually, you’re right on time.” He raised an eyebrow. “Wait—you’re telling me my baby, who barely has any teeth, already needs a dentist?” I […]

February 21, 2025 0

All Immigrants Have Rights, Say Attorneys

by Esther Wang

Despite the fear and chaos created across the U.S. as immigration raids detain and deport more and more people, those living in the U.S. still have constitutional and legal protections, such as against illegal searches and warrantless home entries. That was a key takeaway from the media briefing “ICE Is Knocking. What Are Your Rights?” conducted by Ethnic Media Services. Just in the past few weeks, more than 200,000 people have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and at […]

February 21, 2025 0

In Sayaka Murata’s World, Love Is Stranger Than Fiction

by Christopher John Stephens

Sometimes the thrill of a strange novel comes in fits and starts. It’s less thrilling in its explosive consistency than it is in its ability to sustain a mood, to build and maintain a premise. Sayaka Murata’s new novel Vanishing World succeeds in more ways than it probably knows. It’s a novel of suppositions. It’s a speculative dystopian story in which society reproduces solely by artificial insemination. Traditional reproduction between a husband and wife is considered incest. As we come […]

February 7, 2025 0

Special Delivery: Post Office Named After Caroline Chang

by Harmony Witte

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. […]

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