Features

January 3, 2025 0

Asian Community Fund Aims to Bridge Gaps for Region’s AAPI Communities

When the Asian Community Fund (ACF) launched in 2020, it set out with a clear mission: to unify and empower the Asian American Pacific Islander community across Massachusetts.Founded during a period of heightened anti-Asian racism and in response to research showing less that 1% of philanthropic giving reaches Asian communities, ACF has become a vital resource for increasing visibility and support for local Asian communities. “We’ve been so invisible to date,” says Executive Director Danielle Kim, highlighting how the AAPI […]

January 3, 2025 0

Editorial: A Shameful Year of Silencing Dissent and Speech

by Editorial Team

It was just some years ago, when in the previous Trump administration, we saw demonstrations for Black Lives Matter take over the streets to rightfully call out relentless injustices, the Women’s March crowd into D.C. and demonstrations in support of science march through hundreds of U.S. cities. But, now, as we say goodbye to 2024 and begin a new year and another Trump administration, we should not forget the lonely and persistent voices that led the movement of compassion and […]

January 3, 2025 0

How Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Nomination Reflects Nation’s Public Health Skepticism

by Jeff Millman

Two decades ago, a president’s choices for leaders of public health agencies like the Food and Drug Administration would not likely have generated much controversy. But in the years after the Covid-19 pandemic that spurred lasting skepticism from some segments of the American public, that is no longer the case. Especially for president-elect Donald Trump. Over the past month Trump has made nominations for the FDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and the Office of […]

January 3, 2025 0

Kiyoko Murata’s ‘A Woman of Pleasure’Finds Agency in an Untenable Situation

by Christopher John Stephens

There’s a reason why some stories should not be told by people outside their world. In the case of Arthur Golden’s 1997 novel “Memoirs of a Geisha,” adapted into a hit 2005 eponymously titled film, the Orientalism whitewashing was in full flower. Golden’s novel, set in the late 1920’s, roughly 25 years later than the events of Kiyoko Murata’s “A Woman of Pleasure,” told basically the same story. A daughter is sold into prostitution to cover her family’s debts. Both […]

January 3, 2025 0

B.U. Doctor: Clinical Trials for Cancer Are Increasingly Less Diverse

by Kristen Si

Thousands of clinical trials are run in cancer research every year to test new treatments and gather data about their effectiveness. But these studies can lack a diversity of participants, new research has indicated.For example, Dr. Heather Ann Edwards, an associate professor of otolaryngology-head & neck surgery at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, found in a new study that over time, diversity in head and neck cancer clinical trials has decreased. This is bad news, because […]

December 20, 2024 0

Phillips Square Planning Draws Interest, Concern in Chinatown

by Virginia Sun and Zoe Voss Lee

Phillips Square in Chinatown was buzzing with energy on Dec. 8, as families, city leaders, elders, and curious passers-by gathered around to discuss the plaza’s future. With confetti in the air, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and several city councilors made a festive appearance alongside Santa Claus, celebrating the moment as part of the annual Enchanted Trolley Tour that made stops across the city that weekend. The mayor expressed gratitude to Chinatown and briefly acknowledged the importance of the upcoming Phillips […]

December 20, 2024 0

‘Palestine Is the New Vietnam,’ Says MIT Linguistics Professor DeGraff

by Milourdes Augustin

MIT professor Michel Anne-Frederic DeGraff has a long history as an expert in linguistics. His study in the field has propelled his career in academia at one of the world’s most prestigious institutions. His recent political activism, however, has gotten him in trouble with that very university. DeGraff’s supposed crime? Taking the side of solidarity with Palestine at a time when universities around the nation have increasingly cracked down on pro-Palestinian activism. Originally a student of computer science in the […]

December 20, 2024 0

Kairos Shen Has Big Visions for Chinatown

by Sampan Staff

Interview conducted by Ryan C. Lundgren Kairos Shen is a familiar face to anyone who follows development in the city. During his lengthy career, Shen worked from 1993 to 2015 at the city’s development and planning agency, at the time called the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Before leaving the BRA, he rose to the rank of director of planning, wielding influence over development in the city – including for the Rose Kennedy Greenway, the South Boston Waterfront Innovation District, and the […]

December 20, 2024 0

MIT Suspends Student ‘Banned’ Over Essay

by Adam Smith

The South Asian American doctoral student at MIT who was effectively banned from the university’s campus over an essay he wrote related to Palestinian activism has been suspended until January 2026, according to the student. But Prahlad Iyengar, a second-year electrical engineering PhD. student, was not suspended for his essay that drew media attention over the past month. Instead, he told the Sampan in an interview this week, that while he is still “banned” from the university because of his […]

December 6, 2024 0

Artist, Writer Shaina Lu Draws From Life Stories in Chinatown

by Yuchen Hong

In her debut graphic novel “Noodle & Bao,” artist and writer Shaina Lu offers a heartwarming and powerful story of friendship, community, and fighting against gentrification. Set in the fictional Town 99, the book follows Momo and her best friend Bao as they work to save their beloved neighborhood food cart from displacement. Lu, a queer Taiwanese-American artist and educator based in Boston, draws deeply from her experiences working with youth in Chinatown.“I wanted to write and draw a story […]

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