February 21, 2025 | Vol. 54, Issue 4

The only bilingual Chinese-English Newspaper in New England

History

Doctor’s Prescription for Injustice: Speak Up

While at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health a couple years ago, Dr. Yipeng Ge faced a dilemma – and the decision he would make would profoundly influence the following years of his life.Already outspoken on the genocide of indigenous people and racism in North America, Dr. Ge discovered the Palestine Program during graduate studies at Harvard. Also taking courses in the Kennedy School and Harvard Law, he then soon found out about Palestine Trek, or PalTrek. In […]

Muslim Lawyer Event to Tackle Big Issues of Faith, Bias and Law

Civil rights attorney Mariam Aydah knows what it’s like to be singled out for being a Muslim while practicing — and studying ­— law. A few incidents stand out in particular. Once, while handling a case, she was mistaken for a client, even after co-counsel introduced her as one of the client’s lawyers. Another time, while in college, a professor who often associated Muslims with terrorists offhandedly rejected a paper she wrote that presented Islam in a positive light. And […]

Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi Persisted – And Helped End Mass Incarceration of Japanese Americans

Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi didn’t set out to be a civil rights hero. And she didn’t promote herself as one. But she played a key role in ending the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans – many of them U.S. citizens – during World War II. “Mitsuye was an ordinary person who was caught up in an extraordinary circumstance,” explains writer Frank Abe, who was part of a team who first told the personal story of Endo Tsutsumi in print, in the […]

Holistic Approach Needed to Heal: Refugee Trauma Doctor

Dr. Lin Piwowarczyk, co-founder of the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights, has been working with torture victims and refugees for over 30 years. Specializing in the mental health evaluation and treatment of refugees and survivors of torture, she is currently the principal investigator for an Office of Refugee Resettlement grant addressing the holistic treatment of torture survivors. She spoke to Sampan at length about her life, her work, and what we can all do to protect human […]

Korematsu’s Daughter Says Battle for Justice Now More Relevant Than Ever

At just 23 years old, Fred Korematsu would face the fight of his life: He stood up for his rights as an American citizen, refusing to report to incarceration camps for Japanese Americans during the second world war. He was then arrested and convicted for his defiance. He appealed in the following years, and his case went before the Supreme Court in 1944. The court ruled against him, calling his incarceration a military necessity. Today, his family members say, Korematsu’s […]

The Suppressed Speech of Wamsutta (Frank B.) James

Editor’s note: The following is being reprinted with permission for two reasons. One, in honor of Native American Heritage Month, and, two, as a celebration of free speech and the right to freedom of expression and thought. The speech was to have been delivered at Plymouth in 1970. Three hundred fifty years after the Pilgrims began their invasion of the land of the Wampanoag, their “American” descendants planned an anniversary celebration. Still clinging to the white schoolbook myth of friendly […]

Filipino Festival Serves Up Flavors,Memories of Home

Mary Crown – who moved from the Philippines to Boston two decades ago – stood amid the chatter of Tagalog and English, the smell of barbecuing pork, and the voice of America’s Got Talent semi-finalist Roland Abante singing “Dynamite.” “I’ve never seen so many Filipinos,” she joked. Crown was among the throngs gathered at the Church Street parking lot in Cambridge for the 3rd Annual Filipino American Festival on Oct. 6. The event was organized by the Harvard Square Philippine […]

Chinatown Bakeries Keep August Moon Tradition Alive

The mid-autumn festival, also known as the August Moon festival, is often celebrated with mooncakes – round pastries with sweet or savory fillings that symbolize the full moon. But the tradition of hand crafting the delicacy is slowly changing, say some pastry chefs, who are keeping the tradition alive locally.“The most difficult part of making mooncakes is cooking the syrup, which needs to be prepared a month in advance. It’s a very skillful process. Traditional hand-made mooncakes are the most […]

Supreme Court Ruling Has Links to U.S.’ ‘Racist’ Past, Say Advocates

A recent Supreme Court ruling that could influence the lives of thousands of people seeking immigration to the U.S. via consular offices gives renewed life to legal precedents built on anti-Asian discrimination of the 1800s, say advocates and legal experts. The case, decided late last month, was “Department of State v. Muñoz.” It centers on a U.S. citizen’s years’ long attempts to sponsor her husband from El Salvador to live with her and their child. A consular official denied their […]

Hub Music Group Celebrates ‘Chinese Arts and Culture’ Boston Festival Orchestra Conductor Tells of show, group’s history

Sampan sat down with the conductor of the Boston Festival Orchestra, Alyssa Wang. Wang discussed the orchestra’s upcoming program, “A Celebration of Chinese Arts and Culture,” as well as her thoughts on inclusion and engagement in music, and what it means to her to be leading the performance as a Chinese American. BFO’s “A Celebration of Chinese Arts and Culture” will be held on July 28, 3 p.m., at Jordan Hall in Boston.Tickets can be purchased at: bforchestra.ticketleap.com/scheherazade/Sampan: Will you […]

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