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December 20, 2024 0

Phillips Square Planning Draws Interest, Concern in Chinatown

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 Ryan 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 renewals of Fenway Park and Nubian […]

December 20, 2024 0

Holistic Approach Needed to Heal: Refugee Trauma Doctor

by Jeff Millman

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 […]

December 20, 2024 0

Opinion/Review: Coates Summons Wisdom of Orwell and Experience in ‘The Message’

by Christopher John Stephens

The epigraph that Ta-Nehishi Coates chose to introduce The Message, his latest collection of linked essays, is a perfectly apt reflection of the writer as provocateur and didactic secular missionary. It’s a passage from George Orwell’s “Why I Write,” a 1948 reflection whose title identifies its contents. Orwell (real name Eric Blair) is best known as the author of Animal Farm and 1984, both benchmarks of political allegories and speculative fiction. In “Why I Write,” Orwell’s reflections perfectly mirror where […]

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 […]

November 22, 2024 0

MIT ‘Bans’ Student Over Essay

by Ava Belchez and Harmony Witte and Adam Smith

Attorney Calls Action ‘Chilling’ Threat to Free Speech The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has banned a South Asian American grad student from campus and is threatening to boot him from the university for an article he published related to pro-Palestinian protesting, according to the student and his lawyer, who calls the punishment a threat to free speech. MIT banned Prahlad Iyengar, a second-year electrical engineering doctoral student, earlier this month for an academic essay he penned in “Written Revolution,” a […]

November 22, 2024 0

AAPI Arts Summit Inspires ‘Hope’

by Harmony Witte

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 […]

November 8, 2024 0

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

by Harmony Witte

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 […]

November 8, 2024 0

Muslim Teacher Doxed, Harassed Online

by Ava Belchez

Among untold number in state subjected to false claims of antisemitism Throughout the past 13 months, claims of antisemitism have erupted locally and nationwide leading to high profile civil rights complaints, congressional outrage and news reports claiming a crisis of hate. But a parallel story of discrimination has gone largely hidden from public view: The stories of Muslim and Arab Americans and others who have had their careers and livelihoods thrown into jeopardy by baseless and defamatory claims of antisemitism. […]

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