Top News

January 12, 2024 0

Over One Hundred Years Strong Through the Eyes of Two Centenarians

The anxiety about growing old and dying can be obsessive for some but others embrace the challenge. Today, Sampan explores this duality through the eyes of two local centenarians and two experts on aging. On January 1, 2024, according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, Amy Guen turned 101 years old. She keeps health at the forefront of her mind. “If I don’t, the doctors will!” she chuckled as we wrapped up our long conversation about her family’s history as providers […]

December 24, 2023 0

Biweekly Immigration News, 12/22/23: Federal and State Updates

by Jeff Millman

It has been a difficult few months for immigrants in Massachusetts, but there is finally some good news. Lawmakers have approved millions of dollars in funding under a supplemental budget that allows immigrants in the state to access SNAP benefits. The legislation covers residents who are not citizens but are in the immigration process or have legal status. Massachusetts used to provide SNAP benefits to immigrants in the late 90s, but the state halted funding for this aspect of the […]

December 24, 2023 0

Women of Color Continue to Battle On-the-Job Discrimination

by Tracy Huang

As an Asian American woman, Lulu Shi says she has fallen victim to workplace disparities that continue to haunt women of color. She has over 20 years of experience working as an analyst in the oil industry and three master’s degrees, and yet despite these qualifications, Shi says she often faces discrimination — getting rejected for raises, paid less than her colleagues when promoted and treated differently than her male coworkers. “As a woman of color, there have been times […]

December 23, 2023 0

Lunchbox Moments Interview with Artist Aime Bantz

by Harmony Witte

Step into the Pao Arts Center in Chinatown before Feb 17th of 2024 and you will be greeted with colorful walls covered in metal lunchboxes with phrases painted on them. The phrases are distilled from stories by people in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community who attended workshops with artist Aime Bantz. She wrote down the encounters they shared with her during communal meal times throughout their lives. Some of these encounters were positive moments of cultural exchange, but […]

December 23, 2023 0

Jiaoying Summers is No Joke

by Jia H. Jung

Comedian Jiaoying Summers, 33, shivered on the Congress Street Bridge and gazed at a museum and ships commemorating the Boston Tea Party that happened almost 250 years ago to the date. As fife music trilled in the morning air and men in tricorn hats and leggings stood in waiting, she pondered how colonists threw tea into the harbor to protest British tariffs, catalyzing the American Revolution. Looking down into the water, she mumbled that she would have just pretended to […]

December 23, 2023 0

Bilingualism is Superpower

by Sabrina Yeung

At a Nov 16 2023 national conference organized by the Department of Education, bilingualism was recognized for its profound contribution to the economic and political power toolkits for America.. This event, as a part of the Biden-Harris administration’s initiative to promote multilingual education, brought together experts and policy-makers to discuss the burgeoning role of bilingualism in an increasingly interconnected world. A key focus of the conference was the cognitive and economic advantages of being bilingual. A study done by Michelle […]

December 23, 2023 0

Are Food Additives Bad for You?

by Jeff Millman

Potassium bromate, propylparaben, brominated vegetable oil, and red dye number 3: no, this is not a list of materials for an organic chemistry experiment. Instead it’s a group of food additives that will be banned as part of the California Food Safety Act, which California Governor Gavin Newsom signed in October. The legislation won’t go into effect until January of 2027, but it’s made nationwide news – after all, these are common food additives present in everything from fruit cups […]

December 22, 2023 0

Food Resources In Boston Not Enough to Feed Everyone

by Aditya Venkatram

Food insecurity is currently one of the biggest problems for America’s poor. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, an astonishing 12.8% of U.S households were food insecure in 2022, meaning that they had a difficulty in providing an adequate amount for all family members due to a lack of resources. This equates to over 44 million people in the United States that went hungry, including 13 million children. Food insecurity rates vary significantly across the country, but in all […]

December 22, 2023 0

Ping Pong Serves as a Bridge Between Cultures, Generations

by Derek He

As many families across the country celebrated Thanksgiving with traditional turkey dinners, a group of local Asian Americans marked the occasion by competing in a ping pong tournament. Inside the Malden High School gym, students and adults competed during the holiday in the event led by Mei Hung, executive director of the Chinese Culture Connection. “Like other sports and arts, ping pong helps people who have language barriers communicate,” Hung said, adding that holding different divisions allowed participants of all […]

December 9, 2023 0

Asian American Organizations Join Protest Of Spy Law Viewed as Perilous to Civil Liberties

by Tracy Huang

Last month, 63 Asian American organizations gathered as a coalition to protest the reauthorization of Section 702. In a recent explainer, AP writer Eric Tucker laid out the facts:“Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, allows the U.S. government to collect without a warrant the communications of targeted foreigners outside the United States. Law enforcement and intelligence officials see the program as vital to combating terror attacks, cyber intrusions, espionage and other foreign threats. The program, created in the […]

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