Boston

November 3, 2023 0

The Boston Asian American Film Festival Gave Red Carpet Treatment To The Contribution — and Voice — of Asian American Film

Kicking off with a book launch and talk by the authors of The Golden Screen: The Movies That Made Asian America, the Boston Asian American Film Festival celebrated Asian American films in October. Traditional dances were performed by the Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy and the New England Bhangra Club. “I’m very excited to just hear about the perspectives of the Asian American community within the filming space.” said Chelsea Vuong, 2023 Miss Massachusetts, who acted as […]

November 3, 2023 0

Massachusetts Confronts Surge in Migrant Arrivals: A Maze of Challenges and Actions

by Sabrina Yeung

As more and more migrant families arrive in Massachusetts, community response is strong, bringing out the best and worst in all of us. Managing emergency shelters is burning through about $45 million every month. Massachusetts is hoping for some federal help, while local nonprofits, like the Worcester Refugee Assistance Project and the Family Health Center of Worcester, are desperately seeking more donations and more volunteers. Recent news stories are also reporting that migrant families are now getting harassed by extremist […]

October 6, 2023 0

“Faces of Life” – The Fifth Annual Taiwan Film Festival of Boston

by DongDong Yang

The fifth annual Taiwan Film Festival of Boston (TFFB) took place on September 23-24. TFFB is a non-profit organization established by a group of young professionals in Boston in 2019 with the goal of bringing Taiwan’s films to the U.S every year. This year, TFFB selected six different films that have not been screened in American theaters or on streaming platforms to represent the 2023 theme “Faces of Life,”. They explored a variety of issues and professions as well as […]

October 6, 2023 0

Cultivating Mental Well-being: The Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center’s Healthy Minds Project

by Sherry Dong and Lisa Hy

In an era where mental health awareness is taking center stage, community organizations play a pivotal role in ensuring that individuals of all backgrounds receive the support they need. One such organization, the Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center (GBCGAC), has embarked on a remarkable journey through its “Healthy Minds Project,” aimed at addressing the mental health needs of Chinese-speaking Asian seniors in the Boston area. Overcoming the Stigma: Breaking Silence in the Asian Community Mental health challenges within the […]

October 6, 2023 0

Residents Voice Concern Over Chinatown’s Future as New Zoning Proposals Unveiled

by Blair Hu

Boston Chinatown is at another crossroads. The historical neighborhood, long celebrated as a sanctuary for Chinese immigrants and a hub of cultural diversity and heritage, is facing an unprecedented transformation as gentrification takes hold. Threatened by rising rents, luxury developments, and a changing demographic landscape, the Chinatown residents speak up about their experiences and make their voices heard. Community leaders and advocates are working to address these challenges. They are calling for affordable housing initiatives, stronger rent control measures, and […]

September 2, 2023 0

See Say App Gives Direct Access to Transit Police to Report Violence

by Kristen Si

MBTA Chief Safety Officer, Ron Ester, left at the end of August after years of work with federal agencies regarding MBTA safety. This lack of leadership during a time when numerous incidents of violence have been reported on the MBTA concerns many riders. This past July, Transit Police at Andrew Station arrested two men on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. In May, 2 teens were charged for unprovoked attacks on a woman in South Boston […]

September 2, 2023 0

Igniting Promise and Hope: Boston’s SPARK Council

by Christopher John Stephens

For many of us, Labor Day marks the unofficial beginning of the year. Whether we’re many years from having finished high school or college, and whether or not we have children of our own we need to help prepare for the new school year, the promise of starting fresh is as much in the air as the gradual changing from summer to fall. The sun will rise later in the morning, new schedules will start surfacing for everything from day […]

August 18, 2023 0

Organizers Give Update on Chinatown Master Plan

by Christopher John Stephens

The Chinatown Master Plan was first developed in 1990 to respond to residential concerns about competing demands for affordable housing and institutional expansion in Chinatown. As we reach nearly three and a half years since the start of COVID, and the release of the 2020 version of the report, Sampan convened a discussion with Chinatown Community Land Trust Executive Director Lydia Lowe, Pao Arts Center Director Cynthia Woo, and Asian Community Development Corporation Executive Director Angie Liou to discuss successes, […]

August 5, 2023 0

Converting Used Office Buildings Into Affordable Housing: Who are the Real Stakeholders

by Kristen Si

There is no doubt that the city of Boston is currently in the midst of a housing crisis. In the Boston Foundation’s annual report, the Greater Boston area received a failing grade in the year of 2022. The report cites confounding factors of economic growth and rising housing prices with the bottom line that middle and lower-income families will be struggling in the coming years to find affordable housing options if new policies are not adopted. The current issues will […]

August 4, 2023 0

Living Your Best Life: It Takes a Village

by Jeff Millman

A five-minute walk from the historic On Leong Chinese Merchants Association building in Chinatown brings you to the Biewend building on Tremont Street. Dr. Wei Wang, a geriatrician and primary care physician, sees elderly patients here at Tufts Medicine’s primary care offices. He told Sampan that many elderly people living in Chinatown deal with chronic medical conditions like diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. This is true of older adults more generally. In the United States, nearly 95% of […]

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