Asian American Week of Action for Immigration Reform

Forwarding this one from SAALT: South Asian Americans Leading Together:

Starting August 14, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders around the country have been coming together to flex their political muscle in the first-ever week of action for immigration reform.

You can take action in a variety of ways. One simple step you can take today is support immigration reform today using your cell phone. Today is National AAPI Text-In Day for Immigration Reform, and all you have to do to participate is text "AAPI" to 69899!

The National Coalition of South Asian Organizations has been engaged in the One Community United Campaign for Immigrant and Human Rights. As part of the Campaign, SAALT along with NCSO partners, recently held a town hall in New Jersey.

Chicago Town Hall with Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Mike Quigley
WHERE: Mayfair Salvation Army Community Church, Chicago, IL
WHEN: Saturday, August 22 | 1:00PM-3:00PM
Contact sungyeon@aaichicago.org for more information.

Los Angeles Town Hall with Rep. Judy Chu
WHERE: St. John's Baptist Church, Baldwin Park, Los Angeles, CA
WHEN: Thursday, August 27 | 6:00PM
Contact cchoi@apalc.org for more information.

Washington DC Film Screening and Discussion
WHAT: Screening of "Made in LA" followed by discussion
WHERE: TBD, Washington DC
WHEN: Sunday, August 30 | 3:00PM-5:00PM
Contact napawfdc@yahoo.com for more information.

Miami Town Hall on Immigration
WHAT: Join us for a Town Hall with the South Asian community in Miami to discuss immigration and human rights issues.
WHERE: 8601 W. Commercial Blvd., Tamarac, FL 33351
WHEN: Saturday, September 26 | 11:00AM-2:00PM
Contact saalt@saalt.org for more information.
Cosponsors: SAALT, Sahara, Florida Immigrant Coalition, Miami Dade Asian American Advisory Board

Check out events on SAALT's Community Calendar.
SAALT staff are available to speak at your events on topics including immigrant rights, South Asians in America, civic engagement, and immigration. Please email us at saalt@saalt.org for more information.

Added: Interview with Oscar-Winning Director Ang Lee

Ang Lee made his directorial debut in 1992 with Pushing Hands, a dramedy highlighting the tension between tradition and modernity which arises when a retired Tai Chi master moves to the U.S. to live with his Westernized son. His next two offerings, The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), each landed an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Film category.

Since then, the versatile director has successfully tackled an impressive variety of genres, reflected in a resume which includes a literary classic (Sense and Sensibility), a dysfunctional family drama (The Ice Storm), a Western (Ride with the Devil), a gay-themed romance (Brokeback Mountain), an erotic, espionage thriller (Lust, Caution), a comic book adaptation (Hulk) and a martial arts fairytale (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Although Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon did take home the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, the deserving Mr. Lee himself was overlooked by the Academy as the picture’s director. He finally won in 2006 for Brokeback Mountain, a tale of forbidden love starring the late Heath Ledger.

In a new interview with Kam Williams at IMDiversity.com, Ang Lee talks about his new film, Taking Woodstock, a comedy about the 1969 concert which helped define the Hippie Generation. The interview includes the movie trailer. See: Interview: Ang Lee Takes on Woodstock

Creatives Wanted: East West Magazine Cover Design Contest

This release came in from the crew at East-West, the bimonthly national publication, which "went on hiatus in early 2008" to restructure its business operations. East-West returned to online publication this summer, and will celebrate its print re-launch in October 2009. To freshen and reintroduce its brand, the company is seeking artists to submit a cover design idea for the relaunch.

Bridging the Divide:

What does the merging of cultures look like to you?

East West Announces Magazine

Re-Launch Cover Design Contest

Phoenix, AZ (August 12, 2009) – To celebrate a fall re-launch, East West magazine has announced the East West Exhibit, a cover design contest for the October/November issue, available nationwide on October 6. East West is welcoming submissions of original artwork interpreting the meaning of East West and the merging of cultures. The winning design will be featured on the cover, along with a profile of the winner in the magazine.

East West is the first and only lifestyle magazine with a pan-Asian American focus. Launched in 2003, the publication went on hiatus last year to retool operations. “During this time, we maintained an online presence, and realized the East West audience was anxious for the magazine’s return,” said Anita Malik, founder and editor in chief of East West. “We are excited to re-launch the magazine with a cover contest that involves our readers.”

All contest entries will be posted at EastWestMagazine.com for online voting from September 2-16, 2009. Based on online vote totals, the top five designs will be announced at the end of September. East West staff will choose the final cover from the top five, and the final decision will be made public on October 6, when East West officially returns to print.

Entrants must submit original artwork—including photography, painting, graphic design and drawing—and a signed authorization/consent form. Contest rules include:

· All entries must be original artwork created by the entrant(s) and answer the question: “What is your interpretation of East West today. What does the merging of cultures look like to you?”

· No black and white.

· Entries must be postmarked by August 31, 2009.

· Digital artwork must be 300 DPI and at least 9.25”x11.125”.

· Non-digital artwork will be accepted via mail and scanned for Web site/print use.

· Only one entry per person, team or company.

· Entries will not be returned. Any or all materials/information may be published.

· A signed entry/consent form is required for an entry to be valid.

· All entrants under the age of 18 on August 1, 2009 must have a parent/guardian signature.

For complete contest details, visit EastWestMagazine.com. Submissions, as well as questions about the contest, can be emailed to TheExhibit@eastwestmagazine.com

Added at Asian American Village Featured Jobs

A few new job opportunities of interest added at the recently restored Asian-American Village Jobs Center:

ASIAN PACIFIC STUDENT PROGRAM COORDINATOR
University of California - Riverside

Corporate Controller
Haworth, Inc. (Holland, MI)

Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions
Tufts University
(Medford, MA)

Mandarin-fluent Tutorial Specialist Distance Education
Johns Hopkins University
(Washington, DC)

The Jobs Center periodiocally spotlights select jobs found in the expansive IMDiversity.com Career Center jobs database of particular interest to Asian and Pacific Islander American jobseekers. Beginning in July, IMDiversity moved to a new job bank format, expanded even further with the addition of a new dual-tab, multi-site seaarch option that simultaneously searches both the opportunities posted by diversity-committed employers to IMDiversity.com and matching results from our new Career Sites Network, with tens of thousands of additional job listings. Check it out.

New Updates: Tule Lake Memorial; Vanessa Hudgens

Following our site's recent move to our new server and host, we're getting back into the swing of our updates with a few items of interest at http://www.imdiversity.com/asian.asp.

First, we're pleased to welcome back historian Professor Susie Ling with her feature, Biting Into Your Skin: Tule Lake Pilgrimage, an account of this summer's ceremony transforming a national disgrace into a national monument on the site of a former concentration camp.

For movie buffs, Va-Va-Vanessa (Hudgens)! catches up with Irish, Native, Chinese, Filipina, Latina sensation for an interview about her new film, Bandslam.

On the fitting theme of the 50th anniversary of Hawai'i statehood, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is back with a column article, The Teahouse, and her reflections on trying to find "a way home" with Linus Chao, renowned international artist and a "Living Legend of Hawai'i"