“American justice has become American injustice. Superimposed on you.” Showcased at this year’s San Diego Asian Film Festival, “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail” is a documentary directed by Steve James that encapsulates a five-year-long legal battle between the state of New York and Abacus Federal Savings Bank. Within…
With Thai Smakom’s upcoming 19th annual culture night, Pacific Ties sits down with Derek Nguyen, the director of the show and Dennis Nguyen, the president of Thai Smakom, to discuss this year’s cultural show and it’s main theme. This year’s show is called “Now & Then & Back Again”…
Established in 1994, the Association of Hmong Students (AHS) hosted its fourth annual Hmong Awareness Day (HAD) event at UCLA on April 5th, 2017. To second-year AHS Secretary, Paja Thao, “HAD is an opportunity to make people on campus aware of my identity, where I’m from and who…
In a sea of Southeast Asians on campus, I am a minority. I am underrepresented. I am Laotian. Oftentimes, people misidentify me as Vietnamese. While I do not find that to be an insult, it functions as a reminder that I am not able to relate or identify…
Ramen shops, souvenir stores, hotels and a Japanese supermarket inhabit Little Tokyo. Amidst all this busyness, standing out the brightest and most colorful is Sanrio, a Japanese toy store dedicated to selling “kawaii” – or cute – trinkets, dolls, and Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty, along with all the…