Asian Avenue magazine

Denver’s know-it-all to the Asian American Pacific Islander community

It’s a fact of life within the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities: the next generations of Asian Americans will be increasingly hapa, or mixed-race.

Within the Japanese, Chinese and Korean communities, the ones who have been in the U.S. longest, it’s common to see plenty of young people who are part Caucasian, African American, and other Asian ethnicities. Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders have long been blessed with a mixed-race identity – with a correspondingly poly-cultural perspective. And mixed-race faces are going to be increasingly common among more recent immigrant communities.

It wasn’t that long ago that marrying outside of your race was illegal in many states. As recently as 1967, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in “Loving vs. Virginia” that miscegenation laws prohibiting marriage between races was illegal, 38 states still had those laws on the books.

But illegal or not, people throughout history have fallen in love across racial boundaries. This is the year of Barack Obama’s candidacy for President of the United States, after all, a man whose father is Kenyan and mother European American.

In the AAPI communities, both the waves of immigration from Asia and wars in Asia and Southeast Asia have led to corresponding waves of biracial marriages.

Today, that means a lot of Asian Americans are mixed-race, and they’re ready to take their place in the future of our community.

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Hawaiians came up with the derisive phrase, “hapa-haole” (“half-white”) to describe mix-race islanders. It’s not an insult anymore in Hawaii. Over the decades, the term “hapa” has come to refer to mixed-race Asians in general, without the stigma attached to the original meaning.

Some people still find the word offensive, and some feel that people outside of the native Hawai’ian community have no right to use the term, but it’s become so commonplace that a pop group in Hawai’i is named “Hapa,” and it’s the name of a popular chain of sushi restaurants in the Denver area. The term is now being used even in the African American and Hispanic communities.

Back in 1992, the Hapa Issues Forum was founded by Asian American students in Berkeley, CA because of outrage when a guest lecturer claimed Japanese women were marrying white men to gain social status. The organization helped mixed-race AAPIs establish and feel proud of their heritage for 15 years, and finally disbanded in 2007, announcing that hapas are now much more visible and not stigmatized like they were during the group’s inception.

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In many ways, Wendy Woo is the quintessential Denver-area musician, transplanted to the area, growing up amidst the excitement and artistic innovation of Boulder in the mid-seventies, and mixing with the children of the area’s best and brightest of that time period. Her various musical incarnations have had a major impact on our music scene; first as a solo acoustic singer-songwriter, then as a powerful funky trio, and now as a four-piece band where each member is multi-faceted, and the overall effect is free flowing and improvisational.

But her Asian background is often overlooked by the mass of her fans, who are mostly interested in her eclectic sense of style. We wanted to know in what ways her experiences played a role in her various successes. Here’s what we found out.

It’s funny because [my music] is very American. I was born in New York City and grew up in Boulder. My father is Filipino/Chinese. He grew up in the Philippines, in Cebu, and then came over to the United States in the mid-sixties to go to NYU to study, and he sort of fell into the whole sixties movement of New York City. And loved it and loved this country and stayed and met my mom, who’s Irish.
They raised my sister and I around a lot of different art, and poetry and music. So it was a very artistic family… and an artistic time too.
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Halloween is a European holiday, originating in Ireland as the Celtic harvest festival known as Samhain. It has been widely celebrated here in the US since the late 19th century as the night before the Catholic holiday of All Saints Day. But despite its western pedigree, it’s beginning to take hold of Asian imaginations in countries all over Asia and the sub-continent. As in America, Halloween in Asia is generally observed as a secular event, with adults using it as a good excuse to party, and kids from babies to adolescents painting faces and dressing up in colorful and sometimes scary costumes. Here are a few snapshots of little Asian faces enjoying the trick-or-treat tradition.

1080 S. Havana St.
Aurora, CO. 80014
Tel: 303.344.0752

HOURS Sun – Sun 9am – 9pm

That crispness you feel in the early hours can mean only one thing: Autumn is on its way. And with the cooler temperatures comes the inevitable season of colds and flu. What’s better for keeping a body healthy with the coming of autumn, than an all-natural, slow-cooked broth with fresh vegetables, citrus and rice noodles? There is nothing better.

Pho 79 on Havana at Mississippi in Aurora is a great place for a tasty steaming bowl of Vietnamese pho [pronounced FUH] noodle soup. The soups here are prepared with the greatest attention to detail and tender loving care.
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845 Colorado Blvd.
Denver, CO 80206
Tel: 303.777.1777

HOURS Mon-Sun 11am-10pm

The popularity of Thai cuisine in America has grown tremendously over the past decade. In 1996, when Swing Thai opened the doors of their first restaurant, Thai restaurants were still a rarity in the metro area; today there are over thirty. Now Swing Thai has three locations of its own, and going strong. Why? Because they’re good.

The authenticity of Swing Thai’s menu is no accident. Their devotion to Thailand and its unique cuisine among Southeast Asian countries is evident in their mostly Thai staff, their tasteful décor (complete with large, striking, sepia-style photos of scenes from daily Thai life), and the intense aromas of curry, peanut and chili that hangs in the air, assuring that diners will have a real Thai experience.

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Originally, this idiom comes from Analects of Qianfu. Light and Dark. It recorded: “You will be enlightened if you listen to the both sides; you will be benighted if you heed only one side.”
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The DNC came to Denver on Aug. 25-28, and energized the city with its political buzz, celebrity attendees, daily political events and nightly parties and galas. And more than ever before in U.S. politics, Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) were involved in the process and a visible presence during the convention, and also the following week at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

Asian Avenue magazine was there at the many events involving the AAPI community, and followed Asians all week from the delegate floor to the climactic acceptance speech by Barack Obama at Invesco Field. See our videos!

AAPI Town Hall Summit
The AAPI Summit held the day before the official start of the Democratic National Convention included Congressman Mike Honda, JACL executive director and head of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans Floyd Mori, Deeana Jang of APIAHealth Forum, Chris Wanifuchi, executive director of Denver’s Asian Pacific Development Center, and Denver University student and AAPI activist Kenneth Phi. The group discussed issues affecting AAPIs as a way to start a national dialogue and to help get AAPI issues more visibility.

APIAVote Gala
Denver’s Asian American community welcomed national AAPI delegates for the Democratic National Convention with a gala event at the Marriott City Center downtown, which featured local Asian entertainers and a host of politicos, including Calif. Rep. Mike Honda, Ore. Rep. David Wu, former Sec. of Transportation Norm Mineta, Minnesota State Senator Mee Moua and others, introduced by emcees including actress Tamlyn Tomita, former CNN and CBS news anchor Joie Chen, and local writer Gil Asakawa.

AAPI Caucus Meetings
Two separate caucus meetings were held during the convention to discuss issues affecting the AAPI community, and to inspire and organize AAPIs to action and involvement in the political process. Speakers and panelists included politicians such as Congressman Mike Honda of California and Minnesota State Senator Mee Moua, the historic first Hmong American lawmaker in elected office. Also on hand were Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a disabled veteran who ran unsuccessfully for Congress, and celebrities such as “Survivor” winner Yul Kwon and actresses Tamlyn Tomita and Kelly Hu. Barack Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetero-Ng also made a surprise appearance at the Wednesday caucus meeting with her husband, Konrad Ng, to speak on behalf of Obama’s campaign.

The Speech
The climax of the week’s events was the Thursday night acceptance speech by Barack Obama to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States. Over 84,000 people converged on Invesco Field at Mile High in the afternoon, and sat and cheered through a parade of speakers and performers that included former Vice President Al Gore; Obama’s running mate Joe Biden; singers Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, Will.i.am and Michael McDonald; DNC Chair Howard Dean; Colorado Governor Bill Ritter; Congressman John Lewis; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin. Obama’s speech ignited the crowd, and it was followed by fireworks as Obama and Biden’s families came onstage and waved to the crowd.

By Gil Asakawa
Asian Avenue magazine

The first ever AAPI Women’s Networking Luncheon brought women together from diverse career and industry backgrounds on September 21st. At Dixon’s Restaurant in downtown Denver, attendees shared career and networking tips, conducted mock interviews, and established goals for future networking events to continue strengthening the bond between AAPI women in Colorado. Carol Ross, a career coach and team development consultant led activities and discussions, as well as engaged attendees with her personal career endeavors and advice. The event was sponsored by Sigma Psi Zeta (CU-Boulder), Miss Asian American Colorado, and National Association of Asian American Professionals (Colorado).

Over 2,500 Denverites were treated to a unique traditional Korean performance on Sept. 6, when the Korean Consulate General sponsored a rare U.S. visit by a Korean dance troupe, Festive Lands, for a performance at the DCPA.

The dancers and musicians filled the stage with a blur of color and rhythm, with different groupings of the 21-member troupe taking turns with acrobatic moves and the mastery of unique elements like swirling ribbon hats. The emcee, Korean American 9News reporter Jamie Kim, explained the culture of each dance for the audience. After the final dance, the entire troupe marched into the Buell lobby to dance with audience members.