Category Archives: boycott

Dear music industry, Asians do have talent

Singer Jenny Hyun is pissed at the music industry. Here’s a quote from her YouTube video:

ITS SERIOUSLY GETTING OLD! ASIANS HAVE TALENT SERIOUSLY I HATE THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
ALL THEY DO IS REJECT PEOPLE AND IVE HAD ENOUGH
OF ALL OF IT I WANT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY BOYCOTTED

IF YOU ARE ASIAN.. GOOD FOR YOU!
BE PROUD OF WHO YOU ARE! LIKE ME!

We’ve done many posts about Asian Americans trying to breakthrough in both movies and music. It’s frustrating at times to see talented people not get their break cuz of their race. Even if an Asian American is signed to a record label, it doesn’t mean they’ll succeed. A majority of labels have no concept of how to market an Asian American artist to a mainstream audience. (They know even less if you’re an Asian American male.) However, we are hopeful that the labels will start changing and we’ll see more success for Asian Americans in the near future.

Far East Movement got signed to Cherry Tree Records recently and their manager Ted Chung has worked with the likes of Snoop Dogg. Kina Grannis broke into the Billboard 200 at #139 without a publicist or a label. Part of us thinks that signing with a record label is overrated with all the technology available to promote your own work. The other part of us sees the hard work it takes for indie artists to survive doing everything from music production to packing and shipping you own products while answering emails, facebook, and twitter. The ones that can balance these tasks will separate themselves from the pack. Being an artist is not easy, so to all you Asian American indie artist out there, channelAPA.com is doing what we can to promote your music. Hit us up with your new stuff.

Dear music industry, Asians do have talent (contains profanity)

For more commentary on race and entertainment, see ice1cube talks about race, Traphik commentary on race, David Choi commentary on race, Asians Just Aren’t Cool Enough by Kevjumba, Breaking Asian American barriers with Sam Ock, Asian American Artists on Overcoming Racism & Stereotypes, Apathy Killed the Asian American Star by GT, and The Asian Persuasion Show x channelAPA.com

Racebending interview with channelAPA.com

We had a chance to talk to Mike and Dariane from Racebending.com on their efforts to stop the white washing of actors in Hollywood. Some example in films include 21, Dragonball Evolution, The Last Airbender, and The Weapon. Listen to what racebending is all about. When will Hollywood stop this practice?

Racebending interview with channelAPA.com

Asian students protest violence at South Philly High

Asian students at South Philly High are breaking the stereotype of the quiet immigrant kid. Tensions between black and Asian students at the school erupted in assaults last week. Ten students were suspended and several sought medical treatment. Fearing for their safety, about 50-100 Philadelphia high school students are boycotting the school until things get fixed. Apparently, the bullying has been reported before to the school district, but it has done nothing to change the situation.

Philly school district get your act together.



Local ABC coverage of Asian student protest

Local CBS coverage of Asian student protest

Local FOX coverage of Asian student protest

Local NBC coverage of Asian student protest

The Last Airbender Movie Boycott (Paramount Pictures vs Asian Americans)

Controversy has arisen over the past few months over racial bias in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Whitewashed” Casting of “The Last Airbender.” The controversy is about to kick up another notch. Thousands of people have already signed the petition to “Protest the Unethical Casting of “The Last Airbender“. Secret Asian Man got involved with the protest too. Check this comic strip out.

Recently, MANAA (Media Action Network for Asian Americans) has issued an official press release “PARAMOUNT DISCRIMINATES AGAINST ASIAN AMERICAN ACTORS FOR MOVIE ADAPTATION OF ASIAN-BASED TV SERIES” (In 2003, MANAA got the show Bonzai pulled from FOX.)

With all the protest, the Asian American blogs and twitters are lit up with a site racebending.com, an information site for the protest against Paramount Pictures’ upcoming live-action movie THE LAST AIRBENDER. This website intends to provide information about why we should protest and how you can help. Asian Americans have already faced the white washing of casts in 21 and Dragonball Evolution. Hollywood has got to stop this!!

Recently, the racebending.com store on Zazzle got shut down by Viacom, parent company of Paramount Pictures, for copyright infringement. Read more about the whole experience on the blog here. Some of the products have been restored, but the protest only gets louder online. A YouTube channel has now been created to faciliate the ongoing protest here. The protest will not be silenced. If you want to get involved, but don’t know how, go here and you can help the cause.

The Last Airbender Movie Boycott — Intro

Update:

18mmw presents the World Premiere of “AVATAR: The RACE BENDER” with ALL NEW material! Check out the show on May 7 and May 10, 2009 in Los Angeles. More details here.

Boycott 21 DVD

The DVD for 21 gets released today. Continue to boycott 21, since “The main characters of Bringing Down the House are Jeff Ma and Mike Aponte, former real-life MIT students who are both Asian American men. Jeff Ma is played by Jim Sturgess, Mike Aponte is played by Jacob Pitts, and John Chang is played by Kevin Spacey.” Asian roles all got white-washed. Later in the casting process, a couple supporting characters who were Asians were added including Aaron Yoo as “Choi” and Liza Lapira as “Kianna.”

Aaron Yoo talks 21

Liza Lapira talks 21

Boycott 21

Since its release on March 28th, 2008, ’21’ has been at the top of the U.S box office for the past 2 weeks and raked in over $46MM. This weekend will probably see ’21’ get dethroned as #1 in the box office. The main controversy for this film has been the “white-washing” of the lead roles.

“The main characters of Bringing Down the House are Jeff Ma and Mike Aponte, former real-life MIT students who are both Asian American men. Jeff Ma is played by Jim Sturgess, Mike Aponte is played by Jacob Pitts, and John Chang is played by Kevin Spacey.”

Follow the controversy on this facebook page – Boycott 21

Here’s a clip of the real life Jeff Ma:

In this video, Jeff answers the question “They cast a white actor for your part… doesn’t that make you a race traitor?”

Here’s a clip of the real life Mike “MIT Mike” Aponte

Another interesting group has also landed on facebook – Asians Not Brain-Washed By Media. The list of officers in this group reads like a who’s who of Asian American entertainment. Join the group and spread the word.