The Jazz Solution

It is disturbing to read that Asian American nurses are on the front lines both in the battle against COVID and the battle against racism. My husband and I met many wonderful Asian American nurses and health care workers when he was hospitalized a couple of years ago. They were fun, kind, thoughtful, and knowledgeable. I learned a lot from them. Since the pandemic began, I have often thought about how hard they are working and about what we can do to support them. This article lists ways that healthcare institutions can help, suggestions that can be applied everywhere.

https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/nursing/asian-american-nurses-battle-racism-against-clinicians-patients

I’m glad to hear that more Asians are speaking out about workplace discrimination! The sad part is that incidents of discrimination and harassment toward Asians have risen during the pandemic. I couldn’t stand the way President Trump encouraged this by repeatedly saying, “China Virus” and “Kung Flu.” 

Racism against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) has been spreading as fast as the Coronavirus! In April cyberbullying against APPI went up by 900% and some 1,500 physical and verbal harassment cases were reported, according to Stop AAPI Hate. Little is being done to counteract the craziness of so many Americans blaming any Asian-looking person for causing the spread of the coronavirus. But with a second wave of Covid-19 predicted for the Fall, we can also expect a surge of racism against AAPI as schools reopen and more people go back to work.

How is your company or school preparing to address the needs of AAPI students and workers? I have prepared an online program of anti-racist knowledge-based strategies to support AAPI. I presented this information on Zoom for the St. Paul Public Schools. Please contact me if you would like to learn more.

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! The Gold House announced the third annual A100 – the 100 most influential Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders of 2020! They represent all kinds of professional areas including medicine, politics, entertainment and media. The short video features AAPI historical events and achievements. Find out more about the fastest growing demographic segment in America!

(アメリカの職場ではアジア系アメリカ人は、未だに少ない。グローバル時代に、雇用者側がするべきこと５点を挙げた。) Asian Americans are largely missing in many workplaces, including schools and corporate offices. Only 1.5% of American teachers are Asian (Education Studies), and only 1.4% of American principals are Asian (Education Week) .Only 1.5% of college and university presidents in the U.S. are Asian Pacific Islanders, only 7% of the tenured faculty members are Asian, and only 4% of deans are Asian (Insight into Diversity) . In corporate America, Asian Americans tend to be least likely to be promoted among all of the races (Harvard Business Review).

Here is some quick advice for how to recruit and retain Asian American professionals:

1. Make an inclusive environment for Asian Americans.

Dr. Beverly Tatum said at the Minnesota Chapter event of the National Association for Multicultural Education: “Try to take a picture from this podium. Now that the picture is available for you, what would you see first?  First, you look for yourself in the picture. If you can’t find yourself, how would you feel? You would feel left out and disappointed.” She explained the importance of inclusion and how it affects diverse people.

Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn has just received an award for his outstanding contribution towards strengthening the bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Japan. He introduced the Kaizen philosophy to Ethiopia. Kaizen is a business efficiency model, the one Toyota uses.

Read the article: https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/ethiopia-ex-pm-named-for-japanese-gong/

Does America need more Asians? Yes, we do! Ronny Chieng, a Chinese comedian and actor (Crazy Rich Asians) with a law degree from Australia, explained why on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last month. “We are the only objective referees in your ongoing race war between white and black people. Because you don’t care about us and we don’t care about any of you. No. no. So you can trust us….There’s no agenda. There’s no reason to lie because we don’t care.” 

He looks confident when he makes such sweeping statements. His blunt attitude makes people laugh.

Ronny continues: “We need an Asian president. Man or Woman. Get that Asian President in the White House. We will fix this place in a week!”

True! Asians can do that! (See the photo of me with Andrew Yang next.)

Just look at all of the important historical events involving Asian Americans that took place in May:

May 7, 1843  Arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the U.S.

May 10, 1869 The completion of the Transnational Railroad, in which the majority of the workforce were Chinese laborers. This marks the 150^th Anniversary of the celebration of the railroad’s completion.

May 6, 1882  The Chinese Exclusion Act was signed by the U.S. government to exclude all immigration of Chinese laborers. This was the first U.S. law affecting immigration.With their largest source of labor cut off, railroads began recruiting laborers from Japan and Korea. Japanese and Koreans were soon excluded under the Chinese Exclusion Act.

May 26, 1924  The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants based on a national origins quota. The law was signed to completely exclude immigrants from Asia under the Asian Exclusion Act. 

The Grammy Award winning Kurt Elling, a jazz singer and an alumnus of Gustavus Adolphus College in St Peter, Minnesota, joined the Jazz Day in Melbourne. I had the opportunity to see his fabulous performance at the Dakota Bar in Minneapolis in March! He sent his social justice messages to us with his respectful, passionate, and thoughtful feelings. It was an incredible show. 

April 30 was International Jazz Day. UNESCO first declared it in 2011 to unite people all over the world through jazz. Jazz keyboard player Herbie Hancock originated the idea when he was serving as Goodwill Ambassador. This year’s Jazz Day was launched in Melbourne, Australia.

About 200 countries have participated in Jazz Day. The event was previously hosted in such cities as Paris, New Orleans, New York, Istanbul, Osaka, Washington, D.C., Havana, St. Petersburg and Sydney.