KPFA brings you a special hour-long show about Asian-American heritage and identity in the Bay Area. We’ll take you to a street in Berkeley named after a South Asian activist, to San Francisco Airport where Filipino Americans are waiting for a twice-daily flight to Manila, and the family story behind one of Oakland’s only 24-hour donut spots – and other celebrations of food, music and culture. Hosted by Miko Lee of APEX Express.
Click the audio player above to hear the full program.
Featured segments from our program:
Finding the “Birthplace of the Asian American Movement”
In Berkeley, in front of a house on Hearst Avenue is a small plaque that proclaims “Birthplace of the Asian American Movement.” It was here in May of 1968 where Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee, two UC Berkeley students, called a meeting with other students of Asian descent to form a political organization – the first of its kind.
In this episode, we’ll hear from Harvey Dong, Ethnic Studies professor at UC Berkeley, who would become a part of the organization that was created: the Asian American Political Alliance. The term Asian-American would go on to become a rallying cry, uniting people of Asian descent, including for the fight to bring ethic studies to UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University. Harvey spoke with Miko Lee, host of KPFA’s APEX Express.
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A Walk Through San Francisco’s Japantown
This segment tells the story about one of the oldest and largest surviving Japanese districts in the United States: San Francisco’s Japantown. Here to show us more about that neighborhood and its history is KPFA’s Scott Baba.
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How donuts brought one Cambodian refugee family to Oakland
Colonial Donuts is a 24-hour donut shop in Oakland by Lake Merrit. It’s also one of many Cambodian immigrant-owned donut shops in California. That’s thanks to Ted Ngoy, also known as the Donut King, a Cambodian-American refugee. In the 1970s and 80s, he helped other Cambodian refugees run and buy donuts stores across the state. He was also known fondly as Uncle Ted.
In this episode, we’ll hear from Phing Yamamoto, who left her tech job to manage the family business, Colonial Donuts and hear how that business supported her family after they fled the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia. Phing was in conversation with Miko Lee, host of KPFA’s APEX Express.
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Balikbayan boxes connect Filipino Americans with loved ones – and history
We bring you a story from producer Elizabeth Santos, who traces the roots of one Filipino tradition, balikbayan boxes, to a complicated history while exploring a personal family mystery.