Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Tanna Frederick thrives when she’s juggling multiple projects. A co-founder of the Iowa Film Festival and creator of the nonprofit Project Save Our Surf, she is also an avid surfer and holds a second-degree black belt in taekwondo. Frederick, who co-starred opposite James Denton in “Ovation,” recently won positive reviews for her work in Carl Weathers’ stage production of “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.”
Not too long ago, I fell down and ripped the top layer of skin off my knee. As the wound started to heal, the scab, too, started to fall off. But enough of it was still dangling from my knee to be uncomfortable. To many people who don’t want to hear about white privilege, I am that scab. My experiences, words and I are annoying reminders that life isn’t always what you want it to be.
“Everyone in England is very snobbish about Los Angeles, saying there’s no culture, it’s movie orientated (and you have to) drive everywhere,” says author Charles Elton. “A few years ago, I rented a house in the Hollywood Hills for the summer and took my children. People were amazed I didn’t rent a villa in Tuscany like everybody in England does. My answer was that the Hollywood Hills look like Tuscany, the food is better, there are first-run movies and shopping malls. What’s not to like?”
The heroine of this Korean drama is the epitome of a long-suffering doormat, whose life would’ve been so much better if she grew a spine and stood up for herself. Instead of being guilted into giving up her hard-earned money — that she had ear-marked for returning to college — to her ungrateful older half-sister, who is “studying” overseas in the United States; or giving up her own body, so that she can pay for her father’s surgery; or letting virtually everyone treat her like a servant … Eun-Nim just swallows her pride and accepts it as her life.
Born in Iowa and raised in Hawaii, actress Kiersten Warren (“Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” “13 Going on 30,” “Bunheads”) spent her youth traveling the world, singing in Baptist churches with her parents. After modeling in Japan for the likes of Fuji Film, Warren returned to the United States to launch her acting career. Her first role was on “Magnum P.I.” Warren resides in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter and has recently completed work on the horror film, “The Invisible Mother.”
“I live in sunny Mountain View, California — the best place on earth,” says Emmy Award-winning journalist Carlos Watson. “It’s home to Google, Linkedin, What’s App, 23 and Me and, of course, OZY!” As the CEO of OZY, Watson takes pride in producing programs such as “Third Rail with OZY.”
I do believe that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. But it’s clear that for many people, who say these offensive things, they refuse to see beauty in men who they view as inferior. More than a decade ago, I wrote a piece about Asian-American actors. And the response from women was overwhelmingly positive. But several men felt compelled to e-mail the newspaper to inform us that Asian men are ugly and that no one in their right mind would find them sexy.
White men have been preternaturally obsessed with trying to emasculate Asian men since forever. I want my Asian-American son to know: It is their issue to deal with. Not yours.