Articles Images Chinese Articles About Contact
International Examiner •

Global Wisdom Collective founder Dominica Zhu strives to protect the power of indigenous knowledge

Dominica Zhu is the founder of Global Wisdom Collective (GWC), an organization that supports indigenous communities in preserving the wisdom of their people for generations to come. GWC supports programs and initiatives around intergenerational knowledge sharing, preservation, and protection of wisdom from the indigenous people in the global community.

In the Seattle area, GWC recently collaborated with the Khmer community to hold an intergenerational program named “Khmer Friendship Garden” for
International Examiner •

Flower Flower gathered local artists in the CID at the Chinalek Festival on June 4

Flower Flower is a collective of queer and trans Pasifika and Asian artists and cultural workers who aim to create accessible, thriving art spaces in the Chinatown International District for communities to heal and grow together.

On June 4, Flower Flower held the Chinalek festival at Hing Hay Park and their store to promote the vibrancy of the Chinatown International District community. While they had held a couple workshops with their artists in the past two weekends, the Chinalek Festival mar
International Examiner •

Small Business Administration AANHPI entrepreneur highlight: Spa shop owner Runli Li who strived through the tough pandemic

The pandemic destroyed thousands of small businesses in the country in the past two years, and Li’s Spa was no exception. Her effort over the years was recognized by the Small Business Administration fortunately, offering her a grant to continue her business operation.

Starting her business in 2013, Runli Li said the road of her spa business was pretty smooth all along. Before establishing her own spa shop, Li was a supervisor at the Bellevue massage school and taught others massaging. Over tim
International Examiner •

Refugee Artisan Initiative brings dozens of job opportunities for immigrant women: “Sewing is a universal language”

Refugee Artisan Initiative (RAI) is a women-centered organization that focuses on encouraging refugee women to use their handicraft skills to contribute to their family and community.

RAI’s executive director, Ming-Ming Tung-Edelman, was inspired by her grandmother who raised Tung-Edelman’s mother and her uncle by sewing clothes. Tung-Edelman noticed that refugee women, in the U.S. particularly, have the highest unemployment rate amongst all other communities, and she believed it was her time t
South Seattle Emerald •

PHOTO ESSAY: Hundreds of Community Members Celebrate Year of the Tiger in Chinatown

The annual celebration of Lunar New Year held by the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area returned to the Chinatown-International District on April 30, bringing tons of excitement to community members after two years of pandemic.

The annual celebration of Lunar New Year hosted by the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area (CIDBIA), a celebration that has been traditionally held for decades, returned to the community after two years of pandemic. While la
International Examiner •

Small Business Administration (SBA) AANHPI entrepreneur highlight: Construction company owner Cecil DelaCruz achieves his dream

Cecil DelaCruz, the president of Viking Engineering + Construction, shared his road to success as a small business owner, with the assistance of two Small Business Administration (SBA) programs.

DelaCruz used to work as a general contractor in federal space. He noticed that the term “8(a)” was used frequently, so he looked up for more information through the SBA site.

The 8(a) program is a nine-year program under the SBA that aims to help individuals start up their businesses. Businesses that
International Examiner •

Community-loved bubble tea shop Young Tea is leaving Chinatown-ID in late June

Young Tea, a well-known bubble tea shop in the Chinatown International District (CID), is going to leave the community in late June due to the lease termination of its current store.

Caroline Lee, the owner of Young Tea, said her feelings about leaving Chinatown are complicated. Being in the community for seven years, she has seen the prosperity of being in the CID, as it is glutted with community events nearly every weekend. Yet she is aware of the increasing crime recently and is worried abou
International Examiner •

Small Business Administration AANHPI entrepreneur highlight: How Doreen Marr succeeded through the Idaho Women Business Center program

Doreen Marr is the owner and founder of Elie Promos, a customized wholesale product agency that aims to help their clients find a suitable manufacturer.

Marr started her business two years ago. She’d been a stay-at-home mom for 14 years, but when her youngest kid went to kindergarten last year, she felt lonely seeing how empty the house was. So she thought she needed to do something.

Marr had no idea what to do for a business at the beginning. She said most of her friends were doing business t
International Examiner •

Playwright Seayoung Yim’s comedy about body positivity wins the 2022 Yale Drama Series Prize

Jar of Fat is about two Korean American sisters who were considered fat in their family. In the twisted fairytale world, people have to be skinny enough to fit in a grave size. The sisters received a lot of pressure to get skinny. And the drama speaks about the interludes that happened about beauty standards and fatphobia.

Yim’s play stood out amongst over 1,500 contestants worldwide. And as the winner, she has been awarded the David Charles Horn Prize of $10,000 and the publication of her manu
International Examiner •

API community-based events coming back in-person after two years

It has been three years since we lived with the pandemic, and it’s safe to say – even for the introverts – we’re all pretty ready to emerge from our homes, interact with others in real life and attend community events.

Washington state has lifted pandemic restrictions as of last month, and we are excited to learn that some of our well-loved ID events are coming back to our API community this spring and summer.

Many have expressed their excitement over the return of in-person events.

Aleksa Ma
Crosscut •

UW international students reflect on two years away from home

University of Washington and Seattle in general are popular destinations for international students to study. While international students make up an average of 4.6% of an American university's enrollment, the UW boasts 16% of students from abroad, according to data from the university’s international student center.

The Pew Research Center reported a 15% drop in foreign student enrollment at American colleges since 2021, setting off an alarm for local educational funding because international
International Examiner •

Trafficking and violence survivors from marginalized communities face challenges with remote services, due to pandemic

With the lifting of mask and vaccination requirements in Washington state this month, API Chaya is looking forward to helping survivors with more in-person assistance.

API Chaya, formerly API Women & Family Safety Center, is a survivor-led organization focused on serving survivors of sexual violence, human trafficking and domestic violence from Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (NHPI), Asian and South Asian communities.

Lori Penor, the survivor advocate of API Chaya, said language barrier,
Northwest Asian Weekly •

“This is our home!” Chinese American community rallies in remembrance of expulsion

A crowd of nearly 1,000 people gathered around Hing Hay Park in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (CID) on Feb. 12, 2022 in remembrance of the 136th anniversary of the Chinese expulsion.

The rally—which wound its way to the waterfront and back to the CID—was the brainchild of Winston Lee and it quickly gained the support of over 20 Chinese community organizations.

“I see the community very divided,” said Lee. “This rally brought left and right, old and new immigrants together.”

It al
International Examiner •

UW students, staff hoping for hybrid classes through Omicron

As University of Washington announced a change back to in-person classes, students and staff are expressing hopes for the school to continue offering both in-person and online options for students.

On Jan. 24, the University of Washington announced that the school is returning back to largely in-person classes starting Jan. 31 as COVID rates are improving.

The Omicron wave peaked on Jan. 10, when more than 1.3 million new COVID cases were confirmed within a day, according to the Centers for Di