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☆ Barbie debuts its first ‘Diwali doll’ ahead of the Hindu festival of lights
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-04 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A new Barbie will help celebrate the largest Indian festival of the year. Mattel announced the release of its first “Barbie Diwali doll” on Friday in an homage to the Hindu holiday of Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, which is marked on Western calendars as Nov 1. “In celebration of Diwali, Barbie and I are both encouraging fans around the world to celebrate the beautiful heritage of Indian fashion and culture,” Dongre said in a news release. The Barbie Diwali doll comes with golden earrings, “reflecting the radiant lights of the festival.” Rafael Ortega / MattelIn designing the look, Dongre sought to incorporate “modern aesthetics with traditional craftsmanship.” The lehenga features dahlias, jasmine and Indian lotus, which symbolize strength and beauty. “Barbie used to be a more singular reflection of beauty and more one-dimensional,” Mattel’s executive vice president and chief brand officer, Lisa McKnight, told Reuters.

Persons: Anita Dongre, Barbie, ” Dongre, ” Rafael Ortega, Dongre, ” Lalit Agarwal, Rafael Ortega, Celia Cruz, Bessie Coleman, Anna May Wong, “ Barbie, Lisa McKnight, we’ve Organizations: Mattel, Reuters, “ Locations: India

☆ Willie Mays, supreme baseball talent among the best to ever play, dies at 93
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( David K. Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

San Francisco Giants great Willie Mays waves his hat as he rides around the track of Oracle Park, Friday, May 7, 2021, in San Francisco,. Focus On Sport | Getty ImagesA 1981 song and ode to America's pastime by Terry Cashman was appropriately titled "Talkin' Baseball: Willie, Mickey & The Duke." "I can't believe that Babe Ruth was a better player than Willie Mays," all-time pitching great Sandy Koufax once said. Willie Mays Hays here: Play like Mays and I run like (Olympic gold medal sprinter Bob) Hayes. Outfielder Willie Mays #24 of the San Francisco Giants rounds second base during a circa early 1970's Major League Baseball game.

Persons: Willie Mays, Santiago Mejia, Barack Obama, of Famer Willie Mays, Chip Somodevilla, Mays, Bobby Thomson, Thomson, Scot, Bobby, — Mays, Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider, Terry Cashman, Willie, Mickey, Willie Howard Mays, steelworker William Howard, Anna Mays, Eddie Montague, Montague, Leo Durocher, Barry Bonds, —, Babe Ruth, Bonds, Sandy Koufax, Ruth, Arnold Palmer, Deron Johnson, Reggie Jackson —, Hall, Hall of famer Willie Mays, Jamie Squire, Yogi Berra, James Hirsch, Joan Payson, Payson, Payson wouldn't, Mantle, Bowie Kuhn, Peter Ueberroth, Ueberroth, Mantle's banishments, Kuhn, Charles Schultz, Charlie Brown, John Fogerty's, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Wesley Snipes, Willie Mays Hayes, Willie Mays Hays, Bob, Hayes, Sisko, Donna Reed Organizations: San Francisco Giants, Oracle, San Francisco Chronicle, Hearst Newspapers, Getty, Baseball, of Famer, National, Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers, National League, New, Armed Forces Radio, Dodgers, Yankees, New York, York City, Apple, New York City, Hall of Fame, New York Mets, Shea, Los Angeles Dodgers, Birmingham Black Barons, Negro League, Barons, Mets, Oakland A's, Hall of famer, Kansas City Royals, Oakland, Thomson, New York Giants, GQ, MLB, Hotel, Claridge, Olympics, Los Angeles Times, Houston Astros, Bettmann, Major League Baseball Locations: San Francisco, Washington ,, New York, U.S, Korea, New, Flushing , New York, Westfield , Alabama, Mays ', York, America, Flushing , Queens, Atlantic City, Southern California, Northern California

☆ ‘Past Lives’ Changed My Mind About the Man Sitting Next to Me - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Euny Hong | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He tells her he’s planning to visit the city. Given this situation, I knew at least one person would be very upset by the end of the movie. For most of the film, I felt like that person was going to be me. On the one hand, as a Korean woman, I really wanted Nora to pick the Korean guy. The maddening corollary to the white savior trope is that the Asian guy never gets the girl.

Persons: Oppenheimer, Oscar, Nora, Arthur, Hae Sung, “, I’d, Anna May, ”, Chow, Mira Locations: Korean American, Korean, New York, South Korea

NEW YORK (AP) — Lorrie Moore, Naomi Klein and the Egyptian writer Ahmed Naji are among the finalists for National Book Critics Circle awards. Honorary prizes are going to Judy Blume and to a longtime ally of Blume's in the fight against book bans, the American Library Association. On Thursday, the critics circle announced nominees in seven competitive categories, ranging from fiction to debut book to best translation. The other fiction nominees are Justin Torres' “Blackouts,” winner of the National Book Award last fall; Teju Cole's “Tremor,” Daniel Mason's “North Woods”; and Marie NDiaye's “Vengeance Is Mine,” translated from the French by Jordan Stump. The book critics circle, founded in 1974, consists of hundreds of reviewers and editors from around the country.

Persons: — Lorrie Moore, Naomi Klein, Ahmed Naji, Judy Blume, Blume's, Moore, “, Justin Torres, ” Daniel Mason's “, Marie NDiaye's, Jordan Stump, Grace E, Tina Post's, ” Nicholas Dames, ”, Myriam Gurba's, Naji, Katharine Halls, Matthew Zapruder's “, ” Susan Kiyo Ito's, David Mas, Patricia Wakida, Jonathan Coe's Martin Luther King, Gregg Hecimovich, Hannah Crafts, Anna, Rachel Shteir's, Betty Friedan, Jonny Steinberg's, Winnie, Nelson, Saskia Hamilton's “, ” Kim Hyesoon's, ” Romeo Oriogun's, Robyn Schiff's, Kareem Abdulrahman, Natascha Bruce, Dorothy Tse's ”, Don Mee, Kim Hyesoon's, ” Todd, ” Maureen Freely’s, Tiffany, Indonesian Norman Erikson Pasaribu's, John Leonard, Ariana Benson's, ” Emilie Boone's, ” Victor Heringer's “, ” Tahir Hamut Izgil's, Donovan X, Martin J, Siegel's, Blume, Becca Rothfield, Marion Winik Organizations: American Library Association, Rotten, PEN America, U.S, Washington Locations: Egypt, Indonesian

☆ The First Chinese American Movie Star and the Cost of Glittering Fame
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Jennifer Szalai | More About Jennifer Szalai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Unlike “Daughter of the Dragon” the film, “Daughter of the Dragon” the book is clearly intended as a form of reclamation and subversion. “Anna May drew attention to or even exploded the stereotype by overacting these roles,” Huang writes, not entirely convincingly. “She has to take what is offered.” Especially when she is an Asian American woman at a time when Asian roles often went to white actors in adhesive tape and yellowface. The Production Code of 1930, which banned onscreen portrayals of miscegenation and interracial relationships, was a “virtual form of foot-binding for Anna May,” Huang writes. (The only film in which she was kissed by a white man was “Java Head,” a British production.)

Persons: Huang, ”, Anna May, ” Huang, Julian Barnes, ” Wong, Wong, — “ Dietrich, Anna, Mary, Mary despaired, Pearl Organizations: Java Locations: ”, Asian American, Hollywood, British, China, yellowface

☆ A Biography Examines Anna May Wong, a Revered and Reviled Chinese American Star
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Casey Schwartz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“She’s been unfairly forgotten and neglected,” said the actor Paul Giamatti, a longtime admirer of Wong. Days later, government tanks rolled through Tiananmen Square, leaving thousands injured or dead. Watching the scene unfold on his parents’ television, Huang knew that he could not remain in China. Two years later, he arrived in Tuscaloosa to earn his master’s degree. “Like in ‘Out of Africa,’ when Meryl Streep says, ‘I had a farm in Africa,’” Huang said, “well, I had a Chinese takeout in Tuscaloosa.”

Persons: Wong, “ She’s, ”, Paul Giamatti, Huang, they’d, ’, Meryl Streep, ‘, ” Huang Organizations: Peking University Locations: Formosa, China, Beijing, Shanghai, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Africa

☆ 14 New Books Coming in August
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( The New York Times Books Staff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendevous With American History, by Yunte HuangHuang, the author of a biography of Charlie Chan and another book about the conjoined twins Chang and Eng, now recounts the life of the Chinese American movie star Anna May Wong, who was born in Los Angeles in 1905. Wong went on to appear in more than 60 films — an astonishing number, given the few roles afforded nonwhite actors in the early decades of the 20th century. Liveright, Aug. 22

Persons: Anna May Wong’s Rendevous, Yunte Huang Huang, Charlie Chan, Chang, Eng, Anna May Wong, Wong Locations: American, Los Angeles

CNN —A US Army sergeant who was convicted of murdering a protester at a Black Lives Matter rally in 2020 was sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday morning – even as Texas’ governor pushes to pardon him. In April, a Texas jury convicted Perry of murder but found him not guilty on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The governor can only pardon Perry if the Board of Pardons and Paroles recommends it, according to Texas law. And in a June 1, 2020, social media comment, Perry compared the Black Lives Matter movement to “a zoo full of monkeys that are freaking out flinging their sh*t,” the documents show. CNN reached out to the governor’s office for comment on the social media posts.

☆ Florida is trying to oust an elected school superintendent who publicly criticized DeSantis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Florida Department of Education is investigating an elected superintendent who is a fierce critic of Gov. Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna publicly criticized DeSantis for the governor's ban on mask mandates at schools during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a letter to Hanna, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. said the department had cause to "justify sanctions against your Florida educator certificate," according to the outlet. Hanna told The Daily Beast that he believes the state's investigation stems from a letter sent by a Moms for Liberty leader to DeSantis last year. The letter the group sent to DeSantis complained about the email Hanna sent to school staff at the beginning of the school year.

☆ Rihanna may not have gotten paid for her Super Bowl halftime show performance, but her music streams saw a massive surge
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rihanna performed at the Super Bowl LVII halftime show on Sunday in her first live performance in over five years. Like past performers, she wasn't paid, but her music sales and streams have skyrocketed since Sunday. Songs on which Rihanna is the primary artist raked in over 62 million on-demand streams on Sunday and Monday compared to 25.8 million streams the two days prior, Billboard reported. Per Insider's Sarah Al-Arshani, Super Bowl halftime show headliners are paid little to nothing for their performance, although the NFL does cover the costs associated with putting the show on. Her brands, Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, and Savage X Fenty all featured special-edition "Game Day" products to consumers.

“Spoiler Alert” opened in U.S. theaters Dec. 2. “Women Talking” opened in select U.S. theaters Dec. 2. “The Whale” opens in U.S. theaters Dec. 9. “Babylon” opens in U.S. theaters Dec. 23. “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” opens in U.S. theaters Dec. 23.

An Ohio man accused of helping his family plan, carry out and cover up the killing of eight members of another family was found guilty of murder Wednesday. Both Wagner brothers as well as their parents, Angela Wagner and George “Billy” Wagner III, were charged in the killings. Angela Wagner pleaded guilty to a role in helping to plan the killings in exchange for a 30-year sentence. Edward "Jake" Wagner speaks to an attorney at the Pike County Courthouse in Waverly, Ohio, on Nov. 27, 2018. Jake Wagner said his brother froze and did not fire, leading Jake to kill the man himself, according to WLWT.

☆ Chinese American movie star Anna May Wong will be the first Asian American on the US quarter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Sarah Belle Lin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Anna May Wong will be the first Asian American to be on a US quarter. The American Women Quarters Program is a four-year initiative that will feature five different women each year on the flip side of the coin. Heads up: The next US quarter will feature the first Asian American to appear on a circulating coin in the US. Starting on Monday, Chinese American movie star Anna May Wong will appear on the reverse side of the quarter, as part of the American Women Quarters Program. The American Women Quarters Program is a four-year initiative, overseen by the United States Mint, that started in 2022.

☆ The New York Times News Quiz, October 21, 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Anna May Wong, a Hollywood film star who had a trailblazing career, will be the first Asian American featured on U.S. currency. Which bill or coin will her face appear on?

☆ Anna May Wong, Early Hollywood Star, Is the First Asian-American Featured on a U.S. Coin
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Joseph Pisani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The face of Anna May Wong , a groundbreaking 1920s movie star, will be on quarters next week, making her the first Asian American to appear on a U.S. coin. Ms. Wong, born Wong Liu Tsong in 1905 in Los Angeles, was Hollywood’s first Chinese-American movie star. She appeared in more than 60 films, including 1922’s “The Toll of the Sea,” one of the first silent movies filmed in color. Ms. Wong, who also had roles on stage and television, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, about a year before she died.

☆ Hollywood's Anna May Wong to become first Asian American on U.S. currency
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Mint will feature an Asian American on its currency for the first time when it issues a coin next week engraved with the image of actress Anna May Wong, who worked in Hollywood during a time of open racism and stereotyping. A quarter-dollar coin featuring a profile of Wong with her signature bangs and long fingernails will begin circulating on Tuesday as part of the American Women Quarters Program, the U.S. Mint said in a statement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterWong was born in 1905 in Los Angeles as Wong Liu Tsong. She became the first Asian American lead actor in a U.S. television show for her role in "The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong" in 1951. "The fifth coin in our American Women Quarters Program honors Anna May Wong, a courageous advocate who championed for increased representation and more multi-dimensional roles for Asian American actors," Mint Director Ventris Gibson said.

☆ Anna May Wong will be 1st Asian American featured on U.S. currency
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Brahmjot Kaur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The trailblazing Chinese American actress Anna May Wong will be the first Asian American featured on U.S. currency as part of a program that includes notable women on American quarters. Wong, who is considered the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood, is the fifth and final woman to be individually featured on a quarter this year. U.S. MintVentris C. Gibson, director of the U.S. Mint, called Wong "a courageous advocate who championed for increased representation and more multi-dimensional roles for Asian American actors." “She is remembered as an international film star, fashion icon, television trailblazer, and a champion for greater representation of Asian Americans in film. The American Women Quarters Program began this year and features five women each year through 2025, including the Native Hawaiian hula teacher Edith Kanaka’ole in 2023.

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