New cable program presents ‘a very different look’ at Asian Americans
Ernabel Demillo and Charlie Lai of the Chinatown History Project
Veteran New York City broadcaster Ernabel Demillo is the producer and host of the show, which will air at 8 p.m. (Cable Channel 75 or Digital Broadcast 25.3) and have encore presentations during the day and evening throughout the week.
Featured in the premiere is a history of Chinatown, the oldest Asian immigrant enclave in the U.S.; including interviews with Charlie Lai of the Chinatown History Project and Helen Koh of the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA); an interview with photographer Corky Lee, by correspondent Kyung Yoon, about his four-decade chronicling of the Asian-American experience; a talk with physicist and futurist Michio Kaku, son of Japanese immigrant parents interned in California during World War II; a community roundtable about issues facing Asian Americans in the tri-state area; and lighter features that include an art exhibition at the Met and a visit to the Red Egg Dim Sum restaurant.
Members of the community roundtable – Vanessa Leung, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families; Sayu Bhojwani, New American Leaders Project; Larry Lee, Asian Women’s Center; and Kyung Yoon, as head of the Korean American Community Foundation – will discuss issues concerning women, children, the elderly, and the needy.
“Nothing like this has been done that focuses on the Asian community in this way,” says Demillo, who was born in the Philippines and grew up in San Francisco. “We will show New Yorkers a very different look at Asian Americans.”
Demillo says the show also will address myths and stereotypes about Asians, including the concept of the ‘model minority,’ and will explore how Flushing, Queens has surpassed Manhattan’s Chinatown in size. In fact, she says, New York’s Asian population is larger than the entire population of San Francisco.
“Viewers hungry for ideas, profiles, insights, arts coverage, and international award-winning films will find them in thought-provoking, innovative new series like ‘Asian American Life’,” said Robert Isaacson, who has served as CUNY TV executive director since 1992. “Even better, viewers without cable or those living outside the five boroughs are now able to connect with CUNY TV all day, every day.”
For more information, visit www.cuny.tv.
Great news. Its about high times that Asian American community will have an advocate on behalf of the Asian American community in the NY metro area, and Professor Emable Demillo is a seasoned TV journalist reporter, writer and anchor women will bring her experiences to the table.
I urge you to watch this show and please pass the words about the show to your family/friends. M