Kushlani de Soyza critiques the latest examples of Asian and Asian-American representation in advertising. Who thought putting Ashton Kutcher in brownface was a good idea? We also take a look at stereotypes that underpin recent New Balance and Intel commercials featuring APAs.

Sarika Mehta spoke with Samip Mallick, founder and president of the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) about the importance of archiving our communities' histories. They also discussed lesser-known histories of the first wave of South Asian immigrants into Washington state, and the language surrounding the sentiments of immigrants even in the early 1900s. 

 The Coalition for Communities of Color published a thorough report in 2009, detailing the staggering disparities in racial minorities in Multnomah County. Last month, they developed another report specific to Asian Pacific Islander (API) Communities and the severe inequalities here, as compared to the rest of the nation.

Sarika Mehta spoke with Ann Curry-Stevens, professor of Social Work at Portland State University and co-author of the report, June Arima Schumann and Reverend Joseph Santos-Lyons of APANO. 

Check out the report and learn more about the work by these dedicated contributors!

*Special thanks to Andrew Yeh for his help with this segment

Amy Chua, professor at Yale Law School and author of the critically-acclaimed Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, is now on her paperback tour, which began here in Portland. She joined Sarika Mehta at our KBOO studio to reflect on the past year's reaction to her book, the process of parenting as Chinese American, as well as other issues concerning the Asian American community. 

You can keep up with Amy Chua at her website or her facebook page.