The U.S. Civil Rights Movement, Internationalism & Kamala Harris
Foreign Policy Magazine has published an article Dr. Keisha Blain and I coauthored " The Civil Rights Movement and Kamala Harris’s...
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Oct 17, 20233 min read
The Philosopher of the Movement: Howard Thurman in South Asia, 1935-36
Too often the story Americans assimilate about the Civil Rights Movement is that it sprang up spontaneously in the mid-1950's. A common...
Oct 19, 20222 min read
Grieving, healing and finding hope together
As part of the Mourning Into Unity project, I was privileged to work closely with Rev Dr. Sheila Harvey. Earlier this year, she spoke...
Feb 19, 20223 min read
80 years ago today Americans chose bigoted cruelty and that choice haunts us still
Eighty years ago today, America invoked a “greater good” as justification to use force against a targeted social group. The toxic...
Feb 2, 20222 min read
Beyond the tagline: James Weldon Johnson in Japan
It's odd how often we *know* of a historical figure as the creator of X or the hero of Y ~ their endeavors, and indeed, their life,...
Jan 25, 20221 min read
When skilled reader/writers ask interesting questions...
Authors and podcasters Wendy Kendell and Carl Lee interviewed me this month for their #ANovelTalk podcast. Both claimed zero knowledge...
Dec 7, 20212 min read
80 years ago today: Japan attacks U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor
At 7:55 am Honolulu time on December 7, 80 years ago today America learned a tragic lesson about the danger of hubris and false...
Oct 4, 20213 min read
Mystery Women/Men revealed!
In the countdown to Asia Society of Southern California event on September 28, I posted photos on social media posts of African Americans...
Aug 30, 20213 min read
Two Events: Shanghai on the Eve of Pearl Harbor & Pre-WWII Black Internationalism in Asia
In September I get to present alongside people whose work I admire at two Rumors from Shanghai-related events. What a boon for a China...
Jun 8, 20214 min read
An Introvert Sits Down to Write a Book...
As an introvert, the act of writing is right up my alley. Spend hours alone?✅ Reading and researching?✅ Imagining things? ✅ I’m all in!...
Apr 15, 20211 min read
African Americans in Interwar Asia
Thrilled to see the final form of this essay I wrote for BlackPast! It considers the ambitious and varied endeavors of the African...
Apr 8, 20211 min read
On Historic Shanghai's Bookshelf
Historic Shanghai has an interview up on their blog, discussing Rumors from Shanghai's beginnings and the influence my sojourn in...
Apr 7, 20211 min read
NüVoices Collective Online Interview is up...
NüVoices, a collective of women China experts from a range of fields/professions, now has an online interview up about my historical...
Apr 6, 20214 min read
Highly Improbable! And yet...
A Black American representing the diplomatic interests of the United States in the Russian Far East at the turn of the 19th century?...
Mar 20, 20213 min read
Pre-WWII Seattle and the Japanese Community
In #RumorsFromShanghai, characters from Black, Chinese and Japanese backgrounds shape the protagonist's viewpoint and interests. These...
Mar 10, 20214 min read
Early Pacific Northwest-China Ties
Early Chinese residents in Washington State most famously and numerously drew from Southern China's Taishan region. The impact of...
Mar 1, 20214 min read
"Rumors from Shanghai" launched
March 1, almost a year to the day since the original planned launch date at the 2020 Shanghai International Literary Festival, is launch...
Jan 23, 20213 min read
Post-Inauguration Reading...for Fun: "Remembering Shanghai"
The celebrations the last time America ousted a disastrous head of state is a fond memory. Michelle Garnaut, inimitable founder of M on...
Dec 6, 20201 min read
No, Biden's China Policy Will Not Be Trump 2.0
The Seattle Times has an op-ed out "The path to a new China policy" from Michael Burke and me: We have no illusions that the US and China...
Dec 1, 20204 min read
From beginning to end ~ Tyranny & Strongmen
With the thorough thumping delivered at the end of November by Republican-appointed justices in the Third Circuit, Trump's ...
Nov 6, 20202 min read
Debt & Gratitude: Black Americans Saving the Day...again
Friday morning, post-election Day 3 and the voting tallies for Georgia and Pennsylvania now show Joe Biden leading. Perhaps by the end of...
Sep 12, 20205 min read
Dreaming and...Deferring
When I was little, two when-I-grow-up-I-want-to-be dreams lit my fire: one was becoming a writer and the other was becoming a lawyer....
Jul 31, 20205 min read
China In U.S. Courts: Not New, but...What Happened?
On July 30, @Kate_OKeefe and @aviswanatha’s article “China’s New Tool to Chase Down Fugitives: American Courts” appeared in the WSJ: The...
Jul 3, 20202 min read
Political volunteering in a pandemic
Political organizing typically has relied on face-to-face interactions. "Hit the doors" "Debate watch parties" "Turn out for rallies" One...
Jun 25, 20201 min read
Canada & the #TwoMichaels Case: Considerations for the Future
This week I spoke with the #TorontoStar about efforts by leading figures in Canada's legal system to persuade the Minister of Justice to...
May 29, 20202 min read
U.S.-listed PRC companies: still playing pin the tail on the donkey
Re possible delisting of PRC-headquartered co's from US exchanges, this is a governance issue that has been brewing for over a decade....
May 29, 20209 min read
Voter Suppression Via Administrative Ineptitude
Imagine the state you live in requires having automotive insurance to be allowed to drive, BUT underwriting and brokerage are handled...
May 10, 20202 min read
Amidst the pandemic, a welcome piece of positive news…
In late April as we were deeply immersed in the #CoronavirusPandemic, opening Twitter and seeing myself tagged with this announcement was...
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