March 28, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

The Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) offers arts and cultural programs for children, youth and adults on Saturdays. From April to June, Sunshine Saturdays offer arts classes and book readings including – Karate, Chinese brush painting, lion dance, cartoons, children’s story hour and more. Open house on Sat. March 29, noon to 2 pm. Come to BCNC at 38 Ash St. (off Washington and Oak Streets).

Following is a list of classes and activities. For more information, please contact Giles Li at Giles.Li@bcnc.net or 617-635-5129 x1070. www.bcnc.net. Attached are brochures in English and Chinese. Sunshine Saturday English Brochure
Sunshine Saturday Chinese Brochure

FOR CHILDREN
Artful Adventures: Discovering Cultures (5-7 yrs)
Lion Dance for Kids (5-9 yrs)
Karate for Kids (6-12)
Break Dance for Kids (7-12 yrs)
Chinese Brush Painting (7-12 yrs)
Drawing (9-12 yrs)
Cartooning (9-12 yrs)
Computer Animation & Games (9-12 yrs)

FOR YOUTH
Art from the Heart (11-18 yrs)
Girls Volleyball Clinic (11-18)
Public Speaking for Teens (11-18 yrs)

FOR ADULTS
Ballroom Dance for Beginners (adults)
4:15-6PM // 05.03-05.24 _ $50 single / $85 couple
Join in the latest trend for fitness and fun by learning the basics of ballroom dance from experienced instructor Raymond Eng.

FREE ONGOING PROGRAMS
Open Computer Lab (all ages)
12-3PM // Every Saturday

Drop-in Time at the Oak Street Youth Center (11-18)
12-4PM // Every Saturday

FOR FAMILIES (FREE PROGRAMS)
Children’s Story Hour (4-7 yrs & parents)
11AM-12PM // 04.05 - 04.19 - 05.03 - 05.17 - 05.31 - 06.14
Come with your child to listen to any one of these sessions to hear a children’s story in English and take home a free children’s
book too!

Book Reading with Grace Lin (4-7 yrs & parents)
2-3:30PM // 04.26
Acclaimed children’s book author Grace Lin will read and lead the group in a fun activity. Signed copies of her book will be available for purchase.

ESOL Tour of the Museum of Fine Arts (kids & parents)
12:30-2:30PM // 05.10
Educators from the Museum of Fine Arts will lead a group of BCNC parents and children through the exhibit and lead them through an art class together. Space is limited; registration is required.

Book Reading with Ha Jin (all ages)
2-4PM // 05.31
PEN/Faulkner Award-winning and Pulitzer-finalist novelist Ha Jin will read and sign copies of his newest novel A Free Life. Cosponsored with the Asian American Resource Workshop.

Book Talk with Moying Li (youth & parents)
11AM // 05.03
Moying Li, one of the first students to leave China for study abroad after the Cultural Revolution, will read from her new memoir Snow Falling in Spring. This event will take place at the Boston Athenæum at 10½ Beacon St near the State House.

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March 28, 2008 by willng24.

This is the same post I have on my own site, but I thought it would be an interesting topic for this site.

The big movie coming out today is 21. This movie is based on the book Bringing Down the House about a few MIT students who took Vegas for millions. Many Asians are angry because of Hollywood’s decision to change the race of a few of the characters. In actuality a majority of the MIT group were Asian, but Hollywood decided to cast Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth instead. Is this Hollywood’s way of white washing a movie so it is more appealing to the general population? Yes. Does Hollywood think that Asians can’t hold a lead role? Yes.

A recent article by the Angry Asian Man provides more insight to the character changes and response by Jeff Ma, the character who Sturgess plays in the movie. Jeff does have a cameo in the film as a Planet Hollywood dealer (ironic).

I don’t think that this is a racist move targeting Asians, but more of a financial move. The bottom line is if statistics show that movies with lead characters played by monkeys make more money, well we’d see more monkeys on film….simple as that. However, I also consider that if the roles were reversed, would the general Caucasian population have a similar response? How about other races. If Malcom X was played by Spacey instead of Denzel we’d surely hear about it everywhere.. I think it is up to us to voice our concerns to movie producers, but I don’t think this is racism…is it?

Remember, we make up the statistics that movie producers go by. If you are offended by this, don’t watch the movie.

Just because a movie isn’t true to life doesn’t make it a bad movie. Hollywood has been doing this since day one. Keep in mind it is a movie. It is designed to entertain you for 2 hours for $10. If you were entertained, then you should be satisfied. I’d probably watch this movie as I’m a huge fan of movies involving Boston.

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