Category Archives: blog

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: Remembering Lu Lingzi, Boston Marathon victim, as the Tsarnaev verdicts are announced; Death Penalty next?

I wrote about Lu Lingzi two years ago when she made the news as a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing.

lulinghzi

Her name came up as the Tsarnaev verdicts were read. She was just one victim, but an Asian American one.

You don’t immigrate to  America  expecting  to meet  your death.

Tsarnaev was guilty on all 30 counts, 17 death penalty eligible.

Can the defense attorney for Tsarnaev find one juror willing to act humanely at this point to save his life?

The real legal struggle is just beginning.

Here’s what I thought two years ago when the case broke. 

My feelings haven’t changed.

Do two years make a difference for you?

 

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Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: South Carolina incident shows how video is changing justice. You want justice? Carry your smart phone, have plenty of memory and batteries. Videotape all evil. Your iPhone makes the best iWitness.

Seeing is definitely believing.

The NY Times has obtained this video of a South Carolina cop shooting an unarmed African American, Walter Scott.

It’s yet another reminder how video enabled phones are a necessity when you see injustice, or racism.

Without it, it’s your word against the bad guys, the stalemated justice we’re used to getting.

:21 seconds in and you see what murder passing as justice looks like.

Just within the last few weeks we saw what the absence of video has meant in fighting discrimination in the Ellen Pao case.

We saw what the video meant in exposing NYPD’s Patrick Cherry’s racist tirade.

And now this.

Make sure you carry your smart phone if you want justice in America.

Scott was stopped for a broken tail-light in North Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday.

The video forced authorities to act quickly.  That’s how strong the video is.

You have to wonder, how did we have justice before video?

I’ve been stopped for a tail light before. I’ve often felt the fear of being non-white in a gun crazy white community.

North Charleston is an example of what happens more often than we think. But only because we have a  video.

Nothing like having instant replay on life itself.

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blog, boxing, diversity, Filipino

Emil Guillermo: The Easter Bunny isn’t real, but that Pacquiao/Mayweather fight sure looks real now…

Especially at  $89.95 for the Pay-Per-View, according to reports.

And you bring your own lumpia.

pacmaytic

I’ve paid anywhere from $59-69 per fight.  But $89.95?

Fight of the Century?  It’s a young century.

With Showtime/Mayweather and HBO/Pacquaio, everyone wants to be paid.

At $89.95  so you can do your boxing karaoke in the privacy of your living, the fight is a relative bargain. That is, invite all your relatives and ask them to pitch in a few bucks.

May be the way to go, considering that tickets from brokers are going for around $4500  in the Baguio nosebleed sections.

But on the floor, people are asking for $20,000 and up.

I saw one site asking for $53,600!

Tuition alone at Harvard is $43,938.

Clearly, you’ll pay more for the School of Hard Knocks.

 

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Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, Filipino, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: UPDATE—How to sue for discrimination? Ellen Pao was a smart former VC, but not as smart as the lowly Uber driver who now has a video. This tongue lashing reminded me of every bad boss I ever had. ##UPDATE## comment on cop Patrick Cherry’s apology.

SEE UPDATE at end of post:

When Ellen Pao lost her discrimination  case against the venture capital giant Kleiner Perkins, it was pretty predictable. Her case was  all low-tech, “He said, she said.”

Analysts said she didn’t have a smoking gun.

Or a smoking video.

I thought about that as I watched that video of the South Asian man, an Uber driver, getting a tongue lashing from NYPD’s Patrick Cherry.

patrickcherrytonguelashing

He reminded me of every bad white male boss I ever had.

Come to think of it, throw in all my bad bosses of any color.  Gender even. It happens.

After all, a bully is a bully.

If you haven’t seen the video, see my essay and the video in full, here.

UPDATE 4/3/15 12:03 PDT

Cherry has been stripped of his badge and gun and reassigned and has now apologized, according to an exclusive WNBC-TV report.

Not so fast.  Even Jesus took some time to resurrect.

I want to be a good, forgiving Christian…especially on Good Friday.

But this is something worth dwelling on.

If you don’t know what hate and racism look like in this “post-racial” era, take a  look at that video again.

That’s intolerance, that’s hate, and it definitely exists. No doubt about it.

Just ask Cherry. His apology is here.

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