May 2
Seattle Sites of the Day:

Seattle Contemporary Review of Asian American Literature

A sample of SCRAAL, excerpted from a review of Where We Once Belonged, the first novel by a Samoan woman to be published in America:

Sia Figiel "not only captures the adolescent struggles of Samoan girls but also reclaims a cultural narrative previously defined by Margaret Mead's seminal (and controversial) Coming of Age in Samoa. ... Ms. Figiel writes with a deft and evocative voice grounded in the creole language of Samoa... Discarding conventional narrative, Ms. Figiel's novel adopts the dream structure of memory, drifting through seemingly unconnected fragments which gradually settle upon each other like silt, growing in depth and meaning as layer builds upon layer. The novel's dénouement is thus endowed with a cumulative power that is startling and deeply moving."

Asian American Theatre Revue
   A-Fest 2000

"A month-long festival of contemporary art with innovative music, puppetry, dance and multi-media performances featuring... artists from the United States and Asia."

At the Theatre Off Jackson, 409 7th Ave S. (206) 340-1049

-	May 4-7 and 11-14 - Traces
-	May 18, 19 - LOUD and Degenerate Art Ensemble
-	May 20 - Queer Asian Arts Extravaganza
-	May 21 - Seattle Kokon Taiko
-	May 25, 26 - Cry of the Rooster Theater and Andrew Kim, Andy McCormick
-	May 26, 27 - Pork Filled Players
-	May 27 - Finding Home, a Cambodian youth project from Wing Luke Asian Museum
-	May 27, 28 - Ku'ulei Miura, Michael Sakamoto and Cheronne Wong

Finding Home will also be performed on Friday, May 5 at 6:00 PM at the New Holly Gathering Hall at 7054 32 Ave S.

Eleventh Hour Productions
   Seattle Poetry Festival

Tue May 2 - Sun May 7, at various locations

"May 2, noon at Green Lake Aquatheater - Elizabeth Shé will set sail a flotilla of poems on the lake... Poetry Truck will depart... Join us at the south end of the lake, across the street from the soccer field.

"May 2, noon-5 pm, Seattle Center - T.S. Thomas spells out giant poems across the Flag Plaza"

Dennis Y. Ginoza

Dennis Ginoza is the editor of SCRAAL, the Seattle Contemporary Review of Asian American Literature. His site presents photographs from parts of his life.

In a letter to the editor in the April Seattle JACL newsletter, Robert Shimabukuro writes, in part:

"I had heard the moans and groans from other parents checking out schools for their kids, but I didn't know what they were going through until I was faced with the same situation... It should be obvious to the most casual observer that some schools and communities in Seattle are getting shortchanged...

"... few rocket scientists and brain surgeons will be coming out of southend schools unless drastic changes in policy are made and carried out. ... It has to do with recognizing the inequities and doing something about it. ... Nobody is mentioning the words racism or classism anymore, but they obviously should be.

"... where is the outrage over the state of the school itself, regardless of the name? ... Could the lack of outrage possibly be because the student body is 88% non-white? Could it possibly be because 71% of the school's students are on free or reduced lunch? ... Somebody, convince me that this isn't about race and money. ...

"Show that you care, that you really are concerned about the students. Show some support, along with dig deep-down heartfelt dollars, to help turn the school around, to help the community around the school in improving Aki Kurose Middle School. And when the school starts producing not only rocket scientists and brain surgeons, but well-informed, thinking students, prepared for high school, we can all rejoice together."

May 20 - 23
CPSR Conference:
Shaping the Network Society