New York Amsterdam News • 9th June 2022

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg announces gun violence prevention fund

This summer, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office will hand out $20,000 to up to 10 nonprofits each for employing at-risk youngsters on projects pertaining to gun violence prevention. The fund was announced last week by Bragg at a press conference and applicants can send in proposals to CJII@islg.cuny.edu until June 27. The plan is to put New Yorkers ages 15-26 to work from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31, with at least three-fourths of each community organization’s fund going toward paying them.

New York Amsterdam News • 9th June 2022

Eric Adams’ gun violence prevention task force faces uphill challenges after tragedy-filled weekend

The start of National Gun Violence Awareness Month did not halt shootings around New York City as at least 19 people were injured or killed by firearms this past weekend. Just a few days earlier, Mayor Eric Adams announced the formation of a task force to prevent such tragedies. “It’s not a big city problem, it’s an America problem,” said Adams at the press conference. “The proliferation of guns that are impacting our communities and the rise of radicalization…and so today I am announcing a new

Character Media • 6th January 2022

'There’s Someone Inside Your House' Star Sydney Park Shares Her Love for Horror

On a Friday afternoon in late October, leaves are falling, the smell of pumpkin spice fills the air and, most importantly, spooky season’s in full swing. It’s a time when actress Sydney Park is at her best. With past recurring roles on “The Walking Dead” and “Santa Clarita Diet,” she’s a born scream queen—no joke, her birthday literally falls on Halloween. “It’s really funny how I’ve attracted this horror genre,” Park says over the phone. “It’s so meant to be.” To little surprise, she recently

Character Media • 11th March 2021

Negate the Hate

It’s impossible to escape the news of anti-Asian racism. Recently, a (now unemployed) Brentwood, Calif. realtor went viral after unleashing a racially-charged diatribe upon a mortified Asian American passerby. The encounter joins a rapidly growing catalog of harassment and violence towards Asian Americans in the young year headlined by the fatal assault of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanpakdee on Jan. 28 in Oakland, Calif. Over 2.8 thousand hate incidents were reported last year after the COVID-19 pande

Character Media • 13th May 2020

Hindsight Is The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

As the world collectively retreats indoors to wage war against the COVID-19 pandemic, life has been put on pause, and even the globe’s largest sporting event hasn’t been spared. On March 24, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially announced the postponement of this year’s Tokyo Summer Games, delaying the event until July of 2021. Even with a 16-month head start, Tokyo Olympics CEO Toshiro Muto has doubts about whether the Games will actually happen. “I don’t think anyone would be

Character Media • 31st March 2020

Speedskating Legend Apolo Ohno Breaks The Ice On Caregiving

Just because Apolo Ohno has retired from speed skating doesn’t mean he’s slowing down. America’s most decorated Winter Olympian has spent the past decade conquering new, less frigid arenas—from writing a new book and planning his upcoming podcast, to working as a broadcaster and traveling the world as a motivational speaker, the eight-time medalist isn’t just resting on his Olympic laurels. When he’s not orating to an audience of Fortune 100 execs or lending his wisdom as a commentator to NBC, O

Character Media • 29th February 2020

DJ Zhao Wants To Talk To You

It’s a gloomy, cold Monday afternoon, uncharacteristic for Los Angeles in January, and Kenny Zhao is searching for a good place to chill figuratively, not literally. The Chinese American DJ scans the procession of Sawtelle eateries for a room-temperature refuge, until he takes a seat at an aluminum table in front of a local boba shop. Today, he’s dressed in a hip workwear jacket and skin-tight jeans, accented with horn-rimmed glasses and a clasp necklace. His hair is pulled back in a tidy man bu

Character Media • 26th February 2020

'Little America' Star Angela Lin Talks Pulling In Some Big Roles

It’s a sunny morning in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley, and at a cozy Toluca Lake bakery, the sort with handwritten chalk signs and hardwood tables, Angela Lin is grabbing brunch with her manager. Lin wears a smart tweed blazer, the kind reserved for professional outings. On her plate sits the untouched half of a breakfast burrito, neatly wrapped in brown wax paper. “Do you want it?” she asks in a kind voice. “Have you had mushroom coffee before? Do you want to try some?” She offers h

Boxing Empire • 3rd December 2019

RANKED! | Five Greatest Destination Super Fights

No offense to Carson, California, and Reno, Nevada but prime-time fights need prime time hosts. Andy Ruiz will be trading dessert for the desert in his Saturday night rematch with Anthony Joshua. The highly-anticipated rematch has been dubbed the “Clash on the Dunes,” since the fight is being held at Saudi Arabia’s ritzy Diriyah Arena. It isn’t the first time the promoters have taken a super fight off-the-beaten-path. Did you pay attention in geography class? We hope so. Here are our top five d

Boxing Empire • 28th November 2019

Thanksgiving Dishes That Won't Make You Miss Your Weigh-In

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful, not indulgent. Eat, drink and be merry but don’t end up looking like a food coma Luis Ortiz after your meal. Here are some guilt-free Thanksgiving dishes that won’t tip your scales in the wrong direction. Yes, we’re talking to you, Luis Nery. Happy Thanksgiving!!! The great thing about this Thanksgiving staple is that there are plenty of healthy options that still taste bomb and are easy to make. Simply cut up the sweet potatoes up in cubes, toss them in

Boxing Empire • 18th November 2019

Blood Sports | Boxers Who Are Related to NFL Players

Football and boxing are more than sports. They’re lifestyles that demand insane amounts of physical and mental fortitude where pain is part of the job description. Thus, it’s not uncommon to see the same bloodlines running through these high-contact sports. Here are five famous boxers that are related to NFL players. One of the NFL’s fastest-rising young stars, New York Giants running back, Saquon Barkley originally wanted to be a boxer. That’s because his great-uncle is former world champ, Ira

Character Media • 15th November 2019

Actor Rich Ting Is Ditching The Dojo For A ‘High Castle’

Over the phone, “Warrior” actor and martial artist Rich Ting speaks in a combination of immaculate Yale vocabulary and Californian slang. When asked about his education and his football career, he talks as if by script, describing the pedigree of having Nobel Prize-winning professors and the intangible qualities he’s developed on the gridiron. But when asked a question about his new role in “The Man in the High Castle,” Ting perks up. “It’s so refreshing when you get a new question,” he says. “T

Character Media • 26th October 2019

Unconventional Wisdom: Asian Americans Take On Los Angeles Comic Con

There’s something special about an event that people attend for no one but themselves. For cosplayers, the Los Angeles Comic Con, formerly known as Comikaze Expo and Stan Lee’s L.A. Comic Con, serves as a nerd Met Gala, where sci-fi seamstresses can preen around the lobby in elaborate costumes. To collectors, the L.A. Convention Center-hosted event is a pop-cultural Wall Street for participants to wheel and deal for plushies, comics and Funko Pops at a massive bazaar of vendor booths. But for al

Boxing Empire • 4th October 2019

Fight Preview | Gennady Golovkin vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko

In what promises to be the most difficult fight to pronounce, middleweight kingpin Gennady Golovkin (or “GGG” if you’re into brevity) will step into the ring with Ukranian boxing maestro Sergiy Derevyanchenko. While this fight’s hype is quieter than Tyson Fury when asked about donating his Deontay Wilder purse, it’s actually a thrilling match-up. Golovkin’s pressure fighting style is always a joy to watch, and Derevyanchenko is no dosser. So if we’ve talked you into freeing up Saturday night, he

Character Media • 24th August 2019

'American Princess' Actress Helen Madelyn Kim Doesn't Need A Stage To Steal The Show

While droves of aspiring actors flock to Los Angeles every day, Helen Madelyn Kim fled her hometown of Tinseltown as soon as she could. With fantasies of directing her own Asian American stage troupe, she ran off to New York right after graduate school. It turns out, it’s pretty tough to bankroll a theater company. But working for someone else turned out to have some positive results, too. Over the phone, Kim is every bit as exuberant and animated as her recurring characters on Lifetime’s “Amer

Character Media • 2nd August 2019

Meet Marvel’s Asians of S.H.I.E.L.D.

How do you summarize “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” to someone who has never seen it? There’s no concise way. It’s an amalgamation of time and space-travel, neo-Nazi cabals, ethereal demons and a lifelike android who turns into a killer robot after being rejected by her crush. The show is science fiction dim sum. There’s a bit of something for every kind of sci-fi fan. The Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division, a mouthful of a title that’s shortened to S.H.I.E.L.