

'Busing the Buffer Zone' Turns Chinatown Mothers' Boycott History Into Art, Theater
The exhibit “Busing the Buffer Zone” uses art and theater to explore the experience of Chinatown mothers who boycotted busing of students in Boston Public Schools in 1975. The exhibition, which includes a play by Christina R. Chan and an exhibition at the Pao Arts Center, runs through March 28. The stage readings are slated for March 28 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Pao Arts Center. An open rehearsal is March 20.
Daria Mohan Zhang
Mar 13


Disease Expert: Keep Watch for TB, a Growing Global Concern
As World Tuberculosis Day approaches on March 24, Sampan is spreading the word about this sometimes fatal disease. We recently spoke with Dr. Tine Vindenes, chief of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Vindenes also co-directs the Tuberculosis Clinic at Tufts.
Adam Smith
Mar 13
The Fires This Time: Hughes, Baldwin, Coates, and the Uncertain Path Ahead
T hrough the smoke and gasoline of the literal fires that raged through cities like Washington, DC, and Atlanta as a result of the civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd’s May 25th 2020 murder at the literal knee of state-sanctioned legal justice, and through the similar apocalyptic scenes that have hit Minneapolis (in 2020 and 2026) and Los Angeles in the midst of an occupation by federal agents, we hear voices and see faces. The revolution is being televised. Truth is out


Editorial: What Would Chiune Sugihara Do?
Chiune Sugihara defied orders from Tokyo and in an elaborate scheme he issued as many visas as his tired hands could stamp to allow refugees a shot at escape.
Adam Smith
Mar 13
Tufts Medical Center Grants Over $1.7M to Boston Nonprofit Groups
Tufts Medical Center has awarded more than $1.7 million in grants to nine Boston-based nonprofit organizations, including several in Chinatown. The medical center says the grants will be used over three years to address “unmet” health and health access needs that were highlighted in its 2026-2028 Community Health Needs Assessment. Through the grants, the community groups will support culturally competent behavioral health, social-emotional wellness, and substance use disorder
AACA Development
Mar 13
'Rock' Book Dresses Down Fascist Fashions
Daniel Rachel’s remarkable This Ain’t Rock and Roll: Pop Music, the Swastika, and the Third Reich shows that from the brutal brilliance of Leni Reifenstahl’s “Triumph of the Will” to the ghoulish strutting of Marilyn Manson’s “The Golden Age of Grotesque,” the fashion horrors of Hitler’s Third Reich have never fully gone away. And in a time when many are drawing comparisons between mass immigration raids and the Nazis, the book seems more relevant than ever. Rachel clarifies


‘Operation Catch of the Day’ in Maine May Have Ended, but Fear and Trauma Remain
Advocates say 'Operation Catch of the Day' caused lasting trauma and fear for many in Maine's minority and immigrant communities.
Adam Smith
Mar 12


Artist Daphne Xu Captures Story of Busing in New Greenway Exhibit
Daphne Xu’s new project “Boston Busing in Chinatown, 1975,” a photographic installation, just opened early this month along the Greenway, near the Chinatown Gate.
Daria Mohan Zhang
Mar 2


A Higher Calling
At the Josiah Quincy Elementary and Upper Schools located in the heart of Chinatown, Bak-Fun Wong is known as a “living legend.”
Esther Wang
Feb 27


Reclaiming Lost Histories: Exhibit Tells Story of Three Old Neighborhoods
he permanent exhibit, “Reclaiming History — A Journey Through Three Neighborhoods,” will officially open at the Josiah Quincy Upper School on April 27.
Adam Smith
Feb 27


Panethnic Pourovers: 'We Are Truly Here to Help People'
Part library, part cultural center and part hangout, group says it is for all A fter feeling burnt out from her job as a software engineer a few years ago, Emily Goroza decided that she needed a change. At the same time, she realized how privileged she was to work in the corporate world. Then it struck her: She wanted to find a way to work that also allowed her to give back to the community. So, in 2023, Goroza, alongside a close friend and her now fiancé, started Panethnic P
Liam Crampton
Feb 27


Writer Windy Pham Bridges Cultures, One Page at a Time
The Magic of Tết is one of the 10 works Windy Pham has published in her series of bilingual children books, aiming to celebrate Vietnamese heritage through highlighting the culture and language.
Esther Wang
Feb 27


A Gracious Spark of ‘Creativitry’
Playwright Stan Lai talks with Sampan.


Flying High
College basketball star Pat Dickert's injury opened unexpected doors: studying and living in Taiwan, coaching in China, and playing in Norway.
Shangcao Yuan
Feb 16


Brookline to Palestine: Local Activist Tells Her Story
Trudi Frost, along with another Asian American, Irene Cho, were the focus of a little publicized campaign to get the two women freed from Israeli detention, where they were held from Dec. 12 to about Dec. 19, partly in an Israeli prison for women. T
Adam Smith
Feb 14


Boston Rally for Iran Reveals a Diaspora Divide Over Who Gets to Lead
In Copley Square, in front of the Boston Public Library, several hundred people formed a human chain in 10-degree temperatures on a recent Saturday afternoon, clasping gloved hands as they tried to keep the line unbroken and visible from a distance. Up close, however, the solidarity the chain was meant to project remains fractured over a fundamental question: Who, if anyone, should speak for a revolution?
Kevin A. Mani
Feb 13


Column: Author of 'How My Grandfather Stole a Shoe' Writes for the Record
Interview with Julie Masis, author of "How My Grandfather Stole a Shoe and Survived the Holocaust in Ukraine."
Adam Smith
Feb 10


Opinion: Literary Guide for the 250th Birthday of the U.S.
As we begin the new year, Sampan will run an occasional series of pieces reflecting on literature that has influenced who we were, who we are now, and who we might become as Americans. On July 4, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.
For the purposes of this series, the notion of “literature” include foundational political texts, those that established who we would be as a nation, and those that serve to challenge what we have become.
Review: 'Hamilton,' History and the Immigrant Experience
Hamilton, presented by Broadway in Boston recently at Citizens Opera House, brought the full vigor and verve that has made playwright Lin Manuel-Miranda’s hit musical so beloved over the last decade. Meticulously researched and rooted in Ron Chernow’s biography of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, the musical Hamilton brings to life the rise of this flawed, accomplished figure with an iconic musical score blending hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and Broadway.
Virginia Sun
Jan 27


We Must All Hear ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’
The Voice of Hind Rajab is based on the true story of Hind, the five-year-old trapped for hours in a car in Gaza. She is there, next to her relatives who had just been killed by Israeli gunfire. She begs to be rescued, using her cousin’s cell phone to call for help.
Linda Dittmar
Jan 21

