3.23.18 - 3.29.18

• Watch the US Drop 2.5 Million Tons of Bombs on Laos.

• ATTENTION: 23 and Me is giving out free genetic tests if all four of your grandparents were born in Laos!

• The Guardian: Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants?

• #RepresentationMatters:

  • Miya Cech cast in The Darkest Minds directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson.

  • Phillip from You Offend Me You Offend My Family discusses Asian representation in American film industry and documents Asian Americans at the Los Angeles Gun March: #MarchForOurLives.

  • Diversity is dominating the 2018 box office.

  • Pixar's next short film 'Bao' explores an empty-nesting Chinese mother - directed by Domee Shi.

• In motherland news:

  • We are witnessing the motherland developing quicker than ever before.

  • Nobphalat Sikaiphak crowned Miss Grand Laos 2018

  • Borneo Bulletin explores the hidden waterfalls in the land of 4,000 islands

  • Lao government looks to solidify ties with neighboring states and major powers like Russia.

  • Laos ties with Bangladesh 2-2 in soccer.

  • Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith wants to make the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party more transparent.

  • The Rosewood opens second Southeast Asian location in Luang Prabang.

  • Visitor attraction now open at the Vientiane City Wall.

• #LaoFoodMovement:

  • Vanh Sengaphone & Thip Athakhanh open up Snackboxe Bistro in Atlanta.

  • Laos in the House hosting 3rd Annual Pop Up Dinner in Philly.

  • Observer Dispatch spotlights Taste of Laos in Utica.

• #ImmigrantsMakeAmericaGreat:

  • Amphone Phetsisouk, definition of a refugee who risked everything to come to America, laid to rest at 63 years old.

  • Clarkston Community Center hosts first International Spring Festival with Lao culture featured.

  • Bounlorm Soumetho (family member to many Laos Angeles Roots Members)  acknowledged for his leadership in the Lao American Community of Minnesota.

3.16.18 - 3.22.18

• Laos Angeles Roots volunteer at The LA Kitchen

• Comedian and activist Jenny Yang urges us to remake our culture that is hostile to women - especially women of color

• Laos Angeles Roots Fam, Rita Phetmixay is featured in Asian Pacific American Network

• #AAPIindustry news: CAPE Board Member, Rina Brannen, is leaving agency life to be the Head of Development at Daniel Dae Kim's company 3AD and Lauren Yee writes compelling Asian play that is to be featured at South Coast Repertory.

• Paisley University students partner with VoluntourLaos to help supply clean water for Ban Had Kam Villiage in Laos

• Thipsavanh Silaleoon, third-year business student, joins Intercultural Night to perform a mash-up of a traditional Lao dance.

• Washington Times: Tourist taken by the beauty of Laos!

• #RepresentationMatters : Meet the Asian George Washington and Actors Defying Asian Stereotypes,  Karen Fukuhara has been cast as a series regular Amazon’s straight-to-series superhero drama The Boys, 57 year old Junko Cheng books her first acting role  in Taylor Swift's 'Delicate'

• ATTENTION: The Poetry Foundation offers scholarships of up to $25,800 each

• #LaoFoodMovement : Eater Philadelphia highlights West Philly’s Vientiane Café in their “Adventurous Eats” and new food truck, Lao-Thai Xpress is up and running in Crestview, FL  

• Both born in Laos -- Mary Nguyen Aregoni has big plans for two food brands Bang Chop Thai Kitchen & Saigon Sisters and Tony Yang shares his experiences coming to the United States

• Laos Angeles Roots volunteer at The LA Kitchen.

• Lao Argentinian family reached out to Little Laos on the Prairie to help find lost family in U.S. Good news, they found!

• Laos is changing, the economy of Vientiane, Laos is changing with an influx of Chinese investment and Vang Vieng cleans up and gets first international-class hotel

• A Top-Secret U.S. Base On Laos Mountaintop Was Overrun By Elite Vietnamese Commandos 50 years ago

• The Lao village of Lahanam flourishes with higher demand for indigo dyed thread

• In other motherland news, Laos is offering incentives to Lao expats and requests deportation agreements to be handled case by case when served by the U.S. Government.

• Thailand is determined to legalize all 3.8 million foreign migrant workers -- many of Laotian descent, and indicts Laos drug lord, ‘Mr X’ for life

3.9.18 - 3.15.18

• Lam Vong Dance to be nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Status.

• #ImmigrationMakesAmericaGreat - The Washington Post features Jennifer Mendelsohn, shining a light on the hypocrites and launching ‘resistance genealogy’

• #AAPIActors Christine Ko Joins CW’s ‘Dead Inside’ & Vinny Chhibber Joins CBS’ ‘Red Line’

• Christina Choe of Sundance-Winning ‘Nancy’ signs with WME.

• MTV’s Decoded breaks down the common argument of the Model Minority.

• Laos Angeles member, Thip Soulisak, creates fundraiser with mission of preserving Lao culture and promoting Lao American community prosperity.

• #LaoFoodMovement’s Chef Seng joins Heritage Radio Network’s Episode 31 to spread the Lao food gospel.

• Glamour Magazine: Now Trending on TV - The Sexy Asian Hunk

• It's #nationalwomensday every day. Laos named best in terms of females in parliament.

• PopSugar highlighted a Lao-Cambodian wedding. 

• For your listening pleasure: Story of brother & sister emigrating from Luang Prabang in 1998 on This is Love Podcast.

• Michelin-starred chef, James Syhabout, wants to bring the food of his native Laos to the masses.

• Featured on the Columbus Dispatch, Noi and Vongseng Luangraj of Orrville celebrate their 60th anniversary!

• New Lao Restaurant Alert: "The Lao Kitchen" in Greensboro!

• Singapore’s Augustman Magazine: 5 Things You Should Know About Vientiane and Laos

• Farm training proves key to helping reintegrate Lao human trafficking survivors.

2.23.18 - 3.1.18

- The SEAD Project: Spring Language Courses to Learn Lao now open for registration!

- Community leader Nor Sanavongsay is donating his birthday to, Sahtu Press, one of the nation’s first Lao American-owned and staffed literary publishers.

- James Syhabout continues his press tour to promote his cookbook and autobiography, Hawker Fare. He visits The Splendid Table and LA news source KTLA.

- Exploring the Asian American model minority in two ways, the different relationship with politics than other racial minorities and the Southeast Asian community, a population born from refugees and resettlement. 

- Jared Leto stars as a white man who becomes head of the Yakuza. Oh, brother. 

- President Trump threatens to remove ICE from the state of California. Go ahead. 

- Artist Sisavanh Houghton is exhibiting now at the Lauren Rogers Museum Of Art. 

- Asian-American Women In Hollywood Say It’s Twice As Hard For Them To Say #MeToo 

- At least three global surveys disclosed their findings recently, with all three indicating that Laos is going backwards in term of in global development rankings. 

- A TECH firm chief temporarily swapped his day job for the dusty roads and soaring mountains of Laos in a bid to clear unexploded landmines.

- Despite working with limited funds, state censorship, and only having three working cinemas in the country - local directors are creating a thriving film industry in Laos. 

- Recognizing the potential and prospect to develop tourism, the Lao government is determined to bring the tourist rate up exponentially. 

- Laos is pushing hard to meet United Nations (UN) development targets. The government risks bankrupting the nation in the process.

- UNILAD Adventure captures the beauty of Laos with drone footage.

- Two restaurants are open, "ma der, ma der!" Zaap Kitchen in Dallas, TX and Lao Bar in Seattle, Washington. 

- New Business Alert: Online retailer Talaat Sao!