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Check out Part 2 and 3 of my newest short story: Goofy. I originally wrote this story 2013 for a children’s book about the Japanese American World War II experience. I published it on 8Asians in 2014. However, with the recent events and rhetoric surrounding our presidential election, I started becoming worried that the events of this short story could happen again—not to Japanese American but to Muslim and Arab Americans.

I wanted to reimagine these events if they happened today to help make sure it doesn’t happen again. As I tell my four-year-old every day, we as decedents of people who were wrongly incarcerated in camps have a moral responsibility to make sure it never happens again. Here is my way of reminding us of our past so we don’t repeat it again.

Click here to read Part 1

Goofy (Part 2 of 3)
By Koji Steven Sakai

Moe’s parents were born in Syria, but he was born in America and was therefore a citizen. Because he had never visited his parent’s homeland and since he could only speak a few word of Arabic, he always felt more American than Syrian.

But when others saw Moe, they saw the enemy. At school, the other kids wouldn’t let him play baseball during recess and the teachers stopped calling on him in class. They all blamed him for what the terrorist had done. It was the first time Moe felt more Syrian than American.

Not everyone stopped being friends with Moe. Julia told him. “Now you have more time for me.”

Goofy barked, which was his way of saying, “Don’t forget about me too!”

Click here to read the rest of part 2

And click here to read part 3

 

 

Check out Part I of my newest short story: Goofy. I originally wrote this story 2013 for a children’s book about the Japanese American World War II experience. I published it on 8Asians in 2014. However, with the recent events and rhetoric surrounding our presidential election, I started becoming worried that the events of this short story could happen again—not to Japanese American but to Muslim and Arab Americans.

I wanted to reimagine these events if they happened today to help make sure it doesn’t happen again. As I tell my four-year-old every day, we as decedents of people who were wrongly incarcerated in camps have a moral responsibility to make sure it never happens again. Here is my way of reminding us of our past so we don’t repeat it again.

Goofy
By Koji Steven Sakai

Moe Hassan’s10th birthday was on July 4, 2016 and he knew he wanted a dog. He even had a name picked out already. The dog’s name was going to be Goofy, which had always been his favorite Disney character.

For the entire month of June, Moe begged his dad to get him a dog.

“Dad, can I have a dog?” Moe would ask every time he saw him.

And every time Mr. Hassan would say, “No.”

But Moe wasn’t the kind of boy that took no for an answer. So he kept asking.

Read the rest of Part 1 here.

If you have Netflix, be sure to check out this great special I was lucky enough to be apart of.

Netflix, One-Hour Comedy Special
Written & Performed by Dwayne Perkins
Directed & Edited by Ian Harris
Produced by Dwane Perkins, Koji Steven Sakai, Ray Lai, Michelle Sugihara, Ian Harris
Executive Produced by Dwayne Perkins, Koji Steven Sakai

In his debut special, Brooklyn comic Dwayne Perkins breaks down America’s place in the world, the difference between sports and activities and more.

Watch it here: https://www.netflix.com/watch/80108206

 

Got a nice review of Romeo & Juliet Vs. Zombies over at Serious Reading

 

“The family feud and the tussle between the Capulets and Montagues is an intriguing plot, but the addition of zombies to this feud makes the story even more interesting.”

Read the whole review here.

And check out an interview I did with them here.

Excited to announce that my project is a finalist for this great initiative. I’m working with Scott “Chops” Jung and writer/director Jeff Liu. It’s a love letter to my hometown, the 626. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

To see the whole article, click here.

442, the digital graphic novel I wrote with Phinny Kiyomura , illustrated in cool watercolor by Rob Sato , will soon be out on the Stela app — it’s presently just for iPhone, but will soon be on Android, too).

If you download the app — which is free — you can view the preview of our first episode. I don’t know the exact date that the series starts its full run, but it should be soon-ish.
It’s fun stuff!

 

Check out my newest 8Asians article.

Tila Tequila became famous for being a MySpace model and somehow turned that into a reality TV career. I had forgotten about her when this news story came out:

To read more of the article go to: 8Asians.com

 

 

Check out my blog post over at the Japanese American National Museum:

When I was growing up in the 1980s and ’90s, there were zero Asian Americans on television, in movies, or in music. Okay, that’s not completely true, but it isn’t that far off. In fact, I remember playing G.I. Joe and turning one of the bad Asian ninjas (Storm Shadow) into one of the good guys.

Later, when I was thinking about becoming a screenwriter, I wasn’t sure it was possible since there wasn’t really anyone in the film and television world that I could point to and say, “That’s who I want to be like.” I didn’t believe it was actually a viable career, because if it was, why weren’t there more Asian Americans doing it?

To read more go to: http://blog.janm.org/index.php/2016/01/28/the-importance-of-justin-lin-and-other-asian-american-cultural-pioneers/

 

This is a shot in the dark, but you never know.

Looking to shoot an Asian American feature next year and want to bring on a young (although you don’t have to be young), talented, and hard-working producer to come on board. This is a blood, sweat, and tears project (so fair warning, little to no pay) and will require some hustling, but a great experience for someone looking to learn how to make movies.

Send bio and/or cover letter to me at ksakai1@gmail.com if interested.  You don’t need to have a lot of experience, but need to show that you have a passion and understanding what the job entails. Must live in Los Angeles. Feel free to pass it along to anyone you think might be interested.

Super excited to let you know about a new app I’m writing for called SpeakBeat. It combines my two loves: writing and politics/news.

Here is the official description of SpeakBeat: