U.S.A.
March 20, 2017
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 7
Nike unveils hijab
for Muslim athletes
By Anne M. Peterson
AP Sports Writer
EAVERTON, Ore.
—
Nike
has
unveiled a hijab for
Muslim female athletes.
The Nike Pro Hijab has
been in development for a
year, the company said.
Athletes contributed input
into the product, and figure
skater Zahra Lari was
among those who tested it.
The pull-on hijab is made
of light, stretchy fabric that
includes tiny holes for
breathability
and
an
elongated back so it will not
come untucked. It will
come in three colors: black,
vast grey, and obsidian.
Beaverton-based Nike says
the hijab will be available
for sale next year.
Lari, a hopeful for the
Winter Olympics next year
in Pyeongchang, South
Korea, posted photos of
herself wearing the hijab
on her Instagram page.
Lari is from Abu Dhabi and
represents the United Arab
Emirates.
“Can’t believe this is
finally here!!” she wrote.
B
UTAH APPOINTMENT. Newly ordained Bishop Oscar Azarcon Solis receives applause from a packed Ca-
thedral of Our Lady of the Angeles in Los Angeles, after becoming the first Filipino-American bishop in the United
States, in this February 2004 file photo. Bishop Solis is set to be installed as the leader of Salt Lake City’s Catho-
lic diocese, ending the city’s longest period without a bishop. (AP Photo/Rick Loomis, Pool, File)
First Filipino-American bishop
ordained in U.S. to serve in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The first
Filipino-American bishop ordained in the
United States is set to be installed as the
leader of Salt Lake City’s Catholic diocese,
ending the city’s longest period without a
bishop.
Bishop Oscar Azarcon Solis will replace
John C. Wester, who was appointed
archbishop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in
2015, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Solis, who can move seamlessly from
English to Spanish to Tagalog, was born in
San Jose City in the Philippines and was
ordained a priest in 1979.
Solis, 63, previously served in New
Jersey and Louisiana before becoming an
auxiliary bishop in Los Angeles. Because
he served in an Italian/Cuban parish in
New Jersey, a French/Creole parish in
Louisiana, and the polyglot parishes of
Southern California, people often ask
what kind of accent he has.
To that, Solis quips, “I can’t even under-
stand myself now.”
The Rev. Alex Aclan, vicar for clergy at
the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said Solis
was key in establishing the National
Association of Filipino Priests-USA.
Solis is a “major ingredient in the glue
that has bonded the Filipino priests
together,” Aclan said.
The Los Angeles bishops gifted Solis a
parka, skis, and an Apple watch ahead of
his move to Utah.
In his most recent position, Solis visited
some 200 churches. People who know Solis
say he is caring and even-tempered.
When worshippers showed up at the
office looking for help or someone to talk to,
Solis “would take the time to listen to them
... (and) give them food from his pantry and
give them money,” said Angelic Nunez, his
assistant.
Solis’s official installation will take
place at the Cathedral of the Made-
leine.
LIGHTWEIGHT HEADSCARF. In this undated image provided
by Nike, figure skater Zahra Lari wears Nike’s new hijab for Muslim female
athletes. The pull-on hijab is made of light, stretchy fabric that includes
tiny holes for breathability and an elongated back so it will not come
untucked. It will come in three colors: black, vast grey, and obsidian.
Beaverton-based Nike says the hijab will be available for sale next year.
(Nike via AP)
Last summer, fencer headscarves during a FIFA
Ibtihaj Muhammad of New event.
Soccer’s
inter-
York became the first national governing body
Muslim-American woman formally lifted a ban on
to compete for the United head coverings in 2014,
States wearing a hijab at recognizing Muslim and
the Olympics. She earned a Sikh players.
bronze medal at the Rio
Meanwhile, the govern-
Games.
ing body for basketball,
The
U-17
Women’s FIBA, has come under fire
World Cup last October in for banning headscarves
Jordan marked the first during international com-
time Muslim players wore petition.
Dog deformed by Thai butcher is now thriving in New Jersey
SEWELL, N.J. (AP) — A
dog rescued from the din-
ner table but left with half
a face in Thailand has
found a new home in New
Jersey and is thriving.
Karen
Quigley
and
Michelle Weirich raised
more than $11,000 through
a fundraising website to
adopt and care for the two-
year-old mixed breed dog
named Teresa. A man un-
successfully tried to butch-
er the animal for food.
“Unfortunately in Thai-
Film spotlights human trafficking as Trump promises action
ANTI-TRAFFICKING ACTIVISTS. Suspects ac-
cused of involvement in child trafficking and pornography are
escorted by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation in
Manila, the Philippines, in this April 26, 2016 file photo.
Stopping Traffic, a documentary spotlighting human traffick-
ing and the grassroots activists trying to end it, features in-
terviews with activists in Mexico, the Philippines, and the
U.S., and comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is promis-
ing to bring the “full force and weight” of the U.S. govern-
ment to combat human trafficking. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
By Philip Marcelo
The Associated Press
OSTON — A new documentary is
spotlighting human trafficking across
the globe, with a focus on the grassroots
activists trying to end the scourge.
Stopping Traffic premiered at the Global
Cinema Film Festival in the Boston suburb of
Belmont on March 11.
The film is the first by Sadhvi Siddhali Shree,
a 33-year-old Jain monk, Iraq War veteran, and
child-abuse survivor who intends to distribute
it free of charge to universities, nonprofits, and
government agencies.
The film, which was financed through online
donations, comes as President Donald Trump is
promising to bring the “full force and weight” of
the U.S. government to combat human
trafficking. He says he will order the
departments of Justice and Homeland Security
to closely examine the resources they’re
devoting to the issue.
Shree gives credit to the Republican
billionaire for placing an emphasis on human
trafficking early in his tenure, but stressed it
still remains to be seen what is actually done.
“We need action to back that up,” she said.
“We will need a lot of resources, legislation, and
law enforcement.”
If Trump is serious about addressing the
issue, he should take cues from Canada,
Sweden, Norway, Iceland, France, Ireland, and
other nations that have enacted laws harshly
punishing pimps, traffickers, and clients,
rather than the prostitutes, said Rosi Orozco,
an anti-trafficking activist in Mexico City who
is featured in the documentary.
“These are very good words from your
president,” she said. “This could be [the] most
B
important issue to unite U.S. and Mexico.”
Shree, who is the spiritual director at the
Siddhayatan Spiritual Retreat Center and
Ashram in Windom, Texas, acknowledges she
wasn’t aware of the extent of human trafficking
and was shocked at what she learned from
Orozco and other activists.
Estimates vary, but the International Labour
Organization believed some 21 million people
were being trafficked worldwide in a 2014
report.
The illicit activities earned captors roughly
$150 billion, with nearly $100 billion coming
from commercial sexual exploitation, the report
by the Geneva-based special agency of the
United Nations found. The remaining $50
billion came from other forms of forced labor.
While trafficking is a global issue, it’s also
important to remember that America isn’t
immune — and that it’s not just foreigners
being trafficked, said Stephanie Clark,
executive director of Amirah, a Massachusetts
nonprofit that helps sexually exploited women
but isn’t featured in the film.
“This is an extremely prevalent issue that is
right here, hidden in plain sight,” she said.
It’s not just women being trafficked either.
Young men and boys are often abused at far
higher rates than what’s reported because
many cultures still don’t accept the notion that
boys can also be rape victims, said John King, a
child-abuse survivor and activist in Grapevine,
Texas, who is featured prominently in the film.
The filmmaker, who became a monk in 2008
after serving as an army medic during the Iraq
War, said she deliberately avoided delving
deeply into the personal experiences of those
recently escaped from trafficking in the final
product.
The documentary features interviews with
activists in Mexico, the Philippines, and the
U.S. cities of New Orleans and Houston, as well
as actor Dolph Lundgren and other celebrities
who raise awareness about human trafficking.
Shree also shares her experience of being
sexually abused as a child in the film.
“We wanted to show the empowerment, not
the sad and suffering side,” she said. “It’s more
about the motivation and the inspiration. That
where there’s dark, there’s also light.”
land people do eat dog
meat, and a person had a
machete and he was trying
to cut her head off,” Quigley
said.
In Thailand, catching,
selling, and killing dogs for
meat is not illegal, but
exporting them without an
official certificate is. Dog
meat is not popular in
Thailand, but is considered
a delicacy in Vietnam.
Teresa was left without a
nose and parts of her top
jaw. The money paid for her
travel and surgery to
remove teeth and mend her
tongue.
Teresa is doing well at
Quigley’s home in Sewell.
She does everything a nor-
mal dog would do, Quigley
told WPVI-TV in Philadel-
phia.
“She can do everything
and that’s what’s so
remarkable about Teresa,”
Quigley said. “She’s so
amazing because she’s
really so happy. She wakes
up happy. She loves to run
in the yard.”
The animal’s Robbins-
ville surgeon, Dr. John
Lewis, said the animal is
Continued on page 16
TALKING STORY IN
ASIAN AMERICA
n Polo
Polo’s “Talking Story”
column will return soon.
The staff at The Asian Reporter wish you and your family a safe and happy spring break!