South Park's 200th and 201st episodes and its controversy surrounding the depiction of Mohammed and its censor bleeps bring into light the complex nature of Islam and the representation of Muslims in the mainstream media. It is complex because Islam is perhaps one of the most misunderstood major religions and have often been perceived in an negative light by the mainstream media.

About a month ago, I was invited by a friend to be part of the LA City Council Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Committee and still being new to the LA area, I was very excited to get involved and see what great things the committee had in store for the City of Angels. About 20 minutes into the meeting, my excitement turned into doubt, doubt then led into frustration and confusion.

What happened?

The First Amendment is a right that we as Americans hold dearly with pride. But at the same time, this right comes with its own limitations and hypocrisies. You can't falsely yell "FIRE" in a public facility nor can you publicly declare that you want to assassinate the President. These things will immediately get you in serious trouble.

On March 14th, 2010, YouTube/Google banned my spoken poetry piece "To Seung-Hui Cho" because it violated their guidelines for inciting violence and hate speech. I will not be quiet, I will stand up and fight. But today, another major corporation shuts down another Asian American voice.

Finding direction and passion about something in this world is a dilemma that troubles many people around the world and more often than not, people wander aimlessly in frustration and resignation. For me, I found my passion in activism and what it took to get me on this path has made me recently wonder if this applies to others who are passionate activists as well.

Ever since I totaled my car three days ago, I've been mostly confined to my local area in Los Angeles and passing my time by playing the guitar, working out, reading, calling multiple casting directors that I apologize for missing their auditions (missing a particular one broke my heart so I let the director know he could use me as a crew hand or extra), and...re-watching the entire Justice League cartoon series.

Today, an old friend of mine in UCSD told me about a certain controversial incident that occurred at his college where one of the fraternities held a party called "Compton Cookout" during Black History Month (For more information, check out http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-compton-cookout,0,2673438.story).

Today, I was able to catch a screening of Curtis Chin's "Vincent Who?" at the UCLA School of Law and to make sure I would make it to the screening on time, I left two hours in advance but thanks to my terrible driving, atrocious traffic at the 405, and my unfamiliarity with the UCLA campus, what should've taken 25 minutes ended up taking two hours.

Everyone's a little bit racist

Sometimes.

Doesn't mean we go

Around committing hate crimes.

Look around and you will find

No one's really color blind.

Maybe it's a fact

We all should face

Everyone makes judgments

Based on race.

- Avenue Q

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to everyone!

It doesn't need to mentioned here how things are so incredibly different it is today compared to what it was like over 50 years ago. Initiated by Rosa Parks and propelled into motion by MLK, the Civil Rights movement significantly transformed the landscape of America as the courage and determination of our Freedom Fighters stood strong in the face of extreme prejudice and hatred.