Dear friends:
I recognize that I’m preaching to the choir here, but here goes anyway:
I don’t know if you saw this, but the Google Doodle this past Wednesday honored Hawaiian ukulele player Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole (reference below).
As you may know, IZ was an influential musician, best known for his medley of “Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World.” IZ also died at the age of 38, due to health problems associated with severe obesity; per wikipedia, he weighed 757 lbs at one point, for a BMI of 97.2. Especially given that May is National Asian American and Pacific Island (AAPI) Heritage Month, I think this presents an opportunity to briefly mention some health disparities among AAPIs:
In the US, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are often all lumped together, under the umbrella of a pervasive “model minority” myth, of high educational attainment and good health outcomes. However, some AAPI subgroups have staggering educational needs and health disparities that are overlooked or masked by aggregated data:
- – For example, 29% of Vietnamese-Americans, 33% of Laotian-Americans, 37% of Cambodian-Americans, and 38% of Hmong-Americans do not complete high school.
- – Only 13% of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders 25 years of age or older have a bachelor’s degree.
In this age of genomics, it should be no surprise that ethnic differences also affect health outcomes among AAPIs. For example:
- – Vietnamese-American women experience the highest incidence of invasive cervical cancer in the US, but up to 1 in 3 Vietnamese-American women have never had a Pap smear;
- – Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are three times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, compared to non-Hispanic whites. In the Pacific Islands, the prevalence of overweight and obesity exceeds 90% while diabetes approaches 50% in some areas;
- – Chinese-Americans have the highest rate of liver cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer among all US ethnic and racial populations;
- – South Asians have a 4x greater risk of heart disease than the general population (and heart attacks strike South Asians at younger ages and are more deadly than in any other ethnic group, such that almost one in three will die from heart disease before age 65); and
- – Because so many Korean-Americans are small business owners, Korean-Americans have been the ethnic group more likely to be uninsured than any other ethnic group in the US.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,- Albert Hsu, MD, MS former National President (1998-1999), Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association Board-Certified in Ob/Gyn and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility University of Missouri Health Care; Reproductive Health and Fertility Center (Department of Ob/Gyn; Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility) Columbia, Missouri
https://www.alberthsumd.com/
https://www.facebook.com/albert.hsu.35
Google Doodle honors Hawaiian ukulele player Israel ‘Iz’ Kamakawiwo’ole
With his medley of Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World, Iz, known as “the voice of Hawaii,” redefined a beloved classic.
Steven MusilMay 20, 2020 9:53 a.m. PT
LISTEN- 02:03
Animated video Doodle celebrates the music of Hawaii’s Israel Kamakawiwoʻol.Google
The name Israel Kamakawiwoʻole might not be immediately recognizable to some, but his music is known to many all over the world. The native Hawaiian — better known as Iz — was a musician, singer and songwriter whose ukulele medley of Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World put a heartwarming spin on the beloved classic.
His joyful version of the ballad has appeared on the soundtrack of several movies, TV programs and commercials, and he’s so influential in Hawaiian music he’s considered “the voice of Hawaii.” In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage month, Google is celebrating Iz’s 61st birthday on Wednesday with an animated video Doodle illustrating his life.
Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwoʻole.Brett Uprichard via Google
To the sound of his iconic version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, the animated video Doodle features pieces of kapa, traditional Hawaiian fabric made from plant fibers and decorated with linear designs created with dyes extracted from native Hawaiian plants.
Born on May 20, 1959, in Honolulu, Israel Ka’ano’i Kamakawiwo’ole (Kah-MAH-kah-VEE-voh-OH-lay) began playing the ukulele at age 11 with his brother and cousin. In 1976, as many Hawaiians were rediscovering their language and culture, the teenage Iz formed the band Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau with his brother and three friends, playing a blend of contemporary and traditional styles. They toured Hawaii and the mainland US and released 15 successful albums.
Late one night in 1988, during an impromptu recording session, Iz made his first recording of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The song was recorded in a single take, and besides the master recording, Iz got the only copy. Five years later, the recording engineer played the recording for a record producer who decided to put it on one of Iz’s albums as Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World.
The song became an international hit, reaching as high as No. 12 on Billboard’s Hot Digital Tracks chart in 2004 and appearing on the soundtracks of movies such as Meet Joe Black, Finding Forrester and 50 First Dates, among others.
Kamakawiwoʻole died in 1997 at the age of 38 from medical problems related to his weight.
The Doodle was created in partnership with the Kamakawiwo’ole family and Wai’anae-based guest artist Dalani Tanahy of Kapa, Hawaii.
Our favorite Google Doodles through the years
First published on May 19, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. PT.