We are shutting down in 30 days :(
An important message from our founder
The Rebel Yellow - Issue #172
An important message from our founder:
Dear Rebel Yellow readers,
I know many of you have heard me ask for more subscribers a few times over the past year. I promise this will be the last time I do this. Here’s what’s happening.
We are planning on shutting down on February 28 unless we are able to reach 1,000 paid subscribers.
I also want to be very clear about this upfront. For anyone who has recently become a paid subscriber, if we do shut down on February 28, we will absolutely refund you. And for anyone on an annual subscription who doesn’t get the full year, we will make sure you’re taken care of. I don’t want anyone supporting this out of fear or uncertainty.
I started NextShark to serve stories about the AAPI community that weren’t being told elsewhere. The Rebel Yellow came from that same instinct. It was created to make space for critical, uncomfortable, and necessary reporting. These are stories that don’t always fit neatly into headlines or brand-safe narratives, but they still deserve to be told.
The truth is, this kind of journalism has always been incredibly difficult to sustain. Let’s be real. Brands and corporations don’t usually want to advertise next to the stories we cover here. I’ve tried raising funding from within our own community, including from people with deep pockets, but I’ve consistently come up short. Even during the height of Stop Asian Hate, when our growth and visibility were at their peak, keeping the newsroom financially stable was still a challenge.
For the past 10 years, we’ve made this work by finding other ways to generate revenue through more brand-friendly content and events, then using those earnings to subsidize our journalism. I’ve lived a relatively frugal and modest life so I could funnel as much as possible back into the newsroom. Up until now, 100 percent of the money I’ve earned from speaking engagements has gone directly toward keeping our reporting alive.
I launched The Rebel Yellow with the hope that reader support could finally make this work sustainable on its own. After a year, we have about 200 paid subscribers. That comes out to roughly $1,300 a month after Substack and credit card fees. That amount doesn’t even cover one full-time writer. Because of that, NextShark has continued to subsidize these costs. On top of everything else, our editor-in-chief, Alan, has worked an entire year without taking a salary just to make sure our writers could still get paid.
We’ve now reached a point where neither NextShark nor I can continue subsidizing this work at the same level. I’m also a dad to two beautiful kids, and I have to be honest about my limits and my responsibilities.
There are about 24 million AAPIs in the United States. If just 0.5 percent became paid subscribers, The Rebel Yellow could support journalists and reporters across the country covering critical AAPI stories. In the immediate term, we need at least 1,000 paid subscribers in the next 30 days to stay alive.
So this is me asking, plainly and respectfully.
If you believe this work matters, and if you have the means, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Here’s my promise. As support grows, every dollar will go toward making our reporting stronger. That means hiring journalists across the country, expanding into video reporting and original storytelling, and creating spaces, both online and offline, where our community can come together.
It took me a long time to reach this point. After more than a decade of doing this work, often at the expense of my own mental health and financial stability, I have to ask for help. And if we aren’t able to keep going, I’ve made peace with stepping back and focusing on taking care of my family.
Please know that I’ve done everything I can to keep this work going. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built, and deeply grateful to everyone who has supported NextShark and The Rebel Yellow over the years.
No matter what happens in the next 30 days, I urge you to support other organizations and publications doing this work as well. They need help too.
Thank you for reading, and for being here.
Benny Luo
Founder, NextShark & The Rebel Yellow
Outrage erupts over no-murder verdict in Vicha Ratanapakdee’s death
Last week’s conviction of Antoine Watson for involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 death of Vicha Ratanapakdee has sparked backlash across Asian American communities, with many viewing the decision as further evidence that crimes against elderly Asian victims receive insufficient consequences.
Catch up: After roughly six hours of deliberation on Jan. 15, a jury cleared Watson of murder and elder abuse charges but found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter and assault with intent to cause great bodily injury. The attack occurred nearly five years ago on Jan. 28, 2021, when Watson, then 19, violently pushed Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old Thai American grandfather, to the pavement during his morning walk in San Francisco’s Anza Vista neighborhood, resulting in a fatal brain hemorrhage.
Despite the family’s insistence that Watson targeted their father based on race, prosecutors never pursued hate crime charges. The decision fueled controversy when then-District Atty. Chesa Boudin characterized the killing as stemming from a “temper tantrum.” Watson, now 24, faces up to nine years in prison, though some legal analysts believe he is likely to receive credit for time served.
What they’re saying: Ratanapakdee’s daughter Monthanus, who attended the six-week trial and is running for District 2 supervisor, expressed her devastation in multiple social media posts. On Jan. 17, she wrote, “As his daughter, I am shocked and heartbroken by this verdict. My 84-year-old father was killed in an unprovoked attack, yet there was no conviction for murder or elder abuse. This outcome raises serious concerns about accountability and the safety of our elders.” Two days later, she added, “After the verdict, many in our community feel deeply disappointed. There is serious concern that the court process and defense tactics prevented meaningful accountability in a violent case involving a senior.”
In interviews, Monthanus told the San Francisco Chronicle that Watson would not have attacked a “tall Black or white man” and American Community Media that she wanted jurors to “bring justice for my father and to fully recognize the fear this attack has caused in our community, especially older Asian people and their families.” She also stressed Watson “has to learn that having a bad day does not give anyone the right to harm someone else.”
Other community voices expressed similar anger. San Francisco Supervisor Alan Wong said “the jury’s decision to acquit on the murder and elder abuse charges does not reflect the severity of what we all witnessed,” calling the attack “malicious, evil” and concluding that “justice was not served.” Daniel Chung, a candidate for district attorney of Santa Clara County, wrote, “Justice for Grandpa Vicha was delayed and denied! We should be outraged by the devaluing of elderly Asian life and the asinine excuses to escape personal accountability.”
In a letter to the sentencing judge, entrepreneur Garry Tan noted, “I do not want to raise my boys in a city that teaches them to accept this. I want them to believe that justice is real. That actions have consequences. That human life is sacred.” Liz Le, another entrepreneur and contributor for The Voice of San Francisco, declared, “Watson will always be a murderer in my book, even when our criminal justice continues to fail us.”
What this means: Ratanapakdee’s killing helped galvanize the Stop Asian Hate movement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unsurprisingly, last week’s verdict evokes painful historical parallels and raises questions about how the justice system values Asian American lives. In 1982, Vincent Chin, a Chinese American beaten to death with a baseball bat by two white Detroit auto workers, became a symbol of this disparity when his killers received only probation after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
The latest highlights a persistent challenge. Without explicit slurs or documented bias, proving racial motivation remains nearly impossible, leaving families without hate crime enhancements that might deliver accountability. And when attackers face reduced charges despite evident violence against elderly victims, it reinforces the troubling message that such crimes can be minimized as bad days or random acts.
The jury reconvenes on Sunday to hear aggravating factors and victim impact statements before Judge Linda Colfax imposes Watson’s sentence.
St. Paul Mayor Her responds to subpoena amid immigration enforcement probe
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her said she will comply with a Justice Department subpoena served as part of a federal investigation into whether Minnesota leaders obstruct immigration enforcement.
Driving the news: Justice Department officials served subpoenas to five Democratic leaders in Minnesota on Tuesday, including Her, Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Atty. Gen. Keith Ellison and Hennepin County.
