I’ll never forget the first KoreAm mag I ever saw. I was at the dentist’s office, worried to death about my wisdom teeth, when I saw a cool looking mag with Sung Hi Lee on the cover.  Ms. Lee was pretty much the definition of “sexy” (I think she had been on Playboy a little bit before that, or so I’ve heard…) at the time.  I picked up the magazine to forget about my looming appointment with certain death.

Turns out I didn’t need to get my teeth pulled (yet), but I never forgot that magazine. Well-written articles about Asian AMERICANS in a presentable form. I had never seen a publication aimed directly at my demographic. I finally felt like someone was listening to what I had to say. I ate up every issue as it came out and it became an obsession of mine to get in KoreAm some day.

The next year our friend Debbie hit us up and said KoreAm needed coverboys for an article about Asian American hip hop. We didn’t get that much text that time, but to be a part of the monumental article was a blessing for us. That was our first magazine cover and my dad still has it framed and hung next to his master’s degree.

Through the years I’ve seen KoreAm grow; the packaging is great, the articles are more captivating and, most importantly, there’s now more to cover! It really is a reflection of our young, blossoming Asian American community. From Margaret Cho, Hines Ward and Better Luck Tomorrow to Linkin Park, Harold and Kumar to Lost, it’s all documented in this magazine. That’s why its so sad to hear that it’s struggling so much today.

It’s not completely surprising considering that the print media industry is hurting in general these days.  Just like music sales have suffered since no one buys CDs anymore, no one really buys magazines. People are too busy looking at their Blackberrys or talking on their cell phones to pick up a magazine and read a good article.

I still remain hopeful though as I see technology slowly catching up. Mobile devices have stepped their game up in regards to web browsing, and KoreAm’s website has also taken great strides. It’s only a matter of time before advertisers jump on this. At the same time, I’m not sure if that’s enough to support a magazine of KoreAm’s caliber, and I definitely do not want to see the physical publication disappear.

Not too long ago our good friend PK of Kollaboration put together a comedy fundraiser for KoreAm at the Laugh Factory in Long Beach with a great turnout.  I’m hoping that’s the first of many events to help KoreAm (all of which we’ll perform at or at least support by showing up to them). That’s another big thing that we need — PEOPLE to be motivated to keep it alive. We’ve seen the Asian American entertainment community grow so much since KoreAm first started in film, music, comedy and all other mediums. KoreAm is a mirror to our progress as a community. If it dies, a part of us dies in the process.

Let’s not let this happen. We’ve seen the media over the last few years take shots at Asian Americans because they see us as apathetic and they don’t think it will hurt their careers to put us down.  We need to support our leaders and know that the people they are fighting for care about the battle.  Subscribe to KoreAm. If you’re tight on cash (this recession is hurting us all), go visit the site a few times a day so you help their web traffic and talk about the situation with your friends to raise awareness. KoreAm was created for us, by us (shouts out to Fubu, haha) and it’s up to us to keep it alive.

"The Girl Next Door" - Los Angeles Premiere, Sung Hi Lee at the Mann's Grauman Chinese in Hollywood, CA (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)