Panel Discussion: Asian Americans and the 2008 Election
Friday, October 17, 4:00PM DUC Faculty Dining Room
What roles are Asian Americans playing in this historic election? Political activists from four different organizations will share with students the work they are doing this year to get ready for the election. The panel presents a really great opportunity to examine the state of Asian American student civic engagement, and the ways people are mobilizing our community. The panel will create an impetus to getting more students involved in the final weeks before the election.
Bryan Lee is the Voting Rights Coordinator at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund where he will supervise AALDEF's 2008 Asian American Election Protection efforts in twelve states across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and South. Bryan graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Languages and Cultures. He has participated in organizations and conferences including the Korean American League for Civic Action, Korean Americans for Political Advancement, the Asian American Alliance at Columbia University as Chair, and the New York City Asian American Student Conference.
Sid Salvi is currently the Obama AAPI Vote Director of Florida. Before coming to Florida, he worked on the Obama National AAPI Vote Team based in Chicago. Outside of the Obama campaign, he is a sophmore economics major at Amherst College (currently on semester leave).
Clarence Tong served as a NAASCon Co-Chair in 2003-2005 and currently serves on the board of Asian Pacific Americans for Progress (APAP), a national network of APA community leaders and grassroots activists. This past year, Clarence created the Asian American Civic Project (
http://www.apapipeline.org), a new political training and placement program for Asian American recent college graduates.
Alvina Yeh is the Program Coordinator at APIAVote where her main programs are the youth vote and communications (especially in the area of new media). She is a graduate of the University of Colorado – Boulder where she studied International Affairs and Ethnic Studies. She was the co-chair of the "Rice y Beans" coalition – a group that focused on leadership development in Latino & AAPI youth.
Panel Discussion: Asian American Entrepreneurship
Friday, October 17, 4:00PM
Have you ever had any great idea of a product/service that would impact the life of people around the globe, like Bill Gates did? Have you ever had the burning desire to be an entrepreneur, but wondered how?
If your answer to either of those questions is YES, you owe it to yourself to come to the Entrepreneurship panel discussion organized by U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce and the National Asian American Student Conference to discover:
* if you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur,
* how to test your ideas, and
* what to do to become an entrepreneur.
The panelists will include entrepreneurs, professor(s), and corporate representative(s).
U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce will also invite you to participate the 2009 Business Plan Competition along with a scholarship program for the winner(s) of the competition.
Vincent Who? A Film Screening and Discussion with Producer Curtis Chin from Asian Pacific American for Progress
Friday, October 17, 8:45PM
In 1982, Vincent Chin was brutally murdered in Detroit at the height of anti-Japanese sentiment. In a travesty of justice, the judge ruled it a case of manslaughter and the two killers, both autoworkers, never served a day in jail. More than twenty-five years later, that case remains a touchstone in the struggle for civil rights and the advancement of the Asian American community. In this new documentary, VINCENT WHO?, we take a quick look back at the case, but more importantly we examine the effects the case had on the leading community activists of today and the future leaders of tomorrow.
Interviewees and speakers include Helen Zia (leading activist during the Chin case), Stewart Kwoh (Founder & Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center), Judy Chu (Chair, California State Board of Equalization), Mike Eng (California State Assemblyman), Renee Tajima-Pena (Producer & Director, WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN?), Frank Wu (Dean, Wayne State University Law School), Janet Yang (Producer, THE JOY LUCK CLUB), Justin Lin (Director, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW), Robin Toma (Executive Director, Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations), Nhung Truong (District Representative, Office of Congressman Adam Schiff), Sejal Patel (Activist, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy), Ben de Guzman (National Campaign Coordinator, National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity) and others.
About the Producer: Curtis serves on the board Asian Pacific Americans for Progress (APAP), a national network of progressive Asian Americans. APAP has quickly become one of the most prominent political organizations in the community. Highlights include an Asian/Latino presidential forum in Los Angeles attended by 250 people, an activist training in Chicago with the DNC and a fourteen-city national town hall on hate crimes on the 25th anniversary of the murder of Vincent Chin. In addition, the organization has held events with such leading politicians as California State Comptroller John Chiang, Board of Equalization member Judy Chu, Assembly members Ted Lieu and Mike Eng and New York City Councilman John Liu.
For more information, visit http://www.vincentchin.net/.
Identity Caucuses
Friday, October 17, 4:00PM
Saturday, October 18, 1:30PM
Through identity caucuses, we aim to provide time and a safe space for various identities and communities within the APA community to identify and address unique challenges particular to that identity and/or community. There will be five caucuses, for those who identify as: women; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT); working class; adoptee; mixed/multiracial. If caucus participants identify with more than one of these communities, they will have a chance to attend more than one; each caucus will meet once on Friday afternoon, and once on Saturday afternoon. We hope that these caucuses will serve as opportunities to engage in honest dialogue, network with peers, and strengthen student networks. Caucus participants may choose to join a listserv to continue dialogue beyond the conference.
Regional Caucus
Saturday, October 18, 4:00PM
The Regional Caucuses have been developed to give leaders in their respective regions a time and space to critically examine the needs of APAs in there area as well as create or strengthen existing regional networks. Often times as leaders, we become so engrossed in our own struggles that we forget we have resources in people who have gone through similar experiences. Regional Caucuses will allow leaders to share best practices, identify issues that need attention, and potentially create a region-wide campaign that will serve APAs across the region. Furthermore, caucuses will aim to unify the region in hopes of creating a larger network and a more powerful voice for APAs nationwide.
Community Visits to Atlanta
To Be Announced
Atlanta has many faces. The center of the Civil Rights Movement. The 1996 Olympics host. Home to many mainstream hip-hop artists like Usher, Ludacris, and T.I. It might mean nothing more than an airport code, ATL, or you might endear it by calling it, “Hotlanta.” But what does this have anything to do with Asian Americans? Are there even Asian Americans living in the South? Join other students in exploring ways you have never thought Atlanta could connect with you before.
Meet Irwin Tang, author of Asian Texans: Our Histories and Our Lives
Saturday, October 18, Ongoing
Irwin Tang, who holds an M.A. in Asian Studies, led a team of more than twenty researchers and writers in a five-year effort to produce Asian Texans. Tang writes on Asian Americans for various venues. He is the author of The Texas Aggie Bonfire and co-author of When Invisible Children Sing. Have you ever felt left out of something that everyone was a part of? Most likely you have.
“Every American has an American history. Every Texan has a Texas history.
And yet those histories are sometimes unwritten, and therefore unknown. Unspoken... and forgotten. Worse yet, YOUR history might be written by someone with false motives. You wear a mask with a story not your own.
I grew up in Texas, in east Texas; in Aggieland to be exact. I bleed red, white and blue Texas blood.
When I took Texas History and American History in high school, and then in college, I often sat at my desk wondering, “What were Asian Texans doing at this time in history? Were we considered white in Texas, or were we considered black? Were there any Asians in Texas during that time, and what did we do to survive back then? Did we all come here after 1965?” One question that did not even cross my mind was, “How did we contribute to Texas, its culture, and the lives of Texans?”
For more information, visit http://www.irwinbooks.com/.
Young Professional Mixer
Saturday, October 18, 6:30PM
For Students: After a long day of workshops and caucuses, are you dying to meet some of the workshop facilitators or speakers, and get to know them more personally? Or are you planning another student conference on the East or West Coast, in the Midwest, the Southeast, or the Southwest, and you want these facilitators to come to your conference? Or you’re just looking to connect with someone who might have sparked your political activism within an hour and fifteen minutes? Come to the Young Professional Mixer, and get your own movement going!
For Facilitators and Speakers: This is your chance to network with other Asian American activists from all around the country! We are very proud of the regional diversity this year, that facilitators are coming from both coasts, the Midwest, and of course, the South, our wonderful conference host! This is a great time to find people whom you thought you’d never collaborate with, and to connect with people you might have only met twice in your whole life.
