In honor of Private Danny Chen’s 20th birthday, please join us for an artistic tribute and fundraiser. All proceeds will go towards mobilizing the family & community to attend the courts-martial and our continued efforts to raise awareness on Danny’s case.

Adults: $25.00 ; Students: $10.00 Purchase tickets here: 

Performers include:

• Ada Chen
• Amy Chen
• Binari Drummers
• Jason Chu
• Kris Lew
• Project Agent Orange
• Taiyo Na
• Alex Wong
• Banny Chen
• Corky Lee
• Jason Kao Hwang
• Magnetic North
• YaliniDream

Donated Raffle Prizes: HD LCD TV, Wii, 5-day Cruise, Starbucks giftcards, Blacklava T-shirts & more!

Co-sponsors: Asian American Arts Alliance, Asian American/Asian Research Institute, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance-NY, Chinatown Partnership, Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans, East Coast Asian American Student Union, FCCNY, Gin Sun Hall Benevolent Association, Korean Americans for Political Advancement, NYU A/P/A Institute, OCA-Long Island, OCA-New Jersey, OCA-Westchester/Hudson Valley, United East Athletic Association

For more information, check them out on Twitter and Tumblr .

Asian In NY is also putting together videos of “salute” to Danny Chen on their Youtube.

I’ve been out of touch with the internet all week so here’s a little news round-up of the latest:

Musician and internet sweetheart AJ Rafael is looking for an intern!

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development urges the APIA community to fight discrimination and prejudice when dealing with rentals, property ownership, and real estate.

APIA Vote is looking for summer interns (Stipend included!)

The White House Asian American and Pacific Islander Initiative has put out their weekly highlights, click through for some great progress from the White House

The credibility of this letter is still being debated, but an employer sent out some “friendly and helpful advice” to an Asian American applicant. Obviously, racism ensues.

And a bit late, but here’s a great book on Afro-Asian relations in history. Thought it’d be a nice read in response to Mayweather’s racist comments on Jeremy Lin and media in general trying to create racial tension for more ratings.

Yesterday, the North Carolina DREAM Team went to the committee meeting at the Legislative Office Building of the North Carolina General Assembly. Undocumented youth stood up for their rights and fought back against the racist anti-immigrant bills and now are in danger of being deported. You can help by calling (919) 857-9103 and ask the Wake County Jail to release the three people who were arrested.

Last year, Representative Dale Folwell of Forsyth County lost all composure and confronted Jose Rico, an undocumented youth from Raleigh, North Carolina. Representative Folwell was upset because we, the NC Dream Team, released a media advisory alerting the press that the “cowards at the general assembly were attacking immigrant children” with a bill that would give school principals in K - 12 the authority to ask for a student’s immigration status. What Representative Folwell seemed to misunderstand is that school officials are there to mentor and advocate for their students and are not immigration agents. We refused to keep quiet about the matter. And we refuse to do so now. Close to 30 anti-immigrant bills were introduced last year and Represenative Folwell was one of several other representatives who sponsored these bills. This year, these same representatives have come together to form the House Select Committee on the State’s Role in Immigration Policy. Twelve representatives make up this committee. Eight of them are sponsors of anti-immigrant bills. We cannot remain silent as we watch these men instill fear in our undocumented communities. Last September in Charlotte, undocumented youth willingly faced the immigration enforcement machine. Since then, we’ve said that we will no longer remain in the shadows. We meant that. 

You can check out the NC DREAM Team’s website for the event here. I hung out with them while I was in Durham for the ECAASU conference, please support them and CALL!

You experience life through a smaller lens based on life experiences

• where they’re from
• upbringing
• religion
• peer encounters
• sexuality

According to scholars at the Frameworks Institute, framing is how people make sense of and process information about the social world by developing mental shortcuts. These shortcuts derive from our prior experiences (including second-hand experiences) and shape how we see the world. These mental shortcuts rely on “frames”, or small sets of internalized concepts and values that we use to make meaning out of unfolding events.

  White Racial Frame 

1. Racial Stereotypes (a beliefs aspect) 

• Who has power? Who makes the stereotypes?
• People of color internalize this White Racial Frame
• “He chose to whiten himself and his company because he would maximize his success” -Frank, a CEORacism in the PoC communities creates tension and hate.

2. Racial Narratives and Interpretations (integrating cognitive aspect) 

• News reports of a black man looting and two white people finding food during Katrina.
• Depending on who is giving the narrative, racial stereotypes and language

3. Racial Images (a visual aspect) and language  

• White men with guns > colored people with guns
• Terrorism as a brown-only occurrence. Timothy McVey of the Oklahoma bombing.
• KKK
• In the fight for unity and human freedom, the same people who demand equality and freedom are branded dangerous and evil.
• Yul Kwan told he wasn’t “the image of an American hero” on Survivor

4. Racialized Emotions 

• People of Color are angry, irrational, and overemotional.
• White people are painted as angelic and logical.
• Emotional disconnection between oppressor and oppressed. No grasp of reality between cultural lines.

5. Inclinations to Discriminatory Actions 

• Remarley Graham
• People are primed to make these ideas a reality when it’s a false idea.

The Material Reality

Material racial inequality exists among so many qualities of life, wealth, income, property ownership, unemloyment, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, healthcare access, poverty rates, educational attainment, etc. We are actors in a system and while individual people may not have extreme ideas, the small ones add up to a general racist society.

Counter Frames

1. White crafted “liberty and justice” frame.

a.   Relies on language within American constitution and how it applies to the oppressed.

b.   Neo-Conservative Right uses this to support a Reverse Racism argument

2. Anti-oppression counter-frames of Americans of color
   1. Well developed by black community
   2. Lack of a counter-frame within APIA community because we lack a common understanding of history.
3. Home-culture frames that Americans of color have drawn on in developing their counter frames.

Comfort of living in a community where people come from the same place.

Clashes with mainstream American culture.

The “Diplomatic” Method: Try having an intelligent conversation, or even a heart-to-heart. Suggest some readings that may enlighten them.

The “Boundaries” Method: Set clear boundaries with your friends. If they cannot respect them, retaining a “close” friend that thinks it is acceptable to demean you, for any reason, after you have explained that their actions are hurtful, is not a friend worth having.

“This Ain’t My Job” Method: It is a burden to try and convince people that racism exists. It is not your job to convince them because hegemonic ideology will contradict your points, making them all look illogical. Walk away.

All in all, I was disappointed in the workshop. I know that the speaker was unable to make it and ECAASU did all that they could to adjust, but the opportunity to discuss and really dissect white supremacy and racist framing in today’s society was squandered. The anger and frustration that I know bubbles in our community needs a way out, and I was hoping that we would be able to light the spark that starts the fire that will lead to real and tangible CHANGE. Instead, crucial topics were glossed over, racial stereotypes and police profiling was briefly mentioned, and the pictures that could have ignited great conversation were pointed at and then passed over. When addressing the Pete Hoekstra ad, the elements of fear mongering and using Asians as an indistinguishable people were not mentioned whatsoever. It’s extremely important that we tie these racist acts to the violence of the past and present. What about the attacks on students in Philadelphia? What about Vincent Chin? Danny Chen? Senseless violence and brutality deliberately aimed towards people of color as a result of white racial framing? I’m sure that this could have been something spectacular and unforeseen events occurred.