Photograph and information courtesy of the Museum of Chinese in America
The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), in celebration of receiving a generous donation from Mackenzie Scott, is open with free admissionfor all throughout the run of the Responses exhibition, ending March 27, 2022.
Responses is an offering to our country in a moment of crisis. Chinese and Asian Americans are being blamed as the genesis of the coronavirus and targeted in assaults across the country, harming their bodies as well as their sense of belonging. To help us navigate what is happening, the exhibition explores the lessons of history and raises a collective voice against the rising tide of anti-Asian hate and violence.
As part of Responses, MOCA has commissioned new music composers ARKAI (Philip Sheegog and Jonathan Miron) and modern dance company J CHEN PROJECT to create new time-based works responding to and interpreting the exhibition’s themes. Visit MOCA’s website (mocanyc.org) for live, in-person performance schedules.
No reservations needed for individual visits.
The Museum is open during the following hours:
Sunday 11AM – 6PM
Monday – Wednesday CLOSED
Thursday 11AM – 9PM
Friday 11AM – 6PM
Saturday 11AM – 6PM
The museum is located at 215 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013.
About MOCA
The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) aims to engage audiences in an ongoing and historical dialogue, in which people of all backgrounds are able to see American history through a critical perspective, to reflect on their own experiences, and to make meaningful connections between: the past and the present, the global and the local, themselves and others.
On February 9, AABANY’s Student Outreach & Bankruptcy Committees hosted a virtual panel discussion on legal careers in bankruptcy and restructuring. The event, part of the Student Outreach Committee’s Students Meet Mentors Series, ran from 6:00 pm to 7:15 pm on Zoom. The panel was moderated by Student Outreach Committee Co-Chair Long Dang (Columbia Law School ‘22) and AABANY Student Leader Sharon Yang (Fordham Law School ‘23) and featured the following distinguished bankruptcy attorneys:
Panelists discussed their day-to-day lives as bankruptcy attorneys, recommended classes for interested law students (e.g., Secured Transactions, Basics of Bankruptcy), and shared their perspective on the bamboo ceiling in the industry. The discussion was followed by a participant Q&A, where audience members asked questions about the use of technology in bankruptcy law. The evening ended with a gift card raffle for attendees. Congratulations to Maggie Fang of the University of Pennsylvania Law School for winning the raffle!
AABANY thanks the Student Outreach & Bankruptcy Committees for organizing the event and all panelists, moderators, and students who attended. To learn more about the Student Outreach Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/121. To learn more about the Commercial Bankruptcy and Restructuring Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/353.
Contact: Mary Tablante, Associate Strategic Communications & Marketing Director
WASHINGTON –NAPABA welcomes the announcement that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will be ending the “China Initiative.” The program created an environment that placed heightened scrutiny on persons of Chinese ancestry in academic and research environments. For the past seven years, NAPABA has expressed concern about the profiling of Chinese American researchers and scientists and worked with partners in Congress to speak out against impermissible racial profiling.
“NAPABA applauds the end of the China Initiative,” said A.B. Cruz III, acting president of NAPABA. “We are pleased that the Department of Justice heard the concerns of members of the Asian American community, researchers, and scholars, that the program was creating a chilling effect and air of suspicion around scholars of Chinese ancestry. While NAPABA recognizes legitimate national security risks exist, with the increase in anti-Asian hatred, ending programs that create an impression of anti-Asian discrimination is even more important. We thank the Administration for putting an end to this counter-productive program and Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. Ted Lieu, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus for their leadership on this issue.”
During a speech on Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen announced changes that the DOJ is making to end the “China Initiative.” The China Initiative was established in 2018 to bring the DOJ’s economic espionage and national security investigations involving China and persons of Chinese ancestry under one umbrella. The program resulted in a number of cases in which charges were dropped or dismissed by the Courts, including the cases of Dr. Xiaoxing Xi, Sherry Chen, and Dr. Anming Hu.
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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.
NAPABA is now accepting applications for the 2022-23 Leadership Advancement Program (LAP) for August 2022 to February 2023. LAP is a year-long experiential program, meant to equip mid-career attorneys with a skill set that will transform them into leaders, professionally and personally, while cultivating close-knit friends and resources. Attorneys in the program will:
Assess leadership and communications styles and use exercises to gain better self-awareness
Train to be more effective communicators and listeners
Learn how to set goals and ground their career vision
Become better at anticipating the oppositions faced in challenge
Grow their executive presence
Leave with a cohort of 24 advisors and friends
This cohort of 24 individuals will launch in a virtual environment, with the possibility of concluding with in-person workshops.
Grace Jamgochian, a Partner at Shearman & Sterling, a member of AABANY and Vice Chair of its Women’s Committee, and a former participant in the LAP Program described her experience as follows:
“Although I participated in the Leadership Advancement Program almost 5 years ago, I still have constant contact with my LAP community across the nation; we regularly seek advice from each other on all kinds of matters from parenting to random legal musings. The perspective you get from a small (but not too small) group of seasoned attorneys is really incredible!”
You must become a member of NAPABA to take advantage of this exclusive opportunity
If you have any questions or wish to apply, please visit the NAPABA website for more details or contact Maureen Gelwicks, Operations Director.
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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.
Contact: Mary Tablante, Associate Strategic Communications & Marketing Director
WASHINGTON –Today, President Biden announced the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Jackson clerked for Justice Breyer and currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
A.B. Cruz III, acting president of NAPABA, released the following statement:
“NAPABA congratulates Judge Jackson on her historic nomination to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She is a brilliant legal scholar and is well qualified to serve on the Court.
“President Biden’s promise to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court underscores his commitment to diversifying our judiciary. Notably, women and persons of color, including Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, continue to be underrepresented on our courts.
“If confirmed, Judge Jackson will be the sixth woman and third black Justice in our nation’s history to have served on the Court.
“We thank President Biden for nominating Judge Jackson and we urge the Senate to confirm her swiftly.
“NAPABA thanks Justice Stephen Breyer for his service on the Court and his mentorship of many NAPABA members who will continue his legacy in the legal profession and on the courts.”
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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.
AABANY’s 2022 ski trip took place over Presidents’ Day weekend on Sunday, February 20, at Shawnee Mountain. Carpools left New York City Sunday morning for the hour and a half drive to the Pocono Mountains. AABANY members, friends, family, and children enjoyed favorable ski conditions at Shawnee on a crisp and sunny winter day. Skiers met for lunch by the hearth in the Hope Lodge at the base of the mountain. The ski day concluded with an après-ski dinner at the Gem and Keystone Tavern on the grounds of the historic Shawnee Inn.
Thanks to AABANY President Terry Shen for organizing this family-friendly event, and thanks to everyone for taking part. If you would like to see more family-friendly outings like the ski trip, send us your ideas at [email protected].
The Criminal Justice Act Committee of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is accepting applications for service on the Court’s Criminal Justice Act Panel. CJA Panel Members represent indigent criminal defendants and petitioners for habeas corpus.
Admission to practice before this Court is a necessary qualification for membership on the Panel. The Court seeks attorneys of superior experience and proven competence in federal appellate criminal defense work. The qualifications of attorneys applying for service on the Panel will be examined by the CJA Committee’s Attorney Advisory Group, which will make recommendations for membership on the Panel. Membership on the Panel will be for a term of one to three years, at the discretion of the Court. Attorneys currently serving on the panel need not reapply until the expiration of their present term.
Application forms for membership on the Criminal Justice Act Panel are available at the Court’s website at www.ca2.uscourts.gov, or by calling 212-857-8702.
A signed original application, one copy of each of your appellate briefs, and three paper copies of the completed application and your resumé, along with a CD containing both your completed applications and resumé, must be received by the Clerk of Court by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 11, 2022. Please check the Court’s website (www.ca2.uscourts.gov) periodically for CJA .
For further information or questions, please contact [email protected].
On February 1st, 2022, CNBC introduced three families’ experiences handling the weighty emotional and physical fatigue of pandemic parenting, in an interview titled Parents struggle to survive pandemic angst.
Liz Mo, an AABANY Member, a former Co-Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee, and a practitioner of federal and state litigation and appeal, was one of the individuals interviewed.
She describes her experience during the pandemic as “lots of juggling,” working as a full-time attorney, with a 2nd Circuit Appeal oral argument next month and two federal trials scheduled this year, and taking care of her two sons. And although the release of the COVID-19 vaccine in December of 2020 offered many individuals hope of a return to normalcy, Mo stated she continued to stay at home and her level of cautiousness remained the same, since her children, only being two years old and four months old, are unable to get vaccinated.
Like many parents born from the age of “Pandemic Parenting,” Mo exactly embodies this newly carved parental identity, comprised of a conflated sense of the departmentalization of work life and home life. And as schools close, sociopolitical tensions strain, and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 continues, it is no wonder parents feel such an acute sense of stress.
Despite this, Mo still offers everyone a piece of important advice, especially during an age of masks and separation:
“Everyone is strained, but to the extent we can help each other out, we can partner with each other, and all let out one great big scream together.”
AABANY has been closely following the current redistricting cycle for drawing of New York State Assembly, Senate and Congressional districts. On January 31, 2022, AABANY members Marilyn Go and Rocky Chin joined approximately 50 other demonstrators assembled outside the offices of the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR) to demand that public hearings be held before any vote by the State Legislature on redistricting maps for Assembly, Senate and Congressional districts. The rally, which was organized by APA VOICE Redistricting Task Force (“APA VOICE”), was supported by various Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and other minority community and civil rights groups, including AALDEF, Caribbean Equality Project, Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College, Chinese-American Planning Council, Chinese Progressive Association, Common Cause – NY, Korean Community Services of Metropolitan NY, Latino Justice PRLDEF, MinKwon Center for Community Action, OCA-NY, South Queens Women’s March, and Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus.
The speakers at the rally expressed concern that AAPI and other minority groups would have no input into the redistricting process. As Marilyn Go noted, the New York State Constitution contemplated that the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) would have the primary responsibility to draw new redistricting maps, but only after extensive public hearings. However, due to a partisan split with commissioners deadlocked, the IRC submitted two sets of redistricting maps to the Legislature on January 3, 2022 and, notwithstanding a directive from the Legislature, did not redraw maps by the January 25th deadline set. The following day, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins issued a joint statement to announce that the Legislature would draw its own maps and vote on the maps by the end of the following week.
At the time of the rally, LATFOR had neither issued any maps nor scheduled any hearings, despite three letters sent by APA VOICE, the last letter of which AABANY and about 60 other organizations had endorsed. Later on January 31, the Legislature issued a set of redistricting maps for proposed Congressional districts and maps for Assembly and Senate districts the following day. The Legislature then proceeded to vote to approve maps on the third day after their issuance and Governor Hochul signed the bill setting Congressional districts on February 1, 2022 and State Senate and Assembly districts on February 2, 2022.
Current redistricting efforts are of particular significance to the AAPI community in New York, because of the substantial growth of the AAPI population since the last census — from 1,038,388 in 2010 to 1,385,144 in 2020. The increase in the number of AAPIs accounted for 42.1% of the population growth in New York State and the AAPI community now constitutes 15.8% of the population in New York City and 9.5% in New York State. See https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=New%20York%20State%20population%202010&tid=DECENNIALCD1132010.P1.
Despite their increasing numbers, few AAPIs have been elected to state office in New York State. There are only three AAPI State Senators out of 63 in New York Senate (Senators Jeremy Cooney, John Liu and Kevin Thomas, the latter two being the first AAPIs elected Senators in 2018) and four AAPI Assembly Members serving in the 150-person State Assembly (Assembly Members Ron Kim, Zohran Mamdani, Yuh- Line Niou and Jennifer Rajkumar). Congresswoman Grace Meng became the first AAPI representative from New York to serve in Congress when she was elected in 2013.
Although the redistricting maps will set political boundaries for voters for the next decade, the New York State legislature drew and approved map lines in one week. The experience in New York, as well as what has been reported as occurring in many other states, have led to much cynicism about the politicization of redistricting in this current cycle. However, voters do matter and the redistricting process is vital for groups such as AAPIs and other groups that lack political clout. In fact, AAPI groups were among the most vocal in hearings before the IRC to express their dissatisfaction over proposed lines. Even though they ultimately did not have a say in the final drawing of districts, AAPIs let their concerns be known. For example, community groups advocated for the vibrant South Asian community in the Richmond Hill/South Ozone park area not be divided into seven different Assembly districts, as it is currently. The IRC drew districts similar to that proposed by APA VOICE and other groups in a Unity Map to have this community wholly within one assembly district. However, under the bills passed, this community is now divided into three assembly districts. Much remains to be done.
The redistricting process will soon begin for New York City. AAPIs have exercised and should again exercise their opportunity to inform politicians that they are involved and their interests cannot be ignored. If you want to know how you can work with AABANY on this issue, reach out to the Issues Committee here: https://www.aabany.org/page/154
WASHINGTON – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is proud to announce that the Open Society Foundations has selected it to receive funding for boosting civic participation in Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Muslim, Arab, and South Asian (MASA) communities.
Leveraging and organizing our power, strength in numbers, geographic diversity, and in-language reach of NAPABA’s nearly 90 affiliated AAPI bar organizations and their members, our community is able to make a difference. Our goal is to equip our members with the tools to increase AAPI engagement in voting through non-partisan voter registration, election protection, and voter education.
“Open Society Foundations’ support of NAPABA builds upon our strategic plan to increase AAPI engagement and empowerment nationwide, especially as our communities continue to grow. The five-year grant will be instrumental in ensuring that NAPABA has the resources to bolster the ability of our affiliated bar associations to reach local communities around the country and support a sustainable investment in creating engaged AAPI communities,” said A.B. Cruz III, acting president of NAPABA. “We are grateful for their support in building a stronger voice for the AAPI community.”
In December 2021, Open Society Foundations announced its investment of $42.5 million over five years to AAPI and MASA communities to engage in nonpartisan efforts. The investment is part of the foundation’s 10-year campaign to build and protect a multiracial democracy.
The Open Society Foundations grant is the fifth grant over the last year that NAPABA has been awarded to advance the work of its programs.
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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.
