Tag: aaari

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AABANY Board Director Chris Kwok Continues to be Widely Cited on Anti-Asian Violence

On March 16, Chris Kwok, AABANY Board Director, AABANY Issues Committee Chair, and Co-Executive Editor of AABANY’s report on anti-Asian violence, was featured on WGN Radio’s Legal Face-Off podcast. Hosts Tina Martini and Rich Lenkov interviewed Chris and SmithAmundsen Partner Gary Zhao on the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes across the United States. In the podcast, Chris explained that Asian Americans have become the scapegoat of the pandemic due to the increased stress that society has faced during COVID-19, the geo-strategic competition between Asia and America, and the discovery of the first COVID-19 cases in Wuhan, China. From the police to the public at large, Chris stated that we must hold perpetrators of anti-Asian violence accountable for both the harm and fear it engenders. Americans, especially district attorneys, must educate themselves on how Asian Americans experience race. At the end of the interview, Chris noted that “sometimes revolutionary change is hard and we need to push towards it.” To listen to the full interview segment on the podcast, click here and go to timestamp 14:16-25:42.

On March 17, The Asian American/Asian Research Institute (AAARI) at The City University of New York (CUNY) quoted Chris in its statement against anti-Asian hate. AAARI echoed Chris’s assertion that charging pandemic-related violence against Asian Americans as hate crimes “would have sent a signal that this was unacceptable and that if you were going to target Asian Americans, there would be consequences.” To read AAARI’s full statement, click here.

On March 18, MetroFocus interviewed Chris following the Atlanta spa shootings that claimed the lives of eight people, six of whom were Asian women. Chris criticized the way in which law enforcement and the media have deracialized this tragedy by framing it as a product of sexual addiction rather than the historic fetishization of Asian women. That the shootings have not been charged as hate crimes also reinforces Chris’s belief that Asians, as “honorary whites,” face the burden of proving that they have experienced discrimination. Chris hopes that the Atlanta shootings will continue to serve as a “moment of reckoning” for Asian Americans nationwide to share their experiences with race, challenge the divisive model minority myth, and build a more harmonious multiracial society. To listen to the full interview on PBS, click here.

On March 19, Medill Reports Chicago published an audio clip in which Chris described how recent acts of anti-Asian violence have led him to fear for his own safety and the safety of his family. Speaking of his wife, Chris said, “I’d like for her to go about daily life without fear of harrassment and discrimination and that she be a full citizen without having to prove herself in any way.” To read the article and listen to the full audio clip, click here.

Also on March 19, the Daily Mail invoked the AABANY report’s finding that the ongoing surge in anti-Asian attacks has not elicited a corresponding increase in prosecutions. The article quoted Chris’s assertion that “we don’t know a single prosecution, either on the criminal side or civil resolution. It’s difficult to tell people that you exist. We’ll continue to do that until that’s no longer needed.” To read the full article, click here. 

On March 26, Chris was interviewed by Yuntong Man from The Pulse on Radio Television Hong Kong in a segment on anti-Asian violence and racism in the United States. Chris stated that Asian Americans are not usually seen as subjects of racism and hate crimes, and because of this, there needs to be a “whole degree of education that the district attorneys in America at any level need to have.” Prosecutors and local government need to be accountable and demonstrate that it is not okay to commit acts of anti-Asian violence. To view the full interview segment, click here.

Here are some news stories that have quoted Chris Kwok from other interviews:

“Son of Atlanta Shooting Victim Calls Accused Shooter’s ‘Sex Addiction’ Claim ‘Bull****’” By Inside Edition Staff, March 19, 2021, Inside Edition, https://www.insideedition.com/son-of-atlanta-shooting-victim-calls-accused-shooters-sex-addiction-claim-bull-65606 

“Will Asian Americans ever be accepted as Americans?” By Kara Schroeder, March 19, 2021, China Daily, http://epaper.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202103/19/WS6053f0a0a31099a234354c6d.html 

“Meghan McCain retracts defense of Donald Trump calling COVID ‘the China Virus’” By Brian Niemietz, March 22, 2021, New York Daily News, https://www.nydailynews.com/snyde/ny-maghan-mccain-donald-trump-john-oliver-sorry-china-virus-20210322-nrxuq6afhbemnbigg7j2rd2dt4-story.html 

“Anti-Asian Hate Crime Crosses Racial and Ethnic Lines” By Masood Farivar, March 24, 2021, Voice of America, https://www.voanews.com/usa/anti-asian-hate-crime-crosses-racial-and-ethnic-lines 

“Lawmakers Want To Reform Hate Crime Laws. Will That Actually Ease Attacks On Asian Community?” By Anna Lucente Sterling, March 29, 2021, Spectrum News NY 1, https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/03/29/lawmakers-want-to-reform-hate-crime-laws–will-that-actually-ease-attacks-on-asian-community- 

Here are some news stories that have mentioned AABANY’s report:

“Arrested suspect in US spa killing spree ‘said he wanted to eliminate his sex addiction’” By An Wentzel, March 18, 2021, Daily Maverick, https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-03-18-arrested-suspect-in-us-spa-killing-spree-said-he-wanted-to-eliminate-his-sex-addiction/ 

“Resources to Support Asian Communities in New York City and Beyond” By ALL ARTS STAFF, March 18, 2021, ALL ARTS, https://allarts.org/2021/03/resources-to-support-asian-artists-communities-new-york-city-and-beyond/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20210322 

“A Tipping Point for Asian American Lawyers?” By Vivia Chen, March 19, 2021, Bloomberg Law, https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/a-tipping-point-for-asian-american-lawyers 

“Queens College President Confronts Violence Against Asian Americans” March 19, 2021, The Brian Lehrer Show, https://www.wnyc.org/story/queens-college-president-confronts-violence-against-asian-americans/ 

“急増するアジア系米国住民への差別や犯罪。在米日本人に聞く「今」” March 24, 2021, Yahoo Japan, https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/2a8e18a07b2b766f143f4559860073e9dc3e1fbd 

“Anti-Asia Marak di Amerika, Kecemburuan Ekonomi Penyebabnya?” By Bogordaily.net, March 24, 2021, Bogordaily.net, https://bogordaily.net/2021/03/anti-asia-marak-di-amerika-kecemburuan-ekonomi-penyebabnya/ 

“Second thoughts about being an Asian American” By Nikkie Salgado, March 25, 2021, MercatorNet, https://mercatornet.com/second-thoughts-about-being-an-asian-american/71082/ 

Please also take a look at previous blog posts from February 19, March 1, March 8, and March 15 highlighting news stories about our report. If you have come across a news report or article about our report that is not listed above, please let us know at [email protected].

More public awareness about our report and the rise in anti-Asian violence is needed. Please share our report widely. If you have ideas or thoughts about how we can combat anti-Asian violence, please share them with us at [email protected].

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Friday Evening Lecture Series: Asian/Asian American Scholars of Education

On Friday, March 8, 2019, AAARI, a CUNY-wide scholarly research and resource center on policies and issues that affect Asians and Asian Americans, is holding a talk, Asian/Asian American Scholars of Education: 21st Century Pedagogies, Perspectives, and Experiences, by Nicholas D. Hartlep & Daisy Ball from 6pm to 8pm, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan.

The talk is free and open to the general public. To RSVP for this talk, please visit https://19-03-08hartlep.eventbrite.com. Please be prepared to present proper identification when entering the building lobby. If you are unable to attend the talk, streaming video and audio podcast will be available online the following week.

Nicholas D. Hartlep and Daisy Ball will discuss their book Asian/American Scholars of Education: 21st Century Pedagogies, Perspectives, and Experiences, which shares the knowledge and travails of Asian/American luminaries in the field of education. This unique collection of essays acknowledges the struggle that Asian/American Education scholars have faced when it comes to being regarded as legitimate scholars deserving of endowed or distinguished status.

Books will be available for purchase ($40 each, cash and credit card accepted) and signing after their talk.

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AAARI.info – Asian/Asian American Research Institute

AAARI.info – Asian/Asian American Research Institute

From the Asian American/Asian Research Institute (AAARI) at CUNY:

Friday Evening Lecture Series

Please join the Asian American / Asian Research Institute (AAARI) for a book talk on Incidental Racialization: Performative Assimilation in Law School, by Diana Pan, on Friday, April 20, 2018, from 6pm to 8pm, at 25 West 43rd Street, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

Despite the growing number of Asian American and Latino/a law students, many panethnic students still feel as if they do not belong in this elite microcosm, which reflects the racial inequalities in mainstream American society. While in law school, these students-often from immigrant families, and often the first to go to college-have to fight against racialized and gendered stereotypes. In her book Incidental Racialization, Diana Pan rigorously explores how systemic inequalities are produced and sustained in law schools, and examines their significance in the legal profession and broader U.S. society.

Follow the link in the title for more details.

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AAARI-CUNY Lecture Series: We Too Sing America

From the Asian American / Asian Research Institute (AAARI) at the City University of New York (CUNY):

Please join us for a talk on, We Too Sing America – Deepa
Iyer in Conversation with Zohra Saed, on Friday, March 18, 2016, from 6pm to
8pm, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th
Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

Author and nationally renowned activist Deepa Iyer, in
conversation with Brooklyn based Afghan American poet Zohra Saed, will discuss
her book We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Immigrants
Shape Our Multiracial Future.

Many of us can recall the targeting of South Asian, Arab,
Muslim, and Sikh people in the wake of 9/11. We may be less aware, however, of
the ongoing racism directed against these groups in the past decade and a half.
In We Too Sing America, Deepa Iyer catalogs recent racial flash points, from
the 2012 massacre at the Sikh gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, to the violent
opposition to the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and to the Park 51
Community Center in Lower Manhattan.

Iyer asks whether hate crimes should be considered domestic
terrorism and explores the role of the state in perpetuating racism through
detentions, national registration programs, police profiling, and constant
surveillance. She looks at topics including Islamophobia in the Bible Belt; the
“Bermuda Triangle” of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim hysteria; and the
energy of new reform movements, including those of “undocumented and
unafraid” youth and Black Lives Matter.

Deepa Iyer is an activist, writer, and lawyer with a strong
commitment to intersectional, community-based, racial justice issues in the
United States. The former Executive Director of South Asian Americans Leading
Together (SAALT), Deepa is currently the Senior Fellow at the Center for Social
Inclusion where she provides analysis, commentary and scholarship on how to
build equity and solidarity in America’s changing racial landscape.

Zohra Saed is a Brooklyn based Afghan American poet. Her
poetry and essays have been published in numerous anthologies and journals.
Zohra is a doctoral candidate at The City University of New York Graduate
Center. As a Lecturer, she initiated the following courses at Hunter College:
Arab American Literature; West Asian American Literature and Film; and Central
Asian Film and Literature.

To RSVP for this talk, please visit
www.aaari.info/16-03-18Iyer.htm. Please be prepared to present proper
identification when entering the building lobby.

If you are unable to attend the talk, it will be live
webcasted on our website, www.aaari.info,
beginning 6:15PM EST, and also available the following week as streaming
video and audio podcast. See you on Friday!

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Navigating Model Minority Stereotypes: Asian Indian Youth in South Asian Diaspora

Please join us for a talk on, Navigating Model Minority Stereotypes: Asian Indian Youth in South Asian Diaspora, by Rupam Saran, on Friday, March 11, 2016, from 6pm to 8pm, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

Though Asian Indians are typically thought of as a “model minority”, not much is known about the school experiences of their children. Positive stereotyping of these immigrants and their children often masks educational needs and issues, creates class divides within the Indian-American community, and triggers stress for many Asian Indian students. In her new book, Prof. Rupam Saran examines second generation (America-born) and 1.5 generation (foreign-born) Asian Indians as they try to balance peer culture, home life and academics. It explores how, through the acculturation process, these children either take advantage of this positive stereotype or refute their stereotyped ethnic image and move to downward mobility.

Focusing on migrant experiences of the Indian diasporas in the United States, this volume brings attention to highly motivated Asian Indian students who are overlooked because of their cultural dispositions and outlooks on schooling, and those students who are more likely to underachieve. Prof. Saran highlights the assimilation of Asian Indian students in mainstream society and their understandings of Americanization, social inequality, diversity and multiculturalism.

Rupam Saran is an Associate Professor of Education at  Medgar Evers College/CUNY. Dr. Saran’s book with co-author Dr. Rosalina Diaz, Beyond Stereotype: Minority children of immigrants in urban schools, analyzes the effect of stereotyping on the school experiences of children of new immigrants. Recent journal publications include articles in Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, In the South Asian Diaspora, The Hispanic Educational Technology Services (HETS) Online Journal, and The Anthropologist.

To RSVP for this talk, please visit www.aaari.info/16-03-11Saran.htm. Please be prepared to present proper identification when entering the building lobby.

If you are unable to attend the talk, it will be live webcasted on our website, www.aaari.info,  beginning 6:15PM EST, and also available the following week as streaming video and audio podcast. See you on Friday!

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Friday Evening Lecture Series

AAARI’s Friday Evening Lecture Series is back for the Spring 2016 semester! Please join us for a talk on, Making a Global Immigrant Neighborhood: Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, by Tarry Hum, on Friday, March 4, 2016, from 6pm to 8pm, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

Based on more than a decade of research, Making a Global Immigrant Neighborhood charts the evolution of Sunset Park-with a densely concentrated working-poor and racially diverse immigrant population-from the late 1960s to its current status as one of New York City’s most vibrant neighborhoods. Author and professor, Tarry Hum, will discuss how processes of globalization, such as shifts in low-wage labor markets and immigration patterns, shaped the neighborhood. She explains why Sunset Park’s future now depends on Asian and Latino immigrant collaborations in advancing common interests in community building, civic engagement, entrepreneurialism, and sustainability planning. She shows, too, how residents’ responses to urban development policies and projects and the capital represented by local institutions and banks foster community activism.

Tarry Hum is Professor of Urban Studies at Queens College/CUNY, and serves on the Doctoral Faculty at the CUNY Graduate Center’s Environmental Psychology program. Prof. Hum’s research areas focus broadly on immigration, community economic development, and urban planning. She has researched and published papers on the socioeconomic processes and outcomes of immigrant incorporation in urban labor markets, related issues of immigrant settlement and neighborhood change, and the consequences for urban inequality, race and ethnic relations, political representation, and community definition and development.

To RSVP for this talk, please visit www.aaari.info/16-03-04Hum.htm. Please be prepared to present proper identification when entering the building lobby.

If you are unable to attend the talk, it will be live webcasted on our website, www.aaari.info, beginning 6:15PM EST, and also available the following week as streaming video and audio podcast. See you on Friday!

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The Political Activism of Sikhs in Canada and the United States, Feb. 4

Happy 2015! Join CUNY’s Asian American / Asian Research Institute for a co-sponsored talk on, The Political Activism of Sikhs in Canada and the United States, by Prema Kurien, on Wednesday, February 4, 2015, from 3:30pm to 5:30pm, at Roosevelt House – Hunter College/CUNY, 47-49 East 65th Street, 2nd Floor Meeting Room, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

Dr. Preema Kurien will discuss differences in the civic and political activism patterns of Sikhs in Canada and the United States. Dr. Kurien’s talk draws on an ongoing research project examining how differences in the social, political, and religious opportunity structures of Canada and the United States, as well as the characteristics of groups, shape the political incorporation of religious minorities. South Asians comprise the largest “visible minority group” in Canada. Her main focus is on Sikhs and Hindus (from India, Sri Lanka, and the Indian diaspora in the Caribbean) since they manifest interesting differences in political mobilization within Canada and the United States and between the two countries. She is conducting research for this project in Toronto, Vancouver, New York, and Northern California through interviews and some field research, analyses of information regarding the advocacy organizations as well as the media coverage of the groups in the two countries.  

Prema Kurien is the 2014-2015 CUNY Thomas Tam Visiting Professor and Professor of Sociology at Syracuse University. Dr. Kurien’s recent research focuses on race and ethnic group relations, as well as the role of religion in shaping group formation and mobilization among contemporary ethnic groups. She has received postdoctoral fellowships and grants from the National Science Foundation, The Woodrow Wilson International Center, the Carnegie Corporation, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University, the American Institute of Indian Studies, the Louisville Institute, and the New Ethnic and Immigrant Congregations Project. Her work has been recognized with a Contribution to the Field award, two national book awards, and three national article awards. 

Co-Sponsor: Mapping of Asian Americans in New York (MAANY)

To RSVP for this talk, please visit www.aaari.info/15-02-04Kurien.htm. See you on February 4th!
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Talk on ‘Secret of a Thousand Beauties: A Novel’

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Dear AAARI Friend,  

Join us for a lecture on, Secret of a Thousand Beauties: A Novel, by Mingmei Yip, on Friday, December 12, 2014, from 6pm to 8pm, at 25 West 43rd Street, 10th Floor, Room 1000, between 5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan. This talk is free and open to the general public.

Mingmei Yip will discuss her new novel, Secret of a Thousand Beauties, illustrated with slides showing masterpieces of Chinese embroidery rarely seen outside Chinese museums. Set against the vibrant and intrigue-laden backdrop of 1930s China, Mingmei Yip’s enthralling novel explores one woman’s defiant pursuit of independence. Dr. Yip will also discuss what women’s crafts reveal about the lives of women in traditional China. Readings and book signings will be included.

Mingmei Yip is a novelist writing in English about the lives and struggles of Chinese women, both in China and America. Mingmei is currently finishing her seventh novel, The Witches’ Market, which will be released in 2015 by Kensington Books.  

Dr. Yip’s debut novel Peach Blossom Pavilion, the story of the last musician-courtesan of China, has received numerous favorable reviews and is in its fifth printing. It has just been published by Harper Collins Avon in March, 2014. Mingmei’s novels have been translated into nine languages and are currently  available in ten countries.

Dr. Yip is also a renowned qin musician, calligrapher and painter. She received her PhD in musicology from the Sorbonne, University of Paris.

To RSVP for this talk, please visit www.aaari.info/14-12-12Yip.htm. Can’t make it to the talk? View the live webcast on our homepage beginning at 6:15PM EST, or access the streaming video and audio podcast the following week. 
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Asian American / Asian Research Institute 13th Annual Gala

2014 AAARI Gala

Dear AAARI Friend,

10 days and counting until Asian American / Asian Research Institute’s 13th Annual Gala, on Thursday, November 20, 2014, from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, at Jing Fong Restaurant, 20 Elizabeth Street, Manhattan. Come celebrate AAARI’s achievements over the past year and honor our awardees for their leadership, distinguished success, and commitment to the Asian American / Asian community. Meet faculty, staff and students within CUNY, and academic, business, civic and community leaders and organizations outside of CUNY.

Gala Ticket Prices

$150 (General) | $85 (AAARI Member/Senior) | $50 (Student)

Table of Ten Prices 

$5,000 (Diamond) | $3,000 (Ruby) | $2,000 (Pearl) | $1,500 (Jade)

RSVP Deadline: November 17, 2014

For RSVP and more Information, please go to: http://www.aaari.info/2014banquet.htm