Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Film Screening: "A Village Called Versailles"

A/P/A Institute at NYU presents
A story of community activism and environmental justice in post-Katrina New Orleans...
“A Village Called Versailles”

Film Screening and Talk with filmmaker Leo Chiang and Scholar Julie Sze, UC Davis













Winner of the Audience Award at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival and New Orleans Film Festival, “A Village Called Versailles” is filmmaker Leo Chiang’s feature documentary about Versailles, an isolated community in eastern New Orleans that has been settled by Vietnamese refugees since the late 1970s. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Versailles residents impressively rise to the
challenges by returning and rebuilding before any other flooded neighborhood in New Orleans, only to have their homes threatened by a new government-imposed toxic landfill just two miles away. The film recounts the empowering story of how this group of people, who have already suffered so much in their lifetime, turns a devastating disaster into a catalyst for change and a chance for a better future.

Following the film, Julie Sze, Associate Professor of American Studies at University of California at Davis and author of Noxious New York: The Racial Politics of Urban Health and Environmental Justice will be in conversation with Chiang about the broader issues of race and environmental justice covered in the film affecting Asian American communities.
Friday, Nov 18th
Cantor Film Center
36 East 8th Street
Theater 101
6:30PM-9:30PM

RSVP: Online Here or email apa.rsvp@nyu.edu, or Call 212-992-9653

Talk and demonstration is FREE and open to the public.

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Thursday, November 17, 2011
Free Screening of "Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words"

Date: Friday, November 18, 2011
Time: 8:00PM - 9:30PM
Where: Center for Remembering & Sharing, 123 4th Avenue @12 Street, NYC



CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing) presents “Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words,” a one-hour documentary by mutli-award-winning writer/director Yunah Hong. Ms. Hong will be present to introduce the film, discuss her efforts to get it aired on public television, and take questions from the audience following the screening. 
Screen legend Anna May Wong (1905-1961) was the first Chinese American movie star. She grew up in L.A., daughter of a laundryman, yet she courageously chose a life that was a radical departure from familial and cultural expectations. Her story is one of resistance—of pushing back against close-mindedness and claiming space. This she did with enough glamour, style and humor to hold her own with the greatest stars of her day. She is a great role model and inspiration to artists struggling against racism and stereotypes even today.
She first starred, at age 17, in "Toll of the Sea," a silent version of Madame Butterfly. Her best-remembered film is "Shanghai Express" with Marlene Dietrich. She made dozens of films in Hollywood, London and Berlin. She was glamorous; photographers flocked to take her portrait. She was worldly and articulate, with friends like Carl van Vechten, Evelyn Waugh and Paul Robeson. Yet she spent most of her career typecast either as a painted doll or a scheming Dragon Lady.
Director: Yunah Hong
Executive Producer: William Smock
Producer: William Smock
Cinematographer: Eric Lin, Liam Dalzell
Watch the trailer:

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Occupy Wall Street - Week of October 15th to 22nd

This is the second week we've been in Zuccotti Park.  It was crowded with people and tents, not much space to put the banner, so we hung it high above the artwork of an artist at the park.  A man and his son stopped by and help to hold the banner.



Mae Lee (on the right) and Bernice, Mae Lee's staff (on the left) holding the banner.

On the left, the African American man holding the banner is the artist who did the artworks presented below the banner.  
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Friday, November 11, 2011
Roundtable on status of community based organizations October 21st

A roundtable discussion took place on Friday, October 21, 2011.  It was hosted by NYU The Institute for Public Knowledge,  located at 20 Cooper Square, New York.  Guest panelists include John R. Killacky, Susan Cahan, A.B. Spellman and Sonia Basheva-Manjon was the moderator.  Panelists discussed the present status of community based organizations that came out of the Civil Rights Movement, and the impact that funding cutbacks are having on these small to mid-sized diverse cultural arts organizations.




Sitting in the middle are panelist John R. Killacky, A.B. Spellman, and Susan Cahan.

Cynthia Lee, former program director at MoCA gives her perspective to her many colleagues around the room. 
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Yellow Pearl's 40th and Kanako

The Yellow Pearl 40th Year Reunion was held at Project Reach 39 Eldridge St in NYC on the night of October 14th, 2011.  It was a wonderful and heartwarming evening with great company, great food, presentations and performances.

Participants in creating the Yellow Pearl graphic publication 40 years ago gathered to take a group picture.

Participants in Basement Workshop join together to take a reunion picture.


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POC meeting on October 19th



"We are the 99%" sign next to the American flag at the Occupy Wall Street demonstration. 

Participants at the People Of Color (POC) group meeting on October 19th in the 60 Wall Street atrium .

Speaker addressing issues to everyone at the POC meeting on October 19th.
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Occupy Wall Street - Week of October 2nd

An enthusiastic crowd at the Occupy Wall Street demonstration event held at Washington Square Park on October 8th.  OWS made a video about how General Assembly function.  This one in the park was an exceptionally large assembly where the process of consensus was displayed.  In the video,  unbeknownst to Bob Lee he was video taped and became part of the beginning and conclusion of the tape. 
One of the signs at Zuccotti Park.  Naomi Klein, the  author of the "Shock Doctrine" said in a radio interview on WNYC on October 6th that once she saw a poster from OWS that read "I care about you", she knew that people there were going deep.  That this occupation was not only about important issues, but it was about changing the underline culture of our society.  This poster, "Compassion Is Revolution",  reflecting a key Asian value, is an expression for AAAC of how our mission of promoting and examining the integration of Asian values, are entering the United States.  
This is the first People of Color (POC) group meeting that attracted so many people on Sunday, October 9th.
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The retirement party of Suki Terada Ports

  • November 11, 2011
  • 1

A retirement party for Suki Terada Ports was held on September 29th, 2011, at the Japanese American Association (JAA), located at 15 W 44th Street in New York City.

Suki Terada Ports has been a community activist since the 1960s. She founded the Family Health Project (FHP) in 1980 to raise awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on communities of color. Almost two hundred people attended the retirement party as Suki’s friends and colleagues spoke at the party in celebration of her achievements.  


 
 Suki Ports, Cobi Narita of Jazz center of New York (bottom middle), Soki Lee (bottom left), and their friends. 

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Saturday, November 5, 2011
Asian American Community March in Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street


On November 5, 2011, Asian American community members will again demonstrate support for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Community members will start their march at 1:30 PM in front of the Bank of America on Bayard Street and the Bowery and march together to Zuccotti Park on Broadway and Cedar Street in time to join the weekly meeting of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators at 2 PM.

Asian Americans have had a long history of involvement in movements to correct injustices in our society. The Occupy Wall Street movement is bringing much needed attention to the plight of many Americans who are struggling from the economic downturn and the increasing divide between the have’s and have not’s.

As 13% of the population, Asian American New Yorkers also have much to lose if we as a city and nation continue on this path where budget cuts are decimating safety net services. The Asian American community stands in solidarity to protect the most vulnerable in our society and call for fair share tax reform.

We want to take this opportunity and join with the remarkable people who have stood their ground and be part of the Occupy Wall Street. Join us, join the many individuals who will come to Zuccotti Park tomorrow at 2pm, and who have signed on to endorse this Call for Action!

The path of the march with the banner “Occupy Wall Street with Peace” will be from Bwoery to Worth Street onto Centre Street and Park Row, walking past City Hall Park to Broadway to our destination Zuccotti Park on Cedar Street. We welcome others to join the march from the start or anywhere along the route or at 2pm at Zuccotti Park.
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