Schedule
SCHEDULE OUTLINE
(Click Here/Page Down for Detailed Event Descriptions)
Fri, March 25
Michigan League, Michigan Room NEW: Vandenberg Room
| 2:00 - 3:30 PM | Transnational Perspectives on the Asian America Movement |
Michigan League Ballroom
| 4:00 - 6:00 PM | Grace Lee Boggs conversation with Michael Hardt and Mabel R. Williams on The Next American Revolution |
| 6:00 PM | Reception with Book Signing for The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs |
| 7:00 PM | Independent Film Screenings |
| 7:30-11:00 PM | Asian American performers showcase |
Sat, March 26
William Monroe Trotter Multicultural Center
| 8:00 AM | Registration |
| 9:00 AM | Welcome |
| 9:15 - 10:45 AM | Panel Session 1
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| 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Panel Session 2
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| 12:30 PM | Lunch |
| 1:30 - 2:00 PM | Greeting from Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood and Keynote Address by Helen Gym (Asian Americans United, Philadelphia) |
| 2:15 - 3:45 PM | Panel Session 3
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| 4:00 - 5:30 PM | Panel Session 4
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| 5:30 PM | Dinner |
| 7:00- 9:00 PM | Spoken Word Performance and Open Mic featuring Bao Phi with D. Blair, Aurora Harris, Juliana Hu Pegues, Kiwi, Emily Lawsin, and Special Guests |
DETAILED CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Fri, March 25
Michigan League, Michigan Room NEW: Vandenberg Room
- “Exploring Feminist Implications of the Cultural Revolution”
Wang Zheng (Women’s Studies, University of Michigan) - “Hypervisibility and Invisibility: The Indochinese Women's Conferences and Asian American Women”
Judy Wu, (Asian American Studies and History, Ohio State University) - “Peace and Racial Justice in Okinawa, 1968-72”
Yuichiro Onishi (African American & African Studies/Asian American Studies, University of Minnesota) - Comment: Nikhil Pal Singh (Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University)
- Moderator: Vicente Diaz (A/PIA Studies, University of Michigan)
Michigan League Ballroom
A world dominated by America and driven by cheap oil, easy credit, and conspicuous consumption is unraveling before our eyes. As the Middle East has arisen in revolt, workers, students, immigrants, and community organizers are resisting right-wing attacks in Wisconsin, Detroit, and neighborhoods across America. How do we move beyond resistance to projecting and organizing for alternative visions of social justice in the 21st century?
Drawing from seven decades of movement-building experience, Grace Lee Boggs, the “ legendary” 95-year-old Chinese American philosopher/activist from Detroit, will discuss the radical social change we need to confront new realities with the internationally renowned political theorist, Michael Hardt (co-author of Empire, Multitude, and Commonwealth), and Mabel R. Williams, an icon of the movements for civil and human rights activist and widow of the noted African American activist Robert F. Williams.
6:00 PM
7:00 PM
7:30-11:00 PM
This showcase will reunite key participants from the groundbreaking Song for Ourselves Mixtape. Great Leap’ s Nobuko Miyamoto, widely recognized as one of the musical and artistic pioneers of the Asian American Movement will perform on a bill with West Coast hip-hop greats Geologic of Blue Scholars, Kiwi, and DJ Phatrick. Joining them will be a sampling of Michigan’ s most popular campus acts, including Revolution, Kopitonez, and many surprise guests. Don’ t miss this historic performance.
Sat, March 26
William Monroe Trotter Multicultural Center
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
9:15 - 10:45 AM
Basement:
- Lisa Yun Lee (Director of the Hull-House Museum, University of Illinois-Chicago)
- Alice Kim (Director of the Public Square, Chicago)
Social change requires effective methods to create public dialogs that draw diverse peoples together to identify common concerns, points of solidarity, and possibilities for collective action. In this workshop, we will learn from two experienced and innovative organizers, who have demonstrated the power of ideas by promoting public dialogs among thousands of residents in creative spaces throughout Chicago.
Floor 1:
- Alex Tom (Executive Director, Chinese Progressive Association-San Francisco)
- Brenda Baletti and Vivian Wang (El Kilombo Intergalactico, Durham, NC)
- Moderator: Damon Salesa (A/PIA Studies, University of Michigan)
- Comment: Nikhil Pal Singh (New York University)
A growing portion of the U.S. economy is driven by the reliance on immigrant labor, yet we see the dignity and rights of immigrants increasingly attacked. The panel brings together organizers from community-based groups who are struggling to build community while fighting for just working conditions, housing, and health care. We will especially discuss the challenge of building solidarity across racial/ethnic boundaries while confronting systems of oppression that are global in scope.
Floor 2:
- “The Korean Student Organization: Institutional Liberalism and the Ethnicity Based Student Group”
Stephen Suh (Sociology, University of Minnesota) - "Who's Community Are You Rebuilding? Community Organizing and Disaster Relief: Local Lessons from the Gulf Coast”
Leo Esclamado (Social Work, University of Michigan) - “Asian Pacific Islander Abjection in the Neoliberal Present: Between Oppositional Consciousness and Mental Disorder”
Perry Miller (Comparative Studies, Ohio State University) - Moderator: Sarita See (A/PIA Studies, University of Michigan)
Come to this panel to discuss new directions in scholarship and learn more about the process of graduate study. Continental breakfast will be served.
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Basement:
- Glenn Omatsu (CSU Northridge, UCLA, and Pasadena City College)
- Moderator: Steve Su (United Asian American Organizations, University of Michigan)
This interactive workshop contrasts mainstream views on learning and teaching with the approach developed by several generations of Asian Pacific American activists based on an anti-colonial, holistic, and community-based vision of education. Professor Omatsu is widely recognized as a pioneer educator in Asian American Studies, who has nurtured hundreds of students working for the cause of social justice while helping them to understand and better serve their communities
Floor 1:
- Nobuko Miyamoto (Great Leap, Los Angeles)
- Grace Lee (Independent filmmaker, Grace Lee Project, Los Angeles)
- Kiwi (Community organizer and hip-hop MC, San Francisco Bay Area)
- DJ Phatrick (Los Angeles)
- Moderator: Jenny Kwak (Program in American Culture, University of Michigan)
What is the relationship between the arts, politics, and social change? This panel provides an opportunity to learn more about artistic work and creative process from three of out special guests invited to perform and present at the conference.
Floor 2:
- “Policing, Racist Violence, and Multiracial Coalition Building in New York City”
Helena Wong (Executive Director, CAAAV-Organizing Asian Communities, New York) - “The Case of Fong Lee: Racial Profiling, Police Brutality, and Asian American Movement Organizing”
Juliana Hu Pegues (American Studies, University of Minnesota) - “Conducting Ethnographies During Times of Civil Unrest: Asian Americans and the Oscar Grant Uprisings”
Darren Brown (American Studies, Michigan State University) - Comment: Carolyn Wong (Carleton College)
The generation of Asian American activist sparked by the racist killing of Vincent Chin and a wave of anti-Asian violence during the 1980s pushed the state to prosecute hate crimes. Yet we must also address the problems caused by the state’s monopoly on the legalized use of violence. From the pioneering work of CAAAV to more recent incidents in the Twin Cities and Oakland, this panel will discuss efforts to confront state violence in pursuit of social justice with particular attention to the way it impacts working-class populations and black and brown communities.
12:30 PM
1:30 - 2:00 PM
Elected in 2010, Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood is the first Korean American to hold state office in Michigan. A 1996 graduate of the University of Michigan, he previously served three terms in the State House of Representatives.
We are honored to present Helen Gym, a firebrand activist who has taught countless numbers of politicians and public officials not to mess with Asian American communities. Gym will present stories of agonizing hardship and uplifting inspiration-from her tireless work as an educator, parent, and community organizer. She is a board member of Asian Americans United and a founder of the Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures School (FACTS), which has created an innovative curriculum and transformative experience for K-8 students in Philadelphia Chinatown. Gym was named the Philadelphia Inquirer's “Citizen of the Year” in December 2007 for her work in education, immigration, and community activism.
2:15 - 3:45 PM
Basement:
- Ellen Somekawa (Executive Director, Asian Americans United, Philadelphia)
- Alex Tom (Executive Director, Chinese Progressive Association-San Francisco)
- Esther Wang (Staff Organizer, CAAAV-Organizing Asian Communities, New York)
- Moderator: Eric Shih (Program in American Culture, University of Michigan)
- Comment: Rob Yanagida (former organizer, Asian Americans for Equality, New York)
Most Americans view Chinatown as a site for tourist delights. But for thousands of immigrants, workers, youth, and other residents, Chinatown is a home and a community. This panel brings together veteran organizers from three of the nation’s most prominent Chinatown’s New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. They will discuss ongoing struggles over redevelopment, gentrification, housing, worker’s rights, and cultural preservation, while providing insight into the overlooked aspects that make Chinatowns vibrant and dynamic places.
Floor 1:
- Representatives from Chicago’s Multi-Cultural Youth Project and Detroit Asian Youth Project
- Moderator: Steve Hosik Moon (MCYP staff organizer and UofM alum)
Youth represent the future of our communities. This workshop brings to the forefront the voices of young activists who have participated in programs to promote youth leadership and empowerment. Special attention will be paid to the discussion of issues of urban youth from working-class South Asian and Southeast Asian backgrounds, their campaigns to address the conditions they face attending inner-city schools, and their efforts to negotiate multiracial relations.
Floor 2:
- Moderator: Johanna Masse (School of Education, University of Michigan)
A roundtable discussion on the challenges and triumphs of Asian international adoptees featuring Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood, who was elected to represent the Downriver communities of Southeast Michigan following three terms in the Michigan state assembly, and Rachel Sisco, a Michigan alum and Wayne State University law student, who helped found the Adopted Koreans Association (AKA) and the Growing In Friendship Together (GIFT) Mentor Program
4:00 - 5:30 PM
Basement:
- Representatives from the Asian Student Association of Philadelphia Moderator: May Fu (University of San Diego)
After a day-long series of racially-motivated attacks against Asian immigrants at South Philadelphia High School, Asian Student Association of Philadelphia (ASAP) organized an eight day boycott and an ongoing campaign for a just school environment. In a sharp rebuke of the failures of school official, they won a major settlement from the US Justice Department and national recognition for their struggle. Youth from ASAP will share their experience from over a year of activism on this campaign. Through activities and conversation, they will lead the participants to a concept of a just and nonviolent school, where diversity is especially respected.
Floor 1:
- Moderator: Marie Ting (Center for Educational Outreach, University of Michgian and former UAAO and MAASU organizer)
Why is student activism important? How does it shape our lives? How does is prepare us to change the world we encounter after graduation. For this discussion, we have invited former Michigan student activists and United Asian American Organizations leaders Michelle Lin (UAAO Chair, 2002-03), Atasi Satpathy (UAAO External Relations Chair, 2006-07), Theresa Tran (UAAO Co-Chair, 2006-07), and George Dong (UAAO, 2008-09) to engage in a dialog with a panel of current student organizers and the audience. We hope to strengthen student/alumni connections as we work to re-energize the UofM Asian/Pacific Islander American Alumni Council.
Floor 2:
- Karin Aguilar-San Juan (Macalester College)
- Bhavik Lathia (Spectrum Center, University of Michigan)
- Moderator: Sony Bolton (Program in American Culture, University of Michigan)
This panel discussion will focus on LGBT identity and politics with a particular concern for issues affecting students and youth. In addressing the challenge of Asian Americans belonging to multiple communities, this panel will emphasize the need to develop intersectional analyses of race, immigration, gender, and sexuality.
5:30 PM
7:00- 9:00 PM
End the conference with a celebration of socially conscious Asian American spoken work and performance poetry. From the Twin Cities, Minnesota, featured performer Bao Phi has captivated audiences throughout the nation with works that draw from his experience as a Vietnamese American spoken word poet, writer and community activist. He is a two-time winner of the Minnesota Grand Poetry Slam, and also won two poetry slams at the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York.
Schedule as of March 17, 2011