Asian American Insight  

September 8, 2005

 

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

COMING SOON: AAI’s 2005 Asian Pacific American Community Resource Guide

Katrina Uproots Immigrants From Homes

New Report Highlights Problems Faced by Asian Americans As They Vote

New Law Allows Early Voting in Illinois

EVENTS

10th Annual NAPALC Community Partners Conference—Oct. 14 & 15

Cities in Transition: National Forum on Asian Pacific Islander Americans in Houston—Sept. 21 & 22

ACTION ALERTS

Looking for Participants for Study on the Experiences of Asian Americans with Racism

Invitation to Endorse the “Dollar-A-Person” National Immigration Reform AD Campaign

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

2005 Asian Pacific American Community Resource Guide

This comprehensive guide contains a detailed directory of over 200 advocacy, arts & culture, business, professional, media and health & human services within the Asian Pacific American community in the Chicagoland area.  In addition to the directory of organizations, the guide also contains important historical information of Asian Americans in the United States, a historical timeline, and detailed profiles of the 15 Asian Ethnic communities in Illinois. 

 

This is one of the most complete and comprehensive directories of the Asian Pacific American community and is an invaluable resource to any company, organization, or community member.

* Newest edition, published every 2-3 years

*Information of over 200 advocacy, business, arts & culture, professional, and human services groups

*Important historical and timelines on Asian Pacific Americans in Illinois and the US

*National, local, and city demographic information

*Profiles of the 15 Asian ethnic communities in Illinois

$50 for government agencies and corporations

$25 for not-for-profit organizations

To RESERVE your copy or to SPONSOR visit www.aaichicago.org or call (773) 271-0899

 

Katrina Uproots Immigrants From Homes

By MICHAEL GRACZYK

The Associated Press
Monday, September 5, 2005; 3:56 PM

HOUSTON -- Thousands of Vietnamese settled in the familiar climate of the Gulf Coast region after the upheaval of two wars in their homeland. Hurricane Katrina uprooted them again _ the third mass evacuation in a collective memory of loss.

Quan Hong Huyn first learned what it meant to lose a home and escape near-certain destruction when he was sent to a "re-education" camp in his native Vietnam in 1975 and when he fled to the United States through Malaysia.

"We have experience about escape, about evacuation," Huynh, 55, said outside the Houston church where he was among hundreds of Vietnamese-Americans being sheltered. Their homes 300 miles to the east were damaged or destroyed.

Vietnam's history is marked by two milestone evacuations when millions were uprooted _ first by the war against the French that ended in 1954 and then in the 1970s.

Because of Katrina, about half of Louisiana's Vietnamese population of 30,000 have taken refuge in Houston, already the adopted home to one of the largest groups from the Southeast Asian country. Others from as far away as Mississippi and its devastated shrimping community also may be coming to Texas.

 

For complete story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090500719.html

 

New Report Highlights Problems Faced by Asian Americans As They Vote

 

Washington, D.C., August 10, 2005 — A new report released recently to mark the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, underscores the importance of providing access to the ballot for Asian Americans with limited English proficiency.

The report, Sound Barriers: Asian Americans and Language Access in Election 2004, details the barriers faced by Asian Americans who voted during last year’s elections. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, almost three million Asian Americans turned out to vote on Nov. 2, 2004.

The report, released by NAPALC and its affiliates, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles, the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco, and the Asian American Institute in Chicago, details their observations of 466 polling stations in Illinois, Texas, Washington, and California during the 2004 election.

Eight of the counties in these states are covered by Section 203, the language assistance provision of the Voting Rights Act. Section 203 is intended to provide limited English-speaking Asian, Latino, Native American, and Alaskan native speakers with the same information and opportunities as the English-speaking public so that they can vote. This provision will expire in 2007 and NAPALC and its affiliates are working to have it re-authorized by Congress.

Sound Barriers draws attention to the continuing problems experienced by Asian American voters at the polls and recommends solutions to eliminate them. Although officials in the counties monitored expressed their interest in complying with Section 203, compliance was uneven.

 

 

Funding for this project was provided by the Ford Foundation and Carnegie Corporation. A copy of the report is available at http://www.napalc.org/files/sound_barriers.pdf and http://www.napalc.org/files/appendix.pdf

 

New law allows early voting

 

 

 

   SPRINGFIELD – Voters would be able to vote in person before Election Day and even on Saturdays and Sundays, under a bill Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed into law this week.
   Currently, absentee voting is allowed by mail only if a person has a good reason for not being available on Election Day. That provision is still in place, but voters can cast their ballots in person under the new early voting law for any reason at all.

   "The early voting is the big thing and that's something we're thrilled about," said Kelley Quinn, spokeswoman for Cook County Clerk David Orr, who pushed for the new law. "It is going to make voting more convenient for the elderly and people who have busy schedules. It is also going to make lines at the polls shorter and takes pressure off of polling places."
   The early voting period will start 22 days before the election and continue until the Thursday before Election Day. Because of an existing law permitting voter registrations up to 14 days before an election, this would create a nine-day window of time during which a person could register and vote on the same day.

For complete story:

http://www.news-gazette.com/localnews/story.cfm?Number=18849

 

EVENTS

10th Annual NAPALC Community Partners Conference

 

When: October 14 -15, 2005

Where: Phoenix Park Hotel, Washington, D.C.

 

Why: To learn about the latest policies affecting Asian Americans, including immigration, language access and voting rights, and anti-Asian hate crimes; to network with national groups and local groups from across the country. To learn skills for increasing and sustaining the capacity of your organization.

 

Who Should Attend: Staff of community-based organizations, social service organizations, and legal organizations that serve Asian Americans.

Agenda and registration materials available at www.napalc.org/conference

***Register by Sept. 9 to be eligible for conference fellowships***

For more information, contact Pang Houa Moua at pmoua@napalc.org or 202-296-2300, ext. 122.

 

National Forum on Asian Pacific Islander Americans in Houston

 

How can cities across America use their civic assets and diversity to provide leadership for a better tomorrow? How can the dynamic and growing Asian Pacific Islander American community collaborate to make this possible? What unlikely city is already the model of excellence for this vision?

 

Partners for Livable Communities, The Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, and the City of Houston will provide the answers at a groundbreaking national forum in Houston, Texas on September 21-23, 2005. “Cities in Transition: Asian Pacific Islander Americans….An Asset for America’s Future” will examine the changing needs of the Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) population and highlight the tremendous potential that this unique group brings to our nation.  

 

The forum has three goals: 1) to build national unity amongst the myriad APIA groups; 2) to explore the role of APIAs in the context of the multicultural city and in the melting pot of America; 3) to develop tangible strategies to help local leaders better understand the issues facing their APIA populations while also providing a feasible plan for utilizing the resources offered by the APIA community and increasing their participation in mainstream civic affairs.

 

For complete forum information or registration materials, please contact:

Laura Tan, Program Officer, Partners for Livable Communities, 1429 21st Street, NW

Washington, DC 20036, t: (202) 887-5990 x14, f: (202) 466-4845, e. ltan@livable.com

www.citiesintransition.org

 

 

ACTION ALERTS

PARTICIPANTS NEEDED:  Study On The Experiences Of Asian Americans With Racism

 

From the researchers:
We are Professors in the Department of Counseling at San Francisco State University. We are doing a online study on the experiences of Asian Americans with racism and its psychological impact. Since this topic has not been studied very much in the field of psychology, we are hoping to document the types of racism that Asian Americans encounter, the psychological outcomes of these experiences as well as how they cope with racism.

You must be 18 years of age or older to participate and identify yourself as Asian American.

This study is completely confidential, anonymous and voluntary. You can discontinue your participation at any time without penalty.

If you are interested, this is what is involved:

1.   Please click the button below to link to the study's website.

2.      At the website, you will be asked to read the consent page to indicate whether you are

                willing to participate in this study.

 

3.      If you agree to participate, you will be directed to complete the surveys involved in the

                current study.

 

4.      This study is made up of different surveys that begin with instructions on completing each

                of the surveys. Please complete the surveys as directed.


5.      The surveys take approximately 20 minutes to complete.

6.        After completing the survey, you will be provided with a detailed explanation of the study.

If you know of other individuals who may be interested in participating in the current study, please feel free to distribute this email

If you have any further questions about the study, you may contact Dr. Alvarez at aalvarez@sfsu.edu or (415) 338-1690 or you may contact Dr. Patel at npatel@sfsu.edu or (415) 405-2141. Questions about your rights as a study participant, or comments or complaints about the study, may also be addressed to the Office for the Protection of Human Subjects at (415) 338-1093 or protocol@sfsu.edu.

Click Below to Participate in the Study:

 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=66970820289

 

 

Invitation to Endorse the “Dollar-A-Person” National Immigration Reform AD Campaign

*About the Campaign
With an undocumented population of more than 10 million people, and growing public awareness of the dysfunctional immigration system, there is pressure from all sides of the political spectrum and American public for immigration reform. The May 12, 2005 introduction of the bipartisan Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act of 2005  presents immigrant communities with an unprecedented opportunity to make a difference in the enactment of comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) in the 109th Congress. While not perfect, it represents a politically viable bill that contains as much of what immigrant rights groups have been seeking. It is also one of the first major bills that focus on immigration reform. Immigrants are the main constituency that SAOI Act seeks to address.

*How We Envision Comprehensive Immigration Reform
If an immigration reform bill passes, this new law will set immigration policy for the next 10, 20 or more years and have a fundamental impact on all Americans --- not just the more than 35 million immigrants living in the U.S. today. The time is now, the need is urgent and immigrant communities must become engaged to ensure that any immigration reform bill that passes includes the following components:
-  A path to legal permanent residency for hard-working immigrants who are now forced to live and work in the shadows;
-  Reform that reunite families by reducing the immigration backlogs;
-  A plan to manage the future flow of migrant workers that is designed to prevent abuse and exploitation, and that allows those who grow roots here to eventually apply for permanent residency;
-  Features that strengthen and protect worker rights so that our immigration laws can no longer be used as a tool to reduce wages and working standards;
-  Provisions to defend and protect immigrants’ civil liberties and civil rights; and
-  Immigration relief for undocumented students who have grown up in this country and farmworkers whose work feed our nation.

*Campaign Goals
The “Dollar-A-Person” National Immigration Reform AD Campaign is a vehicle to:
1) mobilize immigrant communities by reaching out to (tens of) thousands of individuals
2) galvanize immigrant communities by successfully completing a short-term, concrete campaign
3) show broad national support for CIR by obtaining over 500 organizational endorsements from across the nation
4) articulate clearly in the ad text the kind of CIR we want in legislation
5) show grassroots strength by demonstrating the ability to raise over $60K from the grassroots, in a short period of time.
All of these goals, if met successfully, will contribute to providing CIR legislation with the momentum that is necessary to survive and move forward.

*AD Content
AD text will be simple and educate readers on the key principles of comprehensive immigration reform and be strengthened by images. Below the text, the AD will list the hundreds of organizations that initiated and endorsed the campaign. Once the AD has been placed, a copy will be hand delivered to all members of Congress and organizations can also use the AD copy as an advocacy and educational tool.

For more information, please contact, the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center at 773. 506. 9158 or the NAKASEC Action Fund at 323. 937. 3703 or campaign@nakasecactionfund.org or go online to: www.nakasecactionfund.org. The NAKASEC Action Fund is a non-profit c4 organization. Contributions to the NAKASEC Action Fund are not tax-deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

 

 

 

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Founded in 1992, the Asian American Institute (AAI) is a pan-Asian, non-partisan organization, whose mission is to empower the Asian Pacific American community through advocacy by by utilizing research, education, and coalition-building. 

 

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