APPLICATIONS FOR SPRING 2012 SEMESTER
Shared Stories- Spring 2012 |
Shared Stories Application- Spring 2012 |
SHARED STORIES NOW ACCEPTING STUDENTS APPLICATIONS FOR SPRING 2012 SEMESTER Click on the file for more information.
If you or someone you know are interested, please download and fill out the application (below) and submit it through email to the: Chinese Progressive Association, [email protected] OR to the CPA office at: 83 Canal Street – Room 304, New York, NY 10002
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This week, groups 1 and 2 did a presentation on their chosen topics. Group 1: Jasmine Topic: 442nd Battalion Combat Team Group 2: Ann and Ming Topic: Personal Identification After the presentations, Mae Lee, Executive Director of the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), spoke about specific advocacy work done by CPA in the past. Then, led by Lauren, we then did a team-building activity called "Bring Me, Tell Me (Draw Me)." This was a very fun activity where each team had to work together to get the answer to Lauren and it was a great way to review what we did during the semester. Last, to get students' feedback and ideas for next semester, in our groups, the mentors asked the students what they liked and disliked about this semester including the activities, speakers and discussions. We also asked the students for any ideas they wanted to see in the upcoming semester that we have not already done. Since some students have been with us for a few semesters now, we wanted their input in our planning process and to acquire new ideas that peak their interest.
For more information on the session, click here. This week, we decided to head outside of the CPA office and take a walking tour of Manhattan's Chinatown on this beautiful day. While many of the students visit Chinatown often, they have not explored the whole area. The tour was a great opportunity to tell the students the history behind some historic landmarks. Led by mentor, Maggie, the following is a list of the locations we visited. 1. East Broadway 2. Confucius Plaza 3. Chatham Square 4. Columbus Park 5. Former Garment Factories 6. Mott Street 7. Doyer Street For more information on the locations, click here. To view more pictures, click here.
Thank you Carol Huang, for your presentation. It was engaging and thought-provoking. And, it left the students thinking about their personal relationships and connections to Manhattan's Chinatown. You've inspired the students to take an active role in providing for the future of Chinatown and what they can do to improve it. We are happy to have had your expertise this Sunday and would love to have you visit us again next time! To view what we did during the session, click here. Click on the pictures for more information.
Here is the first project by Jasmine, a blog post about Vincent Chin:
Vincent Chin was born in Guang Dong in 1995. He was a 27 year old Chinese American who was raised in Metro Detroit. He studied Computer Operations in college because of its stability and good pay. He also worked at a restaurant during the weekends because he wanted to save money for the future and have a better life. Unfortunately, Vincent Chin became a victim of a hate crime when he was ready to marry his fiancee Vikki Wong and move to a new home. On June 19, 1982, Vincent Chin and his friends had his bachelor party at the Fancy Pants strip club. There was tension between Vincent Chin and Ronald Ebens, who was an autoworker. Ronald was frustrated and declared that they are out of work because of all the Japanese Americans. The auto manufacturing jobs were being lost to Japan and he misunderstood the fact that Vincent was a Chinese and not Japanese. He and his stepson, Michael Nitz chased and searched for Chin when he left the club. They found him in a McDonald’s restaurant and beat him with a baseball bat. Vincent tried to escape but he was blocked by Ronald. Chin slipped into a coma later on and he was brain dead five days before his wedding. “This is not fair” Chin said to his friend before he lost consciousness. The case of Vincent Chin brings up the tension of the Chinese community and the injustice in the society because of the violation of people’s civil rights. In court, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz were convicted for manslaughter and they served no jail time. They were only given three years of probation and were fined $3,000 because they had no criminal records and were employees at that time; they were "not a threat to the society." The judge also defended that his job was “to fit the punishment to the criminal, not just the crime.” Vincent’s family, especially, his mother was angry at the racism toward Asians and the punishments of the killer “can’t pay back” the lost of her son. Liza Cheuk May Chan, a lawyer for Vincent Chin, and Helen Zia, a journalist, led the fight for a federal charge. They persuaded the justice department that Ronald’s and Michael’s actions were a hate crime and they accused them of violating Chin’s civil rights. In addition, many Chinese protested and brought up the tension of Chinese civil rights through the spot light of the media. The death of Vincent Chin woke up the Asian community because it represents the impact of the Asian Americans in the United States. Chinese were not treated equally compared to other races. We can never restore a life; people started to realize the importance of standing up and fighting against injustice and for civil rights. Anyone can be a target because similar things may happen to us. We should all remember Vincent Chin, not only because it expresses hurt but because it brought us together, and we don’t want a similar tragedy to happen again. As what Frank Wu has said in an interview: Vincent Chin’s story is worth remembering because it touched a community and instructs us in a diverse democracy. It inspires others to stand out and speak out. To view the Frank Wu's interview, click here. To help the students with their upcoming presentation and blog posting, the mentors provided the students with a Presentation and Blogging workshop. Click here for more information. About the Projects: This semester, students have been put into groups and have been assigned a mentor to help them with their projects. Each group will have a presentation and a blog posting to do. Two groups will have a presentation due on October 30th and the other two groups on November 20th. Student groups not working on a presentation will have a blog post due on the same dates. The students were asked to choose from the following topics to do their projects on: 1. US Multicultural History, 2. NY Chinatown and Community Organization, 3. Asian American History/Immigration and Civil Rights. Then, they were asked to choose two topics from a list of subtopics that they are interested in doing their presentation/blog posting on. The students were also able to choose a subtopic they are personally interested in learning more about that was not included in our list. At the beginning and midway through the session, we did an icebreaker called Mafia and another activity called Crime Scene which was a great activity for developing creative thinking, logic and questioning techniques. At the end of the session, we did a teambuilding activity called Chocolate River or Lava Pit. This was a fun teambuilding activity to get everyone to work together and come up with a plan to get over the river. Click on the pictures for more information. To view more pictures of the session, click here.
THANK YOU EDDIE AHN for taking the time out of your vacation to assist Shared Stories by speaking about your background, experiences and your current advocacy work. It was a great opportunity for the students to hear about the work you do in your community and inspire them to take action in their own communities too.
To see what we did this week and learn more about Eddie and his work, click here. Announcement: NO Session on Sunday, October 9th, 2011 Last week, students and mentors were asked to bring in one item or a picture of a person, place or thing that represents America to them. The following is a list of a few items and the reasons: Picture of Grandparents: They taught and told her stories about America. Brochure of Emma Lazarus HS and a Statue of Liberty souvenir: The brochure also has a picture of the Statue of Liberty and it represents freedom. Obama, White House, Eagle: He is the President of the US and the eagle represents freedom. Medal for competing in swimming competition: She got the medal from a swimming competition in the US. The medals weren't only given to the top three winners. In China, she never received a medal for competing; they were only given to people who placed in the top three. But, in the US, you are given a medal for your efforts. McDonald, Obama, and hotpot: The hotpot is similar to the "melting pot" but in a hotpot, there are many different things in it such as vegetables and meat, and they are its own ingredients instead of "melting" together. IPhone: Innovation in the US Passport, Travelling: Being able to have a US passport and travel to other countries and seeing how other people from the different countries view America and seeing her as an American. Steve Jobs: Represents innovation and business in America Picture of friends: Represents the diversity in America where you can have friends from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. "Belonging" Discussion:
- Students were asked to write on index cards how they felt when they came to the US (past), how they currently feel having lived in the US for a few years (present) and how they think they will feel four to five years from now (future). - Here were some words that were used to describe each stage: Past: Alone, ?, Disappointed, Scared, Nervous, Passive Present: Interest, $, Non-American, Disappointed, TV/Family Future: Happy, Future, Looking Forward, College, Freedom At the end, we found out that there are no paths or feelings that are the same. Everyone has different feelings and experiences that occur in their lives that contribute to the different stages. This past week, we started another semester. We want to welcome the new students and welcome back our past students to the program. There are many new and exciting things planned for the Fall 2011 semester. We also have two new mentors so look forward to their bios to come.
Please continue to check our blog and the Fall 2011 Semester link for updated information on our sessions and interesting events and news. - Shared Stories Team SHARED STORIES NOW ACCEPTING STUDENT APPLICATIONS FOR FALL 2011 SEMESTERPlease download and fill out the application (below) and submit it through email to the: Chinese Progressive Association, [email protected] OR to the CPA office at: 83 Canal Street – Room 304, New York, NY 10002
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Shared Stories
educates and empowers young people to become advocates for their communities. Focusing on issues that directly impact immigrant communities, youth gain an opportunity to increase their awareness about social issues that have shaped Asian America and develop leadership skills through project-based activism.
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