WEEK 5: Tour of Manhattan's Chinatown
This week, we embarked on a tour of Chinatown, led my our very own, Lauren Moffett, to view not only key, historical sites, but also institutions that provide essential services to local citizens. Students were asked to write about the following: In a paragraph, pick one of the sites (or another place in Chinatown) and explain why it is important to the local community. Then, describe any similar institutions that exist or are needed in another community you belong to.
Ming:
Columbus Park is a very useful place to Chinatown. Columbus Park provides relaxation and entertainment to the community. There used to be a public school across the street from Columbus Park, so parents could go there while waiting for their kids and the kids could go play in the park afterschool.
I think Columbus Park is a good park because people can play different sports there and old people can also gather together to have fun. I know the importance of this park because I go there every day to play soccer and I have met a lot of friends there.
Jingling:
I go to Chinatown every day, but I never knew that it is about 130 years old and that it can be marked as a historic site. I went to visit the Chinatown’s first organization. It is called the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (*pictured above, right). At that time, there were not a lot of Chinese in America. The Chinese had hardly any voice in the whole society, and few of them knew English as well. It meant Chinese immigrants were living in a closed community. Their activity area was only limited in Chinatown; they had no communication and no information with the rest of society. CCBA became the intermediary between Chinese community and American society. The CCBA provided and still provides information to Chinese immigrants, to let them know about the world, teach them English, and offer old immigrants entertainment programmes. It was a way to let Americans hear the Chinese voice and have the Chinese involved in American society.
Later on, more and more organizations formed in Chinatown. At the same time, many non-profit organizations appeared. Gradually, there were more Chinese coming to America, and the country paid more and more attention to Chinese immigrants. Now we can see Chinese translations in many public places. Now I am living in Staten Island; there are not a lot of Chinese. So sometimes it is hard to get involved in this community. I hope there are more organizations in Staten Island to help our Chinese residents.
Jasmine:
The Chinese Man Power Association was a non-profit organization (*pictured above, left). It was located in the corner of Mulberry and Bayard Street. The building was founded in 1972. CMP provided Chinese immigrants with job training and educational programs. In the beginning, it offered English lessons and skill lessons in a single room. Also, part of the building was a school back then. Parents usually left their kids in CMP because it was safe. There were gangs such as the “Tang” around the community. There were many bloody events and fighting around the area. Many parents would go to Columbus Park, which was located across the street, after sending their children to CMP. Later on, the building started to grow and develop more services such as employment, career counseling, internship and technical knowledge that people needed to make a living. Sometime, it offered free Kaplan SAT, Chinese and citizenship classes.
Without CMP, Chinese immigrants won’t have a place to learn, to get information and gather up. If CMP didn’t exist, children may not have a safe place to go. CMP is important in our community and there are many opportunities to help people to become successful.
Ming:
Columbus Park is a very useful place to Chinatown. Columbus Park provides relaxation and entertainment to the community. There used to be a public school across the street from Columbus Park, so parents could go there while waiting for their kids and the kids could go play in the park afterschool.
I think Columbus Park is a good park because people can play different sports there and old people can also gather together to have fun. I know the importance of this park because I go there every day to play soccer and I have met a lot of friends there.
Jingling:
I go to Chinatown every day, but I never knew that it is about 130 years old and that it can be marked as a historic site. I went to visit the Chinatown’s first organization. It is called the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (*pictured above, right). At that time, there were not a lot of Chinese in America. The Chinese had hardly any voice in the whole society, and few of them knew English as well. It meant Chinese immigrants were living in a closed community. Their activity area was only limited in Chinatown; they had no communication and no information with the rest of society. CCBA became the intermediary between Chinese community and American society. The CCBA provided and still provides information to Chinese immigrants, to let them know about the world, teach them English, and offer old immigrants entertainment programmes. It was a way to let Americans hear the Chinese voice and have the Chinese involved in American society.
Later on, more and more organizations formed in Chinatown. At the same time, many non-profit organizations appeared. Gradually, there were more Chinese coming to America, and the country paid more and more attention to Chinese immigrants. Now we can see Chinese translations in many public places. Now I am living in Staten Island; there are not a lot of Chinese. So sometimes it is hard to get involved in this community. I hope there are more organizations in Staten Island to help our Chinese residents.
Jasmine:
The Chinese Man Power Association was a non-profit organization (*pictured above, left). It was located in the corner of Mulberry and Bayard Street. The building was founded in 1972. CMP provided Chinese immigrants with job training and educational programs. In the beginning, it offered English lessons and skill lessons in a single room. Also, part of the building was a school back then. Parents usually left their kids in CMP because it was safe. There were gangs such as the “Tang” around the community. There were many bloody events and fighting around the area. Many parents would go to Columbus Park, which was located across the street, after sending their children to CMP. Later on, the building started to grow and develop more services such as employment, career counseling, internship and technical knowledge that people needed to make a living. Sometime, it offered free Kaplan SAT, Chinese and citizenship classes.
Without CMP, Chinese immigrants won’t have a place to learn, to get information and gather up. If CMP didn’t exist, children may not have a safe place to go. CMP is important in our community and there are many opportunities to help people to become successful.
WEEK 4: Reflection on class discussion of the DREAM Act and Jose Antonio Vargas' NY Times article
Christina Baal, Director of Civic Engagement and Field Operations at the New York Immigration Coalition, visited us this week for a presentation on immigrant rights and advocacy. She brought with her NYIC intern Emily, and a friend/DREAMer Chuck.
Student Reflections:
Jingling:
In the last century, people have immigrated to the United States illegally in order to get a better job and earn more money. This century, people immigrate to the United States illegally, in order to get more knowledge and education. In the last century, white people complained that immigrants took jobs and did not contribute to the country or society. This century, white people cannot say that anymore. More and more immigrants are getting very high education and make great contributions to the United States. They got access to education from this country, and then when they were rewarded, they gave credit to the United States. They think the United States made them successful. Those immigrants considered the United States as their own country. But, the United States does not consider those successful immigrants as American. Like Jose Antonio Vargas said, “Yet even though I think of myself as an American and consider America my country, my country doesn’t think of me as one of its own.” It is other undocumented immigrants’ voice.
I heard about Dream Act last year, but I had an unclear idea of what it was. This week, after I heard the introduction of Dream Act from Emily, an intern at the New York Immigration Coalition, I understand it better. I think it is a fair Act. If the country passes this Act, the benefits are unlimited. If a Dream Act is passed, there will be a lot of highly educated people who can become citizens. These people will stay in the United States and make great contributions to the country. First of all, the Dream Act is for children who moved to this country before 15 years of age and have lived in the country for at least 5 years. Children are very easily influenced; now that they’ve come here when they were young and have stayed here a long time. That means their habits have become American. In other way, their behaviors are exactly like Americans. Secondly, the Dream Act is for people who have graduated college. That means they are capable in society. The country needs these people, and these people want to be a citizen in this country. This Act brings only benefits.
The Dream Act relates to my family. My cousin moved to this country when he was 5 years old, now he is 10 years old. He is used to living in the United States; he loves to eat American food and it is hard for him to communicate in Chinese. English has become his first language already. It is impossible for him to move back to China, because he does not know how to speak Chinese. He wants to live in the United States forever; he wants to go to college in this country, and work in this country. He does not have any documentation now. We can offer him the opportunity to go to the college, but what will happen after he graduates from college? He does not have any documents to prove his identity, and he does not even have social security card, meaning he cannot work. As a person, he wants to live in here, he considers the United States to be his own country and is used to it. But we cannot offer him a better life in this country. So we really want the Dream Act can be passed. I believe there are a lot of children like my cousin. They have dreams for this country, and they want to be a useful person in society. This country just needs to give them an identity. Is it hard? I think not.
Jasmine:
In Antonio’s story, he mentioned that when he was ready to get his driver’s license in 1997, the clerk said that the green card was fake, and told him not to come back. When Antonio realized the truth from his grandparents, he must have felt resentful and shock. Not only because he could not get his driver license, but because the fact that he was different compared to the rest of the kids in the United States. He was not able to travel to other places like other people because he is an illegal immigrant and he didn’t have the right documents to live in this country. However, Antonio’s passion and inspiration on learning a new language, his willingness to work hard and his career path as a writer and reporter urged him to become part of the country. He did such a good job and contributed to the country but America doesn’t consider or accept him as part of it. This is depressing!
In counter statements, people thought that illegal immigrants didn’t belong to this country because they had no right to be here and many of them messed up the country. I can understand why they felt that way because immigrants were invading their society and their homes. Immigrants always wanted benefits from the government such as health care, food stamp, and cheaper apartments. However, it’s not Antonio’s fault because he did not make the decision to come to this country. It is not his fault and people should not blame him. In addition, the pain of leaving his family behind and all the stresses that he was facing as an illegal immigrant is not what many people could imagine. Americans should put themselves in Antonio’s position and find a better way to solve problems. Kicking all the illegal immigrants out of the country would reduce the population. But it may also cause more problems because there won’t be many people left to maintain the country.
Many immigrants and illegal immigrants came to the United Sates for a better education especially the Chinese. China is a huge country with almost 14 million people. I thought that when students work very hard to get into college, most of them could not even go to college. This is so weird. To my surprise, living in the United States was a different story. I learned that if people work hard and wish to have an education, they can eventually go to college.
There are many opportunities for people to come to this country. They can either come here as an international student or they can take a tour here. Many of the illegal immigrants live in fear and they are scared that people will kick them out of the country. I don’t encourage more illegal immigrants to come to this country, but I hope we all stand up to help them.
Ming:
Immigrants mean people from other countries that come to a new country. Americans always think that immigrants will take away their jobs. Therefore, it is very hard to pass the DREAM ACT because Americans think immigrants should not even be here. However, Americans let immigrants come in a legal way.
Jose Vargas is a Philipino who came to the United States but he found out that he doesn’t have a green card so he couldn’t do many things. He was trying to be an American but people don’t admit it. Jose thinks a real American is a person who was born in America. Even if you have been living in America for a long time, you are still considered as an immigrant. The story of Emily from NYC was really sad. Emily came to the U.S. by herself. She had to do her own chores and go to school by herself. I am very impressed by her because if I were her, I wouldn’t be able to survive on my own.
Student Reflections:
Jingling:
In the last century, people have immigrated to the United States illegally in order to get a better job and earn more money. This century, people immigrate to the United States illegally, in order to get more knowledge and education. In the last century, white people complained that immigrants took jobs and did not contribute to the country or society. This century, white people cannot say that anymore. More and more immigrants are getting very high education and make great contributions to the United States. They got access to education from this country, and then when they were rewarded, they gave credit to the United States. They think the United States made them successful. Those immigrants considered the United States as their own country. But, the United States does not consider those successful immigrants as American. Like Jose Antonio Vargas said, “Yet even though I think of myself as an American and consider America my country, my country doesn’t think of me as one of its own.” It is other undocumented immigrants’ voice.
I heard about Dream Act last year, but I had an unclear idea of what it was. This week, after I heard the introduction of Dream Act from Emily, an intern at the New York Immigration Coalition, I understand it better. I think it is a fair Act. If the country passes this Act, the benefits are unlimited. If a Dream Act is passed, there will be a lot of highly educated people who can become citizens. These people will stay in the United States and make great contributions to the country. First of all, the Dream Act is for children who moved to this country before 15 years of age and have lived in the country for at least 5 years. Children are very easily influenced; now that they’ve come here when they were young and have stayed here a long time. That means their habits have become American. In other way, their behaviors are exactly like Americans. Secondly, the Dream Act is for people who have graduated college. That means they are capable in society. The country needs these people, and these people want to be a citizen in this country. This Act brings only benefits.
The Dream Act relates to my family. My cousin moved to this country when he was 5 years old, now he is 10 years old. He is used to living in the United States; he loves to eat American food and it is hard for him to communicate in Chinese. English has become his first language already. It is impossible for him to move back to China, because he does not know how to speak Chinese. He wants to live in the United States forever; he wants to go to college in this country, and work in this country. He does not have any documentation now. We can offer him the opportunity to go to the college, but what will happen after he graduates from college? He does not have any documents to prove his identity, and he does not even have social security card, meaning he cannot work. As a person, he wants to live in here, he considers the United States to be his own country and is used to it. But we cannot offer him a better life in this country. So we really want the Dream Act can be passed. I believe there are a lot of children like my cousin. They have dreams for this country, and they want to be a useful person in society. This country just needs to give them an identity. Is it hard? I think not.
Jasmine:
In Antonio’s story, he mentioned that when he was ready to get his driver’s license in 1997, the clerk said that the green card was fake, and told him not to come back. When Antonio realized the truth from his grandparents, he must have felt resentful and shock. Not only because he could not get his driver license, but because the fact that he was different compared to the rest of the kids in the United States. He was not able to travel to other places like other people because he is an illegal immigrant and he didn’t have the right documents to live in this country. However, Antonio’s passion and inspiration on learning a new language, his willingness to work hard and his career path as a writer and reporter urged him to become part of the country. He did such a good job and contributed to the country but America doesn’t consider or accept him as part of it. This is depressing!
In counter statements, people thought that illegal immigrants didn’t belong to this country because they had no right to be here and many of them messed up the country. I can understand why they felt that way because immigrants were invading their society and their homes. Immigrants always wanted benefits from the government such as health care, food stamp, and cheaper apartments. However, it’s not Antonio’s fault because he did not make the decision to come to this country. It is not his fault and people should not blame him. In addition, the pain of leaving his family behind and all the stresses that he was facing as an illegal immigrant is not what many people could imagine. Americans should put themselves in Antonio’s position and find a better way to solve problems. Kicking all the illegal immigrants out of the country would reduce the population. But it may also cause more problems because there won’t be many people left to maintain the country.
Many immigrants and illegal immigrants came to the United Sates for a better education especially the Chinese. China is a huge country with almost 14 million people. I thought that when students work very hard to get into college, most of them could not even go to college. This is so weird. To my surprise, living in the United States was a different story. I learned that if people work hard and wish to have an education, they can eventually go to college.
There are many opportunities for people to come to this country. They can either come here as an international student or they can take a tour here. Many of the illegal immigrants live in fear and they are scared that people will kick them out of the country. I don’t encourage more illegal immigrants to come to this country, but I hope we all stand up to help them.
Ming:
Immigrants mean people from other countries that come to a new country. Americans always think that immigrants will take away their jobs. Therefore, it is very hard to pass the DREAM ACT because Americans think immigrants should not even be here. However, Americans let immigrants come in a legal way.
Jose Vargas is a Philipino who came to the United States but he found out that he doesn’t have a green card so he couldn’t do many things. He was trying to be an American but people don’t admit it. Jose thinks a real American is a person who was born in America. Even if you have been living in America for a long time, you are still considered as an immigrant. The story of Emily from NYC was really sad. Emily came to the U.S. by herself. She had to do her own chores and go to school by herself. I am very impressed by her because if I were her, I wouldn’t be able to survive on my own.
WEEK 3: What makes a community a community?
This week, the students visited the Queens Museum of Art to view Corky Lee's exhibit: "Asian Pacifically New York - The Photography of Corky Lee." We were also lucky enough to have Corky Lee present to give us a tour of his exhibit and talk about the panorama of New York City inside the museum.
What makes a community a community?
It's a difficult question to answer but here's what the students came up with to answer the question above:
Jasmine:
Community is an area where people live and communicate with each other. The people are the ones who built the community. They settle in a place and bring in their cultures. Flushing is a community. Many Chinese Americans move into this area because there are good schools and transportation. Then, they start to build restaurants, parks, libraries and supermarkets. These buildings attract more and more Chinese to move in. Since the Asian population covers 30% of the total population in New York City, people should stand up and let their voices be heard in order to make it a better community.
Community depicts people’s experiences with American history and culture. There are many organizations such as the Chinese Man Power Association and Chinese Progressive Association to help the people. They offer citizenship, ESL and computer classes as well, so that people can get involved and make a better community.
Jingling:
Equality makes a community a community. People bring a community to life.
People bring cultures and individual mind set to make the community colorful. But only when everyone is equal in the community, can we see the colorful community. Asian are 12 percent of population in New York; we can see Asian everything on street. However, we do not often see them on public media; Asian people do not show often on newspaper, TV and radio. From Corky Lee’s photo, I see the power from Asian American in the community. There is a photo impressed me; Muslim people held a memory ceremony in 38th street Manhattan (*pictured above with Corky Lee). It is a very busy place, but people permitted to hold this activity in there. No matter their career, gender or age, many Muslim people joined this ceremony. Everyone took off their shoes and stood there quietly. From the picture, I can see there are two policemen they also took their shoes and stood quietly. It is very traditional; you cannot image that it happened in New York.
It is Asian American voice! Sometimes people do not say anything, but we feel the power. Silence is power also! Asian American is also a part of New York this big and colorful community; they also should have equal rights. We should hear more voice from Asian American!
Ming:
A community consists of a bunch of people with the same race or different race. A small community usually consists of small variety of race. For instance, Chinatown, Harlem and Little Italy. A big community which consists of varied races, just like what we are living at right now. Culture makes a community a community. When you go into a different community, they might speak different languages, eat different food and practice different religions from your community. These elements are the key to establish a community.
What makes a community a community?
It's a difficult question to answer but here's what the students came up with to answer the question above:
Jasmine:
Community is an area where people live and communicate with each other. The people are the ones who built the community. They settle in a place and bring in their cultures. Flushing is a community. Many Chinese Americans move into this area because there are good schools and transportation. Then, they start to build restaurants, parks, libraries and supermarkets. These buildings attract more and more Chinese to move in. Since the Asian population covers 30% of the total population in New York City, people should stand up and let their voices be heard in order to make it a better community.
Community depicts people’s experiences with American history and culture. There are many organizations such as the Chinese Man Power Association and Chinese Progressive Association to help the people. They offer citizenship, ESL and computer classes as well, so that people can get involved and make a better community.
Jingling:
Equality makes a community a community. People bring a community to life.
People bring cultures and individual mind set to make the community colorful. But only when everyone is equal in the community, can we see the colorful community. Asian are 12 percent of population in New York; we can see Asian everything on street. However, we do not often see them on public media; Asian people do not show often on newspaper, TV and radio. From Corky Lee’s photo, I see the power from Asian American in the community. There is a photo impressed me; Muslim people held a memory ceremony in 38th street Manhattan (*pictured above with Corky Lee). It is a very busy place, but people permitted to hold this activity in there. No matter their career, gender or age, many Muslim people joined this ceremony. Everyone took off their shoes and stood there quietly. From the picture, I can see there are two policemen they also took their shoes and stood quietly. It is very traditional; you cannot image that it happened in New York.
It is Asian American voice! Sometimes people do not say anything, but we feel the power. Silence is power also! Asian American is also a part of New York this big and colorful community; they also should have equal rights. We should hear more voice from Asian American!
Ming:
A community consists of a bunch of people with the same race or different race. A small community usually consists of small variety of race. For instance, Chinatown, Harlem and Little Italy. A big community which consists of varied races, just like what we are living at right now. Culture makes a community a community. When you go into a different community, they might speak different languages, eat different food and practice different religions from your community. These elements are the key to establish a community.