Conference on The Power of Place: Asian American Neighborhoods, Politics & Activism Today – Program

Registration & Breakfast (9AM to 9:30AM)

Greetings (9:30AM to 9:45AM)

Joyce Moy, Executive Director, Asian American / Asian Research Institute – CUNY

Session 1 (9:45AM to 10:15AM)

Through the Lens of Comparative Analysis: Researching Asian American Places, Power and Action

Presenter
Paul Ong, Professor, Urban Planning, Social Welfare and Asian American Studies, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

 

Session 2 (10:15AM to 11:30AM)

Future of Ethnic Neighborhoods

Moderator: Paul Ong, Professor, Urban Planning, Social Welfare and Asian American Studies, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

Presenters
Dennis Arguelles, Director of Community Economic Development, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA)
Topic: Poverty, Preservation and Power in the Development of Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown

Peter Kwong, Distinguished Professor, Urban Studies, Hunter College/CUNY
Topic: Manhattan’s Chinatown

Darrel Sukhdeo, Business Coach/Writer/Activist
Topic: Indo-Caribbean – Transformed/Transforming NYC, the Largest Group within the South Asian Community Awakens at Last, 5 Decades of Growth

 

Sessions 3 (11:30AM to 12:15PM)

Gentrification of Chinatowns in Boston, Philadelphia & New York

Moderator: Carol Huang, Assistant Professor, School of Education, City College/CUNY

Presenters
Seth Pollack, Undergraduate Student, Urban Affairs, Queens College/CUNY
Topic: A Study of Boston’s Chinatown

Samantha Varn, Graduate Student, Urban Affairs, Queens College/CUNY
Topic: A Study of Philadelphia’s Chinatown

Esther Wang, Director of Chinatown Tenants Union, Committee Against Anti-Asian American Violence (CAAAV)
Topic: Reimagining Rezoning: A Chinatown for Residents is a Chinatown for All

 

Lunch (12:15PM to 1PM)

Session 4 (1PM to 1:45PM)

The DREAM Act

Moderator:  May Y. Chen, Advisory Commission Member, White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders & Adjunct Professor, Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies

Presenters
Russell Lum, Justice and Peace Representative, Little Sisters of the Assumption

Emily Park, “Dare to DREAM” Campaign Coordinator, MinKwon Center for Community Action

Jimmy Yan, General Counsel, Office of the Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer

 

Session 5 (1:45PM to 2:30PM)

Our Community, Our Causes: Case Studies

Moderator: Dennis Chin, Communications Coordinator, Center of Social Inclusion

Presenters
Elizabeth R. OuYang, President, Organization of Chinese Americans – NY Chapter
Topic: Danny Chen – How OCA-NY Harnessed the Power of Community

Iva Radivojevic & Martyna Starosta, Filmmakers
Topic: “Are You With Me?” – Documentary on Occupy Wall Street and Louis Reyes Rivera

 

Session 6 (2:30PM to 3:45PM)

Putting Asian Americans on the Map: Coalition for Redistricting

Moderator: Tarry Hum, Associate Professor, Urban Studies, Queens College/CUNY

Presenters
Steve Chung, President, United Chinese Association of Brooklyn

James Hong, Civic Participation Coordinator, MinKwon Center for Community Action

Glenn D. Magpantay, Director, Democracy Program, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund

Rachana Shah, Taking Our Seat

 

Closing Remarks (3:45PM to 4PM)

Sound Bytes: The Essence of Asian American Communities

Moderator: Russell Leong, CUNY Thomas Tam Visiting Professor, Asian American Studies, Hunter College/CUNY

Presenters
James Guo, Undergraduate Student, English, Hunter College/CUNY
Topic: Manhattan

Iris Lam, Undergraduate Student, Linguistics and Rhetoric, Studio Art, Hunter College/CUNY
Topic: Jackson Heights, Queens

Remoy Philip, Undergraduate Student, Creative Writing, Hunter College/CUNY
Topic: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Ken Ruan, Undergraduate Student, Sociology, Hunter College/CUNY
Topic: Chinatown