National CAPACD staff Lisa Hasegawa and myself participated in the South Asian Summit this past weekend.  Lisa had the opportunity to speak on a panel about the “Impact of the Economic Crisis” will fellow panelists Seema Agnani (Chhaya CDC), Hamid Khan (South Asian Network) and moderator, Julie Sun (Freddie Mac).  The panel brought attention to how the economic crisis is impacting the South Asian community, and Lisa made a call to the participants to make sure their voices are heard by our nation’s government and financial institutions.

That was just one of many “Calls to Action” of the Summit.  SAALT really made it a point to ensure that the value of the Summit didn’t end in just one a time Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill, and a series of workshops and networking events.  Deepa Iyer, Executive Director of SAALT, stated early on in the Summit the importance of taking the lessons learned home and continuing to stay active in our communities after the weekend.

With over 250 South Asians in attendance from across the country, I would say the South Asian Summit was a huge success!

Good news for all you CAPACD friends, allies, and members.  We have extended the early bird registration deadline to Wednesday, April 29th.  You can save up to $200 by registering today for this great deal.

As many of our loyal readers know, the National CAPACD Convention takes place once a year, and brings together hundreds of community based practitioners, organizers, and advocacy agencies in one of the largest gatherings nationwide.   We have had leaders from 34 states attend National CAPACD conventions in the past and we expect a similar turnout this year.  Our national convention provides an opportunity to:

• Meet with Congressional Leaders and Policy Makers from across the country to move forward a progressive AAPI community development agenda
• Build new and strengthen existing partnerships with elected officials, educational and research institutions, national intermediaries, government agencies, and other community based organizations
• Connect to a national network of funders including several prominent foundations and financial institutions
• Develop individual skills and organizational capacity in community development workshops led by established neighborhood practitioners, foundations, community organizers, researchers and technical assistance providers

Now is the time to sign up and take advantage of this great opportunity!  We have lowered the prices and extended the early bird registration deadline so YOU can join us for this historic event.  Celebrate 10 Years with the National CAPACD Family!

Oakland has had a lot of bad press this year, and rightly so.  We are struggling with issues of crime, financial instability and crumbling infrastructure.  But there is good news too.  Yesterday, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums launched a new city-wide financial initiative called “Bank on Oakland” that partners banks and community based organizations to provide financial education and mainstream banking options to thousands of Oakland residents who are unbanked.  These unbanked residents are often the victims of robbery because they carry their cash with them.  Or they are “robbed” in other ways because they use predatory check cashing and payday loan outlets that charge high fees.  Bank on Oakland provides these residents with mainstream banking options, even if they have had banking troubles in the past and are on ChexSystems.  This is part of a statewide initiative “Bank on California” out of Governor Schwarzenneger’s office.  San Francisco and San Jose are also participating.

Not coincidentally, Bank on Oakland is a partner at the new SparkPoint Center.  Families coming to the SparkPoint Center need to have a full range of financial options to achieve their financial goals.  Also not coincidentally, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation was honored to host the launch of the Bank on Oakland campaign yesterday at our Lion Creek Crossings affordable housing development in East Oakland.  It made sense to us because Lion Creek is designed around a community hub model.  Hence, SparkPoint Center and Bank on Oakland are there onsite as resources to the community at large.

By Carro Hua, Co-Chair, A-VOYCE Executive Board

On Tuesday, I was walking to Park Street from the Financial District and as I was passing by Macy’s, something caught my eye. No, it was not clothes nor anything of that sort. For once, they did something out of the ordinary and something I have never seen a big corporation do before. This is the first year that I can remember where Macy’s decided to celebrate Black History Month. As I looked at the posted pictures of Obama and his achievements on one of their glass displays I smiled.

While I was happy that Macy’s was taking the initiative to educate the public about Black History Month, I cannot help but think, “When May comes, will Asian Americans have that same recognition, or will I have to wait for an Asian American to be president?”

All my life, we talked about slavery, segregation and the different struggles African Americans had to face. Whether it was Nickelodeon announcing the importance of Black History Month when I was little or the way it was embedded in my school curriculum, I grew up knowing February was an important month.

But May? I had no idea, and it is a shame to say I never knew about APIA Month until I was a sophomore in high school. I never knew the Chinese helped build the transcontinental railroad until I was a teenager. I never knew much about my own history, it had always been black or white.  In school, I read books written by African American authors explaining the difficulty of growing up as a person of color, but I never read a single book about the difficulty of being an Asian American. I feel that I have not heard enough from the African American perspective in history, regardless of the exposure, but heck, I have not heard from the Asian American perspective at all … in school… in the media … nowhere basically.

I know from the books that I read about APIA history that Asian Americans have played a significant role and that we were not in the shadows when history was playing. I know this for a fact. But besides me, who else knows? Do you know? Do my own APIA peers know of their own history? Will our future generations know?

When will it be us? When will Nickelodeon talk about APIA history on their shows? When will educators take time out in May to talk about Asian Americans? When? Do we have to wait for an APIA president to fix this problem?

Carro Hua, Boston, 18, is the Co-Chair of the A-VOYCE Executive Board and is currently a senior at Boston Latin Academy. She is Chinese and Vietnamese and speaks Vietnamese along with English. Her favorite food is spring rolls. Unlike the stereotypes, she only likes Math when she gets it and doesn’t play any instruments. Her favorite subject is Government because she likes politics. She aspires to major in Political Science/Government in college and ultimately become the U.S. President or an Asian American Studies Professor.