Address from CAPA President Pina Vyas
The Council of Asian Pacific Americans strongly denounces any and all hate crimes and the attacks on Asian Americans.
I personally feel sad that this is happening in our great country. I am also proud of how we have banded together as a community to stand up against this - We have to stand strong and loud against all forms of hatred!
We also recognize that symbolic or one-time actions are crisis control, not solutions. CAPA is partnering with several AAPI organizations to form working groups to help develop a shared vision and understanding of what anti-racism looks like and to ultimately guide long term change through education and necessary tools.
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Ramadan Mubarak!!
Ramadan is a holy month of fasting, introspection and prayer for Muslims, the followers of Islam.
It is celebrated as the month during which Prophet Muhammad received the initial revelations of the Quran, the holy book of Muslims. Fasting is one of the five fundamental principles of Islam. Each day during Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink (not even water) from sunrise to sunset. They are also expected to avoid impure thoughts and bad behavior. Muslims break their daily fasts by sharing meals with family and friends, and the end of Ramadan is celebrated with a three-day festival known as Eid al-Fitr, one of Islam's major holidays. Ramadan always falls on the ninth month of the 12-month Islamic calendar.
Ramadan 2021 began at sunset on Monday, April 12, and ends on Wednesday, May 12.
"Mocha" coffee is named after the city of Mokha in Yemen, where coffee was first sold: Qahwah is the Arabic word for coffee and originated in the country of Yemen in the 14th century! If you love coffee, and want to support a local business, please consider visiting Qahwah House in Dearborn! It's a family owned, Yemeni business that is dedicated to providing the best quality coffee!...
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CAPA Splendor of the East 2021
The CAPA board is pleased to announce the 2021 Splendor of the East – “Love Conquers All” to be held virtually on May 22, 2021.
Now in it’s 20th year, the CAPA board is thrilled to bring together the music, art, and talent of Michigan’s APIA community to create a spectacular virtual program guaranteed to entertain, educate, and enlighten!
2020 was a difficult and monumental year across the globe, and this year’s SOE will highlight the truth that despite all challenges, love will always win.
We are now accepting applications for cultural performances that tie to the show’s theme. Performance criteria are as follows:
- Solo and group acts will be accepted
- All performances must be between 3-5 minutes total
- Music, instruments, dance, martial arts, fashion shows, storytelling are all great examples of different types of acts – get creative!
- All performances must represent an aspect of the Asian/Pacific Islander diaspora
- All performances must tie to the theme of Love Conquers All (love can mean many things, so think out of the box! Love between two people, love between parents and children, love of nature, love strengthening communities, etc.)
All video audition entries should be submitted to CAPA Cultural Committee Chair Suman Desaraju by at soe@capa-mi.org
If you have any questions, please reach out to CAPA Cultural Committee Chair, Suman Desaraju at soe@capa-mi.org
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CAPA Virtual Strategic Retreat
CAPA Board and Advisory Board members spent half a day together, at the end of February, to establish a strategic plan for the next two years. At this virtual, yet engaging, CAPA retreat, new and past leaders shared enthusiastically their experiences and expectations of CAPA. Highlights of our discussions included:
Reasons for CAPA’s success in the past 20 years:
· CAPA is truly a pan-Asian organization with diverse members across ethnicities and generations
· CAPA has a unique mission focusing on cultural education, community services, and leadership and youth education
· We are an organization with members who possess professional talents and skills yet we maintain an environment of family-like bonding.
· We have successful and popular signature events like the Splendor of the East, Simply the Best, Leadership Summits and Asian festivals.
Assessment of the current environment:
· Given the changing environments, new emerging organizations and community needs, is CAPA’s mission and vision still relevant?
· Asian and Pacific Islander Americans across the nation have experienced increased hostility and there have been a higher number of hate crimes toward APIAs, we believe, due to the pandemic and the economic downturn. Racism and bullying have become bigger concerns for APIAs
· APIAs are highly educated and successful in academia and medical fields, but have not been equally successful in economics, political or business arena
Initiatives that we intend to support in the next two years:
· Modify the mission statement to reflect our intention to help APIAs achieve equality and gain inclusiveness in every part of the society
· At the Leadership Summit, invite our member organizations and other organizations to discuss how we can go beyond ‘advocacy’ and ‘protest’, and use ‘Education, Culture, and Community Service’ to promote equality and justice for all
· Strengthen the relationships with various organizations in the community and forge deeper partnerships to successfully drive these initiatives and involvement deeper into the APIA community
· Establish an anti-bullying initiative with CAPA’s Youth Group that focuses on anti-racism and on fostering inclusivity
· Form a community collaborative to invite the community to participate in these discussions through multiple avenues, the first of which avenue will be through participating in a Book Club that will read books related to the topics of how Asians fit into the discussions of equity
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PACCM and ACA hold COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics
Given the recent data that people of color and the elderly have not been able to receive the coronavirus vaccine, the Philippine Cultural Center of Michigan (PACCM) and the Association of Chinese Americans (ACA) have been running their own vaccination clinics over the past month.
At the PACCM, they have already completed two weekends of vaccination clinics immunizing 400 persons. Organized by the Filipino, Thai and Hmong communities, members of the local APIA communities as well as other metro-Detroiters were able to receive either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. The PACCM will hold two more clinic dates next month.
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Combating AAPI Hate on the Virtual Front
By: Anshi Pacha, CAPA Youth Chair and Board Member
TW: Hate Crimes Recently, the world has seen a spike in AAPI hate crimes due to the COVID virus’ origination in China. Many people have, rightfully so, been angered by this, and have taken initiatives to attempt to spread information and combat this hate. For some, this is by protesting, others donations to AAPI organizations, for us teens who are stuck at home due to the ongoing pandemic, and don’t have the money to donate, but do spend 6+ hours a day on our phones, this means that we’ve been taking to social media.
Every time that a hate crime happens, it blows up on social media, but then, it fizzles. You’ll see everyone posting that “Asian Grandmother was Beaten by White Man Yelling About Covid” and then, two days later, you won’t see anything about it. Now, I say, blows up, because many of my friends are also Asian, they too are part of the targeted community, so, therefore, post about it, but it’s not to say that there aren’t non-Asian people posting about it, it’s just that it’s far less than what it should be. I spoke to my friend recently on this issue, and she said, “I'm really frustrated that the Stop AAPI Hate isn't picking up as much media (including social media) attention as it should. It's saddening to see my culture being embraced as 'trendy' when no one seems to pay attention as my people are being ruthlessly attacked and killed. Those who embrace our culture but not our people have also fallen silent on social media about recent hate crimes against Asians”, I, personally, completely agree with her, it’s unfair that our cultures are so appreciated and appropriated by western society when it comes to food and clothing, but then swept under the rug when something needs to be done to help it...
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#StopAsianHate Vigils and Rallies Held Throughout Michigan
According to data released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, hate crimes targeting Asian people rose by nearly 150 percent in the past year. After the shootings last month in Atlanta where six of the eight victims were Asian American women, members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities around the nation have mobilized to address the growing trend of violence towards AAPIs.
APIA-Vote MI has been at the forefront of this movement in Michigan and has organized two sets of rallies and vigils this past month to stop Asian hate.
At their first rally which was held in front of the Spirit of Detroit, over 300 supporters gathered to protest the unwarranted violence against AAPIs that has been sweeping the nation.
“We’ve come here to pay our respects to those individuals who died in Atlanta, to express our collective sadness and anger, to gain strength from this community here and to say “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” said Rebeka Islam, executive director at APIA-Vote MI. “We want people to know that although there is an unprecedented wave of violence against AAPIs, this is not new. They’ve been happening all along. The degree and numbers have escalated in part because the prior leadership in the White House stoked the rage and hatred that was already simmering and enabled that hatred toward foreigners and people who looked “different” to run rampant in painfully blatant and aggressive ways. It will take every single one of us if we’re to stop violent acts against AAPIs and all people of color, stem hatred, and counter common biases and assumptions that are made of AAPIs. It is a shame that it would take the loss of so many innocent lives to wake us all up, but I hope we can take advantage of this moment and ride the momentum we’ve gathered as a result of Black Lives Matter, to dismantle our structures of systemic racism, to fight white supremacy and all forms of hatred.”
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Racism & Discrimination during the Pandemic
Description: EMU Center for Health Disparities Innovation and Studies is conducting a study to better understand racism experienced by our APA communities during the COVID pandemic. A new surge of anti-Asian attacks and racism against Asian Americans comes nearly a year after COVID-19 spawn. It is important to have APA voices heard. Please join us in this effort and participate in the survey. The survey is anonymous and results will only be presented in an aggregate format.
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Asian Leadership Panel Discussion
Tuesday May 4, 2021
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM EDT
Complimentary
Registration Required
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Happy Hour With Supplier Diversity Team from General Motors brought to you by PMBC
Friday May 14, 2021
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM EDT
Registration Required
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Happy Hour With Supplier Diversity Team from Stellantis (formerly FCA)
Thursday, May 27, 2021
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM EDT
Registration Required
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Happy Hour with Supplier Diversity Team from Ford Motor Company brought to you by Chrysan Industries
Friday May 7, 2021
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM EDT
Registration Required
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Happy Hour With Supplier Diversity Team from Faurecia - North America
Friday May 21, 2021
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM EDT
Registration Required
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Renewable Energy Virtual
Field Trip
With Earth Month just around the corner, we want to let you in on an exciting virtual resource your students will love. DTE Energy’s virtual field trip “takes” your students to Michigan’s largest wind and solar parks, teaching them how renewable energy projects are built and how they work to combat climate change...
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Madonna University Events
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Going to college, especially going away to college can be a huge adjustment for high school students. For some, it maybe be the first time away from their friends, families, and communities. To assist parents and guardians prepare their high schoolers, the Mosaic Leadership Academy Scholarship Program is hosting a parent panel that will feature three current Mosaic Leadership Academy Scholarship parents. Parents and guardians can gain insight on how to successfully prepare and transition from high school to college -from the parents' perspective.
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Resources to Fight Racism
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List of Contacts & Resources
Eastern Michigan University - Center of Health Disparities Innovations and Studies
Padma Kuppa, State Representative
517-373-1783
Chris Matus, Regional Director for State Senator Gary Peters
313-318-5770
Stephen Zannetti, Licensed Banker, Citizens Bank
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Department of Attorney General’s Hate Crimes Unit
HateCrimes@Michigan.gov
313-456-0200
Call this number if you are a victim of a hate crime or have credible information about a hate crime
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OK2SAY App
The app for students to download and confidently speak out when they are concerned about their safety or safety of others.
Downloadable on Apple and Android devices
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Sign the petition to Educating Our Children On Racism Throughout the School System
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COVID-19 Workplace Safety Guidance
(MIOSHA resources)
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Work Plan template mentioned by Fayrouz Sadd
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Global Detroit Website - for translated material and entrepreneurial support for APA immigrants
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Activism in TV
A NEW TV Show Produced by Ebyssian Productions
Completely grassroots project created and produced by BIPoC people and other marginalized communities
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Have you ever felt like your story isn't being told? Like you don't see yourself reflected in the characters you see on screen? That's what inspired Dan Moen to start Ebyssian Productions! We have developed a grassroots series that centers around an interracial family who own a bubble tea shop in the Metro Detroit area during the Covid-19 Pandemic. And we need your help!
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Dan noticed the lack of representation and alienation of different minorities and marginalized communities, both in film and television, and felt it became more amplified, especially Asian representation, both on screen and in production. Inspired by the Netflix show, Kim’s Convenience, Dan started to write up his own story. From there, he took to social media to pitched the idea of a show with good Asian representation both on screen and off funded through grassroots and community organizing.
Dan connected with other highly talented team members, most from Michigan, and formed an incredible production team that consists predominantly of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) individuals and members of LGBTQ+ community. The project has grown to include a variety of intersectional identities and the complexities these identities have on the lives of the characters.
Synopsis
Our ultimate goal is to develop a 6 episode season, starting with the pilot. Each episode will focus on the 'day in the life' of our main family, the Arbors. The Arbors are a bi-racial family with black and Filipino decent living in the city of Detroit. They own a bubble tea shop in the fictional suburb of Verona Hills in the fictional county of Motorlake. Motorlake is located south of Oakland and Macomb, north of Wayne County and stretches from Livingston to Lake St. Clair. The county executive is Ruth Dovetail, a Native American woman with Odawa ancestry and the mayor of Verona Hills is a Muslim woman of South Asian heritage. There are several nearby suburbs, cities, and towns with the same name, as historically, many of these were part of the same town; Verona Woods, Verona Heights, and Veronaopolis. Bahay Kubo Tea is the name of the Arbor's boba tea shop business. It has been struggling during the 2020 pandemic and the family is trying to make ends meet.
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Podcasts: A Dialogue To Unity
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Unfiltered Identi-Tea the Podcast
APIA Vote - MI just launched Unfiltered Identi-Tea in partnership with Dan Moen bringing together the APIA community and allies to have deep conversations surrounding topics that focus on issues that impact the APIA community. Looking for participants for the upcoming topic MENTAL HEALTH in the APIA Community recording on March 15th, 2021 for our April episode!
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3rd Paradigm
In a world that feels so isolated and divided, CAPA Communications & Marketing Chair, Dan Moen, has been pioneering a new podcast series called 3rd Paradigm with his show partner, Sterling.
Together they bring on guests from all over the world and have round table dialogue over heavy and difficult topics. Guests are allowed to use a fake name for privacy.
Done completely remote from the comfort of home. They are live on Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts! Be sure to like, share, ad subscribe!
STAY TUNED FOR SEASON II THIS COMING SUMMER 2021!!
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Free on-line training opportunity!!
Take 1 hour to learn to intervene as a bystander to stop anti-Asian/American and xenophobic harassment.
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Uber Letter
#StopAsianHate
The hate and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is heartbreaking. We stand with our Asian-American friends, community, and team to strongly denounce these frightening and painful acts of hate.
Asian people have the right to move without fear. That’s why we’re reaffirming our stance as an anti-racist company with the following commitments:
Together with Stop AAPI Hate, we’re working to improve reporting and responding to anti-Asian hate and harassment. If you witness or experience an incident on or off our platform, go to www.StopAAPIHate.org, where you can also find valuable safety tips.
We’re also sharing resources from Hollaback to provide bystander intervention education to everyone who rides, eats, and works with Uber.
And, we’re partnering with local AAPI organizations throughout the country to help support their important work across the community.
This is just the beginning. We’ll continue to work locally with the AAPI community to help make our cities safer.
As a reminder, whether you drive, deliver, ride, or order, everyone who uses Uber must abide by our Community Guidelines.
Racism has no place on our platform. If you tolerate racism, delete Uber.
#StopAsianHate
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SUNandMOON: A Story of Love So Big
It Creates an Eclipse
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One day the Sun catches a glimpse of the beautiful Moon,
and he falls in love. But the Moon is night, and the Sun is day. How can they ever meet?Here’s a clue…whenever you see an eclipse, know that the Sun is with his love, the Moon.Welcome to the first children’s picture book by internationally recognized artist...
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Have Your Graduate Featured on CAPA’s Social Media!
Do you know a student who is graduating from high school or college? CAPA would like to honor them with a feature on our social media. Send a photo of your graduate with their name, school, program/degree, and their plans after graduation to newsletter@capa-mi.org.
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Some photos displayed provided through istock and not owned by CAPA & affiliates.
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