Recordings of Asian Heritage Celebration Mini-conference on May 6, 2021 are available now.

Part 1 Carmelyn P. Malalis, Commissioner of NYC Commission on Human Rights: https://youtu.be/GpLGJlHDhag

The New York City Commission on Human Rights has been at the forefront of combatting anti-Asian discrimination in COVID-19 era. Claims of anti-Asian discrimination and harassment have greatly increased amid the coronavirus pandemic. Commissioner Carmelyn P. Malalis will speak about initiatives to encourage more reporting of discriminatory acts and to educate the public against such bias. A Q&A session will follow providing students with the opportunity to ask questions.

Intermission: Proverbs video: https://youtu.be/rmghyOrOyaI

Part 2 Grassroots Responses to Covid-19 Community Activism Panel: https://youtu.be/wlk2JQc-Vsw

A roundtable “Grassroots Responses to Covid-19: Community Activism,” will feature representatives from Chhaya (a housing and economic justice organization) and Jahajee Sisters (a gender-justice organization). Speakers will address how the pandemic has affected Asian American communities and the ways in which non-profit organizations have responded to community needs including collaborations across race and class. Ways students can get involved in these efforts and careers in the nonprofit sector will also be considered. A Q&A session will follow providing students with the opportunity to ask questions.

Part 3a COVID-19 Oral History Project: https://youtu.be/dfWta4Nxikc

The COVID-19 Oral History Project is a collection of images, essays, and video recordings documenting the experience of LaGuardia Community College students, especially those of the Asian descent, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this project is to collect, analyze, exhibit, and preserve over 50 videotaped interviews of Asian and Asian American New Yorkers. This project aims to document and recognize the diverse experiences of Asian and Asian Americans at LaGuardia Community College and its surrounding communities in Queens during COVID-19.

Part 3b Asian American Voices Student Journal: Recording will become available shortly
Asian American Voices aims to celebrate and showcase the diversity of Asian and Asian American heritage at LaGuardia. Inaugurated in 2019, one of the main purposes of the journal is to document diverse stories and narratives that critique popular representations of Asians and Asian Americans as a monolithic homogeneous entity. The journal publishes work by LaGuardia students: critical essays, term papers, reflective essays, creative fiction, poetry, recipes, art (photos, drawing, graphic art etc.), interviews or digital materials that showcase their culture, identity, and heritage, and/or that address themes and literary/visual work related to Asian American Studies.