On December 28, PrYSM went on an epic journey to Boston, Massachusetts. Our main goal of this retreat was to really connect our work to our community and how it relates to social justice. I went to Boston in hopes of gaining new knowledge and new skills in a different work environment. As a result, I have a better understanding of PrYSM’s work, goals,values, and mission. The one thing I enjoyed about this retreat was that I finally had the chance to put my facilitating skills to use. I was in charge of leading a small discussion and trying to pull ideas out of a small group of our new youth. This was an excellent time to practice facilitating and getting a different outlook on certain issues we were talking about. During Day 2 of the retreat we all branched off into our programs. In SeaQuel’s meeting we planned out the year and gained a deeper understanding of the systems of oppression and how they connect to us personally. We also planned what we would like to accomplish with this new term and how it would look like. It may seem like all we did was sit in 6 hour workshops all day but in between it all we managed to also get a little tour of Boston and break off by ourselves and explore. Overall this retreat was an amazing experience. It was nice to just get away from our normal work space and try something different for once. Hopefully our next retreat will be just as amazing as this one was!

We had a great turnout at the press conference, including our allies from community organizations around Providence, media representatives, family members, and lots of young people! We packed the room with community members, made a huge splash, and afterward went to the House Chambers to show support as Rep. Diaz introduced the bill.

Click here to read the article in the Providence Journal about the press conference!

Click here to read the article on the WPRO News Talk 630 website!

Fitting the Description from Next Generation Media on Vimeo.

In a traditional Asian family, the topic of sex and sexuality is very “taboo.”  My parents came to America as refugees escaping war-torn countries; struggling to make a living in a new country.  Being first generation, I feel pressure from family to live up to expectations.  These pressures were beneficial to me.  It is not that my parents forced me to do certain things, but wanted to push me to do my best, so I do not struggle as they did when they first came to this country.  From my perspective of growing up Southeast Asian, gender is a huge factor in the culture.  Men are not supposed to cry; they are supposed to be strong, not weak.  These are some aspects of how men are supposed to act.  They should not be feminine or express emotion.  Times are changing and because of how community is changing there is more difficulty with relating to the older generation due to age, and culture.  Many years have passed since my parents came to the U.S., and today they are more open-minded, and have slowly adjusted to westernized culture, but still strongly preserving their culture.  Growing up Southeast Asian, family has always been closely tied to my heart.  Family is community, and so when working with the Southeast Asian community I feel a strong bond with the struggle of the Southeast Asian community.  From the stories from my parents and relatives about their struggles after the Fall of Saigon 1975, their refugee experience, and their struggles in creating a new life for them and their families in America, it has shaped who I am today, and connects me more to the community, and culture.

Being one of two Asian families in my neighborhood, my parents and I are subjected to racism.  In schools, I am teased because of my appearance and perceived sexuality.  Growing up in a neighborhood where we are the “newcomers,” people do not value our knowledge or experiences.  Many do not know anything about Southeast Asia, or the struggles they have overcome to get to a point in life.  Being President of Asian Student Association (ASA) at my university, I spread awareness to the community about Southeast Asian culture and history.

“Coming out” to family is difficult, because of the importance family places on marriage, and continuing the family line.  My experiences in LGBTQ spaces are feeling like a minority within a minority, and issues regarding my community are not acknowledged.  By outreaching to GAPIMNY, an LGBTQ Asian organization, I learn from peers about issues facing LGBTQ Asian communities.

Working with PrYSM, I want to share my experiences with LGBTQ and questioning youth, and inspire them to make change in the community.  I want society to be aware of an LGBTQ Southeast Asian community, and our voices need to be heard.  I am coming into PrYSM to bridge the generational gap along with the differing communities so unconditional love is formed.  Being seaQuel Program Director, I look forward to empowering youth and hearing their stories, because each story is unique and contributes to making change.

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

Board member and former SOUL member Pitu Sim co-moderates the Asian American Youth Rising Panel at the 2011 Free Minds, Free People Conference!

Boston organizer Yoojin Lee also co-moderated the panel, which featured members of VAYLA-NO (Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans) and ASAP (Asian Student Association of Philadelphia), who shared stories of how their organizations created and ran successful campaigns to fight for their communities. VAYLA teamed up with adults and elders in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to shut down a landfill in their community, and ASAP organized a huge campaign for non-violent schools in response to a slew of anti-Asian violence.

We were so inspired by everyone’s stories that the next day, the three orgs came together to eat, celebrate, share some poetry, and talk about the APIA youth movement until super late.

It was pretty awesome.

Hi PrYSM friends and fam! My name is Franny Choi, and I’m absolutely thrilled to come on as the new SOUL Program Director! I’ve had a great time so far getting settled, learning a ton about PrYSM, sweating my brains out in the hot-as-balls office, and getting to know the amazing staff and youth. PrYSM is such a unique and inspiring space, and I’m honored to be part of it.

I recently graduated from Brown University, where I majored in Ethnic Studies and Literary Arts (brownspeak for creative writing). I was also involved in Brown’s Third World Center as a Minority Peer Counselor. Unlike the “diversity” or “multicultural” centers that a lot of other schools have, the Third World Center tries to carry on a legacy of actively fighting the system, and not just peacefully integrating into it. The center gets its name from the Third World Movement, in which African, Asian, and Latin American nations banded together in solidarity to fight against colonialism and oppression.

It was in the TWC that I began to understand this idea of solidarity and feel a sense of a common struggle with people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Of course, I feel a special connection to APIA people; at the same time, I understand that, as a Korean-American, I carry a certain amount of privilege into this space. My parents were not refugees, but immigrated to the U.S. so that my father could attend school. Like many other Koreans, they started out poor but had the cultural capital to climb the socioeconomic ladder and eventually join the middle class.

But we shouldn’t let the successes of South Korea and Korean America make us forget that Korea is also a postcolonial country, that it also experienced a brutal, divisive Cold War, and that half of its people are still struggling under oppressive rule. I’m definitely not trying to say that this means I understand the Southeast Asian American experience, or that Korean Americans have struggled as much as SEAAs have. But I want to point out that the model minority myth is very good at hiding this common history and preventing us as APIAs from forming solidarity. This fight is far from over. In joining PrYSM, I hope to take a step toward rebuilding a coalition between Southeast Asians and East Asians in the movement for justice and love.

I’m coming in excited to learn about the Southeast Asian American struggle and to share what I know. I can’t wait to see everything that PrYSM will teach Providence, Asian America, and the world about what it means to fight for change.

“so please, my fellow silent news blips,

my fellow ghosts, please know

that it is no small gesture

to hold the rotting pieces of violence bleedingly between your fingers,

raise them above the frame this station has labeled ugly

history that this network has called second-hand,

and say: we have always been here.

and in the end, we will call each of our own by name.”

–from my piece, “The Other 97%” 

Part I

What a decade? 10 years of ”Peace, Love, & Power” has gone by right before us. Is there something we’re missing besides the fact that it’s been that long already. Do we really have time to reflect upon what has been done when our road to a brighter future just began to pave out in front of us. This unimaginable burden has now been placed on our shoulders after we said farewell to our leader, for now at least. This challenge is something we made an oath to get rid of. By striving steady and working hard since day one as a community, as people under the same hope of changing the world one day at a time. To me it feels like we’re all just getting started…

I’ve only been a part of this colossal movement for about 2 and a half years now. The impact it has had on me was dramatically outrageous in a good way. I think it’s safe to say it has had a similar impact to others who have encountered PrYSM, and the impact could be far greater than it has had on me- but that’s just me sharing my deepest thoughts.

We’ve come a long way, from tackling issues that we see as very problematic within our neighborhoods from South Side to the heart of the West End District. We have fought against deportation. Having to leave your family behind whether male or female, sometimes a child is something to discuss immediately especially if there’s a chance of saving some one’s family for their sake.

S.E.A. Brunch;After the 10th Anniversary Celebration, PrYSM invited our friends to brunch to discuss the last ten years of our work, their work, and the nation's work.

We take immigration policies and issues with a great interest. Taking a caravan hundreds of miles from Rhode Island to Arizona just to show how much these issues really do affect us; whether it doesn’t necessarily targets us as an individual. But who says we can’t imagine the emotional strain it has on people who really get singled out by these laws.

So I would like to think speaking from a member in an organization perspective, that as long as there are things conflicting with the lives of people who make up our community, your community,  we will always fend off these bad entities that destroy the core meaning of what a community stands for. 10 years of ”Peace, Love, Power” and running for another decade, century, maybe even a millennium all because of this world that we live in needs change now, and we’re just a few of numerous activists, sisters, brothers, and children who have taken the initiative into making this dream a reality. So when I reflect upon what has happened over the last decade I say “What a decade!‘”

To be continued.

-Suthpha Muth

‘

If passed, this will not only be a victory for Southeast Asian youth who are often labeled and stereotyped as gang members, but also for the State’s 150,000+ Latinos and African Americans.  Ultimately, its a victory for us all, especially for those of us who believe that racism is not a necessary ingredient of public safety.

If there is one thing I hate about my father, it’s the fact that he is just so traditional. There are many things that he just cannot accept like my bisexuality. The main reason why I haven’t told him about my sexuality is because I feel like I know how he will react. The only relatives that know about this are my mother, sister, and cousin. My mom and Dad are pretty much the same age so you would expect them to both be very traditional but that’s not the case. My mom is actually very understanding of certain things while my Dad really just isn’t. The only reason I think my Mom is so understanding is because she spends a lot of time at my cousins house and while she’s there she has somewhat been influenced by the way my cousin raises her kids. I know my Mom trusts my cousins a lot. The first time I told my mom, her reaction was very calm. I didn’t sit her down and tell her it was sort of just a straightforward type of thing. I told her on a random day at a random time. I asked her how she felt about this and all she said was that there was nothing she could do about it. I guess she was okay with it but I knew that her reaction was nothing compared to what my Dad’s reaction could be like.

I remember I was in a car with my friends and I was talking about PRIDE and how I would be helping out PrYSM with stuff they had to get done. He asked me what PRIDE was and I told him.  He immediately asked me if I was gay and I got so defensive. I was embarrassed too because my friends were in the car. I mean, I probably didn’t have a reason to be embarrassed but I was. So after my Dad asked me what PRIDE was and if I was gay, we sort of just got into this fight. I hated him so much that day. I did not want anything to do with him at all. If his reaction to me going to PRIDE ended up with me and him fighting then I knew that if I ever told him I was bisexual, he would just go crazy. This is probably why I won’t ever tell him. I am scared of what he will say but if he starts saying things that will offend me and the homosexual community I will definitely yell back at him and start a fight. I know that my Dad doesn’t like queer people but what can I do about it? I can yell at him and tell him to stop being so stupid but no matter what, I know my father’s point of view on homosexuality will never change. He is just not understanding of anything at all and that upsets me completely. I hope that maybe one day he will change his outlook on homosexuality and learn to accept it because no matter what he says I’m not going to change who I am just for him to accept me.

My family comes from a time of genocide, the Cambodian Genocide to be exact.  Ever since the Khmer Rouge took over, no one has ever seen any of my grandparents.  Both my parents grew up in poverty and experienced the genocide at a young age.  My mother’s side of the family was so poor that she had to drop out of school. My father was able to learn about electronics and he would fix radios, toasters, and other little electronics. He saved his money and he was sponsored to go to America by a family friend and he brought along his pregnant wife, and his only son. My parents did not know how to speak English and were brought into a new country in order to escape the poverty- stricken Cambodia. At this time I was born in less than a year after they arrived in America.

As I grew up I found that I lived in an area called the West End, a poverty-stricken area in Providence, Rhode Island that is still considered a horrible place in which to live.  I still remember eating rice with soy sauce for days.  My parents would always fight and bicker because of the money issue to the point that my father left us many times. He would eventually come back but it was always tough to see them fight and him leave. When I was five years old we were able to buy a house, but a man was shot and killed at our door step.  We had to hide away and relocate to hotels on the outskirts of the city until they found the killer.  After a couple of years of trying to get settled in life again we faced another obstacle.   My father had huge debts that he never paid off in order to open his construction company. Soon after, my parents got into fights a lot more and my father left to Cambodia about three years ago and to this day has never returned.  He now has a new wife and she is young (as young as me).  My mom has a new boyfriend, and for the past three years I have moved apartments four times. I have had to get a small paying job to help support the family while I go to school, and now I am trying to find a way to pay for college.

It’s not that I have overcome my obstacles yet – my mother still lives in poverty, my family is not always united, and I have my own issues to deal with.  It’s by acknowledging my obstacles, and understanding that life is a series of obstacles, that these obstacles are just part of life that I am ready to live life.

Southeast Asian Youth Score a Major Victory

“My friends have had to skip school just to take their parents to the doctor’s office or the welfare office to help interpret for them.  The problem is, we are skipping school and the problem is, we are not even professionally trained — we should not take up the state’s responsibilities.”

                         -       Tam Nguyen

Translation Protest at the School Department

On February 6, 2008 PrYSM youth and young adults came together to defend their community. Back in November of `07, Governor Donald Carcieri cut back vital services for our community and laid off the only 3 Southeast Asian interpreters in the state. 15 year-old Lucey Ok and 17 year-old Tam Nguyen spoke in December on behalf of PrYSM opposing the lay-offs. Shortly after, the Governor’s wife compared PrYSM staff to the terrorists who recently had assassinated Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan.  She said:

“First of all, I think they have mentors who are much older than them who are training them up. You know — how those terrorists have kids blow up, you know, Benazir Bhutto and so forth? You think the kids thought of it? I don’t think so.”

Read the full projo article about this incident here.  

We spoke out! 

Pirom Ting, Tam Nguyen, Brenda Soum (R to L)

Three years later – after sustained community organizing and a lawsuit filed by the RI ACLU – we have won!!!   On January 17, 2011, we learned that the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Human Services reached an agreement with the RI Department of Human Services.  Here’s news coverage from ABC6.   

 The agreement basically guarantees that RI Human Services provide translation & interpretation services, but it doesn’t state exactly how they will do that – they might re-hire interpreters, they might contract with outside services – but it does state that they have to provide translation & interpretation (T & I ) services.   I’ve outlined a summary of the agreement below, but you can access the full version here.      

Resolution Agreement between the

U.S. Department of Human Services Office for Civil Rights

And

RI Department of Human Services

(Transaction No. 08-76828)

Entered officially during week of January 17, 2011

This agreement affects all departments that cover:

• ·         RI Works (TANF)
• ·         Medicare/ Medicaid
• ·         General Public Assistance programs
• ·         Starting Right Child Care Assistance Programs
• ·         Social Services Programs
• ·         SSI

RI Department of Human Services must

• ·         determine the language needs of affected populations within 90 days (4/20/11)
• ·         determine the language need of each individual person within 30 days (2/18/11)
• ·         notify their clients of free T & I (translation & interpretation) services within 30 days (2/18/11)
• ·         create a list of T & I resources and organizations within 90 days (4/20/11)
• ·         Identify the documents that need to be translated within 180 days (7/22/11)
• ·         Translate all those documents within 12 months for those people that make up at least 5% of their clientele (
• ·         Never require a family member (like a son or daughter) to translate, and ONLY accept a family/friend translator AFTER they have offered professional T & I
• ·         Designate a senior staff person to serve as the Statewide Coordinator of Interpreter Services
• ·         Identify appropriate personnel at each level of the organization who will coordinate language assistance services within 60 days (3/31/2011)
• ·         Submit all written policies and procedures for providing T & I within 90 days (4/20/11)
• ·         Submit progress reports every 6 months

Interpreted/Summarized by Kohei Ishihara.  If I got any of this wrong, please contact me at Koheiishihara@gmail.com