New Narratives Asian American Organizing Project

Does Asian American solidarity exist? How can nonprofits genuinely engage with the community? How do Asian Americans interact with politics and organizing?

In June 2023, seven Asian-led organizations in the Twin Cities hosted a community event, Spring into Action: Cultivating Grassroots Asian Power. As nonprofits whose mission is to uplift the community, we must also be accountable to what the community wants and needs.

During the event, attendees had the opportunity to participate in a live podcast recording as a way to ground our work in community voices and provide an empowering space for young people to tell their stories.
In Part 2 of this installment, three of the organizers of Spring into Action, Jacqueline (she/her), Marie (she/they), and Tri (he/anh), sit down to talk in-depth about the prompts we posed to our community members at the event. Tune in to hear us discuss topics like affirmative action, ABGs, and eating egg sandwiches in Minneapolis.

In Part 1, you will hear the raw audio and stories from participants at the event. Attendees as young as eleven years old share their perspectives on their neighborhoods, issues they care about, and building Asian power. Head over to the previous episode to listen.

Thank you to our partner organizations, The SEAD Project, Siengkane Lao MN, SEIU Asian Pacific Islanders Caucus, MN8, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, and Twin Cities Japanese American Citizens League, and to Tri Vo from The SEAD Project for collaborating on this audio project with us.

For more info on AAOP, head to our:


Website
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter


Participate in Tri's project at SEAD, Brave Harbors, which aims to strengthen the framing of and tools available to Southeast Asian peoples needed to build up a world from our hopes and imagination. To build this new world, SEAD needs to hear from you! Head to tinyurl.com/summerSEAD to share your thoughts and feelings as a Southeast Asian American.

What do young Asian Americans care about? What issues are important to them? What is their vision for their neighborhoods and communities?

In June 2023, seven Asian-led organizations in the Twin Cities hosted a community event, Spring into Action: Cultivating Grassroots Asian Power. As nonprofits whose mission is to uplift the community, we must also be accountable to what the community wants and needs.

During the event, attendees had the opportunity to participate in a live podcast recording as a way to ground our work in community voices and provide an empowering space for young people to tell their stories.

In Part 1 of this installment of New Narratives, you will hear the raw audio and stories from participants at the event. Attendees as young as eleven years old share their perspectives on their neighborhoods, issues they care about, and building Asian power.

In Part 2, three of the organizers of Spring into Action, Jacqueline (she/her), Marie (she/they), and Tri (he/anh), sit down to talk in-depth about the prompts we posed to our community members at the event. Head on over to the next episode to hear us discuss topics like affirmative action, ABGs, and eating egg sandwiches in Minneapolis.

Thank you to our partner organizations, The SEAD Project, Siengkane Lao MN, SEIU Asian Pacific Islanders Caucus, MN8, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, and Twin Cities Japanese American Citizens League, and to Tri Vo from The SEAD Project for collaborating on this audio project with us.

For more info on AAOP, head to our:


Website
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter

Participate in Tri's project at SEAD, Brave Harbors, which aims to strengthen the framing of and tools available to Southeast Asian peoples needed to build up a world from our hopes and imagination. To build this new world, SEAD needs to hear from you! Head to tinyurl.com/summerSEAD to share your thoughts and feelings as a Southeast Asian American.

As Asian Americans, art and storytelling is an integral part of our communities, yet Asian American performers and stories continue to be underrepresented in film, television, media, and theater. This special episode of New Narratives features interviews from four Asian American actors based in the Twin Cities who performed in various productions at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

Listen in as we discuss Asian joy, taking leaps of faith to pursue your dreams, finding your voice, and cultivating an artistic home in the Twin Cities. Thank you to the actors for their beautiful words, and thank you to the Guthrie for collaborating with us on this project.

Time stamps:


00:00 - 07:04 Introduction
07:04 - 31:11 Emjoy Gavino and Hyunmin Rhee, Vietgone
31:11 - 51:01 Eric Sharp, A Christmas Carol
51:01 - 1:14:58 Anna Hashizume, Into the Woods

Get tickets to a show at the Guthrie Theater at guthrietheater.org/shows-and-tickets/.

Find more information about the actors featured in this episode:


Emjoy Gavino | IG: @joyofem
Eric Sharp | IG: @eswombat
Anna Hashizume | IG: @annahashizume + @sing_with_anna

Music by taskinjura via pixabay.com

Episode 17: For this episode, I spoke with a local Hmong shaman about his journey to becoming a master shaman, balancing his spiritual duties while living in modern times, and an upcoming film called Modern Shaman. The music throughout this episode is the instrumental music of “Me Nyuam Hmoob” by Chuefeng Yang.

Guests: Billy Lor

Episode 16: In this episode, we’re joined by Alex Vang and Lynn Nguyen from the Minnesota Chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF). We discuss their journey coming to work with NAPAWF, how abortion restrictions impact the AAPI community and more.

Guests: Alex Vang and Lynn Nguyen

Music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay

Episode 15: In this episode, we’re joined by Our Justice to discuss abortion access and reproductive justice in Minnesota. Our Justice is a Minnesota-based abortion fund that provides financial and logistical support for folks seeking an abortion.

Guests: Megumi Rierson, Shayla Walker

Music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay