When Victor’s family told him that they were going to move to the US, he was so excited. That was until he saw the living conditions they’d have to live in. His family walked into the cramped space in Chinatown, and immediately he hated it. Everything was unsanitary and shrunk down, it almost seemed inhumane. Yet it was all they could afford as new immigrants. 

Dear community, 

We hope you are taking care of yourselves as much as possible. News reports this week shared that Trump would be deploying  ICE and other federal agents to the Bay Area for mass enforcement. Yesterday, more than 100 federal agents (including ICE) were dispatched to a U.S. Coast Guard base in the East Bay. This morning, it was reported that Mayor Daniel Lurie and the president spoke about calling off the deployment in San Francisco. However, an alleged calling off deployment in one city is not enough for our community’s safety.

Summer is one of our busiest seasons at CPA, from growing the leaderhsip and organizing skills of Tenant Worker Center leaders, to turning out to City Hall to fight for a budget that represents working class families, to launching a

We’re celebrating two recent worker victories! At a boba chain, young workers spoke out against wage theft, resulting in 77 workers winning $108k in stolen wages! 

“I often had to work beyond my scheduled hours, but my paychecks never reflected any overtime compensation. I was afraid to take sick leave when I wasn’t feeling well because no one in the workplace had ever received paid sick leave. I was too afraid to question my employer.” – Boba Shop Worker 

This has been a heavy week. We are outraged and reeling from Trump’s authoritarianism in LA and here in the Bay, while looking out for our families, neighbors, and communities at home. Our hearts break for the garment workers, car wash workers, farm workers, and everyday people whose families are being torn apart. The MAGA regime’s use of excessive force, including National Guard troops and law enforcement, is an authoritarian violation of our rights intended to repress our dissent. At the same time, we are so deeply inspired and moved by the way people and communities have shown up and how our movement is exponentially growing in this inflection moment. We see the path forward.

Karen Ung has been a part of CPA since 2015, first with Youth MOJO, and now with CPA Activist Network.

Yumei Lu immigrated to the United States last year with her husband and child, and moved to the southeast part of San Francisco. Since then, she has grown as a leader with CPA this past year.

My name is Calvin, I’m 15 years old, a sophomore at International High School and a new member of CPA this year. My first exposure to CPA was when a good friend of mine requested for me to join a fundraiser event hosted by MOJO as a guest.

This past summer, 12 youth from CPA and PODER embarked on a transportation summer, living into environmentally just transportation, youth agency, and transformation.

TWC recently wrapped up a workers outreach fellowship with four amazing grassroots leaders!

November 5, 2024 Elections are Coming Up! Vote Early!

For 52 years, the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) has educated, organized and empowered low-income and working class Chinese immigrant communities in San Francisco to build collective power and win better living and working conditions for all people.

Dear community,

Happy Lunar New Year! Over the weekend, we welcomed members, their families, Activists, OGs and elders, and friends of CPA to celebrate the new year and warm our new office space.

Through our CHS (Community Healing & Solidarity) work over the past two years, we have developed out resources & materials! We hope can be useful to you:

In Summer 2023, Youth MOJO leaders launched the “Ama-Zine Mental Health” – sharing mental health awareness and resources for San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) students. The zine aims to create youth solidarity around mental health and promote collective healing through sharing personal stories, statistics and resources regarding youth mental health, and more.

Forging Our Futures is CPA’s platform envisioning a world where we can live in our full dignity. We build this vision from our lived experiences, with our community members, and our past and future generations.

In 2019, five organizations founded the Coalition for Community Safety and Justice (CCSJ) — Chinese for Affirmative Action, Chinatown Community Development Center, Chinese Progressive Association, Community Youth Center, and New Breath Foundation.

All over the country, communities are shifting decision-making power to neighborhood residents, students and teachers, workers and tenants, and introducing real accountability to make sure that governing institutions uphold everyone’s fundamental human rights. Partners for Dignity & Rights and Race Forward are excited to announce the release of our new report, Co-Governing Toward Multiracial Democracy, featuring powerful models of collaborative governance led by communities of color across the country.

by lauren liu 劉寶恩, lcsw – jan. 2023 As our communities continue to grieve, mourn, and heal, we wanted to make this offering to our community members. We hope these frameworks, reminders, and practices can give you tools to process grief in these hard times.

CPA condemns Board of Education Commissioner Ann Hsu’s racist remarks on a candidate questionnaire. Not only are such remarks inaccurate and wholly false, but they also promote a racist stereotype about Black and Latinx families that obscure the broader inequities impacting communities of color across our city.

The Chinese Progressive Association mourns the loss of a community leader, visionary trailblazer, social justice warrior, mother and grandmother, Wilma Chan. We extend our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones grieving her sudden passing.