“So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?” — Martin Luther King Jr
Top left: CPA staff, Nancy Truong, leading chants at 2018 SF Women’s March. Top right: CPA staff, Anna Lei, leading chants at 2018 SF Women’s March. Bottom: several CPA grassroots members from TWC marching along with staff at Oakland’s Reclaiming MLK Day March.
Dear CPA Supporter,
As we are making important pivots in 2018, we are continuing to meet the immediate needs of our communities, engaging more people and stretching our leadership in the movement. On MLK Day, Tiffany Ng, our Lead Organizer, led a contingent of TWC, youth, activist and staff members and children at the Fourth Annual March to Reclaim King’s Radical Legacy, organized by the Anti Police-Terror Project. This was the first MLK march for some of our members!
“In this moment, where the administration is cracking down on activists and organizers who are mobilizing around white supremacy, gentrification, and police brutality, it was powerful and inspirational to see our members, allies, families, and children turn out on the streets to fight for what is right.” — Tiffany Ng, Lead Organizer.
Next, we headed for the Women’s March in San Francisco, where we were reminded of the courageous women on the frontlines of so many of our local, national, and global movements, from the leadership of Arab, Muslim and queer women at the SFO shutdown in 2017 to the Korean women who continue to lead the anti-war movement. At the rally, Lara Kiswani of the Arab Resource Organizing Center said, “Successful movements for liberation and dignity, here and everywhere, have always had and continue to have the leadership of women at the frontlines.”
Marches like these remind me that when we continue to build across movements and communities, that we will win. Read on to learn more about what we’ve been doing to organize, mobilize, and celebrate our communities.
In Solidarity,
Alex T. Tom
Executive Director
Get Involved with CPA
Statewide Mass Canvas for College for All!
TOMORROW, Saturday, January 27
Chinese Progressive Association – 1042 Grant Ave 5F
Want to make college free again in California? Tomorrow, our members will gather petition signatures for the College for All campaign, a campaign that aims to raise $4 billion per year for higher education by passing an estate tax on the the wealthiest .2% of families in California. In order to win, the campaign must gather 800,000 signatures by Tuesday April 24, 2018 for it to qualify for the November ballots!
MORNING SESSION – 9:30-11:30a
9:30a: Meet for training
10a: Signature gathering throughtout Chinatown
11a: Debrief
RSVP – Flora Luo at flora@cpasf.org or 415-439-0138
AFTERNOON SESSION – 1:00-3:00p
1p: Meet for training
1:30p: Signature gathering throughout Chinatown
2:30p: Debrief
RSVP – Adrian Leong at adrian@cpasf.org or 510-502-3604
Lunar New Year
Join us for our annual Lunar New Year Celebration to celebrate the Year of the Dog at Cameron House 920 Sacramento St. San Francisco, CA 94108. Dinner will be served. RSVP here by January 30, and let us know if you can volunteer.
Join the CPA team!
We are hiring for TWO new positions — Apply today and forward to someone who may be a good fit!
Youth MOJO Organizes Around Mental Health
“I realized that [mental health struggles] were a reality for a lot of people.” — Vannie, Youth MOJO Core Leader
Group photo of Youth MOJOers at Stanford University
Core Leaders Vannie, Amy, Lisa, and Nevin facilitated a workshop on mental health for conference participants at the 2018 Listen to the Silence conference at Stanford University, an annual conference on Asian American issues.
Vannie shared, “When we did the workshop, I realized that [mental health struggles] were a reality for a lot of people. One of the audience members shared that when she was in high school, she didn’t have mental health resources that were accessible to her, and so she appreciated that we were starting the conversation about mental health. After the workshop, many people wanted to do something about the issue to promote change.”
Walking for Our Communities
“It’s communities like ours, low-income Chinese immigrant communities, that are most impacted when there’s undercounting in the census.” — Nancy Truong, Community Organizer
As the Trump administration attempts to derail the 2020 census, our organizers kicked off 2018 with a census walk organized in partnership with People Organized to Demand Economic/Environmental Rights (PODER). CPA youth, activists and volunteers walked over 60 blocks to register individuals living in undercounted and low visibility housing units in the Excelsior and Portola in San Francisco.
“It’s communities like ours, low-income Chinese immigrant communities, that are most impacted when there’s undercounting in the census. When we gave our volunteers statistics on how much money is lost to education, healthcare, and other resources because of census undercounting, it was clear that we were having an important impact,” says Nancy Truong, Community Organizer.
The First TWC Leaders Meeting of 2018!
“For many of us, we came to the US because we wish for our children to go to college. College for All will relieve a huge burden on the parents.” — Ivy, Single Room Occupancy Organizer
TWC leaders gathered around to learn about College for All Campaign
After a nice holiday break, Tenant Worker Center leaders gathered for the first leaders meeting of the year to talk about the current political landscape from attacks on DACA and ICE raids in California, to tax reform.
Celi, from the San Francisco Rising Alliance, visited the meeting to talk about the College for All campaign, a campaign that aims to raise $4 billion in revenue for student education by passing an estate tax on the 3,000 wealthiest families in California.
Our leaders were overwhelmingly excited about the campaign. “For many of us, we came to the US because we wish for our children to go to college. College for All will relieve a huge burden on the parents. The campaign also offers an opportunity for immigrants like me to get an education in the US,” says Ivy, a Chinese Progressive Association Single Room Occupancy Organizer (SROO).
Tomorrow, Saturday, January 27, members will be turning out to gather signatures for the College for All campaign at the Chinese Progressive Association Office, 1042 Grant Ave 5F. Hope to see you there!