Studio 4 Update

http://www.michigandaily.com/content/2009-01-23/uaao-seek-mediation-studio-4

UAAO to seek mediation with Studio 4

By Matt Aaronson
Daily Staff Reporter On January 22nd, 2009

The United Asian American Organizations have gone to the University’s Office of Student Conflict Resolution to open a mediation process with management from the Studio 4 nightclub. The club is located on 4th Avenue in Ann Arbor.

Leaders of the Chinese Student Association and the Filipino American Student Association — two groups included in UAAO — claim that the club’s managers broke a revenue-sharing contract and used racial profiling to determine the amount of money they would receive from a fundraiser the groups were holding at the club on Nov. 8 of last year.

Ravi Bodepudi, co-chair of the UAAO, said nobody from the organization has been in contact with anyone from Studio 4 since just after the incident. He said there are plans to meet with the OSCR this week to discuss a course of action.

OSCR, part of the Division of Student Affairs, offers conflict resolution services to anyone with a University affiliation. All parties must consent to the process.

Laura Misumi, UAAO’s other co-chair, said that for her, their activism after this incident was about "creating awareness of student empowerment."

Bodepudi had doubts about the effectiveness of mediation.

“We’re not really sure if an apology would be enough,” he said.

OSCR representatives said that they could not disclose information about any specific mediation process. According to CSA President Steve Lai, OSCR has been in touch with Studio 4 management, although it is not known whether they have agreed to take part in the mediation process.

Misumi said UAAO was also working with the University’s Office of Student Activities and Leadership to develop a set of guidelines for student organizations dealing with Ann Arbor businesses to create accountability for both parties.

Ashley Manzano, FASA President, said that before the event in November, there had been a written agreement that the two student groups would publicize the event. In exchange the groups would receive half of the cover charge from everyone who came through the door that night.

At the end of the night, according to Manzano and Lai, the club’s manager, Jeff Mangray, told them that they would only be paid for 50 out of the 111 people who came to the club that night.

Mangray told them this was because they “only brought in 50 Asians,” according to Lai.

Lai said he was threatened by Mangray’s son, who also spat on Manzano and used racial and sexist slurs in an ensuing confrontation outside of the club.

UAAO passed a resolution boycotting the club and condemning the alleged actions of the managers at their last meeting before winter break. Shortly after, the Michigan Student Assembly passed a similar resolution. MSA’s version cut off funding to student organizations for events at Studio 4 temporarily while the Peace and Justice Commission conducted an investigation. The commission was supposed to report its findings at last Tuesday’s meeting, but the presentation was postponed.

Stand Against Studio Meeting today 6pm YK Lounge South Quad (in place of regularly scheduled UAAO meeting)

Top 10 National Non-Profit Organizations for A/PIAs

The Top 10 National Non-Profit Organizations for A/PIAs

By: Veronica Garcia, Arthur Wang, and Claire Vergara

Non-profit organizations have provided social services and political and legal advocacy for A/PIAs, although they are by no means the only sources for these services. We chose to focus on national non-profit organizations because they have emerged as some of the most recognizable and effective resources for A/PIAs, and because national organizations may serve and represent A/PIAs nationally better than an organization with a more local focus.

Rationale and Criteria

To survey our options, we combined personal knowledge and online searches, using a broad list of different foci to identify what we should search for. From this list, we used these initial criteria to select the organizations on the list:

* The organization must explicitly serve A/PIAs
We focused on pan-ethnic organizations; for example, the Organization of Chinese Americans or the Japanese American Citizens League were not included
* The organization must be national
* The organization must be non-profit, typically 501(c)(3)


Once we had our list, we applied various criteria to narrow it down to a top ten:

* Recognition – is the organization well-known? Has the organization won awards or been acknowledged for its work?
* Pioneering – are there other similar national, non-profit organizations for A/PIAs, or were there others when this organization was founded? Does or has the organization focused on a specific issue that has been overlooked or underacknowledged?
* Impact – has the organization made significant progress on its issue? Are there any notable events, campaigns, cases, etc. for which the organization is know or responsible?


Using these criteria, we decided between us which organizations would be included on the top ten. We gave special consideration to the “pioneering” criteria; that is, we tried to diversify the field of issues represented in our selection process. There is no specific order to the list.


APIA Top 10 National Non-Profit Organizations

1. National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)
2. Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO
3. A/PIAVote
4. Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
5. The Asian American Writers’ Workshop
6. Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)
7. National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
8. National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO)
9. National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (NCAPACD)
10. Asian and Pacific Islander Health Forum (APIAHF)

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1. National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)
http://napawf.org

NAPAWF is the only national, multi-issue APA women’s organization in the country. The mission of NAPAWF is to build a movement to advance social justice and human rights for APA women and girls.

Recognition

Although NAPAWF has not received any awards, the organization has several accomplishments at national, legislative, and local levels. In 2005, for examples three of NAPAWF’s California chapters voted to organize around 4 bills related to addressing human trafficking, banning phlalates in cosmetic products, and supporting a single-payer health care system in California. In 2004, NAPAWF members organized an International Marriage Broker Regulation Act Lobby Day, to discuss the bill that would protect the rights of mail order brides.

Pioneering

NAPAWF is the only national, multi-issue APA women’s organization in the country. Once an all-volunteer organization, NAPAWF is now one of the few staged national women of color organizations in the U.S. Their reproductive justice and anti-trafficking programs have drawn national attention to the issues not commonly magnified in the APIA community. The California Young Women’s Collaborative is one of the only youth-led research and activism projects that focuses on the reproductive health concerns of API women across California campuses.

Impact

NAPAWF has developed a series of fact sheets, issues briefs, and other materials that explore important reproductive issues relating to health care, immigration, contraception, environmental justice, Medicaid, abortion, and sex selection. NAPAWF is also at the forefront of building coalitions and cross-movement strategies with other social justice movements. For example, NAPAWF helps coordinate local, regional, and national initiatives to improve nail salon worker health and safety.

2. Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO
http://www.apalanet.org/

APALA, AFL-CIO is the first and only national organization of APA union members. Founded in 1992, APALA has 11 chapters and pre-chapters and a national office in Washington D.C. APALA has over 600,000 APA workers that have joined unions.

Recognition

APALA has been credited with shifting the AFL-CIO toward more actively organizing API workers.

Pioneering

APALA remains the first and only national organization for APA union members. It promotes political education and voter registration programs among APAs, as well as training, empowerment, and leadership of APAs within the labor movement and APA community. Furthermore, APALA actively seeks to develop ties within international labor organizations, especially in Asia and the Pacific.

Impact

APALA works with the AFL-CIO organizing institute to train API workers in organizing techniques. APALSA also works to build awareness of the labor movement among APA workers. They also build awareness and address exploitative conditions in industries with large numbers of APA workers. Furthermore, APALA is active in federal and state legislative efforts on immigration reform and the access of immigrants both legal and illegal to social services.

3. A/PIAVOTE
http://www.apiavote.org

A/PIAVote is a national non-profit nonpartisan organization that promotes the civic participation of Asian Pacific Islander Americans on the grassroots, democratic, and policy levels.

Recognition

To date, A/PIAVote does not have any longstanding awards; however, A/PIAVote has worked closely with all AAPI politicians particularly congresspersons and senators making the organization recognizable on both a state and national level.

Pioneering

A/PIAVote is a unique organization that was started in the early 1990’s as the Asian American identity began to arise in all arenas. For the first time, Asian American populations were being recognized in the media, workforce, and in politics. This was an opportune chance for leaders in the APIA community to come together to create an organization that would empower Asian Americans through not only voter education and registration, but also field building, leadership development, media relations and youth outreach. A/PIAVote provides unique statistics and information about APIA populations regarding voting.

Impact

A/PIAVote is unique in that it is a nonpartisan organization, which sets it apart from other organizations that promote APIA voter registration. This year alone, A/PIAVote was monumental in creating events to celebrate APIA achievement in politics at both the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention, which was never done before. Furthermore, A/PIAVote tries to be representative on a state level by starting chapters in key states as well as those with high APIA populations. A/PIAVote also builds bridges in the APIA community by working closely with organizations with similar aims like AALDEF and APALA. Lastly, A/PIAVote worked hard to register a record number of APIA voters especially youth through campaigns like Project 5% (registering APIA youth voters through collegiate conferences, student organizations, and the Greek system).

4. Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
http://www.aaldef.org

AALDEF is a national, New York-based civil rights organization founded in 1974. They educate and protect civil rights by multiple methods: litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing. They are a founding member of the Public Interest Law Center, which includes the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund as well as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Recognition

AALDEF continues to receive financial support solely from individuals, corporations, and foundations – the organization does not receive government funding.

Pioneering

AALDEF focuses on multiple issues that affect Asian Americans: immigrants’ rights; voters’ rights and language access; workers’ rights and economic justice; police misconduct; and human trafficking, among others. AALDEF is unique in its combination of methods – they organize at the grassroots level while pursuing legal action and political advocacy. In addition, they have a long-term community-based focus: they provide free legal advice; provide legal resources to community organizations; educate Asian Americans about their rights; and train future lawyers to serve their communities.

Impact

AALDEF has shown visible success in litigation and voting rights. Recently, they won a case in which Chinese immigrant restaurant delivery workers were awarded $4.6 million for violations of federal and state laws by two Saigon Grill restaurants in Manhattan. In addition, they have conducted an exit polling effort across up to 11 states in the past few elections, polling thousands of Asian and Arab American voters in order to protect their rights as voters and better document voting trends. They have won cases as a result of observations made by election observers associated with their election protection, leading to the provision of multilingual ballot materials, for example.

5. The Asian American Writers’ Workshop
http://aaww.org

The Asian American Writers’ Workshop established in 1991 and operates out of a 6,000 square-foot loft in New York, NY. It is one of the most active community arts organizations in the United States. AAWW is devoted to the creating, publishing, developing and disseminating of creative writing by Asian Americans.

Recognition

Since 1998, the AAWA have honored Asian American writers for excellence in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, memoir stage plays and screenplays through their Annual Asian American Literary Awards.

Pioneering

The AAWA has a list of award-winning books and have become an educational resource for Asian American literature and awareness.

Impact

Writers such as Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies, Unaccustomed Earth), David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), and spoken word poet Beau Sia have led workshops at AAWW. The AAWW loft has a reading room of Asian American literature through the decades.

6. Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)
http://www.aaja.org


AAJA was founded in 1981 and operates with the mission of encouraging A/PIAs to enter the journalism industry; working for fair and accurate coverage of A/PIAs; and increasing the number of A/PIA journalists and news managers. It is a national non-profit membership organization with chapters in 20 states, as well as members working in Asia. AAJA is an alliance partner in UNITY Journalists of Color, which includes the Native American Journalists Association, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and National Association of Black Journalists.

Recognition

In 1995, the University of Missouri awarded the Medal AAJA for Distinguished Service in the Industry.

Pioneering

In 1981, a small group of A/PIA journalists founded AAJA, seeing the need for such an organization. In addition to their stated mission, AAJA also provides greater recognition to A/PIA journalists through its own awards. Besides recognizing achievement in journalism, they also present awards for excellence in coverage of civil rights and issues of social justice for A/PIAs, as well as corporations or individuals that have demonstrated commitment to promoting diversity in the news and industry.

Impact

The AAJA now has over 2000 members. They host an annual convention, drawing hundreds of journalists. They provide services to their members in the form of job listings and resume postings. In addition, they run professional programs – training in multimedia and leadership; mentor programs; and fellowships – and programs aimed at students – scholarships for A/PIA journalism undergraduates; internships; and the opportunity to work on projects with other journalists of color.

7. National Asian Pacific Bar Association (NAPABA)

NAPABA is a national association and network of A/PIA attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA advocates for the legal needs and interests of the APA community.

Recognition

NAPABA currently does not have any outstanding awards or accolades recognized by outside organizations; however, several of the lawyers, judges, and politicians belonging to the organization have been bestowed with the Trailblazer Award, which praises the candidate for any impactful work they may have done. Furthermore, NAPABA represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and approximately 57 local APA bar associations, with practice settings ranging from solo practices to large firms, corporations, legal services organizations, non-profit organizations, law schools, and governmental agencies.

Pioneering

NAPABA is the only national APA bar association in the United States; however, NAPABA was not the first. Created in 1988, NAPABA has been at the forefront of national and local activities in the areas of civil rights, anti-immigrant sentiment, while increasing the diversity of the judiciaries and firms. NAPABA was the first organized and unified representation of APIA legal workers.

Impact

NAPABA does not currently have any specific campaigns, but the organization and its members monitor legislative and judicial developments to promote A/PIA political leadership. NAPABA also advocates for equal opportunity in education and the workplace, eliminate discrimination against A/PIAs, and builds coalitions amongst legal professionals and the community. NAPABA is a resource for APIA government agencies, politicians, and public service organizations. NAPABA serves as the voice of the A/PIA community in the legal realm.

8. National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO)
http://www.naatco.org

NAATCO was formed in 1989. It’s mission is to assert the presence and significance of Asian American theatre in the United States by demonstrating its vital contributions to the fabric of American culture. NAATCO takes European and American classics as written with all Asian American casts. They also present adaptations of these plays by Asian American playwrights and new plays written by non-Asian Americans, nor for or about Asian Americans, but realized by an all Asian American cast.

Recognition

NAATCO was the recipient of the 2006 Rosetta LeNoire Award from Actors' Equity Association in recogntion of its contribution toward increasing diversity and non-traditional casting in American theatre.

Pioneering

NAATCO prides itself on its ability to reach across ethnic boundaries to illuminate universal characteristics of human nature. To quote the NAATCO website, “The superimposition of our Asian faces on a non-Asian repertory, interpreted by artists using diverse and truly universal references to serve the text very faithfully, reflects and emphasizes the kinship among disparate cultures.”

Impact

By binding themselves to the American experience but consciously making an effort to transcend ethnic boundaries in order to relay universal truths, NAATCO enriches several cultures, and not just American culture as a whole. NAATCO helps to accurately represent onstage the multi- and intercultural dynamics of our society.

9. National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (NCAPACD)
http://www.nationalcapacd.org/

NCAPACD strives to be a powerful voice for the unique community development needs of A/PIA communities and to strengthen the capacity of community-based organizations to create neighborhoods of opportunity.

Recognition

NCAPACD currently has no long-standing awards, yet, this organization is pinnacle in doing work that never been performed prior to its inception. NCAPACD has created many local chapters that work to enhance the lives of the lower class socioeconomic A/PIA family as well as working with local community development centers to maintain Chinatowns, Little Manila’s, Little Saigon’s, and similar communities.

Pioneering

National CAPACD is the first national advocacy organization dedicated to addressing the community development needs of diverse and rapidly growing A/PIA communities. NCAPACD is a network of over 100 organizations and individuals in 17 states that serve Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Native Hawaiians, refugees and immigrants nationwide. The network utilizes affordable housing, community development, and organizing to improve the livelihood of low-income A/PIA communities.

Impact

NCAPACD works on key issues of access to housing, data policy, economic justice, and community preservation. With these key aims, NCAPACD promotes home ownership, dispel the Model Minority Myth by trying to show government agencies that A/PIA families suffer from poverty too, assisting those A/PIAs that are limited language proficient, and restoring historical Asian enclaves around the US.

10. Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum (A/PIAHF)
http://www.apiahf.org

A/PIAHF is a national advocacy organization dedicated to promoting policy, program, and research efforts to improve the health and well-being of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

Recognition

A/PIAHF has no long standing awards but has been renowned for their wide array of advocacy programming. Currently, they have created a health information network for A/PIA communities, organized census data pertaining to A/PIA communities, capacity-building for those affected by HIV as well as promoting awareness, doing research and working against domestic violence, and implementing tobacco education/cancer survivorship programs.

Pioneering

A/PIAHF was founded in 1986 to develop to build coalitions and capacity within local A/PIA communities. A/PIAHF advocates for health issues of significance to A/PIA communities, conduct community-based assistance and training, provide health and U.S. Census data analysis and information dissemination, and convene regional and national conferences on A/PIA health.

Impact

A/PIAHF enables Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to attain the highest possible level of health and well-being. It envisions a multicultural society where Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are included and represented in health, political, social and economic areas.

The Studio4 Story From FASA President

As some of you may have heard, an incident involving CSA, FASA, and Studio 4 nightclub occurred two Saturdays ago. On behalf of the two organizations involved that night, we would like to share with you information about some of the injustices committed against us that night. We feel it is necessary for you as individuals and members of our community to know, as something like this could have happened to any organization, and very well may happen again. What follows is a condensed version of the night's events. The full story and important details of the night are attached and at the bottom of this email. It is a much more vivid account of what happened; please take a look if you can. We really encourage that you read the attached testimony to gain a better understanding of the whole situation.

On November 8th, CSA and FASA held a collaborative club night to celebrate their respective events, Celebrasia and Philippine Culture Night, resulting in the party "Illuminous". Turnout was a success; many members and friends of the organizations attended. However, poor business practices and discrimination surfaced at the end of the night, causing an altercation between the owners of Studio 4 and the two organizations.

CSA and FASA had been contracted to promote the party that night; the terms that were signed off on were that the two organizations would receive "50% of all cover charge revenue for the night." However, the owner had also cross-promoted with another entity, "Social Studies", and though the owner reassured that the cross-promotions would not alter the terms of the existing contract, he subsequently failed to adhere to his word and the contract. As the organizations came to collect their dues at the end of the night, he claimed that due to advertisement on behalf of multiple parties, CSA and FASA would only be entitled to payment for those they brought in. In the owners' opinions, CSA and FASA only brought in "50 Asians" as evidenced by tally marks on a clipboard from the club entrance. Their "official" count of total persons paying cover fees amounted to 111 people. The situation escalated to the point where the disagreement became physical, personal, and extremely unprofessional in the form of pushing, name-calling, and spitting.

It should be said that at the very least, there was a breach of contract and ethnic and gender discrimination in effect. It is unjust to assume that organizations centered on ethnicities can only have friends of the same ethnicity, and it is even more reprehensible to count people according to ethnicity at the door of any establishment. These are just a few of our concerns, and we are currently taking steps to address this issue on several levels.

As fellow A/PIA organizations and leaders on this campus, we feel it is pertinent to disclose this issue with you so that you may make informed decisions as an individual and/or as part of an organization. Neither FASA nor CSA will attend Studio 4, nor will we engage in future business dealings with them. This is not only about injustice, but about being taken advantage of and disrespected as individuals, business partners, and members of the A/PIA community.

Please pass the word along. Knowledge is the first step to awareness, and the consequences of failing to act against an injustice like this is a violation of everyone's rights, regardless of race or identity. If you have had similar experiences with Studio 4 management in the past, please get in touch with either UAAO, CSA board, FASA board, Steve or me. We would like to hear your stories and take a stand against injustice that unfortunately still exists today.
~Ashley

The Studio4 Story From CSA President

On the afternoon leading up to the club event, I heard that there was another event being hosted at Studio 4 on the same night that we had scheduled our event. I decided to call Reese in order to figure out what exactly was going on. He told me that he was starting a marketing group called “Social Studies” and that he knew that we had booked the club that night already. He then assured me that Social Studies would not affect the terms of our contract in any way and that it may even boost the turn out and we could potentially earn more money. He even asked me to help promote the Social Studies marketing group and let people know at CelebrAsia that people over the age of 21 would have their first drink on the house. That was basically my conversation with Reese and I, in turn, passed the message along to both CSA and FASA boards and told them that we did not have to worry about the event being promoted by Social Studies as well.

After the end of the event, we approached Jeff (Studio 4 owner) to collect our share of the night’s cover. According to the terms of the contract, Studio 4 would split the night’s cover with CSA and FASA; 50% going to the club and the other 50% to be split between CSA and FASA.

During our conversation, he continued to refuse to honor our contract and said he would only pay us for the fifty Asians that he thought were there that night (he had tallied the Asians on his clipboard as they came in). His reason was that we felt that Social Studies did all the work to promote the event. We reasoned with him some time about the fact that it doesn’t matter how many Asians came in and that even some of the board members brought in friends that were not Asian. We also reminded him of the terms of the contract and that it did not state that we would receive 50% of the gains from the cover of the Asians, but just 50% of the gains from the paid attendees. The conversation escalated into an argument because Jeff continually refused honor the contract and even began to call the FASA board members names. He then kicked all of us out of the club.

Outside of the club, Reese approached me and began to argue with me. Continually referring to the FASA board members as “skank ass bitches” and even spat at one of them at one point. He then threatened to shut down our organizations and even report us to the university to get us removed from school because of his pull on campus. During this, he began to back me against a wall and seemed as if he was about to hit me. My friend tried to pull me away and told me to “just leave because he was being jerk”. Reese then started walking towards my friend and threatening him for calling him a jerk. I wanted to prevent any trouble so I pulled Reese back and he then threatened to hit me because I touched him. I was trying to reason with him and tell him that I was worried that he’d hit my friend and I even told him that I prevented him from getting in trouble for getting into a fight at his own club. Reese backed me up against the wall again and at one point his security and my friends pulled each of us away and that is when I left the area.

After leaving, Reese called me around 3am and again threatened to shut down our organization because he felt that we disrespected his father because of our argument, but I told him that we did not mean to disrespect him and that we were trying to reason with him but he kept on calling us names and it escalated from there. He continued to threaten me and even said that he would find me and wanted to meet up with me to “settle this tonight”. He then said that if we were thinking about suing him that we would fail because of his pull on campus. At that point, I knew that the conversation would not go anywhere so I told him that I would call him when things calmed down. He called me about three more times that night, but I didn’t pick up the phone.

Sunday morning, I received a call from Jeff and we spoke more calmly about the incident and initially still only wanted to pay us for the “50 Asians” that were there that night. I kept telling him that he had to honor his contract and he eventually agreed to pay us our fair share. At this point though, we had already been threatened and offended beyond wanting to accept the money. Therefore, I told him that I would discuss his offer with the two orgs and get back to him.
~Steve

Housing Administration's decision on the YK Lounge

I wanted to let you know of a recent meeting I had with some members of the executive board of UAAO. In our conversation we realized the unique connection the group has to the YK Lounge in South Quad. Specifically, this group was instrumental in the creation of this space as a multicultural lounge and the safe space it creates for Asian American students on campus. As a result, we agreed that UAAO may hold its regular and mentorship meetings in the space. That means they may go beyond the current guidelines (4 per semester) detailed in the current lounge reservation policy. While they are being given a preference to use the space, UAAO also realizes that YK is there for the residents of South Quad and will work collaboratively and cooperatively should any scheduling requests arise in the future that are in the best interests of residence hall students.

Please make an ongoing reservation for Wednesdays 5:30pm-7:30pm and Thursdays 6:30-8:30pm in the YK lounge for the remainder of the academic year. If there are existing reservations that conflict with these times, please let the e-board know as soon as possible so that UAAO may make alternate arrangements.
~Trelawny Boynton
Associate Director of Residence Education

The election and coalitions

I'll be taking over for Claire this time.

As you all know, this past Tuesday was the general election. And as you all know, Barack Obama was elected.

Now there's been lots of talk about what this means, for us to have elected the first African American president. It's a big question, and I'm going to leave that discussion for more participatory channels. But it does open up a window for discussion of issues of race in the United States - specifically, how issues of race can bubble to the surface during such a contentious time as the election.

This year, as in several previous elections, UAAO worked with the Asian Pacific Law Students Association (APALSA) and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) on an election protection project. To give you a little background, AALDEF did this in 11 states this election, focusing on jurisdictions in which there's a substantial number of Asian Americans, especially those in which there's a high rate of limited english proficiency (LEP). In Michigan, these communities are Ann Arbor, Canton, Detroit, Novi, and Troy. In addition, AALDEF worked with the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) to bring this project to Dearborn and Hamtramck, communities with significant Arab American populations.

The election protection project consists primarily of exit polling - surveying Asian and Arab American voters as the leave the polls. This is necessary because we tend to be underrepresented in polls, and often excluded entirely when poll results are divided by racial groups - they tend to focus chiefly on white and black, sometimes including Latinos.

The protection part becomes necessary due to a combination of LEP and discrimination. Because many Asian American voters are less proficient at reading English, ballots can often prove difficult to use. Under the Voting Rights Act, voters are allowed to bring someone in to help them with the ballot; however, poll workers, sometimes unaware of this, try to prevent this. There's also the issue of racism and discrimination - for example, an elderly Chinese American voter may be rushed by the poll workers more than a white voter, or poll workers may make racist comments and intimidate Asian American voters. This is where AALDEF comes in.

So what we did was look out for these things, using our eyes and ears as well as our interactions with voters. If a voter reported a problem or if we noticed it, we got as much detail as possible and called it in to AALDEF - ultimately, they work to fix as many problems, case by case, as possible, as well as to fix systemic problems using our observations. And something we noticed was that simply by being visible observers, we helped influence poll workers' behavior for the better. To be sure, it would be ideal to end discrimination at the polls without having to be present physically, but in the United States, if you lose your vote, there's no getting it back. And this goes back to the central issue of how race becomes a factor in elections. Disenfranchisement occurs among Asian American communities due to relativekt higher incidents of problems with language access and racism.

I've been talking mostly about Asian Americans here, but there's lots to say about how this relates to Arab Americans. This is tied to my own experience with election protection this year - I worked at a pollsite in Dearborn, MI, the city with the highest proportion of Arab Americans in its population compared to any other city in the United States. How does this relate to Asian Americans?

Arab Americans' place in relation to Asian Americans has shifted; at times, they've been included under the label "Asian American", but conventionally, they're considered separate. And this isn't necessarily a bad thing or unjust - Arab Americans have different voting trends, face different issues, and have their own diversity and heterogeneity within the sweeping label "Arab American", as one of the voters I surveyed wryly pointed out to me. Despite these differences, however, there's at least one simple reason that led the Arab American community in Michigan to be a part of this effort - and this reason can be identified simply by looking at the organizations involved. Whatever the differences between Arab Americans and Asian Americans, AALDEF and ACCESS did partner up, because it was recognized by both organizations that their respective communities faced common problems on election day. This is, to put it simply, coalition-building.

Coalitions are a big thing with in A/PIA history as well as UAAO. The pan-ethnic Asian American identity has, at its heart, coalition politics - taking on this identity is at least in part a deliberate choice, a political act. And this election reminded me of that. It reminded me that although Asian Americans and Arab Americans may have vast differences - just as the different ethnicities under the Asian American label may have with each other - they banded together in an effort to combat injustice. It reminded me that coalitions are not a phenomenon of the 60s and 70s, but rather a way to empower ourselves and those around us - a tool for use in the struggles our communities faced decades ago and continue to face today, however those struggles may appear to us at this moment. And it doesn't have to be a fundamental identity shift, but can be as simple as working together.

- arthur

Viewpoint in the Michigan Daily

Here is UAAO's stance on Housing Administration's enforcement of their space use policy. This viewpoint will soon be published in the Michigan Daily, so read it here before it comes out.

One day after Michigan voters approved Prop 2 in 2006, Mary Sue Coleman addressed the University community, proclaiming, “diversity matters at Michigan.”

“If November 7th was the day that Proposal 2 passed, then November 8th is the day we pledge to remain unified in our fight for diversity. Together, we must continue to make this world-class university one that reflects the richness of the world.”

Yet in spite of such proclamations, the University of Michigan has proven to be an unwelcoming place for students of color. Space, specifically a central location in which members of minority populations can gather, is necessary for not only the empowerment of individuals, but also empowerment of such communities as a whole. The preservation of a safe space in which students of color are encouraged to meet and foster their individual identities and values is crucial to creating a campus climate where diversity is a lived state of being and not simply an abstract concept or cliché dictum.

The University housing administration has recently decided to enforce its policy of limiting the number of times per academic term and year for which an individual or organization can conduct an activity. While this policy applies to all residence hall lounges, it has the greatest impact on minority-cultural and multicultural lounges and the student organizations that have historic ties to those rooms.

United Asian American Organizations (UAAO) has had unrestricted use of the Yuri Kochiyama Lounge in South Quad for nearly a decade. Named after Japanese American civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama, the space is the only space on campus dedicated to the Asian/Pacific Islander American (A/PIA) community and A/PIA activism.

While it is within university policy to regulate use of residence hall space, it is also stated university policy to "create and sustain diverse learning-centered residence communities.” (See “Living at Michigan Credo”) It is crucial that UAAO and other organizations like UAAO have unrestricted access (i.e. being able to hold standing meetings) to show that our mission is to unite and empower the A/PIA community. Furthermore, we want to embody and carry on the historical current left by Yuri Kochiyama's legacy of engaging in activism and promoting diversity.

In a post-Prop 2 world, the relationships between minority students, faculty, staff and overall campus community have been tenuous ones. To deny A/PIA students unrestricted space use perpetuates the university's refusal to acknowledge the needs of students of color and directly contradicts President Coleman’s claim that "diversity matters." While there do exist other facilities dedicated to Asian/Pacific Islander Americans, none are as centrally located as the Yuri Kochiyama Lounge. The importance of a centrally located space cannot be understated, as it shows a true commitment to putting diversity at the fore.

Limiting access to the YK lounge would not only be detrimental to the success of UAAO as a student organization, but would also be detrimental to the diversity and the value we place on diversity at the U of M. Just as the Yuri Kochiyama Lounge is not the only one where this policy is being enforced, UAAO and the A/PIA community are not the only ones being affected. As members of the A/PIA community, and hence a part of the minority community at large on campus, we also stand in solidarity with other groups whose space use is also being restricted. Just as Yuri Kochiyama organized across community lines, we will not consider this issue closed until all groups with long standing history with certain lounges have their unrestricted access restored