2/8/18 Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Responses to Anti-Immigrant Mentalities

APEX Contributors (left) Geraldine Ah-Sue and Eunice Kwon interview Buena Vista United Methodist Church members (right).

Tonight’s show is on immigration. We’ll share Asian American community responses that counter today’s anti-immigrant policies and narratives.

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VietUnity at Oakland’s 2017 May Day protests

Artist Flo Oy Wong in front of her work.

First, we’ll hear an interview with two members of Buena Vista Methodist Church, a historically Japanese American church that’s providing sanctuary for undocumented families.

Then we’ll speak with Leslie Tran from VietUnity, and Danny Thongsy from Asian Law Caucus about their current work in deportation defense for Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrant communities.

And last we’ll hear about the artwork of Flo Oy Wong. Her art uplifts the lives of paper daughters — women who forged documentation to come to the US after the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Community Calendar

Eastwind Books of Berkeley is hosting a book talk with Myles A. Garcia on his anthology of essays on the Filipino-American experience. The event is at Eastwind Books this Saturday at 3pm.

Oakland Asian Cultural Center is hosting a concert to celebrate Black History Month and to commemorate the Day of Remembrance, a day to remember the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII. The concert will feature the Asian American Orchestra and the Voices of a Dream ensemble and will be on February 18th at 7PM.

VietUnity is partnering up with QTViet Cafe again for the 2018 Intergenerational Feast of Resistance on Saturday, April 7th. The intention is to celebrate and share the foodways and recipes of our families and/or loved ones as a pathway to organizing and creating a cultural healing hub.

In an effort to better understand San Francisco’s local arts ecosystem, ensure equitable distribution of resources, and pursue solutions to affordable housing for artists and cultural workers, the San Francisco Arts Commission has issued a brief 10-minute survey. If you are an artist or cultural worker, help the Arts Commission help you by taking 10-minutes to complete the survey. Visit sfartscommision.org for more info.

11/28/2013 No THANKS

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On this special No THANKS broadcast of APEX Express, we say No Thanks to deportations and No Thanks to exploitation of immigrants.

Immigrants rights protest during SF Obama visit.
Photo by Vincent Pan.

We rebroadcast a show looking at the immigration movement through the lens of artists with a discussion at the Migration NOW exhibition in February.

But first take you to a rally held outside of the Betty Ong Recreation Center on Monday when President Barack Obama stopped in San Francisco to encourage immigration reform.

And we hear from youth involved in the “Things I’ll Never Say” website.” Enjoy this teaser:

11/7/2013 Occupy Retrospective

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On tonight’s show we’ve put together a retrospective on Occupy for second anniversary of the Occupy Oakland General Strike, produced by APEX Express members during the encampment at Oscar Grant Plaza:

Protestors with the Chinese Progressive Association are part of the 99% (Photo by Bea Quiz’em)

• We’ll revisit a sound collage from the early days of the encampment and hear from the variety of Oakland residents who decided to participate.
• We’ll hear from the Colorful Mamas of the 99% – a group of mothers who organized their families during the occupy movement.
• Karl’s piece Decolonize Oakland takes us back to the start of indigenous solidarity organizing during Occupy and how people of color asserted themselves as the protest wore on.
• We hear from the workers and participants of the First Occupy General Strike and why they thought it was important to protest in solidarity with each other.
• And finally, we listen to an account of the first night raid on the encampment. and the arrests that followed.

Salima Hamirani hosts.