What does it mean for you to be in solidarity with others? How have you been impacted by anti-Asian discrimination? What comes to mind when you hear the name “George Floyd?”
These are some of the questions we asked our community members to reflect on this past year.
A Diversity Equity & Inclusion practitioner recounts a startling encounter in the Minneapolis skyways at the start of the pandemic and a tv news videographer shares his reflections on his work covering the murder of George Floyd.
The MinneAsianStories Podcast, co-produced by CAAL, The Uptake, and WFNU Frogtown Community Radio,
"Adoptee liberation is also connected to our shared liberation"
For our final episode of the MinneAsianStories Podcast: Season 2, we continue our look at adoptee justice organizing in Minnesota. Our host Julia Gay chats with community organizer and founding board member of CAAL Margie Jo Eun Joo Andreason about how transracial and transnational adoptees in Minnesota are creating adoptee centered spaces for processing, healing and joy.
Margie reflects on her work with the Network of Politicized Adoptees (NPA), an all-volunteer group of transracial adoptees working at the intersection of social justice and adoptee rights. Listen in on how Margie found her way to adoptee justice organizing and connects her work to the broader movement for shared liberation.
You can learn more about the Network of Politicized Adoptees at npa-mn.org (//npa-mn.org). And you can find some incredible photos from past and recent gatherings with NPA and a full transcript of this episode at calmn.org/podcast/margie (//calmn.org/podcast/margie).
20 Jun 2022
"Our healing is rooted in decolonizing ourselves"
For our final two episodes of the MinneAsianStories Podcast: Season 2, we're exploring how Asian Minnesotan transnational adoptees have been shifting the dominant narrative around adoption to center adoptee voices and experiences. Our MinneAsianStories Correspondent Hannah Kinzer chats with educator, writer, and DEI consultant Dr. SooJin Pate about the decolonizing process of reclaiming one's history, narrative and story as a transracial and transnational adoptee.
SooJin reveals how policy and colonial power have fueled transnational adoption and made Minnesota the "Land of 10,000 Adoptees." She shares her reflections on adoption and how adoption is woven into Asian Americans movements and communities in Minnesota.
Check out SooJin's podcasts, the Antiracist Parenting Podcast (https://antiracistparentingpodcast.com/) and Decolonize Yourself (https://open.spotify.com/show/63QVfDiTLMWEBla1eoh0tL), and book From Orphan to Adoptee: US Empire and Genealogies of Korean Adoption (https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/from-orphan-to-adoptee).
Visit caalmn.org/podcast (//www.caalmn.org/podcast) for a full archive of all of our previous episodes.
13 Jun 2022
"We've always had queer Hmong artists as a part of SOY"
This week on the MinneAsianStories Podcast: Season 2, we continue our celebration of Pride Month with our look at Shades of Yellow (SOY), the first Hmong LGBTQ+ organization. Our host Julia Gay chats with Xay Yang, Queer Justice Director and Mental Health Therapist at Transforming Generations and former SOY participant and volunteer.
Xay shares her fondest memories from her time working with SOY. From the Hmong Pride flag designed by Ka Oskar Ly to a painting of a Hmong man wearing a rainbow patterned traditional Hmong hat, Xay reflects on how art was an integral tool for SOY's organizing and a creative pathway for redefining the intersections of queer and Asian identities.
S U N A H's Song:
(3) S U N A H - Unique - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oJ2XqmIrmo)
Links to Transforming Generations' website and events:
Website: www.transforminggenerations.org (http://www.transforminggenerations.org/)
Drag Tale Times (July 9 and Aug 13)
June's DTT: Drag Tale Times ft. Jasmine D. Cassadine | Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/events/5120529334707878)
Pride Events: Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=379088627581814&set=a.327401162750561)
Zaj Sawv Leadership Retreat - August 19-21, 2022, more info to come later
Other organizations with Hmong LGBTQ+ programming across the US:
Home - Freedom, Inc. (freedom-inc.org) (https://freedom-inc.org/)
Hmong American Women’s Association – HAWA’s mission is to advocate for social justice within the Hmong and Southeast Asian community through collective and inclusive action. (hawamke.org) (https://www.hawamke.org/)
Hmoob | La Crosse | Cia Siab, Inc. (ciasiabinc.org) (https://www.ciasiabinc.org/)
Hmong Queer Suab | Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Hmong-Queer-Suab-343657115988953)
6 Jun 2022
“We were finally able to celebrate that part of ourselves”
Happy Pride Month! As we transition from Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month to Pride Month this June, we are thrilled to highlight the significant work and contributions of queer Asian Minnesotan organizers in our community.
This week on the MinneAsianStories Podcast: Season 2, our host Julia Gay chats with Ka Oskar Ly, multidisciplinary artist and cultural producer and the former Interim Executive Director of Shades of Yellow (SOY), the first ever Hmong LGBTQ non-profit organization.
Ka shares how SOY got started in 2003 as an informal social and safe space reaching Hmong, and later pan-Asian, LGBTQ communities locally and globally. Listen in as Ka reflects on the influential role SOY played in empowering a new generation of queer Asian leaders in our community.
You can find photos of the colorful Hmong pride flag Ka designed on our website at www.caalmn.org/podcast/ka (//www.caalmn.org/podcast/ka).
30 May 2022
"How do you get men to support your organization?... You don't"
This week on the MinneAsianStories Podcast: Season 2, our host Julia Gay chats with Gaoly Yang, the former Executive Director of the Women’s Association of Hmong and Lao (WAHL), the first Hmong and Lao women's organization in Minnesota.
Gaoly reflects on her early days of gender-based organizing and what inspired her to help found the first ever Hmong and Lao women's organization in Minnesota, in spite of backlash from men in her community.
Visit www.caalmn.org/podcast (//www.caalmn.org/podcast) for more stories from our Asian Minnesotan community.
23 May 2022
"Education should be used as a tool for liberation"
MK draws on the metaphor of root systems and waterways to highlight the healing bonds between community members amidst the toxic effects of racism. She shares her perspective on Ethnic Studies organizing and how she has incorporated lessons from mothering and movements across the country into the local fight for Ethnic Studies in our schools.
We want our school systems to be places of joy that inspire imagination, cultivate curiosity, and ensure that all children can learn and grow. Asian Minnesotans have lived in and contributed to the state for generations, yet Asian Americans are often excluded in the curriculum across all subjects. The Coalition of Asian American Leaders is a proud member of the Ethnic Studies Coalition. To learn more and get involved, visit www.ourschoolsmn.com (//www.ourschoolsmn.com).
For more stories from our Asian Minnesotan community, visit www.caalmn.org/podcast (//www.caalmn.org/podcast). The MinneAsianStories Podcast, co-produced by CAAL, The Uptake, and WFNU Frogtown Community Radio.
16 May 2022
"We were born out of the struggles of the people before us"
Joyce shares her perspective growing up in the civil rights era in a family that experienced both the privilege as Chinese scholars and persecution as immigrants in Minnesota. She highlights how activism in the Black community and different communities within the Asian community have shaped calls for Ethnic Studies in broader Asian American movements today.
Visit www.caalmn.org/podcast (//www.caalmn.org/podcast) for more stories from our Asian Minnesotan community.
9 May 2022
"Which came first, the dream or the dreamer?"
Marlina moved from New York City to the Twin Cities with her daughter in the early 90's and was welcomed with open arms by a community of Asian American dreamers. What started as potluck dinners, soon grew into a flourishing community of artists that organized the Asian American Cultural Renaissance Conference, the Don't Buy Miss Saigon protests and more.
2 May 2022
"Don't give power to people who cannot see you"
This year, 2022, marks the 30th anniversary of the Asian American Renaissance, which was a community based Asian American arts organization which began in 1992 and was an anchor in the Asian community here in Minnesota for the decade that followed. The Asian American Renaissance gave birth to many of the Asian arts and cultural organizations we know today such as Theater Mu, Mizna Arts, Pangea World Theater, Pan-Asian Voices for Equity and more!
David Mura reflects on how the Asian American Renaissance came about back in the early 1990's, why its founding was such a significant turning point in our history as Asian Minnesotans and how its legacy might inspire the next generation of creatives, organizers and dreamers.
Visit www.caalmn.org/podcast (//www.caalmn.org/podcast), for more stories from our Asian Minnesotan communities,
20 Dec 2021
"Is this what is means to be Asian in America?"
Hannah Kinzer, our MinneAsianStories Correspondent, joins us for this episode as our featured storyteller! As a Filipino adoptee, Hannah has continually re-examined her identity as “Asian American,” but an unsavory encounter while waiting for the light rail one evening puts her Asian Americaness in perspective against the dark backdrop of increasing sentiments of anti-Asian hate.
For a full archive of all our previous episodes, visit caalmn.org/podcast that’s C A A L M N .org slash podcast. You can now also listen to us on air on WFNU Frogtown Community Radio. If you’re tuning in from St Paul, you can catch us on air on Tuesdays at 1pm, Fridays at 6am and Sundays at 10am CT on 94.1 FM or listen to us worldwide at WFNU.org.
13 Dec 2021
“This country viewed my mother as ‘unworthy’ of receiving a basic human right”
The exhausting hours put into running her family’s independent motel catalyzed Monali to become a healthcare advocate. She looks back on her upbringing to look ahead at the future of health for immigrant families in America.
Hear more stories from the Asian Minnesotan community at www.caalmn.org/podcast (//www.caalmn.org/podcast). Tune in to WFNU to hear MinneAsianStories in Saint Paul at 94.1FM or worldwide at wfnu.org (https://frogtowntunedin.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=75e79c3c2b11ef8c876806302&id=21d3121db1&e=4527e33d3d)
Tuesdays at 1pm
Fridays at 6am
Sundays at 10am
6 Dec 2021
“I ask myself, when will others accept me as an American?”
Kim Kevin Sin has dedicated himself to community, even when he questions if others will ever accept him as American. He traces how his journey from Cambodia to the US has challenged and inspired him to uplift communities, especially the Cambodian community, in the face of adversity. Learn more about The Village Agricultural Cooperative at www.rochvillage.org (https://www.rochvillage.org/). For more stories from our Asian Minnesotan community, visit www.caalmn.org/podcast (//www.caalmn.org/podcast).
29 Nov 2021
“Would I remember all their names if they looked more like me?”
Amidst the wave of activism springing from the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Julia, a Chinese adoptee, pauses to ask herself what activism means to her. She pushes herself to consider how to define “enough” when it comes to embodying Black Asian solidarity.
To learn more about this podcast and for more episodes from our community, visit www.caalmn.org/podcast.
22 Nov 2021
I felt the strength that I needed to be out there capturing history
Dymanh, is a TV news videographer who reflects on his experience covering the murder of George Floyd. He reflects on his perspective coming from Cambodia to Minnesota, and how he is first on the scene to capture perspectives on events in his neighborhood. Learn more about ThreeJournalism Journalism at threesixty.stthomas.edu. Visit www.caalmn.org/podcast for more stories from the Asian Minnesotan community.
17 Nov 2021
“My classmates didn’t believe that I was Asian, so I brought in my mother for show-and-tell”
Through a kaleidoscope of images and scenes, Comrade depicts his experience at the boundaries of classification. He returns to a familiar yet alternative version of a classic video game icon, a Shiny Pikachu. Visit www.caalmn.org/podcast for more stories from the Asian Minnesotan community.
16 Nov 2021
We shared a love and pride for our people... Isn’t that what friendship is?
Pete met Orpheus Black while training with a mixed martial arts group in Los Angeles. As their friendship grows, Pete is forced to grapple with the internalized racism and anti-Blackness that was reinforced in him at a young age. Listen in as Pete shows us how solidarity can play out powerfully in our relationships with those closest to us.
Visit www.caalmn.org/podcast for more stories from the Asian Minnesotan community.
15 Nov 2021
“She was stomping and shooing me away like I’m some kind of wild animal"
Astrid, a Diversity Equity & Inclusion practitioner, recounts a startling encounter in the Minneapolis skyways at the start of the pandemic followed by a thought provoking discussion between Astrid and our MinneAsianStories Correspondant Hannah Kinzer.
Visit www.caalmn.org/podcast (//www.caalmn.org/podcast), for more stories from our Asian Minnesotan communities.
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