Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood introduction

Hoon-Yung Hopgood Addresses Audience

— APIA is one of the fastest growing ethnic group in Michigan and the nation as well

— we all owe the communities around us for where we are today.  for some it’s parents, families, mentors, educators.  but we all owe someone something

— we all have a growing and budding awareness of the issues around us; we must nurture that as well

Diana Choi introducing keynote Helen Gym

Helen Gym, Asian Americans United  aaunited.org

(disclosure — she is an AMAZING speaker, and I couldn’t catch everything because I was kind of stunned by her brilliant rhetoric!)

–great honor to be here.  7 or so years ago, I stood here introducing Grace Lee Boggs.

I want to talk about education.  It’s an upside down world.  Children are exploited, trafficked, starved, uneducated, miseducated all for profit.

No commitment is made to Detroit schools, a fraction of hte budget is spent on public schools compared to inmates.

Billion dollars standardized tests have infiltrated the system to have a one size fit all education.  That is upside down.

50% dropout highschool

90% do NOT get a high school degree

that is upside down.

each person has aright has a right to library. safe education.  decent.

education has been a playground for billionaires like gates the walton family who are rewriting the national edcuation policies with their money

asian americans have been a part of this, we are not excluded from this

schools and media teach repeat the boring litany… of upside down

You are a yellow pearl, that is what it means to be asian americans.  we need to reclaim our roots and right side up this world.  edcuation must change students and their world.

–discussing progress in china town organizing–

no stadium built, we have children playing.  we think about green spaces in philly chinatown.  after 140 years, basic things are still lacking.  we are not afraid of taking on institutions.  we value the hx of our people.

we use folk art – see, value, and respect cultural knowledge.  this is an act of resistance.

children learn oral hx storytelling, dancing and drumming ensemble.  when they know and love traditions that can question the structures that harm and try to take them away.

We don’t make friends this way  (shows slide of politicians who are denouncing their efforts).

We exercise community rights like fighting for community gardens, libraries, reclaiming space.  we celebrate culture through our youth.   Festivals have become a time for expression and the young are participating.  They know that space is precious.

Picture of Asian american student telling the superintendant, “Once we open our mouths we are terrorized,” she said.  Picture: It’s not a question of who beat whom but who let it happen.

The heart of revolutionary struggle is radical love, fearless and urgent.  It doesn’t matter how many people you have.  It doesn’t matter what’s the issue – tiger mom or ranting UCLA student on youtube – it doesn’t matter.  Now is the time.  If you are waiting for others to do it, you will wait a very long time.

we walk in a long hx of those who walked before us and we follow a path that is equally long.