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This year marks a new chapter for many Asian-Americans in the United States. The inconvenient truth is that their experience is not as well-known as that of other minority groups. With the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and violence, a spotlight has been put on the community. According to Shirley Leung, The Boston Globe columnist, “Generations of Asian-Americans have been raised to work hard, get an education and quietly assimilate. That is how my parents, immigrants from China, brought me up. Keep your head down because no matter what you will always be treated like an outsider. Our silence, for the most part, has been golden—until now.”

The March 16^th slaying of six Asian women in Atlanta has galvanized a sense of heightened activism from within the Asian-American community and beyond. The moment presented an opportunity—what is to be done with any momentum, awareness, or attention created by this and other tragedies? For Asian-American community leaders and activists, the answer ranges from creating better ballot access, more political representation, expanding Asian-American history education in schools, and engaging untapped youth and religious groups.

The members of our panel have a long-standing history of speaking out against discrimination and racism against Asian-Americans. Each panelist will share their own personal experience in politics, business, journalism, and government. Their compelling stories will help us to appreciate that now is the time for us to recognize, and do something about, the community’s experience of discrimination, racism, and violence.

Panelists:

• State Representative Tackey Chan, (D. Quincy), 2^nd Norfolk District
• Grace Lee, Senior Vice President, Director of Government Banking, People's United Bank
• Shirley Leung, Columnist and Associate Editor, The Boston Globe
• Nam Pham, President, Vietnamese American Volunteers Association

Moderator:

• Bill Kennedy, Chair, Public Policy, Nutter

Event details:
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
12-1PM EDT