Commemorating International Human Rights Day

CHAA staff, Nwe Oo and Dechen Tsering holding up their national flags

On Saturday, December 10, people all over the world celebrated International Human Rights Day, commemorating the Declaration of Human Rights, a universal mandate passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 asserting the rights of all human beings.

There were celebrations in cities all over the world, including San Francisco, where some members of CHAA's staff spoke and marched alongside other activists calling for freedom in Tibet and Burma, as well as for universal human rights of all.

Burmese Wellness Advocate Nwe Oo gives a speech

Nwe Oo, CHAA's Burmese community advocate and refugee activist, spoke in front of a growing crowd at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco. Wearing a colorful and traditional Rakhine dress, Nwe spoke of the need for freedom in her home country of Burma, the coming together of the Occupy movement and international movements for justice and freedom. Other Burmese activists, including Nwe's three year old son, stood by holding signs, banners and balloons calling for a free Burma.

CHAA Community Resources Director,
 Dechen Tsering,
 speaks to the crowd

Next, CHAA's Community Resources Director, Dechen Tsering, surrounded by her fellow free Tibet activists, spoke about the intersection of all human rights movements, from the Occupy movement to LGBTQ rights, economic equality, the Tibetan freedom movement and all progressive movements together throughout the world. 

After the speeches, participants marched towards Market Street, one of the major streets in downtown San Francisco. Half of the road was taken up and hundreds of people matched forward, chanting, singing and waving flags and signs. It was a sea of colors as Tibetan and Burmese flags were waved, alongside homemade flags and clever signs calling for change. 

Protestors near the Union Square Christmas Tree

The group marched up Market Street before moving onto Powell St. in the heart of the shopping district. The crowd settled in Union Square park, across from the massive Macy's retail store where customers crowded around the store windows to watch the activity below. Interestingly, the marchers were right next to the giant Christmas tree in Union Square, bringing out a thoughtful anecdote as to what the true meaning of Christmas may be.

More speeches were given as the crowd cheered and stayed strong. Free Burma and Free Tibet signs stayed up throughout, as the advocates behind them stood proudly behind their causes.

International Human Rights Day is a day of commemoration and reflection. On this day, there were sentiments of unity, solidarity and empathy for all those who suffer within unjust and unfair systems. May these sentiments continue in the work all human rights activists do as we aim to hold up the ideals of this declaration in our every day lives. 

To see more photos of the International Human Rights Day March in San Francisco, click here.

Photographs by S. Nadia Hussain

Written by S. Nadia Hussain

'Rhythm of the Refugee: A Cambodian Journey of Healing' Museum Exhibit

Nhep Prok and local Cambodian musicians at the museum opening

"The intense uprisings started in 1972. I spent many nights in the dugout hearing artillery shells. We started to see dead corpses in the rice fields behind our backyard. By 1973, it was no longer safe to stay in Sung Rieng. My mom put me in a helicopter to Phnom Phem".
-Sambo Ly, President of Cambodia Community Development Inc.

From 1975-1979, two million Cambodians lost their lives during the brutal oppression of the Khmer Rouge, a government led by the notorious dictator Pol Pot. This four year period was marked by political killings, starvation and forced labor. Even children were not spared from these atrocities as Cambodia fell under a regime that looked to establish a dystopian vision of a new Cambodia by orchestrating the elimination of millions of innocent people.

The upheaval of the period led to many Cambodians escaping their country to seek refuge and safety. Some Cambodian refugees were eventually settled in the United States. Oakland became a resettlement area for many of these refugees, as survivors of the war and genocidal regime faced whole new challenges as they settled down in unfamiliar surroundings. The crime and poverty in Oakland, along with issues of acculturation and transition caused many difficulties for this new Cambodian community.

Sotheavy Tan and Sambo Ly, genocide survivors and Cambodian community leaders

Yet the Cambodian community in Oakland looked to heal from these traumas. Organizations such as Cambodian Community Development Inc.  (CCDI) were established by former refugees to promote and support the community. The challenges, triumphs and history of this community is on display at the Peralta Hacienda Historical Park in Oakland, where CHAA, along with other community partners (including CCDI) worked with the museum to collect photographs and stories for the museum exhibit which featured a timeline detailing the history of ancient Cambodia, to the dark days of the Khmer Rouge, to the current Cambodian community living in Oakland.

The museum exhibit opened on Saturday, October 22 and featured performances by members of the local Cambodian Community.  The performances included 92-year-old Nhep Prok, a long time performer in Cambodia who now teaches traditional Cambodian music to younger generations. Nhep Prok and others from the community played traditional instruments for the museum opening audience, displaying an art form that the Khmer Rouge had attempted to destroy years ago.

Cambodian dancers

The performances of the day also included a traditional Cambodian dance, featuring young women in glamorous cultural clothing,  poetry performances and a hip hop performance by local rapper RJ, a young Cambodian American youth leader who uses his cultural heritage and life experience to inspire powerful lyrics and rhymes in his music.

RJ performing for the museum crowd, including Nhep Prok in front

The museum opening was a heartfelt, powerful and bittersweet celebration of both the struggles and triumphs of the Cambodian community in Oakland. The museum display is currently up at the Peralta Hacienda Historical Park where visitors are invited to visit, learn and experience these stories. 


Written by S. Nadia Hussain
Photographs by S. Nadia Hussain

Halloween at CHAA

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is the season for candy, pumpkins, costumes and well...more candy. This year CHAA held a Halloween party along with the local Cambodian Women's Community Group. Pumpkins and goodies were strewn about as Cambodian children and youth carved pumpkins, ate and enjoyed themselves.

The festivities also brought together CHAA staff, many of whom have worked very closely with Cambodian women during the last year. Awards were given out to different women in the group in recognition of their  hard work and dedication to the community. Women from different generations accepted their awards with big hugs and smiles.

It was wonderful to celebrate the collaboration between CHAA and the Cambodian Women's Group. Supporting community building is a major part of the work CHAA does and this Halloween party was a nice way to come together during the fall season to recognize the positive strides that were taken together throughout the year.

Sotheavy Tan (left), Ann Rojos - Cheatem and ED Beatrice Lee giving out awards

Written by S. Nadia Hussain
Photographs by S. Nadia Hussain

Coming Together to Stop Youth Violence

Hand drawn sign welcoming participants

In 2004 the first Youth Stopping Violence Summit was created as a response to the death of a 15-year old Khmu youth, Chan Boonkeut, who was shot and killed at her home in San Pablo, CA, on October 13, 2003, by youth members of a Southeast Asian gang. This tragedy galvanized the community, resulting in efforts to organize the community, including youth, engaging them in discussions and planning towards the goal of violence prevention. Out of this tragedy SEAYL was created and we have continued to organize the Youth Stopping Violence Summit every year since then. In recent years the summit has grown and evolved, reaching outside of West Contra Costa County, and outside of the Southeast Asian communities, to promote cultural diversity and unity.

Volunteers from UC Berkeley's Southeast Asian Students Assoc.

The 2011 Youth Against Violence Summit was held in the Lovonya DeJean Middle School in Richmond, CA. The conference held workshops hosted by various non profits groups  and youth leaders. Workshops such as using "Art as Expression", "Social Media"and "How to Handle Conflicts Non Violently" gave participants the tools for addressing violence within themselves and with others, as well as using expressions such as art to safely channel their emotions.

A young woman's response to her access to information regarding her culture

Throughout the event, various speakers took center stage to discuss the impact of violence, offer words of inspiration and provide reflection on a community working towards peace.  The first speaker, Alejandro Viches, spoke of the need to rise above violence and better oneself to have a positive future that can lead to a violence-free community. Another speaker was SEAYL’s own Tai Greer, who became a member of the SEAYL and BEATZ program after being put on probation. The program helped Tai change his life around, and he shared his positive and inspirational words with the youth members attending the conference.

SEAYL members performing

The highlight of the event were the performances led by SEAYL members. There were hip hop and singing performances by Tai and a young woman named Sade, as well as other performers. At the end of the conference, youth rushed on stage to have freestyle breakdancing, where the stage was open to anyone who wanted show off their moves. The spirit of the conference really shone through as young men and women came together to circle around as one by one, they stepped forward to pose, hold and step.  The performance ended with the SEAYL group performance. Through rhyming and rapping, three young men closed off the day by showing everyone that artistic expression can be a means to help end violence and empower young people. The audience was up and cheering and the atmosphere ended with a lively and unified atmosphere.

Bboying on stage

Youth violence in our communities is and has been a pressing issue in the United States for years, initiatives like SEAYL and BEATZ are providing opportunities to young people who often have no positive alternatives or influences in their lives.  The Youth Stopping Violence Conference began because of tragedy but has continued to hold a space for the community to come together, learn, celebrate and have the space to express themselves. May the young men and women involved in this conference move to continue striving for a brighter future for themselves and their communities. 

SEAYL youth group picture at the end of the conf.

Too see more photos from the Summit go here. 

Photographs by S. Nadia Hussain

Posted by S. Nadia Hussain

Hacking for Nepali Earthquake Relief

Nepali computer programmers coding for disaster relief efforts

September 27, 2011- In response to a 6.9 earthquake that hit Nepal last week, local Nepali programmers came together for a “hackathon” this past Sunday at CHAA’s Oakland office. For people that may not know, Wikipedia defines a hackathon as "a hacker neologism,  an event when programmers meet to do collaborative computer programming. The spirit of a hackathon is to collaboratively build programs and applications. Hackathons are typically between several days and a week in length. A hackathon refers not simply to one time hacks, but to a specific time when many people come together to hack on what they want to, how they want”.

This particular hackathon addressed the issues of how to centralize information so people in situations involving natural disasters are not in a panic due to lack of information and access to resources. Bijay, a computer programmer who was giving up hours of his computer expertise to the hackathon spoke about what participants were hoping to accomplish that day. Bijay spoke of efforts to open a Google portal, to figure out a web domain name for their disaster relief project and pointed to a Google app called “Google disaster” that the Google company set up in response to the recent tsunami in Japan.  This disaster app includes setting up a section called “People Find” where anyone can upload notices and photos of people who are missing during national disasters ,  as well as setting up pictures of people who have been ‘found’.  The app enables people on the ground to immediately use SMS to take photos or relay information through text messages, even before official relief efforts from agencies or government entities may occur.

Nisha Thapa (second from right)  setting up a conference call with experts

Outside of addressing post disaster efforts, these apps also assist in disaster preparedness efforts in a place like Nepal, a country that lies directly on a fault line.  Preventative efforts such as utilizing crowdsourcing  (outsourcing tasks to crowds or the public instead of to groups of experts) to identify local buildings that appear to be in danger of collapse if a quake were to occur and sending pictures of the buildings to a website,where collections of pictures could be sent to governments in efforts to retrofit unsafe buildings are one the ways that people on the ground can work together to bring about changes that may save many lives.

The CHAA office was buzzing with typing, debates and discussions.

Nepali programmers were working to create an interactive map of Nepal, an online donation box, a newsfeed as well as integrating twitter into the site.

After observing the hackers working away on their program, a conference call began in the main CHAA conference room, where medical experts weighed in with their ideas on disaster preparedness.

Hackers or computer programmers are usually not seen as human rights activists, but they can often be one and the same. There are quite a few collections of hackers  online who use their technological skills in the name of human rights. People may not be familiar with Hackathons, but this kind of event may very well be an effort that can save dozens, hundreds and perhaps even thousands of lives one day, as technology and communication surge forward throughout the world.

Click here to see photos of the Hackathon

Photographs by S. Nadia Hussain

Posted by S. Nadia Hussain

            

Video Workshop for Himalayan Youth

Himalayan youth presenting their ideas regarding media

Saturday, September 24, 2011 -  At the Ninth Street Independent Film Center, the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), TILT, and Sahayeta held a youth media literacy and video production workshop for approximately 19 Himalayan Youth. The Himalayan community is a lesser-known minority group in the US, but the workshop is working to change this by increasing the visibility of Himalayan peoples via media access and training.

Himalayan youth filled a room with black curtains and black walls, reminiscent of the set of “Inside the

Actors Studio”.  They had come in early on a grey Saturday morning, a feat onto itself, to attend the opening day of the workshop.

Kar Yin Tham from CAAM leading discussion

With Kar Yin Tham from CAAM facilitating, the workshop began with representatives from different organizations, including CHAA, speaking to participants about the importance of media, culture and self–expression. Long time community leader, Thepo Tulku, spoke of the importance of maintaining culture and being able to show their unique cultural views to others. He mentioned the spiritual aspects of peace in Himalayan cultures and how concepts of peace could be expressed through these young people in media to create a positive impact on the world.

After the presentations, the students were asked to participate as they broke out into smaller groups to discuss what issues they
faced as Himalayan youth in

Participant presenting his group ideas

America. As groups made their presentations on butcher paper, there were humorous anecdotes about getting lost in US classrooms and disagreements with parents about miniskirts. The background of these individual discussions were serious, however, as youth participants spoke out eagerly about their experiences and their ideas on ways to express themselves more freely. Communication with parents was a topic of focus as many participants (and some parents in the audience) thought of ways to connect the younger generation, who are often interested in integrating into their new culture and have the desire to explore new things such as diverse career paths, and the older generation, who often try to hold on strongly to valued cultural norms from their homelands.  Youth participants made it clear that they wanted to hold onto their cultural roots, but also wanted to create the space to explore new paths when it came to creativity, expression and future career goals.

The Himalayan Youth Video Workshop will run until December 3^rd.  Participants will have the opportunity to make group films in the workshop that will later be shown at CAAM’s Asian American Film Festival in San Francisco.  It is an exciting opportunity for young people to get media training and use their skills and ideas to exhibit their ideas to their own communities and beyond.


To see more photos of the Himalayan youth workshops go to here and here.

Photographs by S. Nadia Hussain

Posted by S. Nadia Hussain