2021 Washington Leadership Program Session VII: Our Voice, Our Power: AANHPI Cross-Community Alignment

This session will address topics surrounding where the AANHPI community aligns itself in terms of providing solidarity and building cross-community connections outside the AANHPI realm. Key topics will include AANHPI involvement and perspective of recent social movements and events, repercussions of the complexity of the AANHPI community and how that translates to cross-community alignment, and ways in which to move forward and build productive dialogue and bridges.

Note: All WLP Sessions will be recorded live.

Speakers

Dylan Rodríguez is a teacher, writer, and scholarly activist. He was named to the inaugural class of Freedom Scholars in 2020 and served as President of the American Studies Association (2020-2021).  He has worked as a Professor at the University of California, Riverside since 2001, and was the faculty-elected Chair of the UCR Division of the Academic Senate (2016-2020). Prior to his Senate leadership, he was the Chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies (2009-2016).

Dylan’s work addresses the normalized proliferation of oppressive violence in everyday state, cultural, and social formations.  He conceptualizes abolitionist and other forms of movement as part of the historical, collective genius of rebellion, survival, and radical futurity. 

He is the author of three books, most recently White Reconstruction: Domestic Warfare and the Logic of Racial Genocide (Fordham University Press, 2021), and is co-editor of Critical Ethnic Studies: A Reader (Duke University Press, 2016).  Follow Dylan at Twitter (@dylanrodriguez), Instagram (dylanrodriguez73), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/dylanrodriguez73)

Chhaya Chhoum co-founded Mekong NYC, a community-based organization in the Bronx empowering the Cambodian and Vietnamese community through arts, culture, community organizing, and advocacy. She is currently the Executive Director of Mekong NYC. Follow Chhaya at mekongnyc_@instagram, facebook.com/MekongNYC @mekongnyc

Sky Wildcat, Cherokee and Muscogee, comes from Tahlequah, OK. Sky is a graduate of Northeastern State University with a B.A. in geography and psychology and a M.S. in higher education. She is currently a student in the higher education PhD. program at the University of Arkansas. She is a former Remember the Removal bike rider and UNITY Earth Ambassador and 25 under 25 recipient. Sky dedicates her work to the Indigenous peoples of this land and currently works as a project coordinator for the University of Missouri and works on several projects, including developing and administering an Indigenous Health Toolkit training for health providers to better treat Indigenous patients and assists in conducting research.

Amalia Chamorro leads education policy for UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza), the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Her work encompasses early childhood education, K-12, and higher education. In this role, Amalia provides strategic direction and manages activities for the education policy team. Her work focuses on closing opportunity gaps and advancing equity for Latino students and English learners at both the federal and state levels (priority states include Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas). 

At UnidosUS, Ms. Chamorro is responsible for identifying promising education policy innovations, conducting and publishing policy research, and carrying out legislative advocacy. Amalia brings over 15 years of public policy and advocacy experience at the local, state and federal levels. Prior to joining UnidosUS in 2018, Amalia was Vice President of Public Policy at United Way Bay Area, where she launched the organization’s policy and advocacy initiative to cut poverty.

Ms. Chamorro holds a Juris Doctor from Boston College and a bachelor’s degree in political science/international relations from UCLA. She serves on the board of Hispanic Lobbyists Association and is co-chair of the Hispanic Education Coalition.  Follow Amalia at @AmaliaChamorro @WeAreUnidosUS

Peniel Joseph holds a joint professorship appointment at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding director of the LBJ School’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy (CSRD). His career focus has been on “Black Power Studies,” which encompasses interdisciplinary fields such as Africana studies, law and society, women’s and ethnic studies, and political science.

Prior to joining the UT faculty, Dr. Joseph was a professor at Tufts University, where he founded the school’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy to promote engaged research and scholarship focused on the ways issues of race and democracy affect people’s lives.

In addition to being a frequent commentator on issues of race, democracy and civil rights, Dr. Joseph’s most recent book is The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. He also wrote the award-winning books Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America and Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama. His book Stokely: A Life has been called the definitive biography of Stokely Carmichael, the man who popularized the phrase “black power.” Included among Joseph’s other book credits is the editing of The Black Power Movement: Rethinking the Civil Rights-Black Power Era and Neighborhood Rebels: Black Power at the Local Level. (UTexas.edu)

Moderator

Aerica Shimizu Banks is a tech policy expert and inclusion innovator. She is the founder of Shiso, a consultancy that applies an intersectional equity lens to business development, tech, and policy challenges. She creates systems and frameworks to elevate and restore equity in our institutions. She was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur and a Tech Titan by Washingtonian Magazine. 

She served on President Biden’s innovation policy committee; founded Pinterest’s DC office and led federal affairs; led diversity and equity initiatives on Google’s legal team and served as the Black small business liaison for the DC area; co-founded BEACON: The DC Women Founders Initiative; was a political appointee in the Obama Administration; and advanced environmental justice policies in Washington state. She holds an MSc in Environmental Policy from Oxford University and a BA in Environmental Studies and Public Affairs from Seattle University. To learn more about Aerica, visit aerica.co.