August 17, 2020 to August 21, 2020
Hello Friend,
This week I want to remember Dr. Ruby Takanishi, an elder now an ancestor.
Dr. Ruby Takanishi was a champion for children, especially immigrant and multilingual students. Her legacy lives on in the number of people she was able to build with to launch the PreK-3rd movement, as well as in those she guided and supported throughout her life. Ruby is the former president and CEO of the Foundation for Child Development, author of First Things First! Creating the New American Primary School (published in 2016) and senior research fellow at New America. These were important roles, but she knew they were just levers for the kind of change she believed was possible if we put all children first.
I met Ruby not too long after CAAL was formed, when our community had selected education as a priority issue for our network to work on. After a year of engaging the community we honed in on the needs of multi-language learners and aimed to find new paths to ensure Asian students were included in efforts that aimed to achieve equitable education outcomes. Too often Asian Minnesotan students are left out because there is a false perception that assumes universal success. Ruby listened deeply to understand the contextual complexities of community. She affirmed that science and data should always be useful to those who are most impacted, and when she was also doing important research on multi-language learning, she invited us into spaces that would have easily dismissed lived experiences.
Beyond this, Ruby regularly emailed encouragements and checked-in on how things were going. In those early days of CAAL I was the sole staff, so I appreciated her intentional support. I still have emails from her just dropping a line by to say she was thinking of me and our conversations, and knew someone else I could connect with.
I’m grateful for how Ruby demonstrated being an elder. She was genuinely interested, grounded, invested in the future, and generous with her knowledge and connections. Ruby reminded me that as we build work to achieve social justice, there is always a need for multigenerational leadership.
I send our deepest condolences to her family.
With gratitude,
Bo Thao-Urabe
Executive and Network Director
CAAL ACTIVITIES & EVENTS
Limited #MinneAsianStories Exhibit Reveal
Tuesday, August 18 (11:00 AM – 3:00 PM) and Thursday, August 20 (4:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
Our 2020 #MinneAsianStories exhibit is finally done. It’s a tribute to the storytellers and their stories. We’re pleased to offer a limited number of people the opportunity to safely come and see the exhibit. The exhibit features the 31 #MinneAsianStories.
The first 50 registered attendees will receive a free graphic #MinneAsianStories book that features 17 stories graphically illustrated by 9 local Asian Minnesotan artists.
Register for a time slot here.
Education Work Group
Wednesday, August 19, 2020 (4:00 PM – 5:30 PM)
Please register here in order to receive the meeting information.
Economics Work Group
Wednesday, August 26, 2020 (4:00 PM to 5:30 PM)
Please register here in order to receive the meeting information.
State of Asian Minnesotans: Visibility and Survival in the Age of Covid-19
Thursday, August 27, 2020 (3:00 PM – 4:30 PM)
Featured Speakers: Chao Yang, Hedy Tripp, Ia Xiong, and Ignatius Bau
In this session, community leaders and experts will come together to discuss the barriers that shape healthcare disparities for Asian Minnesotans, including the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19, and how communities are responding. Hear from health policy and public health experts and community voices on addressing the health, well-being and survival of our communities in this moment of COVID-19. To receive the Zoom link, please register here.
ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES & EVENTS
Ramsey County Small Business Relief Funds
Ramsey County is offering small business relief funds. The application must be received by Friday, August 21, 2020 (5:00 PM)
One Minnesota Statewide Author Discussion
Thursday, August 20, 2020 (7:00PM – 9:00PM)
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library statewide virtual event will feature Sun Yung Shin, editor of A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota, in conversation with contributors Taiyon Coleman, Shannon Gibney, David Lawrence Grant, Carolyn Holbrook, IBé, and Andrea Jenkins. Learn more about this event here.
From Mu, With Love: A Virtual Cabaret
Saturday August 22, 2020
The only way forward is together, and thanks to the support of community members both in the Twin Cities and across the country, Theater Mu is ready for its next chapter. The evening will be hosted by Lily Tung Crystal and Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, with feature performances from your favorite Mu artists, and include our 2020/21 season announcement.
Learn more about this virtual cabaret here.
Histories of Black-Asian Solidarity and Anti-Racism
Saturday August 22, 2020 (2:00 PM – 3:45 PM)
In this discussion, TC JACL will center the shared, lived experiences of Japaneseness and Japanese Americanness as related to Blackness, anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and racism. They also welcome those who do not identify as above, but ask that such participants enter from a place of cultural and racial humility with a primary purpose of asking, listening, and learning. Learn more about this event here.
Report Discrimination and Bias
If you experience or witness discrimination based on race, where you come from, your immigration status, or anything else, call Minnesota’s Discrimination Helpline at 1-833-454-0148 or submit this online form. The helpline is staffed by investigators from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. Translation/interpretation services are available.