Session 6: Rising Up Together
In this session we explored solutions that change how we envision community-care and ensure that resources are accessible to our most vulnerable communities. We heard from Karen leaders, one of the more recent refugee groups to Minnesota, about how they are building their community in the face of many challenges. We also discussed themes from webinars, highlighting historic moments that demonstrated how we have risen up together against oppressive systems that harm our communities.
The State of Asian Minnesotans Series takes a critical look at the state and progress of Asian/Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Minnesota, and consider what else we can do to tap into the assets of, and ensure inclusion of this community. We invite subject experts, researchers, community members, and thought leaders that increase audience knowledge, challenge and allow audiences to dive deeper in their understandings of this population, and provide new thinking and tools for audiences to consider as they work with Asian Minnesotan communities.
Featured Panelists
Donna Maeda, Dean, Institute for Global Citizenship and Professor of American Studies at Macalester College
Donna Maeda is Dean of the Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship (IGC) and Professor of American Studies at Macalester College. The IGC creates opportunities for deepening understandings of internationalism, multiculturalism, and community engagement. Donna works with faculty, students, and staff to create spaces for the empowerment of Black, Indigenous, and people of color, while also building partnerships across the campus to foster diverse communities of scholar-activists. She is especially interested in the transformative possibilities created by campus/community collaborative partnerships, collective leadership practices, and building solidarity through organizing. As a scholar, Donna draws from critical race legal studies to examine how law shapes institutions, social structures, and understandings of race, gender, and other forms of difference. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Ethics from the University of Southern California; a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law; and a B.A. in Music History and Literature from St. Olaf College. She lives in the West Side of St. Paul and is involved with the West Side Community Organization, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, Voices for Racial Justice, Root and Restore, and Clouds in Water Zen Center.
Eh Tah Khu, Co-Executive Director at Karen Organization of Minnesota
Eh Tah Khu joined the Karen Organization of Minnesota in 2011 as a Youth Development Coordinator and was promoted to Program Manager for Youth and Social Services in 2013. He was appointed Co-Executive Director by the Board of Directors in February 2016. As Co-Executive Director, Eh Tah Khu will primarily focus on program management, operations, and community engagement. He is also a visible leader in the Karen community in St. Paul through his active participation with the Karen Community of Minnesota and Ebenezer Karen Baptist Church.
Eh Tah Khu was born in Burma, but due to political conflict, he moved to Thailand as a refugee where he earned a four-year degree from Kawthoolei Karen Baptist Bible School and College. After graduating, he taught for two years and helped manage multiple schools under the Burmese Migrant Workers Education Committee. He came to Minnesota as a refugee with his wife and son in 2010 and became a U.S. Citizen in 2015.
Hsajune Dyan, Assistant Principal, Washington Technology Magnet School
I graduated from Saint Paul Public Schools in 2004 and am excited to be back at Washington as an Assistant Principal. I look forward to working with the 8th grade teachers and students at Washington. Go Eagles!
Before coming to Washington, I worked as a Bilingual Education Assistant at Phalen Lake Hmong Studies and Como Park Senior High School. Then I spent a few years at district offices, which included the Communication Department, Multilingual Department, and Office of Family Engagement and Community Partnerships. I earned my undergraduate degree in history from UW-River Falls in 2008, graduate degree in Public and Nonprofit Administration from Metropolitan State University in 2015 and K-12 principal licensure from Bethel University in 2019.
In my spare time I enjoy reading, traveling with my family, and watching sports – all domestic major sports leagues and major European soccer leagues.
Kaziah Josiah, Board Member at Karen Organization of Minnesota & CAAL MOVEE Alumna
Kaziah was born in Thailand, in 1995, and immigrated as a refugee to the United States in 2004. She has a BA in Political Science and Economics at St. Olaf College. She is a board member of the Karen Organization of Minnesota (KOM) and a CAAL MOVEE alumna.
Kaziah has always had a passion and drive to work with immigrants and refugee families that struggle to adjust to this country. Her interest in activism stems from personal experience as a refugee. Born into a Karen family, she grew up in Thailand and in America. At a young age, she struggled to understand who she was due to the multiple cultural identities that she has gained throughout her life. Thus, Kaziah became deeply interested in advocacy work in human rights, particularly regarding immigrant and refugee issues.