The Nikkei Student Union at UCLA proudly presents our 26th Annual Cultural Night, Our [I]dentity: It’s More Than Blood. Join us on Monday, February 20th at Royce Hall at 7pm for this student-run production showcasing our talents and collaborations as well as our passion and commitment to Japanese American culture and heritage. Featured groups will be Kyodo Taiko (Japanese drumming), NSU Modern (hip-hop), NSU Odori (traditional Japanese dancing), and our first ever UCLA NSU vocal group, V-TONE. These performances are tied together with a student-written drama aimed to deliver its cultural message in paying tribute to the past as well as looking to the present and future.

Cultural Night originated from the 1986 Week of Remembrance, an event that commemorated President Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066, leading to the incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps.

This year, the theme of Cultual Night is identity, particularly that of the Shin-Nisei generation: the new second generation of Japanese American immigrants who came to America after World War II. This generation faces the conflict of fitting into a continually more American community versus sticking to their Japanese roots. We believe that identity struggles are faced by people of all backgrounds and hope that this production will serve as a basis for further conversation on the issue.

Our drama will feature the story of Mark and Maki, two Shin-Nisei UCLA students struggling to find their place in the Japanese American community as they go through new experiences in college.

Scholarship from Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Community – due February 12th

Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Community is a non-profit consortium of more than fifteen organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area providing support and community for nearly 500 queer Asian and Pacific Islander individuals. The APIQWTC scholarship supports queer API women and transgender people in their pursuit of technical/professional training or higher education. The scholarship hopes to recognize those who are active in the community and encourage future leaders. APIQWTC will be awarding scholarships of $500 to two Asian/Pacific Islander lesbian, bisexual, or queer women or transgender individuals pursuing technical/professional training or an undergraduate/graduate degree.

Award Criteria

Current students in a certificate or degree-granting program as well as high school seniors pursuing further education or training in summer 2012 or fall 2012 are eligible to apply. Applicants should demonstrate academic commitment as well as community involvement.

Application Requirements
Please submit:
· A cover letter
· A resume or c.v.
· A two-page double-spaced personal statement.

The personal statement should address community involvement and future goals. How has your cultural heritage, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity influenced your life and any activities in which you have been involved? Discuss any relevant experiences up to the present and how you see yourself involved in the community in the future, either through your career or otherwise.
· An official transcript
· At least one but no more than two letters of recommendation.
Letter(s) of reference should come from an instructor, employer, academic counselor, coach, community leader, or any other individual not related to you who is familiar with your personal, academic, or leadership qualities.

Submit statements and resumes/c.v.’s electronically no later than 7pm February 12, 2012. Letters and transcripts must be postmarked by February 12, 2012.

Send statement and resume/CV as electronic attachments to sueyoshi@sfsu.edu

Send letter(s) and transcripts to:
Amy Sueyoshi, Associate Professor
College of Ethnic Studies/San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132

Constance Coiner Award – due February 16 @ 5:30 PM

This award honors the life and continues the work of Constance Coiner, PhD (1987), who died along with her daughter, Ana Duarte-Coiner, on TWA Flight 800, in June of 1996. The applicant must demonstrate an active commitment to both working-class and feminist issues and involvement in community activities for social change.

APPLICATIONS DUE IN MARCH

Scholarships from UCLA Asian American Studies Center” – Due March 9th

21st Century Undergraduate Internship 1 award at $2,000 each NEW!
Angie Kwon Memorial Scholarship 2 awards at $2,000 each
21st Century Undergraduate Scholarship 1 award at $3,500 each
Toshio & Chiyoko Hoshide Scholarship 3 awards at $4,500 each
Reiko Uyeshima & Family Scholarship 3 awards at $4,500 each
Chidori Aiso Memorial Scholarship 3 awards at $4,500 each
George & Sakaye Aratani Community Internship 3 awards at $3,000 each
John Kubota Grant in Japanese American Studies 1 award at $4,500
Morgan & Helen Chu Outstanding Scholar Award 1 award at $4,500

Scholarships are awarded for community oriented research, creative projects,
campus or community service experience, internship with specified community organizations.

Awards from UCLA Asian American Studies Center” – Due March 9th

Hiram Wheeler Edwards Prize for the Study of WWII Internment Camps and Japanese Americans 1 award at $500
Eun Ju Koo Undergraduate Prize 1 award at $499.50
Professor Harry H.L. Kitano Undergraduate Prize 1 award at $500
Benjamin Cayetano Public Policy and Politics Prize 1 award at $500
Ben & Alice Hirano Academic Prize 1 award at $400
Tsugio & Miyoko Nakanishi Prize in Asian American Literature & Culture 1 award at $500
Rose Eng Chin & Helen Wong Eng Prize 1 award at $500
Royal Morales Prize in Pilipino American Studies 1 award at $500

Academic Prizes are awarded to the most outstanding papers, or thesis and dissertations.

Shui Kuen and Allen Chin Scholarship for Children of Restaurant Workers” – Due March 15

Two $1,000 scholarships for restaurant workers and children of restaurant workers are available from the Shui Kuen and Allen Chin Scholarship, a program of the Asian Pacific Fund. The scholarship, founded in 2005, honors the values of Detroit restaurant owners Shui Kuen and Allen Chin through supporting the education aspirations of children of workers in the Asian/Pacific Islander food service industry in the U.S.

• Political awareness and civic engagement
• Understanding of the legislative process
• Insight on issues related to the APA community
• Professional and leadership qualities
• Public speaking and presentation skills
• Interview and social etiquette
• Organizational and cooperative working skills

• Receive internship placement in the offices of elected officials.
• This opportunity affords interns a unique hands-on experience in the legislative process, policy knowledge and constituent outreach.
• Gain access to and insight from civic leaders through leadership workshops and seminars.
• Interns receive leadership training from elected officials and community leaders; meet and learn from assemblymembers and state senators in Sacramento, and get a firsthand, inside perspective of how the government functions.
• Participate in local APA community events.
• Interns act as liaisons between community and government, and gain a deeper understanding of the issues that affect their communities and the APA community.

• March 16, 2012 for early consideration
• April 27, 2012 for regular consideration

>>> For the application and more internship information, click here.

Scholarship Overview:

CAPAL scholarships allow outstanding APA students to spend the summer interning for a federal government agency, a Capitol Hill legislative office, or a non-profit organization, and gain firsthand knowledge of the workings of American government. Each CAPAL scholar will be awarded $2,000 in scholarships to support their successful completion of an internship of their choice in the Washington D.C. metro area. Each CAPAL scholar will be responsible for obtaining their own placement.

Internship Overview:

In partnership with federal government agencies, CAPAL will award internships with stipends at federal offices to outstanding Asian Pacific American (APA) students committed to public service. Past agency placements have included the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Forest Service, Agricultural Research Service, Rural Development, and Food Safety and Inspection Service.

CAPAL is a 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization dedicated to building leadership and public policy knowledge within the Asian Pacific American community. Its mission is to promote APA interests and success in public service careers, to provide information and education on policy issues affecting the APA community, and to serve the APA community at large.

Please visit www.capal.org for more information.

The City of Pasadena was the first city in Southern CA to pass an annual Fred Korematsu Day to be held on the date of his birth, Jan. 30th. This resolution was passed by Pasadena City Council on February 28, 2011. We honor this individual as well as fellow activists Min Yasui and Gordon Hirabayashi and Americans of Japanese descent who were interned during World War II.

WHAT: Fred Korematsu Day, Pasadena
WHEN: Monday – Jan. 30, 2012 from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
WHAT: Donald Wright Auditorium, Main Pasadena Public Library
MORE: 4:30 – 6:00 pm – Meeting – Invite input for Fred Korematsu Day 2013; 6:30 pm – Presentation to Pasadena City Council

INFO: FREE event but seating is limited. For more information & Parking go to www.WowEventProductions.com or contact Wendy at wowproductions2@earthlink.net 626-683-8243

(Note: No parking is allowed in the library parking lot for this event)

PROGRAM SPEAKERS:
> Opening Remarks – Pasadena Mayor BILL BOGAARD

> Pasadena Resident ESTHER TAKEI NISHIO – During WWII, when 120,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from their West Coast homes and incarcerated in ten desolate American concentration camps, a group of local Quakers came up with an idea to show that Americans of Japanese descent were indeed loyal to the United States and should be allowed to return home. In September 1944, Esther Takei Nishio was 19-years-old when these Quakers-with the approval of the U.S. Military–summoned her from a concentration camp in Colorado to serve as a “test case” to see how the Pasadena community would react to a Japanese American in their midst. If Esther was accepted, they believed, it would open the door for other Japanese Americans to return. But when word of her return made front page news, Esther faced a firestorm of hatred, fear and intolerance as she attended school at Pasadena City College. One man formed a “Ban the Japs” committee. A little old lady saw her at a bus stop and spit on her one day, and slapped her across the face the next. Esther knew that she was representing her community, and her actions could determine whether they returned or not. And so she endured indignity with dignity and violence with non-violence. Hear her compelling story at Fred Korematsu Day in Pasadena!

> SUSIE LING – Associate Professor of History & Asian American Studies and history at Pasadena City College (PCC). She has been teaching Asian American studies continuously since 1971. PCC sponsors buses to Manzanar Pilgrimage each year. In 2010, PCC was proud to give honorary degrees to Nisei alumni who were unjustly incarcerated in 1942.

> ALAN NISHIO – Founding member of the NCRR (Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress founded in 1980) and currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Little Tokyo Service Center, a community development corporation in Los Angeles. He retired after 34 years of service as Associate Vice President of Student Services, California State University.

> PATTY KINAGA – Pasadena resident Patty Kinaga specializes in employment litigation for over 20 years. Inspired by her father’s military service made a documentary film about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. In April, her 6-year old daughter Emily sparked a star-studded “Thousand Hearts” Concert to benefit the victims of Japan’s earthquake/tsunami held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

> SOJI KASHIWAGI – Playwright and Executive Producer of the Grateful Crane Ensemble, a non-profit theater group. Pasadena resident who serves as a commissioner on the Pasadena Human Relations Commission, District 4. He has written numerous plays, articles, columns and essays on the Japanese American experience, many of which have focused on the WWII imprisonment of the Japanese American community.
> Through these efforts, we hope to encourage the educational system in Pasadena to teach curriculum that the Korematsu Institute has developed. Continue to educate Americans about the history of Americans of Japanese descent during WWII and of their internment experiences before, during and after the war. Spark more City Resolutions throughout Southern CA, in other States as well as develop a strong committee that will continue to advance activities to recognize Fred Korematsu Day

> FRED KOREMATSU – www.KorematsuInstitute.org
Fred T. Korematsu was a national civil rights hero. In 1942, at the age of 23, he refused to go to the government’s incarceration camps for Japanese Americans. After he was arrested and convicted of defying the government’s order, he appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1944, the Supreme Court ruled against him, arguing that the incarceration was justified due to military necessity.

> In 1983, Prof. Peter Irons, a legal historian, together with researcher Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, discovered key documents that government intelligence agencies had hidden from the Supreme Court in 1944. The documents consistently showed that Japanese Americans had committed no acts of treason to justify mass incarceration. With this new evidence, a legal team of mostly Japanese American attorneys re-opened Korematsu’s 40 year-old case on the basis of government misconduct. On November 10, 1983, Korematsu’s conviction was overturned in a federal court in San Francisco. It was a pivotal moment in civil rights history.

> Korematsu remained an activist throughout his life. In 1998, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Bill Clinton. In 2010, the state of California passed the Fred Korematsu Day bill, making January 30 the first day in the US named after an Asian American. Korematsu’s growing legacy continues to inspire activists of all backgrounds and demonstrates the importance of speaking up to fight injustice.

Taking some of the words that Yukio Kawaratani said at City Council on Jan 31, 2011 -
“Fred Korematsu challenged the Government all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decision held that military necessity outweighed Korematsu’s individual rights and the rights of all Americans of Japanese descent. Fred Korematsu is a hero and a symbol for all Americans to honor. he alerted us to be vigilant to the continuing legal concept that the government can suspend civil liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and discriminate and take action against any group or organization of people on the basis of military necessity.”

You are invited to march with API Equality-LA in the 113th Annual Golden Dragon Parade to celebrate the Lunar New Year! Join us as we welcome the Year of the Dragon and provide an LGBT presence at Chinatown’s largest celebration! As the only LGBT contingent in the Golden Dragon Parade, we will march together to show that our movement for equality and the fair treatment for LGBT individuals is stronger than ever!

When
Assemble at 12:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 28, 2012

Where
Meet at the courtyard at 12:00 p.m. at the Hall of Records – 320 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA [Map]. The courtyard is located on Hill St., just south of Temple St. We will provide sandwiches and drinks, though quantities are limited! Come early!

If you arrive after 12:45 p.m. then proceed directly to the staging area on Hill St. between Temple St. and Cesar E. Chavez Bl. and ask for the API Equality-LA unit or look for our red t-shirts.

Transportation
Public parking is available for a fee at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, located at 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles [Map]. Other commercial parking lots are also available near City Hall, Olvera Street, and Little Tokyo. Persons taking the Metro Red Line should exit at the Civic Center station and walk a half block up to the courtyard between the Hall of Administration and Los Angeles Superior Court. DO NOT exit at the Chinatown Station because that is the end of the parade route!

Theme
This year’s parade unit will feature two same-sex couples walking in front of a sign of the Chinese character, “double happiness,” which is used in traditional Chinese weddings. Our unit will also feature the six colors of the rainbow flag, representing LGBT pride and diversity. Paraders will be provided with banners, flags, streamers, and handheld drum noisemakers to carry in a colorful display of diversity, inclusion, and equality for all members of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities.

Community-based organizations are highly encouraged to bring your own organizational banners to march with in the parade and demonstrate your group’s support for the cause.

Costumes/Shirts
API Equality-LA will provide red t-shirts to all that attend. We ask that you wear this shirt for the entire duration of the march for a consistent a presentation.

Post-Parade Annual Lunar New Year Banquet, 5:00 p.m.
Your organization is also more than welcome to dine with us at CBS Seafood Restaurant (700 N Spring St. in Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA [Map], just walking distance from the parade route)! Cost is $25/person. For more information and to purchase your ticket, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/lnybanquet. If you would like to purchase a table or have any questions, regarding the dinner, please contact Alex Fukui at (310) 291-4849 (Note: Time subject to change, based on when our parade end time.).

Contact
For general questions, please contact me at (213) 580-1800 or email brian@apiequalityla.org. If you have any questions on THE DAY OF the parade & banquet, please call Ericson Herbas at (323) 217-3267.

Now Accepting:
APAICS 2012 – 2013 Fellowship Program Applications

The Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) is now accepting applications for its APAICS 2012 – 2013 Fellowship Program in Washington, D.C.

If individuals are interested, please have them fill out the 2012 – 2013 application here.

The APAICS Internship Program places fellows in the US Congress, federal agencies and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) nonprofit organizations.

The program aims to build leadership skills and foster a strong intent in political and civic engagement.
For undergraduate and graduate students.

For more information about the APAICS 2012 – 2013 Fellowship Program, visit this link.

APAICS is also pleased to partner with the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) for a joint housing fellowship program in Washington, D.C.

Please be sure to look out for more information from APAICS regarding the 2012 – 2013 fellowship in the near future.

For additional questions, contact APAICS Program Director at fellowship@apaics.org or (202) 296-9200.

UCLA Asian American Studies Center
Student Community Projects Unit
3230 Campbell Hall

Position: Assistant IV – clerical/office
Pay Rate: $ 9.47
Hours per week: 10-15 hours/week

Period needed: January 2012 to June 2012

Job Description:

General office clerical duties, data entry, answering phone calls, photocopying, typing memos,
filing, mail distribution, posting bulletin board, other clerical duties as needed and running errands, graphic design – flyers, brochures.

SCP Files Management – Organize, prepare and box files for storage to AASC SCP archives; dispose of documents after review and approval from SCP Coordinator.

Serve as a Center liaison with UCLA Asian American and Pacific Island student organizations, especially AASC student organization partners. Will be Office Manager for AASC student org office space in 3221 Campbell Hall.

Assist with development, implementation and publicity of AASC and SCP programs and projects as requested.

Qualifications:
Prefer at least 1 year office experience but will train.
Must be able to type quickly and accurately.
Be willing to work evenings and weekends as needed.
Must have computer experience, especially Apple Macintosh and applications (Microsoft Office Suite, Powerpoint, etc).

Desired abilities:
Program/event planning and implementation.
Design postcards, flyers.
Good working knowledge of how to apply social media for use in an academic setting (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc).
Working knowledge of UCLA campus bureaucracy and programming procedures.
Experience working with Asian American & Pacific Island student groups and community.
Ability to work independently, complete assignments in a timely fashion and problem solve.

Direct resumes and work study allocation in email to meg@ucla.edu